Happy Super Sunday!

Even with the terrible XLIII matchup, I'm excited for Super Bowl Sunday. It truly is the best holiday on the calendar, and I'd love to amp it up further by exchanging NFL-related gifts under a Bill Walsh Coaching Tree, but that tradition hasn't even caught on in my own house.

The first Super Bowl I remember watching was XVII, and though I was disappointed Miami lost (I think I liked their uniforms better), I was instantly hooked by the grand spectacle of it all... I would become not just a Seahawks fan but an NFL fan; Every year on Super Bowl Eve I'd pull a Jolt Cola-fueled all-nighter watching old Supe highlights on ESPN. That'd get me to a couple of hours before kickoff.. Then I'd watch the game, crash badly and try to get out of school on Monday (it usually worked).

The Super Bowl is an annual marking post in my life... Christmases, Thanksgivings and most Birthdays bleed together in my mind, but give me a roman numeral and I can tell you exactly what was going on in my life at that time...

XXIII? I was down with mono that I caught from my first girlfriend...

XXVIII? My first Super Bowl in college; watched it with a girl I was in love with (at the time) in my dorm room...

XXX? My first big Super Bowl party at Western with all my college friends...

XXXV? The first Super Bowl I watched with my (future) wife...

XLI? My son's first Super Bowl party... We all got the flu and ended up sick as Prince Gerhardt...

and so on... I'll be watching from a party in Cincinnati at my friend Woody's house... Try to enjoy the game, and come back here for full coverage afterward, y'all.