Phoenix-- --If you're like me and you have no emotional connection to the New England Patriots or the New York Giants, you're probably asking yourself the same question.
Who the heck am I supposed to root for tomorrow?
Bill Belichick and the Patriots are pursuing perfection, which is generally a laudable thing, and there's the chance they'll accomplish something that has never been done in NFL history.
If you think I'm referring to Belichick becoming the first head coach to win four Super Bowls without a personality, that's just unkind. The Patriots, of course, are seeking to become the first NFL team to go 19-0, which could establish them as the greatest pro football team ever.
With all due respect to the 1972 Miami Dolphins, who have put their first-loss champagne on ice and begun to accept the likelihood of being reduced to one of two NFL teams to go undefeated in the modern era, 19 will always be more than 17.
The Giants have a chance to pull one of the biggest upsets of all time. They are a 12-point underdog playing the aforementioned team that already has won more consecutive games in a season than any other NFL franchise. I'm not sure it would be the greatest upset ever - I'm partial to Joe Namath's called shot in 1969 - but we can agree to disagree.
It isn't hard to make a case for either team, but what do you do if you're neither a big fan of perfection or a champion of the underdog?
Since I have no particular affinity for either team, I've been forced to change the emphasis from which team I like the most to which team I dislike the least. And it's still not an easy equation.
Belichick has been his usual dour self this week. The man who brought you Spygate this season has done little to endear himself to the media multitude, droning through news conference after news conference without providing an ounce of enlightenment. I'm just hoping he doesn't decide to write an inspirational book after the season. He'd have to call it Chicken Soup for the Soulless.
Two of the Patriots' biggest stars are not exactly choirboys. Randy Moss was recently accused of assault by a female friend, and linebacker Rodney Harrison spent a chunk of the season under suspension for a substance violation.
The Giants aren't particularly warm and cuddly either. Coach Tom Coughlin probably couldn't win a charisma contest against any coach other than Belichick, and defensive end Michael Strahan is about as phony as a six-dollar bill, but I'll still have to give the Patriots a clear edge in personal dislikability.
When it comes to regional repugnance, however, the choice is not quite so obvious. The Boston fans who take over Camden Yards nine or 10 times every summer can be overbearing, but they've got nothing on the thousands of Yankees fans who actually think they own the place.
Throw in Baltimore's longstanding feelings of inferiority to New York and the balance tips against the Big Apple, which leaves us no closer to choosing which team to support in tomorrow's big game.
To break the tie, we'll have to turn to historical hate-ability, and there is plenty to choose from on both sides.
New England is in the midst of a sports renaissance that includes a possible fourth Super Bowl victory in seven years and two World Series titles in the past four seasons. Boston also boasts the greatest NBA dynasty ever and is enjoying a long-awaited Celtics revival this season.
When you're coming off a 5-11 collapse by the Ravens and a 10th straight losing season by the Orioles, well, petty jealousy is not a strong enough term for what I feel toward the Boston area right now.
Trouble is, the other city is New York.
Remember the Jets and the Mets in 1969?
End of conversation.
Go Pats!
peter.schmuck@baltsun.com
Listen to Peter Schmuck on WBAL (1090 AM) at noon most Saturdays and Sundays.