Almost Time for the Big One

OK, so this space is usually dedicated to musings and ramblings about teams from the hometown, but unfortunately, the Foxboro-boys bumbled and fumbled away a chance at a home-field AFC Championship game during the Denver debacle and Bostonians are forced to watch arch-nemesis Pittsburgh play the NFL's representative from the great northwest, the Seattle Seahawks in the biggest sporting event of the year, Super Bowl XL.

The burning question for most this week in Boston-land has been "who am I rooting for, and do I really care?" And this whole 2 weeks off thing is for the birds, when our Pats are involved, isn't it?

Now, the Steelers are the prohibitive favorite in this match up, or at least that’s what the "wiseguys" in Las Vegas are saying. Vegas has Pittsburgh as a 4 point favorite over the Seahawks. It warrants mentioning that the Steelers did win 3 games in a row on the road to make the Super Bowl (as opposed to Seattle winning 2 home games against inferior banged up opponents in Tampa Bay and Carolina). It also warrants mentioning that the Steelers did not have to play their playoff rival, the New England Patriots, to get to Detroit. Not so sound bitter or anything, but Bostonist would feel a whole lot better about this game if the Steelers had to actually beat New England to get here...

Nevertheless, at 6-something pm on Sunday, there will be a kick-off, there will be a football game, and for the 1st time in 3 years, Tom Brady won't be there to take the Pats to the promiseland.

So, who is Boston supposed to root for? Seattlest would like us to go in the Seahawks direction. But how about the counter-point of backing the Steel Curtain, if its just so us Pats fans can say next year "Congrats, Pittsburgh. Maybe this year you'll actually have to beat the defending champs to win a title."

Either way, this one looks like it will be shaping up to be a good one. A team on a mission (Pittsburgh) against a team that not many people know a lot about, who have played the disrespect card for a while now.

For those of you who need a little extra "action" to keep things interesting, Bostonist offers these predictions:

Over 47 points - There should be some offense in this one.

Over 4.5 sacks in the game.

And 4.5 points might be a bit much to lay in this tilt. Take the 'Hawks.

Photo Courtsey of the AP.