Madonna, center, performs with Nicki Minaj, left, and M.I.A. during halftime of the NFL Super Bowl XLVI football game between the New England Patriots and the New York Giants in Indianapolis. Madonna says she's not happy that M.I.A. made an obscene gesture during the Super Bowl halftime show. Madonna said on Ryan Seacrest's radio show today that the gesture was pointless and “seemed out of place.” The British hip-hop artist, invited by Madonna to participate in Sunday's halftime show in front of 114 million people, extended her middle finger to the camera. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy, file)

Question: I saw Janet Jackson's wardrobe malfunction in real time. But I missed the M.I.A. bird. Anyone see it in real time. Which do you remember more — Madonna's performance of M.I.A.'s finger?

Happy Super Bull Sunday. This is the day when the dark forces of merchandising pull out all the stops to hypnotize us with images of hot chicks, prancing Clydesdales and talking babies. Man, those talking babies give me the creeps. Some of these super commercials will be hilarious, of course. A lot of them will be dumber than a box of socks. But every one of them will be designed to separate you and me from our hard-earned cash. Oh, yeah. There’s some kind of football thing going on today, too. But selling stuff to suckers is the real game being played today. Even Madonna’s halftime appearance is part of the National Undertakers Association campaign to promote the wonders of embalming/Doug Clark, SR. More here. (AP photo: This advertisement provided by Dannon Co,. shows a scene from the Dannon Oikos Greek Yogurt Super Bowl commercial, starring Jessica Blackmore and John Stamos)

Question: So, which Super Bowl commercial was your favorite?

This Sunday, in the midst of the war of attrition that will be Super Bowl XLVI, Madonna will roll her ridiculously ornate stage onto the field at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis and attempt to blow some minds for eight or nine minutes. Madonna can certainly do it; she has the requisite deep catalog of hits, a theatrical approach to performing, and enough bold-faced numbers in her iPhone to unleash some surprises. “Give Me All Your Luvin’” probably won’t get the job done on its own, though luckily she has “Vogue,” “Holiday,” “Ray of Light,” and “Like a Prayer” in her pocket. So who will she have to eclipse to get mentioned in the greatest Super Bowl halftime performances of all time?/Kyle Anderson, Entertainment Weekly. More here. (AP photo: Madonna speaks during a news conference for NFL football's Super Bowl XLVI's halftime show Thursday)

Question: Which halftime Super Bowl show was the best ever?

Not many, if any, locals can say of Sunday's Super Bowl game, “Been there, done that, got the ring” but former New York Giants linebacker Ryan Phillips of Hayden can. After a successful college football career and earning a degree in Resource Recreation and Tourism from the U of I, Ryan was a third round draft pick by the Giants in the 1997 NFL Draft. He played in the 2001 Super Bowl XXXV, where the Giants lost to the Ravens 34-7. Ryan practiced with the New England Patriots in 2002 before retiring from the game and moving back to North Idaho to make a life. So what could be better than having an authentic connection to both teams taking the field on Sunday? Actually Ryan had been hoping for a re-match between the Giants and the Ravens this year - with a different outcome, of course/Kerri Thoreson, Main Street, Coeur d'Alene Press. More here. (Kerri Thoreson's Facebook photo of Phillips' 2001 NFC championship ring)

Question: Have you ever met someone who played in the Super Bowl? Who? When?

San Francisco, you'll have to excuse Joe Biden for his blunder on Wednesday. He has bigger fish to fry — like doing his part to ensure President Barack Obama gets re-elected in November. But c'mon, Mr. Vice President! You're better than this! Biden had a Homer Simpson “d'oh!” moment when he tried to rally a San Francisco crowd at a political fundraiser with a football metaphor and spoke of the “Giants on their way to the Super Bowl,” according to the Oakland Tribune. Umm, Mr. Vice President, the 49ers play the Giants on Sunday in the NFC Championship Game. Biden probably felt like burying his head in the sand when some, what the Tribune described as, “good-natured boos” ensued/Simon Samano, NFL. More here.

Question: When did you last suffer a “d'oh!” moment? Wanna tell us about it?

NEW YORK — The biggest draw in television is going mobile.

The Super Bowl will be streamed online and to phones in the U.S. for the first time, the NFL said Tuesday. NBC’s broadcasts of wild card Saturday, the Pro Bowl and the Super Bowl will be available on the league’s and network’s websites and through Verizon’s NFL Mobile app.

The service will include additional camera angles, in-game highlights and live stats — and replays of those always popular Super Bowl ads. Full story.

Seriously? I can barely read facebook updates on my phone. Who watches an entire football game on a phone?

Do you use your phone for things other than texting, emailing and phone calls?

At last we know exactly how long the National Football League was required to act as if it was really, really sorry about that brief flash of Janet Jackson’s chest during the 2004 Super Bowl halftime show. Eight years. With the announcement that the 2012 Super Bowl halftime act will be Madonna, the penance is officially over. It’s not that Madonna is likely to go flashing any of her girl parts on national television. Madonna understands the calculus of every situation she enters, so let’s bet that she knows this is an all-ages show. “Malfunctions” do not follow Madonna around/New York Daily News. More here. (AP file photo)

Question: Is the “Material Girl” a good pick for Super Bowl halftime show? Is she a safe pick?

Excessive celebration? Whatever. As Christa Hazels said via facebook, ”Where was the flag on Christina Aguilera's National Anthem? That's what I want to know. Perhaps she could have remembered the lyrics with less focus on the excessive embellishment.”

Shaping up to be a fun game and the commercials aren't bad either. I have to thank Joan Rivers for effectively silencing my menfolks' comments about ladies' racks. And the finger-sucking Dorito guy has turned them off Doritos for life!

Pittsburgh Steelers defensive end Brett Keisel and “The Beard.”

Can't really get excited about the Battle of the Yellow Pants. And despite years of mocking the Packers and their Cheesehead fans, today I will be wearing dairy products on my head  and cheering for the Packers. Savvy sports writers and fans have told me that the Steelers will most likely win.

All the more reason to cheer for Green Bay.

Feel free to share your Super Bowl predictions here.

Green Bay Packers' Daryn Colledge waits for the start of media day for NFL football Super Bowl XLV Tuesday in Arlington, Texas. Colledge, a second-round pick in the 2006 draft from Boise State, tells the Associated Press how unique it is to live in Green Bay. Story here. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

• Cartoon: Our first Hawaiian president/David Horsey, Seattle P-I
• Hart gives up vice chair to avoid ethics sanction/Betsy Russell, SR
• Montana House rejects same-day voter registration/Charles Johnson, HIR
• Montana high school mulls changing Redskins mascot/Rob Rogers, Gazette
• 22YO Pullman man arrested on rape charge/Spokesman-Review
• Coeur d'Alene to get Hospise House/Bert Caldwell, SR
• New plan required after megaload causes long delay/Associated Press
• Vestal: Taco can be way to answer North Idaho racists/Spokesman-Review
• Injured Iraq war vet adapts to life on slopes/Bill Jennings, SR
• Lewiston police ID bank robbery suspect/Lewiston Tribune
• Grover Norquist to lead Idaho Freedom Foundation rally/Dan Popkey, Statesman
• Twin Falls call center lays off 100/Laura Lundquist, TF Times-News
• String of bad luck haunts Billings ice climber/Brett French, Gazette
• Flathead Valley 17YO guilty of killing 2 in vehicle suicide try/Eric Schwartz, DIL
• Orbusmax Special: Portland #2 on “Best Cities for Drinking Bar” list here

Super Bowl tickets are still widely available on resale websites, but the prices pack as much punch as Steelers safety Troy Polamalu. Tickets for Sunday's game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Green Bay Packers in Arlington, Tex., start at $2,000 and go as high as $277,800 on StubHub.com. The average price of a Super Bowl ticket on FanSnap.com is $4,683. Officials for the website say that's nearly double the average price of a Super Bowl ticket at this time last year/New York Daily News. More here.

Question: What is the most you'd pay for a Super Bowl ticket?

This screen shot provided by Kia Motors Corp., shows a scene from the Super Bowl commercial titled “One Epic Ride,” with the all-new 2011 Kia Optima being held by Poseidon. (AP Photo/Kia Motor Corp.)

Question: Which company consistently has the best Super Bowl ads?

An off-the-field nail-biter ahead of this Sunday's Super Bowl appeared to be headed toward a temporary resolution Tuesday night. DirecTV and Northwest Broadcasting announced an interim deal that will put Fox programming - including the big game - back on the air as early as today. “We're happy that Northwest (Broadcasting) granted our request to put the channels back on while we negotiate a deal,” Dan Hartman, DirecTV's senior vice president of marketing, said in a statement. “We are making arrangements to restore the channels as soon as possible and look forward to getting a deal done as quickly as we can”/Joel Mills, Lewiston Tribune. More here.

Question: Will you believe it when you see it?

Joe Heller/Hellertoons

Bruce Springsteen holds out a microphone during halftime of the NFL Super Bowl XLIII football game between the Arizona Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday in Tampa, Fla.(AP Photo/Amy Sancetta)

Question: Which Super Bowl halftime show do you consider the best ever?

How do you plan to spend Super Bowl Sunday?/Huckleberries Online

• Eating & drinking with family & friends
• At a sports bar with a buddy or two
• At home with my family in a low-key way
• I’m not interested in the Super Bowl
• Other