Last year I was eagerly looking forward to the kickoff of the 'Soul Bowl' to see which African-American head coach would become the first to win the Super Bowl.
Today the fans of the New England Patriots are on pins and needles hoping to see their team join the 1972 Miami Dolphins as undefeated NFL champions when Super Bowl XLII kicks off later today in Glendale, AZ between the Pats and the New York Giants.
The 1972 Miami Dolphins capped off their perfect season by defeating the Washington Redskins 14-7 in Super Bowl VII. Their attempt to shut out the Redskins died after a blocked fourth quarter field goal attempt. In a play that will be on highlight reels forever, Dolphins kicker Garo Yepremian picked up the ball and tried to throw it, but it slipped out of his hand, was intercepted and returned for a touchdown by the Skins.
As a longsuffering Houston Oilers fan I waited patiently for the day that my team would finally make it to the Super Bowl. I watched my Luv Ya Blue boys get beaten twice just short of the ultimate game by the Pittsburgh Steelers. It was a 34-5 beatdown in the 1979 AFC title game and we had one stolen from us in the 1980 AFC Championship. But we did beat the Irving Cowchips on Thanksgiving Day. ;)
During the 80's and early 90's there was that frustrating run of making the playoffs seven straight years and never making it to the AFC title game, capped off by blowing a 34-3 halftime lead to the Buffalo Bills to lose in OT.
The Oilers finally made it in 2000-as the Tennessee Traitors.
Sorry Nashville, I'm a militant Oilers fan who will NEVER let that go, even though I have the Texans to root for now. It's like Baltimore Colts fans who refuse to forget the middle of the night move to Indianapolis or Cleveland Browns fans who are still pissed about their beloved Brownies moving to become the Baltimore Ravens.
Another one of my fave Super Bowls was Super Bowl XXII in 1988 when Doug Williams became the first African-American quarterback to not only start in one but win it as well. The same day I was steaming about the blown TD call in Pittsburgh on Mike Renfro's catch that would have tied the game, Doug Williams was trying to lead the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to their first Super Bowl against the LA Rams.We're having a Super Bowl party at the house later. Me and my friends will be chowing down, watching the action and rating the commercials.
That's right, rating the commercials. Since many companies pay premium dollars for Super Bowl ad time, over the years the Super Bowl has been the point when those companies launch new ad campaigns or come up with (they hope) fresh new creative ads.
We actually rank the commercials from -5 to 10. Sometimes the commercials are the bomb, sometimes they just bomb.
And sometimes, like this ad, they air once and are never seen again.
Hopefully the game won't be a bomb, but the New York Giants are a double digit underdog. It'll take Eli Manning playing like his big brother Peyton and the Giants defense playing like the Steel Curtain to pull off that upset. If by some miracle they do, it'll be the biggest upset since the New York Jets and Joe Namath guaranteed a win against the Don Shula coached Baltimore Colts. Honestly, I'm expecting Tom Brady and company to be carrying off the Vince Lombardi trophy at the end of the evening.
