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OK, let's begin a quest. Join me on a hunt for the best Super Bowl party bets. For a couple of hours, I'll troll the Internet. Meanwhile, you can post your own ideas and leads.

First, a little background: Any degenerate sports fan knows about proposition bets. They're not about who wins or looses (nothing so mundane). Instead they're more insane. And thus conducive to friendly wagering, or pools, at a that Super Bowl party. Here's an off-the-top-the-head starter set:

• Length of the national anthem in minutes and seconds. (Gotta find out who's singing this year.)
  
• Number of tackles before first beer ad after kickoff.
  
• First animal in a TV commercial. Dog? Cat? Clydesdale?
  

  That's the general idea. Now let's get started.

Yo! Google turned up a Philly link, phillysportsline.com. It lists some serious Super Bowl prop bets:

• Will Indy's Marvin Harrison get 5.5 or more receptions? Site favors under.
  
• Will Harrison get 78 or more yards? Again, take the under, site says.
  
• Who'll catch the first pass for the Colts?
  
• First pass-catcher for the Bears?
  
• Robbie Gould’s first field goal will be how many yards?
  
• And so on.
  
  
  Sorry, while this stuff's cool for knowledgeable fans in control of their gambling addictions, it's too inside football for a casual crowd. Especially in Philly where only fantasy player know non-Eagles players. But we could cherry pick and tweak, and add this to the list, since it has plenty of possibilities:

  How long with the first field goal be?

  
  

C'mon. Gotta bet on the entertainment, right? Ah, superbowl.com. Whoa, the half-time show is Prince! This is fertile territory for some crazy bets. Help me out here, pop music fans. (I'm emailing Inquirer critic Dan Deluca, too.) What sounds good?

• Number of costume changes.
  
• Number of seconds he actually stands still.
  
• Number of explosions and/or rocket launches.
  
  
  What? Guess what songs he'll sing? Hey, what do I know? I'm winging this.
  

And look, the anthem's being sung by Billy Joel. He'll probably turn it into a ballad ... nice and slow. As I recall, a typical time is about 1:30 ... Here's guessing 1:42. Or bet on something crazier, like "Bags under Billy Joel's eyes, yes including both."

Pop critic Dan Deluca responds to prop-bet idea for "How many sequins will Prince wear?" by saying: "i would put the under/over at 500 ... lots of sequins ...plenty of purple... don't know if there's time for costume changes, but he'll probably strip down as he goes along." Do you dare ask:

How many articles of clothing will Prince take off during halftime show?

Make bets about your friends as well! Like:

• Who'll be the first person to double dip?
  
• Who'll be the first person to spill a drink? (No betting on yourself.)
  
• Who'll be the first person to argue with the refs?
  
  
  Tailor to your crowd.

The Super Bowl will be on CBS. So here are couple of related questions:

• What CBS show will be promoed first after kickoff?
  
• How many times will Katie Couric promos appear during the first quarter?
  

The wires have L.A. Times brief about some proposition bets. Only problem is, when I visit BetUS.com, I'm not finding these bets at all. Actually, another problem: Enough about Prince! The article:

"What are the odds that Prince will trip and fall onstage during Sunday’s Super Bowl halftime show? Or the odds he will be fined for indecent exposure during his performance? It’s 10 to 1 for the former and 5 to 1 for the latter, according to odds posted by BetUS.com....
"—The player scoring the game’s first touchdown will celebrate by hugging the goal post (15 to 1), writing his initials on the ball (20 to 1), using an a real or imaginary cellphone (25 to 1) or continuing to run all the way into the dressing room (150 to 1).
"—During his halftime performance Prince will rip his pants (10 to 1), announce he’s adopted a new name (10 to 1), announce he’s running for president (30 to 1), or have his hair fall out (100 to 1)."

But that's a good question: How will the first TD-scorer celebrate?

And what about the ads? The best roundup I've found so far was on abc.com. Excerpts:

• Known advertisers include FedEx, General Motors, GoDaddy.com, Pepsi, Taco Bell, Coke, Snapple.
  
• Celebrities include Kevin Federline (Nationwide Insurannce), Jay-Z, Jessica Simpson, and racecar drivers Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Danica Patrick. Also, Paris Hilton, L.L. Cool J and Martha Stewart will be in a single NFL Network ad.
  
• "Amateurs" got in the act this year by creating their own commercials for contests set up by Doritos, Chevrolet, and the NFL.
  
  
  So what questions do these facts inspire? First beverage in an ad? First singer? Color of first car?

Let's wrap this up by getting back to football, and brainstorming a few parlays. Here goes:

• Number points scored by Colts in first half, plus number monkeys in first Career Builder ad.
  
• Number of guys injured seen in first half, including in commercials.
  
• First Philadelphia Eagle named by the announcing crew after kickoff.
  
• First food-or-drink-related football term mentioned in second quarter (sandwich, pancake, choke, etc).
  
• Number of people at your party who want Jeff Garcia and Dante Stallworth back next year.
  
• Number of people who say, "Who?" when asked that question.
  
  
  On all of these posts, leave your best answers. Later this week, I'll post a bunch on a page you can print out for your party.