Super Game-Sad Day

After 4 weeks of preseason, 17 weeks of regular season and a month of playoff games, we've finally arrived at the climax of the season. The Pittsburgh Steelers and Arizona Cardinals are the final teams standing. The two weeks leading up to the Super Bowl are usually filled with all sorts of news surrounding the game, but this year, it has been a very quiet period. No player arrests, no hookers, not much of anything.

The line on today's game hasn't moved at all after opening at Pittsburgh -6.5 and the over/under is 47.0 pts. I've taken Arizona and the points. I'd take the over if I bet the points.
For the Super Bowl, Vegas takes bets on every aspect of the game. Who wins the coin toss, who scores first, how many field goals will be made, even how long it will take to sing the National Anthem. Many of the wagers are on player performance. Odds makers are saying Kurt Warner will throw for more yards than Pittsburgh's Ben Roethlisberger. The over/under on that wager is 23.5 yards. I'd have to say take the over. Warner needs 364 yards to over take Joe Montana's career Super Bowl passing yardage record of 1142 yards. I can't see Kurt putting up 365 yards against the Steelers defense. A few other over/under wagers:

Total yards by Willie Parker. 75.5 take the over

Total receiving yards by Cardinals' Larry Fitzgerald 83.5 yards. Take the over. Fitz gets 127 yards and a score

Total distance of the first punt. 41.5 gross yards. Even though the Cardinal's punter has injury issues, I'd take the over. There is little wind in Tampa and it's a friendly kickers stadium.

Total kickoff returns by both teams. 9.5 kicks. Over, I suspect 11 total kickoffs.

My prediction for the game is Arizona 27 Pittsburgh 21

Outside of the game, many will be the commercials. Last year's showing was weak and I'm hoping for some improvement this year. Although, some of the efforts coming out of Madison Ave in the playoffs have been wretched. If the Geico eyeballs and the myopically challenged dingbats from H and R block are any indication, there will most likely be alot of wasted money this year as well.

This is also the saddest day of the year because when the final gun sounds sometime after 10pm at Ray Jay, football fans will have to wait another 8 months until the toe hits leather once again.
Bucs fans will be facing uncertainty this upcoming season with many new faces leading the squad. We can hope for a successful free agency period and solid draft because next years schedule looks tough on paper at this time. Go Bucs!