Clearing out the attic

- Fantastic Super Bowl. I don't like the Steelers and wanted Arizona to win, but such is life and it was a good game. Here's my top ten Super Bowls since I started watching them with SB 30 following the '95-96 season, game excitement and outcome being main factors plus personal bias towards the Pats obviously. Steelers/Cardinals come in a surprising 4th.

1) Patriots 20, Rams 17 (SB 36)
- Huge upset, last second 48-yard field goal, Pats first SB victory. Enough said.
2) Patriots 32, Panthers 29 (SB 38)
- High scoring, back and forth during the 4th quarter.
3) Rams 23, Titans 16 (SB 34)
- One... yard... short. I can't imagine what it could have been like to be a Titans fan. Wait, yes I can, see #6.
4) Steelers 27, Cardinals 23 (SB 43)
- Exciting 4th quarter, last minute TD.
5) Patriots 24, Eagles 21 (SB 39)
- This might even be ranked lower if it weren't the Pats. It wasn't as exciting as the first two SB wins because I expected them to win the game. And they did. Yes, I was spoiled by this point.
6) Giants ... fuck (SB 42)
- Fuck.
7) Broncos 31, Packers 24 (SB 32)
- Elway's feel-good first SB win.
Nevermind, the rest weren't that good. Top 7 it is!

- John Elway aged fast. He looks like a guy on a moisturizer commercial whose skin is cracking and crumbling.

- Kurt Warner, you might notice, was QB in three of my top four SB's of the past 15 years or so. He won a game when the Titans were stopped a yard short of tying, lost a game on a last second field goal, and lost a game with a last minute TD. He's just as close to having three rings as he is to zero, so I guess at least he has one. A really interesting career, going from grocery store/NFL Europe to leading the Greatest Show on Turf Rams to backup QB to rookies Eli Manning and Matt Leinart to leading the Cardinals to the Super Bowl. And yes, I think the period between Rams and this past season kills him in the "is he a Hall of Famer" debate, but if he could ever squeak out 3-4 more solid years and another long playoff run, I'd have to at least reconsider.

- I have picked some European soccer games in ESPN.com's Streak for the Cash. One thing that stands out to me is what a neat idea promotion/relegation between leagues is. Like if the bottom three MLB teams next year were demoted to AAA and the top three AAA teams were promoted to the majors. I wish an American sport had this wrinkle, because it must make the season exciting for bad teams who are struggling to avoid relegation. It's not like Pirates fans have had much to root for the past 15 years, you know?

- I do not recommend catching the flu. Just sayin'. Also, is there anything more deflating than being sick and pulling the last tissue from the box? I don't think so.

- Occasionally I wonder about the origins of seemingly random holidays... here is what I found about Valentine's day:

"In Ancient Rome, February 14th was a holiday to honor Juno, Queen of the Roman Gods and Goddesses. The Feast of Lupercalia started the next day. During these times boys and girls were segregated. However, the young people had a custom that began on the eve of the Festival of Lupercalia. The girl’s names were written on pieces of paper and inserted into jars. Each boy then drew a girl’s name from the jar and they were partners throughout the Festival. After being paired, the children would often continue to see each other throughout the year and on occasion even fell in love and got married. Emperor Claudius II of Rome, also known as Claudius the Cruel was having a difficult time recruiting men as soldiers. He believed that the men did not want to leave their sweethearts and cancelled all engagements and marriages throughout Rome. St. Valentine, a priest of Rome at the time, secretly married couples. He was eventually caught, arrested and condemned. He was beaten to death and beheaded on February 14th, around the year 270."

Nice story, except for that last part.

- Who doesn't love spring? If you don't like spring, ask yourself if you like puppies, s'mores, and the eTrade talking baby commercials. If the answer is no to everything, you don't have enough fun in your life.

- I am looking forward to my next Remdawg.