CLICK & DOUBLE CLICK: INTERNET GEARING UP FOR SUPER BOWL SUNDAY (COLUMN 72)

Here it is again. Football's big game of the year and the Internet is gearing up, like the rest of the nation.

On Sunday, the Green Bay Packers meet up with the Denver Broncos, for the most talked about and highly hyped Super Bowl. Darren joins me for this week's column.

Peggy: Something seems very familiar here, Darren. Did you and I write about the Super Bowl last year for this column?

Darren: Yes, and we're two people who know very little about football. Oh well.... From what I see, I guess it must be Super Bowl XXXII (pronounced ex, ex, eye eye eye). Let's start at the official Super Bowl site.

www.superbowl.com

Peggy: Let the show begin. I guess this is more of a show than a game. It says here you can be the first on your block to own official championship merchandise.

Darren: I guess you would have to buy two of everything, just to be safe. They have a poll giving you a chance to predict who will win.

Peggy: Are you going to vote?

Darren: I don't know. Who should I vote for?

Peggy: I don't know either.

Darren: Well, maybe we should get in on the chat fan-to-fan. That ought to be fun. Yes, I've got my chunk of cheese on my head. What do the other guys wear?

Peggy: They have a link to a youth clinic the NFL players hosted earlier and you can check out all the events surrounding the Super Bowl. Ah, these are online events. Hey, a live web cam. Is it on now?

Darren: Guess not. It's on at 9:15 p.m. and 8 p.m. eastern time. I wonder if we get to see the losers chewed out in the locker room? Well, we probably don't want to see that.

Peggy: The fan-to-fan chat is scheduled daily from noon to midnight. I wonder if fans have enough to talk about for all that time? In the arcade, you can test your skills with Super Trivia, Virtual Pass and Play, Soak the Coach and other games.

Darren: Hey, here's a version of football that actually looks familiar, paper football.

Peggy: Yes, I remember this from the junior high lunchroom. You can download instruction on how to fold a paper football and how to play the game.

Darren: Don't let the others know. We'll have those paper footballs everywhere. Let's go to the Packer's page.

www.packers.com

Peggy: It says the Packers have arrived in San Diego and shows a picture of Reggie White, waving to throngs of fans.

Darren: You can relive the Packer's season, game by game on this site. You can download the Jumbotron opening sequence played at the start of every Packer's home game. But it says it will take about 10 minutes.

Peggy: Let's take a look at Lambeau Field. You know this team plays outdoors, in the snow. They have no dome. You can download and view a Quicktime movie of the field. A time-lapse look at the field for the two hours leading up to the divisional playoffs.

Darren: Let's go to Fans. They always seem interesting. Do you think that big thing on their heads is just to keep their heads warm? Luckily there aren't any teams called the Mice, or they'd be in trouble.

Peggy: You better be careful Darren. Those might be fighting words to a Packer fan. They have a huge kids section with a coloring book, trading cards, games and a way to submit questions to players.

Darren: They also have live player chat sessions. Let's try the morphing game. You get a distorted photo of a player and you try to guess who it is. You do get some hints. But our photo isn't there. Let's try the Broncos instead.

www.denverbroncos.com

Peggy: You can get the low-down on the Packers, as told by the Broncos here. You can talk strategy with other fans or visit the team store. What's this? Huddle?

Darren: Under the Huddle you have scoreboard, stats, profiles and standings. You can read a recap of the game against Pittsburgh.

Peggy: You can get bios on the coaches and check out their stadium. They have a kid's club and John Mobley is the honorary captain of the Broncos' Bunch. You can learn about Thunder, the team's mascot.

Darren: The NFL also has lots of information about the Super Bowl at their site.

www.nfl.com/superbowl/

They have the history of the Super Bowl. They have their poll here too. The NFL has a chat schedule and you can take the Trivia Challenge. Do you want to take the challenge?

Peggy: I don't think so. I'll concede defeat right here. In the multi-media room you can view NFL films, look at MVP highlights and the fan favorite video highlights and several Super Bowl stories.

Darren: No Super Bowl is complete without a look at the Bud Bowl. Find it at

www.budweiser.com/budbowl

Alright! It says I can win $10,000 and there is no purchase necessary. You have to pick the player of the decade. Among candidates are The Freezer, Budski and Billy and Bobby Bud. I'll vote for Budski.

Peggy: Now if you win, are you planning to split the money with me?

Darren: Sure.

Peggy: I'm going to hold you to that. What's your favorite football site on the Internet? E-mail us at click@semissourian.com

See you in Cyberspace.

Peggy Scott and Darren McGaha are members of the Southeast Missourian online staff.