A reader very thoughtfully sent me an article with “double” Super Bowl significance, althought not quite in the way you might imagine.

This story—here’s the link—http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/30/dining/30curious.html?_r=2&ref=dining&oref=slogin&oref=slogin-- appeared in the New York Times and discussed the amount of bacteria put into a bowl of dip when someone “double dips” a chip. If you are a Seinfeld fan, and how can you not be, you might recall the episode when George Costanza attends the funeral of a relative of his girlfriend. At the wake, George “double dips” a chip. He dipped the chip, took a bite, then dipped it into the dip again.

His girlfriend’s brother, Tim, yells at George, “You double dipped the chip. That’s like putting your whole mouth in the bowl.” George disagrees, calls Tim, “Timmy” and, as usual, all manner of ill-feelings ensue.

With the Super Bowl upon us, a food microbiologist at Clemson, Prof. Paul L. Dawson, used this Seinfeld episode as inspiration for scientific study and instructed his students to determine whether “double dipping” a chip added bacteria to the dip. He doubted that it would. Turns out that it does.

In the article, Dawson says that when you look around the room during your upcoming Super Bowl party, decide whether you’re willing to kiss everyone in the room, because that’s essentially what you’re doing if anyone has double-dipped a chip.

The reader who sent this to me thought it particularly relavent with Super Bowl Sunday upon us. I agree. He also thought it would be a topic worthy of discussion with Eli Manning.

Again, I agree.

Manning, the youngest of the Manning quarterback family, is an avowed fan of Seinfeld. You might recall that last week, in a move that can only be described as idiotic, a Green Bay-area television station removed Seinfeld re-runs from its air. The reasoning was that since it was Eli Manning’s favorite show, they wanted him to feel as uncomfortable as possible. As if playing football in -20 degree weather wasn’t discomfort enough.

I tried to get close enough to Manning today to ask him some Seinfeld questions. This is not something you can do in the middle of a press conference. I’m not interested in becoming a footnote in Super Bowl history, the fool who started a Seinfeld riff in the middle of Eli Manning’s explanation of splitting the Cover-Two defense.

My thinking is that if I can get to him right at the end of a press conference, I can ask him if he has wanted to answer, “Yada, yada, yada” to any of the questions he has been asked this week. Or if he has driven down Van Buren Avenue in downtown Phoenix, and if he has, did he have to give the secret sign of the Van Buren gang.

He might enjoy that. I’m thinking he’d appreciate a break from questions that involve the Patriots pass rush and dealing with the versatility of the New England linebackers. 

Manning is an interesting study. The contrast between Eli and his brother Peyton, who won the Super Bowl last year with the Indianapolis Colts, is stark.

Peyton is older, and it shows. His voice is more mature. His stature during the press conference was relaxed. His answer were crisp and detailed. There always was a chance that a question might send him off on a tangent that went in a direction entirely different, but quite enjoyable and enlightening, than anyone expected. Peyton is an extrovert.

Eli appears to be an introvert. He’s handling his press responsibilities fine, but I don’t think he’s having the time of his life. If he doesn’t have an answer for a question, his reply is short and quick, and he looks for the next question. He’s not going to offer much elaboration. He particularly seems to dislike questions that compare his private life with that of Patroits quarterback Tom Brady.

What strikes me most about Eli Manning, though, is how young he looks. He’s 27, but I don’t think he looks much older than he did when he was drafted in 2004. I look at him on the podium and wonder how someone so young can stand the pressure, physical and mental, and perform so well in such a demanding game. How does a kid like this throw the ball so hard, I wondered today as I watched him field questions.

OK. That’s it for now. See you later.