I”m sitting at home, bowls full of popcorn, looking around the room at the Bengals and Ravens fans sitting on the couch with me while we confer about who is likely to go to the Super Bowl, who we like, why we like them and why we don’t.

Four teams left – Saints, Vikings, Jets and Colts.

I like the Saints.  Having been to New Orleans this year on a football Sunday, I know how the city is still rocked from Katrina and Rita along with a tough economy and high unemployment.  That doesn’t really have anything to do with football, but I can tell you that the city loves their team.  I witnessed fans with passion comparable to that of Steeler Nation jump on Drew Brees car, believe it.  They need something positive and why not a winning team?  Plus, it’s pretty hard to not like their team.  They play with heart every week.  Brees leads the team in his military style chanting before each game – plain and simple, they have heart.  I’m cheering for them.  I hope they win it all quite frankly.

Vikings.  Well, I pretty much already said my peace about that division.  But bottom line, while Favre is a Hall of Fame quarterback, but I really can’t even begin to fathom what the media hype would look like if he goes to and/or wins a Super Bowl again.  I’m just O-V-E-R it.  And HIM.  So, no, can’t support the Vikings.

On the other side, I have this slight affinity towards the Jets – and no, (directed to you Jenks) not because Sanchez is cute.  More because of Alan Faneca.  He’ll always be a Steeler to me.  And quite frankly, we miss him. We should not have let him go.  The line was so much better…maybe over time he’ll be replaced (let’s hope anyway) but for now, I miss him. I guess my Steeler loyalty runs deep because that’s really my only reason, other than they also have a great defense.  If you read my blog regularly, you know about my inner linebacker.

I also like the Colts (or as Mary says, her husband Peyton).   I have seen a ton of blogs – specifically from Bleacher Report – arguing which team Steeler Nation should support and why.  I kind of find it amusing because none of them are for one team more than another.  And now that the Ravens, Cowboys and Bengals fans are all on the couch with me, I have no real affinity towards hate (other than Favre) of one team or another.

Yesterday, though, I did have a conversation about the Colts rookie coach who has not received a lot of attention from the media.  That sways my vote slightly – though not enough to say I am on the Colts bandwagon.  But I will say this…Jim Caldwell deserves some attention.  He was an assistant coach at Penn State (my alma mater) and he served under Dungy both in Tampa and with the Colts.  Clearly Coach Dungy is an amazing man – he continues to mentor and make people great (Coach Tomlin also served under Dungy at Tampa, remember?).  Caldwell has worked hard and is one of the few African American head coaches in the league.  He’s quiet.  And from what I can see, he is humble and a good leader.

If I decide to jump on the Colts bandwagon, it will be for him.

But let’s see how it all plays out.

Looking forward to the games tomorrow – even if my team won’t be represented.

(on another note, the Steelers are getting representation at the Pro-Bowl, Woodley and Ben both recently added to the mix…as they should have been in the first place! They join Harrison and Big Snack)

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