I think this is the longest I've ever gone between posts and I'm sorry about that (if there's anyone out there still reading this.) I DO have a lot of things on my mind and instead of spreading them out, I thought I'd go ahead and vomit them out now because you'll never know when I'll take another 50 day posting vacation. I'm cuckoo-for-cocoa-puffs like that. In classic bullet point style, its time to let it rip!
You're Really Super, Super Bowl*
*- name that musical reference
There's few things in sports that bug me more than the two weeks of nonsense the NFL has us endure leading up to the Super Bowl. The inane press conferences. The Pro Bowl. The DirecTV celebrity Flag Football (well, that's actually not that bad, especially if you get some swimsuit models participating.) Feature after pointless feature about the players, the coaches, the friggin' trainers even.
It is funny how the predominately middle-aged, privileged fraternity that owns, coaches, scouts, covers and administers the National Football League has somehow managed to turn pre-Super Bowl week into another one of those great middle-aged, privileged, fraternal events, the business convention. Everybody who's anybody in the NFL now has to spend the week before the game in the Super Bowl city shmoozing, making appearances and giving interviews. The circus has come to Dallas. There's been a lot of bitching and moaning about the awful weather there this week, but hey, to be completely honest, if the game isn't being played in Arizona, SoCal or South Florida, the weather is always going to be a potential factor. (Despite what the league's grand poobahs might think, Denver would do a pheneomenal job hosting the Super Bowl and there's a lot more fun things to do than there are in Dallas and we actually have snowplows--although the Metroplex has better strip clubs which given the fraternal nature of the whole enterprise, undoubtedly played some small part in Big D's selection as a host city. Can't wait for that New Jersey Super Bowl. But I digress.)
Truthfully, this all probably made sense back in the bad old days of terrible games, but think back and ask yourself, when's the last time the NFL didn't have a competitive Super Bowl? I think we have to go all the way back to Denver's last championship (a moment of silence please) after the 1998 season when the Broncos beat the Atlanta Falcons 31-19 in a game Denver news anchor Ron Zappolo would be correct in calling "not as close as that score might indicate." My point? It wouldn't kill the NFL to dial down the hype and the nonsense a little bit so that the game could regain a little bit of it's rightful luster. You just don't get mismatches in the Super Bowl any more, so let the final game speak for itself...
The Game Itself
All that being said, this will be a less competitive Super Bowl than any we've seen in the last few years. Not a blowout, but a solid Green Bay Packers win, somewhere in the range of 27-17. Why? The hype machine will tell you that the Steelers are loose and confident while the Packers have been uptight all week. Uh huh. The Steelers are missing one of their four most indispensible players--rookie center Maurkice Pouncey--and they already have a somewhat suspect offensive line. Aaron Rodgers is the hottest quarterback in football with the league's best group of veteran receivers, playing indoors on the fast track of the Jerry Jones Dome. The Steelers will hit hard and play dirty, but as long as the Cheesheads don't commit stupid turnovers, they have an advantage in depth and intangibles and will control the game.
Now feel free to bet the other way...
Revolt Like An Egyptian
Some people think democracy is spreading through the Middle East like a virus and that its long overdue. Not me. Don't be fooled...it started One Night in Tunisia when the natives woke up and realized...what exactly? All those elections over the years have been rigged and the cutbacks the government proposed during tough economic times were killing the little people and not doing anything to reform the fat cats. Everything new is old again. But Tunisia is relatively small and moderate by Arab standards. Egypt...that's a whole different sarcophagus. The bloodier it gets, the more opportunities extremists will have to infiltrate and manipulate the revolution for their cause. And that cause will not be democracy or a more liberalized form of Islam. Consider that a warning.
Still...it is good to see people stand up for free elections and regime change ON THEIR OWN instead of having it crammed down their throats by a foreign power with imperial ambitions. The rest of the world needs to let this play out wit ha cautious eye.
Now, In Honor of the Upcoming Series Finale of Friday Night Lights (Sure, That's It) a Random Picture of Minka Kelley
Coming next...before the Oscars I promise, if not much sooner, my Top Movies of 2010. I know I said I wouldn't do a cliched Top Ten list, but it will probably be more than 7. Perhaps a Prime number? Whatever. Until then...
Peace.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Green Bay defeated Pittsburgh 31-25.
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