Super Bowl 50 thoughts

Some of you know that every year on this blog, after the matchup has been determined, I predict which team I think will win the Super Bowl.  My record is actually 4-1!  Briefly, let me detail the games I’ve predicted.  

In 2011, this blog was still new and I didn’t have the thought to make a prediction.  But in 2012, I accurately predicted that the Giants would defeat the Patriots in Super Bowl 46.  The next year, I was right in predicting that the Baltimore Ravens would defeat the San Francisco 49ers.  My only incorrect prediction was when the Seahawks pummeled the Broncos in Super Bowl 48 (in my defense, I wasn’t the lone voice in the wilderness picking Denver; others predicted the Broncos would win that game, too).  Super Bowl 49 saw the Patriots against the Seahawks; I guessed the Pats would win the game, and that they did.

Super Bowl 50 has the Denver Broncos returning to the big game this time against the Carolina Panthers.  This year, however, I’m not going to be making a prediction.  Furthermore, I don’t plan to even see the game!  Why?  Because this year’s football season has been unlike any other year in my life; this season my dad – a man who loved football and sports – wasn’t here to view the games with me.  To see the Super Bowl without my dad would be hard enough but it’s doubly difficult because the big game is starring the Denver Broncos.  While I’m certainly proud of the Broncos for making it back to the big game, I know that Dad would be viewing the game if he were here, because he isn’t, it will be too painful to watch the game while seeing his empty chair.  It re-opens the wound of the loss.

Someone is thinking, “Kevin, everyone watches the Super Bowl, it’s basically a national holiday.”  It’s true.  The Super Bowl, for all intents and purposes, is a national holiday.  So I’m going to follow the advice I received from a ministry called Grief Share: create new traditions on holidays.  It’s what was done for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Eve, thus while it’s technically not a real holiday, I feel it is best to follow the same pattern and create a new tradition with Super Bowl Sunday.  That means skipping the game entirely (yes, I will still be interested in seeing the final score), and watching the highlights afterwards.  That’s what I’ve been doing for most of the Bronco games this year anyway.

Kevin