Bowled Over

The Super Bowl is the glue that bonds the nation. Sorry to be a bit melodramatic, but name another event where men, women, children, sports fans and non-sports fans unite.

The championship is the climax in many households. For football fans, it is a celebration to determine the year's best franchise. For their spouses, it is a farewell to the game that possessed their television for five months straight.

This year's match-up pits the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Green Bay Packers against each other. By now you will have heard and read two dozen 'takes' on the game. Allow me to change it up a bit with the Good, the Bad and the Ugly.

The Good: an old school rivalry between two of the most prestigious organizations in history. Partygoers with no interest in the actual game will have undoubtedly heard of both teams involved.

The Bad: Fox has television rights this year. Their pre-game crew is slightly less annoying than the alternatives. However, Joe Buck is the most overrated play-by-play voice in the industry. I would bet one of your paychecks if his name was Mickey Finkelstein he would be in another field.

The Ugly: reports surfaced last week the Dallas/Fort Worth metro was short 10,000 exotic dancers. Illegal contact? No. America's Game!

The Good: Aaron Rodgers has been brilliant. Even though the Packers are a cold weather team, they are built for the fast track indoors. Their run game will fail them so expect 45 pass attempts by the NFL's newest quarterback sensation.

The Bad: his counterpart Ben Roethlisberger will be grilled all week. Some of the heat will come in the form of Clay Matthews and B.J. Raji. Most of the heat will be in the form of overzealous reporters bringing up Roethlisberger's past off-the-field transgressions.

The Ugly: imagine if Michael Vick was opposite Roethlisberger on media day. The strip clubs could use 10,000 protesting PETA workers to fill their open slots.

The Good: the musical acts. Christina Aguilera brings us the National Anthem. She should be able to match the beautiful rendition by Carrie Underwood a year ago. Meanwhile, our halftime entertainment should... um... entertain. The Black Eyed Peas are if nothing else relevant.

The Bad: one of Janet Jackson's nipples (thanks Justin Timberlake) ruined the halftime show for years. After the slip, we were subjected to aging, outdated acts such as Bruce Springsteen, The Who, Tom Petty, The Rolling Stones, Prince and Paul McCartney. Egad.

The Ugly: we already mentioned Janet Jackson's nipple so we'll move right along.

The Good: The commercials garner more coffee pot talk on Monday morning every year. Web sites allow you to watch and vote on your favorite.

The Bad: over the years, the commercials have lost creativity. Hopefully we will be pleasantly surprised by one or two companies.

The Ugly: fifteen films have decided to advertise on Super Bowl Sunday including the pregame, in-game and postgame festivities. One of the films is a 3D documentary on Justin Bieber. How much is too much Bieber?

The Good: betting props lure tons of action and make the game more interesting. It is no longer a secret as to why the NFL is so popular: Fast-paced action, gambling and fantasy football. The Super Bowl offers more gambling than any other football game imaginable.

The Bad: I am guessing there are laws in place to disallow my idea, but why haven't any of our local tribal casinos opened a sports book?

The Ugly: someone in your vicinity at the Super Bowl party will fist pump upon the conclusion of the National Anthem. It is not because of their patriotism, but rather how long it lasted and how much money they won on the prop.

The Good: Jerry Jones built the ideal palace for a Super Bowl to host two of the most ravenous fan bases in all sports.

The Bad: we will be reminded about Jerry's creation.

The Ugly: too much of Jerry Jones face mugging for the camera on the NFL Network.

The Good: a quick veer off the Super Bowl for a second. Did you realize the Tulsa 66ers reeled off a 14-game win streak that lasted a month? Our boys are balling. Do not let a championship caliber season go unnoticed. Visit Tulsa66ers.com for schedule and ticket information.

The Bad: admit it, you just found out about the win streak when you read the above paragraph.

The Ugly: the uniforms. When the NBA franchise in Oklahoma City took over the 66ers as their lone affiliate, we changed colors to match the Thunder. However, we kept the original mountainous logo. Tulsa breeds innovative minds. Perhaps an offseason contest to come up with a new logo would pique interests in the organization.

The Good: can you say playoff hockey T-Town? Coach Bruce Ramsey worked his magic and the Oilers are sitting in second place a top the Berry Conference in the Central Hockey League.

The Bad: only two months left in the regular season. Only nine regular season home games left on the schedule. Visit TulsaOilers.com for schedule and ticket information.

The Ugly: the Ramburger. Actually, the Ramburger is a clever idea for Oilers Happy Hour at the Paradox Pub and Grill.

However, since we made it this far with the Good, Bad and Ugly theme. I could not possibly break the sequence this close to the end. Let's wrap this up before it turns really ugly.

The Good: Super Bowl XLV on Sunday.

The Bad: the last NFL game for the season.

The Ugly: the pending labor dispute between millionaires squabbling over pennies.