NEWS

Fact or Fiction: Super Bowl XIII Edition

Bobby & Kevin Sansone, Senior Argumentative Analysts


December 21, 2005


Super Bowl XIII will be a family affair as Mike Kinsman takes on his brother Jon for the second time in Super Bowl history. Another pair of brothers take a look at this matchup and what it could mean to Christmas Day at the Kinsman household as Bob and Kev Sansone seperate Fact from Fiction one last time in 2005.

Randy Moss
Should Moss start?

1. Fact or Fiction, Randy Moss should start over Warrick Dunn and Roy Williams for the Buddies.

Kevin: Fact. I'll give a reluctant 'Fact' to this statement simply because both of the other options aren't much better. Dunn has to go up against the Bucs and Williams plays for the Lions. That automatically cancels him out. Moss doesn't get the yards anymore, but he is still good enough to catch a touchdown or two every week.

Bobby: Fact. Randy Moss deserves to start solely on what he has contributed to this franchise. I haven't checked out the matchups yet but Moss should definitely be in the lineup for either Roy Williams or Torry Holt. Moss has been a longtime Buddy and deserves to be in that Super Bowl Winning Lineup.

Shayne Graham
An unsung hero?

2. Fact or Fiction, Shayne Graham has been the unsung hero of the playoffs.

Kevin: Fact. Anytime your kicker gives you consecutive 11-point performances in the playoffs, you have to be happy. Tiki Barber has been the leader of the team this season, but it is the consistency of Graham that has been a pleasant surprise for Jon.

Bobby: Fiction. Kickers, TEs and even WRs are never "sung" in the YFFL. It's just the way it goes. We play in a QB and RB dominated league as suggested by the awards ballots. Take for instance Chris Chambers, who hasn't gotten any press and he is having a "2003 Jeff Garcia-like" playoff run. With that in mind, I'd go with the YFFL.com poster boy Tiki Barber as the unsung hero. Kevin, you must be kicking yourself for trading him and Hines Ward!

Joleen
How's a mother to choose?

3. Fact or Fiction, Joleen will be rooting for the Buddies.

Kevin: Fiction. Joleen will go for the upset and root for the Dragons to take home the title.

Bobby: Fiction. No one will be rooting for the Buddies except Mike and myself. No one likes rooting for heavy favorites and they are going to be a double-digit favorite and will, for the third year in a row, prove why the AFC West is clearly the best division in the YFFL. Other owners continue to ignore the fact that the AFC West is superior. The league desperately needs the Dragons to win otherwise this issue won't go away. The YFFL has a bad reputation for turning a blind eye towards its weaknesses and a Buddies win will only expose perhaps its greatest.

Joe Namath
Could this be Brett Favre on Sunday?

4. Fact or Fiction, a Dragons win would be the biggest Super Bowl upset ever.

Kevin: Fact. No team in the YFFL has ever traded away its best player and then gone on to win the Super Bowl the following season. No team has had its QB fail to score in the 3 weeks before the Super Bowl and win. The Dragons could do it this weekend, and that would be an amazing upset. An even bigger upset this weekend would be the Refugees over the Eaters. We might as well call this the "Reggie Bush Bowl" because the winner would be stupid not to take him #1 next season. The Eaters have Matt Hasselbeck who has been on fire lately, while the Refugees seem to be lacking at nearly every position. The big question going into the RB Bowl is: Should Aceto start McCown or Collins?

Bobby: Fact. I have the Buddies as a 14 point favorite and am comparing this game to the NFL's Super Bowl III in which the Jets needed to upset the Colts to prove that the AFC was worthy of competing against the NFC. Jon needs to guaruntee a victory and then hope for a miracle. If the Dragons do indeed pull off the greatest Super Bowl upset of all-time, the AFC West will quietly retract all "superior" statements.

Mike
Will the prospect of a Super Bowl title wake Mike up this Christmas?

5. Fact or Fiction, a close game going into Sunday will ruin Christmas at the Kinsman's.

Kevin: Fiction. If anything, it should bring the Kinsman brothers closer. There is nothing more embarrasing than losing in a blow out. If this game goes into Monday night with the Dragons up by 6 and Corey Dillon left to play, look for Mike and Jon to be watching the game in silence at the Kinsman house while looking at family photos and sharing memories. The tears will be flowing by the end of the night...the tears will be flowing.

Bobby: Fiction. It won't ruin Christmas but I'd apologize ahead of time to Megan and your mother because you will be pacing back in forth between the TV and the internet and will only be opening gifts at halftime of the 1:00 and 4:00 games respectively. YFFL Super Bowl Sunday is certainly special (although the Reggie Bush Stupor Bowl might get better ratings). Mike has lost in his previous two trips to the Super Bowl and Jon is back for the first time since he finished his three-peat in 2001. Just think, both of these owners will be under the same roof! Wow, I can't even imagine. In my only Super Bowl win, I played myself and no one even cared. So in other words, it wasn't even worth savoring the moment. In fact, my favorite moment of my Super Bowl season was beating Steve in Week 13 and seeing "Brock n Roll" on YFFL.com the next day. Good times! But enough about me. I'm sure neither Jon or Mike will sleep well that night and I wouldn't be surprised if they get visits from the ghosts of Super Bowl past (Super Bowl XIV Buddies vs Dragons), Super Bowl present (Super Bowl XIII Buddies vs Dragons) and the Super Bowl yet to come (Super Bowl XIV superior AFC West team vs. inferior NFC team).