Super Bowl XLV

The scene is set and the teams have been determined. For the NFC it will be the long time NFL franchise and legendary Green Bay Packers. The history of Lombardi, Starr, Horning and Nitchkie. The Ice Bowl. On the opposite side are the AFC Champion Pittsburgh Steelers. Another team steeped in history. Bradshaw, Swann, The Steel Curtain and Franco Harris. The Immaculate reception. Both teams fans can boast of a great season. Here are a few quick hits on this years Super Bowl.

1. The game is at Texas Stadium in Arlington, Texas home of The Dallas Cowboys. Sorry Jerry they didn't make it. Not even close. Anyway, it is a domed stadium and both teams play out doors in the cold most of the time where football is meant to be played.

2. Texas Stadium has Matrix Synthetic Turf while both the Packers and Steelers play on natural grass. The surface football was meant to be played on.

3. Texas Stadium is in the deep south while both teams are from the North, Green Bay being from the extreme northern US.

4. Of like opponents during the season (Jets, Falcons, Dolphins, Patriots and Bills), Pittsburgh was 4-2 while Green Bay was 3-3. Both teams lost to New England. Go figure? The Steelers scored a total of 124 points against the like opponents while giving up 108 points. The Packers scored 155 points and gave up 98 points.

5. The Steelers have 4 players (TE Heath Miller, DL Casey Hampton, LB James Harrison and LB LaMar Woodley named to the 2010 Pro Bowl roster. The Packers also have 4 players, QB Aaron Rodgers, FS Nick Collins, LB Clay Matthews and CB Charles Woodson on the roster.

When you look at all of these stats it seems like we have two evenly matched teams playing next Sunday. So what does all of this mean? ABSOLUTELY NOTHING! Not a god damn thing. It's all a bunch of useless minutia for our tiny little pea sized brains. However, FOX Sports will overload us with more stats than we can absorb over the next 2 weeks. We will be so sick and tired of the Super Bowl by next Sunday that the drama of the game will seem boring at best.

Over the next 12 days, I will be Gripping numerous times leading up to the Super Bowl. By the way, Joe Buck and Troy Aikman will be broadcasters for the game. I am going to have a blast beating the crap out of them here at The Sports Gripe.