Random Thoughts on the Super Bowl, Life, and Whatnot

As I'm sure you've heard by now, this year's Super Bowl is in Detroit. Not much of a prize for the players or fans if you ask me (Detroit's not exactly a prime tourist location-especially in the dead of winter). Can someone make it a rule that the Super Bowl can only be held in a warm weather locale from now on? Or better yet (as has been suggested elsewhere) build a brand new stadium just for the Super Bowl in Las Vegas (of course the NFL is opposed to this idea). Or since they desperately want an NFL franchise back in Los Angeles, just make LA its permanent home.

Ads that crack me up every time: the Nextel ad in which the guys are dancing to Salt-N-Pepa and the Snickers ad with the workplace intervention. "We know you're bald...we think you should stop wearing the Snickers." Priceless.

Every year someone asks why the team with the better record just doesn't get home field advantage in the Super Bowl. First of all, the Super Bowl is special. It's one game, it's always been at a neutral location, and it takes a year (or more) to plan. Second, consider this: Seattle won 13 games this year, Pittsburgh 11. Seattle was the #1 seed in the NFC, Pittsburgh #6 in the AFC. And yet Pittsburgh is favored to win the game, and considered the better team by many. Should Seattle really be rewarded with a home game in the championship after playing an easier schedule? Oh, and would anyone have wanted to trek to Foxborough in February the last two years? I don't think so.

Just in case someone's confused, the Seahawks did indeed play in the AFC for many years. When the NFL expanded to 32 teams in 2002 and realigned each conference to have four divisions instead of three, some AFC team needed to switch to the NFC. Considering the Seahawks' history (or lack thereof), Seattle seemed the logical choice. Actually, Seattle played its inaugural season (1976) in the NFC before switching to the AFC the next year, so they're used to moving around.

With Kobe Bryant's 81-point game last week and the team-first Detroit Pistons on pace to challenge the Bulls' single-season record of 72 wins, I'm almost ready to start watching the NBA again. Almost.

Happy Groundhog Day! I cannot believe that the bored folks in Punxsutawney still get fired up over whether or not that little rat that they pull out of his hole will see his shadow or not. But in case you're wondering, good ole Punxsutawney Phil predicted 6 more weeks of winter this morning. Anyone have a recipe for roasted groundhog?

I'm not sure how I feel about the fact that the NFL Network will be showing some games next season. I have the NFL Network, so I'll get to watch these games-but how many people get this channel? Games will be shown on local TV in teams' home markets, but everyone else is out of luck.

Why is it that the same people who consider Macy's an American institution despise stadiums named after companies? And why doesn't anyone ever recognize that Wrigley Field is named after the owner of a gum-manufacturing company? It was the first-ever corporate-named stadium.

It's OK, Red Sox fans. Between Theo Epstein's quitting then returning, the naming of new co-GMs who were quickly replaced by Theo, and the bizarre moves this off-season, the Red Sox look like one of the most inept organizations in baseball. But I'm coo-coo for Coco Crisp-aren't you?

Shhhhh! The Olympics are coming. But don't tell anyone. (Actually, since there isn't much to watch on NBC lately, I don't know if they're running any promos for the Olympics. My guess is that NBC uses commercials and symbols on the screen during shows to promote the Olympics. It wouldn't surprise me if they occasionally have sitcom characters break out of a scene and look into the camera to say "Don't forget to watch the Olympics!")

For everyone who felt that I weaseled out on my XL Reasons to Watch Super Bowl XL by really only providing XXX reasons (and there were many of you), here are 10 more (I'll even number them how they would have appeared in the original piece):

XIX. Seattle's defense. The Seahawks registered a league-leading 50 sacks this season. Just how good is this defense? We'll find out on Sunday.

XX. Pittsburgh's defense. The Steelers play the 3-4 defense that has caused fits for their opponents this postseason. Seattle faced the 3-4 on four occasions this year, winning all four but struggling in two of them. Their game against Houston (a 42-10 win) doesn't count since, well, the Texans stunk. They beat Dallas by just 3 (scoring just 13 points) and San Francisco by just 2. Could bode well for Pittsburgh.

XXI. The Burger King ad. I'm still frightened of the King. But now? Now Burger King's going to introduce the "Whopperettes"-singers and dancers dressed as burgers, lettuce, and tomatoes. Who's running their ad agency-Martha Stewart's apprentice?

XXII. The referees. There have been some interesting (read: bad) calls this postseason. Why do I have a funny feeling that we could see a colossal mistake in Super Bowl XL?

XXIII. Grey's Anatomy is on right after the game! What could be more exciting than that?!?!

XXIV. Monkeys. They're almost always featured in Super Bowl ads, aren't they? (CareerBuilder.com uses them in their ads again this year.) Who doesn't love monkeys?

XXV. Joey Porter. The Steelers' linebacker-who never shies away from running his mouth or goading the other team during warm-ups-just might go crazy Sunday.

XXVI. Squares. Everyone loves Super Bowl squares! And if the game ends up being 55-10, at least you'll have something to root for.

XXVII. This is the first Super Bowl to feature two coaches who each have mustaches. Now that is history.

XVIII. The game goes perfectly with beer, chips, dip, and whatever else you can shove in your mouth by the handful.