Green Bay or Pittsburgh?

Henry James once described walking through Pompeii, "a heartless pleasure." So is rooting for a team in the Super Bowl that isn't the hometown team. Jill at Brilliant @ Breakfast is rooting for Green Bay for purely liberal-based reasons: because the Packers are the only community-owned franchise in the NFL. Me? I'm old enough enough to know when to pick my battles and where to draw the line if at all. Plus, the Super Bowl is one of those occasions when I decide to go non-partisan and forget about politics and causes for a few hours. Plus, I live in New England, which automatically makes you an AFC guy. I couldn't root for an NFC team to win the Super Bowl any more than I can root for the National League in the World Series (except maybe if the Yankees are representing the AL).

So, I'm going to throw in my lot with Big Ben and the Steelers, even though they're old foes of the Pats. Plus, they were the team we were playing when Drew Bledsoe got that injury that ended his career in New England and began that of a young 4th string quarterback named Tom Brady. So there's the sentimental angle there.

So, since Mrs. JP wanted to watch the Super Bowl at a local pub, that's what we'll do, even though we'll wind up spending the last of our post-1st-of-the-month-bill money. I'll try not to barf up my chicken wings and blue cheese or make a spectacle of myself when Fox Sports inevitably decides to wish former sportscaster Ronnie Reagan a Happy 100th Birthday.