For those of you that don’t care about sports, I’m sorry I haven’t posted much else in the last month. I’ll have some non-sports stuff up soon, don’t worry, and since this is probably my last football post for a while, that greatly decreases the amount of sports posts I will put up regularly.

So this final TMQ post has taken me forever to get it out. One main reason is that I obviously don’t really care since the Bears are out, and I really don’t care who wins out of Pittsburgh and Seattle (in fact I’ve already kind of forgotten about football, until I thought a little bit ago “What am I doing tomorrow night? Oh – right.”). However, I suppose I should make a pick for the Super Bowl and talk about what I think should be a very interesting offseason (probably not for the Bears, but for the rest of the NFL).

Another reason this has taken me so long, is that I really hate the Super Bowl. Now don’t get me wrong, I still watch it every year, love all the commercials, and want nothing more in the world than to see the Bears play in it, but it’s really the most antithetical moment of the football year. So the NFL playoffs are all about cold weather, big important games, true fans not wearing shirts in frigid temperatures, and teams really giving it their all and competing in the roughest sport our culture has to offer. And then when we get to the Superbowl it’s “YAY!! Throw out some fireworks, get some big pop icons who could care less, throw in a ton of glitter, sell out the seats to companies who could care less about the game thereby alienating the true fans, make sure it is indoors or very warm, and fosse, fosse, fosse!!” World Series games are played in colder temperatures than the Super Bowl. Does anybody else think that’s ridiculous?! Football is supposed to be the tough sport (grrr), and a bunch of pansy baseball teams play in worse weather for their most important games? Also, it really pisses me off that the real true fans are not the ones at the Super Bowl ($500 a pop, are you kidding?). It’s especially ridiculous this year, when you have a true smash mouth tough team like Pittsburgh playing in the glitz, glamour, and superficiality that the Superbowl has become. Just think about it, that’s all I ask. That being said, there’s still not a doubt in my mind I will be watching it tomorrow.

Pittsburgh
Seattle

Winner: Pittsburgh

This could be the true jinx, since I’ve picked Pittsburgh wrong the last three times. However, I just don’t see how they can lose right now. Rothlesberger (I don’t know if I’ve ever spelled his name before) has basically become a true superstar (why couldn’t that have been Grossman?), the defense is just amazing to watch, and Bettis is going out on the biggest note he possibly could. On the other side, I don’t think Seattle is any pushover, and there’s part of me that would like to see them win, if just for the fact that no one thinks they will. But I don’t see it happening. Either way, I’m happy for whichever team wins it, as it would be great to see either. So lucky for us, one of them will.

So there’s my Superbowl pick. So now onto a quick checklist of what I think will be the interesting things to happen in the offseason. I reserve the right to post as things happen in the offseason, but I’ll give the top three things I’m looking forward to.

1) The Draft – obviously (I might sneak in a post around draft time, just fyi). Go figure, the year there’s a pretty deep and interesting draft, the Bears are way at the freakin bottom. Oh well. The main thing I’m interested in is what a couple of the top teams do. It could be very boring and just go Reggie Bush to the Texans, then Leinart to the Saints. That could happen. But I’m also wondering if the Texans should trade down. The major problems with that team are not Running Back nor Quarterback (well, for the most part). I’m wondering if they may take Reggie Bush, then trade him to get Vince Young, or going more practical, AJ Hawk, and another first round pick. They need a lot of players, not one superstar.

So if the Texans trade down, or trade Reggie Bush, who trades up? Jets? Lions (heaven forbid)? That’s the real interesting part of that for me (though I think it would be hilarious if Millen took a Wide Receiver again. What would Lions fans do? Burn the whole stadium down?). Also, I’m curious as to where Vince Young will fall. He certainly has the leadership and the sheer athleticism, but does he have the technique to go top 5? The Lions may not even need to trade to get him if they want him, but will they? Lots of interesting stuff could happen there.

2) Phillip Rivers Contest – San Diego is not going to keep his contract with Brees (as everyone knows), so he’s going somewhere, but where to? Someone’s going to be paying some money for him, so you gotta think that whoever gets him is probably going to want him to start, but he’s also entirely unproven. So would someone pick him up to be a backup? That’ll be interesting as well. In this case you’re kind of trading for a veteran/rookie. The Jets may be in the running for him as well, and though he’d be an upgrade to Joey (you have to imagine), the Lions probably won’t go for him. So the only other teams I can think that might go for him would be the Raiders, the Dolphins, and maybe, MAYBE the Chiefs. I’m really not sure who else will go for him. But someone else other than the Chargers will end up with him, bottom line.

3) The T.O. Drama – We all hate him, but he is still one of the most talented receivers in the league, if not the most talented. He can’t possibly just stop playing now, so he will probably go somewhere (I’m still voting for the Raiders, maybe him and Moss will kill each other). But the interesting thing this time around is that you know whoever picks him up will have an incentive and clause laden contract for him to sign, so that if he even slightly misbehaves, he’s gone. Because of that, I would love to see him on the Bears. I know, I know, it seems to go against everything I believe in, but if he signs that contract that says he must do this, and this, and play by the rules, and shut his freakin mouth, he could still be an amazing receiver, and without the drama he could be worth it. I guess I’m not begging that he comes to the Bears, I’m just saying I really wouldn’t mind if he did come (unlike the Blackhawks Theo Fleury deal, or the Ranger’s Lindros deal, this could be a veteran star deal that could actually be worth it).

So on we go to another offseason, once we get “Superbowl the Musical!” over with, starring the fresh out of the grave Rolling Stones.