Ok, the initial hype of the Super Bowl is waining, and the onslaught of Media Day, and all of the hoopla of Super Bowl week are knocking at the door. In our future is wall-to-wall coverage of “The Big Game”, interviews with people who are relevant to the game, and those whose relevance has long since past. It’s the Super Bowl. It’s what we’ve all come to expect.

I love media day as much as the next guy. It’s interesting to hear what these players think, and say. Sometimes we can get a great sound-bite or tidbit of information about the game. But for the most part, it’s a bunch of blowhards talking about and hyping themselves. In a game that features some really high profile players (Peyton Manning and Brian Urlacher), I think Media Day will reveal some other interesting characters. I’ve listened to radio interviews and shows with folks like Charles “Peanut” Tillman, Muhsin Muhammed, Desmond Clark, Adewale Ogunleye and a lot of other players. I wouldn’t be suprised if Peanut emerges from Media Day as one of the media’s favorite interviewees. It seems like he just likes to talk. He’s clever, and funny and never at a loss for words.

I’m sure that Peyton Manning, and Brian Urlacher are going to say the right things. They always do. Hey guys, we already know that the Bears defense is really tough, and that Peyton Manning respects them. We also know that Brian Urlacher and the Bears defense respects the Colts offense and thinks they’ll be hard to stop. Ok, I think I just fell asleep while writing that. BORING!!! As usual I tip-toe the line between wanting some interesting story lines and trash talk, and my desire for these guys to just play football and shut up already. What can I say, I’m a complex person. Of course Tank Johnson brings some interesting things to the table (a rifle and a house full of ammunition). Unfortunately that’s not what I’m looking for.

One thing that should definitely be interesting to watch is how Rex Grossman handles Media Day. He is the player under the most scrutiny in this Super Bowl. I think will not only handle the stress and pressure of Media Day well, I think he’ll play well on Sunday and be able to handle the stress and pressure of the biggest stage in professional sports. He, and his team, has had to field questions about whether or not he should be the Bears starting quarterback for the last 2 months. And they’ve made it to the Super Bowl. That might just prove to be Rex and the Bears’ saving grace. They have seen adversity. They have banded together, and they have made it to the Super Bowl. Credit has to be given to Lovie Smith and his coaching staff for keeping this team together. Brian Urlacher, who easily could have been super pissed that the defense had to be relied upon to win games… but he always said the right thing. He never pointed fingers, and he always publicly supported Grossman. So it looks like the defense will once again save the defense.

With one week left to go before the actual game, I’m bracing myself for all of the hype. I’m trying to weed through it. I will be putting together some posts to preview different parts of the game. The game itself really does provide some interesting matchups. I’m looking forward to digging deeper.

Truth be told. I haven’t posted about this because I’m scared. I’m in an awkward position of having one of “my teams” playing for a championship. It’s weird, and very nerve wrecking.  In this week leading up to the game, I hope to get that under control and write some posts.

This entry was posted on Sunday, January 28th, 2007 at 11:36 am and is filed under Chicago Bears, Football, NFL. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.