From the Sports Ed's desk

There was a time when the Super Bowl fascinated me.

Like Santa Claus and Indiana Jones, I was in awe of the Super Bowl.

It wasn’t a game, it was magical.

Plays became legendary and players became icons. Joe Montana, Jerry Rice, Marcus Allen, Phil Simms, Doug Williams, Richard Dent, these weren’t just athletes, they were superhero-icon gods.

An elementary school friend and I had a Super Bowl ritual in which we’d get up early and watch the NFL Films marathon, then beat each other to death in the backyard in tackle football before sitting in front of the television the rest of the night for pregame, actual game and postgame.

Of course, I was just a kid.

Players now are just players and the Super Bowl itself is at best a really good game to crown the champion of the NFL and, at worst, a giant, over-glittered disappointment.

Whereas I used to regard the Super Bowl like a kid staring up at the stars, I now watch it in my living room grumbling like an old fisherman at a pond — nervous and frustrated and waiting for something to go hideously wrong.

That might be because I still recognize the NFL as the best game in town. For the past few years, the Super Bowl week ritual that has replaced my awe is tuning into everything related to football and pondering a ton of questions regarding our national passion.

Questions such as …

— Which Ohio team is going to make the Super Bowl next? Not that either ever will, but if they do it’ll be the Browns. Laugh all you want, but Mike Holmgren is putting the pieces together to build a winner. The Bengals … have Mike Brown.

— Which Manning will have the better career? Both Eli and Peyton are obviously elite so it’s a matter of preference. For stat/fantasy fans, Peyton is No. 1, but he’s not clutch. Eli, confused and aloof as he often appears, is nails when it counts. He never buckles, he’s fearless. Third down and 50 with the game on the line? He’ll wing it up there for a first down. Here’s two stats to consider: The Giants lead this year’s postseason with 23 conversions on third down and Eli owns the all-time record for road playoff wins at seven.

— Does defense still win championships? This year, NFL offenses were more prolific than ever. But think about the final four teams in the AFC and NFC Championships. The 49ers and Ravens were two brutal defenses and the Giants and Patriots both had defenses that vastly improved over the course of the season.

— What’s the best Super Bowl commercial of all time? The Bud Bowl, I guess.

— What’s the best Super Bowl of all time? I give a slight edge to Super Bowl XXIV with Tennessee literally coming up a yard short to St. Louis. However, Super Bowl XXIII is a close second: Montana to Taylor, 49ers over Bengals, a classic.

— Why the heck didn’t Mike Ditka get Walter Payton a touchdown carry in Super Bowl XX?

— Why has Scott Norwood’s missed kick gone down as a choke as epic as something like Bill Buckner’s error? Norwood missed a difficult 47-yard kick at the end of Super Bowl XXV and the Bills lost to the Giants. It was not an easy kick and he barely missed it.

— Why does there have to be a halftime show? And a Pro Bowl, for that matter?

— Will this Super Bowl live up to the hype? Based on the last few meetings between the Pats and Giants, it should. Two great quarterbacks, two great coaching staffs and a group of players who won’t wither under the glare. There’s no reason to think this will be ugly or dull.

— And finally, is Tom Brady the second best quarterback in the history of the NFL behind Joe Montana? Well, that’s just silly. Of course he is.

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