Posted by Evan Owen
As a first year at Skidmore, I have become accustomed to waking up on Sunday with my hair in shambles and my eyes barely open, making my way to the dining hall so that I can eat. Late into the day already, I chow down on a muffin and enjoy the tranquil sounds of excessive grunting and bodies crunching together, otherwise known as a standard Sunday during football season.
The season started the Sunday after school began in the fall, and it had been there for students, including myself, every Sunday until the semester concluded in December. Along with the games, I had gotten used to seeing the same people watch the same teams on any given Sunday. The scattered fans from far away places such as California and Texas dotted the room, but always were dwarfed by students who hail from regions within driving distance of Saratoga, sporting the apparel of teams in the Northeast such as the Ravens, Jets, Giants and, especially, the Patriots. The season has ended and the culmination of the many Sundays of gridiron clashes emphasized by the appearance of this gaudy apparel is on next week (and hopefully being shown in D Hall) - the Super Bowl.
This year's round of playoffs has been a surprise for many, as lower ranked teams pulled David and Goliath-esque upsets to secure their spots deeper into the postseason and many top-seeded teams fell with relative ease. To the surprise and shock of many, the two teams that clashed in the Super Bowl last year, the New Orleans Saints and the Indianapolis Colts, each lost to teams with losing records the Seattle Seahawks and the New York Jets, respectively.
As the postseason continued, both No. 1 seeds, the Atlanta Falcons and the New England Patriots lost to wild card teams, the Green Bay Packers and the Jets (again). In the conference championships, the Jets' luck ran out against the always-consistent Pittsburgh Steelers, and the Packers, after having barely made the playoffs, found themselves beating their regional rivals, the Chicago Bears, and securing themselves a spot in the Super Bowl.
The competition this coming Sunday is in Arlington, Texas and is between the Green Bay Packers and the Pittsburgh Steelers. It aims to be a helmet-clashing Super Bowl between two teams that have consistently performed well during the regular season and especially in the postseason. Aaron Rodgers, a former backup quarterback to Brett Favre before he retired, then un-retired, switched teams and all other sorts of dramatic whiney nonsense, leads the Packers after a strong late season run to clinch a wild card spot. The Steelers, on the other hand, are lead by the seasoned Ben Roethlisberger, who went to and won the Super Bowl merely three years prior.
Both teams are worthy of a Super Bowl title, and neither team is heavily favored. Fans revere the Packers for their offense and the Steelers for their defense, each team holding top rankings in the NFL in various categories.
As for the Skidmore population, I can't imagine that too many people will be interested in watching it since we have no football team ourselves and I've seen a bigger turnout at an a capella concert than at a sporting event. I will be watching the game in the dining hall come Sunday night, and I'll be sporting black and yellow while rooting for the Steelers.