Football thoughts leading up to the big game

As you no doubt know, I happen to be a HUGE football fan. I enjoy all facets of the game, and devote a great deal of my life from August through January to studying the art of the pigskin. These are the smatterings of my thoughts before the Superbowl.

I don't exactly have a vested interest in this game, being a huge Dolphins fan and really not living any where near either team. I have aproximately 3 friends from the Pitt area, which in itself is enough to make me route for the Steelers (I know exactly NO ONE from Seattle, discounting Becky's brother who moved there 24 hours ago). But there's a number of other reasons as well.

For one, I could really care less about either coach, but I like the "idea" of coach Cowher way more than the idea of "Holmgren". Don't get me wrong, I always route for history to be rewritten, so the fact Holmgren could be the first coach to win SuperBowls with two different teams (remember he did it a few years back when the Packers beat the Pats) is tempting. But I'd really rather not see Holmgren be that first guy. Consider that this first guy will be put on a level above coaches like Shula, Vermeil, and Parcells, to name a few of the more recent coaches who came close to winning Super Bowls with different teams. Shula got a perfect season, Vermeil ran one of the most prolific offenses in the history of the game, Parcells manages to coach without being laughed at despite looking absolutely ridiculous. But what has Holmgren done? Mike Shanahan is often criticized for riding the coat tails of Elway, how has no one said the same thing of Holmgren and Favre? I feel like he's just doing the same thing now with Shaun Alexander. My other knock on Holmgren is that probably the biggest thing he is known for is the coaches he has had work for him. A partial list includes Jon Gruden, Steve Mariucci, Andy Reid, Ray Rhodes, Dick Jauron, and Mike Sherman. So yes, Holmgren has a talent for finding good support, but is that something that really dictates greatness?

And then there's Bill Cowher. I like the idea of Cowher mostly because he's been in Pitt forever. As player loyalty and team loyalty continues to decline, I like seeing a team loyal to someone, even if it's just the coach. Don't forget, the Steelers had some pretty bad years in there 3 and 4 years ago, but management stuck with Cowher.

Another big reason to route for the Steelers: Marino went to the Superbowl early in his career, lost, and then never made it back. In the "Greatest of All Time" discussion when Marino comes up that's all anyone can talk about; that he has no SuperBowl jewelry. As a Marino fan, I don't wish this upon anyone else.

Moving in a totally different direction, why do we have a Super Bowl in Detroit? Other than Jerome Bettis's home coming I really can't think of any good reason. Crime is worst in the country there, and last time they hosted the Super Bowl in '82 the 49ers were forced to walk a mile to the stadium because of snowfall. Bill Simmons has made a lot of good points on this topic, a few of which I will reiterate here. No SuperBowl should ever be played outside of San Diego, New Orleans, or Miami, with the possible exception of Vegas if they were to build a stadium. I think I would add LA and NYC to this list, but they would need to have stadium work as well. Another Simmons point: the Super Bowl has been played in exactly 12 locations, each one corresponding to a member of the 1992 Dream Team. New Orleans is Bird, Miami is Jordan, San Diego is Magic, and Jacksonville is Laettner. I'm giving Detroit the title of Chris Mullen: I know they were big at some point, but really I don't think they contribute much.

Of course, Miami gets the Super Bowl back next year, so all will be well. All will be AWESOME if Miami can become the first team in Super Bowl history to play a Super Bowl in their own stadium, but for that we will have to wait and see.