When I sat down to watch the Super Bowl Sunday afternoon, I knew I couldn’t cheer for either team (I laid out the very reasons why in this column last week).

However, I did have to think about which team I preferred to win.

I landed on Pittsburgh.

Before you smack me with a terrible towel, allow me to explain. I had to think of things in terms of who I would like to see hold the Lombardi trophy the least. Would it bother me more to see the Steelers hold up a sixth trophy? Or watch the Cardinals raise their first?

To me, Pittsburgh’s victory would be meaningless (it was, despite a great game). But watching the Cardinals win their first championship, before the Seahawks? I couldn’t have it.

So I wasn’t totally disappointed Sunday. Because what we did see is, despite some big flaws, a pretty good Super Bowl.

Sure, it wasn’t the prettiest game (at times it looked like the officials thought their flags were the terrible towels) but the ending was nothing less than spectacular.

And penalties or no, Arizona has no one to blame for that loss but themselves. Instead of becoming only the second team ever to defeat the Steelers after racking up a 10-point deficit, the Cardinals defense became nothing more than a sieve, allowing Pittsburgh to drive all the way downfield for the winning score.

I wasn’t happy because the black and gold won. I was happy because I’d at least seen a good game.

But dang, those super bowl hats would have looked good on the Seahawks.