Time for the Super Bowl Shuffle again

Today we find out if we're getting another Super Bowl.

[Texans owner Bob] McNair and the Houston Super Bowl committee, which is chaired by John Nau III, will present their bid to the NFL owners in a meeting today in Atlanta. With Indianapolis and Arizona the primary competitors, McNair hopes Houston is ultimately awarded the 2012 Super Bowl.

"Everyone is assuring me that we're very competitive and we're in the running," McNair said. "Of course Indianapolis is trying to sell their city on the basis that, 'We just built a new stadium and you owe it to us.' Of course I remind them, 'If that's the case, you owe Houston because you didn't give us the Super Bowl because we built a stadium. You gave us a Super Bowl because I paid you.'

"People have heard what Indianapolis is saying, and it's been repeated quite a bit. But everybody that was here in 2004 thought the city did a great job. They love our stadium. We have the facilities here. And I think there's no city that is better prepared to put on a Super Bowl and to do it properly than Houston."

Indianapolis, which will open the Colts' new home, Lucas Oil Field, this season, is considered the front-runner. The NFL has looked favorably on voters who have approved revenue for new stadiums.

The Texans hope to overcome that with the complete package they have to offer. Two weeks ago, they received praise from NFL senior vice president of events, Frank Supovitz. He was hired in 2005 to oversee events such as the Super Bowl.

I feel like I've seen this movie before, and I know how it ends. Houston will have put together an impressive package, but the NFL owners, who are highly susceptible to bribery, will be more interested in what's in it for them. Which means, in the absence of another great yacht giveaway, will mean the team with the newest publicly-financed stadium will win. Go ahead, NFL, prove me wrong.

The one thing we can all take heart in if Indianapolis wins the bid is that Bill "The Sports Wimp" Simmons will freeze his LA-softened rear end off while there. Between that and the amenities in Arlington, he'll be begging to come back to Houston in 2013.

UPDATE: I'm sooooo shocked.

There were no surprises today when NFL owners voted to give the 2012 Super Bowl to Indianapolis.

Houston and Arizona were the other finalists in voting at the league's summer meetings in suburban Atlanta.

As had been predicted, the owners awarded Indianapolis the Super Bowl because the Colts are moving to the new Lucas Oil Field this season. Ninety-five percent of the stadium was financed with public money.

As it did with Houston, Detroit, Arizona and Dallas, the league awarded a Super Bowl with voters approving public money for new stadiums.

The Houston contingent, led by Texans owner Bob McNair, can now make a run at the 2013 Super Bowl.

Yeah, good luck with that. Though at least as far as I know, there are no other publicly-financed stadia in the queue at this time, so maybe there's hope. Go ahead, Sisyphus! Push that rock again! You might make it all the way this time!

Posted by Charles Kuffner on May 20, 2008 to Other sports