Super Bowl storylines we'll get sick of by next week

By Jeff

The Super Bowl is so much more than a championship game. It's a spectacle for the entire world. And if you're filthy rich or work for a large company, you might get to actually go and see the spectacle in person!

No other sport has a championship game or series that has a Media Week. It's kind of ridiculous. With a whole week devoted to football stories, consumers are bludgeoned with stories that we normally don't care about. Hell, we hardly care about them during Media Week, but what else are we going to read about? We're certainly not going to follow the protests in Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen and whatever North African/Middle East nation that decides they hate their authoritative governments in the next few days.

So below is a list of some of the stories you may have already heard, but will definitely hear again before now and Feb. 6. I've included small summaries of the stories so you don't have to waste your time reading about them later.

• Terrible Towels are actually made in Wisconsin - OK, this one is actually kinda neat. The Terrible Towel (I don't need to tell you what it is and its significance in Pittsburgh) is made by a company 110 miles southwest of Green Bay. The company's president is big Packers fan and has season tickets. It will be a huge spike in business if the Steelers win the Super Bowl, but I can't imagine him enjoying printing thousands of Terrible Towels that say "Super Bowl XLV Champions".

• Mike McCarthy grew up around Pittsburgh - He was a big Steelers fan and now he is coaching against them. He also worked in a toll booth on the PA turnpike.

• Aaron Rodgers and Ben Roethlisberger were not the first quarterbacks taken during their draft years - I'm guilty as charged when it comes to this storyline. It's just to ensure you know that Rodgers is better than Alex Smith. 

• These teams have historically been a thorn in the Dallas Cowboys' side - The Cowboys would probably have a lot more titles if the Steelers and Packers didn't exist. Thank God for the Steelers and Packers.

• Roethlisberger was accused of rape earlier this year - You'll hear this for years to come anytime the man succeeds or struggles. This will lead to countless "Like him or not as a person..." statements made by analysts and commentators.

• The Steelers and Packers are two of the league's most storied franchises - The Packers have won like 14 NFL titles (three Super Bowls) and the Steelers have won six Super Bowls. Do we really need to know anything else?

• The Steelers' offensive line is in shambles and the Packers have 137 guys on injured reserve - We get it. These two teams have a lot of depth.

• The stadium in Dallas is huge - The thing was more than $1 billion, which is more than the GDP of some small countries. There will be talk of attendance records, the giant scoreboard and people paying to watch the game outside the stadium. 

• There might not be a Super Bowl next year - The league and the players' union are not getting anywhere in negotiations, so I expect there to be a lot of questions about the possibility of this being the last Super Bowl before a lockout. No one knows what unrestricted free agents are going to do next year because of the lack of a CBA. We've heard about this since before the season. Unfortunately, we will be told the same story for at least another week and a half.

Did I miss one? Let me know.

Phil Collins - Both Sides of the Story

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