The NFL awarded the 2010 Super Bowl — Super Bowl XLIV — to Miami and the championship game will be played February 7, 2010 at Dolphin Stadium. It is the 10th time the city, who last hosted in 2007, will play host to the championship event. Some think that it is Florida’s weather that is the real winner, and I certainly can’t argue with that. The fact that Tampa just hosted the 2009 Super Bowl, pretty much confirms Florida as a “super” location in my mind.

Super Bowl XLIV FAQs

Miami Is Hosting the 2010 Championship Game

There are less than 100 days until Super Bowl XLIV. I’m sure many of you have questions regarding the championship game, so here are a few of them answered:

What is Super Bowl XLIV?
Each year, the National Football League (NFL) conducts a professional football championship game between the champions of the American Football Conderence (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The winning team is declared champions of the NFL and winners of the Vince Lombardi Trophy.

When will Super Bowl XLIV (44) be played?
February 7, 2010

Where will Super Bowl XLIV be played?
Dolphin Stadium, Miami Gardens, FL
Editors Note: Through a sponsorship deal with Jimmy Buffet, Dolphin Stadium was renamed Land Shark Stadium through the 2009 NFL Season. The sponsorship deal does not include naming rights for the Pro Bowl or Super Bowl games scheduled for 2010.

What is the seating capacity for Dolphin Stadium?
75,540

How are Super Bowl tickets distributed?
The majority of Super Bowl tickets are distributed to the NFL teams, with each team receiving 17.5 percent of the tickets. The non-participating teams receive 1.2 percent; and, the host team — Miami Dolphins — will receive five percent. The remaining tickets are controlled by the NFL. It distributes those primarily to NFL affiliated companies, the broadcast network, corporate sponsors, media, charities, fans and the host committee. Only about one percent of the tickets go to fans. What fans? Lucky ones. The annual Super Bowl random drawing determines exactly which fans. Entries for the drawing will only accepted between February 1 and June 1, 2009. All entries must include name, address, phone number and email address, and must be sent via certified or registered mail. Potential recipients will be notified by mail in October or November.

Mail ticket requests to:

Super Bowl Random Drawing
P. O. Box 49140
Strongsville, OH 44149-0140

Only one request per address will be accepted. Duplicate requests will be ineligible. Those selected will have the opportunity to purchase two tickets.

How much are Super Bowl tickets?
Ticket prices have not been determined at this time, but historically are between $800 and $1000.

Which airport should I fly into?
If you will be traveling to Miami by plane, you have a choice of two major airports. Take a look at the pros and cons of Miami International Airport and Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood International Airport, and find out which offers the cheapest flights. Click here more information on planning your trip to Miami for the Super Bowl.

Are volunteers needed for Super Bowl XLIV?
Yes. Volunteers — known as “Ambassadors” — are needed to welcome guests to the airport and hotels, assist with transportation and Super Bowl special events.

What do I need to do to volunteer for Super Bowl XLIV?
Volunteer positions are filling up quickly, so apply as soon as possible. You must be over 18 years of age by November, 2009 and provide proof with a valid driver’s license or state identification. All volunteers are required to attend at least one training session for the event(s) they have been assigned. Additionally, all volunteers must attend the general volunteer orientation in January, 2010.
| Volunteer Guidelines | Volunteer Application |

If I volunteer, will I get Super Bowl tickets?
No. Super Bowl tickets are not issued to volunteers and no volunteers will be placed in Dolphin Stadium on game day.

What television network will carry Super Bowl XLIV?
CBS

What radio network will carry Super Bowl XLIV?
CBS Radio

How many times has the Super Bowl been played in Miami?
February 7, 2010 will mark the 10th Super Bowl that has been played in Miami — in 1968 (II), 1969 (III), 1971 (V), 1976 (X), 1979 (XIII), 1989 (XXIII), 1995 (XXIX), 1999 (XXXIII), 2007 (XLI) and 2010 (XLIV).

Has it been played in other locations in Florida?
Yes. In Tampa — 1984 (XVIII), 1991 (XXV), 2001 (XXXV) and 2009 (XLIII) — and, in Jacksonville in 2005 (XXXIX).

Of course, the biggest question of all… who will be the two teams playing on February 7, 2010 still hasn’t been answered. Whatever teams play, you can be certain that Miami will uphold its reputation as a “super” Super Bowl site with pleasant weather and a variety of outdoor activities sure to please every visitor.

Heene will take “all and full” responsibility for his actions, and knows that Judge Stephen Schapanski could send him to jail two days before Christmas, said Heene’s attorney David Lane. The two are scheduled to be sentenced this morning. Lane said Richard Heene is more likely to receive a jail sentence than his wife.

“You know, what happened here has spun so wildly out of control that nobody hand any inkling that this would be the worldwide event that it turned into,” Lane said. Richard and Mayumi Heene pleaded guilty on Nov. 13 in connection with the Oct. 15 incident in which they told the world their son had floated away from their Fort Collins home in a UFO-shaped helium balloon.

Falcon wasn’t aboard the balloon when it landed near Denver International Airport, 50 miles away. Instead, the boy reappeared at his home later that afternoon, and his parents said he had been hiding in the garage attic.

The outpouring of support for the family turned to skepticism and outright hostility hours later, when Falcon said during a CNN interview that they did it “for the show.”

The Heenes face paying a “substantial” amount of restitution in the case, according to the judge. The Federal Aviation Administration has also proposed fining the couple $11,000 for launching an unauthorized aircraft, Lane said. FAA spokesman Mike Fergus confirmed the agency has completed its investigation, but he did not release details. Court records indicate the Heenes were in financial trouble and working with a production company to create a reality television show based on their lives. Those documents say Richard Heene told a friend he planned to stage a hoax involving a UFO-shaped balloon that would grab worldwide attention.

Under questioning by sheriff’s investigators, Mayumi Heene confessed to helping stage the hoax. That confession set the stage for the plea bargain that settled the criminal cases. Richard Heene, 48, pleaded guilty to one count of attempting to influence a public servant, a class 4 felony, for which he could receive two to six years in prison and a fine of between $2,000 and $500,000. Mayumi Heene, 45, pleaded guilty to one count of false reporting to authorities, a class 3 misdemeanor for which she could receive up to six months in county jail and a fine of $50 to $750.

How much the couple will have to pay in restitution remains undecided. Prosecutors say they will also present a recommendation today.

Hughes reports for the Fort CollinsColoradoan. Contributing: Brian Willie, KUSA-TV, Denver

Murphy died about 10 a.m. Sunday at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, according to the hospital.

She was transported to the medical center after the Fire Department responded to a call at 8 a.m. at the home she shared with her husband, British screenwriter Simon Monjack, in the Hollywood Hills.

Assistant Chief Coroner Ed Winter said Murphy apparently collapsed in the bathroom, and authorities were looking into her medical history.

An official cause of death may not be determined for some time, since toxicology tests will be required, but “it appears to be natural,” Winter said. He said an autopsy was planned for Monday or Tuesday.

Los Angeles police have opened an investigation into Murphy’s death, Officer Norma Eisenman said. Detectives and coroner’s officials were at Murphy and Monjack’s home Sunday afternoon but did not talk to reporters. Paparazzi were camped outside the multistory home, located above the Sunset Strip.

Neighbor Clare Staples said she saw firefighters working to resuscitate the actress Sunday morning. She said Murphy was on a stretcher.

Murphy’s husband, wearing pajama bottoms and no shoes, appeared “dazed” as firefighters tried to save her, Staples said. “It’s just tragic,” she added.

Murphy’s publicist, Nicole Perna, said in a statement: “In this time of sadness, the family thanks you for your love and support. It is their wish that you respect their privacy.”

Messages left for Murphy’s manager and agent by The Associated Press were not immediately returned.

Murphy’s father, Angelo Bertolotti, said he learned of her death from his son, the actress’s brother, and was stunned.

“She was just an absolute doll since she was born,” Bertolotti said from his Branford, Fla., home. “Her personality was always outward. Everybody loved her — people that made movies with her, people on a cruise — they all loved her. She was just a regular gal.”

He said he hadn’t heard much about the circumstances of Murphy’s death. Bertolotti divorced her mother when Murphy was young and hadn’t seen Murphy in the past few years.

“She was just talented,” Bertolotti said. “And I loved her very much.”

Born Nov. 10, 1977, in Atlanta, Murphy grew up in New Jersey and later moved with her mother to Los Angeles to pursue acting.

Her career started in the early 1990s with small roles in television series, commercials and movies. She is best known for parts in Girl, Interrupted, Clueless and 8 Mile.

Her on-screen work had lessened of late, but Murphy’s voice gave life to numerous animated characters, including Luanne Platter on more than 200 episodes of Fox’s King of the Hill and Gloria the penguin in the 2006 feature Happy Feet.

She is due to appear in Sylvester Stallone’s upcoming film, The Expendables, set for release next year.

Her role in 8 Mile led to more recognition, Murphy told AP in 2003. “That changed a lot,” she said. “That was the difference between people knowing my first and last name as opposed to not.”

Murphy credited her mother, Sharon, with being a key to her success.

“When I asked my mom to move to California, she sold everything and moved out here for me,” Murphy said. “I was really grateful to have grown up in an environment that was conducive to creating and didn’t stifle any of that. She always believed in me.”

She dated Ashton Kutcher, who costarred with Murphy in 2003’s romantic comedy “Just Married.”

Kutcher sent a message on Twitter Sunday morning about Murphy’s death: “2day the world lost a little piece of sunshine,” Kutcher wrote. “My deepest condolences go out 2 Brittany’s family, her husband, & her amazing mother Sharon.”

Funeral arrangements have not been announced.

VIDEO: See the 787 take off for the first time | PHOTO GALLERY: See the day’s events unfold

UPDATE (4:45 p.m. ET): The 787 Dreamliner has landed at Boeing Field in Seattle after a three-hour test flight. The flight was cut short by about an hour due to deteriorating weather conditions in the area.

UPDATE (1:35 p.m. ET): “Pilots Michael Carriker and Randall Neville lifted off at about 10:30 a.m. PST from Everett’s Paine Field on a four-hour flight over Washington state to perform a variety of basic tests and systems checks before landing at Seattle’s Boeing Field,” AP writes.

UPDATE (1:23 p.m. ET): The Dreamliner is taxiing and preparing for flight. Watch live here. (Click the Webcast tab.)

Today is the day aviation buffs have been waiting for since 2007, when Boeing’s Dreamliner aircraft was originally scheduled to fly its test flight. The long-awaited test flight of the 787 is scheduled for 1 p.m. ET today. The aircraft will take off from Everett’s Paine Field and land at Boeing Field in Seattle.

“The test aircraft completed its ground tests during the weekend, including a 150-mph dash down the runway at Everett’s Paine Field during which its nose gear briefly lifted off the pavement,” The Associated Press writes. “Tuesday morning, pilots Michael Carriker and Randall Neville hope to take the 787 on a four-hour flight over Washington state, beginning the extensive flight test program needed to obtain the plane’s Federal Aviation Administration certification.”

WEBCAST: Boeing’s website is now live streaming the flight

Boeing Commercial Airplanes spokesman Jim Proulx told AP that several factors are key for test-flight day:  good visibility, no standing water at the two airports and gentle or no wind. Proulx added that it was raining 15 years ago when Boeing’s 777 took its first flight.

According to AP, National Weather Service meteorologist Ted Buehner said “Tuesday’s forecast called for rain, 10 mph winds and a cloud ceiling at about 1,500 feet,  said — nothing to prevent a modern jetliner from flying.”

Today’s scheduled first flight will mark the beginning of the test flight program that must be completed to obtain FAA certification. Today’s aircraft is one of six that will be used in testing which is expected to last nine months.

Boeing has 840 orders for the new aircraft which can hold up to 330 passengers and has previously announced plans to deliver the first one by the end of 2010.

“Our pilots told me the airplane performed beautifully,” said Mike Delaney, vice president and chief project engineer for the 787, in a statement. “We’re going through and analyzing the data to ensure we’re ready for first flight. From evaluations we’ve done so far, everything looks good.” Stay tuned for updates… –Rebecca Heslin

Photo of the 787 pre-flight at Paine Field in Everette, Wash., by Ted S. Warren, AP.

Dawson makes a living producing videos — mostly spoofs of pop culture — that run on YouTube, the Web’s most popular online video service. He lives on his split of the advertising revenue. (YouTube won’t say how much it gives out.)

On Monday, he writes the script. Tuesday and Wednesday are for props and production. On Thursday, he edits. And on Friday, he promotes, tweeting heavily on Twitter and getting the word out through Facebook, MySpace and YouTube e-mail blasts.

The new video makes its debut every Saturday at 8 a.m.

It’s a rigorous schedule. But with the monthly check that YouTube deposits in his account, he gets to work for himself, set his own hours and live in a two-bedroom home in North Hollywood with a spacious backyard and pool.

“Thank you, YouTube,” says Dawson, 21. Dawson, who has more than 1.4 million subscribers to his two YouTube channels, is one of what YouTube says is “thousands” in its Partner Program, set up to financially entice its most popular producers to keep the pipeline full.

While music videos from record labels are consistently the most-viewed videos on YouTube, Dawson and others’ homegrown fare are the most-subscribed-to YouTube channels. This means they attract regular, consistent views.

“A band won’t offer a new video every new week, but the partners will,” says James McQuivey, an analyst at Forrester Research. “The channels are a great way for YouTube to create a regular viewing pattern.”

Despite its position as the dominant home for online video, with more than 100 million viewers monthly, YouTube has yet to turn a profit for Google, which paid $1.65 billion for it in 2006. But Google says YouTube will soon be profitable and that the huge audiences attracted by its independent producers will help it get there.

You, too, could make a living producing videos for YouTube, but you’d need to devote massive hours (figure about 75 hours a week) making videos and spreading the word. You must stay in constant contact with the community, via the comments left on your work.

And once you finish the video, you’ll need to top it with another. And another. And another.

“You’re only as good as your last video,” says McQuivey. “But in the traditional TV world, you produce a pilot, wait to sell the show and then premiere nearly a year later. In the YouTube model, you make a video, post it and hear back from your audience immediately. You get instant feedback. For a producer, that’s got to be addictive.”

‘Better than a part-time job’

Dawson won’t talk money, but Cory Williams, who produces videos for YouTube on his SMP Films channel, says he sees about $8,000 monthly from YouTube. Justine Ezarik, whose iJustine channel is also popular, says she averages about $75,000 annually.

Ryan Higa, whose YouTube channel is the most-subscribed-to on the service, recently called the pay “better than a part-time job.”

Tom Pickett, YouTube’s director of online sales, says YouTube has thousands of partners, many earning “six figures” yearly.

“We don’t have anybody making a million yet, but the curve continues to grow,” he says. “We hope to get there.”

YouTube attracted 126 million viewers in October and showed 10.5 billion videos, according to measurement service ComScore Media Metrix. (NBC, Disney and Fox’s Hulu had 42 million viewers and showed 855 million videos.)

Most of YouTube’s material comes from its viewers — 20 hours of footage every minute of the day.

But YouTube doesn’t run ads on submitted videos unless they’re from YouTube partners.

Beyond producers such as Dawson and Ezarik, YouTube has many big-name music labels and TV producers that provide professional content in exchange for a split of ad revenue.

The smaller, independent partners tend to produce topical content, usually parodies of current events or trends. Ezarik makes fun of constant Twitter updates in Statusfaction, set to the Rolling Stones’ Satisfaction. Dawson dons multiple wigs to play all or most of the characters in parodies of TV shows Sex and the City, Degrassi High or America’s Next Top Model.

While the content can often be edgy and unsuitable for prime time, many of the videos attract prime-time-size audiences. Dawson’s videos have been viewed more than 150 million times across YouTube. His spoof of the movie Twilight pulled in 5 million views. Ezarik has nearly 300,000 subscribers. Her videos have been viewed more than 64 million times. About 4.8 million viewers tuned in for her take-off of the Black Eyed Peas song I Gotta Feeling.

Sponsors on videos of the most-viewed YouTube partners include Disney, eBay, Kodak, Puma, Activision and Samsung.

Advertisers have been wary of appearing next to amateur-produced funny animal and kid videos or bawdy teen content.

But with partner-produced content, “There’s a great comfort level,” says Rob Davis, interactive marketing director for ad agency Ogilvy. “The people in the program are a known commodity, and since they’re in it to make money, the chances of them doing something non-advertiser-friendly is less.”

Additionally, the videos pull in those huge audiences. “Advertisers like to fish where the fish are,” Davis says.

Still, the contributors aren’t without controversy. A year ago, Dawson was working in sales for weight-loss company Jenny Craig and made a video on company property that he posted on YouTube. His employers deemed it inappropriate and fired him. A Jenny Craig spokesperson confirmed this. (YouTube has since deleted the video.)

With no luck finding a new job, Dawson focused on YouTube videos and trying to get into the Partner Program. Once he was accepted, the checks began arriving.

He says he realized that “if I really put a lot of time into this, and build an audience, I could probably actually make a living.”

More traffic on YouTube

Ezarik, 25, has been working for years to find fame and income from the Internet. She was a “lifecaster,” broadcasting her life with a live camera for six hours a day on Justin.tv and looking to sites such as MySpace and Twitter to plug her career.

But now she’s turned her attention to YouTube, because she gets so much more traffic there.

“This is where everyone goes,” she says. “It’s the biggest audience.”

She has nearly a million followers on Twitter and 500,000 fans on Facebook. But that doesn’t garner checks — YouTube does.

Recently, Ezarik parlayed her YouTube notoriety into TV gigs. She had a bit part on a recent Law & Order episode and got hired by MTV and Dick Clark Productions to host online preshows for awards broadcasts.

“I work 60 hours a week on videos,” she says. “Once I start, I don’t go to sleep until I finish, but I love what I do. I have no complaints.”

Despite the influx of YouTube cash, many of the partners produce their work with off-the-shelf, low-priced consumer video tools.

Higa uses a $200 Flip video camera for his videos, while Ezarik opts for a $400 Canon PowerShot point-and-shoot camera set to video mode.

“It works,” she says. “And it’s a lot easier than using a video camera.”

Dawson works with an $800 Canon video camera from a room with a painted green wall, which he uses as his “green screen,” a special-effects tool for superimposing different backgrounds.

For her green screen, Ezarik bought a $12 green rug from Ikea and puts it up whenever she’s ready to make videos.

Both Ezarik and Dawson do all their videos themselves, playing camera operator, lighting director, sound engineer, performer and video editor.

Ezarik’s big expense: wardrobe changes.

“If I wear the same thing three times in a row, people start complaining,” she says.

McQuivey says the partners are smart to work on low budgets. Video hams such as Dawson and Ezarik should save their money now and invest well, because their shelf lives, like one-hit rock bands, could be short-lived, he says.

“This is an ideal job for a certain kind of narcissist at a certain point in their life,” he says. “It’s like being the most popular kid in high school. It looks like fun, but you have to work the crowd, be seen with the right people, innovate in how you’re dressed. This is a grueling, emotionally difficult thing to do, and it won’t last forever.”