Super Bowl Thoughts

At least if there’s a lockout next year I won’t be able to get the Super Bowl pick wrong. I’ve never picked the damn game correctly. I still finished the football year on the positive side of the “points,” and I’ll put what I think is a weak one game under .500 record in the NFL, 44-45-1 for +69.54 points, against the paid handicappers any time. Plus, I was playing with “house money” – or, in this case, points – after picking both Conference Championship Games correctly. All three picks were for 100 points.

I guess I’ll put my Steelers flirtation on hold for a while. I actually think their loss makes switching loyalties to Pittsburgh less of a front-runner’s proposition. Today’s ridiculous rumor that Jon Gruden was in town to take over the head coaching position in Philadelphia made me realize that I probably could just never truly cut ties with the Eagles. I heard Sean Brace of 97.5 admit it was baseless all morning while continuing to push it. But I must admit that the mere thought of Andy Reid’s exit was appealing. That said, I will at the very least not be rooting for the Eagles as long as Reid is the head coach.

Of course, the Super Bowl is as much an event as a game. Here’s a few thoughts on the game and the event:

• Parity seems to be good for one thing – better Super Bowls. This was another in a string of the championship game being competitive to the end. I don’t want to sound like a whiner – I lost the pick, so be it – but I thought Pittsburgh was the better team. Obviously, the turnovers killed their chances and forced them to get away from the running game, yet they were still within a touchdown at the end.

• All of the injuries came close to ruining the game. The Packers deserve even more credit for winning without Charles Woodson and Donald Driver.

• The saving grace for me was that Jerry Jones not only fell short of his coveted attendance record, but had some of his temporary seating shut down by the fire marshal.

• I don’t care one way or the other that the Eagles lost to the eventual champions. It means absolutely nothing. There’s no reason to assume the Eagles would have beaten Chicago, Seattle, Atlanta, and/or Pittsburgh.

• I agree with those fearing that the Eagles will use the lack of rushing attempts by the Packers as validation for the way they run their offense. It makes as little sense as the above suggestion. The Packers adjusted to the fact that the Steelers have one of the best running defenses in the league and they had the personnel to pull it off. Again, there’s no reason to think the Eagles can be successful doing the same thing – mostly because they’ve done it without success for more than a decade. Besides, the Eagles clearly don’t need examples in reality to keep doing what they do.

• Commercials are always part of the story of the Super Bowl, though nothing will ever touch Bud Bowl in my book. This year I thought the best was the kid in the Darth Vader costume “starting” the car and the montage of all the old shows. But does anybody really remember the specific product they were selling?

• I’m proud to say I didn’t see Christina Aguilera mess up the “Star Spangled Banner” or the Black Eyed Peas at halftime. Instead I watched the end of Beverly Hills Cop II before kickoff and the beginning of Forrest Gump at halftime for actual entertainment.

• Enough with the media crying about the cold weather in Dallas. Shut up and cover the game.