Prior to Sunday night the last time the Cincinnati Bengals were in the Super Bowl was January of 1989. Coincidentally this was the last one I didn’t see; my decades-long sports obsession began later that spring.

Most of the players in last night’s game hadn’t been born when the 49ers beat the Bengals in Super Bowl XXIII. I was six, and as I’ve been fond of telling my students the past two weeks, the Bengals haven’t been good since Ronald Reagan was in office.

Yeah, blank stares. I might as well have said Abe Lincoln.

I wish they’d done it last night, but at least the victors this year had their admirable qualities as well. I’ve got nothing against the Rams, whether housed in LA or St. Louis, or led by Matt Stafford, Kurt Warner, or Warren Beatty.

A great game from a great host city and I’ll admit a great halftime show too. The commercials were mostly silly, but hey, life’s too short to complain about bad commercials.

I might put that one on a bumper sticker.