Once in a Lifetime

There are a lot of reasonable and well-considered analyses to be made about the upcoming super bowl. Important questions involve the two quarterbacks, the condition of Hines Ward’s knee, whether or not Larry Fitzgerald is human, can the Steelers’ offensive line maintain protection, etcetc.

However, the internet is littered with expert opinions and insight. There is little reason for me to provide in depth arguments, although I will provide the following (very brief) opinion: The Steelers are the stronger team overall and will win unless they have major breakdowns involving special teams or turnovers.

*

The real reason that the Steelers ought to triumph does not, in fact, have anything to do with statistics or personnel match-ups, but instead with a kind of personal-biographical astrological alignment that only happens once or twice in a lifetime, if that.

You see, the Superbowl takes place on my birthday. This is not terribly unusual, as the Feb 1 features the superbowl once every 7 years. Still, it is a reasonably rare occasion. Now, all things being even, the chances that any given team will play in the superbowl in a given season are 1 in 16. A bit of multiplication yields the result that a given team is likely to be in the superbowl on my birthday approximately once every 112 years.

Of course, the Steelers are not any team. They are a very well run franchise and have historically represented the AFC in about 1 of every 6 or 7 superbowls. Even if the Steelers continue their success, they are only likely to play on my birthday once every 40 to 50 years. Which means that this is the kind of big deal life event that will only maybe happen once more in my whole life, like a wedding or something.

*

Also of note: People rooting for the Steelers include: the US astronauts currently in space and President Obama. The Cardinals have McCain. I think we notice a winner/loser pattern here…

Tags: astronauts, Steelers