Yeah, I think I did. You always have to root for the underdog unless the overdog happens to be your team, but THE JETS???
I've hated the Jets since they beat the Colts 16-7 in Super Bowl III, January 12, 1969. I lived about 25 miles from Baltimore--yeah, for those of you too young to know better, the Colts used to play in Baltimore before they skulked out of town in the middle of the night for Indianapolis.
The Colts were my team, as were the Orioles. The Colts were our boys, the hometown Bubbas who played there and lived there and shed blood, sweat and tears for us Baltimorons. Well, almost Baltimorons. How about Marylanders?
The Jets were led by hirsute loudmouth Joe Willie Namath--Broadway Joe--who wore girly white shoes and ran his mouth. He guaranteed a win against the Colts for his team and for the AFL, which was still a separate, independent league.
The Colts were heavy, almost prohibitive favorites. They were expected to beat the Jets even worse than the Packers had beaten the Chiefs and Raiders in Super Bowls I and II, which weren't actually called the Super Bowl at the time they were played.
Didn't happen. The Colts played like they'd taken the Jets for granted and they didn't score until the 4th quarter, when the game had already been pretty much decided.
So what was I doing rooting for the Jets today? Well, for one thing, there's not much point in holding a candle for a team that screwed its hometown and sneaked away to Indianoplace. They might as well have turned the horseshoes on their helmets upside down and let all their luck run out, because they were dead to us Baltimorons.
The Jets were also the underdogs, the Wild Card team that wasn't even supposed to be there. So unless you were from SoCal, there was no reason to root for the Chargers. Besides, I never, ever root for California teams. How can you cheer for guys who live in sunny, warm climes when we're shivering and asshole deep in snow? I'm not sure California should any longer be part of this country.
So let's all cheer for a Jets-Vikings Super Bowl. Two teams from crappy climates. Well, okay, the Vikings do play in a wimpy dome, but their fans have to slog through deep snow and bone-chilling temperatures to watch them play.
Truthfully, I don't give a rat's ass who plays in the Super Bowl. The Colts cured me of the NFL disease. The only football I'm interested in anymore is college. No matter how bad things get, they won't ever move Penn State from State College or Ohio State from Columbus.
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