:: Life on Planet Dan-E ::

:: Sunday, February 05, 2006 ::

:: Not-Quite Random Thoughts on Super Bowl XL ::

I found it odd during the last couple of weeks how no one seems really excited about this year's Super Bowl. Steelers fans are nationwide and the two or three Seahawks diehards I've run over across (in my lifetime) I haven't, at least in Miami, seen that much enthusiasm. Granted there will always be the group of guys who just see this as an excuse to get together and gorge themselves on nachos and beer and act like mouth-breathing jackasses (most other times, they're merely mouth-breathers) who are excited about this. There are also people from my school who are excited about the Super Bowl, but they're ad geeks who are more interested in the commercials and the free pizza and beer the school provides than anything else. Part of this is because the school is populated by girls, gays, and guys from Europe and Latin American who mistakenly think "football" is something played with a round ball.

Then there are the few fans of football who are excited just to watch a good game of football. I fall into this category (never mind that I'm being forced to work against my will tomorrow during the game, but whatever. I need something to write about and my 12 readers need something to pass time.)

I know I'm becoming more redundant than Skip Bayless on thorazine by deriding the Seahawks yet again but I'll continue to do so until they walk off the field tomorrow with their heads hanging in defeat and Shaun Alexander's legs in pieces. Just so we're clear, I don't hate Seattle (never been there) and I don't hate the team as much as I hate the Rams, Cowboys or Raiders. What I hate most is the idea of the Seahawks winning it all. And really, any Seattle fan who reads this should be appreciative of the fact that I'm literally the one person outside of the state of Washington (other than the aforementioned Mr. Bayless) to care either way.

No one really cares about the Game itself since Pittsburg and Seattle weren't supposed to be here. It was finally Peyton Manning's turn in the Super Bowl but he just tried to do too much and came up too little. No one thought the 'Hawks would represent since everyone expected - and hoped for - another epic season-ending meltdown, and they played in a division so weak my high school football team could have won four games (a team that won a grand total of TWO games in three years).

Anyway, here's a few other things worth mentioning about Super Bowl XL:

This may or may not have anything to do with it but I sometimes wonder if the only reason the Steelers are favored is because the Seahawks have horrid uniforms. I'm convinced that this is why Coach Bill Cowher chose to wear road whites for The Game. For no other reason than to make Seattle wear their horrible blue on blue home unis.

Also, I'm sure he noticed that teams designated as "road" teams are 21-18 in the Super Bowl

I've been mocked for constantly declaring Shaun Alexander to be the most overrated running back for no other reason than I hate the Seahawks. Untrue. I'm not so blindingly filled with animosity towards any team that I can't respect, or even like, a player on that team (Barry Bonds is a whole other story). I always had a respect and admiration for Troy Aikman and Emmitt Smith during the Cowboys heyday (though stories of Michael Irvin getting caught with crack would make me giggle) and I thought that Tim Brown of Oakland was greatly underappriciated. And I'm telling you right now that while Alexander might be league MVP, he isn't even the MVP on his own team. That distinction belongs to Matt Hasselbeck.

It's been established that Alexander winning MVP was a bigger farce than A-Rod getting an MVP while in Texas or Jeter winning a Gold Glove. Any true Seattle fan will tell you that he's at best fourth most valuable on that team behind Hasselbeck, Walter Jones, and Steve Hutchinson. Jones and Hutchinson are guys that play on the offensive line and these guys are adored in Seattle like they're Eddie Vedder. Let me put it this way: guys who play the O-line are like bass players on in a rock band. Other than John Entwistle and Stu Hamm can anyone name a famous bass player? Can anyone name the bassist for halftime act Rolling Stones? (Bill Wyman.) On the Rock Star hierarchy, bass players usually get the sloppy seconds. Groupies have sex with the bass player because he vaguely resembles a guy they saw on stage and also because someone else is already doing the lead singer and the drummer and the guitarist is passed out from snorting too much blow. And yet, Jones and Hutchinson are treated like they're Trent Reznor and Chris Cornell. Don't even try to tell me Alexander isn't overrated.

Speaking of the Stones, I love them. I really do. I'm glad they're performing at halftime. But don't even try to to tell me that they're even half as good as they were even ten years ago. I think we're finally gonna just how old everyone has gotten. It's almost like they've become a cover band of themselves. But I do love them and listen to them regularly.

Last point: Did anyone forget that in the last two seasons, Pittsburg has 26 wins against 2 losses in games not started by Charlie Batch and Tommy Maddox?

:: Miscellaneous Ramblings by Dan-E at 4:06 PM [+] :: | 0 comments
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