Since it is the Super Bowl, even those who may not have watched a football game all year will have to make a choice.
Will the Carolina Panthers or the Denver Broncos be their favourite for a day?
For the millions of people who do not own a blue Carolina cap or an orange Denver shirt, the decision likely will come down to a popularity contest between the two best known players on each side. That means the two quarterbacks, the Broncos’ Peyton Manning and the Panthers’ Cam Newton.
The choice could not be more distinct. Manning and Newton are near polar opposites, from the way they play the game to the way they carry themselves.
It is older versus younger. It is tradition versus innovation. It is restraint and moderation versus exuberance and brashness.
See more: Super Bowl 50 – The National's preview coverage and analysis
It is sentimentality for the veteran superstar who may be playing his final game versus excitement for the new superstar reaching his first Super Bowl.
Other than that, Manning and Newton are exactly alike. Two former No 1-draft picks and leaders of their teams, carrying the weight of expectations on their shoulders.
Manning is 39, and the owner of the two most significant passing records in NFL history: most touchdown passes and most total yards. However, age and injuries from neck to feet have caught up to him, and by mid-season the ailments and his sub-par performance had cost him his starting job.
A serendipitous turn of events at season’s end enabled him to recapture his position for the play-offs. Two well-managed, if less than brilliant, games in the post-season by Manning helped the defence-orientated Broncos reach the Super Bowl.
While Manning tumbled, leading to speculation that he will retire after the Super Bowl, Newton, 26, excelled as he redefined the quarterback position.
If Manning is a traditional NFL pocket passer who hates to run, Newton is far from that. He is dangerous in all ways. He stands in the pocket and throws. He rolls out and throws. He runs. Nobody in the game had thrown for 35 touchdown passes and rushed for 10 more until Newton did it this season.
He also led all quarterbacks with 636 yards on the ground.
And, oh by the way, the Panthers were an NFL-best 15-1 in the regular season, and Newton is a big favourite for the league’s Most Valuable Player award.
Their personalities are equally divergent.
Manning's folksy Southern drawl and self-deprecating humour have become famous in everything from dozens of television commercials to the Saturday Night Live comedy show that he has hosted. If he has offended anyone or made enemies, it is a well-kept secret.
Even a story published during the season that suggested Manning may have used banned Human Growth Hormone in his 2011 rehabilitation from neck surgery has gained little traction.
Manning has vehemently denied it, and no one wanted to believe it anyway.
Newton’s rising popularity is based on his supreme confidence and a smile that will not quit, even when it should. He promotes himself as Superman, and his celebratory dances. known as “Dabbing”, have made multitudes laugh, and opponents and their fans fume.
Either you love his infectious grin and over-the-top optimism or you hate it, writing it off as disrespect and immaturity.
But not all opponents hate it.
Last week Denver linebacker Von Miller said he thought Newton’s celebrations were “great” and good for a younger generation of fans who seem much more receptive to grand shows of emotion on the field, displays that old-school fans see as boastful and unsportsmanlike.
“That,” Miller said, “is the future of the sport.”
And that may be the tipping point for casual fans.
Never mind how the players get it done on the field, the choice is between the old guy with the “aw shucks” charm or the new kid dancing in the end zone.
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2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, Leon.
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
Top financial tips for graduates
Araminta Robertson, of the Financially Mint blog, shares her financial advice for university leavers:
1. Build digital or technical skills: After graduation, people can find it extremely hard to find jobs. From programming to digital marketing, your early twenties are for building skills. Future employers will want people with tech skills.
2. Side hustle: At 16, I lived in a village and started teaching online, as well as doing work as a virtual assistant and marketer. There are six skills you can use online: translation; teaching; programming; digital marketing; design and writing. If you master two, you’ll always be able to make money.
3. Networking: Knowing how to make connections is extremely useful. Use LinkedIn to find people who have the job you want, connect and ask to meet for coffee. Ask how they did it and if they know anyone who can help you. I secured quite a few clients this way.
4. Pay yourself first: The minute you receive any income, put about 15 per cent aside into a savings account you won’t touch, to go towards your emergency fund or to start investing. I do 20 per cent. It helped me start saving immediately.
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
THE BIO
BIO:
Born in RAK on December 9, 1983
Lives in Abu Dhabi with her family
She graduated from Emirates University in 2007 with a BA in architectural engineering
Her motto in life is her grandmother’s saying “That who created you will not have you get lost”
Her ambition is to spread UAE’s culture of love and acceptance through serving coffee, the country’s traditional coffee in particular.
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
The specs
Engine: 3-litre twin-turbo V6
Power: 400hp
Torque: 475Nm
Transmission: 9-speed automatic
Price: From Dh215,900
On sale: Now
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
Difference between fractional ownership and timeshare
Although similar in its appearance, the concept of a fractional title deed is unlike that of a timeshare, which usually involves multiple investors buying “time” in a property whereby the owner has the right to occupation for a specified period of time in any year, as opposed to the actual real estate, said John Peacock, Head of Indirect Tax and Conveyancing, BSA Ahmad Bin Hezeem & Associates, a law firm.
Name: Peter Dicce
Title: Assistant dean of students and director of athletics
Favourite sport: soccer
Favourite team: Bayern Munich
Favourite player: Franz Beckenbauer
Favourite activity in Abu Dhabi: scuba diving in the Northern Emirates
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
Where to buy
Limited-edition art prints of The Sofa Series: Sultani can be acquired from Reem El Mutwalli at www.reemelmutwalli.com
How to watch Ireland v Pakistan in UAE
When: The one-off Test starts on Friday, May 11
What time: Each day’s play is scheduled to start at 2pm UAE time.
TV: The match will be broadcast on OSN Sports Cricket HD. Subscribers to the channel can also stream the action live on OSN Play.
