Forty-three years of pitting the two best teams in the NFL against each other for a chance to be called world champions (that's silly, really - where else in the world do they play this version of Football?).

And in those 43 years, darn near every team in the league has gone to the Super Bowl at least once. Some teams, like Pittsburgh, Dallas and San Francisco, are repeaters when it comes to success. Others, like Minnesota and Buffalo, just the opposite. But at least all those teams can say they've actually been there. Not so with my favorite team, and probably not with yours either, and that's what made me hate last week's Super Bowl all the more.

You see, I'm a Cleveland Browns fan and you're probably a fan of the Detroit Lions . You might suspect I hated last week's Super Bowl because of those no-good, rotten, dirty, cheap-shot, refs-in-their-back- pocket, "look at me and my six Super Bowl rings" Pittsburgh Steelers, but you'd be wrong.

Actually, it was the Arizona Cardinals who had me boiling over. I mean, c'mon, the Arizona Cardinals? For crying out loud, they were 9-7 in the regular season. NINE AND SEVEN! That's terrible! Not only that, they didn't even sell out their first home playoff game. Pathetic! And here's the worst part. Up until this year, they were one of six teams who had never made it to the Super Bowl. A list that includes the Browns and Lions. But now you can scratch Arizona off that list. For the record, the remaining teams are Cleveland, Detroit, Houston, New Orleans and Jacksonville).

Yes, I hate the Steelers. ... but, begrudgingly I must admit, at least they deserved to be there (sorry, Steeler fans, but you're a lot more like those of Cleveland and Detroit, than you are like those of Arizona). We're all loyal, hard-working folks, living in blue-collar towns, struggling to earn respect.

But the Cardinals? They've bounced from town to town, starting in Chicago, then relocating in St. Louis for a number of years before finally moving to the desert with all the arthritic retirees and old senators running for president. They don't have any hard-core fans. Their fans are all transient, just like their team.

The NFL needs to do something about this. They need to find a way, any way, to get Cleveland and Detroit back to greatness. Believe it or not, the Browns are still the winningest team in professional Football; they won seven championships from 1946 to 1957. And guess who played the Browns for all the marbles three straight years in the mid '50s - beating the Browns twice? Your Lions, that's who.

It's not going to be easy. The Lions and Browns finished a combined 4-28 last year (wow, that really looks bad when you write it down), but it can be done. For starters, I think the five remaining Super Bowl-less teams should be the only teams allowed to choose players in the first three rounds of the draft. They also should give those five teams two extra home games (not that it would have made any difference for the 0-16 Lions, or the Browns, who won only one home game last year).

If that doesn't work, and it probably won't, they should give the lonely five an extra down on every possession, or make the other teams kick off from their goal line. Whatever works. Heck, a lot of sports are handicapped to equal out the competition. Why not Football?

Sure, I'm dreaming. Let's face it, I haven't seen any Cleveland team win a major championship in my entire life, what makes me think the Browns and Lions could possibly meet in a Super Bowl next year? Still, I hold out hope. At the very least, I do know the two teams will play each other next year (it's on the schedule). So one thing is certain: Unless they tie, one of our teams will be guaranteed a win.

Lon Horwedel can be reached at lhorwedel@annarbornews.com or 734-994-6940.