OK, New York sports fans who are you rooting for in today Super Bowl between the Green Bay Packers and Pittsburgh Steelers? Are you rooting for anyone at all? Are you boycotting watching the game on the grounds that your team isn’t in it?
There are solid reasons for New York fans to root for, and against, each team.
Let’s take the Steelers first. If you are a New York Jets fan it is going to be difficult to be happy about watching the Steelers win their seventh Super Bowl title when you still think it should be your team playing today.
If you are a Giants fan you have the whole Ben Roethlisberger-Eli Manning dynamic. Every time Big Ben shows up on the big stage it reminds you of the 2004 trade then-Giants GM Ernie Accorsi engineered for Manning. What he could have done was simply take Roethlisberger with the fourth overall pick that year.
I think Giants fans will still be arguing about the wisdom of that move long after both guys are retired.
As for rooting for the Steelers you have to like the way they play. Bruising defense, a quality running game, a big-play passing attack.
Now, for the Packers. Mixed emotions as a Giants fan. You have to be bummed in a way because the Packers are the team that prevented the Giants from reaching the playoffs. Yet, at the same time, it would be comforting to know that you lost out to the Super Bowl champions.
As a Jets fan, maybe Aaron Rodgers is easier to root for than Roethlisberger.
Personally, I am rooting for the Packers today. I am tired of Big Ben, and I’m tired of watching the Steelers win so darn often. It’s somebody else’s turn.
How about you? Who are you rooting for today?