Super Preparation

I've been talking about the Super Bowl all week (except for yesterday's post about the Chinese New Year). So I'm going to segue back to the Super Bowl from the Chinese New Year by quoting Confucius. Confucius tells us that "Success depends upon previous preparation, and without such preparation there is sure to be failure." Let's take a look at what kind of preparation goes into getting ready for the Super Bowl.

Knowing your opponent is every bit as important as knowing yourself. Every possible weakness that can can be exploited could be the key to Sunday's victory. No doubt both teams have been pouring over countless hours of game video to discover potential chinks in the armor of their opponent. Or have they? In what could be described as nothing more than Pulitzer-worthy investigative journalism, Gromer Jeffers Jr. of the Dallas Morning News was staking out local strip clubs on Monday night, looking for NFL players...

"It didn't take long for the Pittsburgh Steelers to sample some of the adult entertainment Dallas has to offer.

Late Monday night, hours after they arrived here, Hines Ward, Ike Taylor and several other members of the Pittsburgh Steelers visited Dallas Gentlemen's Club on Northwest Highway in Dallas.

A number of other pro athletes were there as well.

When Ward and his teammates entered the club, dancers converged on them. They spent a few minutes in the VIP area at the back of the club. But as the music pumped and the women strode across the four stages, the Steelers huddled in the front corner of the club for closer looks.

Ward, wearing a plaid shirt and jeans, danced with a couple of strippers. At one point, he tossed out dollars while receiving lap dances. Other Steelers joined him.

At one point, near midnight, the Steelers, including huge linemen, appeared on the main stage., There they posed and danced with an assortment of strippers. It was "Make It Rain Monday" at the club. And some of the players made it rain with their dollar bills.

The disc jockey said that Green Bay Packer players were on the way, but I didn't spot any at the club.

One large man wearing a green outfit with an Oakland As cap drank Moet out of the bottle.

I asked him was he wearing Packer green?

'I'm wearing money green,' he said."

Referring back to my opening remarks by Confucius, this probably doesn't bode well for the Steelers. I'm going to stick with my original pick, Green Bay. Maybe it's the Steelers' vast Super Bowl experience in the past that gives them the kind of confidence that allows for this type of behavior leading up to the big game. But in my mind, it simply isn't the best example set be setting for our kids, is it? I guess I just miss the good old days when kids could look up to their sports heroes in admiration and say, "I'm gonna be just like him when I grow up." Who knows? Maybe the kids still do say that, which is kind of sad when you think about it.