My Semi-Occasional Super Bowl Prediction

     Just enough time to get this in under the wire! This year's Super Bowl prediction is a toughie, for several reasons. The most exciting is that it's taking place in my hometown stadium! That's because my "hometowns" are in both New Jersey and New York, just like both teams that play at Giants Stadium. It may seem to the outsider this has little to do with the outcome of the Super Bowl, but to me, of course it does.

     My dad used to love to go to the Super Bowl with his old roommate, a wealthy guy named Jack who then/now lives in Texas. When the location, teams, and scheduling suited them, they'd meet up and go. The ones I remember him talking about most were in New Orleans and California. I think they went to one in Florida, too. I always wished I could go, even though I didn't know anything about football and was a child, so it would have been somewhat of a waste. I think I know less now than I did as a kid, but I'd still love to go. Unfortunately, I'd prefer a used Subaru too, and with the cost of a ticket about equivalent, I don't think I'll ever end up going to a Super Bowl. So I guess having the Super Bowl in my home state(s) is the closest I'll ever get.

     I like to imagine how excited my dad would be about the Super Bowl being here, if he were still alive. Man, it would be the best to see what a kick he'd get out of it. I wish he could have known it would be held here---I'd certainly never have thought it. I guess it has to do with the stinking clone of the original stadium they built and are now claiming is "Giants Stadium." [Edit: Apparently they do not call it Giants Stadium, only people around here do, just like we also still call the Arts Center "Garden State Arts Center," not "PNC Bank Arts Center." The new Giants Stadium is MetLife Stadium, which is a name I guess an impostor replacement may deserve.] I've never been there, and certainly don't consider it Giants Stadium. They should have called it something else, out of respect for the old stadium. And of course, left the old one standing. But I digress.

     Given the frighteningly cold weather we've had that has only very nearly missed the kickoff date here, I doubt the Super Bowl will ever return to these climes, so that makes this Bowl all the more important. So who will win? These special conditions are only part of what makes this a tough call.

     I actually know who Peyton Manning is, so that is like a huge bonus for the Denver Broncos. I don't know who anyone is, but Peyton Manning is such a big deal and has been playing so long, of course I know him. So it would seem like his team would have to win. Especially since he's so old now, like normal-person age, that it's counterintuitive that he's so good, or even still playing at all. Is this his last chance to win a Super Bowl? If so, by all crazy means, the Broncos should win. Especially since it's not going to be so cold his tiny creaky old hands will drop and fumble all the time, as newspaper reports suggested when they worried the weather might be below freezing for the game.

     On the other hand, for my most of the teenaged years I spent frequenting concerts at Giants Stadium, I wanted to live in Seattle. And then for a while I actually got to! It was fantastic. I'd live there again in a heartbeat, and there's very few places about which I'd say that. So if this is going to be the only Super Bowl that ever takes place in my home state, by all rights, the Seahawks should win. (Plus, the Seahawks' name makes a lot more sense to me than the Broncos'---is Colorado really known for Broncos? I feel like they stole a Wyoming team's name.)

     But if you were paying attention, you'd recall that this Giants Stadium is not the real Giants Stadium, but an impostor. Does that play a part in diminishing Seattle's ability to fulfill a win based on a convergence having to do with my seeing the Metallica/GnR/Faith No More show there and then going to UW? I would think so, even though you are probably thinking "Wha??"

     And I think my dad really missed me and would have wished I didn't live so far away when I lived in Seattle, so maybe his harboring a grudge about them would nix Seattle's chances. But I also considered going to school in Colorado, which is nearly as far away as Seattle, so would it even matter? Plus, my dad wasn't one to hold dumb grudges, and he reconnected with some family by my living in the Pacific Northwest, so that probably doesn't play in very much.

     I also don't think this is going to be Peyton Manning's last chance at a Super Bowl win. Dang it, though, it really seems hard to bet against him when I know who he is SO much. Still, I really feel like Seattle has to win. Because if I were going to this game with my dad and his friend Jack, they'd be saying I'd want Seattle to win because I love the town so much, and they'd be right. And we'd all have a damned good time together no matter who won, but it would be the most fun if the lady's pick came out the winner. So my choice for the victor this year is the Seattle Seahawks. Let's see if I'm right and the New York/New Jersey/Pacific Northwest music-sports connection pays off for the win.