Goin' Bohlen

Who'd a thunk it?

Next Sunday, the St. Louis Rams and the Tennessee Titans will meet in the Super Bowl in Atlanta in what is the most unlikely of showdowns.

It's not unlikely just because no one thought these two teams had a chance in H-E-Double-Hockey-Sticks before the season; it's most unlikely because just a few years ago, St. Louis and Nashville didn't even have NFL teams.

After the Los Angeles Rams got up and moved in 1995 and the Houston Oilers packed their bags in 1997, changing their name last year, both teams' fortunes began to reverse.

And while the players on both teams are surely happier than a dog in a butcher shop, the real winners are the fans in both cities.

It's not often that St. Louis and Nashville sports fans get the chance to cheer a potential title-winning professional team in any sport. In fact, Nashville has never won a professional sports title.

Although the Music City had the University of Tennesse football team two years ago when Peyton Manning was prepping for life in the NFL, and the Volunteer women's basketball team is always in the thick of things, the town just recently joined the big boys in becoming a major-league city.

Sure they might think that the love the Volunteers and go crazy for Dollywood, but from a national perspective, there ain't nothing like winning the Super Bowl.

St. Louis has been a major-league city for a long time, but its status had been declining as the end of the last century drew near. St. Louis' last major title came in 1982, when the Cardinals won the World Series.

The St. Louis Blues are doing well in the NHL this year, but they still have to get by the powerful Detroit Red Wings to reach the Stanley Cup Finals. Of course, the city does have Mark McGwire, but unless the Cardinals can get some pitching soon--and Kent Bottenfield is not going to cut--the Rams are going to be the only team with a chance to win a league title for a while.

If this Super Bowl had featured the Dallas Cowboys and the Denver Broncos, do you think Dallas and Denver fans would be as excited? It's the law of diminishing marginal utility--something I learned in Ec 10 last year--the more a team wins, the less each win means to the players and to the fans.

I know that Michael Jordan said after each world championship that that win was the sweetest win he's ever had. As much as I like Mike, I have to bet that nothing could compare to that first win. Knowing Mike as well as I do, I'm sure he'd take that bet and try to convince me otherwise. He takes any and all bets.

I do have to give New York City mad props for celebrating each Yankee World Series victory like it's their first. That city truly takes pride in its team, even when no one else outisde of the tri-state area can stand the Bronx Bombers.

If the Red Sox or the Cubs ever won a World Series, Beantown or the Windy City would erupt in unbelievable celebrations as fans, who before were the butts of jokes for four score, would find themselves redeemed for their support of hapless teams for so many years. I only hope I'm alive to see one of those celebrations.

In the meantime, I'm going to be rooting for the Rams on Sunday. I'll admit that I'm a fair-weather fan, because I am still a Packer-rooting cheesehead at heart. But because I live within two hours of St. Louis and am already a Cardinals fan, I'll be adopting the Rams for next Sunday.

I encourage you to pick a team to root for in the Super Bowl, even if you don't live in that city. Pick it based on whether you've visited the city, or based on the team's colors, or based on a particular affection, or hatred for a player.

No matter how you do it, having a team to root for will give you a stake in the game, which gives you a reason to watch the game other than for the commercials.

And, most importantly, it gives you a darn good reason to curse at the television and have a little fun.