Not sure who your picking? Wh...

The week before Super Bowl Sunday is always an interesting and exciting week for fans. First you have the speculation as to what team will win the game, the seemingly endless question is often heard between family members, friends and total strangers, “who you like”? Then of course you’ve got the plans being made for the big game, the big Super Bowl party which we all attend without fail. 

Somewhere in it all and usually beginning mid-week we’ll get some drama involving the players, some of it light hearted and sometimes more serious with media interviews that seem to go on non stop. The media will eat all of it up like sharks in a feeding frenzy until Sunday evening when we all sing the national anthem and the game kicks off. That first whistle can almost be a relief. Now bring on the commercials and the game as well!

I’d have to say that the match up between this years two Super Bowl teams seems even, or at least on the surface it appears that way. There’s not a lot of people in America that didn’t have these two teams going all the way to the Superbowl this season. Frankly, I felt there was gonna be a dark horse in it at the end this year but it wasn’t meant to be. A lot of people said this would be Dallas’s year (not) and even more said that this would be Lamar Jackson’s crowning moment (nope) as he led the Baltimore Ravens to the league title but both of these teams fell flat (with Dallas falling somewhat flatter) So in the end we’re left with The Chiefs and Patrick Mahomes in their third Super Bowl and Wonder Boy Brock Purdy and The 49ers attempting to make history. So who do I like? I’m not sure yet but I’m leaning towards The Chiefs. After all they have The Taylor Swift Effect. Who can defend against that? 

Unbeknownst to many of us in America there are other sports to pay attention to out there this week. While we gorge ourselves on the Las Vegas scenes of self entitled celebrities and millionaires (and billionaires) frolicking in Sin City the NBA and College Basketball is running at full speed. That’s right sports fans, it’s Super Bowl week and I’m gonna talk about basketball. 

As usual the NBA is leaning heavily on the star power of LeBrone James and Steph Curry to give us the best basketball of the year yet. Golden State and Las Angeles are two of the biggest draws in the league no matter where they are in the standings. Overall the western conference looks strong this year with Oklahoma City, The L.A. Clippers  and of course Denver looking dominant every time they take the court. The Lakers and Warriors might be sitting towards the bottom of the standings but it’s a long season so at this point nobody can be ruled out, except San Antonio of course. The Eastern Conference of The NBA has always held sway when it comes to a loyal fan base however the tide changes rapidly in basketball. Boston, Philadelphia and The New York Knicks have excellent records so far but at the midway point in the season I’m thinking that this year’s NBA Champion may be born out of the West once again. It’s an early prediction. We’ll have to wait and see. 

In about a month from now we’ll all be filling out our NCAA tournament brackets and agonizing over what teams will be in the final four. It’s never an easy process to pick winners from 64 teams. At this point in the season however several teams stand out as being on a level above all the others. Purdue, Connecticut, Kansas and Houston are winning with familiar regularity and although there is an occasional upset amongst these teams I’m confident that at least two of these teams will be there at the end. Upsets in the tournament of course can and will happen and Cinderella teams will find a way to crash the ball so keep your hats on. As we get closer to tournament time in March we’ll discuss more of the bracketology involved. In the end it might be all of these teams, it may be none of them. We’ll have to wait it out like everything else. As a preliminary guess I’m thinking it might be another Blue Blood team this year. North Carolina, Duke, Kentucky and Kansas are all high on my list with perhaps Connecticut sneaking in, again, at the end. Sharpen your pencils!!

So, back now to the big game. I’m not going to mention Taylor Swift, or Mr. Irrelevant, Tom Brady, the referees or conspiracy theories or pre ordained outcomes. I really don’t care who roams the sidelines taking selfies with adoring fans foaming at the mouth over rap musicians that have names I can’t pronounce and could care less about. Movie stars, politicians and NFL stars of years gone by can all argue about where their private jet will be parked and which Casino pool they will hang out at in Las Vegas. It’s Super Bowl weekend people (and I like the chiefs with or without the points)! Play on I Say!!

Kev

Kev's Corner Our Staffs Weekly Sports perspective

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