(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
The Chiefs play for history, the Eagles for revenge. And I get to use my sports doofus voice. A flurry, by the way, of big-name trades in pro basketball. Howard Bryant of Meadowlark Media joins us. Howard, thanks for being with us.
HOWARD BRYANT: Good morning, Scott. How are you?
SIMON: I'm fine. Thanks, my friend. Super Bowl, of course, tomorrow in New Orleans. Kansas City Chiefs going for their third straight title. No team in NFL history has been able to win three Super Bowls in a row. In fact, they began that string two years ago by defeating the Philadelphia Eagles, who they coincidentally play tomorrow. Revenge time. What will be the key to the game?
BRYANT: Well, I think the key to the game is going to be what all football games come down to, especially in the playoffs - injuries and turnovers. And that's always the battle. And if you can - if you protect the football and you play your game, you've got a really good shot to win. But, you know, games really steamroll when you go out there, and you make a ton of mistakes, and then all of a sudden, you're wondering why you're in the bad situation you're in. But obviously, the Chiefs are a great, great football...
SIMON: Yeah.
BRYANT: ...Team. They haven't even really been that good this year. You've watched them all year and wondered why they've been this - and then here they are at the Super Bowl again. So this is going to be a great battle. Both teams heavily motivated to come out...
SIMON: Yeah.
BRYANT: ...On top.
SIMON: That - I mean, maybe it's a cliche, but that defines a great team, doesn't it? They can play not up to their best and still win.
BRYANT: Absolutely. Absolutely, it's true. And part of it is the difficulty of repeating and then repeating and then, obviously, repeating again. We've never...
SIMON: Yeah.
BRYANT: ...Seen it before. There are so many other things that get in the way - egos and money and boredom and pain and all of the things.
SIMON: Yeah.
BRYANT: But this team just has - they've got the best quarterback. They've got the best coach, and they've got a really, really good defense as well.
SIMON: I have to ask, what do you make of this what I'll call conspiracy theory that seems to have taken hold of so many NFL fans that the league is tipping the scales in favor of the Chiefs?
BRYANT: I think it's extremely dangerous, and I think there's a lot of truth to it when you look at the statistics. The NFL has come out and said it was ridiculous. The NFL Referees Association...
SIMON: Yeah.
BRYANT: ...Said it was ridiculous. But you look at the disparity of the penalties, you look at the timeliness of some of these things, and I get it. But I really think, Scott, the biggest thing here is we know across the board this is a very cynical time in this country. It's a very cynical time in every element of our lives. And I think that this is also one of the great by-products, the unintended consequences of these professional sports, especially football, went in 1,000% on gambling.
SIMON: Yeah.
BRYANT: And when you give your sport away to speculation, people don't trust what they're watching anymore. And every other commercial is a gambling commercial. Every other statistic is to sort of get you to make some sort of prop bet. And obviously, the end result of that is people questioning the end result. Sports is all we have when it comes to the unscripted competition. If it's not real, if it doesn't feel real...
SIMON: Yeah.
BRYANT: ...The game has a huge problem. And that is a piece of what's happening now.
SIMON: I have to ask you about the NBA. This week, the trade deadline, a triple team trade between the LA Lakers, Dallas Mavericks and Utah Jazz being called one of the most shocking trades in NBA history. How so?
BRYANT: Oh, you don't see superstars at that level get traded for each other. And certainly, when one of them is a 25-year-old Luka Doncic who's considered...
SIMON: Yeah.
BRYANT: ...One of the great, great players in the NBA and one of the great, you know, cornerstones of the Dallas franchise. And I think that when you have that, especially Luka, who took his team to the NBA finals less than a year ago...
SIMON: Yeah.
BRYANT: ...Then the Dallas Mavericks are sending a message that they don't like what they see in terms of his work ethic. They didn't like what they see in terms of his defense. They certainly didn't like what they saw, that you would take a cornerstone player and say, we don't think we can win with you...
SIMON: Yeah.
BRYANT: ...Even though we were at the NBA finals...
SIMON: Even though we did, yeah.
BRYANT: ...Last year.
SIMON: Yeah. Howard, one last question - tomorrow, nachos, pizza or tofu cubes?
BRYANT: Always take pizza over everything.
SIMON: All right.
BRYANT: It's just the way it has to be, even at Super Bowl parties.
SIMON: All right, with your advice. Howard Bryant of Meadowlark Media. Thanks so much. Happy Super Bowl. Good to be with you, my friend. Talk to you soon.
BRYANT: Thank you, Scott.
(SOUNDBITE OF JAY VANILLA'S "DUMPTYDUM") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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