Super Bowl XLIII: Will You Watch?

All season, you watch and wait. You and your friends have begun a weekly ritual of burrowing through mountains of snacks and huddling around the television set. You watch every game with anticipation, hoping your team will do just enough to advance. Each week brings them one step closer to that all-important goal; the bright light at the end of the tunnel that is the NFL season; the reason why teams play so hard – the Super Bowl. You clench the remote control as you watch one of the most important games of your team’s season. They have to win this…We need this win…They won’t let you down, right? Wrong. After months of devotion, your team flops.

For the fans of 30 teams all across the world, this disappointment was all too real. But for the devoted (and some bandwagon) fans of the Arizona Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Steelers, their countless hours of faith have paid off. The wish of every NFL fan has been granted to these fortunate few. So, for the rest who have no stock in either of the teams playing, will you watch?

Most would say that the Super Bowl is a must-see for any football fan, and to miss it would be considered a capital crime. After all, it’s not just about supporting the team, right? It’s the love of the game that makes football fans tune in year after year. And who can forget the halftime show, or even the million dollar commercial spots that are the hot topic around the water cooler on Monday morning? To enthusiasts, Super Bowl Sunday is like Christmas.

For some, though, the Super Bowl is only as good as the teams that are in it. Unless you’re a Patriots fan, many of the Super Bowls have been replays (that is, until the Giants came along with the Cinderella Story of the century). Just because two underdog teams have managed to somehow defeat all opponents in their conference doesn’t guarantee a good game. They’re underdogs for a reason. But if the teams have been playing with a little extra umph during the season, viewers may be pleasantly surprised.

So, with the news of the Steelers-Cards matchup, many fans feel that these are teams that, perhaps, may not put on a good show. The Super Bowl is being hosted in Tampa this year, which is right down the road from my Orlando location. Somehow, though, I am not as excited as I would have been if the Giants, or even the Eagles, were playing. A Pittsburgh vs. Arizona matchup seems to leave something to be desired. Besides, come February 1st, what else will there be to do? I guess I’ll be planted in front of the flat-screen watching Super Bowl XLIII to see how it unfolds. I’ll watch, but whoever wins, I won’t be happy about it.