SPORT
Superbowl XLIII Preview: The Cards in Tampa?
/ Adam Underhill
01.29.09
And so it has come to pass that the Arizona Cardinals have played their way into the Super Bowl.
Looking back on the year in sports that was, this makes perfect sense.
And, let’s face it, the sports “year” changes after the Super Bowl. Sportswriters are always churning out “Year in Review” pieces during the days after Christmas and before New Year’s Eve, presumably to fill space during what’s usually a slow news cycle. But how can you look back on the year while the NFL is still sorting out its playoff mess? The college and pro hockey and hoops seasons don’t really pick up until after the Super Bowl, and there also remain a slew of college bowl games to be played and complained about. So, from now on, let’s just say that Sports New Year’s Eve bash is the first Sunday in February.
Anyway, we’ve already had a “year” in which the Phillies beat the Rays in the World Series, Doc Rivers coached a team to the NBA title, Brett Favre played for the Jets, the Atlanta Falcons made the playoffs with a rookie QB, Al Davis emerged from his cave and publicly removed all doubt of his utter insanity, Michael Phelps won eight gold medals and decided to cash in on his celebrity with an endorsement deal for a foreign language instruction program, the Cowboys choked away their season but didn’t fire Wade Phillips, the Chargers were 4-8 after 12 games but hosted a playoff game, Heath Ledger died and then won a Golden Globe/was nominated for an Oscar for playing the Joker, the Detroit Lions fired Matt Millen and then out-Lioned themselves by going winless, Plaxico Burress ruined the Giants’ chances for a repeat by shooting himself in the leg, Mike Singletary dropped his pants at halftime in his first game as head coach, and a commercial jet crash-landed in the Hudson River with no casualties.
What else? Oh right, and a black guy was elected president. So as you can see, this has not been the most orthodox year, in sports or in general.1
1. Incidentally, the inauguration of Barack Obama on January 20th meant amending my All-Presidents basketball team. Gone is George H. W. Bush; in steps Obama, who, we already know, has an affinity for the sport and wants to put a court in the White House. I can’t wait to see how this affects foreign policy – will Vladimir Putin or Gordon Brown be asked to lace up for a game of Horse? And before you suggest I’m plugging Obama into the lineup because of his race, consider that he is probably the most athletic president we’ve ever had, or at least since Teddy Roosevelt. We’ve all seen the guy with his shirt off by now, and I think we can agree that he’ll win most loose ball battles. Obama’s only downside is that it’s been hinted he still smokes cigarettes. Obviously, we want him to be able to play both ends of the court and not get winded, so the smoking has to go. Otherwise, Obama is all upside, and probably capable of some Garnett-like numbers. I know I’m excited.
Looking back on the year in sports that was, this makes perfect sense.
And, let’s face it, the sports “year” changes after the Super Bowl. Sportswriters are always churning out “Year in Review” pieces during the days after Christmas and before New Year’s Eve, presumably to fill space during what’s usually a slow news cycle. But how can you look back on the year while the NFL is still sorting out its playoff mess? The college and pro hockey and hoops seasons don’t really pick up until after the Super Bowl, and there also remain a slew of college bowl games to be played and complained about. So, from now on, let’s just say that Sports New Year’s Eve bash is the first Sunday in February.
Anyway, we’ve already had a “year” in which the Phillies beat the Rays in the World Series, Doc Rivers coached a team to the NBA title, Brett Favre played for the Jets, the Atlanta Falcons made the playoffs with a rookie QB, Al Davis emerged from his cave and publicly removed all doubt of his utter insanity, Michael Phelps won eight gold medals and decided to cash in on his celebrity with an endorsement deal for a foreign language instruction program, the Cowboys choked away their season but didn’t fire Wade Phillips, the Chargers were 4-8 after 12 games but hosted a playoff game, Heath Ledger died and then won a Golden Globe/was nominated for an Oscar for playing the Joker, the Detroit Lions fired Matt Millen and then out-Lioned themselves by going winless, Plaxico Burress ruined the Giants’ chances for a repeat by shooting himself in the leg, Mike Singletary dropped his pants at halftime in his first game as head coach, and a commercial jet crash-landed in the Hudson River with no casualties.
What else? Oh right, and a black guy was elected president. So as you can see, this has not been the most orthodox year, in sports or in general.1
1. Incidentally, the inauguration of Barack Obama on January 20th meant amending my All-Presidents basketball team. Gone is George H. W. Bush; in steps Obama, who, we already know, has an affinity for the sport and wants to put a court in the White House. I can’t wait to see how this affects foreign policy – will Vladimir Putin or Gordon Brown be asked to lace up for a game of Horse? And before you suggest I’m plugging Obama into the lineup because of his race, consider that he is probably the most athletic president we’ve ever had, or at least since Teddy Roosevelt. We’ve all seen the guy with his shirt off by now, and I think we can agree that he’ll win most loose ball battles. Obama’s only downside is that it’s been hinted he still smokes cigarettes. Obviously, we want him to be able to play both ends of the court and not get winded, so the smoking has to go. Otherwise, Obama is all upside, and probably capable of some Garnett-like numbers. I know I’m excited.
