Tampa Bay
Feb 1 2009
This was the scene of one of the most exciting Superbowls ever played, at the very least certainly the most exciting 4th quarter of a championship game that we’ve seen in quite some time. To me, the Superbowl is the worst day of the year, when the sport I most enjoy watching is coming to it’s finality for another year. Watching college basketball just isn’t the same and waiting for the Masters and the draft in April just takes too long. I actually start getting depressed right after the Conference championship games are played because I have to wait 2 weeks for the big game. When it does come, it hardly ever lives up to the hype and then I have to wait 6 months for my next diet of Football !! Oh brother !!
This year however, was different. This Superbowl actually made me smile for weeks after and when your favorite sport lives up to it’s hype (as it has these last 2 years) then the world (and my family and friends who only watch the big game so they can eat everything in sight and call it “a party” ) gets to see why the NFL is justifiably King of The Sports Castle.
This was no ordinary game this time, no sireee, a classic from every angle. This game had comebacks, heroes, more comebacks more heroes and a fantastic finish. What more could even the most demanding football fan ask for ? Truly a game for the ages !
Leading 17-7 , Pittsburgh outgained Arizona 158 to 102 yards in the first half aided by linebacker James Harrison’s Super Bowl record 100-yard interception return for a touchdown [longest and perhaps greatest play in Super Bowl history]. However, trailing 20–7 at the start of the fourth quarter, Arizona scored 16 unanswered points, including wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald’s simply amazing 64-yard touchdown reception to take the lead with 2:37 remaining in the game. To think that the fun would stop there, oh no, let’s never forget who the quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers is ……#7 Big Ben Roethlisberger (from now on “Big Ben”). This is a player who already in his short career has hardly ever wavered under the immense pressure thrown at him, the closest thing to Manny Ramirez on a football field, big , aloof, but when the chips are down, a proven winner ! You feel he’s just having fun out there, in control and never letting the stakes affect his performance! Yes Big Ben marched his team down for an amzing final drive to not just boot the field goal to tie the game, but throw a 6 yard touchdown pass to Santonio Holmes with 36 seconds left to win the game for the 6 time Super Bowl Champion Pittsburgh Steelers ! It was this drive that erased any of the memories one might associate with Ben in his previous Super Bowl 2 years earlier, and will cement forever a place to put Big Ben up there with the clutch quarterbacks of all time like Unitas and Elway.
Not to be forgotten however, was the performance of the 5th seeded Arizona Cardinals, a team which many thought had no business being there, especially after losing 4 of their last 5 regular season games and looking downright horrible in 2 of their last 3. These Cardinals showed a lot of heart, and won a lot of hearts over when all was said and done. To have a truly great Super Bowl, both participants have to be up to the task and in Sper Bowl XLIII, that was certainly the case.
As I mentioned from the start, I hate Super Bowl week and right after the game , some mild form of depression certainly sets in, but after this game, it took a lot longer for the winter doldrums to come and I wish to thank the Arizona Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Steelers for that !
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