Mouprise.com

The dish: Super Bowl Blah

I can not. Watch out.

This is the second Super Bowl in the last decade where I just can’t get nervous. No matter what you try, Pittsburgh v. Seattle makes me cool. The other game that failed to stoke any fires was Oakland/Tampa, also known as the Gruden Bowl. Everyone involved in that contest seemed like a bit of a jerk. In this one, everyone seems vaguely nice. Jerome Bettis is a nice guy, but I’m not surprised that he has parents, nor am I surprised that they’re overweight, nor do I want to read more media guys talking about how tired they are of the Bettis story. Basically, the whole thing has me soured on The Bus, at least for this weekend. Ben Roethlisberger and Matt Hasselbeck are middle quarterbacks who are called “cool,” but that’s because people need to hype things up … it’s the Super Bowl. Willie Parker is a glorified third down. Shaun Alexander seems soft to me. Hines Ward is tough as nails and a great teammate, but he seems to be slowing down severely. Bill Cowher has a mustache. Mike Holmgren has a mustache.

I guess that’s what gambling is for. Place a few fins on any of the squads and some miscellaneous prop bets, and the contest gets a bit more interesting. (Thank goodness for overseas gambling.) For the record, I’m sticking with Seattle and the points, though not to a great extent. It’s just kind of… a monotonous showdown. Does anyone really think the Steelers are the best team in the AFC? (People in Boston and Indianapolis, I see you waving your arms.) And does anyone think the NFC is some kind of test of whether a team is good? What are the main stories here? “Can Roethlisberger not suck one more time?” “Can Hasselbeck break the ball before Pittsburgh can set up their Blitz?” “Can Bill Cowher’s Jaw Get to Midfield with Cowher on the Sidelines?” Yawn. There just isn’t much here, unless you’re from the ‘Burgh or Latte Land.

I think the Seahawks’ D will confuse Big Ben a bit, I think Shaun Alexander proves he’s better than you think, and I think Seattle is keeping him close enough to cover him. But I don’t think about any of these things with any real enthusiasm. To me, this is the Chicago White Sox and the Houston Astros facing off in a World Series. Bleh.

Predictions for Super Bowl XL?

Greg Jorssen, BoDog.com: I predict we’ll have a record-breaking Super Bowl in terms of driving. That is sure! As for the game itself, this will be a defensive battle, so I’m predicting a low score affair. With that said, the Super Bowl never ceases to amaze me. Maybe it’s the adrenaline that runs through the players’ veins, but Super Bowls tend to score higher than I normally expect. In fact, the last five Super Bowls have been higher than the published totals. However, I feel like this is the year the trend comes to an end. As for which team will win, I’m going to look at the histories of the teams that play in the Super Bowl. This is Pittsburgh’s sixth trip back, and they are 4-1 in a row and against the spread. As for Seattle, this is, of course, their first trip to the big one, and teams playing in their first Super Bowl are 9-14-1 against the spread. Based on this, my head says Pittsburgh will win, however my heart goes out to Seattle, a team I’ve followed since I was a kid. All I know is that this should be a great game with two classic defensive teams.

How is the handle for the Big Game? How does it compare to previous years?

GJ, BoDog.com: It’s still too early to tell. However, it is way ahead of last year’s handle at this point. Most of our monitoring (around 80%) comes 24 hours before the match and most of it happens two hours before kick-off. I’m looking forward to handling over $10 million on this game alone, including props and future stakes.

Are you interested in trading Ricky-Davis for Wally-Szczerbiak?
Does it do anything for either team in terms of who you’d bet on?

GJ, BoDog.com: I know the ladies in Minnesota are pretty upset about losing Wally, or so I heard! Szczerbiak is having a great season; however, he isn’t exactly strong on defense. Ricky Davis is more of a complete player, as long as his attitude is kept in check. The jury is still out on who got the best deal. However, I think you have to give Boston that advantage. They’re much better (and younger) now with Wally in the lineup, a legit 3-point shooter. It seems clear they’ve put in their big push for a playoff spot in the East, and you can expect a lot fewer turnovers now that Ricky Davis and Mark Blount are out of the lineup. The Celts can stretch the floor better now that they finally have a shooter who can hit from the middle. The Celts are just four games out of the eighth and final playoff spot in the East, with about 37 games still to play. When you factor in their youth, decreased turnovers and ability to spread the floor and hit deep, I have no doubt they’ll be a team to watch before this season is over.

Kind of an offbeat question: How good is North Iowa at the college hoop? They are ranked 25th this week and are 19-3 with wins against Iowa and LSU. Will they do the Sweet 16?

GJ, BoDog.com: Who? Just messages with you. There’s a lot of hype right now about the Panthers because they cracked the Top 25 for the first time in team history. That said, I think there’s going to be a lot of pressure on these guys to continue down the stretch, as their loss to Creighton this week shows. I’m sure they’ll participate in the tournament, but I don’t see them doing much damage since it’s a bit overwhelming for them.