The Superbowl is going to be fifty this season. For those who may not know, Superbowl is the ultimate event in the game of football (the American kind of course). Let me clarify something right away. This is not really about the game. I do take in the odd game now and then and usually watch the Superbowl, but I am not really into it or know enough to write about the game. I was just amused to see that they changed from using Roman numerals to designate the event. It is going to be 'Superbowl 50'. Last year you will recall that it was Superbowl XLIX.
Why use Roman numerals? Their use seems to be merely ornamental. Other sports do not seem to bother with keeping track like this. Baseball has its 'World Series' (but with teams from just two or three countries participating!) but not 'World Series MMXV' or 'World Series CXI'. The basketball league, NBA, has just the 'Championship'. NFL (or is it NF50?) being the richest, perhaps has assumed the royal mantle and uses Roman numerals. After all, the royals have always used them - Richard III, Henry VIII, etc.
With the Olympics, despite their Greek origin, Roman numbering seems to be in vogue. Luckily we refer to the events using the year or the location rather than the actual number, e.g. the 1984 Olympics or the Los Angeles Olympics as opposed to the XXIII Olympics. And mercifully, the year is not MCMLXXXIV but just 1984.
It was quite alright when we were dealing with small numbers. But with the Superbowl which is an annual affair, it was bound to get somewhat tedious to keep using Roman numerals. I do wonder how fans would have liked it if the golden jubilee event was referred to simply as 'Superbowl L'. And imagine if the the scores too were shown using these numerals. That will certainly send the already frenetic fans into a tizzy with much teeth-gnashing and hair-pulling. Obviously, the NFL has thought the better of it and it will be 'Superbowl 50' this year. I can only hope that we will not have to deal with Superbowl LI' or any further silliness.
The Romans were generally a practical people. I wondered how they carried out the calculations needed to build those famous arches using the Roman notation. No serious arithmetic can be performed with them. Even deciphering what the numbers are is cumbersome. We have seen them used in movies when the copyright statement shown. Why? Apparently, they do not want you to know how old a film is. It takes some V seconds to read it, if you know what I mean and before you can read the MCM... etc., the frame changes.
According to what I could find, the Romans used a board somewhat similar to the abacus, to perform basic arithmetic. You can see some details of this in this article. The author of the article goes on to say that using the counting board is simpler than calculating using the modern numerals. An interesting viewpoint, though I was not convinced. I went so far as to try the counting board which I emulated on a spreadsheet. It worked well enough for simple additions and subtractions. It was quite tedious for multiplications and when it came to division, I just gave it up. I do not even want to know how fractions are handled.
Maybe I am overreacting. Perhaps I should use these numbers to write my next cheque? But I don't want my cheques bouncing. How about filling in any form? For instance,
Date of birth (MM/DD/CCYY) VIII/XXIX/MCMLXVI
Height (cms) CLXXIII
Weight (kg) LXVII
I am sure that will be much appreciated.
I am so used to the decimal system that I am probably biased. But it will be alright with me if we stopped using Roman numerals altogether. The only occasion where I will recommend that you use them is to count sheep when trying to get to sleep - i, ii, iii, iv, v, vi, and so on. You can imagine the numbers stamped on the sheep as they jump over the fence. The effort to keep up with the alphabet soup is sure to put you out.
Happy MMXVI, ahem, I mean, 2016!
Why use Roman numerals? Their use seems to be merely ornamental. Other sports do not seem to bother with keeping track like this. Baseball has its 'World Series' (but with teams from just two or three countries participating!) but not 'World Series MMXV' or 'World Series CXI'. The basketball league, NBA, has just the 'Championship'. NFL (or is it NF50?) being the richest, perhaps has assumed the royal mantle and uses Roman numerals. After all, the royals have always used them - Richard III, Henry VIII, etc.
With the Olympics, despite their Greek origin, Roman numbering seems to be in vogue. Luckily we refer to the events using the year or the location rather than the actual number, e.g. the 1984 Olympics or the Los Angeles Olympics as opposed to the XXIII Olympics. And mercifully, the year is not MCMLXXXIV but just 1984.
It was quite alright when we were dealing with small numbers. But with the Superbowl which is an annual affair, it was bound to get somewhat tedious to keep using Roman numerals. I do wonder how fans would have liked it if the golden jubilee event was referred to simply as 'Superbowl L'. And imagine if the the scores too were shown using these numerals. That will certainly send the already frenetic fans into a tizzy with much teeth-gnashing and hair-pulling. Obviously, the NFL has thought the better of it and it will be 'Superbowl 50' this year. I can only hope that we will not have to deal with Superbowl LI' or any further silliness.
The Romans were generally a practical people. I wondered how they carried out the calculations needed to build those famous arches using the Roman notation. No serious arithmetic can be performed with them. Even deciphering what the numbers are is cumbersome. We have seen them used in movies when the copyright statement shown. Why? Apparently, they do not want you to know how old a film is. It takes some V seconds to read it, if you know what I mean and before you can read the MCM... etc., the frame changes.
According to what I could find, the Romans used a board somewhat similar to the abacus, to perform basic arithmetic. You can see some details of this in this article. The author of the article goes on to say that using the counting board is simpler than calculating using the modern numerals. An interesting viewpoint, though I was not convinced. I went so far as to try the counting board which I emulated on a spreadsheet. It worked well enough for simple additions and subtractions. It was quite tedious for multiplications and when it came to division, I just gave it up. I do not even want to know how fractions are handled.
Maybe I am overreacting. Perhaps I should use these numbers to write my next cheque? But I don't want my cheques bouncing. How about filling in any form? For instance,
Date of birth (MM/DD/CCYY) VIII/XXIX/MCMLXVI
Height (cms) CLXXIII
Weight (kg) LXVII
I am sure that will be much appreciated.
I am so used to the decimal system that I am probably biased. But it will be alright with me if we stopped using Roman numerals altogether. The only occasion where I will recommend that you use them is to count sheep when trying to get to sleep - i, ii, iii, iv, v, vi, and so on. You can imagine the numbers stamped on the sheep as they jump over the fence. The effort to keep up with the alphabet soup is sure to put you out.
Happy MMXVI, ahem, I mean, 2016!
