February 6, 2011

Super Bowl XLV - Perspective

There are precious few slices of cyberspace out there today that do not contain sincere, in-depth X and O breakdowns of the who, what, how and why of what's going to happen in Super Bowl XLV.

You found one.

Let's get right to it.

Who I Want to Win

Green Bay. 

Why? I like 'em better. 

I like QB Aaron Rogers--the man looks like someone we all played pick-up ball with as kids, both in appearance and the semi-awkward (but damn effective) body language on the field.

I like the fact no one has the slightest idea who head coach Mike McCarthy is or where the hell he came from.

I like the traditional, almost quaint uniforms. For NFL fans of a certain age they just look right.

I even like the stupid cheesehead thing now that Brett Favre's gone. Don't ask me why they correlate. They just do.

I do not like the term "Dynasty" getting bandied about before a team has earned it. More on that below.

And because, like the (Damn) Yankees have to win the World Series, the Canadiens have to win the Stanley Cup and the Boston Celtics have to win the NBA Championship, every once in a while the Green Bay Packers simply have to win the Lombardi Trophy.

It's in the fine print of the universal fabric.

Who I Think Will Win

Pittsburgh. 

Why?  It's what they do, dammit.  They win the big game once they get there ... even if they're not always the best team that day. 

To be clear, I'm not talking about the four-title, Dynasty Steelers of the '70's. Those Steelers won four titles in six years and put half their team in the Hall of Fame. They practically defined the NFL 70's.

No, I'm talking about the two-title (and counting?) Big Ben Steelers of the '00's. Today's Steelers have so far defined something too--I'm just not sure quite what yet.