If you’re thinking of attending the Super Bowl on Sunday by grabbing yourself a few tickets through a ticket reseller like StubHub, RazorGator, TicketsNow or any other reseller you better be prepared to pay the highest resale prices yet.

On StubHub, a subsidiary of Ebay, tickets are ranging from $2,450 to $19,446. The average price is $4,300 on tickets originally priced by the NFL at $700 and $900.

“It appears our face value is underpriced based on demand and what people are willing to pay,” said NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy, who seems resigned to the fact that the league is mostly powerless to stop the profitable turnover of tickets.

Several Patriots fans are doing what ever they can to get to the game. Not only is the team trying for it’s fourth title in seven years but there’s also that whole unbeaten season angle.

One Patriots fan paid $29,385 to reseller RazorGator for a package that includes three hotel nights and breakfasts, transportation to and from the game, a gift package, and tickets for him and his two sons.

Tickets on the RazorGator site are going for between $2,700 and $7,200.

One Giants fan, who is originally from Manhattan and now lives in Denver, spent $40,000 for a package through RazorGator’s Prime Sports. It includes four tickets on the 50-yard line, hotel stays and pre- and post-game parties to take his three sons, who are 9, 11 and 14.

“I see it as a once in a lifetime event, so the stars aligned and we’re off,” he said. “It’s not something I’m going to do on a regular basis.”

His wife and 16-year-old daughter, who is uninterested in football, are throwing a Super Bowl party at home while the boys go to Phoenix. They have, at least, agreed to wear their jerseys in support of the family team.

Ticket prices are expected to drop the closer to kickoff you get. Local scalper in Glendale will be able to try to sell seats in one controlled area just north of the stadium.

So where do all these tickets come from? Well the Patriots and Giants each get 17.5% of the seats. The league controls 25.2%, the Arizona Cardinals being the host team get 5% and each of the other 29 teams get 1.2%. 

NFL coaches, players and team officials are reminded that they are not allowed to resell their seats. If they do they face fines by the league.

The 17.5% alotted to the participating teams is not a lot, it’s about 12,000 tickets or so that go to players, coaches, sponsors and team employees.  What’s left gets sold to season ticket holders who were selected in a lottery.  In the Patriots case that’s about 5,000 seats for the season ticket holders and many get left out because after they don’t get selected in the lottery they don’t have the money to get tickets from a reseller. 

Make sure if you do decide to try to buy tickets at this time that you beware of scams.

Each year at Super Bowl time ESPN.com does a piece on the Super Bowl rings the players, coaches and team officials receive. Many people are enamored with the ring of a Super Bowl winner and surely most everyone knows of the story of Russian President Vladimir Putin putting Patriots owner Robert Kraft’s Super Bowl XXXIX ring in his pocket as he thought it was a gift. Kraft let Putin keep the ring and today it sits in the Kremlin library among the artifacts on display.

I’ve always found championship rings to be fascinating as they compare to nothing else and for the mere fact that athletes in the team sports always speak of “wanting a ring”. With that in mind I’ve taken some of my favorite things about the rings and bring them to you here.

Did you know that Minneapolis based Jostens has made 27 of the previous 41 rings? Companies bid for the right to make the ring and once the bid is approved the team and company exchange design ideas. It takes roughly one month to make the rings.

The NFL pays for 150 rings at $5,000 each with adjustments for the price of gold or diamonds.

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Seeing as there isn’t a lot going on with the team traveling to Arizona today I figure’d I’d bring you some bits and pieces from Patriots players after practice on Friday:

Patriots WR Wes Welker:

When you were on the Dolphins and looked at this organization from afar, was coming here what you expected?:

Yeah, absolutely, and probably more so. The organization has been great, the coaches, the players, everybody works together. Ultimately, it’s gotten us to this point and we just have to keep it going for one more.

What has it meant to you personally, the way you’ve emerged as a player with a new team here?:

It’s been great. Anytime you can come into a new team like this and be able to get the confidence of your teammates and go out there and make plays week in and week out, it’s been great. I feel like the offense really suits me, and having Tom Brady back there doesn’t hurt, either.

Was a season like this something you though you were capable of earlier in your career?:

I don’t think so. I was in my first year in my career in the NFL returning kicks and punts. That was it, so I didn’t even have a playbook or anything like that. It was get back there, return kicks and punts. I thought I’d do that for the rest of my career and then I just worked hard and tried to develop the rest of my receiving skills, and it’s kind of come to this.

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If the New England Patriots beat the New York Giants in Super Bowl XLII on Sunday February 3rd they will be the fourth NFL franchise with at least four Super Bowl wins. Other NFL franchises with at least four Super Bowl wins are Dallas (5), Pittsburgh (5) and San Francisco (5).

The other franchises who have won Super Bowls are:

• Green Bay Packers – 3
• Washington Redskins – 3
• Oakland/Los Angeles Raiders – 3
• New York Giants – 2
• Miami Dolphins – 2
• Baltimore/Indianapolis Colts – 2
• Denver Broncos – 2
• Tampa Bay Buccaneers – 1
• Baltimore Ravens – 1
• St. Louis Rams -1
• Chicago Bears – 1
• Kansas City Chiefs – 1
• New York Jets – 1

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New England Patriots defensive lineman Vince Wilfork was fined by the NFL for the fourth time this season for a face mask call in the AFC Championship game against San Diego.

Wilfork called the $5,000 fine “ridiculous” and indicated he will appeal it in the off season.

“I don’t want to get into it [publicly] with the NFL,” Wilfork said. “They’ll probably fine me or suspend me [for criticism]. That’s something I’ll have to take care of in the offseason.”

The fourth-year veteran was fined for a play that occurred with about five minutes remaining in the first quarter last Sunday. On first-and-10 from the New England 40, Chargers running back Michael Turner carried over left guard for five yards, and Wilfork grabbed his facemask as he attempted to make the tackle.

Prior to this, Wilfork was fined a total of $32,500 this season for a late hit on Buffalo quarter J.P. Losman, for tangling with Dallas tight end Jason Witten and for poking Giants running back Brandon Jacobs in the eye.

Scouts Inc., which is a division of ESPN, rated all of the 106 players who are on the active rosters of the New England Patriots and the New York Giants. I think for the most part I agree with the list. It’s kind of hard and pretty senseless to argue about whether or not Patriots long snapper Lonnie Paxton rated too low at #79. Or if Giants linebacker Gerris Wilkinson, who see’s most of his time on special teams, is rated too high at #50. The chances of either of those guys being involved in a play that determines the outcome is much smaller than either of the teams stars.

Scouts Inc. says:

In determining our rankings, we took into consideration the player’s current performance, as well as his play throughout the season. A player’s special teams contribution also influenced our decision.

I guess what struck me the most about the list were these placings:

• Giants quarterback Eli Manning being ranked15th behind Plaxico Burress and Chris Snee, not to mention Michael Strahan and Osi Umenyiora. I’d think a player who is going to touch the ball on every offensive play would be ranked higher than 15th. Plus give Manning credit he’s played more like Eli than Elisha lately.
• How low the place kickers were rated. New England’s Stephen Gostkowski was #52 and New York’s Lawrence Tynes was #71 . I know some of this is based on what they’ve done and each has at least one miss in this years playoffs but one of these guys could decide the game more than say a back up offensive lineman.

The top ten guys on the list are:

1. Patriots QB Tom Brady
2. Patriots WR Randy Moss
3. Giants DL Osi Umenyiora
4. Patriots DL Richard Seymour
5. Giants DL Michael Strahan
6. Giants WR Plaxico Burress
7. Patriots OG Logan Mankins
8. Patriots CB Asante Samuel
9. Patriots LB Mike Vrabel
10. Giants OG Chris Snee

No real surprises there, especially with the two left guards getting listed they will be very important in the blind side protection of the quarterbacks. I just would have thought that Manning would be more important than a guy he was throwing the ball to.

Matt Mosely, who authors the fine Hashmarks blog at ESPN.com, came up with his own Top 10 in terms of which players mean the most to their respective teams. His Top five are:

1. Patriots QB Tom Brady
2. Giants QB Eli Manning
3. Patriots WR Randy Moss
4. Giants WR Plaxico Burress
5. Patriots DL Richard Seymour

His list is good but I don’t think Manning and Burress are that high. I agree that they are the two players that mean the most to the Giants offense but in the grand scheme of the game I think other players are more deserving of a higher overall rating than Manning and Burress. Go here to see all of Mosely’s list and his reasoning.

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One roster note on the Patriots safety Mel Mitchell, who plays mostly on special teams, was placed on the injured reserve list on Thursday and will miss Super Bowl XLII with a biceps injury. This leaves the Patriots roster at 52 a player to take Mitchell’s spot probably won’t be signed until next week. I believe at this point in the season the player has to come from the teams practice squad.

Mitchell played in 10 regular season games and the AFC Divisional game against Jacksonville. He missed the AFC Championship game against San Diego with the injury.

Lets take a look at how the New England Patriots and New York Giants fared during the regular season:

Record against teams with a .500 record or better:

• Patriots 8-0
• Giants 3-6

At home:

• Patriots 8-0
• Giants 3-5

On the road:

• Patriots 8-0
• Giants 7-1

Against playoff teams:

• Patriots 6-0
• Giants 1-5

In games when they had a 100+ yards runner:

• Patriots: 5-0
• Giants: 5-1

Record in game with 300+ yards passing from the quarterback:

• Patriots 8-0
• Giants 1-1

Record in game with 250+ yards passing from the quarterback:

• Patriots 13-0
• Giants 2-3

Record in game with 200+ yards passing from the quarterback:

• Patriots 15-0
• Giants 3-5

Some fun facts about the University of Phoenix Stadium, which is hosting Super Bowl XLII. It is the 19th stadium to host the host the Super Bowl. It is the first time the Super Bowl will be held in this stadium.

Naming Rights: The University of Phoenix paid $154 million for 20 years.

Location: 1 Cardinals Way, Glendale AZ. The stadium is located adjacent to and south of Jobing.com Arena, home to the NHL Phoenix Coyotes, and Westgate City Center, a master-planned, mixed-use retail, entertainment and commercial development.

Prime Tenant: Arizona Cardinals (NFL)/Tostitos Fiesta Bowl (NCAA BCS Bowl)

Stadium Type: Retractable Roof

Designer: HOK Sport in conjunction with Hunt Construction and Urban Earth Design

Exterior: Designed to resemble the barrel of a cactus

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More from the who’s a dirty player department:

First San Diego Chargers center Nick Hardwick just can’t let go of the entire Richard Seymour deal.  Wednesday on San Diego’s XX Sports Radio 1090 he restated his claims about Seymour and added that Seymour headbutted a Chargers coach during warmups. 

In the interview he was asked to compare Seymour to Tennessee’s Albert Haynesworth:

“The deal is, Haynesworth isn’t incredibly dirty,” Hardwick said. “He’s just tries to intimidate you, like before the snap and after the snap staring you down. It’s not like when you’re walking back to the huddle you’re getting your foot stomped on or tripped, or when he’s runs by you back to his own huddle he’ll like elbow you in the back or head butting you after the play, things like. Head butting your coach before the game.”

When pressed by the hosts, Hardwick said, “I’m done … I said it … I’m done,” and declined to elaborate.

“Whatever,” he said. “I’m moving on. It will probably come up next year. What’s he going to do – play harder?”

As for the incident with the coach Seymour got into a pregame jawing match with Marcus McNeill prior to the game and a San Diego coach came over to pull McNeill away.  ProFootball Talk has the video of the confrontation and while Seymour did get into the grill of the San Diego coach it does not appear that he headbutted him.

Now we move onto Osi Umenyiora of the Giants who was interviewed on HBO’s Real Sports by Bob Costas.  And during his interview he lays claim that Patriots OL Matt Light is a dirty player.  The transcript comes from HBO:

Osi Umenyiora: “It was a good matchup the last time. I mean, I think I got him a couple of times, he also got me a couple of times. It was a war out there and to be honest with you, I not quite sure that he thought that he was going to see me again because of some of the things he did and said during that game. But, you know, unfortunately he does have to see me again.”

Bob Costas: “Trash talking is one thing, you seem to be implying that he made some dirty moves. Did something happen outside the pale?”

Osi Umenyiora: “He was doing a couple of things that you know he shouldn’t have been.”

Bob Costas: “Like what?”

Osi Umenyiora: “Hitting after the delay and trying to, I don’t know if he was trying to intimidate me, I don’t know what he was trying to do, but he did a couple of things that he shouldn’t have done and, you know, now we are really going to go at it this time.”

Bob Costas: “Were there angry words?”

Osi Umenyiora: “A couple.”

When asked if the Patriots were a dirty team:

Osi Umenyiora: “I wouldn’t call them a dirty team, I wouldn’t say that. I haven’t really experienced them as a team to be dirty. They have certain individuals like I am sure we have certain individuals who are perceived to be dirty but people wouldn’t call them a dirty team.”

A former co-worker of mine is a New York Jets fan. He grew up and still resides in New York about a half-hour north of the city. He attends at least one game a year in person and bleeds Jets green.

I was listening to WFAN on Wednesday and got to thinking about him and it made me realize this must be one hell of a tough time for Jets fans. I mean the team you battle for sports page space in your own city and your prime division rival are playing each other in Super Bowl XLII. It must make Jets fans at the very least wanna heave their lunch.

Jets fans that called the radio station were pretty much beside themselves. They have no idea who to root for, or against, or if they should root for anyone at all. One caller said he was not going to even watch the game. He obviously does not care about civic pride or the pursuit of perfection.

If you sit down and think about this from a Jets fan perspective what could be worse that this?

Then add to the fact that:

The team blew a chance in the 2004 playoffs to advance to the AFC title game when place kicker Doug Brien missed a pair of field goals against Pittsburgh and former coach Herm Edwards went into “clock management mode” and basically frittered away the game.

Their hated division rival’s head coach spurned them and resigned after one day as the Jets head coach. Then three weeks later shows up in Foxboro smiling announcing his hiring to lead the Patriots and then goes on to turn them into perennial champions.

The current Jets head coach and even some of his staff comes from the New England Patriots. And after a successful first season that saw them go 9-7 and earn a wild card playoff birth, they got eliminated by the Patriots in the first round. Then this year they finish 4-12 and the “Mangenius” isn’t looking so smart and may very well be on the hot seat in 2008.

It’s been 39 years, THIRTY NINE YEARS, since Joe Namath led the Jets to their lone Super Bowl Championship with a stunning 16-7 upset win over the Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III.

And now compound that with the fact that the team they share a city and the back pages with has now gone to four Super Bowls in the last 21 seasons and has won two of three that have been played, it has to hurt.

Then for good measure throw in that their hated division rival will not only be playing in their sixth Super Bowl but has a chance to win their fourth in the last seven years, is considered a dynasty and the team of the decade before this game is even played.

Thinking about it all, I wouldn’t blame Jets fans at all if on Sunday February 3rd they didn’t even turn on the game and instead just sat in the dark getting drunk while watching “Roseanne” reruns.