Before Super Bowl XXXIX is completely forgotten, allow me to share some last lingering thoughts and impressions.

• For starters, I now have the answer to a question that came up at home which I couldn’t answer as we watched the post-game trophy ceremony, namely: Does the winning team get to keep that trophy or does it get handed around, from champion to champion?

Well, the victory parade in Boston made the answer clear, as three identical Lombardi Trophies were raised for the admiring throng to admire by Patriots owner Bob Kraft, his executive son Jonathan, and team personnel director Scott Pioli.

• I can do without all those pregame pop performers, whose musical music cameos seem like like so much “filler.” But please give me more of the combined military academy choruses. Their rendition of the national anthem was one of the best and most stirring I’ve seen at a sporting event in a long time. It was so patriotically presented, in fact, that TV cameras were actually able to show players on the field singing – a rare sight indeed.

• Another special moment occurred at the end of the game when Coach Bill Belichick was joined on the sideline during the waning moments by his dad, who himself was a career coach, including for many years as an assistant at the Naval Academy. Also, it was fun to see Belichick enjoy a heartfelt group hug with his departing two top assistants, Charlie Weis and Romeo Crennel. The three pressed their heads together so tightly that no one was going to interrupt their private little huddle.

• Troy Aikman, one of the Fox analysts and former Dallas Cowboys quarterback, remarked at one point that the game balls at the Super Bowl can be a little slippery because a new ball is used on every play. He didn’t explain why frequent changes are made, but I’m guessing the more balls the NFL can use the more authentic souvenirs it creates. There doesn’t seem any other logical explanation, since as Aikman’s comment makes clear, playing with a fresh-from-the-box ball is not actually ideal.

• The rolling victory rallies that Boston has now organized for the Red Sox and Patriots, in which team members can use amplifiers to speak to the crowd from amphibious Duck Boats, is probably a good strategy from a security standpoint, but I personally miss the traditional public square gatherings. Having the team and fans in one place rather than strung out along a parade route makes for a better program.

• No matter which team you were for, to watch Phildelphia let so much time tick off the clock in the waning minutes while they trailed by 10 points was perplexing, if not agonizing to watch. Regular NFL watchers have seen so many 2-minute drills and no-huddle offenses that they know what good clock-management looks like, and this was far from that. I suspect that Eagle fans will look back for years to come and wonder how a team good enough to reach the Super Bowl could seem so clueless, not that it necessarily would have made a difference.

• I was amused that a Boston sportscaster, in the week after the game, did a segment that raised the question, “If Detroit can host next year’s Super Bowl, why can’t the Patriots?” Well, there’s a big difference, the Patriots have an open-air stadium while Detroit’s Ford Field is a fixed-roof stadium.

• To my way to thinking, one of the most impactful plays of the Super Bowl was the opening kickoff. Philadelphia got an excellent runback to about its 40-yard line, and after that the Patriots suffered from poor field position. That to me partly explains why it took so long for New England’s offense (which didn’t cross midfield until late in the second quarter) to get in gear.

• Those pencil-like cameras stuck in the ground were a disappointment. The view was mostly that of an ant looking at players off in the faraway distance, or, amusingly during one extra point, a meaningless, split-second closeup of some hulking lineman’s stomach. Nice try, Fox Sports, you don’t need to bother next time.

• Adam Vinatieri’s winning field goal was only 22 yards, and it occurred well before the game ended, but it still was another pressure kick by probably the NFL’s best “money” kicker ever. To think that a Vinatieri field goal would be the margin of victory again, as it was in New England’s two other Super Bowl wins, is truly a mathematical long shot.

• It’s never happened, but it’s very possible that New England and Philadelphia could meet again next year in the Super Bowl. That’s only happened once before, in the mid 1990s, when Dallas beat Buffalo in SB XXVII and XXVIII.

• One of the most fascinating, yet little known aspects, of Patriots coach Bill Belichick is his interest in going places, off the field, that most people avoid. For example, he has accompanied former running back Jim Brown, a community activist, into the prisons on a number of occasions. And, to learn more about urban live, he once arranged to ride around with undercover DEA agents in Newark, N.J.

In celebration of the 39th Super Bowl, I’d like to share 39 Super Bowl-related thoughts, facts, and ideas. That might seem excessive, but it’s in keeping with the game’s “over the top” nature, so let’s get started and see what happens:

1 – The Super Bowl does more for Roman numeral literacy than anything I can think of. It’s an annual refresher course on this arcane numbering system, much more effective than the less-frequent Olympics in familiarizing us with XXXIV and XL. The latter is for “40,” by the way, not “extra large” and will be used for next year’s game.

2 – Another thing about those classic numerals: They’re the perfect answer to the Super Bowl’s inherent calendar confusion. It’s easier to keep the games straight by numbering them, since they fall in a separate year from the regular season. The winner of the 2005 game, for example, is the champion of the 2004 season.

3 – Compared to New Orleans, which has hosted the Super Bowl a record nine times, first-time host Jacksonville, Fla., seems an awfully tame, amorphous city, judging by comments I’ve read. To use the line made famous about Oakland, “there’s no there there.” What makes New Orleans ideal is its distinctive culture, party atmosphere, and walkability.

4 – I don’t know who was responsible for picking Jan. 30 for the Iraq election, but it strikes me as curious that it fell during the “off” week before the Super Sunday.

5 – The Patriots vs. Eagles, if that’s not the perfect American-themed matchup, I don’t know what is.

6 – Are the Patriots staying in St. Augustine, the oldest city in the US, because of its history or is it just a coincidence? I assume the latter, but am intrigued to think someone might have felt that old Florida would feel more like home to the players.

7 – Bill Belichick, the Patriots coach, has said his team is proud to be representing the American Conference He may have meant it, but conference affiliations in the NFL really mean little . Does anybody really feel a strong allegiance to the AFC and NFC? I don’t think so.

8 – Why Disney has picked this year to terminate it’s annual tradition of inviting a star player or two from the winning team to Disney World baffles me. Jacksonville simply isn’t that far from Orlando. If nothing else, Disney could have saved on transportation expenses. The only closer Super Bowls ever played were in Tampa.

9 – The neutral site and the near-perfect field conditions of the Super Bowl are so jarringly different from the rest of the playoffs as to seem a little surreal.

10 – The Patriots may be working on their third NFL championship in the last four years, but I doubt they’re overconfident. Why should they be? They’ve won two Super Bowls, but each by only three points, plus they know, from their own experience, how dangerous an underdog team can be. (See Super Bowl XXXVI: Patriots over the favored Rams, 20-17 on a game-ending field goal.) And lest they need anymore cautionary reminders, hark back to this season’s embarrassing loss to the Dolphins, who were 2-11 at the time.

11 – Even before the game starts, the Eagles can claim the edge in one department: best website. Their’s is the 2004 NFL Network Award Winner. One feature that I like are the “where are they now profiles” of past Eagle greats.

12 – You know those Campbell’s soup ads, starring the mother of Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb? Well, originally a professional actress portrayed Mrs. McNabb before the real mother got a shot and proved to be a natural.

13 – In the history of the Super Bowl, the game MVP award was shared only once. If you know the particulars you are a certified trivia genius. Answer: Super Bowl VIII, when Dallas defensive linemen Randy White and Harvey Martin. Was the vehicle traditionally awarded the MVP divided up? Did they give two that year or did White and Martin trade off the keys?

14 – Pittsburgh’s Ben Roethlisberger would have become the first rookie to guide a team to the Super Bowl if the Steelers had beaten New England in the AFC championship game. Instead, when last seen Big Ben was trying to throw a football through the hole in an inflatable chili can as part of a Chunky Chili Bowl promotion.

15 – What many people don’t realize is that the name “Super Bowl” only became popularized after the game was launched in January, 1967 as the NFL-AFL World Championship.

16 – There was a time when New Englanders felt coach Bill Parcells was irreplaceable. Nowadays Bill Belichick has almost made some people forget the legendary “Tuna.”

17 – If you’ve wondered what the owners of the Eagles and Patriots have done to make their millions, here’s part of the answer. New England’s Bob Kraft owns a large paper and packaging company. Philadelphia’s Jeffrey Lurie owns a Los Angeles-based film company and his family are primary shareholders of the Neiman Marcus Group. Lurie was born in Boston and once was an adjunct professor of social policy at Boston University. Kraft, a native of Brookline, Mass., attended Patriot games at various Boston sites, including Fenway Park, long before he ever bought the team in 1994. He became a season ticketholder when the team moved to Foxboro in 1971.

18 - Here’s one of the most interesting statistical nuggets from any Super: Miami quarterback Bob Griese threw only eight passes in leading the Dolphins over the the Vikings in SB VIII.

19 – According to NFL historian Michael MacCambridge, Pete Rozelle, the NFL’s commissioner at the inception of the Super Bowl era, actively disliked the name, because he thought it lacked sophistication. “Super,” he felt, was too much like “neat” or “gee whiz.”

20 – Detroit is hosting next year’s Super Bowl. I know it seems odd, but the game made it’s first cold-climate appearance in the Silverdome in Pontiac, Mich., in 1982. I’ll never forget riding a media bus to the game as snow fell outside. In ’06, the Super Bowl really will be in Detroit, in Ford Field at the heart of the city.

21 – I’d like to have a dime for every time I’ve seen Super Bowl spelled “Superbowl.” My only guess is that people get mixed up with the spelling of “superstar.”

22 – At the rate things are going, it won’t be long before they have a mini-cam implanted in the Super Bowl game ball. This year there will be tiny cameras installed in the end zone pylons and four turf cams buried in the field near the goal line.

23 – And speaking of cameras, count me a fan of the aerial cam, the one that hangs over the field of play and provides some of the coolest “in the game” shots imaginable. So far, the cables reportedly have never interfered with the action on the field. The camera is supposed to stay at least 12 feet above the field and behind the play, but one of these days I suspect a punt, pass, or kick will hit the cat’s cradle contraption. Let’s just hope it’s not a critical play.

24 – Super Bowl weekend has the most home parties and the fewest weddings of any during the year, a fact shared in “America’s Game: The Epic Story of How Pro Football Captured a Nation.” []

25 – Tom Brady [http://www.absolutebrady.com/] looks and acts like he could have been a member of TV’s “Brady Bunch.” He even has three sisters, which may explain what he can be so good, yet so modest.

26 – The knock against the Super Bowl, historically, is that the game often doesn’t live up to the hype, not that many games ever could. Still, the record is better than you might think. Eighteen times, or nearly half the 38 previous Super Bowls, have been decided by two touchdowns or less.

27 – Paul McCartney is considered a safe choice as the headliner for this year’s halftime show. Still, I’d love to see some of incredible “show bands” from historically black colleges like Jackson State and Florida A&M showcased. They don’t get the national exposure they deserve, and they would be showstoppers.

28 – If Philadelphia wins, it will be the city’s major professional championship since 76ers won the NBA title in 1983. The last year the Eagles won an NFL title was in 1960, when star linebacker/linemen Chuck Bednarik played both ways. In fact, he played 58 of 60 minutes in Philadelphia’s 17-13 win over the Packers.

29 – Talk about a golden era in Boston-area sports: If the Patriots win Sunday, their back-to-back wins would bracket the Red Sox’ long-awaited World Series triumph, meaning the past year would be wall-to-wall sports euphoria for New England fans. Frankly, the success of these two teams couldn’t have come at a batter time, what with the Boston Bruins out of action because of the NHL labor dispute and the Boston Celtics being a fringe team on the local sports scene these days. Some people think it’s just good that Massachusetts Senator John Kerry wasn’t elected president, because then Bay Staters might be insufferable braggarts.

30 – Those outsized, gaudy Super Bowl rings leave me cold. But the classic, understated Lombardi Trophy, well, that’s a different story.

31 – New England’s Corey Dillon is not the flashiest runner, but he is very efficient and if anybody in football has a better stiff-arm, I haven’t seen it.

32 – It’s really kind of ludicrous to talk about dynasties in pro football. No team has ever come close to the dominance enjoyed by the Celtics in basketball, the Canadiens in hockey, or the Yankees in baseball. If the Patriots were to win Sunday, just say they’ve enjoyed a good run (three titles in the past four years), and leave it at that.

33 – Troy Brown may be the best player, pound for pound, in the NFL. At least he's the most versatile, playing not only wide receiver for the Patriots, but also seeing duty in the defensive backfield and returning punts. He's a gamer who loves to play, which make him Belichick's kind of guy.

34 – Probably the most oft-heard word at any Super Bowl is “distraction.” As in, how will the teams handle all the distractions? The issue has become a media-perpetuated cliché.

35 – Everybody knows that the NFL is a marketing powerhouse, but I still was surprised to find official Super Bowl programs in my local Boston-area grocery store this week. Price: $15.

36 – The league always works hard to guard the Super Bowl from gambling influences. My guess is that the most critical people to protect may be the refs, not the players.

37 – I’m always amazed when fans don’t recognize sports stars in street clothes (sort of like people who don’t realize that Clark Kent and Superman are the same person). I once saw all-time great Jim Brown heading for a concession stand at a Super Bowl, and no one paid him any mind.

38 – Got to love the Patriots’ coaching triumvirate of Belichick, offensive coordinator Charlie Weis, and defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel. These are coaching lifers with no NFL playing experience. They’ve earned their positions. Weis, who went to Notre Dame, never even played college football. Together, they’ve worked wonders, but next season Weis will be the new head coach at his alma mater and it appears Crennel will be offered the head job with the Cleveland Browns.

39 – As a boy, I never was a fan of Green Bay halfback Paul Hornung, so I wasn’t prepared to like his book “Golden Boy,” but having plunged in I’ve found it one of the more interesting recent reads. In fact, if you’re looking for a recommendation during the countdown to Super Bowl XXXIX, you might want to find a copy. Hornung was with the Packers when, in 1967, they played in the inaugural Super Bowl. Hornung was injured and didn’t see action, but late in the game Coach Vince Lombardi approached him to see if he wanted to go in for a few plays. He passed on the offer. Today, he says he regrets he didn’t get to really play in one Super Bowl, not just make a cameo appearance. Hornung, in case you didn’t know (and not many do), still owns the NFL’s single-season scoring record with 176 points in 1960, primarily because he kicked field goals and PATs as well as scored touchdowns.