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As a blogger, I am required to post an entry about the recent Super Bowl. I was disappointed that the New England Patriots lost. I was rooting for them because Tom Brady went to the University of Michigan. Plus Eli Manning is Peyton’s brother, so he automatically ranks high on the annoying list. The game was too close for my comfort – I would rather the Patriots kept a decent lead instead of letting the lead change sides so much. I couldn’t watch the last few plays.

After the game, I heard Mitch Albom ask this question: “Would a neutral third-party be more likely to cheer for the underdog or for the perfect season?”

A lot of people like to go for the underdogs, which were the New York Giants in this case. Even though I am not a neutral party, I chose to answer the question for myself. I would choose to cheer for the perfect season, 19-0, for the reason that there will always be underdogs, always be a team that shouldn’t win, but there will rarely be a perfect team.

I opine that the Patriots lost because they were arrogant and the Giants won because they were confident. The difference between arrogance and confidence is, in this case, that confidence thinks it can win the game but arrogance thinks it has already won the game. The Giants knew they were capable of winning the game and so they played extra hard in order to do so. The Patriots knew they were favored to win the game and so they played with their standard effort.

“For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
– Luke 14:11

The only sport I pay much attention is football. For my international readers, I mean American football. I mainly watch college football, although I will watch the NFL during the playoffs and Super Bowl. But during the regular season, I don’t watch much NFL. Match-ups and rivalries are more interesting in the college realm. Here is my list of teams against which I cheer:

Teams I Want to Lose

1. Ohio State University – reason: I am a Michigan fan
2. Nebraska – their sham 1997 season, with voters ranking them #1 in one poll as a retirement gift for Tom Osborne, detracted somewhat from Michigan’s national championship (Michigan did get that crystal football trophy).
3. Florida State – they have bad sportsmanship, their band’s songs are annoying, and Bobby Bowden needs to stop winning so that Joe Paterno can have first place for number of wins.
4. Tennessee – they tried to expand their stadium to make it the biggest in the country and take that distinction away from Michigan. Michigan has stayed ahead of them, but Tennessee’s impertinence has not gone unnoticed. Plus Tennessee is where Peyton Manning played, so it automatically ranks high on the annoyance list.

As a Michigan fan, I think I am supposed to root against Notre Dame and Michigan State. Of course, when they are playing Michigan, I will root against them. But when they are not playing Michigan, I usually cheer for them, because they need all the help they can get.

It has been annoying these last two years to see OSU get into the championship game, but it has been satisfying to see them lose and lose big in those games. I hope that the lesson will not be lost on the voters over the next few years that OSU should not be in the championship game. Let some other deserving team in the game. Yes, OSU can win the Big Ten conference, but what happens when they play a ranked non-conference opponent?

“Do not fret because of evildoers, Be not envious toward wrongdoers. For they will wither quickly like the grass And fade like the green herb.”
– Psalm 37:1-2