Six-Time Superbowl Champions: The Steelers Pull It Out
It was a great game! Super Bowl XLIII took off in Tampa around 6:30, with opening performances from Faith Hill and Jennifer Hudson, pitting the tenacious Pittsburgh Steelers against the seeming underdog, Arizona Cardinals. Maria and I started our day by attending the opening of the Pennsylvania Capoeira Academy and then 
headed home to make turkey burgers and get ready for the game. Maria wasn’t all that interested in the game so she spent some time cleaning up and reading. Myself, on the other hand, was planted firmly on the couch and ready to watch the Steelers wreck the Cardinals. I admit that I was a little salty about the Cards pulling it out over the Eagles and ruining the chance of a Pennsylvania Super Bowl but with the Steelers set in the bowl game, I knew it was only a matter of time. The Steelers started out receiving after the Cards deferred till the second half. On the first drive of the game, Roethisberger ran his crew down field and into scoring range. Big Ben went for the QB sneak to put up the first TD of the game… oh wait… that got challenged, and reversed, causing the Steelers to take an early field goal. The number one ranked Pittsburgh defense came to play shutting down all Arizona attempts until the second half (I think… I believe I dozed off at the very beginning of the second… heheh). By the end of the half the Steelers lead the game 10-7 but ,with only a few seconds left and the Cardinals with the ball on the Pittsburgh 1, their halftime lead was quickly fading away. As Kurt Warner began the play, he eyed for the end zone and threw a bullet… right to linebacker James Harrison for a Pittsburgh interception! The 1 yard line interception was then run back for a super bowl record setting touchdown of 100 yards! Harrison ran quickly and somewhat shaky but plowed through the Arizona defenders and eventually made it into the end zone on the legs of Larry Fitzgerald making the halftime score 17-7.
A few weeks back I had heard that Bruce Springsteen was going to be performing for the halftime show. I was very psyched to see The Boss bring some good music back to the Super Bowl Halftime Show. The NFL has tried for a number of years to get a valid and entertaining performer for the show. Recent memory brings Prince to mind, however I think that the response for Springsteen was much better. I had my doubts, but seeing the crowd sing the old favorites and seeing how they reacted to him made me think twice. The entire E-Street band was on stage and Bruce began with a tune that I didn’t recognize but turned out to be “Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out”. He later dropped into “Working On A Dream” as the 3rd song. The obvious highlights of the show were the second and last song, “Born To Run” and “Glory Days” respectively. It’s understandable why he would put some less-popular tracks or newer tracks into the mix, but I am of the opinion that when you have such a huge career and some many popular songs to pull from, why not just stick to the standards? I’ll be honest, the first and third song did nothing for me, but as soon as I heard the familiar riffs of Born to Run and Glory Days, I 
immediately perked up. In my opinion, it was a great halftime show. Well done, Boss… Give it up for the legend! In addition to the halftime show… well ahead of it actually were the three “Real 3D” movie and show trailers that followed the end of the second half. I had ordered some 3D glasses to see these commercials, one being for the new movie “Monsters Vs Aliens”. I was very surprised at how well the glasses worked and the quality of the commercials themselves. Understandably so I would think since I haven’t seen a 3D movie or had 3D glasses since I was in the single digits. (I do remember when TNT showed “Hondo” in 3D, I think I was in middle school, but I never watched it… Sorry, Duke) Anyway, the halftime show was worth sitting through this year, at least I would say it was. =)
The second half began and by the 4th quarter the Cardinals had the Steelers sweating. The Arizona Cardinals came back from one 
of the greatest deficits in Super Bowl history… actually, THE greatest deficit in Super Bowl history. The only problem, they didn’t win. It was truly a nail biter at the end of the game. The quiet Larry Fitzgerald sprung to life in the 4th picking up 2 very much needed touchdowns and putting the Steelers behind 20-23. The Cards began celebrating early but the Steelers weren’t phased. With the focus of a laser, Roethlisberger took the Steeler offense into the red zone paired with the 2 incredible receptions from Santonio Holmes and the final 3rd reception for a Pittsburgh game winning touchdown! With the good extra point the score was now 27-23 requiring the Cardinals to make a final touchdown with only seconds remaining on the clock. Unfortunately for the Arizona Cardinals, there was no coming back and the Pittsburgh Steelers clenched their sixth Super Bowl title, the most in NFL history. It was definitely one of the best Super Bowl games I have seen and the commercials weren’t too bad either, but that’s another post for later!
Lancaster, PA
