Ottawa ON – The anticipation is almost over, and the biggest annual sporting event is almost set to begin. This year’s Super Bowl will see the Pittsburg Steelers and Green Bay Packers square off for the title. Surprisingly the 6th seed Packers who made the playoffs as a wildcard team are the favourites. However no matter what the odds makers say it will be hard to put my money against an already two time Champion, Ben Roethlisberger.
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It is a real testament to the financial structure of the NFL that two small market teams are playing for the leagues greatest prize. The NFL uses what republicans would call a socialist system or “punishing success”, by sharing its T.V revenue equally among the 32 teams. Think about the baseball team, the Pittsburg Pirates for a second who play in the MLB. They have an approximate payroll of 40 million, now compare that against the Yankees whose payroll is well over 200 million. It makes you wonder with this unfair advantage how many World Series appearances are in the Pirates future?
It is a real testament to the financial structure of the NFL that two small market teams are playing for the leagues greatest prize. The NFL uses what republicans would call a socialist system or “punishing success”, by sharing its T.V revenue equally among the 32 teams. Think about the baseball team, the Pittsburg Pirates for a second who play in the MLB. They have an approximate payroll of 40 million, now compare that against the Yankees whose payroll is well over 200 million. It makes you wonder with this unfair advantage how many World Series appearances are in the Pirates future?
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With the way that Aaron Rogers is playing right now it is understandable why Green Bay is the favourite. Rogers has his offense playing at a high level which was showcased during three impressive road playoff wins to get to the Bowl. The difference in this game will be about defense, who will make that crucial stop at the right time? Both QB’s are more than capable of making a game changing play, but the team that shuts down the others QB will win this game.
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There are very interesting story lines building to this game. Rogers has a chance to take a step further outside of Brett Favre’s shadow, by bringing the loyal cheese heads home a title. While Ben Roethlisberger sees this as an opportunity not just to win his impressive third title, while being the youngest man to do so besides Tom Brady. But has a great chance to redeem himself to the Steeler fans for previous sexual indiscretions made public last year. Roethlisberger was suspended for the first four games of the season this year, which could have cost the Steelers the playoffs rights from the get go.
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These are some great story lines. However to me the real story is that two very small markets who were hit hard by the recent recession have a chance to cheer on their team in the Super Bowl. These are two blue collar teams with generations of fans on their side which should make for an amazing atmosphere in Dallas. In fact the ratings for the Super Bowl on a yearly basis are around 130 million, this years game expects to smash this average.
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For me I am going to go with Big Ben and say Rogers and his cheese heads will have to wait another year. Roethlisberger has been there before and appears to have knack for making the right play at the right time in these types of games. But the beauty of this is anything can happen, and it usually does.
