Historical Fact:
Each time a Tempt Destiny billboard is created the team depicted goes on to win the SB, a 4-for-4 track record.

The challenge presented here is to vote for your team once per hour per page from now till January, 2011.The deal is this. The team with the most votes gets a billboard in support of their team's SB quest ... and the legacy that goes with it.

(See Artwork Info)

Welcome to the Tempt Destiny Art Experiment where football fans help create a billboard in support of their teams' SB quest. Football fans will determine which team will be featured on the next Tempt Destiny billboard artwork I create and the team itself will determine the completion of the artwork by completing their season with a SB victory. When the team completes their season by winning the SB (cause), I can then complete the artwork by painting the football silver to commemorate the trophy won (effect). This tradition is how these billboards came to be called Tempt Destiny billboards.

Each year since 2000, the team with the most votes earned the right to be featured on the next Tempt Destiny billboard. However, the catch is that the team with the most votes also needed to win its conference championship game for this event to take place. If there is such a thing as destiny (predetermined event or series of events), then we cannot prevent the choice made from happening. By pairing 1 out of 32 team choices with 1 out of 32 team chances (32 Choices X 32 Chances = 1024 to 1 odds), we are "tempting" destiny to overcome the odds against the choice taking place.

It should not come as a surprise that over the past ten years of conducting this art experiment, that the choice made only happened once. When you stop to think about it, this "certainty" test could conceivably go on forever and not ever happen. So when the choice made finally did happened on January 20, 2008, the second part of this experiment kicked in. The 3rd Tempt Destiny Billboard of Choice was created in support of the NY Giants for their SB XLII bid and tempt destiny for another SB victory. If the choice made was certain, then the chance that the underdog NY Giants would overcome the 14 point spread to beat the undefeated NE Patriots would also be certain ... indeed, destiny was not denied.

OK, so we have observed what happens when both choice and chance are certain. However, we all know that the choices we make sometimes (or most times) are not certain at all. This is where the "probability" test comes into play. Excluding the two years when we did the 3rd and 4th TD billboards, the eight years of statistics show that the odds of the team with the most votes between the two competing SB teams had a 25% chance of winning. With this history known, it is apparent that by doing a billboard in this manner, we should only generate probable results. The question is, by doing Tempt Destiny billboards in this situation will the 4 to 1 odds change?

WebCam photo from Super Dome location

TD Billboards of Choice & Chance:
Beginning with the SB XLIV, we will do two different types of Tempt Destiny billboards, one of choice and one of chance. If the team with the most votes does not make it to the SB, then by default, we will do the next TD billboard for the team that has the most votes of the two competing SB teams. For the 2009 season, the Vikings fans had cast the most votes, but their team did not win their conference championship game resulting in no Tempt Destiny Billboard of Choice. Of the two teams competing in SB XLIV, the Saints fans had placed more votes than the Colts fans and so the Saints were featured on the first Tempt Destiny Billboard of Chance (see press release).

With the Saints SB XLIV victory over the Colts, the Tempt Destiny Billboard of Chance track record is 1-for-1. When you combined the Tempt Destiny Billboard of Choice track record of 3-for-3, the overall track record is now 4-for-4.

Tempt Destiny Billboard of Choice – 3-for-3 (SB XXI, SB XXV, SB XLII)
Tempt Destiny Billboard of Chance – 1-for-1 (SB XLIV)

HOLD ON! – You are probably thinking how can destiny be both certain and probable? Based on observed empirical evidence over the past ten years of conducting this experiment, it is self-evident that destiny is derived from both choice and chance events (cause) from which ALL events are either certain or probable (effect). This means that destiny is a dichotomy, in that, choice (right glove) and chance (left glove) are both mutually exclusive states of destiny (pair of gloves). This also means that although the "act" of choice and the "act" of chance are infinite, each choice event and each chance event are finite. (read the Perfect Pair article for more on this topic).

Destiny Exercise: To get a better understanding of this dichotomy, go in front of a mirror. Put your right hand (choice) and your left hand (chance) together, palm to palm, in front of your face. The line formed in between your hands is certainty, apart, is everything that is probable. This exercise illustrates what happens when we pair choice and chance events, together, the outcome is predetermined to be certain a.k.a. SB XLII.

It is from this understanding that we can know which outcome we can expect from which billboard event and why we can conduct an experiment of both certainty and probability in tandem. I am sure by now that you think this is all a bunch of nonsense. You more than likely already "know" what destiny is, or at least think that you do, all the more reason to find out for yourself by reviewing here what has taken place and observe the events yet to come.

As you can see, we all have a role to play in all of this. As I have discovered, my role is to provide this billboard as a sign of your choice to support your team's quest towards victory. Your role is to make this happen by voting for your team or make this happen for another team by not voting. Either way, the choice is yours.

BRING IT ON by voting for your team on this page and every page at TemptDestiny.com!

Manuel Morales

The Art Experiment
Beginning with the first billboard, each painting is reproduced unfinished. Since the artwork is created exclusively for a SB victory (cause), the football team depicted helps to complete the artwork by completing its season with a SB victory. When their objective has been reached, I can then complete the artwork by painting the outlined transparent football silver to symbolize the trophy won (effect) as discussed in the News 12 video below:

Are you ready to Tempt Destiny? You may vote as many times as you wish, however, you can only vote once per hour, per page. Make sure to visit our Tips & Tricks page to find out more ways to vote for your favorite team – SPREAD THE WORD!