Thirteen things I learned from Super Bowl XLV

I chose the number thirteen because it matches the Packers total number of championships. I figured it was appropriate...

1. The National Anthem needs to have limits

Christina Aguilera butchered it. Not because she messed up the words, stuff like that happens. What upset me is that she sang it as if she were trying to impress Simon Cowell instead of honoring the United States with the respect and reverence that our country deserves (see: Dixie Chicks, Jennifer Hudson, or the greatest rendition ever - Whitney Houston).

2. Big defensive plays are the end all be all of big games

James Harrison two years ago, Tracy Porter last year, and Nick Collins on Sunday. Big defensive plays have proved to be the difference in the Big Game. And the numbers don’t lie: Losing teams have had 30 turnovers since Super Bowl XXXV.

3. Ben Roethlisberger is a supporting actor

Ben at his finest

I’ve be arguing against Roethlisbergian supremacy since his 13-0 rookie year. Ben rides the tide that his defense creates. In three games this past season against blatantly better quarterbacks (Brady, Brees, Rodgers), the Steelers’ defense was unable to make big plays and Ben was unable to outduel. The defense is Mickey Mouse and Ben is just Goofy.

4. Aaron Rodgers is the star of the show

The championship belt that ARod throws on after running for a touchdown is well-deserved. I’d take the Green Bay signal-caller over anybody right now. If you need me to back this up just read the archives of this blog. I’ve been all about Rodgers since day one.

5. It is impossible to hate the Packers

They are classy – well, besides Tramon Williams. They smile and help the opposition up. They respect and revere their veterans, especially Chuck Woodson and Donald Driver, and treat their non-stars like gold – even after dropping mad passes. The best part is that they are owned by the fans.

6. Goodbye A.J. Hawk and hello Desmond Bishop

A.J. Hawk was the fifth pick of the ’06 draft and has a hot wife. But he has not fulfilled that top-pick potential. His contract is up as of March 3^rd and Desmond Bishop was all over the field as soon as he stepped on the field to replace Nick Barnett and he hits like a ton of bricks. Bishop played his way into a contract extension and played Hawk out of one.

Grown man stuff...

7. The Steelers’ offensive line deserves a lot of respect

The Pittsburgh offensive line came to play throughout the playoffs. People said Flozell Adams was too old but somehow that old head kept the NFL’s should-have-been Defensive MVP in check in Fort Worth. And when Maurkice Pouncey went down the world was supposed to end. But the Big Legursk took care of B.J. Raji too the ring of zero sacks and zero tackles. I’m sure Rashard Mendenhall’s playoff numbers would back up the o-line’s play as well.

8. Super Bowls are won in the front office

Teams win the Super Bowl, not star players. These two teams especially have done it right.

9. The New York Super Bowl will be won by a cold weather team

I’m so used to seeing warm weather or domes for the Super Bowl. Teams on these fast tracks running wild. East Rutherford is going to be a little different. It will be a game set up for smash-mouth offense and physical defense. Not too many of those on the West Coast or down south. Looks like the cold weather boys will enjoy February 2014.

10. Social networks are a whole new monster on Super Bowl Sunday

Facebook and Twitter were exploding. I’m curious if that’s the most action that the sites get all year including Christmas. Status overload.

How is this conniving nerd a billionaire? Nonetheless,
he loves Super Bowl Sunday.

11. As Troy goes, the Steelers go

I don’t even know if the league’s Defensive MVP played in the playoffs. When he’s playing the Bengals he’s a pick-six waiting to happen – but against big-game quarterbacks, not so much. When he’s quiet the Steelers are silenced.

12. The “We get no respect” complex needs to go

All I’ve heard since Rodgers took a knee is how “disrespected” the Steelers were and how nobody cares about them. Joe Buck and Troy Aikman hate Pittsburgh according to Steeler fans. No, there just wasn’t much to say about them Sunday.

The best part was on my ride back to school Sunday night. I was in the car listening to Pittsburgh sports-talk radio and people were calling in left and right claiming that Pittsburgh “got no respect.” Finally the radio host said something like “If you are going to cry about being disrespected, don’t bother us. Get over it. It’s not disrespect – it’s called a loss.”

13. A dynasty could be born

The Packers are the second-youngest team in the NFL and have one of the top five quarterbacks. They played this season without the league’s most athletic tight end in Jermichael Finley and will only get younger via the draft. If they can keep Chuck Woodson to lead that defense for a few more years and keep Aaron Rodgers healthy, the sky is the limit for Green Bay. The NFC is up and coming and (what I think) already better than the AFC. But the Packers should sit at the top and keep rising. They really have no ceilings.

- DQ

*Damn this Droid* Steelers 26 Packers 20

Super Bowl Predictions

Predicting the Super Bowl is half of the fun. And considering due to a potential NFL Lockout I may not be able to predict another until 2013. Well, that and because this blog has been at a total stand still as of late, JQ and I are going to post our predictions.

If I were a betting man (which I am – like when I put money on the Steelers during their preseason 13-to-1 odds stage) I would bet that my prediction will be off by at least five billion points. But I still figure that while in the spirit of Super Bowl Sunday that I throw out my thoughts for you to read and eventually mock.

Here it is:

We’ve been hearing a lot of “these teams are identical” talk – I don’t really buy it. Yes, they both have great defenses and solid quarterbacks and wear yellow pants, but what they need to do to win are not as similar as the blue-collar towns that they represent.

Steelers will draw first blood - either a touchdown or a field goal. Whether they get the ball first or second, the Steelers always seem to get some points on their opening drive. And I think the Packers (offensive line in particular) may be a little taken back by the defense that they are playing. They struggled against a Chicago Bears defense that relied on their defensive ends to rush, they didn’t send confusing packages like Dick “Benjamin Button” LeBeau.

I say the Steelers find ten points somehow before Aaron Rodgers settles down and realizes, “Hey, I’m playing in doors and I’ve been on fire. I haven’t needed a running game all year. I’m Aaron Rodgers.” Then at some point second quarter, Rodgers will answer with a touchdown and field goal for a halftime score of (somewhere around) 10-10.

It’ll be defense going hard to start the second half. I’ll say the Steelers will squeeze out two field goals in the third quarter – one either coming off of a turn over or on a short field because, well, that’s what Pittsburgh does.

Mid-fourth quarter, Rodgers will lead some methodical drive and put the Packers up 17-16 right around the two-minute warning. That’s when Ben Roethlisberger (who will at the time have 0 touchdowns, 1 interception, and will not have thrown a ball over 10 yards unless Mike Wallace burns on of Green Bay’s stone-feet corners) will step onto the field. The acquitted quarterback will run around and dump on 5-yard passes and fit a few 15-yards in to Hines Ward in soft coverage. Long story short, Roethlisberger will lead a game winning drive after his defense held Green Bay all day and throw his first TD of the day with less than a minute left. Actually, we’ll call it a short field goal as time expires.

Steelers 19

Packers 17

Co-MVPs: 

Rex Ryan, NYJ coach – for taking out Tom Brady and the Patriots and handing the Steelers a trip to the Super Bowl.

Matt Dodge, NYG punter – for punting to Desean Jackson as time expired in week 15 which lost the Giants the game and the playoffs. By kicking it to Jackson, the Packers slipped into the playoffs. If Dodge kicks out of bounds, the Packers aren’t in the Super Bowl. If he had never punted to him, Aaron Rodgers and his championship belt would have been spending January at home in California.

LaMaar Woodley, Pittsburgh OLB – Woodley is going to eat Bryan Bulaga for dinner. The rookie right tackle hasn’t really blocked well against pass-rushers all year and Woodley has been a savage in the playoffs. Look for Wood to have two sacks, some sort of takeaway, and a big momentum changing play that either sets up a score for the Steelers or takes the wind out of Green Bay’s sales. (Don’t sleep on Mike Wallace either for the MVP).

There is my prediction. Go easy on me if the Packers win in a shootout, 52-49. And, please, enjoy this game because it may be the last one we see until fall of 2012.

- DQ

Last Words from a Lifelong Packers Fan

The following is the February 2nd edition of "Fielder's Choice," the weekly sports column in Geneva College's student newspaper "The Cabinet" written by sports editor Seth Kuhns:

I’ve been mulling over this column for a week and a half, trying desperately to decide what I can say that will accurately reflect my feelings on the Super Bowl. I wrote a half-hearted column last week in lieu of writing about the game for two straight weeks, but it’s five days before the game, and I wish I had already written this article.

At one point, I was dead-set on being the hero that changed everyone’s mind. I was going to write a brilliantly worded manifesto on why Pittsburgh was the most ethnocentric area I’ve ever encountered and attempt to alter all of your opinions on who the greatest team in NFL history truly is. I was prepared to dismantle Wiz Khalifa’s “Black and Yellow” word by word in order to convince you that the song had more to do with his over-inflated ego than any cultural pride he felt about The Steel City.

I thought about defending the Green Bay Packers as the greatest NFL franchise in history. After all, they have 12 championships to their name. I have a whole argument prepared as to why their pre-1967 NFL titles are just as relevant as the Steelers six Super Bowl titles. But that just seemed like a one-way ticket to getting mocked around campus for the next three months.

I have decided that there would be no point in trying to do any of that; after all, if Western Pennsylvania is as ethnocentric as I am led to believe, there’s no way some ignorant outsider from Emmaus (Where?) is going to convince you that you’re wrong in 600 words on the back of a small-time college newspaper.

The main reason I’m not writing to convince you of anything is that I’ve been pleasantly surprised by how little flack I have had to deal with around campus. Before you say, “That’s because this isn’t Philadelphia!” I want you to know that I had plenty of reason to believe I would be getting a few Cee Lo Green shout outs throughout the week.

Last December, I went with my fiancée to Heinz Field. It was the first chance I ever got to see the Packers play in person, and I was thrilled. Some of you will remember that the Steelers won on a (soul-crushing) last-second touchdown pass to Mike Wallace. Anyway, on the way into the stadium, many Packer fans around me were met with unsolicited jeers by the Steeler faithful, and swear words flew back and forth between the factions.

On the way out of the stadium, a large group of fans of the 7-7 Steelers decided that chanting “Packers suck” was a brilliant idea. The 9-5 Packers. The team that would go on to the playoffs while the Steelers sat at home and watched from their La-Z-Boys.

If there’s one thing that I’ve learned since arriving in Beaver Falls almost four years ago, it’s that being a Steelers fan is a religion all its own. Fans wear Hines Ward jerseys to church, decorate their houses with Steelers lights, and hang Ray Lewis in effigy. They say “we” and talk about how many rings they’ve won. I don’t really understand it, but to each their own, I suppose.

Because this article is released two days after I write it, I might have completely different feelings about this. I might have gotten jumped by a group of Myron’s Minions in the last 48 hours for wearing my Packers sweatshirt. But if that hasn’t happened, I want to thank all of you for not being like the folks I encountered at Heinz Field.

Even if you keep posting “STAIRWAY TO SEVEN!!!!” Facebook status updates and wearing “Seventh Heaven” t-shirts until kingdom come, I’ll just laugh it off. It’s just a game, and the Steelers are just a sports franchise.

Just try not to be too jealous of my “Thirteen Bay” shirt if the Packers pull out a win.

Steelers make themselves at home in a Dallas strip club

Everybody's favorite "class organization" was quick to put business before pleasure in Dallas. Ben Roethlisberger better pray that his Will Ferrell-looking mug isn't caught on TMZ with a wad of singles or he might be suspended for five games next time.

Hines Ward was probably lassoing some classiest women
that Dallas has to offer.

Tiger in 2011: Back to Winning Ways

A guest blog by Mike "Zandos" Anderson:


Many people overlook this but the downward spiral started in 2009. Tiger had never lost a major when leading after three rounds. Long story short, Woods had a two shot lead on Y.E. Yang at Hazeltine. Major number fifteen was a given. Right?

Wrong. Somehow he had more bogeys in the final 18 holes than he had in the first three rounds combined. As a result, Tiger lost by two strokes.

No one (including Tiger) expected him to win anything in 2010. Too much personal drama, too few tournaments, too little time spent practicing, and due to injury he was forced to make another change to his swing.

Fast forward to the eve of his 2011 debut and the song remains the same. Are Tiger’s swing changes solidified? Is his knee repaired? Can he reclaim his magic putting touch? Can he reassert his psychological dominance over his peers? Most importantly, can he move a step closer to Nicklaus with a major this year? The answers to all of these questions are the same: Yes. And the reason for that is because the best golfer on the planet and potentially the most dominate athlete is single again.

In the past he dominated golf for obvious reasons: Perfect upbringing, superhuman talent, his father trained him at a young age, killer instinct, and the list goes on. He also dominated because he focused solely on himself. Sure, he got married, but he still did whatever he wanted during his marriage just like he did before it. The results during his marriage when it wasn’t under the microscope were constant. Tiger Woods won. And he won a lot.

A few months later he crashed his “Pimp My Ride” Escalade and all hell broke loose. He gets caught with more women than putts he attempts in a round. This made Tiger focus on his wife. He had to answer to the media and go to sex rehab to try and save his marriage. This meant no more late night practice sessions, no more all nighters in the club, and no more hookers. And no more wins.

Forget the swing changes and the putting concerns on a bum knee. Tiger being single again outshines all of that. He’s got all the time in the world to focus on his two favorite things - golf and Tiger. That's the definition of balance. All is right again in his universe

I’m predicting more wins for Tiger Woods in 2011 than ever before.

What the sports world will see this year is the most dominant golfer of his generation (and maybe ever) come full circle. Woods was at the top, crashed hard (no pun intended), but will now rise from the mess that 2010 was and make 2011 a career year. 

Links of the Day

Here is a list of  Forbes - Top Athlete's Salaries . It may be a little outdated (July 20, 2010) but still gives you a feel about the monopoly that professional sports really is.




Floyd Money Mayweather, Jr. and his
$65 million jab.


Dave Fleming wrote an article for ESPN.com that would make even the biggest Steeler haters blush. Dirtiest Franchise? -- Anyone else feel like he may have had a falling out with the organization recently?

I think you COULD win with 53 of these choirboys