We are all getting ready for Super Bowl Sunday! At least most of us are. I still want Green Bay to win Super Bowl 50 but I don't really like their chances at this point. I'm just a little conflicted about who to root for now.
First, have you noticed that this is the only Super Bowl ever advertised without the use of Roman numerals? I thought it might be because the appearance was a bit lack luster; "Super Bowl L". Especially compared to some of the past years; "Super Bowl XXXVIII" or even "Super Bowl XL" as in "Extra Large" event. As it turns out it's more superstitious than that. In the NFL, a lone "L" stands for "Loser!" And the commissioner was not going to have that represent his league. Here is an article in Rolling Stone magazine if you're interested.
So, like a lot of "old guys" my age, I'd be inclined to root for Peyton Manning. Peyton is an inspiration to us all. Peyton Manning will be 40 in March. John Elway brought Peyton Manning for the 2012 season to fill a void while Denver recruited or developed a franchise quarterback. The problem with turning the team over to a new quarterback though is that Peyton has led the team to no. 1 in the AFC West all four years he has been with the team. Denver is in it's second Super Bowl in four years with Peyton at the helm. Now to be fair Denver's defense, ranked no. 1 in the league, probably has something to do with their success. Denver is the poster child for the cliche; "Offense (or rather Peyton Manning) sells tickets, defense wins championships!" Denver's offense with Manning is only ranked 16th in the league, and at one point while Denver was still undefeated, was ranked a bottom dwelling 32nd. I always ask my soccer teams; "how many goals does it take to win a game?" The answer is; "one more than your opponent." And with Denver's defense it's hard to image any number of quarterbacks could not have put Denver in this championship game once or twice over the past four years. I mean, Tim Tebow took Denver to the top of the Division in 2011 and where is he now? But this is Peyton Manning, the 39 year old super star who recovered from neck surgery, was released by the team he spent his career with and won a Super Bowl for, but still returned to the game we love and he continues to dazzle. So like a lot of sentimentals that would love to see the "old guy" have one more day in the sun, I'm inclined to root for Peyton Manning and the Broncos.
My conflict is that I now live in the Carolinas and Denver will be playing the Carolina Panthers! So why is that a big deal? I lived in California for over 30 years and never really got behind a California team as a fan. I have no explanation other than I've always been a Green Bay fan and maybe California had too many teams to single out just one to root for on a consistent basis. And with the Raiders bouncing up and down the coast, the Rams exiting the state for St Louis and Eli refusing to play for San Diego, it was easy to dismiss those west coast teams in favor of being loyal to Green Bay, even in Green Bay's lean years. The exception to that might have been the San Francisco 49ers during the Joe Montana, Steve Young years. Those were some great teams to watch. I still haven't really decided but I think Peyton might be seriously considering retirement and it would be great to see him go out a winner in Super Bowl "L"!
Where do I plan on watching the game? As it turns out, at the last minute I invited some new friends over to watch the game with us. Now I've never been a "Monster" size TV guy but Maureen has been pushing an agenda that if we had a monster TV downstairs Liam might come home more often and even bring his friends so we could meet some of them. On the other hand, I have been adamant that Liam would not have a better TV to play his PS4 on than I would have upstairs. I put my foot down on that one. Except for this perfect storm of circumstances leading up to the big game. Between inviting my friends over, the email I got from Best Buy advertising a great sale on monster TVs (thanks to lack luster Christmas sales), the limited space I have upstairs for my own monster TV, and putting my foot down around here really doesn't mean anything (you know I have managed to stay married for 30 years), we (or rather Liam and his friends) have a nice new 55" Samsung that I will get to watch the game on occasionally with my friends.
Remember your mom always warning you; "don't sit too close to the TV, it will ruin your eyes"? Our downstairs space is roughly 1,300 square feet and there are very few places you can be where you are not too close to a 55" TV, especially sitting on the couch in front of the fireplace! Inside Best Buy which is probably 15-20,000 square feet by comparison with 20 foot ceilings, you don't really get a feel for how big that TV screen will be in the relatively small space of a room in your home. I'm afraid to set up my old surround sound. As big as the screen is if it becomes too realistic Liam might end up with PTSD from his shoot-em-up games on the PS4. The food will be at the bar on the other side of the room so that might be far enough away to save my eyes if not my waistline. And like everyone else, I'll only be paying attention to the TV during the commercials anyway!
Have a great weekend and enjoy the game!
Rick
Have a great weekend and enjoy the game!
Rick
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