Super Bowl 40: Super Bowl XXXX or Super Bowl XL?

I daresay Super Bowl XL has a certain “ring” to it.

Go Bears!

Anyway, what’s the proper convention viz Roman Numerals?

Gregg Easterbrook, a columnist for NFL.com, writes here that next year’s game will be Super Bowl XL. I don’t know how official Easterbrook’s statement is.

The fortieth Super Bowl is already in the planning stages and being referred to as “Super Bowl XL”. It will be held in Detroit.

Since they’ve established that they use the subtractive convention by using “IX” and “IV” inprevious names, it is reasonable they will call it “XL”. The subtractive convention is also universally accepted for most modern use of Roman numerals (watch faces excepted), although the Romans themselves did not apply it consistently.

In fact, the “XL” logo has been unveiled:

http://www.freep.com/sports/football/line28e_20041028.htm

Not to mention the fact that there’s no way in hell that the NFL would miss the chance to capitalize on the “Extra Large” pun.

And “Super Bowl XXXX” would look like the title of a water-sports video.

Or porn. Yup, looks like porn.

…or a porn movie. :wink:

(“Super Bowl XL – Sponsored by Fruit of the Loom!”)

At my workplace a couple jobs ago, the porn filter wouldn’t let us read about the Super Bowl because of the Roman Numerals for 30.

Haj

I lead a sheltered life, but I thought “water sports” was a genre of porn.

Of course, we’ve already had Super Bowl XXX, which if anything sounds even more like porn. Don’t the porn labellers generally stop at three Xs?

That may be overgeneralizing.

There is an obviously an arms race when it comes to the letter X.

Quit complaining and get to work. :wink:
Peace,
mangeorge

Beats VVVVVVVV.

Hey hey, a Cal fan, way back there. Imagine that. :wink:

FYI. The first Super Bowl to use Roman numerals was Super Bowl V. Commissioner Pete Rozelle wanted to use Roman numerals to give the game more pizzazz.

Personally, I liked the World Championship of Professional Football.

According to mathworld, if superbowl 40 was played before the invention of the printing presss, it was XXXX. If it was played sometime after the Gutenberg Bible was published, it was XL.

I’m sure we can expect lots of variations on “XL-ence” and “XL-ent”.

Although Super Bowl I was officially called the AFL-NFL World Championship, the newspapers of the era were already calling it “The Super Bowl”.

… and baby jesus cries on.