Ugh... football

So Thak is watching the Superbowl for the commercials. I personally cannot stand either team that's playing, so for the first time in 20 years, I'm not making a prediction for who's going to win, because honestly, I don't care. This Superbowl is the battle of two evils, and if there were a way for both teams to lose, that is what I would want.

Is there really a more classless (or inappropriately named) football team in the entire world than the New Orleans Saints? If there is, I haven't seen it. I swear I'm not just saying this because I'm a Vikings fan. Before the NFC Championship game, I had not watched the Saints play, and as far as I was aware, they were just a good football team... kind of like the Vikings, but with a bigger stadium, and uglier uniforms. I was fully prepared to support whatever NFC team went to the Superbowl, Vikings or Saints, but that was BEFORE I saw them play. After that game, with how dirty they played, I can't stand the Saints, and cannot wish them well in any endeavor, especially not the Superbowl.

I was extremely unimpressed with the fact that the Saints conduct themselves like a street gang, talk more trash than anyone else we have ever seen, and make EXTREMELY late hits. Yeah, sorry, that 15 yard penalty for a personal foul did not compensate for the injury that it caused to Brett Favre. I hope that player who hit him, oh, about 5 seconds late, gets fined more than he made that game. It was a disgusting dirty hit. They knew that Brett is 40 years old, and maybe more susceptible to injuries, so they figured they'd go ahead and take him out, knowing good and well that we have no back-up worth mentioning. While this would be a sound strategy at war, in football, it's just dirty. You don't try to intentionally injure players, especially through hitting them late multiple times, when they are not expecting it. Teams that engage in this kind of thing are nasty, and not worthy of anything good. Throughout that game, I also saw many Saints players trying to start fights with many of our players, and our guys walked away from it every time, reassuring each other that it wasn't worth a penalty to stoop to their level. Honestly, even though they lost in overtime, I was SO proud of our Vikings for being the classy team we know them to be, even when tested to the core on that by the nasty New Orleans street gang they had to put up with for 4 quarters (plus OT). Nobody will ever be able to accuse the Vikings of being dishonest and nasty. That's worth something, because nobody can ever honestly say that the Saints AREN'T dishonest and nasty.

I'm all for having a cohesive team. The Vikings play like all of them are brothers. As much as I dislike the Packers, the same can be said of them. They are both extremely cohesive teams, but they do not act like street gangs. You will not find a bigger rivalry in pro football than the Vikings and the Packers. This rivalry runs deep, and has been around as long as the teams themselves, which predates my lifetime by a long shot. Even so, and even though they face one another twice a year, one time at each stadium, there were NO fist fights that broke out in EITHER of the Vikings vs Packers games this year. None. Was there trash talking? You bet, especially since we have Brett, and they probably wish they still did, but I heard the audio feed from one of the players they had mic'd up during the game, and it really wasn't all that bad. Both teams came out to play football as best they could, and kick the other team's ass fair and square. I can respect any team that plays like that. I may not LIKE all teams this can be said of, but I certainly RESPECT them for not losing sight of what football is about.

Football is NOT about ANYTHING I've seen the Saints do. For one thing, in what little of the Superbowl I have watched, I've seen more fist fights break out, and at the most ridiculous of times, than I could ever imagine would happen in one single game. The Saints are just nasty. They're mean, and ugly, and wouldn't know good football if it came up and bit them.

I'm so sick of their fans, too. "Who dat?!" "Who dat?!" they say all day long. That's how you know your team is ghetto scum. Your motto and rally cry is "Who dat?" "Dat" is not even a word. We have "Skol Vikings!" Skol is Norwegian for "Cheers" or "Salute". It's a toast. It's a real word, even if not English.

I really hate that evil and stupid triumphed over good and honest this year. This is the worst Superbowl I have EVER watched. That would not be the case if it were any other team but the Saints playing for the NFC. Obviously, I do wish it were the Vikings, and we were a coin toss away, but really, anybody would be better than the Saints. I don't know if I've ever seen such a disgusting team in pro football. May their first Superbowl be their last.