I have a confession.  It's Super Bowl week, and unbelievably, I could care less.  I know that's not the kind of inspired lead-in you were looking for in this week's entry, but I have to come clean and let you know where I stand.  Don't get me wrong - I'll still cook up some big hunk of meat on the Big Green Egg, mix up a few Bloody Marys and make a day of it, because it's the Super Bowl.  It has to be done.  But I can't bring myself to launch into a detailed analysis of this year's matchup, because I just don't care who wins.  I know there are an abundance of intriguing plot lines, and they should be providing me with plenty of material, but no matter how hard I try, I can't seem to muster up much enthusiasm for any of them.  

The fact that the son (Peyton Manning) of the most popular and successful player in Saints history (Archie Manning) stands between the Saints and their first Super Bowl victory is certainly noteworthy.  Who would have thought that it would take the Saints roughly forty-three years to make it to their first Super Bowl, and when they did, they'd be facing the son of their most famous quarterback?  Archie's either in a can't lose or a can't win situation.  I haven't figured out which, although I'm leaning toward can't win.  How is he supposed to react when Peyton throws a seventy-three yard touchdown to Reggie Wayne against his hometown team that he led for twelve years?  Does he stand up and high five his wife?  I'm sure that would be a big hit with the hoards of Saints fans watching on tv.  You know who else would love it?  CBS.  You know they're going to have one camera dedicated solely to Archie just so they can capture his reactions during the game, and they'll be praying they catch him celebrating a touchdown on either side of the ball so they can cast him as either a traitor to his family or a traitor to his home town.  It's the ultimate in reality television. That poor guy is screwed either way.  If I were Archie, I'd pop a couple valium before kickoff and ask Olivia to chain me to my seat.  That's the only way he's coming out of this thing unscathed.

I will also admit that I'm enjoying all the Dwight Freeney ankle coverage.  Not because I have any particular interest in Dwight Freeney's ankles (although I'm sure they're lovely), but because every time I think ESPN has reached new levels of absurdity with its coverage, they outdo themselves.  I'm fairly confident that by the end of the week they'll have a ten person panel assembled to spend two hours during prime time discussing third degree ankle sprains.  I mean, do they always come with a torn ligament or not?  I must know!!

But once you get past Archie's dilemma and Freeney's ankle, what's left?  Two teams that fly up and down the field and score at will?  Great.  In fact, maybe that's why I can't get very excited about this game.  At the risk of sounding a lot like a cantankerous grandpa, I'm not sure I recognize the NFL anymore.  When did the Super Bowl turn into the NBA Finals?  Throughout my lifetime, I have known one thing to be true about the NFL - championships are won with a running game and great defense.  That has always been an absolute truth - until now.  Over the last decade, the NFL has worked tirelessly to tweak the rules and tip the scales in favor of offenses to allow for more scoring, under the assumption that more scoring equals more excitement, more excitement equals more viewers, and more viewers equals . . . . . . more money!! 

You could see it beginning to take hold a few years ago when the refs started getting crazy with the illegal contact and defensive holding calls.  If I remember correctly, it was right around the time that the Patriots and Colts were having some epic battles, and it completely changed the dynamic of the rivalry, because suddenly if a Patriots cornerback breathed on Colts receiver, a yellow flag was flying through the air.  That was the beginning, and it's only gotten worse since then.  Any team today would be crazy not to look to pass first, because the league has done everything in its power to make passing easier than running.  Ready for some stats?  The Colts and Saints ranked second and fourth, respectively, in passing yards per game this year.  Meanwhile, the Colts finished dead last in rushing at 89 yards per game.  Yes, the team representing the AFC in the Super Bowl finished last in the league in rushing.  Eighty-nine yards per game!!  So much for needing a running game to win.  (The Saints, to their credit, ranked sixth with 131.6 yards per game.) 

And how about those defenses!!!  The Colts and Saints ranked 18th and 25th, respectively, in total yards allowed on defense.  That's right - neither of the Super Bowl participants had a defense that was better than at least half of the other teams in the league!  The Washington Redskins, Houston Texans and San Francisco 49ers, all teams that didn't even make the playoffs, had better defenses than the Colts and the Saints.  Any way you slice it, you come to the same conclusion:  these two teams have sh*tty defenses.

But sh*tty defense and mediocre running games apparently don't stop you from winning in today's NFL.  Who cares about defense and running the ball when you've got an awesome aerial attack?  You've got to give the people what they want, and the NFL has determined that's what the people want.  Is it, though?  The SportDork, for one, can't get on board.  And I have to believe there are plenty of other fans who are getting turned off by watching footballs fly through the air on Sundays as defenses stand by helplessly, handcuffed by ridiculous passing rules that are turning the NFL into the NBA.  From the time I was old enough to understand what was happening on the television screen in front of me, I learned that you win with great defense and a rushing attack.  Those are the fundamental principles that the NFL was founded upon and have guided it to great success, but they are being tossed aside in the never-ending quest for more and more scoring, and it's turning the sport into something I no longer recognize. 

Interestingly, what I now realize is that it's not the teams in the Super Bowl that are the source of my disinterest.  It's the game they're playing.

Sorry, NFL.  Wake me up when the air show is over. 

P.S.  - Tiger didn't make it out to Torrey Pines for the PGA's Farmers Insurance Open last weekend, but that didn't mean the fans weren't thinking of him . . . . .   .