Flannery's Super Bowl Pick

Yes, folks, it’s that time of year again.  Time for Flannery O’Connor’s Super Bowl pick.  As in the past, the factors she considers in determining this year's winner have little to do with what actually happens on the field.  In Sunday's contest the Seattle Seahawks battle the Denver Broncos.   Just looking at the teams’ mascots, Flannery is tempted to go with the Seahawks.  A seahawk is, after all, a bird and we know how Flannery adores her feathered friends.  But she is also drawn to the Broncos.  The horse mascot no doubt recalls summers on Uncle Bernard’s farm (then known as Sorrel Farm) riding horseback with her cousins.  And while she is best known for the peafowl that roamed the property, all the time Flannery and her mother were living at Andalusia they also had horses.  Another factor in Denver's favor is their star quarterback, Peyton Manning.  True, he didn’t play at Georgia, but as a Tennessee Volunteer, Manning was a standout in the SEC and Flannery is nothing if not an SEC girl (see the above photo).  While Manning may not have played at Georgia, corner back Champ Bailey and running back Knowshon Moreno did.  Surely, this an important consideration.  Add to that the Broncos’offensive prowess Flannery can identify with since she is a writer whose fiction offends many.  Remember the disturbance Wise Blood caused when it was released?  Even today, she is banned in some public and parochial schools.  Lest you think this is all going Denver’s way, Flannery is quick to note that Seattle is known for more than its grunge culture.  Take their world famous coffee.  Flannery loves coffee, especially mixed with Coca-Cola - her favorite beverage.  Seattle also has a fairly large Scandinavian population and we know how she feels about Danish men (if you don’t know what I’m referring to check out Brad Gooch’s Flannery: A Life of Flannery O’Connor p. 229ff).  Not sure, though, what she would think about this blogger whose ancestry is also Danish.   So as not to leave any stone unturned, Flannery checked out Andalusia’s data base and discovered that she has twice as many friends in Seattle as Denver.  When you add to that the many friends she has in the rest of the Pacific Northwest, Flannery’s choice would seem to be a no-brainer.  Nevertheless, she is taking Denver by a field goal 24-21.

- Mark