You probably know it’s Super Bowl weekend. If you don’t…well buy your beer early. (And, to spare you an awkward moment: It’s the Seattle Seahawks vs. the Pittsburgh Steelers.) National Review Online asked some family and friends for their Super Bowl predictions. And here you are…
Jonathan Adler
This Super Bowl is a tough one. Living in Cleveland, I cannot cheer for the Pittsburgh Steelers. But it’s hard to cheer for the Seattle Seahawks as the NFC team, since they’ve only been in the NFC for a few years. Still, the ‘hawks are the underdogs in this one, and no one believes they can win. The Steelers will ride the Bus as much as they can, but the Seahawks will soar to a come-from-behind victory, 27-24.
–NRO Contributing Editor Jonathan H. Adler is associate professor of law and associate director of the Center for Business Law and Regulation at Case Western Reserve University.
Warren Bell
This will be my first Super Bowl in high definition, so I predict I will TiVo frequently (actually what I use is called a Moxi) to rewind and review the most spectacular
visuals of the game and the commercials. I have no rooting interest in the game, so hope mostly for some drama, and frequent mentions of According to Jim’s special episode at 9 P.M. this coming Tuesday.
–Warren Bell is a 16-year veteran of the sitcom business (currently executive producer of ABC’s According to Jim) and a not-so-secret conservative.
William J. Bennett
Super Bowl? Who am I for?! Seattle is the home of Starbucks, and 38 kinds of designer coffee. Pittsburgh’s best sandwich shop serves a huge sub with French fries and gravy inside the sandwich.
Who do you think I’m for?
–William J. Bennett is the host of Morning in America.
Denis Boyles
I’ll sit in Kansas, eating BBQ and wishing for a Penn Pilsner, but happy and certain that the Steelers will completely overwhelm the Starbucks or whatever that team from the capital of soggy self-righteousness is called.
–Denis Boyles is author of Vile France: Fear, Duplicity, Cowardice and Cheese. He is presently working on a book about midwestern politics.
Ed Capano
My logic in rooting for the Steelers (who will win 27-14) is flawless. I am a huge Notre Dame football fan and have been a Jerome Bettis fan since he played for the Irish. As everyone who is still breathing knows, this is his last game. Ergo, he deserves to go out a winner. As I said, flawless logic. I will be watching the game from the comfort of my home surrounded by family eating raw vegetables and drinking Chardonnay. (Anyone who believes that can e-mail me, as I have a bridge for sale.) Also, as John Miller well knows, every time a Notre Dame football player comes to Michigan to play, he wins.
–Ed Capano is CEO of National Review.
Jack Fowler
The last prediction I made was Toomey beating Specter, so desiring a Seattle victory, I’m picking the Steelers. The Fowlers will be watching in the basement with a mob from the Jonathan Law High School (Milford, CT–go Lawmen!) cross country team (my Jim and Mary are on the squad). Sharon and I will likely spend the night in the kitchen making quesadillas and ice-cream sundaes for the bottomless stomachs. By midnight, there won’t be a speck of Who Hash left.
–Jack Fowler is publisher of National Review.
E. D. Hill
After watching my Tom-Brady-idolizing boys start wearing Big Ben jerseys under their shirts to school, I have to go with the Steelers to win 28-21. Scientific, huh?
Mr. Hill, our eight kids, and I will be watching the game on our new big screen TV (somehow it was my early Valentine’s Day gift!!). Eating habits start at a young age–the Cowboys Super Bowl era in our case–so we are serving nachos, brisket, and Texas-size cups of tea…okay….and maybe a few longnecks for the adults.
–E. D. Hill is co-host of Fox & Friends and author of Going Places: How America’s Best and Brightest Got Started Down the Road of Life.
Rush Limbaugh
Remember, my friends: The Seabirds used to be in the AFC, where they won zilch. Now, in the John Kerry-like NFC, they make it to the Super Bowl??? Take the Steelers, lay the 4.
–Rush Limbaugh is an American institution.
Clifford D. May
My wife is a Pittsburgher–I prefer the term Pittsbourgeois–so rooting for the Steelers is mandatory. My in-laws have bought the kids Steelers t-shirts, Steelers sweatshirts, and, I believe, Steelers underwear.
We’ll watch it at home and I expect there will be chili, Rolling Rock Beer, and Primanti Bros. sandwiches. No Starbucks coffee allowed. (It’s overrated anyway.)
I’m always particularly eager to watch the commercials, to see what messages the corporate communications honchos have decided are worth $2.6 million a pop.
–Clifford D. May, a former New York Times foreign correspondent, is president of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, a policy institute focusing on terrorism.
Andrew C. McCarthy
The Jets were so lousy and out of it so early that I watched less football this season than any year in my memory. But I watched enough to be convinced that the AFC is still better than the NFC right now, although it seemed like the gap closed a little bit from last season. The Steelers have already beaten three teams (and two of them easily) that I think were better than the Seahawks. Holmgren is a terrific coach, and the one thing that holds me back a bit is that Matt Hassleback may be coming of age right before our eyes–when you’ve grown up on Namath, you know a great quarterback always gives even a so-so team a puncher’s chance. But Ben Roethlisberger could be just as good as Hassleback. I expect the Steelers to win–not in a blowout, but comfortably…maybe 34-17.
My biggest worry is the struggle against Edward, my 3-year-old (not-so-secretly allied with his mother), for the remote control. When the rest of America is watching the halftime concert, we will be swinging to “Calling All Cows” by the Wiggles. There was a time when wild horses couldn’t drag me away from the Stones, but time is not on my side…or theirs!
–Andrew C. McCarthy, a former federal prosecutor, is a senior fellow at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies.
John J. Miller
Pittsburgh Steelers running back Jerome Bettis–a Detroit native returning home for what is probably the final game of his professional career–will score a short-yardage touchdown at a crucial moment. Although earlier this week he was proud to have become only the fourth person ever to receive a key to the city (one of his predecessors is Saddam Hussein), he will be even prouder to hold up the Super Bowl trophy on Sunday night. Steelers 24, Seahawks 17.
–John J. Miller is national political reporter for National Review and the author, most recently, of A Gift of Freedom: How the John M. Olin Foundation Changed America.
Brian M. Riedl
Like any good Wisconsinite, I’ll take my football with bratwurst, cheese, beer, a cheesehead, and a Brett Favre poster, watching Green Bay’s former championship coach and their former back-up quarterback win another big game. Seattle 23, Pittsburgh 20.
–Brian M. Riedl is a senior policy analyst in federal budgetary affairs at the Heritage Foundation.
Pat Toomey
Comfortably reclining in my Eagles-area living room, I’ll be cheering on Jerome as he leads the Steelers to a 21-17 win.
–Pat Toomey is president of the Club for Growth.