Written by: Shortstick
1/28/04

When I first started writing this article it sort of felt like one of those writing assignments you get in elementary or middle school. You know the kind: “Describe Your Favorite Person in the World”. The differences are that I gave the assignment to myself and I can write fuck in the article whenever I want. FUCK!

I couldn’t figure out anything to write about the Super Bowl this year, because it really doesn’t excite me much. It’s not that the game isn’t going to be good because I suspect it will be. In fact I think its going to be a close game (21-17 Patriots). It still doesn’t excite me a whole lot though.

Honestly the Super Bowl excites me in the way that it excites everyone. You have an excuse to drink, pig out, and watch goofy commercials. It’s really like a national party day, except you have to go to work the next day (ugh). As far as the game goes though, how often is it really exciting? In the last ten years, I’m thinking there might have been 3 or 4 games that were actually worth watching.

One of those games was Super Bowl XXXII (pompous ass NFL people had to use Roman numerals). In a previous version of this article, I explained at lot more about why the game my favorite, but I just didn’t like it. For reasons of simplicity, I came up with a short list (3 items) that allows for me to explain why the game was a good game and hopefully should explain why it was my favorite Super Bowl.

Criteria For a Good Game or Series in Sports

1. Your favorite team wins said game or series

This might seem like a “duh” sort of reason, but isn’t it great when your favorite team wins? It sort of helps you keep interest in series like the 2002 NBA Finals when the Lakers stomped New Jersey. Sometimes it the saving factor for a game or series.

Why Super Bowl XXXII?

The Broncos are my favorite team. Obviously the game gets extra points just for that alone, especially since they won.

2. There is some memorable moment in the series or game

Would anyone remember the 1988 World Series if it wasn’t for the Kirk Gibson home run? I would because of rule #1 above, but for the most part, the series would have been boring without a great moment.

Super Bowl XXXII Moment -

Such a moment came in the third quarter of Super Bowl XXXII when John Elway was staring at a 3rd and 6 inside his own red zone. The receivers were covered, so Elway had no choice but to take off for the first down. With a younger Elway it wouldn’t have been a problem, but this was the “aged like fine wine” John Elway. He got to the first down marker and dove for it, getting hit by like 80 packers in doing so. Anyone watching the game that is a sports fan (maybe not casual fan) will remember this moment. In fact, Page 2 at ESPN.com voted it as the #8 all-time Super Bowl Moment.

 

3. The game or series is competitive the whole way through.

This is where the 1988 World Series would fall short in baseball. My favorite team won and there was a great moment. It falls short because the series only went five games and outside of a couple of the games, the Dodgers dominated the series.

Another game that people have claimed to be great was Super Bowl XXXIV (St. Louis 23, Tennessee 16). The second half of the game was pretty good and the last play of the game was great. If anyone remembers though, the first half was really boring and the Rams led 9-0 at half time. To me, this does not qualify as a great game, just merely a good one. Of course, in terms of Super Bowl games, at least it was watchable for most of the game.

How this works in Super Bowl XXXII

The Broncos-Packers Super Bowl was great because from the opening gun until the last minute of the game (I think it there was 1:30 left on the clock when Green Bay ran out of downs). Until Brett Favre threw an incomplete pass to his receiver dude on 4th and long, you weren’t sure the Broncos were going to win the game. There was plenty of scoring as well and the lead changed more than once.

 

The game meets my retarded criteria for a great game, but I still haven’t explained why it’s my favorite. Even though rule #1 doesn’t really apply for all games. Using the 2000 World Series for example (Yankees-Diamond Backs), I could give a shit about the teams playing but it still ended up being a really great series. Really rules 2 and 3 are all about what makes a game or series great.

BUT, rule #1 comes into play when you have to pick a favorite game or series most of the time (I love this bullshit list I made – I can make up lots of shit based on it). Rule #1 plays into the emotion of picking a favorite. Anyways, the Broncos won the game. It was their first championship and it moved John Elway into the upper echelon of great quarterbacks. To sum it all up, it’s my favorite Super Bowl because it was a great game and my favorite team won. I have no other insight than that.

Tune back in next week to see what Youngmanridge did for the Super Bowl.