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| FEATURES |
Running For Coverage
By Dean Christopher
Date: 01-30-2006 |
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| Seattle's Mike Holmgren is trying to become the first mustachioed head coach to win two Super Bowls. |
Two weeks is a long time to hype a game, but We The Media will be working overtime to make this season’s Super Bowl coverage fresher and better than ever. By now you’ve probably heard all about how it's The Steel City vs. The Emerald City in The Motor City. How Seahawks head coach Mike Holmgren is vying to become the first man to win it all with two different teams. How Steelers head coach Bill Cowher is trying to rekindle the championship legacy of Hall of Famer Chuck Noll and the Steel Curtain of the '70s. How Pittsburgh running back Jerome "The Bus" Bettis is chugging home for the final chapter of his storybook career. And how 23-year-old Steelers savior Ben Roethlisberger is looking to become the youngest quarterback ever to win a Super Bowl.
Sure, these angles are compelling – just not for 14 days.
Not even close.
So here’s a fresh look at the impending clash between the Steelers of Pittsburgh and the Seahawks of Seattle in Super Bowl XL.
With Cowher’s appearance in this year’s Super Bowl, a man named Bill will have coached in 13 out of the past 25 NFL title games, good for a 52 percent appearance rate. And with a Pittsburgh victory, the Super Bills – Walsh, Parcells, Cowher, Callahan and Belichick, as well as Brian Billick – will have won 10 of those 13 appearances, good for a mind-boggling 77 percent success rate.
We all remember how the Bills of Buffalo reached four straight Super Bowls in the early '90s. This Sunday, Bills will have played or coached in 16 of the past 25 NFL seasons (Parcells and the Giants downed Buffalo in Super Bowl XXV), good for a jaw-dropping 64 percent appearance rate.
Men named Mike have also fared quite well in the season finale over the same 25-year period. When the final whistle blows Sunday, Mikes Ditka, Holmgren, Shanahan and Martz will have coached in a not-too-shabby six Super Bowls (there has been some overlap, as Holmgren's Packers faced Shanahan's Broncos in Super Bowl XXXII), with five wins to speak of.
But that's not all.
Holmgren's Packers beat Parcells' Patriots in Super Bowl XXXI. The Mikes held an early lead in the head-to-head series, but the Bills were not to be denied. Five years later in Super Bowl XXXVI, Belichick's Patriots pummeled Martz's Rams in one of the greatest upsets in NFL history. This year’s clash constitutes the long-awaited Bill-Mike rubber match.
Another equally brain-cramping subplot of Super Bowl XL is the inevitability of a mustachioed head coach coming out on top. Philadelphia’s Andy Reid, Tennessee’s Jeff Fisher and Ditka round out the Super ’Stachers, who carry a 2-4 mark all-time in the season finale.
In fact, this year marks the first time ever that two mustachioed mentors have faced off in The Big Game. And with no precedent to fall back on, it’s hard to give an edge to either man. While Cowher’s blue-collar mustache has grown into the fabric of Steeler Football, Holmgren’s walrus look has given the long-suffering Seahawks franchise a bona fide face lift – not to mention a tickled beak.
Finally, Holmgren is the fourth man to bring two teams to the Super Bowl (Don Shula, Bill Parcells and Dick Vermeil are the others) but the first man to do it with – you guessed it – a mustache.
So enjoy the game.
And please, don't think too hard. |
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