The Denver Broncos versus the Carolina Panthers.
Who’d have guessed such a pairing for Super Bowl L? Certainly not I, but then again, I haven’t really been paying that much attention to the NFL all season.
I’m more surprised by the fact that the Patriots didn’t mangle Peyton Manning again, and make it into the Super Bowl; I’d have bet money on them beating the Broncos by like 20 points, but it’s a good thing that I don’t bet on sports anymore, because I was still in Vegas when I could have.
Here’s an interesting factoid, that ye old eye test made me believe, and later confirmed by factual statistical evidence: despite the fact that in spite of the loss, Tom Brady still owns Peyton Manning in head-to-heads 11-6, but throughout his entire career, Tom Brady has struggled against the Denver Broncos, regardless of whom was the quarterback. With a 5-6 record against the Broncos, Brady has taken more losses against Denver against anyone else outside of the AFC East division. Aside from Peyton Manning, he’s taken losses against quarterbacks such as Brian Griese and Jake Plummer, vastly lesser heralded QBs. For whatever reason, the Broncos have always plagued Brady, and even the ballast of Peyton Manning’s ineptitude against the Patriots couldn’t undermine them this time.
Anyway, when the day is over, I don’t really care who wins the Super Bowl this year, or any future year for the foreseeable future. And if it the Broncos do win it, I think it would be cool if Peyton Manning immediately retires afterward, and manages to cash in on the ultimate luxury of going out a champion, drawing further parallels to John Elway. Derpy as he is, Peyton Manning’s not a bad guy, and it legitimately would be cool to see him go out on top, and hopefully he’s smart enough to capitalize, if he wins.
However, I’m rooting for Cam Newton, and the Carolina Panthers to win it all.
One, nobody’s rooting for the Panthers to win it all, because they’re the Panthers, and people typically like “more traditional” franchises to keep winning championships, because it’s like maintaining the status quo. The Panthers haven’t been this close since 2003, when Janet Jackson’s boob stole the show, and Adam Vinatieri hit one of numerous championship-winning field goals.
Two, it would be kind of fun to watch Atlanta media juggle the fallout of a Panthers win, because they’re division rivals that this city is supposed to hate, but Cam Newton is a Union City Atlanta native who is a known Falcons fan when they’re not playing the Panthers.
And three, because all season long, the media has been crawling all up in Cam Newton’s ass, saying he’s a poor role model, he’s bad for the game, he’s a disgrace, a bastard-fatherer, for absolutely no other reason than the fact that he’s black. Seriously, all the rhetoric in the world can’t conceal the fact that Newton has been under fire all season long for no legitimate reason other than the fact that he is black and people are racist.
He put up respectable numbers in yards, TDs, QB rating, and rushed for more touchdowns than any other QB in the game. Newton’s been the closest guy to really bringing a college QB experience to the pros, because he’s big, tall, nimble, can throw, and can really move. He’s brought a sense of home field pride, gives footballs to kids and does charity work. Sure, he’s confiscated some paraphernalia of opposing teams and dances when he celebrates, and fathered a child out of wedlock, but Tom Brady knocked up two different women and nobody seemed to care. Gee, I wonder why that is??
The funniest thing is that Cam Newton has conducted himself as nothing short of a saint throughout all of this. While crusty old white racists are writing to the Charlotte Observer, condemning their own quarterback who’s bringing their team out of the basement, while media outlets are trying to be vague and veiling their racism and failing, criticizing every little action he does, Newton has done nothing but go out and win games, all while embracing his fans, showing team unity, and simply bringing a whole lot of fun back into the No Fun League.
I’m still not going to say that I’m a fan of Cam Newton, but I certainly respect the guy, and come Super Bowl L, I’ll be rooting for him, because god only knows, he’s probably already being made out to be the big disrespectful black devil standing in the way to wholesome Peyton Manning’s likely final Super Bowl hurrah. If for anything at all, just to get a whole lot of bigots and idiots, to shut the fuck up.
