Who the non-football fan wants to win the Super Bowl

I've come to terms with the fact that I'm probably not a football fan anymore, and the chances are good that I won't go back to my old rooting days in the future. Even though I've said I've lost interest before, there was always a part of me that figured I'd go back. Football was a huge part of my life at one time.

But this season clinched it. I really tried to go back to the days when I'd watch two or three games on Sunday and another on Monday, run my fantasy team into the ground, and get together with friends at a bar or a house party where football was truly the guest of honor.

But it didn't happen. I just can't get into it. I'll turn on a game, watch 20 minutes or so, get interested in a play or two, think "hey, I still like this," and before you know it, I'll be walking away from the TV and onto something else. I'm not even aware that I am doing it. It just doesn't hold my interest.

Now that the playoffs are on, it's the same deal. The TV is on in the background but I'm doing other things. Repair work outside. Typing up this blog post. I'll check out the score because my work life requires that I stay on top of things like this.

I also have philosophical issues with the NFL. The league is heavy-handed and manipulative with its fans (blackout rules, rampant commercialism, and a willingness to let television dictate every aspect of its product). Too many of the players are criminals in helmets and cleats and not enough people seem to care.

But I still enjoy the excitement of football, and read about the games, and yell, "look at that play!"

You know, this play:



I actually saw this as it happened. I was at work, and I was the only one who witnessed it because everyone else in the sports department was feverishly typing at their computer or on the phone. I wanted to yell "Look at this! Look at this!" but people were on the phone and I know how annoying that can be.

It was at that point that I decided I want the Seahawks to win the Super Bowl.

Part of it is because of Lynch. He's a former member of my team, the Bills, back when I rooted faithfully for them (you cannot live in Buffalo and not root and know about the Bills. Even people who would normally not have anything to do with football in any other setting root for the Bills in Buffalo because they'd be completely left out of every conversation and social circumstance otherwise. I imagine it's like this in Green Bay, too).

I'm happy I have but one solitary card of Lynch. I dug it out after his Beast Mode run. It's the best play I've seen in the NFL this year. But that doesn't mean much, because I haven't seen a lot of plays.

The other part of wanting the Seahawks to reign as SB champs is that I want to see a team that entered the playoffs under .500 go all the way. I would enjoy that. Yes, that's the anti-NFL part of me popping up again. But, overall, it's good to have a team to cheer for in the NFL playoffs for the first time in ... well, when was the last time the Bills were in the playoffs?

So I didn't just dig out the Lynch card. I dug out the only Seahawks cards I have:

Yup all three of them. They're from back when I could tell you 30 players on the team by name. Brian Blades was a regular on my fantasy team.

Now, I'm lucky if I can tell you 5 players by name (don't worry, the Seahawks don't come up often around here). But I plan to get to know them a little better during their run to the Super Bowl.

That is if I can keep myself from walking away from the TV.