The Super Bowl is a bittersweet event. Aside from March Madness, it marks the end of all interesting and good sporting events until next year’s football season. Of course, with all the ridiculous ads and commercials, the Super Bowl itself is never a letdown. Sometimes even the game is good. Another great thing about the Super Bowl is watching all the “experts” debate which team will walk away with the Lombardi Trophy this year.

After watching the analysis of the anchors on SportsCenter, I have came to a conclusion: those guys couldn’t predict the game if they had the sports almanac from “Back To the Future Part II.” I realized I am just as qualified to analyze and give my opinion on who will win this year’s big game.

The match-up, in case you have not heard, is between the Arizona Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Steelers. Let’s start by analyzing the Cardinals and their surprise spot in this, the most important football game of 2009.

The Cardinals making the Super Bowl was about as likely as Bush winning a third term in office — basically impossible. However, somehow these red birds tripped and found their way into Super Bowl XLIII. Sure, they do have some talent at the wide receiver position, and Kurt Warner still has enough gas in his tank to throw the ball. However, the real reason for the Cardinals getting into the Super Bowl is their mascot, who has been inspired by one of his fallen red-bird mascot brothers ­— Cy the Cyclone. The Arizona Cardinal has noticed Cy is no longer personally on ISU helmets, fields or courts and has honored his brother by inspiring his team all the way to the Super Bowl. This goes to show how powerful Cy is. Not only is he the most dominant college mascot, but he impacts even the NFL. That’s what’s powering the Cardinals this year — winning it for Cy.

The Steelers on the other hand, well, they got to the Super Bowl because they are just a good football team. However, their mascot is fighting for something as well. The steel industry is being hit hard by the recession, and what better way to make the people of the steel city feel better than bringing home the Lombardi Trophy?

As you can see, there is clearly more to this Super Bowl than just who has the better defensive line or whether the Steelers’ secondary can stop Larry Fitzgerald from absolute domination. It is all about mascots. That is why as ISU students, we are all obligated to cheer for the Cardinals, because, after all, they are doing this for us. For that we should thank them with our support. This support comes best in the form of yelling helpful hints at the TV during the middle of the game. You know how we used to say “Meier to Blythe” repeatedly — similar nuggets of truth are what will to power the Cardinals past the Steelers to win it.

So I speak for all ISU students when I say go Cardinals — because what that really means, of course, is go Cy.

– Justan Spaid is a sophomore in history from McCallsburg.