Original Intent

Stupor Bowl Monday

It'll be Monday morning here in Sweden by the time The Big Game kicks, but the fridge is full of beer (well, five or six, at least; this is Sweden and you need, like, a second mortgage to buy a case of beer) and I'm ready to celebrate a fifth Steeler Super Bowl Championship.

I'm particularly psyched about this game. Not only am I suffering from acute football-withdrawal symptoms, having missed all of the college bowl games and the N.F.L. playoffs, but aside from da Bears (who are now my favorite pro team) there's no team I would rather see win the Super Bowl than Pittsburgh. I've rooted for the Steelers since reading in Sports Illustratedabout Rocky Blier making the squad after being discharged from the army with war injuries that left him 40 percent disabled. No need to go on about the legendary Steeler teams from the seventies, the Steelers' storied tradition, the Bus's farewell and homecoming in Detroit, or Dan Rooney's old-school management choices (sticking with Cowher, etc.) because there's more at stake with Super Bowl XL.

As my mom put it in an e-mail, "You and Claire have a once in a lifetime event coming up - your old childhood favorite teams as rivals in the Stuporbowl."

My sister is and has been a huge Seattle fan since sometime in the late seventies. (See accompanying photo for proof. This is Claire - the jock in the family - competing in the Lions Club punt, pass, and kick competition. Date uncertain. Probably 1982, I'm guessing. Note the Seahawk jersey and socks.) As a little girl she used to worship Jim Zorn and said she wanted to grow up to be the quarterback of the Seahawks. She's a political science professor now, but I suspect that she'll be armchair QBing as she watches the game.

Yes, this game is all about familial football bragging rights in the Rasmussen family (not to mention a potentially hefty bar tab that is on the line as well).

Although Seattle will benefit from the services of former 'Husker Josh Brown, their reliable field-goal kicker, his strong leg will not be enough to win the game. All that Microsoft money will not bring Seattle a championship, not this year.

My prediction: Pittsburgh Steelers 31, Seattle Seahawks 27.

And the Winner Is...

In the battle of the Belgian blond ales, Leffe Blond defeated Affligem Blond in today's taste test. The event was not without controversy. With her eyes closed, Ira initially chose the Affligem. However, when she tasted the beers with her eyes open she picked the Leffe and declared she thought she was choosing it the first time. Eric, who was administering the tasting, admonished Ira not for basing her initial decision exclusively on what her taste buds judged to be the better beer. Was this an instance of ideology trumping aesthetics?

Obviously Affligem advocates are declaring today's results invalid and are demanding a future rematch. Eric chose the Leffe Blond with his eyes shut and with them opened, though he insisted that the Affligem was a fine beer. He was heard to say that he would gladly drink either most anytime, if only he could afford Belgian beers in America or Sweden.