50 things to know, do and try during Super Bowl 50

It’s the Super Bowl! Plopping down on your favorite recliner, overeating nasty food, and drinking cold beer. We in the Carolinas have a team in the mix, whether it is our favorite team or not.

So our staff has put together 50 things to do, know, eat, drink, try (some with supervision) before, during and after the 50th rendition of the Super Bowl!

1. Get stuff done early. Seriously. Bathe, run to the store, pick up a Redbox video for the kids in the other room, but get it all done before noon. The “honey come check out this commercial!” call can come at anytime, and you don’t want to be stuck in yesterday’s T-shirt while glued to the screen.

2. Exercise early. Get up and move if 70 percent of the rest of your day will be eating, drinking and watching TV.

3. Make chili cheese dip - Grab a Pyrex bowl, smear a cream cheese packet at the bottom. Drop in a bag of shredded sharp cheddar cheese, a can of bean-less chili and a bag of shredded Mexican cheese. Microwave for 6:30 and voila. Enjoy with tortilla chips.

4. Another party favorite with tortilla chips is taco salad. Cut up a head of lettuce, drop in ground beef, chopped green peppers, red peppers, shredded sharp cheddar cheese and pour a bottle of Catalina dressing in it. Scoop with chips.

5. Super Bowl party can mean cook off time! Challenge everyone to bring a new appetizer or side dish and be prepared to share the recipe.

6. Buy a new big screen TV for the big game and return it on Monday.

7. Beer cheese dip.: Two pounds of Velveeta, 12-ounce stale can of Budwesier, 16 ounces of mayonnaise, a teaspoon each of onion powder and garlic powder, two teaspoons each of cayenne pepper and Tabasco sauce. Let beer sit overnight. Mix everything into a big mixing bowl. Beat until real smooth. Cover and let sit in refrigerator a day or so, then serve.

8. If betting against guests or friends, keep the amounts friendly!

9. Why not bet on who will have the most total yards? Whoever loses has to mow the lawn of the winner (when the weather gets better.)

10. Charge your phone. You’ll be doing a lot of searching, commercial replaying and Facebook trash talking if you’re anything like our group of friends.

11. Play Super Bowl Tic Tac Toe! Make several cards with the Tic-Tac-Toe grid and use things that could happen during the game (ie. Panthers score first, Broncos win the coin toss, First touchdown is a pass) and mark them off as they occur. First one to get three in a row in their tic-tac-toe, wins.

12. The same can be done with a Bingo playcard. Make several cards with the Bingo grid and use things that could happen during the game and mark them off as they occur. First one to get Bingo wins.

13. Challenge your friends to a lip sync battle at halftime. Coldplay and Beyonce in the same performance is like watching children learn how to juggle… boring. Pair up in couples and vote on the best lip sync-ers by the end of half.

14. Make Panther Punch! (Courtesy of online fan). Take 375 ml Blue Curacao, 1 liter of mandrin Vodka, 1.75 liter of Lemonade, 12 ounce can of Sprite and combine in a large pitcher.

15. Make the Bronco! (Courtesy of drinksmixer.com) Get two parts of vodka, four parts of orange soda and half part of Blue Curacao liqueur. Fill glass with ice. Fill with 2 parts vodka. Then fill with 3-4 parts Orange Soda. Stir. Top off with .5 part Blue Curacao. Don't stir -- it should be multi-colored (Orange & Blue). These are the same colors as the Denver Broncos.

16. Spice up your party by playing drinking games associated with the score:

17. Drink every time the Panthers get a first down.

18. Limit your cigarette breaks to ends of quarters and timeouts.

19. Drink a shot for every fumble.

20. Finish the liquor bottle if a wardrobe malfunction happens at halftime.

21. If the malfunction happens to a player during the game, consume all liquor and beer in the home.

22. Set a beer mug on the table and begin to bounce a quarter into the mug as soon as a penalty flag is thrown. Keep bouncing quarters until an announcement is made on the penalty. Give the amount of drinks out to make the amount of quarters made.

23. Make Buffalo Chicken Dip. Get 8 ounces of softened cream cheese, half cup each of buffalo sauce and bleu cheese dressing, two cups shredded cooked chicken, and half cup shredded cheddar cheese. Preheat oven to 350. Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl, then scoop into a baking dish. Bake 20 minutes or until cooked through. Serve with fresh vegetables and crackers for dipping.

24. Keep a commercial scorecard! Write down commercial examples or things you’d see in Super Bowl commercials (Budweiser, horses, bikinis, sad stories, Doritos commercials, etc.) and put them all in a hat. At 6 p.m., have each person at the party pick out of the hat and keep track of each category seen in the commercials. Whoever has the most at halftime or end of the game, wins.

25. Been trying to get through to customer service of your favorite company? Call them during the Super Bowl. Everyone else has eyes glued to the TV, so the likelihood of getting through to someone (likely overseas) is very likely!

26. Order a pizza by emoji - Add your mobile number to your Pizza Profile on dominos.com. Once you do, you'll be able to re-order their pre-programmed "Easy Order" by texting a pizza emoji or the words "Easy Order" to DPIZZA (374992).

27. Did you know the University of Arizona Symphonic Marching Band and Grambling State University marching band performed at halftime during Super Bowl I?

28. Gamble and be proud! Many states, including Colorado, South Carolina, and Maine, provide exceptions to their usual gambling laws for social gambling on the Super Bowl. Social gambling exceptions usually require that participants have a bona fide social relationship outside of the gambling activities, and that all the proceeds of the gambling activities are distributed among the participants (so the organizer can’t take a cut).

29. Strategically plan bathroom breaks. We are serious. So, if you’re in it for the long haul (the 11-hour pre-game, game and post-game), planning bathroom breaks around commercials is tough considering it is the biggest commercial viewing day of the year. Plan wisely.

30. If you’re hosting a party, don’t forget the extra toilet paper!

31. Go to a home improvement store. Meatheads will be watching the games with their bro-skis, while you’ll have awesome access to workers at these stores and the lines should be next to nothing!

32. If the Carolina Panthers win, invest in the stock market. Historically the stock market does better if the NFC wins.

33. Add some kick to your barbecue by trying Budweiser barbecue sauce! They have barbecue sauce, wing sauce, beechwood sauce and more!

34. Cut off the National Anthem and Google “Whitney Houston, National Anthem, Super Bowl XXV.” You’d be hard pressed to find a better version.

35. If you’re throwing a party, split the room in half – one side for your Panther fans and the other side for Broncos fans.

36. If you drink alcohol, be sure to drink plenty of water to stay hydrated and void a hangover.

37. If you ignore that last tip, have Gatorade and aspirin ready for the morning.

38. If you don’t know what a dab is, learn it. You’ll see someone genuflecting into their arm and wonder what the heck is going on if you don’t know what it is.

39. Make Ham and Cheese Croissants to soak up the beer and liquor. Take four croissants, get deli ham and four slices of cheese. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, warm the ham in the microwave, slice the croissants, and top with warm ham and slices of cheese. Bake for 3-5 minutes, until cheese is melted and croissants are toasted and flaky.

40. Don’t make an excuse to call in sick to work on Monday. Employers know that 1.5 million people call in sick the Monday after the Super Bowl.

41. If you’re borderline hungover, text in sick.

42. If your boss does not allow texting in sick, hang off your bed with shoulders off the edge to allow the blood to rush to your head. When you call in, it’ll sound like you’re congested and really sick.

43. Pizza orders increase by 35 percent on Super Bowl Sunday, so order early!

44. Don’t even watch Coldplay or Beyonce. Google: “Aerosmith, N’Sync halftime show.” By far, the best halftime performance in recent years.

45. Don’t forget the antacids.

46. Make sugar football cookies. Get a can of sugar cookie dough, chocolate frosting and vanilla frosting. Shape the cookies like mini footballs (remember, dough expands), frost the chocolate first and then vanilla laces.

47. Teach your friends a fact: Did you know the average length of the Super Bowl telecast is three hours and 35 minutes?

48. If you decide to drink, designate a driver to get you home or wherever your Sunday night “Netflix and chill” friend is at.

49. Start putting away $15,068.49 per day until next Super Bowl. That’s estimated how much a 30-second commercial will cost for Super Bowl 51.

50. Don’t forget to call those annoying friends and family after the Panthers win the Super Bowl and tell them never to bet against Carolina again!

This story was originally published February 4, 2016 at 12:10 AM with the headline "50 things to know, do and try during Super Bowl 50."