My friend Stewart Mandel has done it again, perfectly explaining
something I was thinking about before I got to it. You can read his
column at this link:
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/stewart_mandel/01/22/cardinals-bcs/index.html?eref=T1
The nut of it is that the Arizona Cardinals are the ultimate
example of why the BCS system works and the NFL playoffs don’t. We can
argue whether Florida or Texas or Utah should have been in the game,
but at least we don’t have to deal with a championship final between,
say, Kansas and Cincinnati because they got hot in the playoffs.
Arizona and Pittsburgh had 11 losses between them during the regular
season.
Which brings me to the Super Bowl. I know there a lot of Steeler
fans in the area. I know this because there are a lot of Steeler fans
no matter what area you live in. Even Philadelphia. And I know Kurt
Warner is a nice story.
But color me bored for this Super Bowl. Really, if they were
playing in the 12th week of the season and you didn’t have anybody on
your fantasy team playing for either team would you watch?
OK, I’m not a big NFL guy. I’m a college football fan. The NFL is
what allows me to deal with college football withdrawal on Sundays. I
never watch Monday Night Football. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve
settled into a big NFL game and found myself 10 minutes later watching
something on HBO.
But I do come alive for the playoffs. It’s just that for this Super Bowl, I really couldn’t care less who wins.
I’ll watch for the commercials and for the halftime show. I’ll
watch so I can say something semi-intelligent if I’m asked about the
game.
It’s the Super Bowl, so I’ll watch.
But I’m betting it’ll be one of the lowest-rated in the last 10 years.
