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Well, now we know who we will be watching in next week's Super Bowl. The Seattle Seahawks will be taking on the surprising Pittsburgh Steelers. It hurts me to have to say anything good about the Steelers as I do not want them to win. I am a Cincinnati Bengals fan. I wanted America's favorite son, and a good quarterback, to be playing in the Big Game. Still I am psyched about watching the Seahawks and Steelers take on each other.

When I was watching a show yesterday about the game, I was listening to several sports commentators discuss what a bad match-up this one will be. They believe that because there is no controversy, such as the rumblings of the Terrell Owens fallout that started with the Super Bowl last year, that there are no good stories. The only story, these reporters argue, is that Steelers mainstay Jerome Bettis will be going back to his hometown to play. And that, my friends, is not an exciting story.

I beg to differ. First the Bettis story is a good one. Though the Bus has only hinted, everyone believes that this year will be his last in the National Football League. His career has not been full of the highlight reels that other players have seen, mainly because being the tank of the team is not that impressive. Bettis, though, will leave the NFL as the third all-time rusher in the league with more than 13,000 yards. He has parents who attend every game. He has no ugly history that we all speak about in hushed tones. He seems like a good guy - one from a tough city who plays for a tough one as well. Bettis' return to Detroit is the stuff of millions of little boys' dreams, and it is something that should excite sports fans.

Then there are the Seahawks. They are not the team anyone expected to be in the Super Bowl. They are playing their first Super Bowl ever, and I believe that America wants them to win. (I also believe that it is easy not to like the Steelers, but that is another story.) The Seahawks are a quiet team playing on the less football-crazy coast. Seattle does not conjure up images of football. Instead it conjures up images of coffee shops and hippies. But this team perseveres. They do not have controversy or scandal crowding their team, and that is something that sports writers love, though they claim to hate it. Instead of scandal, they are a solid team with solid players. They do not make the news with their backstabbing of teammates or coaches. No one is coming to the practice field straight from a jail cell. They represent what professional sports should be, and instead of being exalted, they are being told that they are boring.

How can we have that kind of hypocrisy?

Can we not just be happy that these teams are playing?

I, for one, will be excited about the game. I am prepared for watching it. I will sit back with my husband and son and enjoy the game (not the commercials, just the game). I will love that American football will have a new champion. (Yes, I am glad the Broncos knocked out the Patriots.) Although I did not anticipate that either of these teams would end up in the Super Bowl, and I am indeed a little shocked that they did, I am happy for the teams and their fans. I hope to be among the happy fans in the next years, but I am content this year just to watch.

This game pits two rugged defenses against each other, giving credence to the old saying about defense winning championships. The more exciting match-up, of course, will be the Steelers offense, being led by second-year quarterback Ben Rothlisberger, against the Seahawks defense, which is ranked second in the NFL. That match-up will allow us to see what it is like when an all-or-nothing QB goes against a defense determined not to let him get anywhere. We will see the fun and excitement in this game. It will show us again what football is supposed to be.

By Julia Mercer