Who will win the Superbowl?

[Mechanic]

No Northeast team? Um I think Pittsburgh, Pennsylvannia counts as Northeast. They are in the AFC North division. Oh and stop complaining that the Cowgirls choked before they could get in the Playoffs.

 

--Chris

 

Ok, fair enough. I guess I should have qualified my statement by being more clear and saying no "large market" Northeast team. Any way you slice it, Pittsburgh definitely is not New York or Boston when it comes to comparing the fan bases, which was my point.

 

Furthermore, while seeing the "Cowgirls" (as you refer to them) choke was certainly very hard to take for any long time fan, I don't recall complaining about it. So I'm really not sure what you mean.

 

The only time I watch the Cowboys is when they play the Redskins. And I would watch the Cowboys if they were in the Super Bowl, because IT IS THE SUPER BOWL! Those would be the only times I would consider watching a Cowboys game.

 

God and puppies eh? I guess consider Troy Polamalu satan and James Harrison a puppy killer.

 

Well, maybe it isn't you, but someone sure is watching them, whether they admit it or not. Don't take my word for it though.. Click here for proof from the Nielsen ratings.

[alomar]

Cardinals are going to win on a last minute bomb to Larry Fitzgerald. Watch and learn Steeler fans. The whole state of Arizona will riot win or lose and I will start the rally

 

Im in!!! Be the first rally not related to immigration!

[Pufferfish]

I really hope the Cardinals win. They have been through a lot the past 61 years. It's their turn to shine. Besides, any team that can make me feel embarrassed to be a Carolina fan, is good in my books. Also, the Steelers just won 4 years ago. They also don't have Chris Hope anymore. I have no interest in the Steelers anymore.

[the ghost]

13 days until the steelers emerge victorious.

 

I'm from California, but go Denver for the 09/10 season. All California teams suck besides the chargers who I don't like.

[BeemerBoy]

Any way you slice it, Pittsburgh definitely is not New York or Boston when it comes to comparing the fan bases, which was my point.

 

I'm not so sure about that one. Pittsburgh is part of the "NFL royalty" sort of speak. In recent years, New England has certainly jumped into the mix, but I still think of Dallas, Pittsburgh, Washington, and Chicago as having some of the strongest fan bases. And for some reason, it always seems as though Pittsburgh is the strongest of them all.

 

I base that loosely on the fact that almost anywhere I've traveled, there's inevitably one or more local bars where Pittsburgh faithful congregate. Heck, our only big local bar here in Dalton, Georgia had about 35 true Steeler fans watching on the big screen Sunday. And yes, they all had a personal connection to Pittsburgh whether by family, living there at some point, etc.

 

My best friend is from Pittsburgh, and we always had a running joke that the world must have evolved from the city of Pittsburgh. So many people we've come in contact with over the years have had some connection with the city (think Kevin Bacon game) that we feel the Garden of Eden HAD to have been in Pittsburgh.

[FeelTheFORCE]

Is this even a debate? Like Tomlin said, the Steelers will do like they always do, go to Tampa, do work, and come out victorious. They didn't come this far, beating the Ravens, only to lose to the Arizona Cardinals.

[Dailey Enterprizes]

The better team will win.

[BeemerBoy]

Side bets on the following?

 

 

- First player to get busted for some kind of illegal activity in Ybor city.

 

- How many news stories will involve Mike Tomlin being only the third African American head coach in the Super Bowl.

 

- The player most likely to make the biggest fool of himself in a pathetic attempt of self promotion on media day.

 

- First player to produce headline "bulletin board material" for the opposing team.

 

- Over/under on percentage of viewers who will approve of Springsteen's halftime show - 50.5%

 

- Over/under on general arrests from NFL players other than Cards/Steelers during Super Bowl week - 4.5

[Hercules]

God and puppies eh? I guess consider Troy Polamalu satan and James Harrison a puppy killer.

 

What the hell? Where did you get that?

 

--Chris

 

I got that from the Bill Simmons article that Beemer posted a couple of pages ago.

[ParkTrips]

Cardinals are going to win on a last minute bomb to Larry Fitzgerald. Watch and learn Steeler fans. The whole state of Arizona will riot win or lose and I will start the rally

I'll bet that the Steelers win, loser buys the other a drink next time we see each other... sound good??

 

Let the rioting begin

 

The player most likely to make the biggest fool of himself in a pathetic attempt of self promotion on media day.

Big Mike?

 

Any way you slice it, Pittsburgh definitely is not New York or Boston when it comes to comparing the fan bases, which was my point.

uh... what? Have you ever been to a Steelers game, or Pittsburgh for that matter? They are easily as rabid as NY and BOS fans, if not moreso.

[J man]

I'm not really a follower of the whole sports thing. The most football I'll watch is the Super Bowl. So being how my home team finally made it to the Super Bowl, I have to root for the Cardinals.

 

GO CARDS!!!

[chmilo24]

Any way you slice it, Pittsburgh definitely is not New York or Boston when it comes to comparing the fan bases, which was my point.

uh... what? Have you ever been to a Steelers game, or Pittsburgh for that matter? They are easily as rabid as NY and BOS fans, if not moreso.

 

Yeah I would have to say the Steelers have the strongest fan base in the NFL. I live in Sacramento, CA which is 3000 miles from Pittsburgh, and I know of at least 5 Steelers bars. Also I have been to Dublin, Ireland and Paris, France and I have passed by 3 or 4 Steelers bars in each of those citys. Whenever the Steelers play an away game, the stadium they play in is taken over by Black and Gold Terrible Towels. No matter where they go at least 1/4 of the stadium is full of Steelers fans.

 

--Chris

[Mechanic]

I was referring to TV market size in the comparison of New York and Boston (homes of the teams that played in last year's most watched Super Bowl ever) to the TV market size of Pittsburgh and Glendale. I did use the term fan base, and that was an error on my part. I will not deny that the Steelers do have a large and loyal fan base despite their relatively smaller TV market size. The Cardinals.. Not so much.

 

Of course, the big game has a national audience, but the market size of the teams involved does have an effect on overall viewership and general interest in the game.

 

My interest in this matchup, and just about the entire bracket of teams that comprised this year's playoff picture, was pretty low right from the time the playoff teams were set. If your interest is greater than mine, then that's great for you. I'm just not feeling it.

[chmilo24]

^I knew that was what you were talking about, I was just stating that I think that there is no fan base larger than Steeler Nation.

 

--Chris

[alpengeist04]

^I second that. Having been to many sports bars in NJ, NC, and Florida, I can tell you that Steeler fans are always well represented. As a matter of fact, they always have either the most fans there or at least the second or third most. ...Even at sports bars that were for Dolphin fan clubs.

[Hercules]

I was referring to TV market size in the comparison of New York and Boston (homes of the teams that played in last year's most watched Super Bowl ever) to the TV market size of Pittsburgh and Glendale. I did use the term fan base, and that was an error on my part. I will not deny that the Steelers do have a large and loyal fan base despite their relatively smaller TV market size. The Cardinals.. Not so much.

 

Of course, the big game has a national audience, but the market size of the teams involved does have an effect on overall viewership and general interest in the game.

 

My interest in this matchup, and just about the entire bracket of teams that comprised this year's playoff picture, was pretty low right from the time the playoff teams were set. If your interest is greater than mine, then that's great for you. I'm just not feeling it.

 

Will you watch?

[spaceace12]

I consider the TV Markets pretty big.

 

Pittsburgh is market 22 and Phoenix, AR is Market 12. ( http://www.b-roll.net/info/salary/ ) Also consider this, in 2006 the AFC Championship game was one of the highest rated football games broadcasted. Indianapolis is market 25 and Boston is market 7. For the Superbowl (which had lower ratings), it was Indy (25) vs. Chicago (3).

 

But the Superbowl isn't all about tv market of the two teams playing. You have people watch for the conference their home team is in (AFC or NFC). Then you have the bandwagon fans whose teams went out early or didn't make the playoffs. Then you have the people who will watch for the commercials.

[Hercules]

The Superbowl had lower ratings than the AFC Championship in 2006? Millions of people all over the world watch the Super Bowl. How could it have lower ratings than the AFC Championship game? Am I not understanding what you said or something?

[coolhandluke]

^It wasn't. Super Bowl XLI gathered 93.2 million viewers. The AFC Championship Game had almost exactly half that at 46.7 million. It was still widely watched, but it didn't touch the numbers the Super Bowl draws nowadays. (Numbers found on Wikipedia and verified on a USA Today article).

 

Also, by the way, Indy is market 26 according to your link, Spaceace12. Be careful when making an argument about numbers, because I'm really not sure what you were trying to say with that post.

[Hercules]

^ Pretty much exactly the point that I was trying to make.

 

I don't really see why there is an argument about the size of the market matter? I live near the 4th largest market in the country, and the fanbase for the Eagles (although they are extremely loyal and dedicated fans) is no where near the magnitude of the Steelers fanbase.

 

With the Super Bowl the market size of the cities the teams belong does not matter. People are still going to watch because it is the SUPER BOWL. Just because you don't find the teams interesting, you know you are still going to watch, and so will millions and millions of other people. Just because your team isn't in the big game, doesn't give you the right to cry about it.

[spaceace12]

They used to be market 25, must have changed since I last looked a couple years ago. Makes sense since Indiana is losing jobs more than other states it seems. As for the SB ratings, I remember why I was comparing it to the Superbowl, it didn't rate as high as the 2006 SB, but was one of the highest watched games in the NFL at the time and the highest watched AFC Championship game at the time (though I wasn't watching it on tv ). I remember reading an email work sent out (long since deleted) that it was one of the top 5 watched games IIRC.

[Philrad71]

uh... what? Have you ever been to a Steelers game, or Pittsburgh for that matter? They are easily as rabid as NY and BOS fans, if not moreso.

 

I have to agree...we have a lot of Steelers and Browns fans here in WNY even though this is Bills country - and we all live in harmony. There are a ton of Steelers fans, but Bills fans are what you would also consider "rabid" and faithful - even after choking and not making the playoffs for nine years in a row! We might not have the biggest market, but when you can go 7-9 two seasons in a row and still sell out 74,000 seats in cold, crappy weather, that says a LOT about fan dedication.

 

My 2nd team is the Cardinals and has been since they moved to Sun Devil Stadium back in '88. As much as Bidwell drove me nuts over the years, it's nice to see them finally pull it all together. I am definitely not a band-wagon jumper as I had Aeneas Williams and Eric Swann jerseys that I used to wear back in the day! People would (and still do) laugh at me when they find out that I like the Bills and Cards (Tampa Bay is also a close #3 - bring back the Orange Creamsicle jerseys!)

 

That said, my heart is with the Cardinals to win, but Pittsburgh's D is simply bad-a$$! I think that this could be lower scoring than people are expecting.

 

I'll go out on a limb and say:

 

14-13 Cards.

[coastercrzyjames]

Looks like its gonna be an exciting game!

I don't follow sports alot, but this is one game i'll be watching.

I've gotta support my state.

So. . .

 

GO CARDS!!

[crazyrider06]

I am routing for the steelers. I think it will be an exciting superbowl game though. I've been watching both teams for the last couple of weeks, and let me tell you the cardinals have come a long way; but i think rothlesberger and his team are going to hold it down for the win!

[chmilo24]

Defense Wins Championships. That's all I have to say.

 

--Chris