I know what just about everyone with a pulse will be doing Sunday night: watching the Super Bowl. Some of us have followed football this year as if it was a religion, tending to our TV every Sunday.
But for others, going to a Super Bowl party is kind of like going to a New Years Eve party: get hammered until the clock runs out and then go home.
Nevertheless, whether you are watching it for commercials or as a result of peer-pressure, you have to be prepared.
Here are five simple concepts you should know in order to make everyone think you are a relative of John Madden:
1. Know where the game is– One of the most annoying questions to answer is, “where is this game?” This year the Chicago Bears and the Indianapolis Colts will be playing in Miami. This is the ninth time the city has hosted a Super Bowl, which ties an NFL record with New Orleans. The game will be played at Dolphin Stadium, home of the Miami Dolphins, who did not even make the playoffs let alone have a shot at the big game.
2.Both head coaches are black– Two Sundays ago, Lovie Smith, head coach of the Bears, became the first African-American coach to make it to the Super Bowl. Only four hours later, Tony Dungy, head coach of the Colts, joined him.
3.Know how the teams got there– These teams did not win the lottery and get picked to go to the Super Bowl. The Bears arose as a powerful team in the regular season with a 13-3 record. They got a bye to the second round of the playoffs, beat the Seattle Seahawks in the divisional playoffs and then the New Orleans Saints in the NFC championship game. The Colts have been labeled over the years as a team with talent that fails to win. They started out as a wild card, beat the Kansas City Chiefs, then the Baltimore Ravens and finally beat the New England Patriots.
4.Know your key players– Probably the most noticeable player of this year’s Super Bowl is Peyton Manning. Manning is the starting quarterback for the Colts and was this year’s MVP. You will probably recognize him from his numerous commercials as the man cheering on a coffee-shop worker or the one trying to sell you Direct TV to watch his games. Manning’s brother, Eli, is the starting quarterback for the New York Giants.
Manning has been criticized over the years for not winning the big game, a reputation that started during his days at Tennessee when he could not win the big game against rival school Florida. Ironically, this year Florida won the NCAA National title game, and Peyton will face a Florida grad: Chicago quarterback Rex Grossman. Another player you should know is a man who Manning will line up against directly: Brian Urlacher. Urlacher is one of the most powerful defensive players in the NFL and has played a large role in the success of this Bears team.
5.Conditions– This might be what we would consider the answer to the extra-credit question. The Colts and the Bears come from completely different environments. Throughout the years, the Bears have been a team of rough and tough son-of-a-guns. They play their home games on Solider Field on Lake Michigan in Chicago. The weather at the stadium is always brutally cold from the winds from the lake; the Saints fell victim to this climate challenge two weeks ago. Urlacher is the player that embodies this characteristic of toughness the most, as he is considered one of the hardest hitting and meanest looking players in the NFL. The Colts may be about as opposite as it gets. Their home games are played in a climate-controlled dome. Their superstar quarterback, Manning, has been criticized for his lack of toughness and being a whiner.
Overall the game should be a good one, with Manning and the high-powered Colts offense taking on Urlacher and the stingy Bears defense.
Obscure Information To Impress Your Friends:
– Manning is 0-9 with 1 interception this postseason on passes over 30 yards
-Lovie Smith was the first coach in Bears history to win a division title in his second year as head coach
Leave a Reply