Sunday, February 5, 2006

I Picked Pittsburgh.....But I Will Be Rooting For Seattle

                        

I still think the Steelers will win 30-20.

But I'm not convinced of it.

See, due to monetary concerns....I am now a Seattle Seahawks fan.  So, I will be rooting for them in this Super Bowl.  To do so, I need to find reasons to.

1) THEY ARE AN NFC TEAM:  Normally, I find it to be a load of crap to root for teams cuz they play in your conference.  I will never root for Duke, NC State, Wake or any other ACC team in any Final Four.....no matter how it makes our conference look.  But, I tend to do so in the Super Bowl.  I am an NFC guy.....and I want the NFC to do well in the Super Bowl.  After owning the game from 1981-1996 [15-1...including 13 straight]...the NFC has lost 6 of 8 Super Bowls.  It'd be nice to have the champ in our backyard again.  And it is a slap in the face that the AFC's #6 seed gets top billing over the NFC's #1 seed. 

2) THEY KNOCKED US OUT:  It is much easier to justify a short playoff run when you can say "hey, we lost to the Super Bowl Champions."  That's what happened to my Redskins on January 13th....and it we did so rather gracefully.  So when we look upon the 2005 NFL season, we can see a loss, 20-10 to the eventual champs on the resume and feel just a little bit better.

3) NOBODY ROOTS FOR GOLIATH:  By no means are the Steelers "Goliath"....but people tend to swarm for the underdog when they have no heart-guided rooting interest.  It happens.  I do it nearly every year.

4) I DRIVE PAST SHAUN ALEXANDER WAY:  I work in Florence, KY...which is home to Shaun Alexander and his football beginnings.  The street where his old high school resides is named "Shaun Alexander Way".  While I am not local to these parts [no matter how much my wife wants me to be]...it's easier to root for a guy that has ties to where I live. 

5) DO WE REALLY NEED ANOTHER STEELERS' VICTORY?  I mean, when we think of Steelers winning Super Bowls....we think of Bradshaw, Harris, and that Steel Curtain defense.  We don't really need to see Big Ben and Bettis mucking it up now...do we?

6) DUMB STATISTICS:  Hey, I am a stats guy!  So I want these dumb stats to continue.
-Starting QBs wearing the #8 are 5-0 in Super Bowls [Aikman, Young, Dilfer]
-The NFC is 7-0 in Super Bowls televised by ABC.
-The rushing champion is 4-0 in Super Bowls.

7) THEY WEAR BLUE:  Well, sort of.  I like blue.  Well, Tar Heel blue.  Actually, I root for red a lot [Skins, Reds] and purple and gold [Lakers].  But not black and gold!

8) I LOVE THE NBA.  The last time a city that housed an NBA team won a Super Bowl was 1998 when Denver won.  St. Louis, Baltimore and Tampa don't have NBA teams.  Sure, it's picky, but Foxboro doesn't have a team!!!!

9) WE WON'T GET SICK OF SEATTLE WINNING!  Hey, baseball fans.  All you non-New Englanders grew tired of those Red Sox fans gloating about their title like a little kid talking about his new toy, right?  Or the "Yankee arrogance".  Well, the Steelers are a national team....and everyone knows a true Steeler fan.  Ya think they'll ever shut up if Pittsburgh wins???  Nope.  But Seattle fans will go away because, honestly, who knows a real Hawk fan that doesn't live in the Pacific Northwest?? 

10) I WANT TO BE RIGHT.  After my horrid conference championship picks [Broncos and Panthers] and my pre-playoff Super Bowl pick [Colts-Bears] I want to be right once again.  Like I was during the season.  So...if Pittsburgh wins...I can say I was right all along.  If Seattle wins....I can say that my sudden change of heart was a smart move. 

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