Big Game, Tall Tales

By Julie Norwell

Super Bowl Sunday looms so large on the sports calendar, it's natural that legends have sprung up around it. Can you tell fact from fiction, true from false? (Answers are below--don't peek!)

1. The collective flushing of toilets at halftime has crippled the sewerage of major cities.

2. Two-thirds of the avocados sold in the U.S. each year are bought (for guacamole) in the run-up to Super Bowl Sunday.

3. Super Bowl Sunday is one of the year's worst days for domestic violence against women.

4. The NFL title game's outcome typically forecasts stock-market performance for the rest of the year.

5. Super Bowl Sunday is the busiest day of the year for the pizza-delivery industry.

6. Crazy fans, crazier drivers--Super Bowl Sunday is one of the most dangerous days on U.S. roads.

1. (False) A water main broke in Salt Lake City on Super Bowl Sunday 1984, hydropowering this myth. But no link has ever been found between the Super Bowl and toilet bowls.

2. (False) Avocado sales do shoot up, but not that much. This year 9% of the annual crop is expected to be consumed on Super Bowl Sunday.

3. (False) In 1993 women's advocacy groups, citing various reports about increased domestic violence on Super Bowl Sunday, prompted NBC to air a public-service announcement during its game coverage. But the Washington Post investigated--and debunked the claims.

4. (True) Eighty percent of the time, a win by an old-NFL team has meant a bullish market. If it's a former AFL team? Buy gold.

5. (True) Yes, those deliverymen generally are busier on Super Bowl Sunday than on any other day. Some chains sell over 40% more pizzas than they do on a normal Sunday.

6. (Trick question!) Data are actually mixed: car crashes do spike right after the Super Bowl, but fatalities are low compared with other days of the year.