Well, that’s it folks. That’s all she wrote. That’s the whole shebang. The 02-03 NFL season is now in the books, and it will forever be remembered as the year of the Gruden-led Bucs.

And what a year it was…

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But before I get started, let me just bring all of you, my readers, up to speed on why I have been so absent in recent weeks. Well, after Christmas time, yours truly took a weeklong vacation/belated honeymoon to the tropic locale that is Cuba. Folks, let me tell you, it was an amazing time. Nice beaches, warm water, cool drinks. What more could a guy ask for? Anyway, the trip was great and I was looking forward to getting back to civilization and churning out a column on the Niners /Giants game I watched in Spanish when I was down there. But unfortunately, it seems that old SuperZim came into some contact with some Kryptonite when I was down there, because when I got home, I spent a week in bed.

So, after getting over a weird tropical disease with help from my doctor and some pills that were so big I could have used them as tires on my truck, I rejoined the land of the living this past week. Considering the fact that I hadn’t been to work since Christmas Eve, I was more than a little behind at work. But finally, I am back up to speed and ready to subject all of you to some more of my peculiar observations.

For all those that care, it is good to be back. Its good to be back to my cynical, odd self. It really is.

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ANYWAY, back to the matter at hand…

Congrats to the Bucs for their championship. Kudos to them. (Side note: What the hell is a Kudo? And why do we say Kudos? Someone let me know…) They dominated a team like nothing I have ever seen in a lot of years of watching the Super Bowl. It was truly impressive.

But what about the whole Super Bowl experience? Well, lucky for you people, you have me, Zim, to give you my account on the whole spectacle. I wasn’t actually at the game, but the view I had from my couch was as good or better than a nosebleed spot at Qualcomm Stadium.

So here goes… My annual “Super Bowl Review…”

What I found this year is that I have a real “Love / Hate” relationship thing going when it comes to the Super Bowl. I either love something, or I hate it. There is no middle ground. Having said that… here goes…

First off, I loved the whole pre-game experience. I love watching NFL Countdown and every other ESPN/ABC pre-game show. I love them because of the obscure storylines they come up with, and because it is just all football all the time. It doesn’t get much better than Super Bowl Sunday when it comes to overused and unnecessary hype. I love it.

I loved the countdown to kickoff clock in the corner of the screen.

Hell, I even loved Stuart Scott’s really ugly sunglasses. Trust me, those were “Boo-Yah!” bad, but I loved ‘em.

I hated the repetitive questions to the same players. “Will this defense be considered one of the best ever if you don’t with the Super Bowl?” “Are the Raiders too old to win this game?”

I hated the whole Raiders and their aging stars storyline.

I hated the whole Warren Sapp / Keyshawn running their mouths thing.

I loved the John Lynch “Mic’d Up” segments. Was there are more telling comment from him than when he said, “Everything they’re running, we ran in practice. It’s weird.”? I mean, the Bucs were literally a step or two ahead of the Raiders on almost every down.

I hate seeing Charles Woodson struggle mightily to play at a level we are accustomed to seeing.

I hated that Jerry Rice took off his mic in the second half because the Raiders were getting blown up.

I loved that blocked punt by the Raiders. I found it hilarious that those four or five guys were all clambering for position to catch it and take it in for a touchdown. It looked like a game of 500 amongst a bunch of 10yr olds.

I loved the fact that one of them had the common sense to look back and block the punter so that Eric Johnson could take it to the house untouched (other than by his own teammates).

I loved how sad and utterly disappointed those insane Raiders fans looked in the stands when the score was a bloated 34-3.

I loved the job that Madden and Michaels did in calling the game. Honestly, there is no better play-by-play team out there.

I HATED how Celine Dion sang “God Bless America”. Did anyone else (other than Peter King of SI) not realize that Celine is CANADIAN? A French-Canadian no less. I honestly think that having her sing that song was quite simply the stupidest move by a Super Bowl committee in the history of the Super Bowl. Don’t get me wrong, Celine is talented and all (even though she is loathed entirely by a lot of Canadians) but for her to sing God Bless America is just not right. I mean, why would they have anyone BUT an AMERICAN sing that precious song at the biggest media spectacle of the year? I just don’t get it, and I never will.

I hated how Shania Twain obviously lip-synced her way through her half-time performance. By the way, could the Super Bowl have any WORSE entertainment at half time? Was Carrot Top booked full or something? Cripes, that was terrible.

I hate when other artists completely butcher a classic song by trying to do their interpretation of it. Case in point, “Message in a bottle” and Gwen Stefani. Man that was bad. I’m talking a frozen cat through a table saw bad. I hope I never hear that again.

I loved the Dixie Chicks performance of the US nation anthem. It was simple and entertaining. There is nothing worse than when performers try to make the national anthem into something it’s not. It’s not an R&B ballad with more octave changes than anyone can count. Keep it simple, stupid.

I love Jon Gruden. Is there a more intense, yet likeable coach in the NFL? If I were a player, I would love to play for this guy.

I love how Tampa has now completely forgotten about Tony Dungy, and how Oakland will now never be able to completely forget about Jon Gruden.

I hated how many times the whole 8 million bucks and draft picks story came up before, during and after the game.

I loved the fact that the officiating was very good during the game and the officials did not have a heavy impact on the outcome.

I loved the fact that one team was soundly out-coached by another. Gruden had his troops so well prepared it was scary.

I hate it when players sulk on the sidelines when it’s only the 3rd quarter.

I love seeing coaches get Gatorade showers.

I loved this Super Bowl, even though it was terribly one sided.

I love the NFL, and I love the fact that we are going to do it all over again next year!