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February 02, 2012
Super Bowl Guide: Rooting Interests and Prop Bets
The Super Bowl is dead to me. My love of football compelled me to stay and watch the playoffs only to see my greatest nightmare realized for the second time as the Giants are set to face off with the Patriots. I’m forced between a rock and a hard place as I can either see the evil-empire and arch-rival Patriots win; or the Giants can win and my hometown counterpart fans will give me another five years of anguish over their teams’ success versus my teams’ tribulations. So in the week leading up to the Super Bowl, the one question—which I already hate-- just became more painful: Who are you rooting for? Why do I hate the question? I am a firm believer that you pick your team when you are young (unless you are from LA and pick your team when they are winning), and stick to your allegiance. You cannot simply start rooting for a better team since your team is boring. No. That is against the unwritten laws of sports. As ESPN writer Bill Simmons once put, “Sports teams are just like wives ... you can only have one wife, you can only have one sports team, and for the love of God, I will not argue about this. “ Do not tell me, “I’m rooting for my city,” or “I like the underdogs.” Sure, it is ok to have leanings, but at the end of the day, the only time you should be rooting all out (clapping, crying, yelling, screaming) should be for your own team. Otherwise, stick to small acts of support, and just enjoy the show. However, this is the Super Bowl. The one football game of the year that almost every American watches and pretends they love sports. What fun are sports to the casual fan if you do not have a rooting interest? Therefore, I have devised a guide to viewing that shows the rooting interests of certain beleaguered fans, and the alternative is you really would just hate either team winning (or don’t care). 1) Rivals: If you are a fan of a rival team, you must root for the opposition. This is pretty unbreakable (only exception I can think of is if a win by your rival gets you in the playoffs). If I’m going to suffer with my team being out of the playoffs, then I sure as hell want my most hated team out too. Therefore… Jets, Dolphins, Bills, and all haters of Brady and Belicheck: Root for the Giants. This one kills me since (as you will see in number three) I hate rooting for my city counterparts. However, nothing is worse than seeing another ring on those Boston slimeballs. Eagles, Cowboys, and Redskins fans Root for the Patriots 2) If you just lost in the playoffs, root for the team you lost to: This one is a hard one to decide. This one stings especially for Ravens and 49ers fans who came so close and had the games slip out of their hands. Initial instinct would dictate that you root against the team that beat you since you want your loss avenged. Wrong. If you lost, you want the team you lost to win it all. If you’re going to be out of the playoffs, you at least want to say that you lost to the World Champions. Therefore… Falcons, Packers, and 49er Fans Root for the Giants Broncos and Ravens Fans Root for the Patriots 3) If you live in the city of the team but support another team: I hate this argument. Absolutely detest it. I never want to see a Jets fan rooting for the Giants (unless, as in this case, it’s the Super Bowl from hell with Rivals v. City Team). I never want to see a Mets fan rooting for the Yankees. I never want to see a Clippers fan rooting for the Lakers, etc. Your city is your city. Your team is your team. You must support your team, and rooting for the other team is just another version of front running. Again, I will quote Bill Simmons who in his guide to fandom said, “You have to choose between them. Don't give me this "As long as one of them is doing well, at least New York is winning" spiels. What is this, the sports fan's version of bisexuality? How about making a choice? Any New Yorker who said the words "It's the Yankees versus the Mets ... I can't lose!" during the 2000 World Series deserves to be tortured with a cattle prod.” 4) My team doesn’t fit above and I really don’t care: The Answer – gambling. Perfect. This is where most non-Giants or Patriots fans should be. You enjoy football, you enjoy the Super Bowl, but quite frankly your team isn’t in it, so who the hell cares. That is where the beauty of the Super Bowl and Super Bowl parties come in. The obvious answer is to just bet on a winner. A monteary investment in the team gives you an artificial allegiance to them. Perfect solution. However, humans love gambling, and I can take it to another level. The risk v. reward brings out the worst in people, and mix that with alcohol and football, you can enter the glorious world of prop bets. If you do not know what a prop bet is, sit down and buckle up. A “proposition bet” is a bet that is made regarding an occurrence or non-occurrence during a game that does not directly affect the outcome of the game. Basically, you are betting on the stuff that means absolutely nothing. It sounds dumb, but if you were not interested in watching before, it definitely will get you into it. What I suggest you do for your Super Bowl party is Google Super Bowl Prop Bets. There will be lists of the most popular. Will the coin toss be heads or tails? Which player will have the most yards? What color will the Gatorade shower be? Will a point be scored in the first quarter? Etc. Print a list of these out and distribute it to the guests at the party. Have everyone hand theirs in and keep track of your score during the game. Pick a wager…money, booze, food, whatever is your pleasure. Winners win. Gambling is fun. 5) Extreme Prop Bets: If you are already well versed in the world of prop bets, the standard bets no longer do it for you. Well here are a few extreme prop bets that should help a little intrigue to the hardcore fan’s Super Bowl. How many times will the David Tyree catch be shown? Over/Under 2.5 |
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