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The migratory Super Bowl

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Posted: Friday January 28, 2000 07:51 AM

I haven't been this confused since Cassius Clay became Muhammad Ali. Or since Lew Alcindor became Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Or since Prince became a punctuation mark. An ampersand or something.

Let's see, the Oilers of Houston are now the Titans of Tennessee and the Rams of Los Angeles are now the Rams of St. Louis, replacing the Cardinals of St. Louis, who are now the Cardinals of Phoenix, Ariz. Is this the first Super Bowl in history to be played under the auspices of the Federal Witness Protection Program or what?

Are all interviews going to be given in a darkened room, a black dot over the interviewee's face, the voice modified to some slur that will not be recognizable to former associates from previous addresses? Are bizarre personal histories going to be invented for each of the players? You know, something like "I'm a Super Bowl quarterback now but you never heard of me before because I was stocking shelves at your local Piggly Wiggly until last Thursday"? Is this whole production being choreographed to copy the ratings success of "The Sopranos"?

This is the migratory Super Bowl, plot written by John Steinbeck. This is the get-rich-quick Super Bowl, plot underwritten by Goldman Sachs. This is the Super Bowl of our time, is it not? Two teams without tradition or roots, faceless neighbors from faceless cities, everybody stopping for the moment to make a buck, but ready to move along in a heartbeat for the better deal in the next new environment.

Who do I like in the big game? To tell the truth, I don't like anyone this time around.

Sports Illustrated senior writer Leigh Montville appears regularly on CNN/Sports Illustrated. The opinions expressed here are solely those of the writer.

 

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