Tale of the Tape: Seattle Times Super Bowl Edition

[SeaHawksHuddle]

Best urban myth

Arizona: The Chupacabra. Hops like a kangaroos, but has spines like a porcupine.

Pittsburgh: The Immaculate Reception has that nagging little question of whether it was legal.

Edge: Pittsburgh.

There's nothing mythical about the result of Franco Harris' touchdown catch against the Raiders, but there's still the question of whether it hit a Pittsburgh teammate and then ricocheted to Harris, which would have made it illegal.

Best natural feature

Arizona: The Grand Canyon, awe-inspiring abyss.

Pittsburgh: The confluence of the Monongahela and Allegheny rivers. It's just awe-inspiring Steelers fans can pronounce "confluence."

Edge: Arizona

Best lady-killer of a QB

Pittsburgh: Burt Reynolds played a former Steelers quarterback in the movie "The Longest Yard."

Arizona: Matt Leinart plays a former Cardinals starting quarterback each week on the team's sideline.

Edge: Pittsburgh.

Odd baseball accoutrements

Pittsburgh: Those cylindrical Pirates caps that looked like black-frosted cakes with gold piping around them.

Arizona: Randy Johnson's mullet.

Edge: Pittsburgh.

Nothing says 1970s quite like Willie Stargell in one of those goofy Pirates hats.

Sports cinema

Pittsburgh: "The Fish that Saved Pittsburgh." Disco, a basketball team named the Pythons and Dr. J as Moses Guthrie. What else could you want?

Arizona: Tough to find anything either cult or classic. Closest we came was "Jerry Maguire," whose Ron Tidwell plays receiver for the Cardinals.

Edge: Pittsburgh.

Action heroes

Pittsburgh: Charles Bronson born in Ehrenfeld, Pa., and became tough-guy movie star in flicks like "Death Wish," "The Great Escape" and "The Dirty Dozen."

Arizona: Pat Tillman was a true American hero who attended Arizona State, played for the Cardinals and walked away from a million-dollar football career after Sept. 11 because he wanted to serve our country.

Edge: Arizona

Rich guys

Pittsburgh: Andrew Carnegie, U.S. Steel founder who became the richest man in the world.

Arizona: Bennett Dorrance of Paradise Valley is heir to the Campbell Soup Company fortune. M'm, m'm good.

Edge: Pittsburgh

Golf guys

Pittsburgh: Arnold Palmer is one of golf's holy figures, and he learned the game from his father, who was fittingly named Deacon.

Arizona: Phil Mickelson, second only to Tiger Woods in annual earnings and golfing acclaim.

Edge: Pittsburgh.

Arnold had his army, while Mickelson is considered a little arrogant. He even managed to be obnoxious when he appeared on "Entourage."

Politicians

Pittsburgh: Orrin Hatch is a senator from Utah, having served since 1977, but was born in Pittsburgh.

Arizona: Barry Goldwater, a five-term senator whose game plan was more conservative than Woody Hayes.

Edge: Arizona

Only because Goldwater was born there.

Scorecard:

Pittsburgh 6, Arizona 3

Source: The Seattle Times

 

[Bru-Hed]

I cannot believe another NFC West team is playing the sucky Steelers. After much soul-searching, I decided I have to root against the Steelers for our SB letdown and root for the division, EVEN if it means AZZ wins their first SB before we do---not an easy thing to accept!

How does everyone else feel about this one? Which wins out--your hatred of the Steelers for our defeat, or the intra-division rivalry of the Cards?

 

[SeaHawksHuddle]

Yeah, we debated this a LOT over the past two weeks. I just decided to root for Hines Ward to break his leg. Since it did not happen, I feel kind of let down.

 

[bobflipaburger]

Yeah, we debated this a LOT over the past two weeks. I just decided to root for Hines Ward to break his leg. Since it did not happen, I feel kind of let down.

You're roting for the one star receiver that we don't play twice a year to get hurt? lol

 

[SeaHawksHuddle]

I do not like him, at all.

 

[Bru-Hed]

BTW, nice job on the Az/Pitt comparisons. Only one I would add would be rock stars--Rob Halford of Judas Priest and Alice Cooper have homes in Az. I have no idea what rockers live in Pittsburgh, but I'm guessing it would be someone like M.C. Hammer!