Before we dive into this blog, there are a few important things we need to establish. The Super Bowl is a football game that will be played between the Patriots and Eagles in Minnesota on Sunday.
"Superb Owl" is an oft-typoed search for Super Bowl that, as you can imagine, picks up steam this time of year. It's often times a joke within newsrooms that cover the event.
"Superb Owl" is also a charity event that will be held on Friday and is expected to include appearances by several Vikings players.
Check out SportsLine's look at the top 10 craziest prop bets for Super Bowl Sunday.
On Monday, a photo surfaced on Twitter that appeared (key word: appeared) to wink to all those in the publishing industry familiar with the search query. Below, you'll see two Minnesota trains that appear (again, key word: appear) to combine to spell out "Superb Owl LII" instead of "Super Bowl LII."
WHO DID THIS. #SuperbOwl pic.twitter.com/BQVnyFTlVA
— Karlee Kanz (@KarleeKanz) January 29, 2018
Vikings executive vice president of football operations Rob Brzezinski answered the question that was on everybody's mind: Why?
Glad you asked! https://t.co/4F0cV4dH5b SB Party w @Vikings players for charity! Support @Arete2a2e Tickets: leahb@areteacademymn.org
— Rob Brzezinski (@BrzRob) January 29, 2018
On Friday, two days before the Super Bowl, a charity party called "Superb Owl LII" will take place on the 50th floor of Minneapolis' IDS Center. The event page says Vikings players Trae Waynes, Harrison Smith, Kyle Rudolph, Anthony Barr, Michael Floyd, Kai Forbath, and Everson Griffen will be in attendance. All event proceeds will support a variety of charities. There will be drinks, snacks, a chance to play "Madden" against NFL players, and an opportunity to hang out with the players listed above.
However, on Tuesday, a Twitter user reached out to me to tell me that the photo above isn't even real. It was photoshopped. Minnesota Public Radio also reported that The Metropolitan Airports Commission said that the image is fake.
Completely unrelated to the @Vikings Superb Owl Party held this Friday. It's an inside joke from the Minneapolis/St Paul Aviation Spotter group on Facebook. There's a lot of snowy owls at the airport, and we jest with the bird watchers that come the aircraft viewing area.
— Mister DJER (@MisterDJER) January 30, 2018
I created the Photoshop from an original taken by John Newsome in the Minneapolis/St. Paul Aviation Spotters group on Facebook.
— Mister DJER (@MisterDJER) January 30, 2018
Yeah, about that... pic.twitter.com/Ae25yRZFxe
— Mister DJER (@MisterDJER) January 30, 2018
A bit weird considering Brzezinski directly responded to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport on Twitter and played it off like it was associated with the event.
Yes it is Rap! How about a retweet?! @Arete2a2e https://t.co/4F0cV4dH5b Tickets: leahb@areteacademymn.org
— Rob Brzezinski (@BrzRob) January 29, 2018
Bizarre. It does turn out, some places actually do prefer the superb owl over the Super Bowl. The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources lists 12 types of owls on their website. Here's one, via the Minnesota Zoo:
Look no feather for #owl photos this #SuperbOwlweek! #spectacledowl pic.twitter.com/8SrKyKdszd
— Minnesota Zoo (@mnzoo) January 29, 2018
According to MSP News, Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport has "an official aircraft viewing area that is used as much by birders as aviation enthusiasts." So, while the "Superb Owl" train might not exist at the airport, you can go try to find real superb owls at the airport.
Anyway, there you have it: Minnesota didn't make a horrible mistake with the design on their trains. But that didn't stop the Vikings from running it and using it as a promotional tool for their charity event. And owl lovers, well, for them this entire thing has probably been a hoot.
This post has been updated to reflect the fact that the image was photoshopped.
