XLII: All dressed up and no one to root for

Sunday’s Super Bowl isn’t quite Ravens-Giants or Bucs-Raiders territory, but it’s a little too close for my liking.
Like a billion or so other people, every year I sit down to watch the biggest sporting event around.
Being an Eagles fan by birth and a Panthers fan by relocation, I’ve only had a couple of chances to actually cheer “my team” on in 20 years of watching football. So I pick a team to root for.
Sometimes, it’s easy. I’m an underdog fan first — kind of comes with the territory following Philly teams.
Only this year, the decided underdogs in Super Bowl XLII are the Giants. And I hate the Giants — another byproduct of Philly fandom.
So that leads me to the Patriots. I don’t hate the Patriots, actually kind of liked them for a few years. But being an underdog rooter, I get tired of seeing the same team win. I didn’t like the ’80s/’90s Niners or the ’90s Cowboys for that reason.
I hated the Ravens-Giants matchup because I had reason to dislike both teams — the Giants for the reasons I’ve covered, and the Ravens because of the unforgivable move from Cleveland.
I hated the Bucs-Raiders matchup because the Raiders simply aren’t likable and I just don’t care about Tampa.
So this year, my choices are a team I’d normally root against at all costs and one I’m tired of pulling for.
In the end, I’ll probably go with the Pats. While they should win the game handily, they almost feel like an underdog with all the backlash lately.
But, regardless of how good the game is, it’s just never the same when you don’t have someone to really root for — and I’ll only be a half-hearted Pats fan.

Log In | Register as a new member