Superbwah. Which team to root for? An algorithm ...
From the Portland OR Willamette Week...our great free alternative weekly Wednesday Jan. 30th., Dr. Know:
The question:
I watch exactly one football game per year, the Super Bowl, and I have no idea whom to root for. Is there any reason for an Oregonian to prefer one side over the other? The Seahawks arent playing, right?
The Young Poet
I am not responsible for the question, but I am sympathetic. I watch no football games per year.
Dr. Know's answer:
You know how I can tell youre not kidding? Real football fans never ask whom to root for. I pray you, good sir: For whom shall I root in this sporting contest? And thruppence-worth of your finest nachos forthwith!
That said, young Joseph Ducreux (Google it), Im pretty much right there with you. In the unlikely event that anyone with actual knowledge of the game of football is still reading this, you can probably stop now. For the rest of us, heres a brief-yet-helpful guide for picking sides in a sport you dont care about.
<snip>
Next, find out who your least-favorite co-worker is pulling for (lets face it, what are the chances that guys not a football fan?) and back the other side. In Portland, this probably means youll be siding with the Baltimore Ravens. Also, theyll probably be wearing purple, which is a nice color.
But youre looking for a specifically hometown-ish way to pick your team. Maybe some of the players are from Oregon.
All props to The Oregonian; it has been tracking this possibility all season in something called the sports section. It appears that two of the Ravens players, Ed Dickson and Haloti Ngata, and two players for the San Francisco 49ers, LaMichael James and Will Tukuafu, played college ball for the Ducks. So theres no edge.
Frankly, I still think your best bet is to root against Larry from accounting. God, I hate that guy.