In the interest of actually writing a post this week and trying to stay ahead of the curve before the game kicks off, here are some scattered thoughts leading into the big game.* I'm pretty tired about of the myth of "cold weather" teams. This is becoming more annoying as the temps here in sunny Minneapolis threaten to drop into the negative 40s with the wind chill this weekend.
Now, after living in cold weather climates for my entire life, it's still damned cold out there. I dare anyone to jump out in a short-sleeved shirt and run around the block for an hour and not need a trip to the hospital. Go ahead, you can even stay here, we have plenty of space in the basement.
To say that some teams are "cold weather' teams is absurd. Ask Bears fans about Curtis Conway, whose yearly bellyache about the weather as compared to his Southern California home became as predictable as bird migrations.
Now, while I admit that a team that practices outside and plays outside has a small advantage over a dome or warm-weather team, I think the biggest advantage comes from just living in the climate.
A 20-degree game time temperature isn't so bad when it's been negative 3 while you're grabbing groceries on a Wednesday night and that's where the true advantage lies.
All of this was in play for the NFC Championship game, which had Rex Grossman versus Drew Brees as the quarterbacks of record. Grossman grew up in Indiana, went to school at Florida and now plays in Chicago. Brees grew up in Texas, went to school at Purdue and now plays for the domed Saints after years in San Diego.
You pick an advantage there.
Need more proof? Look at the quarterbacks in the Super Bowl during the 1997 season. John Elway was born in Washington state, moved to California and went to school at Stanford before playing in Denver, while Brett Favre is a Mississippi product who now makes Green Bay home for as little time as possible during the season.
Both are good QBs when the temperature dips, but you try and explain why.
* How are the Bears underdogs?
No, really - I have some time here. Go ahead and argue with anything Frank the Tank has to say on the subject.
I still contend that Indy's perfect storm of choke is enough reason for anyone to wager heavily against them - I wouldn't trust Tony Dungy and Peyton Manning to come up with a win in a game of checkers against Mrs. Hughes' kindergartners, much less in a Super Bowl - but Frankie is right when he says this is a weak team by Indianapolis standards... assuming there actually were standards in Indy.
Has everyone forgotten the Ravens win?
Has everyone seen too many Manning commercials this season so they've been slowly brainwashed since August?
Maybe it's an elaborate plot by the national media to clean house in Vegas this year.
Personally, I'm lost. Remember when I wrote this:
The weird thing this year is there's no clear cut favorite heading in. The teams that started hot cooled down the stretch and the teams that had to sprint to the finish don't seem to be very good - Chiefs, ahem, Chiefs - so the traditional "peaking at the right time" team seems to be out of the equation.
Well, Chicago is that team now. As long as Grossman doesn't do a great deal of harm, I think this team has proven over and again that they can win without anything more than a mediocre offense.
Run the ball, keep the Colts offense off the field and let the defense smack the Magnetheads around the field and they'll be tipping over cabs and lighting pedestrians on fire in Lincoln Park before you know it.
* Finally, this game pits a team I can't stand - save for the fact that it consistently pisses off Viking fans - and a player I can't stand in Manning.
While I attempt to be a glass is half full type of guy, I keep telling myself that someone has to lose. Either the Bears go home and cry all offseason, or Manning spends the next two months in his PJs, refusing to shave and smelling like a sheep. See? Win-win!
In actuality, this setup will drive me nuts. While I'm sure I could cheer for the Colts, minus Manning, that's not much fun, because he's the poster boy for that sad franchise. That said, I can't be one of those fans who cheers for teams from their division, or worse, the team that knocked their guys from the postseason.
Because that's just lame.
(Image from NYTimes.com)
No comments:
Post a Comment