Super Bowl 2012: Peyton Manning Spotlight Saves Us from Boring Week of Hype

This may be hard to believe, but the two weeks leading up to the Super Bowl are two of the most boring weeks of the year in sports. The overwhelming majority of attention is on the game, but until Sunday, there is very little to talk about. 

How is Rob Gronkowksi's ankle going to hold up?

How will the Patriots handle the Giants' pass rush?

Will New England get revenge for losing the perfect season?

However, this week, we have Peyton Manning taking plenty of attention away from the big game. Here is Late Show with David Letterman writer Eric Stangel's take on it:

Five minutes before may be a slight overkill. However, if Manning were to announce a list of teams that he would want to go to today, for example, I would personally fly to Indianapolis, give him a big bear hug, get back on the plane and fly home. 

There is nothing that can possibly be said about this game that hasn't been said several times over. 

"

Giants: If we get to Tom Brady, we know we can stop that offense.

Patriots: The Giants are a great team. We know that this year. We're going to have to find a way to stop them.

Both: Nobody believes in us. We want to go out and shock the world. 

"

Chances are pretty good that you've heard all this before. It isn't only the Giants and Patriots, either. They just happen to be the two teams in this year's game. It was the same thing last year, and will be the same thing next year. 

Honestly, this is even the case when you have players or coaches giving bulletin board material. There is just very little to talk about. When you have two hours to talk about those things, you're going to get repetitive. When you have two weeks, you have to find a word not yet in the dictionary. 

With Manning, we at least have something interesting that changes every now and again. Will he ever play again? Does he want to stay in Indianapolis? Do the Colts want to keep him? Will they keep the No. 1 pick? If the Colts get rid of Manning, where will he go?

It's a never-ending saga that is a lot more interesting than the annual two-week battle over which team is more disrespected, or the fight over which team can give the most politically correct answers while remaining confident.

With Manning, you have one of the best players in the history of the game. If he leaves the Colts, he can go anywhere. Therefore, the talk is about more than just two teams, or one player. 

We should all be thankful that Manning and Jim Irsay are taking the attention of the sports world. The fact that the game is in Indianapolis really keeps anything from happening, so it's perfect. We have heard a lot of people guess what will happen, but nothing definitive can take place that would take some of the spotlight away. 

We all owe Peyton Manning a great deal of thanks. If he wasn't around and the attention on him was going to the Patriots and Giants, we would be a nation so bored that we would fall into a deep sleep through Sunday. 

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