Something of major importance

Because I wanted to, that's why.

Sports and entertainment in general provide an escape/distraction for people and provide relief from daily stress of regular day life. They can give fans a sense of belonging and also bring together diverse groups of people.

With that being said, my money is on Pittsburgh due to the fact of the Teams they had to beat to get to the Super Bowl as well as their 3/4 defense. Seattle has a chance but they didn't fare too well, meaning didn't dominate, this season when playing teams that used the 3/4 defense. Pittsburgh has the toughness and confidence that I like. I just hope for an entertaining game.

Heathen!!!!

makes Chas a dull boy.

Oh, BTW - STEELERS!!!

Yes you could call the Steelers the equivalent of Viagra for their stiff defense. And the Seahawks could be referred to as Ni-agra since they're all wet and washed up. ;-)

would you like it stiff or from a wet smelly bird that will take off right away? :O

Steelers by 8" ;\

I read a Toronto Star article about commericial charecters and branding, and it frankly got me totally steamed. I need to be on a focus group or something.

They suggested that the Canadian Tire couple were effective (yet another incompetant husband/bitchy wife scene, which they have dramatically toned down), and also that the Keith's yelling scotsman was effective. It was effective at me hating Keith's ads, I am soooo tired of yelling Scotsman (Keiths, that Gum ad, the Nutragrain ad). I might just have to find another brand of beer. If I met someone like that in a bar in Nova Scotia, I might have to renounce my viturous non-violent ways and forget all the discipline that the martial arts taught me and just whup some butt.

But I really reserve my ire for those marketing idiots who think we are so stupid as to like this cr@p.

James

The history between the two teams leans more towards the Seahawks, as they have dominated the Steelers in the last 5 match ups or so.

HOWEVER, the type of playing lately gives a slight edge to the Steelers, who we all know are the better team, so there ya go.

There won't likely be a blowout unless there is some sort of injury early in the game. It might seem to get out of hand for a while, but the ending will likely be close.

Still need to find my towel.

I'll be OK.

I agree, as a sport, football can't compare to hockey but we don't have a professional hockey team here in the 'Burgh - we only have the Penguins.

I am sure Don Cherry would agree - that is enough reason to watch football.

I don't believe I called for the elimination of the super bowl, or of spectator sports.

I just cannot comprehend why they are so important in so many peoples lives.

However, I think that we in the US do need to evaluate our priorities and the value we place on most forms of entertainment.

As I said in my first post, if we spent 1/4 of the effort tracking local issues and politics as is spent on sports, there would be a revolution of accountability in both government and business.

There are many spectator activities that I might enjoy, but have decided that they are not worth the going rate in the market to me.

Concerts: Havn't been to one in years.
There are many groups and bands I would like to see. But, I am not willing to pay the going rate for tickets.

Movies: Again, the going ticket price is just too high for the value I get from watching a movie.

Cable TV: I would be willing to pay up to $10 a month for basic service. (Fat chance of that happening) It does not matter what the content is, or how many channels their are. I just won't get more than $10 a month of value from cable. So that is all I am willing to pay.

And thats the root problem, the marketers and entertainment companies have enough people hooked on the entertainment that the cost isn't important to them. So long as they raise the prices slow enough, people just keep on paying.

I'm not saying take away the super bowl. I just want to understand why so many people pay more attention to a game that has no impact on their lives than they do to local elections which have a signifgicant impact on their lives.

If you enjoy it, go ahead and watch the game. Root for your favorite team.
But, let's keep in mind that the outcome doesn't really matter.

Chas

Really pleased with the way the game turned out.

pit takes it, 21 to ten, and i called it by ten. off by one. drat.

I am a Seahawks fan, but I also try to avoid blaming the officiating. I usually take it as part of the game, and believe that the real winner will prevail over any incidental effect of the officials. However, in this superbowl I think it is quite possible that 14 points against Seattle were scored by the officials rather than the players. Truly disappointing, because I was really looking forward to a good match, no matter who won.

The replay clearly showed the ball break the plane of the goalline.

The first call on the field, probably shouldn't have been for a touchdown, but the replay showed it to be true anyway.

The Seahawks lost their game, almost like the receiver didn't want to keep both feet inbounds. But they had chances and blew them.

The Steelers actually played worse than normal, too. But less worse (eww grammar) than the Seahawks.

I'm pleased. I'm biased, but I have eyes. Ben got the points.

I didn't have as many problems with the calls last night. Mainly because most (not all) were technically penalties. The question was whether they should have called them in the Super Bowl.

The two biggest questionable calls were:

1. Darrell Jackson TD -- Jackson pushed off and he did it right in front of one of the official. It was definitely a penalty and I think, in that case, it has to be called. The official is 10 ft. away and staring right at him. If he needs to push off, he needs to do a better job at hiding it.

2. Holding call on Seattle -- Many are also upset at the holding call that negated the pass to Jeremy Stevens that would have put Seattle on the 2 yard line (instead, Seattle threw a pick on the next play). The offensive lineman for Seattle did hook Hagans as he came around the end (he doesn't have to grab his jersey for it to be holding). Again, it's a question of should it be called in the Super Bowl. In that case, I think it should have been. Hagans would have probably sacked Hasselbeck.

Two calls that I think were totally missed were:
1. Low block call against Hasselbeck -- they just screwed that one up completely. He went low to tackle, not to block anyone.

2. Stevens fumble -- in the first quarter, Jeremy Stevens caught a pass, took three steps and then had the ball knocked away. Refs called it an incomplete pass when it was really a fumble. Two Steelers were chasing the ball down and would have recovered deep in Seattle territory.

Like any other game, there were missed calls. I just don't think that the ones people are making the biggest deals about were actually bad calls.