It's a Super Bowl Sundae!

Time to make my pick for the Super Bowl but first a lil tease beforehand *bumps Ozomatli's "Super Bowl Sundae"*

The first Super Bowl I can remember watching Super Bowl XXVII or XXVIII. I still remember the old NBC graphics as Dallas and Buffalo faced off but I can't really remember any visuals from the game. So technically the first Super Bowl I really remember was Super Bowl XXIX in 1995 when Steve Young picked apart the San Diego Chargers with 6 TD's.

It was funny because I had a nice little streak of predicting the winner for a long while (Cowboys again, Green Bay, Denver the first time). Unfortunately, church would force me to miss the 2nd half of these games so I often missed the endings which didn't bother me until Super Bowl 34 (one-yard away from OT!!!) Wisely, my church decided to host Super Bowl parties to prevent this.

This decade, we've had 4 of arguably the greatest Super Bowls ever (2000, 2002, 2004, 2008) and the only odd-numbered year which the game was great was 2005 (although I loved Baltimore's D just slapping folks silly). So what's gonna happen this year with the Cinderella Cardinals and the Strong Arm Steady Steelers?

I like the Cardinals to win this honestly. Just watching them the last three games, they have just owned the competition and when the Eagles rose up and gave them a challenge in the NFC title game, they responded with toughness. I'm a big Kurt Warner guy and yes, if he wins this, start up the Hall of Fame discussion because I think he's earned it.

Larry Fitzgerald is going to be a tough matchup for the Steelers but I believe the No. 1 X-factor will be Anquan Boldin. He has to keep Troy Polamalu honest and he has to have a solid game to make things easier for Fitzgerald.

The 2nd will be the Cardinals' running attack of Edgerrin James (don't second guess him looking forward to be home in Florida) and JJ Arrington. They have to take pressure off Kurt Warner and force that Pittsburgh front seven to adjust. That's going to be a tall order and to be honest, the Cardinals' offensive line will have to make that happen. I don't see them stoppping Pitt too often but if they can find a way to control the line of scrimmage enough times, they are fine.

And don't underestimate the coaching matchup. Ken Whisenhunt played against this defense as the Steelers O-coordinator and he has better weapons than Hines Ward, Antwaan Randle El and Willie Parker.

With all that said, I have great respect for the Steelers. Mike Tomlin (aka Omar Epps' brother) is an outstanding coach who wins and does it with a mix of enthusiasm and hard-nosed attitude like that of his mentor Tony Dungy. Hines Ward may be a bit dirty, but I like his game and the passion he plays with.

But I can't root for a team that I don't really like. I can't root for a team to have more Super Bowls than the Cowboys (the two are tied with the 49ers with five total). It's like watching USC football, they are a joy to watch but in my heart, I wish it were UCLA doing it. Am I bitter about them holding the Chargers to one offensive play in the 3rd quarter? YES, but usually you root for that team to win it. Not the case here, fam.

So it's the Cardinals to win. Win this for the memory of Pat Tillman and the memories of fans who have suffered longer than anyone besides the Cubs. Enjoy hearing John Madden and Al Michaels and the commercials...I'll be cruising around the two (three?) parties I'm attending

*Coming up next week, do some bloggers just blog to complain or do they have a point?*