A few talking points on Sunday’s Super Bowl:
* While a Broncos-Seahawks game – a revival of an AFC West rivalry – would be much better, the matchup pitting Pittsburgh and Seattle might be one of the more interesting title showdowns in recent memory. Both coasts are represented. Both teams have a rich history. And there are cool characters on each side, see: Troy Polamalu, Joey Porter, Bill Cowher, Jerome Bettis and…Tom Rouen. On second thought, all the interesting players are Steelers.
* Just to clear up any confusion, that’s Seahawks defensive end Robert Pollard, in his third year out of Texas Christian, not Robert Pollard, frontman for the now-defunct Ohio low-fi rock band Guided By Voices.
* On paper, the matchup may be intriguing, but has there been a Super Bowl game since 1998 more exciting than the Broncos’ victory over the Packers? By a very unofficial, un-mathematical count, Super Bowls are great games about 8.34 percent of the time.
* Give us the NFL playoffs any day. Those games are almost always exciting and anything, seemingly, can happen. See: the Broncos’ “Drive,” Earnest Byner’s fumble, the Bills’ comeback against the Oilers in 1993, etc.
* Maybe the Super Bowl, which is more of an event than a game, lacks interest because there’s a 15-minute television timeout every other series.
* FYI: The Colorado men’s basketball team plays at Iowa State at noon Sunday. And the game airs on Altitude, in case you’re not glued to the eight hours of Super Bowl pregame coverage.
* For die-hards, you’ll want to stop eating today at about 5:30 p.m. in order to maximize the stomach space needed to consume all those potato chips and that seven- layer dip.
The couch
ON: Did you catch NHL television analyst and voice of the Avalanche Peter McNabb pulling double duty last week in cities more than 850 miles apart? McNabb called color commentary for the Red Wings-Stars game in Dallas (start time: noon), then hopped a quick flight to Denver for the Avs-Canucks at the Pepsi Center (start time: 8 p.m.). That’s a long day. If the Avs moved around as well as McNabb, they wouldn’t have to scratch for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference. This weekend, the Pepsi Center grounds crew has its turn to pull a double shift. The Avs and Red Wings quarrel at the arena at noon Saturday, with the game airing live on NBC. Then later, the ice swaps out for hardwood as the Nuggets host the Trail Blazers at 7 p.m., with the game showing on Altitude.
OFF: The Colorado football team made news this week with its football recruiting class. But only one CU team is a 10-time national champion. The CU triathlon team, a sanctioned club sport, begins the quest for No. 11 with its annual fundraising race. The Frozen Foot 5K runs a flat, fast course around the picturesque Boulder campus. Last year’s race drew more than 120 runners, and this year’s race kicks off near the Duane Physics Building at 9 a.m. The cost is $18-$20. Find more info at www.colorado.edu/StudentGroups/triteam.
Around town
The Winter X Games in Aspen ended Tuesday, but a national warm-weather X event comes to town this weekend. The Colorado Indoor BMX Nationals start today and run through Sunday at the Budweiser Events Center in Loveland. The races are sanctioned by the National Bicycling League, and because fans will see the events live instead of on television, no one will have to sit through hundreds of obnoxious anti-drug spots like those shown ad nauseam on ESPN during the Winter X Games.
What we’d like to see
The Broncos – and Broncos fans – realize that to be an elite team, they need as many elite players as possible. That means they should sign Terrell Owens ASAP. Owens is kind of like buying Park Place in Monopoly. You pay a lot, and you have to sweat a lot to get it to work, but in the end, once hotels are down and you’re rolling around the board, Park Place pays off big time. No one ever wins at Monopoly stockpiling the purple properties. Now, if the Broncos could find a railroad-type player or someone to fill the thimble position, they’d be a sure bet.
Weak in review
Texas A&M this week launched a trademark dispute with the Seattle Seahawks over who is allowed to refer to their fans as the “12th man.” The Aggies’ administration also began paperwork attempting to trademark the phrases “please” and “thank you” and is looking into the possibility of patenting the breathing of air and the consumption of water.
