By HENRY COLT
Sentinel Staff Writer
Sunday will be an exciting day: Not only will the San Francisco 49ers play the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LIV, but they will do so on a Palindrome Day — 02-02-2020. Sunday’s Palindrome Day will be the first of its kind (eight digits with a reversible but still palindromic month and day) since 11/11/1111, says Aziz S. Inan, Ph.D., a University of Portland electrical engineering professor who moonlights as a palindrome expert. With this in mind, Sentinel staff members asked six Sitkans and one Portlandian to offer their takes on Sunday’s events.
Jamie Hock
On the Super Bowl: “I’m going to root for the underdogs.”
Sentinel: “I don’t know who the underdogs are.”
Hock: “I don’t know either.”
(Sentinel Photos by James Poulson)
Tayler Bowser
On the Super Bowl: “I really wanted the Chiefs and the Packers to be in the Super Bowl together — that was my childhood dream.”
Karen Parker
On the Superbowl: “If I can’t root for the Patriots and I can’t root for the Seahawks, then there’s no one to root for.”
On Palindrome Day: “Something besides the Superbowl? I’m just focused on taxes at the moment.”
Bruce Ulrich
On the Super Bowl: “I’ll be watching right here, for the free food.” Ulrich says he’s been watching the Super Bowl at the Pioneer Bar for over 30 years.
On Palindrome Day: “Palindrome Day? What the $@%?!”
Don Jeske
On the Super Bowl: “I’m just lucky to be here!” Jeske fell off a dock Saturday. “I slid into the water like a seal. There was no splash, no nothing.”
On Palindrome Day: “I believe God sets up everything mathematically.”
On his girlfriend’s birthday (also Sunday): “I think I’ll give her a rose.”
Billy Daniels
On the Super Bowl: “Who am I rooting for? Since I don’t have any money on it, I’d say Kansas City.”
On Palindrome Day: “After the Super Bowl, then maybe people will think about it. Because nobody loves Valentine’s Day — it’s just another corporate time to spend money.”
Aziz S. Inan, Ph.D.
On the Super Bowl: “I was a graduate student at Stanford many years ago so in that respect I have a little bit more inclination towards the 49ers, but on the other hand, whichever team plays best, I think they should get the Super Bowl.”
On Palindrome Day: “I was joking to my students that I’m going to get up at 2:02 a.m. on Sunday morning and eat some cereal and then repeat the same thing at 20:20 in the evening of the same day — but I think I should be more creative and do something more special. Mostly I’ll keep advocating for this date because it’s so rare.”
