Super Bowl LXII

The big game is this weekend, Super Bowl LXII, the annual event that has Americans learning more about their roman numerals and consuming guacamole by the pound. This year's game is an intriguing match-up, a rematch of one of the most exciting regular season games played this year.

The New England Patriots are chasing history, on the verge of becoming the first team to go 19-0 and only the second to win a Super Bowl as an undefeated team. They are surely one of the best teams of all time (though their defense is old and can be scored on). The New York Giants, however, came to this party in an entirely different manner, losing their first two games of the year, getting in the playoffs as a Wild Card and then winning three road games in a row. The Patriots are, appropriately, about a dozen-point favorite.

The question for me is who to root for. As a general rule, I root against New York teams, which is an outgrowth of Yankee-hatred, a recognition that despite having lived in New Jersey for thirty-plus years I am still not reconciled to it, and taps into the schadenfreude that lives within (listening to sports radio is far more interesting when fans and hosts dissect and bemoan losses than when they crow about victories). The Mets, which is a team that a few very good friends root for, are usually an exception.

However, I found msyelf rooting for the Giants against the Packers in the championship game, and I'm not sure why. Maybe I was sick of the Brett Favre adulation, or just thought it perversely funny that the Giants were beating the home team during weather that was suited for the Pack. Will this unexplainable rooting for the Giants continue?

It might, given that I also usually always root for underdogs. The Patriots have won three Super Bowls in recent years, so there certainly is a sense of enough already. And who can root for Bill Belichick?

Still, I have a feeling I will end up rooting for the Patriots, and that's because of Tom Brady. I can't find myself hating him (I did root against him last year against the Colts, but not hating him). It would be easy to--he's almost too perfect, with his golden boy persona (slightly tarnished by impregnating a girl before breaking up with her, but we don't know the whole story there), but he's gotten to where he is by hard work. There was a good story about him on SI yesterday about how he was the backup quarterback on a freshman high school team that finished 0-8, and then how he came to Michigan as the seventh-string quarterback, almost transferred, but worked hard until he had the starting job. Then he was drafted in the sixth-round by the Patriots, long after quarterbacks who are now selling insurance or something. So what if he dates a supermodel, the man is the embodiment of the American dream, and I'm fine with him winning one more title.

But next year, all bets are off.