Still in shock

It's hard to believe that the Steelers have actually made it to the Superbowl. I imagine it will all sink in over the next two weeks of pregame hyperbole. The last time they were in the Superbowl I was still in college and the last time they won the superbowl ESPN wasn't even on the air . What makes this appearance so sweet is the tough journey they took to get here. They had to beat the top 3 seeds on the road and are only the second team in history to do so. The aggregate record of their opponents is also the strongest of any previous superbowl team.

One thing that I have found fascinating is all the phone calls I've received congratulation me on the Steelers. I love that fans are so interconnected with their teams that we get congratulated simply for watching and rooting for our team. I think my friends are excited for me because they understand the difficulty of sticking with a team through the down times and they want to help me celebrate the good times. And for Steelers fans there have seen a lot of recent disappointments but that only makes this year a little sweeter.

Now to the game itself. There were two key plays to the game. The first was Champ Bailey's missed interception in the quarter. When Ben threw the pass I thought for sure it was intercepted and would be TD for Denver. Thankfully Bailey over pursued the play and we got the first down and were able to get an early lead. The second big play was the interception by Jake Plummer. I have no idea what he was thinking but to give us the ball back with under two minutes was a gift. After we scored to go up 24-3 the game was over.

I have no feel for the Superbowl yet. The Steelers are the favorite but I think that has to do more with the number of fans they have than anything else. When was the last time the #1 seed for a conference was the underdog against the #6 from the other conference. My guess is that every person who roots for the Steelers is laying 50 bucks on them and that is driving the line out of whack. I am going to wait until next week to make my prediction. This week I am going to spend my energy looking for tickets to the game.

One last thing on Pittsburgh sports. Mario Lemieux retired again today and I am sad to see him go but it is definitely time. He was one of the best to ever play the game but he should have never come out of retirement. The only reason he did so was because he was owner and he needed to generate ticket sales. My favorite memories will still be from the 91 stanley cup run. In his prime he was the best goal scorer I've ever seen. Hopefully, Crosby will reach half of Mario's achievements. Good Bye Mario and thank you for saving hockey in Pittsburgh.