This is easy for me to say. For the second straight season I’m going to be at the Waste Management Open in Phoenix, Arizona pretending the “Big Game” isn’t happening after a devastating playoff loss.
You see Brett Favre broke me. I haven’t really been able to watch the Super Bowls in which the Packers have made the playoffs but not the big game since the 2007 NFC Championship game. It’s not really his fault. I’m certainly not running Favre down, or trying to speak badly of him. I’m just at the point now where I become so emotionally invested in each season that if the Packers don’t make it to the Super Bowl, I’m really not that interested in the ending to the story.
So what do you do if your’e like me? Maybe not completely like me, because it’s probably not super healthy to care as much as I do at this point. Do you not really care for Cam Newton, but at the same time aren’t ready for Manning to get ring #2 and for Denver to have any organizational success?
Here are a few ideas:
Bet the game. It’s the easiest way to become emotionally (and otherwise) invested. If you can get Denver at +6 or +6.5 that’s probably too many. Carolina put Arizona down rather violently, but people forget that that Arizona team was pretty beat up, including missing Tyrann Mathieu.
Carolina running it up on the Cards doesn’t really have anything to do with how they match up with Denver. Also the way Carolina does things they are an easy target for the back door cover.
Prop Bets. Oh the prop bets. Betting on weird stuff is great isn’t it? Let me hit you with a few that I really like. Take OVER two mentions of “dab” or “dabbing”. You’re pushing at the very least. The Golden Gate Bridge thing is free money. Honestly. It just is. Take OVER 0.5.
They are not doing a Bay Area Super Bowl broadcast without showing the Golden Gate Bridge. They just aren’t. I also really like Cam Newton at 7/1 to score the first touchdown. The narrative surrounding him would just lead me to believe that if the Panthers are in close, they’re going to let him run it in, dab, and give the ball to a kid.
Disappear. After the aforementioned 2007 NFC championship game loss, you might remember that New England played against the New York Giants for a shot at an undefeated record.
Just because you’re at a Super Bowl party doesn’t necessarily mean you have to watch the game. My From the Benches co-host Ryan Hillesland and I just kept challenging people to games of beer pong. We just remember the Tyree catch….kinda.
Get Hammered. It’s a holiday, kinda? Right?
Sip your drink after first down. Take a healthy drinking after every scoring play. Take a shot every time Cam Newton Dabs, the camera pans to Steph Curry or Peyton Manning yells OMAHA! (just kidding, you’d die). Take a double shot for any missed PAT and any Peyton Manning pick-six followed by the dreaded Manning face.
I’ll start making you feel better by diving in to the pre-draft process next week, examining quarterbacks. The 2016 hope-selling will begin at that time. This weekend, try to have fun on Super Bowl Sunday, or be like me and completely ignore that it’s even happening.
Just remember, Damarious Randall intercepted both of these starting quarterbacks.
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Ross Uglem is a writer at PackersTalk.com.
You can follow Ross on twitter at RossUglem
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