Gimme a Super Bowl of Something Good!

Super Bowl Sunday is fast approaching. For some, it’s all about the Football. For others, it’s an excuse to throw a big party. Still others couldn’t care less. We’re a mix of the first two at our house, but more about that in a minute. Although my long-time favorite NFL team, the Green Bay Packers, didn’t quite make it this year, I am pleased that they had a terrific showing none the less. Brett Favre can retire on a high note. The Packers defeat was rendered much easier for me to handle by virtue of the fact that they were defeated by the New York Giants.

You have to understand, this is quite an odd statement for me to make! Historically I have never, ever liked a professional sports team from New York (my apologies to any readers from the Big Apple). This has a lot to do with the Knicks teams of the past decade, I think. I was a huge Chicago Bulls fan throughout the Michael Jordan era and couldn’t stand their Eastern Conference rivals. The animosity just sort of spilled over, de facto, to all pro sports teams from New York I guess.

Hey, I never said it was logical ... or fair.

This Giants squad is different for me for a couple of reasons. I began to appreciate the Giants several years ago because of their star running back Tiki Barber. Not only was he a great back, but he always represented himself well off of the field as well. I thought he was a good role model and a stand-up guy. I also enjoyed his frequent appearances on the morning news talk show, Fox & Friends, on Fox News Channel. I also have come to appreciate the skills of Plaxico Burress … more than that, I think; I just like to say his name.

The real connection to the Giants for me, however, is hard to miss … especially at 6’ 4” and somewhere ‘round about 265 lbs. I’m speaking of the hulking Giants RB, Brandon Jacobs. Mr. Jacobs, you see, is an alumnus of my very own Southern Illinois University. As a Saluki, Mr. Jacobs was a man among men – dragging defenders, often two or three of them at a time, an additional 5-10 yards before finally dropping. The man was a machine. It was often hard to tell who tackled who when Brandon carried the ball … the guy with the ball or the guy who was trying to stop him. Since becoming a Giant, Brandon has shown the same physical dominance he did in college. In short yardage situations, he will characteristically just bull-doze his way through the line or run over the defender. Finesse is not his game.

Okay, I couldn't resist adding this footage from YouTube. This is from a Giants/Cowboys game and shows Brandon's ability to flat run-over defenders. The quality is bad, but still worth it:



So, you see, we have a particular reason to care about the upcoming Super Bowl and a darn good reason to party as well! Last year, we decided we would host a Super Bowl party at our house every year, and last year’s bash went over better than we could have imagined for our first attempt. I think we had 25-30 friends and family over, a ton of food … and, of course, some serious quantities of beer and other miscellaneous libations. We instituted a BYOB policy for the party and most of my friends, sometimes through no small amount of coercion, will bring some nice locally-available craft beers. Last year, we were heavy on Schlafly pilsner (a great Super Bowl food beer, in my opinion) and Pale Ale. I think we also had some 312 Urban Wheat from Goose Island and several others I can’t recall. A Super Bowl event, for me, isn’t really a “big beer” occasion, per se, but I do think I broke out a bottle of something exceptional from the cellar for my more hard-core, and beer-geeky friends as well. My in-laws are wine people. They established and ran a terrific vineyard, winery and B&B here in the area for years. They are always good for a couple bottles of something tasty from the vine.

The food … man, the food. We had all the obligatory items - Burgers, hot dogs, chili, chips, veggies, dips and assorted finger foods. I can’t recall exactly what we served, but I know there was a lot of it. This year, I’m thinking I might want to integrate my passion for beer into the menu a bit. Have you seen the recipe floating around the beer blogs for Stout and Cheddar soup? My wife doesn’t know it yet, but I think I’m going to make my rendition of this recipe …but substitute a few ingredients just to make it my own (like using an Imperial Stout, like North Coast’s Old Rasputin instead of Guinness). I might even do something for dessert utilizing a lambic … that’ll be fun.

Even if you’re not into football, a Super Bowl party can be a lot of fun. Though I’m all about watching Brandon Jacobs tear up the Patriots defensive line (I don’t care if the prognosticators call the Giants a serious long shot …), I’m just as excited about the food and the beer this year.

What do you do for the Super Bowl? Got any killer recipes you’d like to share? How about a memorable story from Super Bowls past? Leave a comment and tell me what makes Super Bowl Sunday fun for you …

Oh, and cheer on #27 for me, will ya?