Choose Your Poison
Posted January 22, 2008, 8:16 AM ET

Super Bowl XLII is highlighted by the age-old rivalry of Boston against New York. Geez, I can't wait to get to Phoenix....

Just how many obnoxious blowhards from the Northeast will invade the Valley of the Sun? I have a feeling I'm going to find out....along with everybody else.

New York and Boston represent the two sports cities in which the respective fan bases actually believe the world hinges on their every word and action. Don't believe me; ask a New York Yankee fan to break down the upcoming baseball season. Then ask a Boston Red Sox fan to do the same thing. No wonder why Peter Gammons and ESPN are so warped during the springtime.

Now we've got sports' two smartest, know-it-all groups of fans (just ask them) going eye-to-eye in America's biggest sporting event, the Super Bowl. It's the Yankees and Red Sox times fifty....on steroids. Next week, every single occupied space in Phoenix will have some Guido and his entourage wearing their Manning or Shockey jerseys, along with their assortment of fake gold chains, and bitching that they can't find a good bagel in Scottsdale. Or some self-centered sophisticate Bostonite with his #12 Brady jersey breaking down how the Red Sox and Patriots rule the universe.

Given what has transpired in the sports world this century, it's hard to argue against the smart-aleck from Boston. His Red Sox have won two of the last four World Series....his football team is on the verge of winning their fourth Super Bowl in seven years, and in case anybody cares or follows the NBA, his Celtics have won 33 of their first 39 games.

What makes it tough for us Southerners, is that we really don't have a leg to stand on when it comes to the debate. For crying out loud, our backyard football team, the Carolina Panthers just finished off another losing season and they play in the NFC South....better known as the NFL's version of ACC football.

The NFC South is so weak that it didn't even produce a single NFL Pro Bowler this year. In fact, the NFC South produced as many Pro Bowlers as it did post-season victories....zero.

The Atlanta Braves, the South's most consistent sports team, finally saw their NL East supremacy snapped by the New York Mets...and heaven-forbid, the Philadelphia Phillies.

And I probably shouldn't even open my mouth about the NBA....when you start talking about the Bobcats and Hawks, even the locals hide in shame. The only NBA team in the South that has experienced some reasonable success, the Miami Heat, now finds itself with the worst record in the Eastern Conference with an 8-32 mark.

Well, at least we have college football and hoops to fall back on....ooops, I forgot, Boston College made it to the ACC Championship game. Thanks, Clemson. And in hoops, the Tar Heels are 3-1 in league play....tied with those Chestnut Hills hoopsters. Unfortunately for us Southerners, all the ACC teams trail Duke...better known as the University of New Jersey.

Damn...we can't win. Before heading west, I have created a web poll on my radio show at www.wfnz.com (and I seldom do this on the show) to find out who is the more obnoxious group of fans...Bostonians or New Yorkers? I'll be curious to see what Southerners think of our two Super Bowl teams and fans.

So we're going to have to live vicariously through the smack-talking Giants and Patriot fans for the next two weeks. It could be worse; it could be the Dallas Cowboys in Phoenix, but we all know that's impossible since the Cowboys have now gone as of Tuesday, 4,042 days since their last playoff win.

Either way, I can't wait to get to Phoenix and enjoy the hospitality and festivities surrounding the Super Bowl. But if I'm chilling out on Camelback at an authentic Mexican eatery and hear one northeastern windbag tell me that they make better tortillas back in the Bronx, I'm going to go postal.