Posted by Teddy Panos, Sun Staff

In the spirit of inauguration day, I Teddy Panos do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the office of sports blogger, and will to the best of my ability preserve, protect and defend the sometimes ridiculous opinions expressed here:

--Patriots fans better hope for an Arizona victory in Super Bowl XLIII (that’s 43 for you Roman numerically challenged readers out there) or else there’s going to be a lot of “cheating” talk emanating from Steelers country about which team was the true dynasty of the decade. I can almost hear it now:

“Well, you guys won three Super Bowls to our two, but if you didn’t illegally videotape and steal our signals, we would have won the two AFC Championships on our home field and those titles would have belonged to Steel town.”

And you know what? If the roles were reversed and we were in their cleats, New Englanders would probably say the exact same thing, justified or not.

--The only ones standing between Pittsburgh and a record 6th Super Bowl win are the Arizona Cardinals, the same Cardinals who came to Foxboro in December and laid an egg. No matter which angle I gaze into the crystal ball from, I have a hard time envisioning any other scenario except for Ben Roethlisberger and company hoisting the Lombardi Trophy amidst the falling confetti in Tampa.

The only hope I see for Arizona is that head coach Ken Whisenhunt and his assistant Russ Grimm do to Big Ben and the Steelers what Jon Gruden did to the Oakland Raiders six years ago. You’ll remember Whisenhunt was Pittsburgh’s offensive coordinator under Bill Cowher, and Grimm the assistant head coach, but both were passed over for the top job when the Rooney family decided to go with Mike Tomlin. So if anyone outside of the Steelers locker room knows the team’s weaknesses, it would be those two guys. Problem is, Whisenhunt and Grimm don’t have the same monster defense Gruden had with Tampa when he completely dismantled MVP Rich Gannon and the Oakland offense.

--You have to give the Steelers organization a ton of credit. Counting Tomlin, they’ve had only three head coaches in the last 40-years, a model of stability completely unheard of in pro sports. When replacing Cowher two years ago, the obvious choice would have been to promote one of the deserving candidates from within. Instead, they thought outside the box, went outside the organization and hired the 36-year old Tomlin. Now, just two years into his tenure, the former Vikings defensive coordinator is a win away from becoming the youngest head coach to lead a team to an NFL title.

--Other than Central Catholic’s 6-foot-10 giant Carson Desrosiers, who by his sheer size alone alters the course of a game, the biggest game-changer in Merrimack Valley Conference boys basketball is Lowell High’s Nate Simpson. Next time you’re at a Red Raiders game and its close at the start of the fourth quarter, don’t follow the ball. Watch Simpson instead. You’ll be amazed at how many things the kid does well at both ends of the floor. And as an added bonus, you won’t lose track of the basketball for long, either. Nate’s always around it come crunch time.

--Finally, a personal shout out to Westford Academy’s Peter Lynch on notching his 1,000th point last Friday night, the same night teammate T.J. Jann broke the 40-point barrier. With that dynamic duo and a solid supporting cast, Ed Scollan’s Grey Ghosts are going to be a tough out come March.