SABA: This week we’ll be discussing the most popular Sunday event of the year: The Oscars!

Just kidding, that’s not sports-related. And probably not as watched as The Super Bowl.

Three reasons why I basically know nothing about football:

1) I am from Los Angeles – the city with two baseball and basketball teams but no football team (although they are making that Farmer’s Field, so I hear. Bleh just means more LA traffic and more of CA’s budget gone to waste)

2) I go to BU – we ditched our football team years ago. So I don’t even have a school allegiance.

3) My parents are not from America – Super Bowl Sunday has always seemed like a very American family-oriented activity. I’m Persian. Football means soccer in Iran. Soccer > American football.

Anyway . . .What year of the Super Bowl is it again, Sam?

SAM: This shall be Super Bowl XLV between two titans of the National Football League. Representing the American Football Conference, the Pittsburgh Steelers. From the National Football Conference, the Green Bay Packers. (If you heard that as if it was read by the Voice of God, then I’ve done my job. If you don’t get that reference, your name is Saba Hamedy.)

The two teams have combined for nine Super Bowl championships in 11 appearances (Steelers are 6-1, Packers 3-1). Because of that remarkable success, the talking heads on TV and the Intertubes have argued that either one of those squads could be called “America’s Team,” whatever that truly means. I think that in sports like football where alliances are typically decided by geography, it’s BS to argue who all of America would root for in any given situation. But that’s just me. Call me biased, but shouldn’t the Patriots, what with their red-white-and-blue color scheme and nationalistic nickname, really be America’s Team? (Full disclosure: this side of the S&S discussion is a loyal Pats fan and is therefore very, very biased.)

But that’s the short version of a longer tangent that should be saved for another day. Saba, what’re you looking most forward to: the commercials, the halftime show by The Black Eyed Peas or y’know the game itself? (And preparation for disappointment mode starts. . . . . . . . now.)

SABA: See, if alliances are typically decided by geography then I have no alliance.

Who should I like? It’s like an identity crisis.

I really don’t like Wisconsin so I guess I’m all for Pittsburgh Steelers (shout out to sports editor Annie Maroon who hails from lean mean Pittsburgh!)

I really like Super Bowl commercials. I always watch them later on Youtube because I don’t usually watch the Super Bowl.

But I guess the Black Eyed Peas are cool . . .

Oh, and like you said, the game itself (which I’m sure The FreeP office will be streaming).

SAM: I guess I’ll take the opposite side then and say I want the Packers. I still harbor ill feelings over Super Bowl XXXI when the Pack defeated the Pats thanks to a 99-yard touchdown run by Desmond Howard. But I do like Aaron Rodgers as a quarterback – he’s only behind Tom Brady and Peyton Manning as best QBs in the league in my mind – and I also like Mike McCarthy as a coach. It’d be tough to get two better coaches together than him and Mike Tomlin.

That being said, this is really a vote against Ben Roethlisberger. I really can’t stand the concept of that good-but-not-great QB having as many trophies as Brady. Hope Annie’s OK with that.

SABA: You realize I have no idea what you’re saying

SAM: Ah, I see. Well, this is why they have the cool commercials. I’m just pumped for the Captain America trailer to come out. It’s gonna be aaaaaaaaaawesome. Which one you looking forward to Sabs?

SABA: I don’t know, Budweiser commercials are always pretty funny.

Perhaps they’ll do those hamsterville commercials like they do before bball games. Those are always a laugh!

SAM: What’s Hamsterville? (This is your chance to teach me something in S&S on Sports. Don’t drop the ball.)

SABA: Those commercials! You know the ones with hamsters and the Kia cars I think. Anyway they just roll on through Hamsterville.

SAM: Right, right. Those are awesome. Alright, let’s get down to our predictions for the game. I’ll take the Packers 31-27 with Rodgers leading the game-winning drive with less than four minutes to go. Extra point: the Black Eyed Peas will be the worst halftime show since Janet Jackson’s nipple made a breast – I mean guest – appearance back in 2004.

SABA: Haha Janet Jackson and her boob incident. Way back in the day. Anyway I’m gonna say Pittsburgh (on a whim) I don’t wanna say how many points because who knows!