bb wrote:
On Mon, 06 Feb 2006 08:04:20 -0500, thunder
wrote:

Small market teams are bad for leagues.

Disregarding the game, I was curious. I don't think Seattle qualifies as
a "small market" anymore. In metro-area population, it ranks 13
nationally.


I don't care enough to verify my opinion with facts, but I think the
difference is in small market and small market for the NFL. I'd think
as far as NLF paraphernalia goes, Steelers crap outsells Seahawks crap
10 to 1. The average Neanderthal, Joe Six-pack sports fan relates
much more to a gritty, dirty play team like the Steelers. What self
respecting redneck would support a bunch of sweater wearing, latté
sipping, book reading, free thinkers like them Seattle folks, whoever
their namby pamby team is. Hey Bubba, you really gonna wear that
Seahogs jersey to the NASCAR club? snicker.

I think those better known folks in this group who took sides in the
contest pretty well prove my point.

bb

The Super Bowl has to sustain football fever for about 6 months until
the preseason games get underway.

Suppose you were writing the script for the event. You have two
choices:

1) One of the richest billionaires in the world accepts the Vince
Lombardi trophy on behalf of a city that 90% of the folks in the US
have never visited and many may only be half certain where it is
located. The physical location of the nearest competing team is about
700 miles away in the SF Bay area and there is no pro football at all
in three surrounding states and the adjoining Canadian province. There
are no blood feud rivalries with any teams that might get some help
selling out their stadiums when Seattle comes to town (You may as well
just send the trophy up on the Space Shuttle and bring it back in a
year for all the strategic good it would do the NFL.)

2) A little old guy whose family has owned the Steelers since the
invention of the pig, let alone the practice of making footballs from
pigskin, accepts the trophy and in the twilight years of his service to
the sport lays claim to being only the third team to win five Super
Bowl championships. Nobody likes billionaires, everybody likes a little
ol' grandpa figure.
Pittsburgh is within a few hours drive of any number of other football
cities, and while Seattle has so many civic assets and advantages that
an NFL team is just frosting on the cake, what the heck would you do in
Pittsburgh on a winter Sunday except root for the local football team?

A Steeler's win made much better television.

After watching the refs subtract a touchdown from Seattle and add one
for the Steelers yesterday, (and would have declared a phony "fumble"
if Holmgren didn't demand a relook at compelling video evidence to the
contrary) it occured to me why so many guys in the WWF are used up
players from the NFL.

The Steelers definitely won- but next year, I do think it would be
helpful if the referees were prohibited from betting on the game. :-)