A _huge_ reason to root for the Titans next week

vsp · 01-13-2003, 10:59 AM

When it comes to NFL football, there is a disturbing trend to my rooting patterns that does NOT favor the Eagles in a potential Eagles/Raiders showdown.

At any given time, I can usually split the NFL down the middle and separate it into halves; one half contains teams I like (or at least pleasantly ambivalent about), the other half contains teams I loathe or don't particularly care for. These rosters are fluid from year to year, sometimes week to week, depending on many things -- player movement, coach movement, style of play, even just who a team's facing on a given week. This 50/50 ratio has been roughly true for me since childhood.

Given that, there is a simple rule: when a team I like faces a team I don't like in the Super Bowl, the team I don't like ALWAYS wins.

The first Super Bowl I remember watching and comprehending as a child was XIV (LA Rams/Pittsburgh). I remember rooting for the Rams and being mildly disappointed when they lost. From that point on, only one blip kept me from picking <b>seventeen</b> losers in a row. (The blip was picking Chicago over New England in SB XX, and that's because anyone who picked New England to win that game was straitjacketed and carted off within minutes.)

Three Denver losses. Four Buffalo losses, both in nail-biting and blowout fashions. The one time I wanted Washington to win (strictly because they were facing the Raiders), they got crushed. Far too many wins by San Fran-f'ing-cisco and Joe F'ing Montana. Seventeen years of crud.

Starting in XXXI, I got a reprieve. Both Green Bay and New England were on my happy list that year, so one of them HAD to win. My beloved Broncos took the next two (over happy-list teams, but it was still a delightful reversal of precedent), and while I would have preferred to see Tennessee beat the Rams in XXXIV, I didn't mind the Rams much that year. The next year, Baltimore whipped the Giants, which was the very first like-defeats-hate case on my resume, and then New England upset the Rams last year, avenging the Eagles' loss AND providing karmic payback for having to look at Kurt Warner's wife's hair again.

A Jets win yesterday would've secured an all-like-list Super Bowl, but that was not to be. I'm rooting for the Eagles, of course, but I have grudging respect for the Bucs and Titans. But ANY team that plays the Raiders is my new favorite team for that week, and I really do not need their silver-and-black miasma leaking into my Super Bowl viewing plans.

Go Titans.

01-13-2003, 10:59 AM	#1
vsp Syndrome of a Down Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: West Chester Posts: 1,367	A _huge_ reason to root for the Titans next week When it comes to NFL football, there is a disturbing trend to my rooting patterns that does NOT favor the Eagles in a potential Eagles/Raiders showdown. At any given time, I can usually split the NFL down the middle and separate it into halves; one half contains teams I like (or at least pleasantly ambivalent about), the other half contains teams I loathe or don't particularly care for. These rosters are fluid from year to year, sometimes week to week, depending on many things -- player movement, coach movement, style of play, even just who a team's facing on a given week. This 50/50 ratio has been roughly true for me since childhood. Given that, there is a simple rule: when a team I like faces a team I don't like in the Super Bowl, the team I don't like ALWAYS wins. The first Super Bowl I remember watching and comprehending as a child was XIV (LA Rams/Pittsburgh). I remember rooting for the Rams and being mildly disappointed when they lost. From that point on, only one blip kept me from picking <b>seventeen</b> losers in a row. (The blip was picking Chicago over New England in SB XX, and that's because anyone who picked New England to win that game was straitjacketed and carted off within minutes.) Three Denver losses. Four Buffalo losses, both in nail-biting and blowout fashions. The one time I wanted Washington to win (strictly because they were facing the Raiders), they got crushed. Far too many wins by San Fran-f'ing-cisco and Joe F'ing Montana. Seventeen years of crud. Starting in XXXI, I got a reprieve. Both Green Bay and New England were on my happy list that year, so one of them HAD to win. My beloved Broncos took the next two (over happy-list teams, but it was still a delightful reversal of precedent), and while I would have preferred to see Tennessee beat the Rams in XXXIV, I didn't mind the Rams much that year. The next year, Baltimore whipped the Giants, which was the very first like-defeats-hate case on my resume, and then New England upset the Rams last year, avenging the Eagles' loss AND providing karmic payback for having to look at Kurt Warner's wife's hair again. A Jets win yesterday would've secured an all-like-list Super Bowl, but that was not to be. I'm rooting for the Eagles, of course, but I have grudging respect for the Bucs and Titans. But ANY team that plays the Raiders is my new favorite team for that week, and I really do not need their silver-and-black miasma leaking into my Super Bowl viewing plans. Go Titans.

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