For a Super Bowl with few dramatic storylines, I’m having a hard time picking a winner here. Any help?

Sure, the Arizona Cardinals are a nice pick for Sunday’s NFL finale, but they’re hardly an underdog. Kurt Warner has a ring and is well respected around the league as one of the toughest dudes calling plays. Larry Fitzgerald my be the best receiver in football after his performance this postseason. And though the Cards went 9-7 in a weak, weak NFC West, they’re hot. Red-hot. Ridiculous hot.

On the other side? Pittsburgh’s defense is amazing. Troy Polamalu hits harder than taxes. This season, linebacker James Farrior hit a guy so hard neither of them can have children. And Casey Hampton may be the best lineman no one is talking about. On offense, Ben Roethlisberger simply makes plays and a healthy Willie Parker scares defensive players who aren’t even playing the game anymore.

So who will win? Pittsburgh had the better record, but Arizona is on a roll. Pittsburgh’s leading receiver Hines Ward is banged up, but so is Arizona’s No. 2, Anquan Boldin. The Steelers have Super Bowl experience, but Warner has been there twice (2000, 2002). The game is at Tampa, a warm weather town, so maybe Arizona will win. But in 14 of 18 games hit season, those who bet on Pittsburgh went away happy.

I’m in an online football pool with Dan Ross, our esteemed former editor. No, there’s no money going around; it’s all a gentleman’s league. Actually, a gentleperson’s league. I’m getting beat by Dan’s sweetie Camille. I have one more chance: to pick the team she’s not and have that team win.

Any ideas? We’ll see soon.

A Gazette curse?

I don’t believe in curses outside of sports. But the Cubs are cursed. Boston was cursed … until they sacrificed Shea Hillenbrand and a live chicken in 2004. The Mariners are cursed and may not see the playoffs again until 3012. The Madden video game curse? Very much in effect.

So it may be with my sports section. Years back, I did a profile on soccer goalie Kyle McKenzie that described how he and the Wolves’ defense hadn’t allowed a goal all season. It went to press on Monday and came out on the racks Wednesday. On the Tuesday in between, the Wolves gave up a goal. Way to go, Mike.

I figured that curse only worked with the print edition. Soon after I traveled with the Peninsula College basketball teams to Shoreline for an away game. The Pirate men had won 10 in a row and were looking forward to an 11th win to show their local reporter how it’s done. You guessed it: a loss. I haven’t gone on a trip since.

This week I got a two-fer: I did a profile of swimmer Noe Calderon, a freshman who’s tearing it up for the Wolves. He’s qualified for four events at districts and figures to get one or two relays there as well. Coach Linda Bingler says he came down with a cold and missed Thursday’s meet at Olympic.

On the other side, I used a big vertical picture of Ary Webb on the front of the sports page. I can’t claim it completely, but either the curse or Webb’s weakened immune system has slapped the poor youngster down with mononucleosis.

My bad.

Actually, I’ve had mono and it’s terrible. Webb may not be back in time for the regular season finale and Calderon is seeing a doctor this week. I wish them both good health. I guess I have to start handing out Airborne medicine before I write my next feature… or take a picture … or go to an away game …

BTW, for any football fans out there who haven’t read Paul Solotaroff’s “Casualties of the NFL,” originally printed in Men’s Journal Magazine, stop what you’re doing now, get a copy and read it. And then come back to sequimgazette.com, of course. It’s truly one of the more important pieces of sports journalism in many years. There doesn’t seem to be a current link of the Men’s Journal web site but the piece is found in the Best American Sportswriting 2008 edition and that is worth the 15 bucks or so.