Superbowl Sunday!!!

Well Superbowl Sunday is one of the days I look forward to in the calendar year. It sucks that I'll be pining for the NFL season to start by the time the draft comes by in late April but it's always an excuse to party, get drunk and hope for a good game...and if not pray like hell the commercials are at least passable.

Just reviewing some of my predictions, well they weren't good. I only got 5 of the 12 playoff teams correct. I failed to forsee the failings and shortcomings of the Jaguars, Cowboys and Packers nor did I think the Bills would wilt like a flower in a Buffalo winter. I also assumed the Seahawks would at one point be healthy but that didn't happen, especially at QB and WR, oh well at least they'll probably get Crabtree which is a plus for them. And nobody would have guessed Brady goes down for the year 8 minutes into the season. Had they actually made the playoffs over the Dolphins they would have probably been the 1st or 2nd most dangerous teams in the playoffs, they were clicking on all cylinders.

My picks for award winners left something to be desired, I picked the aforementioned Brady for MVP and DeMarcus Ware for DPOY. In my opinion he deserved it and had a case for MVP in what I considered to be a less then stellar offensive year which led to Peyton Manning picking up his MVP trophy (that and Adrian Peterson's fumble-itis) And my picks for rookie of the year consisted of a running back on a winless team (though he did improve as the year went on) and a linebacker who was done for the year 5 weeks in. And Dick Jauron looked like he would have been in the running for Coach of the year until the Bills lied down like a (insert profane reference here)

I'd say it was a largely forgettable season, nothing that was just absolutely spectacular that happened. There was a giant inflation in sacks for the top pass rushers. I'm actually a little worn out by this season, especially being a Cowboys fan. The national media hates us, the local media craps on us, the fans can't stand either the players or the coaches and ever since Romo's thumb injury it has been a bitch fest 24/7 on Dallas radio and on the national circuit. Just really tiresome hearing the same crap spewed over and over and finding ways to make this team worse then it already is. I'd almost wish the media would treat us like a normal team rather then devoting a minimum of 25% to this team despite them not even playing a down for over the past month. It just gets old and I get beaten down by it.

But I'll still miss it, in the dog days of summer when the Rangers are playing game 90 in July right as training camp's beginning. That's what makes football so great, is the anticipation and the angst you build up while waiting for the matchup. It's almost as good (and in some cases is) better then the game itself, just sitting around dreaming up all these different scenarios for how the game can maybe play out in your head and trying to convince yourself your team is capable of winning. I also think that's why it's so popular is how so much is on the line in every game and how you don't play 80 games a year and it's easier to follow for most as compared to baseball and basketball. All you need to do is devote 16 days (mainly weekends or weeknights) out of the year for your team.



But now let's get to favorite Superbowl eateries:
Buffalo wings or buffalo tenders. Almost a must at any party you're going to and of course it has to be accompanied by ranch, I hate everything associated with bleu cheese. I mention buffalo tenders because I am a fan of the boneless buffalo wings.

Chips and dip. Doesn't matter what kind of dip, everyone likes some kind of dip, whether it's chips and salsa, chips and queso or a 7 layered dip or this delicious ranch dip that my mother showed me how to make (and I swear by it) Also guacamole for those who can't handle the salsa. Oh yea and if you don't like chips and opt for the healthier alternative (lameass) I suppose there's carrots or celery, but seriously get out of my sight.

Food in bowls? I don't know if you're the type of person who serves tons of snacks but normally if that's the case somebody may pull out like a little bowl of M&M's. Also stuff you may find is Chex Mix, Cheeze-it's. Also people tend to like pretzels or peanuts. Meh...

Also if you host a party it better feature beer and lots of it, if I even detect the scent of a wine bottle I'm leaving.



Onto some of my favorite Superbowl Commercials



This is an extended version of the Terry Tate commercial, but this is probably my favorite commercial of all time. And what's great is there's about 6 of these on youtube.



This was my favorite commercial of last year, you can't go wrong with gecko's dancing to Thriller (greatest music video of all time? Hell yea!)



I could give a crap about Mountain Dew but I love Bohemian Rhapsody and thought they did a great job with the song and what they had to work with.



And finally because I'm a bit biased towards wrestling (especially the WWF Attitude days) I'll show this one, and mainly because I can't quite find a beer commercial I like. And because I'm not gay enough to show you that Mean Joe Greene Coke commercial.


And before we get to the actual game I'd like to introduce to you the greatest snack maybe ever. Behold the Stadium of food!


This bad boy consists of 3 ways to dip your chip. The field is made in a pan and has guacamole and sour cream hash marks, while the endzones are salsa and cheese. The 'players' are sausages with cheese stacked on them and the goal posts are Slim Jim's. The exterior of the stadium is 58 twinkies and what's holding the chips from crashing the field are toothpicks and a wall of bacon. And I assume you can add your own snacks of choice, they went with Cheetos, Doritos, tortilla chips and Chex Mix.

And your total calorie intake comes out to be...
TOTAL CALORIES: 24,375
TOTAL GRAMS OF FAT: 1,285
TOTAL COST: $86.47

To see how it was made go here: http://www.holytaco.com/ultimate-super-bowl-snack-stadium

Simply stunning.


Onto the game.

Arizona Cardinals @ Pittsburgh Steelers (-6.5)

There are tons of scenarios that can play out in this game and might I add 1st that I think Arizona will be affected most by this 2 week layoff. The NFL needs to get rid of this stupid crap, we don't need 2 weeks to build up hype for what will already be the most watched event of the year. Stories become stale and people become cranky waiting for this freaking thing to start. Plus it hurts all the momentum the Cardinals have built up over the past month on this magical playoff ride. Just something that is bugging me because I see no need to wait 2 weeks for it.

But the Cardinals to win have to keep doing what they have done all playoffs, pounce on there opponent early and hope to sit on that lead for the remainder of the game. We already know they're going to be passing the ball just about all game long, but the small possibility of them running the ball gets thrown out the window if they get down by 2 scores early. The Cardinals counter acted the agressive blitzing schemes of Jim Johnson and the Philadelphia Eagles by doing quick routes and getting rid of the ball within 2 seconds after the snap and it worked perfectly until Philadelphia adjusted but luckily were able to hang on after Kurt Warner and there running game put together a game winning drive in the NFC Title game. The offensive line must protect Warner and Kurt needs to be on the lookout for Troy Polamalu, I imagine he'll be playing very close to the line of scrimmage and can picture him reading Warner's eyes and picking off a pass. But this all easier said then done, particularly when you're going up against possibly the greatest defensive coordinator in the past 30 years in Dick Lebeau. One thing that plays in the Cardinals favor is the big play factor of Larry Fitzgerald and even Steve Breaston. Where Baltimore was able to generate a majority of there offense was on pass interference calls on the Steelers, and with the best jumpball WR in the league on your side you know they will test the Steelers secondary early and often.

I think the Cardinals have done a magnificent job this post season limiting some of the top rushers the league has to offer. They shutdown Michael Turner, limited DeAngelo Williams as they forced the Panthers to pass most of the game and held Brian Westbrook in check as he was hobbled. The passing game may be where I start to worry, I mean the Steelers O-line is mediocre at best but Ben Roethlisberger is so great at creating time for himself, sure he takes some sacks every now and then but he's very elusive for a man that size.

So I'll take the Cardinals and assuming they win they'll clear the over too (set at 46.5)

This is my argument for the Cardinals because I really want to believe they can take this game, and because I don't want Pittsburgh to win (or want to believe they will win) there NFL record 6th Superbowl. But just about every other thing I've wanted to go right in this NFL season has gone wrong so why change it now.

But I can't wait for tomorrow to be over...as a new season awaits. I leave you with one final Superbowl commercial that I always found to be quite charming.



until next time...