Morning briefing

He gives Patriots a swift kick

Garo Yepremian, kicker for the 1972 Miami Dolphins team that was 17-0, wasn’t all that impressed with the New England Patriots finishing the regular season 16-0.

“We were the first ones to climb Mt. Everest,” Yepremian told ESPN.com. “If New England comes and does it, then they can be the second ones. But you usually don’t remember No. 2. I remember Sir Edmund Hillary was the first one to climb Mt. Everest. I don’t remember who did it the second time. Do you?”

Just like no one remembers the second NFL kicker to throw an interception after a blocked field-goal try and have the other team return it for a touchdown in a Super Bowl.

Trivia time

So who was the second man to climb Mt. Everest?

Baked potato

Stan Friedman, 46, of New York, has been crowned the Ultimate Couch Potato after outlasting three competitors in a television-watching marathon in Times Square.

Friedman watched televised sports for more than 29 hours and won a flat-screen TV and a recliner in the competition, which was sponsored by ESPN. Contestants were allowed a five-minute stretch break every hour and a bathroom break every eight hours.

During the contest, Friedman, the oldest of the four competitors, said he was relying on his couch potato know-how.

“I’ve had more experience sitting and watching TV, so I’m hoping that will win out for me,” he said.

Losing his shirt

David Witthoft wore his Green Bay Packers jersey for 1,466 consecutive days since receiving it as a Christmas gift in 2003, but never to a Packers game.

That changed on Sunday when Witthoft, 11, attended the Packers’ season finale against the Detroit Lions. That, and a growth spurt have the Connecticut boy thinking about retiring the jersey.

“I thought I would keep wearing it as long as I could get it over my head,” Witthoft told the Green Bay Press-Gazette. “But I’ll probably take it off in the next year, certainly. Then I’ll hang it up in a frame or maybe send it to the [Packers] Hall of Fame.”

Which is good news to his mother, who has washed the jersey every two days and has had to mend it several times. “I’d like to see how he looks in red,” she said.

Stone cold success

Early returns indicate that the NHL Winter Classic -- an outdoor game between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Buffalo Sabres on New Year’s Day at Buffalo -- was a success.

More than 71,000 people braved snowy conditions and the game earned a 2.6 overnight rating and a 5 share on NBC, despite going up against several college football bowl games. Those were the best ratings for a regular-season NHL game in more than a decade.

And the players? Well, a little frostbite never stopped a hockey player.

“Once your face gets a little numb you feel fine,” Buffalo defenseman Brian Campbell said. “The ears were cold a little bit, maybe a little frostbite on them, but that’s all right.”

The 11th commandment

An Ohio church leader is rooting for Ohio State in the Bowl Championship Series title game, but he’s hoping Louisiana can come out a winner, too.

Bishop Thomas Breidenthal of the Episcopal Diocese of Southern Ohio told the Columbus Dispatch that for every Ohio State touchdown against Louisiana State, he’ll donate $250 from his personal account to help victims of Hurricane Katrina and he plans to kick in $100 each time the Buckeyes kick a field goal in the New Orleans Superdome, where Katrina evacuees stayed for days.

Breidenthal is challenging members of the diocese to pledge money, too, saying it’s a way to “love thy Buckeyes and love thy neighbor.”

Trivia answer

Sherpa Tenzing Norgay of Nepal, who trailed Hillary up the mountain.

And finally

Hillary’s first words when he returned from the summit were to his fellow New Zealander George Lowe: “Well, George, we’ve knocked the bastard off!”

That’s something NFL teams would undoubtedly love to say this playoff season.

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peter.yoon@latimes.com