The Bruce Bowl???

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving so, of course, our thoughts naturally turn to … FOOTBALL!

Understandably, most Packers fans are in a state of shock following the whupping the team took from the New Orleans Saints in the very same stadium which was the site of the team’s Super Bowl win way back in 1997.

Now I really don’t want to dredge up the angst of the Brett Favre controversy of last summer. Really, I don’t.

But as a lifelong fan of the New York Jets I just have to say that I am deliriously excited about that team’s prospects this year with Mr. Favre under center.

Let me be clear that I root for the Packers and have been very disappointed by their performance this season. Aaron Rodgers has played very well, especially considering the enormous pressure placed on his shoulders by the team’s management. It isn’t often that a 13-3 team is turned over to an unproven young quarterback when a hall of fame caliber one is still healthy and capable of playing.

In fact, as I’ve said before, how thrilling would it be for the Packers and Jets to have faced each other in this year’s Super Bowl?

But that’s unlikely to happen. At 5-6, the Packers are going to struggle to even make the playoffs.

Now bear with me as I raise the possibility of an extremely unlikely scenario that could only happen while I live here in Wisconsin. It now appears possible that the Giants and Jets, two New York teams who play in New Jersey, might actually meet in the Super Bowl.

It couldn’t be called the Subway Bowl, unless the sandwich shop decided to pony up a whole bunch of dollars. The Turnpike Bowl, maybe or the Garden State Bowl, perhaps.

Then again, Jersey purists might argue that fans in southern New Jersey are among those crazed fans of the Eagles and they might want no part of such a contest.

Yet with the Great Bruce Springsteen scheduled to entertain during halftime one must admit there would be something special about a contest between the Jets and the Giants.

It would amount to a rematch between Brett Favre and Eli Manning that would appeal to even the biggest Aaron Rodgers fan among the hardcore Packer Nation.

So I submit to you now, for your consideration, that if the Packers fail to make a run for the Super Bowl that you might join me in rooting for such a rematch that we’ll just call The Bruce Bowl.