I have long prayed and and hoped that one day my hometown team, the Carolina Panthers, would win a Super Bowl in my lifetime.  And it is possible that they will not. After all, no one is guaranteed tomorrow and no one is guaranteed a Super Bowl. A football championship, unlike ones in baseball and basketball, comes down to one game.  Not the best of seven, but one game at a time determines who moves on and who goes home.  So it certainly is not a fait accompli that this is the year the Panthers win it all.  That said, I like our chances and this is the best chance that we’ve ever had and I hope we capitalize.  

I’m going to get greedy though.  Let me ask you a series of questions to prove my reasoning for eating greedy and wanting not just a Super Bowl but a perfect season.  Here are my questions (do not Google or research your answers)  Who won the Super Bowl in 2007?  Who won in 2001?  What was the record of the 1997 Super Bowl Champs?  The 1984 Super Bowl Champs?  Who was the QB for the 2000 Super Bowl Champs?  What about the 1972 team?  Get my point?  For many of you, the 1972 team may be the only one you knew and had confidence in without looking up. Perfection does that...

My point here is that while it will be a realization of a lifelong dream to have our hometown team win the Super Bowl (and I will cry like a baby needing a bottle when/if we win), the only way for this year to be memorable for the ages and by the masses is if this team runs the table and finishes unbeaten.  I venture to guess that even part-time football fans know why the 1974 Dolphins are special.  There is only one way to guarantee that the 2015 Panthers are remembered by part-time fans for years to come.  

Is that unfair and undue pressure?  Certainly.  But is the truth.  I’d like to hear your thoughts. Will a Super Bowl win mean more if we are also undefeated? Or am I eating too greedy like Joey Chestnut on the 4th of July?