NFL 2021: The Super Bowl

The Colts would fit for horse as well. And you could maybe stretch it to include the Chargers, although they weren’t named for the horse originally and their logo is a lightning bolt. But they also used a horse in their logo their first year.

Good catches!

I guess I’ll steal Beef’s thunder and mention that we have a Rat team in Baltimore.

Not totally sure why you say that. The name came from a public contest and its flexibility was part of its appeal. The very first icon for the team featured the horse and the lightning bolt was secondary. I’d say that the horse definitely was the most prominent symbol for the team at the outset and it didn’t hurt that in the early 60’s westerns were a big thing. The idea that supposedly sinched the name was that the bugle charge for mounted cavalry was common for USC football games at the time.

As an aside, it’s just hitting with me that we don’t have any Dog mascots in the NFL. This is pretty surprising considering how pervasive they are for High Schools and College programs.

It’s kinda weird having no rooting interest in the game today. I’m a Pats fan, so I do now I’ve been spoiled, but-I go back to the Jim Plunket days. I remember being happy when he won with the Raiders in 1981, because that was a close as I ever thought a Patriot might get.

I just want to see a good game.

Their original logo was a horse, though (and lightning bolt). They just got rid of the horse later. The name was inspired by a cavalry charge (specifically, the cavalry call used by football teams to rally the players) and indeed refers to a “charger” battle horse. Here are their logos over the years:

It had a horse from 1960-1973.

There is the “Dog Pound” of the Browns. But they’re not official.

No, by all means, tell everyone about how the STD capital of America has a shitty football team based on hypocrisy.

I actually never had any idea that the Chargers were at all based on horse imagery at all. This is the first time I’ve heard of it.

The Browns have a dog mascot and logos and stuff. It’s not in the name, but it’s definitely associated with the team.

There’s usually a lot of discussions about superbowl commercials and other non-football watchalong stuff every year scattered in a few threads, so I went ahead and created a thread for it:

I’m really just hoping for a good game. I had almost no rooting interest throughout the playoffs but was massively entertained with the divisional and championship rounds. So I’d love yet another game that comes down to the last snap in regulation or goes to overtime.

Also, while “Lift Every Voice and Sing” may be an important song for American history, it’s not a very interesting one to listen to.

I’m guessing it won’t be too close, with the Bengals’ offensive line being unable to get Burrow much time or open many holes for Mixon. The Rams will rely heavily on the run game and quick throws to Cooper Kupp and have a solid offensive game He’ll have an OK game, but everyone will cream themselves over Matthew Stafford, which will annoy the hell out of me. Rams win by double digits, but it won’t be as close as the score indicates as garbage time pads the Bengals offensive stats.

I’m hedging my bets. If the Rams win by more than 4, I’ll be richer. And if they lose, I’ll be poorer, but happier to have Stan Kroenke fuck off and crawl under a rock somewhere. Worst thing would be a Rams win but by less than 4. That would make me sad.

I consider that the same level as the number “12” and the Seahawks. The team officially embraces it (the 12th Man Flag is raised before every home game as part of a ceremony and they retired the number 12 as a jersey number), but the mascot is still only a seahawk (an osprey). But I wouldn’t say the Seahawks have a number for a mascot the way that, say, the 49ers do. Likewise, the Browns do not have a dog as a mascot.

The Browns have/had a dog as a literal mascot:

Beloved Browns mascot Swagger passes away.

I’m aware of three kinds of mascots for a sports team. One kind is a mascot that serves as a symbol of the team, or a nickname. The second kind is a person who dresses up in a costume. The third is an animal. Going back to the Seahawks, they have all 3, though in each case every one is a seahawk (the team logo/nickname, an anthropomorphic seahawk character named Blitz, and an osprey that sometimes gets flown out before a game). I’m just referring to the first kind here.

(Also, don’t forget Brownie the Elf!)

The elf was a 50s thing that I very much think they probably shouldn’t have brought back.

Anyway, I was wondering if I should root for the Bengals or not and I was thinking - Joe Burrow is going to be a problem for a long time. If he wins a superbowl early, maybe he won’t have that chip on his shoulder from having almost made it all the way. I wonder - do you think superbowl-winning QBs get better due to confidence, get worse due to having hit the apex of their career and maybe don’t feel as much pressure to work as hard, or not really make a difference? It’s probably the third option, since super bowl winning QBs are probably natural overachievers.

I’m sure no one really cares, But I got a little carried away with the gambling on this game. I ended up going ALL in on the Rams. The line moved to 5 points so instead of betting the line big, I ended up spreading my money across a bunch of margin of victory ranges. If the Rams win but 13 to 24 points I will be going very, very well. If they win by up to 12 points I’ll be pretty happy but I’ll have left some money on the table. If the Bengals win or the Rams win by more than 24…I’m gonna be hurting. Simultaneously if the Rams defense plays well enough that one of the Rams big names gets the Super Bowl MVP award, I’m making it rain.

As I speak, the Ramsey for MVP bet probably just went up in flames.

WTF was that ad with a QR code bouncing around for 30 seconds?

Coinbase (crypto exchange) promotion. they aren’t letting Crypto.com have all the fun.

Ok that was an unusual extra point fail…

The Bengals intercepted it. If they’d returned it for a touchdown, that would have been 2 points, right?

Aaaaand there goes my OBJ MVP bet…that one was looking pretty good. Unless he’s back with some Willis Reed kind of thing it’s another L for me.