Now That's Funny: Super Bowl 2014 is in … New York?

BY PAM LOBLEY

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

NOW THAT'S FUNNY

When the location of the 2014 Super Bowl was announced last week, headlines all over screamed "Super Bowl to be in New York!"

Um ... last time I checked, the Meadowlands, where the 2014 Super Bowl will be played, was in New Jersey. I guess no one wants to admit that New Jersey will be hosting the game in its own stadium on its own soil. Even Steve Tisch, the Giants co-owner, was quoted as saying "We promise the greatest game in the greatest venue in the greatest city."

East Rutherford is the greatest city? Gee, thanks, Mr. Tisch!

There's always been a rivalry between New York and New Jersey, and for years New York has won easily. It has Manhattan, Broadway, the fashion district, Wall Street. It had the best restaurants, the subway, Central Park. It was the place that tourists wanted to go. No matter what we did in Jersey, we were always outdone by New York.

Even in politics, New Jersey was bested. In 2004 New Jersey's then Governor James McGreevey announced that, despite the fact he was married with a child, he was a "gay American" and that he had given his boyfriend a job using taxpayer money. Finally, we had something on New York ... we had the sleaziest Governor! But before you could say "Hudson River Crossings", New York's own Governor Eliot Spitzer got caught busing dozens of hookers across state lines for his own dalliances. Doggone it, we were out-debauched by New York.

Now, however, the tide is turning.

New Jersey is more polluted (according to EPA Superfund sites). New Jersey is more corrupt (according to a recent survey by the Daily Beast). And, the real indication of victory, New Jersey more reality shows on television.

Let's face it, America is having a love affair with New Jersey. They are eating up shows like "Jersey Couture", "Jerseylicious", and "The Jersey Shore". We have the public spellbound with the amount of product we use in our hair, the evenly tanned skin we sport year-round, and our charming pronunciation of Italian delicacies: gabbagole (capicola) and mootsadell (mozzarella). The nail tips, the nicknames, the profanity, the attitudes, the blunt speak ... we're more colorful than New Yorkers!

Sorry, New York, but you have to own up to the fact that the Super Bowl is coming to Jersey's own, toxic soil. Fans are already debating whether Bon Jovi or Springsteen (both Jersey guys) should play the half time show. The patrons will be snacking on soseech (sausage) and peppers. No fair claiming that the game will be held in "the New York area". It's in Jersey, baby, and that's a fact.

I can't wait to hear to Snooki sing the "Star Spangled Banner."

Pam Lobley writes the "Now That's Funny" column. Sign up for her mailing list at www.pamlobley.com.