Just a little over a week ago I had a feeling this would happen.
Super Bowl XXXVII has turned into the Gruden Bowl.
Now every single football fan must attempt to choke down all the nauseating hype just to get to the game. Frankly, this particular matchup between the Oakland Raiders and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers does nothing for me. Personally, I cannot stand either of these teams, and it is the equivalent of a subway series between the New York Yankees and the Mets.
Yeah! I get another week of Warren Sapp running his mouth. Come on. He only had two tackles while his team was busy manhandling the potent Philadelphia offense. Just close your trap and make a play; the Goodyear blimp has all the hot air it needs.
Furthermore, on the same sideline you have Keyshawn Johnson running his mouth as well. Unfortunately, nobody is going to be throwing him the ball — or the trophy — come Sunday.
And all the talk of John Gruden, the coach of the Raiders a season ago and the Bucs’ front man, is more distracting than Joe Namath promising victory for the Jets in Super Bowl III. One man, especially a coach standing on the sideline with a visor and headset, cannot make that big of a difference.
Oakland brings in the league’s top offense up against the NFL’s best defense. The nucleus of the Raiders offensive attack has been doing this for so long, they could win this game in their sleep.
Even the one-dimensional offense of the silver and black can get the job done. Thirty-seven-year-old quarterback Rich Gannon is like a fine wine, only getting better with age.
Up front, the Oakland offensive line should be able throw its weight around to give Gannon, the league MVP, enough time to find his equally-aging wide receivers Tim Brown and Jerry Rice.
The fact that they called a total of five running plays during Sunday’s AFC championship game against Tennessee, including one in the first quarter, shows the Raiders can simply air it out all the way to the trophy.
Look for the Raiders to give their maverick owner Al Davis one more championship ring before he heads off to the nursing home. All the while, he will be handing out AARP cards with final paychecks of the season.
After butting heads with a very competitive AFC … well at least all but one team — that would be Cincinnati, of course — the Raiders can take care of the Bucs’ pesky defense.
To be fair, Tampa Bay does have a chance. Much-talked about Gruden does know what he is up against and has major insight on Oakland’s weaknesses.
Furthermore, the Bucs have an underrated quarterback in Brad Johnson. Just two seasons ago, Trent Dilfer emerged after entering the big game under similar circumstances, only to win it all. Also, you cannot deny the Tampa defense, but Sapp will have to put up or shut up this time around.
It is striking how Tampa’s three arguments — a hard working coach, an underrated quarterback and an extremely tough defense — sound so familiar to another certain underdog who ran away with a football title.
But I’m sorry to say there won’t be another upset.
With the game just down the coast in San Diego, look for the Raiders’ famous Black Hole legion of fans to be on hand, taunting Gruden and the Bucs.
Mark it down, the Raiders will “Just win baby!” The Raiders in a 35-24 victory will take home Vince Lombardi’s trophy for the first time since 1984.
Anyway, who cares? The real pigskin season ended 19 days ago. Its hockey season now.
Nick Houser is a senior in journalism. He can be reached at houser.85@osu. The reason why he is not excited about this week’s big game is that he is still reeling from the Mighty Bengals of Cincinnati’s Super Bowl XXIII loss.
