Super Sunday? Eh

The wonderful aroma of baked beans fills my apartment as I write this. It's a side dish for the feast my oldest sister, Mary, is preparing for tonight's Super Bowl party at her place near Cheney Lake. I'll be going for the food, the fellowship and the commercials.

My beloved Broncos feel light years from the bright lights of games with Roman numerals attached to them, thanks to the nightmare that was Josh McDaniels (go back and read my initial posts on his hiring and Shanahan's firing). This is a return to my childhood, when .500 seasons were considered successes and the playoffs and Super Bowl were the domain of other teams, not Denver.

I'm probably going to be rooting for Green Bay today, if for no other reason than the Steelers grate me. All this talk about a Pittsburgh "dynasty" is laughable. A dynasty refers to one team dominating a sport for a specific period --- normally 3 years or more. The Steelers aren't even the team of the decade, let alone a dynasty. Oh, sure, the Steelers of the '70s, who won 4 Super Bowls in a 6-year span could wear that title. The Packers of the '60s. The 49ers in the '80s. The Cowboys in the early '90s.

One could even argue that the Patriots in the '00s fit that description, since they won three Super Bowls in four years. But I hedge on them, simply because every one of those wins was down to the wire. They didn't dominate in their Super Bowl wins. To me, that matters. When the Islanders and Canadiens and Oilers had dynasties in the NHL in the '70s and '80s, they won series 4-0, 4-1, 4-2.

Heck, Denver could have earned the "dynasty" title had the Broncos not been upset by the Jaguars the year before they won back-to-back Lombardi trophies. It was widely accepted that the Patriots were no match for Denver that season, and Packers fans told me the only team they feared that season was Denver. Three Super Bowl wins in a row earns you a "dynasty" label --- especially given how the Broncos dispatched Green Bay and Atlanta.

I hope the Broncos get back to being part of a "dynasty" discussion. One day, perhaps.