It's a weird feeling heading into a prospective Super Bowl when you don't have a weird feeling, either pro or anti the team involved. The last time I had no direct rooting interest in the Super Bowl was a good nine years ago, when the Packers beat the Steelers, a win that seemed sure to unlock a new dynasty with a 27-year old Aaron Rodgers. Of course, neither team made the Super Bowl again.
Instead, the Patriots did five times, and the three years they didn't saw a team QBed by Peyton Manning, or the Ravens - a team I have an emotional investment it - make it. Those two weeks ahead of those games were chock full of fantasies of what it would feel if the result goes my way, or of cours the longing dread and eventual rationalization of it going the other way. It was maddening, if still fun at times, and of course four times in those eight years, it did go my way, with two Patriots losses, a Manning win and a Ravens win.
But none of those emotions are healthy, and for once I am truly enjoying the impending Super Bowl for teh football, alone. This is such a great matchup. Sure, I probably would lean Chiefs if I had to take a rooting position, for the sole reason it would be great to see Andy Reid finally win a Super Bowl and inch towards getting the universal credit he so deserves. But of course, watching Kyle Shanahan win a Super Bowl, making him and his dad the first father-son duo to do it would be great.
The 49ers are built so well and are so fun to watch. They pair a truly interesting offensive style that remains interesting even when their running the ball 70% of the time, with one of the most fun defenses to watch in some time. That defense is incredibly fun, be it the variety of pocket-pushers, to the LBs side-to-side greatness, to Richard Sherman's antics and brilliance. They are an experienced foorball watchers dream.
As is everything that Chiefs offense does. Watching Mahomes effortlessly fling the ball to his bevy of fast receivers who run more precise and smart routes than you would think is an out-of-body experience, I caught myself simply laughing sometimes at what that offense is capable of.
I shouldn't necessarily tie together me having no rooting interest with actually loving this matchup. I was almost guaranteed to have no rooting interest after the Ravens went down, if not a week earlier when the Patriots were kicked out of the playoffs in brilliant fashion. But we have a great matchup. The combination of the Chiefs offense adn 49ers defense on the field at the same time is one of the more orgasmic matchups in recent Super Bowl history. There will be fireworks, to be sure.
Certainly, we are owed a great Super Bowl. On night one of the playoffs, my nightmare was ended with the Patriots losing. That weekend was an incredible experience of how great football can be. Since then, we've seen a few great examples of how one-sided great football can be as well. We are owed a great Super Bowl to cap this off. To enter us into a new decade, with two peerless teams leading the way, and so many of us jaded through a decade of Patriots-singed paranoia there to enjoy it.
Instead, the Patriots did five times, and the three years they didn't saw a team QBed by Peyton Manning, or the Ravens - a team I have an emotional investment it - make it. Those two weeks ahead of those games were chock full of fantasies of what it would feel if the result goes my way, or of cours the longing dread and eventual rationalization of it going the other way. It was maddening, if still fun at times, and of course four times in those eight years, it did go my way, with two Patriots losses, a Manning win and a Ravens win.
But none of those emotions are healthy, and for once I am truly enjoying the impending Super Bowl for teh football, alone. This is such a great matchup. Sure, I probably would lean Chiefs if I had to take a rooting position, for the sole reason it would be great to see Andy Reid finally win a Super Bowl and inch towards getting the universal credit he so deserves. But of course, watching Kyle Shanahan win a Super Bowl, making him and his dad the first father-son duo to do it would be great.
The 49ers are built so well and are so fun to watch. They pair a truly interesting offensive style that remains interesting even when their running the ball 70% of the time, with one of the most fun defenses to watch in some time. That defense is incredibly fun, be it the variety of pocket-pushers, to the LBs side-to-side greatness, to Richard Sherman's antics and brilliance. They are an experienced foorball watchers dream.
As is everything that Chiefs offense does. Watching Mahomes effortlessly fling the ball to his bevy of fast receivers who run more precise and smart routes than you would think is an out-of-body experience, I caught myself simply laughing sometimes at what that offense is capable of.
I shouldn't necessarily tie together me having no rooting interest with actually loving this matchup. I was almost guaranteed to have no rooting interest after the Ravens went down, if not a week earlier when the Patriots were kicked out of the playoffs in brilliant fashion. But we have a great matchup. The combination of the Chiefs offense adn 49ers defense on the field at the same time is one of the more orgasmic matchups in recent Super Bowl history. There will be fireworks, to be sure.
Certainly, we are owed a great Super Bowl. On night one of the playoffs, my nightmare was ended with the Patriots losing. That weekend was an incredible experience of how great football can be. Since then, we've seen a few great examples of how one-sided great football can be as well. We are owed a great Super Bowl to cap this off. To enter us into a new decade, with two peerless teams leading the way, and so many of us jaded through a decade of Patriots-singed paranoia there to enjoy it.
