Ready or not, here it might come.
Houston and Atlanta appear to be headed for a photo finish in the race to determine which city will host the 2009 Super Bowl.
Houston, Atlanta, Tampa and Miami are the finalists for Super Bowl XLIII that will be decided May 25 when the owners vote at the NFL summer meetings in Washington.
The four cities, all of which have hosted at least two Super Bowls, make final bids May 2.
Although no one will admit it publicly, league sources say Houston and Atlanta are the favorites to win the bid. Houston’s last Super Bowl was 2004 and Atlanta’s 2000.
As I’ve said before, the best reason to have another Super Bowl here is the possbility that it will make Bill “The Sports Wimp” Simmons cry. I still can’t believe that yokel whined about 50-degree weather last year. Living in LA has obviously made him soft. I’ll bet he leaves baseball games during the seventh inning now so he can avoid the traffic. Anyway, that story makes it look like the odds are good, though if the Georgia Dome is ready by then they may steal it away.
At least Houston has a stadium ready for the Super Bowl. Look at it this way, if Houston loses the bid Super Bowl XLIII, the city has another shot when Super Bowl XLIV reopens after New York doesn’t build the West Side stadium (also supposed to be the home of track and field in the 2012 Olympics).
… if Houston loses the bid Super Bowl XLIII, the city has another shot when Super Bowl XLIV reopens….
This is rather OT, but it occured to me that perhaps the NFL should reconsider the use of Roman numerals for the Super Bowls, at least once they get past 40. It took me a few seconds to unpack just what XLIII was, and I’m usually pretty good with numbers (hence the handle).
I know they’re supposed to convey a sense of gravitas, but really, would it be so wrong just to say Super Bowl 43?
I’ve been in relient stadium and theres not a bad seat in the house.