Super Bowl

The Super Bowl is finally here after I had almost forgotten about football with the unnecessary week in between the game. At least we aren't talking about college football though where there has never been a legitimate national champion save maybe Texas last year. Did I say Texas? I meant Vince Young. Forget the rest of the team, Vince should be the one that gets to take the trophy with him. But I digress, I am sure when next college football season starts, I will rip apart the college system. Don't get me wrong, I think college football could be the greatest and best sport to watch. Anyways Super Bowl. I've managed to avoid a lot of the media coverage that can ruin the game for you, largely because I have been working. This commitment can also explain my lack of posts recently, but have no fear, my new computer is on the way.

As for this game, I am actually very excited. This is the first time in awhile where I can remember that I will be happy if either team wins. On one hand, I'd love to see Peyton manning shut up people who think that he didn't win immediately in his career that this somehow diminishes his accomplishments and abilities. Let's get one thing straight. Football is a team sport, Peyton's past losses in the playoffs were to great teams, and it's hard to fault the man. I know some will disagree, but Peyton manning is the best quarterback in the NFL, regardless of tonight's outcome. I also would like to see Tony Dungy win because he is an outstanding coach. He nearly beat the unstoppable '99 Rams team that had one of the best offenses ever. He unfairly was removed as the Buccaneers coach and had to watch them go on to win the Super Bowl with Chucky at the helm. So yes, I'd love to see Tony win it especially after all that he has been through personally with his family. As I'm writing this and watching ESPN, I have to mention that Ray Lewis just made a great point. I know I had to stop and do a double take. His comment though was forget black or white right now, both Tony Dungy and Lovie Smith are good people. Well said, Ray. I think instead of worrying about the coach's skin color, lets highlight the great people in the game and not the douche bag coaches like Belichik, even if he is a smart coach.

As for the Bears, I would like to see them win for a few reasons including selfish ones. First, I have to admit I have an affection for Chicago fans. They remind me in some ways of Cleveland fans mainly because of the midwest personality that you can tell is prominent among both fans. Both fanbases are good people, but don't care about beig obnoxious when there team is playing. Both fanbases are also fickle, in that one second you think you have the best team in history, the next you think it's over and that nothing good will ever happen to one of your team's. I also would like to see the Bears win, because I was one of the first people to hype the Bears a few years ago. I know I don't proof in writing, so again you will have to take my word for it, but before the Bears breakout year, I had hyped there defense to no end, and picked them to make the NFC championship game. This was right at the same time that most football "experts" picked them to finish last. I do have proof in writing of that. The Bears didn't quite make the NFC championship last year, losing to Steve Smith, I mean the Panthers in second round. I also took that Bears D in my fantasy draft and they helped me hide the fact that I had my worst draft ever, and I still managed to make the playoffs. So thank you Bears. As for picking sleepers, I want to highlight that both Dawson and I are experts at it having picked a bigtime sleeper correctly over the past few years when we started making NFL picks before the season. my sleepers this year were the Eagles and Titans, both of whom were bad last year and both had very good seasons relative to what the experts predicted. I am a little dissapointed that I didn't discover the Saints, but at the time it wasn't fully certain that Brees woudl be healthy.

I don't know who is singing the national anthem, but that is usually very well done at the Super bowl, so I look forward to that. I have low hopes for the artist formerly known as Prince at halftime, but its not really his fault. If you can't make Paul mccartney or the Rolling Stones any good at halftime, then I think the whole concept is a lost cause unless you get Scarlett Johannson up there showing off a lingerie catalogue. After the wardrobe malfunction of a few years back, I think this movement is a lost cause. The commercials also be better because they have sucked the last few years. Bud has consistently produced the best commercials, but still nothing like the frogs of days old and then when they added the iguana. Good stuff. I don't want to see any more commercials with monkeys or cavemen though. I'm tired of appealing to the weak-minded and easily entertained. I always enjoy movie trailers too, but unfortunately Indiana Jones 4 hasn't started filming yet, so I will have to wait for next years Super Bowl.

As for my pick, I am taking the Colts. I am taking the Colts with the spread. Bill Simmons, the biggest Colts hater alive, picked the Bears. That doesn't bother me since he hates Peyton, but I don't like that he tried to justify it with anything other than I hate Peyton manning. His reasoning was that he didn't want to go with the guy with a shaky record in the postseason. Oh really, Bill? So you are going to back Rex Grossman instead? I know Grossy gets a bad rep, but he is not in the same league as manning. When I break it down by position I think you paint a clearer picture. QB - huge edge Colts. RB - I am going to say draw, I think both teams running games are strong to quite strong. WR - huge edge Colts. O-line - slight edge Colts. I was going to say draw, but I picture Rex Grossman seeing a pass rush and running away. D-line - Slight edge Bears. If Tommie Harris were playing, it'd be a huge edge, but without him, this Dline is much less intimidating. Plus the Colts have a great pass rusher in Dwight. LB - Huge edge Bears. Probably the only major advantage I see for the Bears. Briggs and Urlacher are maniacs. CB - Slight edge Bears. I don't know if they are good enough to cover marvin and reggie though. Safeties - Colts. Without mike brown, the bears safeties are mediocre. The Colts also have my man Bob Sanders. So with all of that said I think the Colts can throw on the Bears. Especially in warm weather. I think given a better climate last week, the Saints would have pulled it out, but theres a reason winning in the regular season matters and that is so you can play at home where you are comfortable in the playoffs. Except for the Super Bowl. If I were NFL commissioner I would consider swithching the venue to the team with the best record's home.

So there it is. Peyton wins, Pats fans shutup. I think its going to be a great game, however I don't think it will come down to the very end. If it does, lets not forget that the Colts have Vinatieri on their side. I will be satisfied if the Colts win, and them I will never root for them again. I think once manning wins, that will narrow my list of teams or people I want to win to the Browns, Ladainian tomlinson, and marty shottenheimer. Don't think that this is the end of my football posts either. I will have a full offseason Browns wishlist ahead, as well as Browns-only mock draft and then a blog covering the draft on draft day. So there is a lot of football to look forward to. That said, Dawson and I need to prove our expertise in all sports, so my future articles will start to focus more on college hoops and baseball, while I will leave most of the NBA stuff to Dawson. We are both great basketball minds, but Dawson is an enormous NBA fan, while I am a passionate college fan. I will be sure to write an article about Lebron James and the Cavs in the future and why I think Lebron is saving his energy for the playoffs. So enjoy the game. If you are near any girls (or God forbid a man) that says "I just like to watch the commercials", please do everyone a favor and dump some gatorade on that person's head. And then make them leave. Unless you are at their house, at which point you should go make yourself a ham sandwich with mustard.