Super Bowl
First, let me put up a couple of links to NFL Super Bowl Standings.
- The official NFL Super Bowl Standings, which ranks the teams by winning percentages.
- The Wikipedia Super Bowl Standings List, this one based on the number of appearances.
Not to parse out the subtleties:
First, The List of Shame (Teams who’ve never played in the Super Bowl):
The Houston Oilers became the Tennessee Titans, who have made an appearance.
The Houston Texans are the newest team on this list, and the Jacksonville Jaguars are still new enough to have an excuse. The present incarnation of the Cleveland Browns is also pretty new, although when the Baltimore Ravens were known as the Cleveland Browns they were unable to make it to the Super Bowl (and I don’t care what the official history of the NFL says, the present Browns are a new and different team from the team that moved over to Baltimore).
The New Orleans Saints have suffered from an extreme sense of frustration, as this is the team that saw the invention of the paper bagged fan and the diminution of their nickname to “The ‘Aint’s”. They’ve also lived through their home turf being flooded and the team being locked in to where they’re definitely not wanted nor needed. I can think of four places where franchise would fit in better — Los Angeles, San Antonio and Sacramento could fit in smoothly with no muss, and Oklahoma City has proven its salt with the NBA.
Then there is the Detroit Lions; also known as the Lie-Downs and the Puddy-tats. Trust me, any team that has had trouble over fifty years winning a postseason game (never mind an actual game THIS past season) is a case of a team embracing mediocrity. The fact that they moved into a SMALLER stadium (and no longer can even fill THAT stadium up anymore) should highlight to you what’s expected of the team.
Any Given Sunday, Anybody?
Now, onto the topic of Super Bowl Appearances by teams: Out of forty-three games, these four teams have shown up the most:
- Dallas Cowboys: 8 appearances
- Pittsburgh Steelers: 7 appearances
- New England Patriots, Denver Broncos: 6 appearances
Which gives twenty-seven Super Bowl appearances, or 31.4% of the slots filled by four teams, or one eighth of the teams.
Add in the following teams, each with 5 appearances:
- San Francisco 49ers
- Oakland/Los Angeles Raiders
- Washington Redskins
- Miami Dolphins
We’re now up to forty-seven appearances by eight teams. One quarter of the teams have made over 54.5% of the appearances in Super Bowls. They also have 29 of the 43 victories so far — over 66% of the victories have gone to teams that have shown up five times or more (and that statistic would be more askew if it weren’t for the Denver Broncos).
Add in Green Bay, Buffalo, Minnesota and the New York Giants, and you have sixty appearances by twelve teams. That’s nearly seventy percent of the appearances taken up by just three-eights of the teams. And even with the bad luck of Minnesota and Buffalo (both the best of an inferior conference during their time on top of their conferences), there’s a 35-28 record for teams with four or more bowl appearances and nearly 4/5ths of the wins by teams who keep returning.
As for teams with 3 or less appearances, only the Baltimore/Indianapolis Colts have a winning record AND more than one showing in the Super Bowl. The rest are either .500 or below, or have had one Super Bowl showing.
So while the saying is that “Any Given Sunday” anyone can beat anyone, historical franchise quality tends to shine in the Super Bowl. So right now, it’s best to say Don’t Believe The Hype”
Cursed, Blessed Cities?
A couple other items to note while looking at the Super Bowl Standings: It’s much harder to go undefeated than to go winless. Only the San Francisco 49ers have been able to go undefeated with more than one win, while four teams have had more than one appearance without any victories.
Second, while it’s obvious why Detroit, New Orleans and Jacksonville have not appeared in the Super Bowl, there are a couple of cities which have not been represented at the Super Bowl despite having multiple teams. Cleveland missed the Super Bowl with the earlier Browns after co-dominating the fifties with Detroit, and the new Browns Franchise has not really made much of a move. I’ll give them the benefit of a doubt for now, as the present Cleveland Browns are the second newest franchise in the NFL (NFL official history be damned).
Houston is another city that seems to be cursed. While it has the newest franchise, it also had probably the only franchise that finished over five hundred in the regular season and finished last in its conference. (This was the AFC Central, with Pittsburgh in peak form).
So in a way, you’re talking about two unlucky towns. Teams that almost made it (or made the wrong time to be “good enough” in certain cities, only to move on and make the final jump into the Super Bowl. (note: while the Titans lost their Super Bowl appearance, they DID appear).
And what’s there to say about Baltimore? One team wins and loses a Super Bowl game in Baltimore, moves to “Greener Pastures” and wins a super bowl after a LONG fallow period; while another storied franchise moves in and does what it couldn’t do in Cleveland (appear, and WIN the game). That city, while not necessarily stable (nor the powerhouse, as the Washington team down the road seems to always garner more attention), seems to be blessed for its faithfulness to Pro Football — they have their own fan club, band and other support teams, which have stuck with the city and driven the NFL (or franchise owners) to add franchises to the city.
Some cities are lucky, others unlucky. Sometimes even the disappearance and appearance of teams into these cities can’t change their innate luck.
Finally: What Do I Ask For In a Super Bowl?
Outside of the Detroit Lions showing up and beating the opponent into begging for mercy (which I don’t expect to see in my lifetime at present), I expect a good game. I want to see good play on both sides (teams and players rising to the occasion), a closely-fought game that requires both teams to play all sixty minutes, and enough doubt at the end to keep my attention. Not every game can be Super Bowl XLII (which came complete with a Transcendent Play of its own), but if there’s no mood shots of the losing team moping around towards the end of the game (or at the end of the third quarter, as some of the ’90’s era blowouts gave us) I’ll be happy.
I won’t expect much from the advertisements. Their day has come and gone, and someone will have to do something radically different AND radically good for their ad to be remembered.
I want the National Anthem to be good. Same for the halftime show. No mailing it in (unless you’re the Rolling Stones). If you must mail it in, look like you’re trying (Hear me, Mr. Neville?) Don’t try to be fancy (Aretha – PLEASE?). And don’t try to hide with questionable visuals or gimmicks (Everyone in the Super Bowl XXXVIII Halftime show, Jessica Simpson excepted).
Is the above wish-list too much to ask? The game is its own creature, but the performers and advertisements…please, be good. You can control yourself.
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