Before the game starts up in a bit, I would just like to say that my Super Bowl prediction is the Saints over the Browns.
I'm taking the Saints over the Packers (not in *tonight's* game, mind you) even though part of me expects the Packers to win again, mainly just because it's hard to repeat and I feel as if the team as a whole the past couple years has been too injury prone to really bank on too much success. But I'll probably be wrong, knowing me.
I had the Patriots coming out of the AFC in my pick originally, but that sounded too boring. The Browns seemed like the best "not-boring" choice that also could possibly perhaps make it to the Super Bowl. The Chargers and the Texans also could have worked, but their coaches suck. Also, I have an awesome Browns shirt that is becoming one of my favorites, so I guess I'm giving myself reason to cheer for them by making them my Super Bowl pick. Which isn't going to happen, of course. But if it does... it might be the greatest thing I've ever done.
That is all.
The Packers are a fun team to cheer for. Now that I'm (almost) free of my Vikings fandom, it's a lot of fun just to cheer for the most likable teams.*
ReplyDelete*The Packers aren't all that likable--I don't like Clay Matthews or AJ Hawk--but they're a lot more likable than the Vikings, and I guess I'd pick them over anyone besides the Bills, Browns, or Bengals.
I wouldn't say the Bengals are likable... they must have the highest rate of players who have run-ins with the law. Makes them interesting, at least...
ReplyDelete(Also, after seeing the Saints running on the last play of the game last night, I'm tempted to change my Super Bowl pick to the Cardinals, just to make my odds of getting it right astronomically impossible...)
I don't know anything about football, really, so I picked teams that I think have been woeful for the past while, and come from non-entitled sports towns.
ReplyDeleteNon-entitled meaning cities that haven't won a championship in recent memory?
ReplyDeleteThen the Bills and Browns are your best bet. Also the Lions. And the Seahawks (but you wouldn't want to cheer for them for their team).
(...And the Vikings.)
Happier than ever to be an NFL apostate.
ReplyDeleteNon-entitled means, basically, not from a giant coastal market and not from a city with recent championships. Minnesota qualifies, but I've decided I don't like the team, the fanbase, or NFL culture generally.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1OZTLXhVs1eD2BWvUlH1yrhLMRpt_JAOG7UBuy-uLVpg/edit?pli=1&hl=en_US
It's also hard to support an institution that includes Washington's amazingly racist symbol and team name, though baseball has similar problems.
Was that article written for a class? (Oh, and I find it funny that the University of North Dakota has to change their mascot, but there will never probably be a significant push to change team names like the Redskins they're worth millions more.)
ReplyDeleteAlso, another option is to just fantasy it and just cheer for all the players. Although that's more boring...
It wasn't for class, just got bored one day and wrote it.
ReplyDeleteIsn't being an NFL fan sort of like being a fan of gladiator competitions? They can't walk or remember by the time they turn 50, and so many die young.
It's also stupid how 53 members of a team combine to play 13 minutes of live-ball action--at least in baseball, it's only 9 to 13 people doing the playing.
I don't know; between the "HIT 'EM! KNOCK 'EM OUT! WOOO" culture, the injuries, the length of the games, and the fact that it's overwhelmingly the most popular sport in the country, I guess I want to be a non-fan. NO FANTASY FOR ME.
PS. Beirut has a new album. The second half, in my opinion, is excellent.
It is a violent sport. The NFL probably could do a whole lot more to actually protect its players (but they really don't, because... Roger Goodell is a jackass). And eventually, I think there's going to be more of a backlash against the sport as more studies come out on its debilitating effects... especially if everyone continues to become bigger and faster.
ReplyDeleteThe reason why it's the biggest sport, though, and the reason why I prefer it over other sports, and really, the reason why it's going to remain the biggest sport in America--is because it's much more dramatic. As in, every game means something. Baseball is great, but it's 162 games long, so it's hard to feel any importance outside of a couple games in the regular season and then the postseason.
As far as the fanbase of the NFL goes, it seems pretty ugly and rabid. But I guess my opinion is that there's going to be annoying aspects to every sport. One of the things that annoys me about baseball is how anal everyone seems about the "sanctity" of the game. I know you disagree with me, but the thing that annoyed me the most about steroids wasn't the fact that players were using it, but how many people vilify those that were confirmed using or even suspected of using. And how adamant that Bonds' 73 and 762 don't exist, that Maris and Aaron are the rightful owners of the records. I mean, they're just numbers...
I forgot where I was going with this. I like baseball, but... I don't know. I hate the Yankees and Red Sox, and every time one of the two don't win it all it feels like a happy accident. The NFL seems much better in creating parity for a variety of reasons.
And I haven't heard the new Beirut album (outside of probably one song that's been playing on The Current.) Do you have any other favorites from this year? I've been a bit bored by what I've mostly heard this year.
Baseball only needs a few changes to make it complaint-free for me: 1. expanded replay (limited challenges for everything, including balls and strikes), 2. Selective enforcement of the 12-seconds-between-pitches rule (only enforced vs. Yankees or Red Sox), 3. Elimination of in-market blackout on mlb.tv, and 4. Elimination of racist mascots.
ReplyDeleteIt does suck that the Yankees and Red Sox are perennially favorites, but 9 different teams have won the last 10 World Series. Yes, the Yankees made the playoffs 9 of those, but...it's kind of ok to have a consistent manifestation of evil to fight against. There's an extra weight when the Yankees come to town; the consistency has created some extra meaning to those games.
Better competitive balance would probably be good, but there's some fun in having empires to root against. The Patriots sort of provide the same thing in the NFL, but the Yankees exemplify it, and I don't have to wait for every 9th year for my team to actually take on the hated empire directly.
The length of the season is fantastic. There's something more powerful about the season when it lasts so long, and story lines have time to play out and develop. The season's rhythm mingles with the summer's; it's a nice consistency to have a game to watch, listen to, check every night. There's also something great about the regular season mattering--so much better than the sports where half the teams make the playoffs.
The only new music I've heard is The Rip Tide. I also picked up Gulag Orkestar and hope to listen to it soon.
I know that the Yankees/Red Sox haven't exactly dominated the World Series, but they've made the playoffs a combined 15 times in the last 10 years (taking up two of the four AL spots, most of the time), and the media fixates on the two to the point where it feels like the season's over once those two are eliminated.
ReplyDeleteAnd I've said this before, and I get the need to have an empire to cheer against, but I much prefer the Patriots over the Yankees. Patriots are much more scheming, nefarious, and have learned how to game a system that's designed to keep a balance. Yankees just stockpile talent. Which honestly just feels depressing to me.
It's at the point where I know I'm not going to be watching the playoffs if I know the Yankees or the Red Sox are still in it. I'm probably in the minority, and record ratings will appear when it's the Yankees/Phillies in the World Series, but it's at the point now for me where I'm feeling apathy rather than any desire to see the empires lose. They're going to keep acquiring all the talent, and they're always going to be good. Or at least that's my impression.