Column: NFL playoffs a better treat than Super Bowl
Published Jan. 22, 2010
Seeing what day professional football calls its own, it is fitting for the NFL postseason to be likened to an ice cream sundae.
The Super Bowl is the eye-catching cherry on top, completing the dessert and making it what it is: essential to the end result but ultimately only a single ingredient.
But the real treat is the two scoops of ice cream, pecans and chocolate syrup that are the Wild Card, Divisional and Conference Championship Rounds of the NFL playoffs.
The Super Bowl is cool, yes, but the weeks leading up to it are undoubtedly the best weekends in football and the real prize for the football fan.
The Super Bowl is just one game while the playoffs are like two Super Bowls per day of the weekend (sorry Friday) without needing to watch the commercials.
The single elimination format of the NFL playoffs allows for only one shot at moving on per round, meaning if you don't play each game as if it were the Super Bowl, chances are you won't get there.
With multiple teams playing at championship level ferocity during multiple games per day, you can't lose.
The Super Bowl also garners a level of hype, excitement and anticipation unrivaled in professional sports (and sadly professional anything), but the playoffs also bring a fair share of unique atmosphere, making for a one-of-a-kind experience.
The NFL playoffs allow for a distinct home field advantage for one team, and the Super Bowl is held at an intended neutral site, as it should be. This is not a bad, just different and part of what gives the NFL playoffs its distinct feel of excitement and energy.
The home team earned its advantage with its performance in the regular season, but the championship should be contested on an even playing field. If the Super Bowl were held at the Metrodome with the hometown Vikings hosting, a certain purple clad team might have a slight edge.
Now, don't get me wrong — the Super Bowl is pretty darn awesome, and the quest for this ultimate big game is the reason the preceding weeks are so exciting.
You hear of Divisional Round parties a lot less than Super Bowl parties, and if it came down to a choice between performing at the Super Bowl halftime show or one of the Wild Card halftime shows, I too would choose the former.
Super Bowl Sunday is a sports extravaganza unlike any other and isn't something I plan on missing. I would just prefer to watch the journey as opposed to the destination.
The heightened Super Bowl sense of urgency begins with the first round and doesn't slow down afterward, pervasive through every down in every game on every Saturday or Sunday, be it week one, two or three of the playoffs. The whole month is a football enthusiast's dream come true, but if it came down to it, the bulk of the playoffs takes the cake — or the sundae, that is.