THE SUPER BOWL ON BOOMERPDX

Chasing The Ring.

First Super Bowl
via kjosy.com

A few things to notice on Super Sunday:

All the talk about a New York Super Bowl won’t change the location.

New Jersey is still the site for this year.

New Jersey? If it’s good enough for Bruce ‘The Boss’ Springsteen and the ageless Jon Bon Jovi, why not the Super Bowl?

The only disappointing part is no New York teams playing.

The Dallas Cowboys had the same problem when they hosted. The NFL may want parity with games decided by the last play to keep viewers engaged and advertisers happy, but the 6-10 Cowboys of 2010 weren’t going anywhere near the Super Bowl in their house.

Neither will the 8-8 Jets or 7-9 Giants.

Besides, if a New York team did make the Super Bowl this year it would have to be the Buffalo Bills, the state’s only team. But they might want to pass.

MetLife Stadium and Giants Stadium
via wikipedia.com

MetLife Stadium, like nearby Giants Stadium, is built on a landfill, otherwise known as a dump. Shocking that both stadiums share that statistic? Not when you consider Flushing Meadows in Queens, a former dump, became home to two World Fairs and the U.S. Open for tennis.

Here in Oregon we’re happy to have a team show up on the last day of the NFL season.

Calling the Seattle Seahawks a local team is a stretch, but not as big a stretch as calling the San Francisco 49ers local. Portland can choose one or the other and be happy since the 49ers made it nearly all the way last year.

Interviews with players over the years tell how disappointing a Super Bowl loss can be. Losing the last game of the season lingers until the accomplishment of just getting there settles in. Too many teams have made the trip and been turned away, the most famous being the Minnesota Vikings and Buffalo Bills.

Win one and the disappointment for players and fans fades away. Win two like Denver did at the end of the Elway-era and that’s all the collective memory of fans can handle. And it’s enough. Everyone’s a winner.

The worst part of the two weeks between the end of the playoffs and the Super Bowl is the repeat of every Super Bowl ever played. Seasoned fans grow to appreciate that their team ever made it to the finals. They watch the historical record with a certain pride. Bitter fans remember all too well how things should have been.

Baby boomers have seen most of the games. Boomerpdx saw them all, the good, the bad, you know the rest.

After the Green Bay Packers won the first two titles, Title Town looked like they’d have to build a new wing for at least another decade’s worth of trophies. Those Super Bowls seemed like the varsity vs junior varsity. The AFL felt like a league ready to fold if they didn’t win big soon.

Packer rings
via fox.com

The New York Jets and Broadway Joe Namath solved that problem in the third game. Their win over the Baltimore Colts, along with the Pittsburgh Steelers moving from NFC to AFC and lifting the trophy four times in the 1970’s, showed a power shift.

Steeler Rings
via fantasyknuckleheads.com

Except Denver still lost to the Cowboys in that decade.

Highlights of the 1980’s, also known as the Joe Montana Decade, showed the 49ers as the greatest finisher in the NFL with four titles of their own. They pounded Denver 55-10 along the way.

49er Rings
via sportslistoftheday

The Dallas Cowboys of the 1990’s were set to run the table all decade long by winning three titles in four years. They did build a new stadium, but so far no new hardware.

Cowboy Rings
via aliexpress.com

New England did the same trick in the new century with their own run of three titles in four years. And like they Cowboys, they’re still waiting for the next.

Patriot Rings
vianepatriotdraft.com

This Sunday could prove two things: Either Denver wins, giving the Bronco’s their third to balance four losses. Peyton Manning becomes the first quarterback to win with two different teams.

Or Seattle takes the game and starts their own tradition. Both teams have the personnel to repeat, but Seattle has youth and fire.

My homer call is the Seattle Seahawks. It’s their defense, and they never rest.

(originally posted on oregonsportsnews.com)