Time for the NFL to stop using Roman numerals

[cmasspatsfan]

For some reason we learned Roman numerals in 3rd grade, and I've always been good with math, so it takes me 2 seconds to translate but I understand why some people don't want it anymore.

 

[lancerman]

Sup

Super Bowl 2025 works for me.

Whether it is 50th or 60th or 40th is pretty meaningless.

When we discuss past Super Bowls, it seems much more efficient (and informative to refernence the year of the game.

Problem is everyone debates whether to call it by the year of the season or the year the playoffs took place. There’s never really consistency. You say the 2008 SB some people think Pats vs Giants and some thing Steelers vs Cardinals. You say SB 42 and everyone knows exactly which one we are talking about

 

[XLIX]

It's not about the five-second calculation; it's about then translating that calculation to when the event took place.

That was the 5 second calculation to which I was referring. Doing the Roman Numeral calculation to our Arabic takes about 1 second.

 

[Hammer of Thor]

The Roman Numeral is the one true numeral. Other denominations are heretical

Forget that, it’s high time we move to the duodecimal system and solve all our numeric inefficiency issues.

 

[Pape]

True, it is about branding.

Me, I'm all about efficiency. Just call it Super Bowl 2025. All the roman numerals are just meaningless hieroglyphics.

wouldn't it be Super Bowl 2024? its the championship for the '24 season...

and, while it can be a pita, tbh, the roman numerals look cool...

I so wanted the Pats to win the Triple X SB...

 

[Force Zero Boomer]

Why should we stop using Roman numerals just because it takes 5 seconds to convert them?

For women it takes much longer

 

[jmt57]

For some reason we learned Roman numerals in 3rd grade, and I've always been good with math, so it takes me 2 seconds to translate but I understand why some people don't want it anymore.

Agreed 100% that the translation from "XXVII" to 27 is easy.
It's the translating that to what year or season that is problematic, in my opinion.

That was the 5 second calculation to which I was referring. Doing the Roman Numeral calculation to our Arabic takes about 1 second.

Again, it's not the translation of Roman Numeral to our Arabic that I have issue with.
It's about the translation to the year or season, which is a needless multi-step process.

If you saw "Super Bowl 17" or "Super Bowl 29" would you instantly know what year or season that was referring to?

 

[Ross12]

Yes, but then we as a society got smarter and moved forward, making the above obsolete.

What you want to do is pander to the people too dumb to do a 5 second calculation in their heads.

Please stop posting, your username is hurting my brain. I can’t read it!

 

[XLIX]

If you saw "Super Bowl 17" or "Super Bowl 29" would you instantly know what year or season that was referring to?

Would I "instantly" know it? No. But there are certain ones that I do instantly recognize as benchmarks.

I instantly remember Super Bowl I was the 1966 season (with the game taking place in 1967)
I instantly remember Super Bowl XX was the 1985 season (with the game taking place in 1986)
I instantly remember Super Bowl XXXVI was the 2001 season (with the game taking place in 2002)
There is one other I instantly remember, but am trying hard to forget, so I won't mention it.

Given that simple basis, it takes me less than a second to mentally calculate "Well Super Bowl 17 was 3 years before Super Bowl 20, so we're talking 82-83."

 

[XLIX]

Please stop posting, your username is hurting my brain. I can’t read it!

I was actually planning to take advantage of Ian's policy that we can change our names once every 3 years.... it is just outdated now....

 

[jmt57]

Would I "instantly" know it? No. But there are certain ones that I do instantly recognize as benchmarks.

I instantly remember Super Bowl I was the 1966 season (with the game taking place in 1967)
I instantly remember Super Bowl XX was the 1985 season (with the game taking place in 1986)
I instantly remember Super Bowl XXXVI was the 2001 season (with the game taking place in 2002)
There is one other I instantly remember, but am trying hard to forget, so I won't mention it.

Given that simple basis, it takes me less than a second to mentally calculate "Well Super Bowl 17 was 3 years before Super Bowl 20, so we're talking 82-83."

I agree to a certain extent; that's exactly how I figure those years out as well.
SB 20, SB 36 and SB 49 specifically are the benchmarks that I use, and do the math from there.


But why go through those steps?

What about all the NFL fans that are not fortunate enough to be a fan of a team like the Patriots, that have none of those benchmarks?

Baseball, basketball, hockey and college football thankfully don't force us to go through that process.

Even the two events that should in theory most likely be using roman numerals - the summer and winter olympics - use years, with the number (arabic or roman) only occasionally used as a secondary way of describing the event.

 

[lancerman]

I agree to a certain extent; that's exactly how I figure those years out as well.
SB 20, SB 36 and SB 49 specifically are the benchmarks that I use, and do the math from there.


But why go through those steps?

What about all the NFL fans that are not fortunate enough to be a fan of a team like the Patriots, that have none of those benchmarks?

Baseball, basketball, hockey and college football thankfully don't force us to go through that process.

Even the two events that should in theory most likely be using roman numerals - the summer and winter olympics - use years, with the number (arabic or roman) only occasionally used as a secondary way of describing the event.

SB I and II the two Packers one
SB III the Namath Guarantee game
SB IV the Chiefs winning with Dawson
SB V, the Unitas getting a win
SB VII the undefeated Dolphins
SB XIII the Steelers vs Cowboys Super
SB XIX is the Montana vs Marino one
SB XX is the Bears one
SB XXV is wide right
SB XXVI is the Bills/Skins
SB XXVII and XXVIII ate Bills vs Cowboys
SB XXX is the Steelers vs Cowboys in the 90's where the old timers were shedding tears of joy over getting that match up
SB XXXI is Pats vs Packers
SB XXXII and XXXIII were the two Broncos woes
SB XXXIV was the GSOT
SB XXXV was the 2000 Rams one

Then it gets easier because you have the Pats dynasty and a lot of those games end up somehow being relevant to us in someway

XXXVI is our first win
XXXVII is the Gruden revenge game
XXXVIII is the Pats vs Panthers
XXXIX is Pats vs Eagles
XL was the horribly officiated Steelers vs Seahawks game
XLI was the Colts vs Bears which sucked because it should have been us in there
XLII was the closest I've been to death
XLIII was that crazy Steelers vs Cardinals game in the Bradyless season
XLIV was Manning throwing the pick six vs the Saints
XLV was Rodgers getting his only SB
XLVI is the second closest to death I've been
XLVII is that Niners vs Ravens one where Ray Lewis was retiring and they beat us in the AFCCG
XLVIII was the LOB kicking the **** out of the Legion of Boom
XLIX was the Malcolm Butler at the goal line game
50 was the corpse of Manning and Newton not diving on the ball
LI was 28-3
LII was the third closest I've been to death
LIII was us beating the Rams again
LIV was the first the Chiefs win
LV was Brady winning in Tampa
LVII and LVIII were the recent back to back Chiefs

What makes it hard are their are a bunch of unmemorable ones between the late 70's and early 90's that were typically blow outs. Like I know Montana beat the Bengals twice and Elway got embarrassed a bunch of times but I don't always remember the number of the game off hand.

 

[fourhour]

I was actually planning to take advantage of Ian's policy that we can change our names once every 3 years.... it is just outdated now....

I say that out. Sounds like Zixlix!

 

[Lavictoire]

Thank you! No more roman numerals! I cant decipher them most of the time. The only one I recognize immediately in roman numerals is Super Bowl 36. Its easier to just say the patriot eagles super bowl...the patriots seahawks super bowl.

 

[JayNM]

I kinda wanted for them to go 100

Welcome, to Super bowl C

The third grade of super bowls

 

[JayNM]

And if you wait for the 597th Super Bowl, you could have the greatest SB of all time

SB DIIIC

yes i know its wrong

 

[1960Pats]

Having milk and block ice delivered by a horse-drawn cart were tradition too, as was learning how to use a slide rule.

I gave my son my slide rule from the 70's. He was fascinated with it.

 

[1960Pats]

It's not about the five seconds to convert.

It's the fact that then one has to translate to a year.

There's a good reason other sports don't say Stanley Cup CVIII or World Series XCIX.

My bigger issue isn't the use of Roman numerals but the use of the term "world champions" in a sport that only represents 32 US cities.

Baseball is even worse though. They call the US winner the world champion but each time they actually played baseball against other countries they lost. I think Korea and Japan both beat them in the past.

 

[Patriot Missile]

So I learned cursive and Roman numerals, took a semester of typing and my kids didn’t have to learn any of these? Next thing you know, someone’s going to tell me there is less than 9 planets and Pluto is just a block of ice.

 

[Clonamery]

Football is about as close to gladiatorial games in our society (which is based heavily on Rome) as we're going to get. The numerals stay.

Yeah says the guy who's lived a life on a velvet cushion.