The University of Vermont's Independent Voice Since 1883

The Vermont Cynic

The University of Vermont's Independent Voice Since 1883

The Vermont Cynic

The University of Vermont's Independent Voice Since 1883

The Vermont Cynic

The Super Bowl: Feast and Famine

What does this sound like: one bottle of blue cheese dressing, one large bottle of Frank’s Red Hot sauce, two packages of cream cheese, one pound of chicken breast and one package of shredded cheddar cheese.A cardio-catastrophe waiting to happen? Well, yes, at least at face value.Now for the second course: massive hamburgers drenched in Worcestershire sauce and smothered in savory spices, and a tray of fries covered in gravy and melted cheese curds. Let’s add, just for fun, a generous assortment of salsa/cheese/sour cream/guacamole dips and tortilla chips. Oh! And I almost forgot about the chicken wings! Now, what exactly is that grand series of heart palpitations? It’s far and away the best part of Super Bowl XLI, and I’m not going to apologize either.I had been able to convince myself, with the help of several of my Chicago-born friends, that Da Bears were bound to beat Peyton’s gang. Two weeks ago it added up very nicely: Da Bears (looking as fierce as they did when they won 21 years ago) had enjoyed a better season than the Colts, especially a better performance through the playoffs.Chicago had been playing great special teams, specifically Devin Hester returning kicks for touchdowns left and right. The offense was playing solid, with Rex Grossman appearing to have magically gotten over many of his regular season foibles. The defense? Same as it ever was. Da Bears even had the Trump Card, Brian Urlacher, the newest monster of the Midway, who is arguably the best player in the NFL, on either side of the ball and undoubtedly the best linebacker on the planet.So with the table set and the television on, I was ready to watch Chicago thoroughly trounce Indy and proceed to do the Super Bowl shuffle all the way back to the Windy City with the Lombardi Trophy.Fifteen seconds in I was looking like a genius: in the middle of a torrential downpour, Hester took the kickoff and proceeded to storm from the Bears’ end of the field all the way to the endzone. Bears 7, Colts 0.Ten minutes and several turnovers later, the Bears still looked in control and the party had started to do a number on our feast. Oh how quickly it all turned around.From then until the end of the game the Colts dominated the Bears and our spread dominated us in what turned out to be a rather dull Super Bowl. I couldn’t even muster any enthusiasm for Peyton Manning and Tony Dungy winning their first Super Bowl, not after watching them beat my two favorite teams (my two title picks, too), and definitely not after eating what seemed like a truckload of delicious finger foods. My best attempt to copy Bill Swersky and his Superfans was spoiled, and now I have to wait until next year for Da Bears.

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The Super Bowl: Feast and Famine