Off the charts. Can't be calibrated. Only a Bills-Vikings or Browns-Vikings Super Bowl would have more significant "Whatever happens, one of these two effed-up fan bases is coming away as a Super Bowl champion and there's nothing we can do to stop it" potential. The Jets, Bills, Vikings and Browns are the Mount Rushmore of effed-up NFL fan bases: 50-plus years of history, lots of losing and misery, generations of fans and some particularly soul-crushing heartbreaks (in my Levels of Losing 2.0 column, those three franchises probably nailed every level combined). You can't root for any of these teams without having them infect your DNA in some way. Being a Saints fan hasn't exactly been a barrel of laughs, but there's a spiritual optimism about them -- something tied to the festiveness of Bourbon Street, Mardi Gras and the city in general -- that was beaten out of the Jets/Bills/Vikes/Browns fans a long time ago. Saints fans roll with the punches. Jets/Bills/Vikes/Browns fans expect to get punched, contort their faces into a giant wince, wait for a punch that never comes, say to themselves, "Cool, I'm not gonna get punched, it's gonna be OK!" ... and then they get clocked.
So having two of the Effed-Up Mount Rushmore teams as our Super Bowl matchup could potentially end the world as we know it. CBS should promote it, "Super Bowl XLIV: We Know It's Improbable, But Trust Us, Somebody Has To Win."
"Bill Simmons" wrote: