Sunday, February 6, 2011

Go, Pack.

Notice the lack of an exclamation point on that title.

It's hard to get too excited about a Super Bowl that doesn't include the Seahawks, or even any former Seattle players.

However, my belief in a just world requires that Green Bay wins.

I realize that the Steelers are a good team, and they might in fact win. I could put up with a Pittsburgh victory, but only if Big Ben Rapistberger exits the game with a career-ending injury.

I've imposed an almost complete media blackout upon myself regarding the Super Bowl because the steady stream of Roethlisberger "redemption" stories sickens me.

If Pittsburgh had any integrity as an organization, they would have cut the rapist before the season began, rather than reinstate him as their starting quarterback after he served his suspension. The Steelers proved they could win without him when Roethlisberger was sidelined. So why bring him back?

Also, Green Bay has solid underdog credentials, as the league's smallest market and the only publicly-owned team. Every time the Packers win, it's a thumb in the eye to the NFL's sordid tradition of individual ownership. Public ownership is obviously good for fans--Green Bay wouldn't have a team anymore without it--but the league won't allow any other team to adopt the practice, because they'd rather maintain the freedom of plutocrats to steal a town's team if the taxpayers don't give them everything they want. Congress should end the ban on public ownership the next time the NFL's anti-trust exemption comes up for renewal.

So: Go, Pack.