DALLAS (AP) – Having grown up in Green Bay, U.S. World Cup team member Jay DeMerit is an avid Packers fan.
DeMerit has attended three of Green Bay’s games since the team returned from South Africa, even leading the Lambeau Field crowd in singing the polka favorite “Roll Out the Barrel” at one of them.
“It’s a pretty small cameo, but for me, that’s probably one of the top things I’ve ever gotten to do,” DeMerit said.
Known for his offbeat sense of humor, DeMerit said he and a few of his buddies from home decided to grow playoff beards. And DeMerit’s fuzzy Packers tribute has been recorded for posterity.
Now a member of Major League Soccer’s expansion Vancouver Whitecaps, DeMerit says he recently had a team photo taken – beard and all. He had to ask his friends if it was OK to trim it first.
“I didn’t shave it,” DeMerit said. “I had to trim it. I’ve gone over the rules with some of my other friends who are doing it, and trimming the neck is legal. The neck is trim, but the beard is pretty full.”
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CUBAN’S TOWEL: Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban is taking something from his childhood with him to the Super Bowl. His Terrible Towel.
The Pittsburgh native and lifelong Steelers fan will be watching their Super Bowl against the Green Bay Packers from his suite at Cowboys Stadium on Sunday. He has 43 seats in the suite.
“I’ve got everybody that I’ve known, or have known my parents, my grandparents, my third cousins once removed, all asking for tickets,” Cuban said. “I’m especially happy for my dad.”
One non-Steelers fan that will be in Cuban’s suite is Mavericks president of basketball operations Donnie Nelson, a big-time Cheesehead who grew up in Milwaukee.
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THE PRETTIEST PREDICTOR: Her tiara glistening, Miss America Teresa Scanlan predicted the Green Bay Packers will win the Super Bowl.
“I do feel like they’ve got some strong players there,” Scanlan said. “(Aaron) Rodgers really is good, and I think that’s what it comes down to. It’s going to be close, though, so we’ll see.”
Why is the Nebraska native a Packers fan? Because Green Bay running back Brandon Jackson was a Cornhusker; he’s the only NU player on either roster.
Scanlan is at the Super Bowl to take part in the Taste of the NFL, an event Saturday night benefiting food banks across the country.
“Being here, where food is all over the place is and we’re fine, and then to realize that there’s so many people struggling from hunger, it’s really sad,” she said. “A donation of $10, they said, provides 40 meals. It’s amazing what a tiny donation can do. So it’s real important.”
Sunday will certainly be a big day for her, but not because of the Super Bowl. It will be her 18th birthday.
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SUPER TROOPER FEAST: U.S. troops deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan will have quite a feast to enjoy while watching the Super Bowl on Sunday: All the chicken wings, pizza and chili they can eat.
Among the items sent to Iraq for the Super Bowl are about 120,000 pounds of chicken wings, 35,000 pounds of potato wedges, more than 45,000 pounds of pizza and more than 1,000 gallons of chili. The same kind of menu will be available to troops in Afghanistan.
The taste of home is being provided by Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, a Department of Defense combat support agency that provides a variety of logistics, acquisition and technical services to the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps.
“We cannot do enough to say thank you to our deployed men and women in uniform sacrificing and serving to protect our way of life here in America,” said Richard Ellis, acting commander of DLA Troop Support. “It is our pleasure and honor to serve them up some familiar fare so they can have a full Super Bowl experience before they continue on their mission.”
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AP Sports Writer Chris Jenkins and AP Pro Football Writer Jaime Aron contributed to this report.
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