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The Rams have a long history in the NFL, having begun play in Cleveland in 1936. They have been a rather mobile team during their history, moving from Cleveland to Los Angeles in 1946, and then from Los Angeles to Anaheim in 1980 before ultimately relocating to Saint Louis in 1994. The team’s mobility may have been foreshadowing of the mobile offense they would employ from 1999 to 2001 – an offense that earned the apt nickname “The Greatest Show on Turf.” Though the Show didn’t have the staying power of previous dynasties like the 1940s Bears, 1960s Packers, or 1970s Steelers, there is no arguing that it was one of the most dazzling displays of offensive efficiency that the sport had ever seen.

In football, clever monikers are the order of the day. Everything must have a name, whether it is the Packers-Cowboys Ice Bowl or the label of Joe Cool to describe the great Joe Montana. Nicknames add a sense of familiarity to any person or event – and even plays – and nothing sums up any of those better than a colorful descriptive phrase. In a League with two teams that both proudly hoist the pirate emblem, it was almost inevitable that they would eventually meet in the biggest game of them all. The title “Pirate Bowl” seems to have been waiting to be used for that contest, and got its chance in Super Bowl XXXVII when the Buccaneers of Tampa Bay faced off against the Raiders of Oakland in January of 2003.

If you’re a fan of the National Football League, you know how important tradition is. Dallas and Detroit are supposed to play football games every Thanksgiving. Madden has to bring a twelve-legged turkey to the game. There’s a reason they called it the Ice Bowl, and it doesn’t matter if non-fans understand what we are talking about. These traditions give the sport we love its own unique flavor and appeal. The Seattle Seahawks, despite only having been in the league since 1976, have an important tradition of their own – and it is one that every fan of football can appreciate. It involves the team’s acknowledgement of that all-important 12th Man

The San Diego Chargers have been at the top of their game over the course of the last four seasons, winning the NFL’s AFC West crown in each campaign. This four-season romp through their division has marked the team’s best string of success since the early days of the franchise in the first half of the 1960s. As fans of the team know, however, their appearances in the playoffs have been less than spectacular. Much of the blame for the team’s inability to go deeper into the postseason and win that elusive first Super Bowl trophy has fallen squarely upon the shoulders of the Chargers’ otherwise flawless kicker, Nate Kaeding.

It is hard to believe that there could be a single professional football fan in the world who has not heard of the legendary John Madden. He has, over the last half century, become as much a part of the game as the turf on which the NFL’s teams play. For the Oakland Raiders, Madden’s career as a coach is of particular interest, as it was under his stewardship that the team enjoyed some of its most productive years. This was, of course, during the team’s glory years in the 1970s – a decade that saw the franchise win their first of what would eventually be three Super Bowl titles.

National Football League fans are well aware of the sterling reputation of the San Francisco 49ers franchise. With five Super Bowl trophies to their credit, the team had one of the NFL’s greatest dynasties during the 1980s and early 1990s, thanks to an innovative style of offensive and great play from the quarterback position. And when we say dynasties, we mean dynasty of the highest order! Over the course of a sixteen year time frame beginning in 1984, the team won ten games or more during each season with such NFL greats as Steve Young, and Jerry Rice. For sheer star power, though, and four of those five Super Bowl wins, the great Joe Montana cannot be overlooked.

Based in Irving, Texas, the Dallas Cowboys are one of the professional football teams of the Western states. They are currently housed at the Cowboys Stadium in Arlington. They first joined the NFL in 1960 as an expansion team. They became very popular hence, primarily because the team has always shown the might and the form of a champion.

The Maaco Bowl Las Vegas will kick off on December 22, 2009 and will pit a team from the MWC against the Pac-10. This post-season college football game is sponsored by Maaco, and has been played annually since 1992 at Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada. Sam Boyd Stadium seats 40,000 fans and since 2001, the bowl gets first choice of Mountain West Conference teams. Normally, this team would be the MWC conference champion, unless that team was to qualify for the BCS.

This Poinsettia Bowl for 2009 is scheduled to kick off on December 23. Created in 1995 by the organizers of the Holiday Bowl, it is expected to feature a team from the Pac-10 and a team from the Mountain West Conference, although the Pac-10 slot is technically considered an at-large bid. In the event that the Pac-10 does not have enough bowl-eligible teams, another team may be extended the invitation. The bowl game, officially named the San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl, is played in San Diego and strongly considers military academies for invitation due to the bowl’s proximity to several military installations.

This year’s New Orleans bowl will be played on December 20, 2009 and will once again invite a team from the Sun Belt Conference and one from Conference USA. The bowl is played on the turf of the Louisiana Superdome (aka, ‘The Dome’) one of the most famous landmarks of New Orleans and the site of many top sporting events. The New Orleans Bowl is sponsored by R+L Carriers, is the Sun Belt Conference’s only guaranteed bowl bid and is fully named the ‘R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl’.