Happy Friday to you all. It has been a little while since I have posted anything sports related and it is Super Bowl week, so I should probably kick that topic around a little bit. I plan on posting my Top 10 teams to win the Super Bowl in a posting this weekend. To be honest, with the Green Bay Packers getting so close and then blowing it against the Giants, my interest in Super Bowl is obviously not nearly as high as it was going to be. The only thing that is keeping me captive is potentially witnessing history if New England can complete their perfect season. During the two weeks leading up to the big game, you can be overwhelmed with the media hype and stories from every angle. There are a couple stories that I found to be worthy of mentioning.

There are a couple elderly guys (as far as football players go) playing in this game, one on each team. Junior Seau, the Patriots linebacker, is 39 years old and Jeff Feagles, the Giants punter, will turn 42 in March. They have 38 seasons of experience between them which is pretty amazing and both have the chance to achieve the ultimate goal of winning their first championship. Seau will be playing in just his second Super Bowl (lost as a Charger back after the 1994 season) and Feagles will be appearing in his very first. Both are very deserving after very impressive careers. Junior Seau is a 12 time Pro Bowler and a member of the NFL 1990's All-Decade Team. He is without a doubt one of the most dominant linebackers of his generation and still plays with tremendous pride and emotion. Jeff Feagles has only made one Pro Bowl, but you don't stay in the NFL for 20 seasons if you are not pretty good at what you do. Feagles holds the record for Most Consecutive Games Played in a career at 320 games in a row! That is pretty inspiring even for a punter. Who knows if either player will play another season after this, let alone get another chance to win a championship. Old School wishes both players luck this Sunday.

Another story that I find intriguing is Archie Manning. Archie Manning is the father of Peyton Manning, who won the Super Bowl last year with the Indianapolis Colts, and Eli Manning, who is the starting quarterback for the New York Giants. Archie himself played quarterback in the NFL for 14 seasons. He was considered a very good quarterback, but he never played on a winning team himself and that naturally means he never even sniffed a Super Bowl as a player. Now he will be a guest of honor at the Super Bowl for the second year in a row. This would not be a surprise if he was there to watch Peyton defend his title, but the fact that he will be there to cheer on the younger Eli is quite unexpected. Peyton undoubtedly considered one of the best quarterbacks of his generation and won the NFL MVP in 2004 and the Super Bowl MVP last year. He is far more accomplished that his brother, but it is Eli who is on the big Super Bowl stage this year. In fact, Eli has thrown for almost 600 yards and four touchdowns without an interception in 85 pass attempts. No quarterback has ever entered the Super Bowl, throwing as many postseason attempts as Manning has without an interception. I am sure it has to be satisfying to see your children excel in their lives and chosen careers. It has to be pretty exceptional to see even one of your sons be blessed enough to become a professional athlete. It must be extraordinary to see two of your sons become starting quarterbacks in the National Football League. It has to be unimaginable to see both reach the pinnacle of their sport and lead their teams to a Super Bowl. Archie Manning has to be an exceptionally proud parent which I have already learned is a pretty special feeling.

Here is a quick bit of Super Bowl trivia that you might find interesting. Even without including this year's Super Bowl, New England and New York are already the only teams to reach the Super Bowl in the 1980's, 1990's and 2000's. With an upset Sunday, the Giants would become the first team in NFL history to win Super Bowls in three consecutive decades. In case anybody cares, I am picking the Patriots to win on Sunday, but not necessarily to cover the point spread. The last three Super Bowls the Patriots have won (2001, 2003, 2004 seasons) were all won by exactly 3 points. If New England wins, it will give Tom Brady 4 Super Bowl championships which would tie him with Joe Montana and Terry Bradshaw for the most all time (and Brady is just 30 years old!). I will give you a few more tidbits with tomorrow's post.

That will wrap up Kickin' it for today. Thanks so much for reading and please consider subscribing. As I said, look for tomorrow's Top 10 List of Super Bowl Winning Teams from my generation. Peace and much love.

Check this out:
Super Bowl weekend is the Thanksgiving of finger foods, and chicken wings are its turkey. The National Chicken Council estimates that more than 450 million cut wings were consumed during Super Bowl weekend in 2007, which equals about 90 million pounds of wings. (Source: www.buffalowings.com; National Chicken Council)

Quote of the day: "The successful person will profit from his mistakes and try again in a different way." -Dale Carnegie

Download this: "You Can Close Your Eyes (Live)" by James Taylor - I love all of James Taylor's music, but this song which can be found on his recently released live album One Man Band is especially nice.