mesaSteeler
02-06-2009, 06:21 AM
Love 'em or hate 'em, the Steelers earned their title
http://www.theolympian.com/seahawks/story/746616-p2.html
By Ron Newberry | The Olympian • Published February 05, 2009
The Steelers, it seems, just always manage to win the big game. Six Super Bowl championships also means six Super Bowl losers.
It's enough to build up some pretty deep resentment against a team. It's enough to expect that Super Bowl victories are part of the package in Pittsburgh.
So, it seemed, was the case Sunday when Pittsburgh's James Harrison — an outside linebacker weighing 242 pounds — returned an interception 100 yards for a touchdown on the final play of the first half, giving the Steelers a 10-point halftime advantage.
One can think of many more probable scenarios in which lighter, faster Cardinals players catch up to him and tackle him or at least knock him out of bounds — a scenario that might've changed the game's eventual outcome.
But this is Pittsburgh, and this is the Super Bowl. And that's how these things work.
In Super Bowl XIV, Terry Bradshaw threw a deep touchdown pass to John Stallworth in the fourth quarter just over the outstretched arms of Rams cornerback Rod Perry, giving Pittsburgh the lead for good. Watching the replay on highlight films probably hundreds of times, it appeared the ball missed Perry's fingertips by inches.
I always wondered what might've happened had Perry deflected that ball.
In Super Bowl XL, there was outrage from coast to coast over how one-sided the game appeared to be officiated between the Steelers and Seahawks.
But this was the Super Bowl. And these were the Steelers.
A friend and I were watching Sunday's game in the lounge at the Quinault Beach Resort & Casino when Harrison stepped in front of Kurt Warner's pass at the goal line and was off the races.
After watching Bruce Springsteen's halftime performance, so were we — out the door and on the way back to South Sound.
I had seen all this before — and there was no sense sitting through it again, reliving bad memories.
Driving home from Ocean Shores, I never would have imagined the events that were unfolding. We turned on the radio, and listened how Arizona rallied and eventually took the lead in what turned out to be another super Super Bowl. But we were missing it! We had to get to find a television!
We wound up at Buzz's Tavern off Mud Bay Road. The Buzz was buzzing as the Steelers had the ball with only a few minutes remaining, trailing by three.
It was mostly an anti-Steelers crowd at Buzz's, just as it was at the casino. When Pittsburgh scored the winning touchdown with 35 seconds remaining, there were many groans as hearts sank into their stomachs.
Me? I wasn't all that surprised. I realize that at some point, you have to sit back and admire the Steelers and give them their due for a title tally that is unmatched in the NFL.
They earned this one. And maybe — just maybe — they earned them all.
Seahawks fans, it's time to let go and tip your cap.
Ron Newberry can be reached at 360-754-5432 or rnewberry@theolympian.com.
http://www.theolympian.com/seahawks/story/746616-p2.html
By Ron Newberry | The Olympian • Published February 05, 2009
The Steelers, it seems, just always manage to win the big game. Six Super Bowl championships also means six Super Bowl losers.
It's enough to build up some pretty deep resentment against a team. It's enough to expect that Super Bowl victories are part of the package in Pittsburgh.
So, it seemed, was the case Sunday when Pittsburgh's James Harrison — an outside linebacker weighing 242 pounds — returned an interception 100 yards for a touchdown on the final play of the first half, giving the Steelers a 10-point halftime advantage.
One can think of many more probable scenarios in which lighter, faster Cardinals players catch up to him and tackle him or at least knock him out of bounds — a scenario that might've changed the game's eventual outcome.
But this is Pittsburgh, and this is the Super Bowl. And that's how these things work.
In Super Bowl XIV, Terry Bradshaw threw a deep touchdown pass to John Stallworth in the fourth quarter just over the outstretched arms of Rams cornerback Rod Perry, giving Pittsburgh the lead for good. Watching the replay on highlight films probably hundreds of times, it appeared the ball missed Perry's fingertips by inches.
I always wondered what might've happened had Perry deflected that ball.
In Super Bowl XL, there was outrage from coast to coast over how one-sided the game appeared to be officiated between the Steelers and Seahawks.
But this was the Super Bowl. And these were the Steelers.
A friend and I were watching Sunday's game in the lounge at the Quinault Beach Resort & Casino when Harrison stepped in front of Kurt Warner's pass at the goal line and was off the races.
After watching Bruce Springsteen's halftime performance, so were we — out the door and on the way back to South Sound.
I had seen all this before — and there was no sense sitting through it again, reliving bad memories.
Driving home from Ocean Shores, I never would have imagined the events that were unfolding. We turned on the radio, and listened how Arizona rallied and eventually took the lead in what turned out to be another super Super Bowl. But we were missing it! We had to get to find a television!
We wound up at Buzz's Tavern off Mud Bay Road. The Buzz was buzzing as the Steelers had the ball with only a few minutes remaining, trailing by three.
It was mostly an anti-Steelers crowd at Buzz's, just as it was at the casino. When Pittsburgh scored the winning touchdown with 35 seconds remaining, there were many groans as hearts sank into their stomachs.
Me? I wasn't all that surprised. I realize that at some point, you have to sit back and admire the Steelers and give them their due for a title tally that is unmatched in the NFL.
They earned this one. And maybe — just maybe — they earned them all.
Seahawks fans, it's time to let go and tip your cap.
Ron Newberry can be reached at 360-754-5432 or rnewberry@theolympian.com.