It took a really, really long time to get our “one for the thumb,” and it may take us just as long to climb that stairway to seven. But it was great we got this far in a year when no one expected us to. (And, frankly, any SB New England isn’t in is pretty OK in my book!)

So, we’ll get ′em next time, guys! Thanks for a great season and for making Steeler Nation possible. And congrats to the Packers and their fans. Enjoy your championship year!

Defeat is not bitter unless you swallow it.
~ Joe Clark

I might have heard a brief mention of some such event on Channel 2, in between Armageddon snow reports. Maybe something on WYEP — no, it wouldn’t have been on YEP…must have been on one of the other radio stations, you know, the ones that aren’t cool enough to ignore sports?

Seriously. Last year at this time, we in the ‘Burgh had lived, breathed, ate, slept, washed off, and immediately rerolled-around-in all things Steelers and all things Super Bowl. By now we were all so hyped up we couldn’t really speak — just look at each other, high-five, and yell WHOOOOOO! THE weekend was finally here.

Last year at this time, Mike and I were strategizing about what time we should arrive at our local hangout on Sunday to be sure to get a good seat. I had downloaded and blasted Here We Go at least 3 times a day for the last week, mixed in with a few Muppety Pa-LA-ma-lu (that’s Polamalu)‘s and “We’re from the town with that great football team….” (bum-bum-bum-BUM)s. I had tried to buy black and gold Smiley cookies at Eat’n Park, only to find that all they had left to offer was some lame Valentine hearts. My friends and I had exchanged 7,429  e-mails offering everything from “notes” to give to your boss to excuse you from work on Monday to pictures of how fans had decorated their houses/cars/bodies in black and gold to poetic tributes to Myron Cope. And we’d shared 2,728 links to 2,728 videos along the lines of this one.

(And, I should say, I got goosebumps trolling through YouTube just now…)

What a difference a year makes.

This Sunday night, I don’t expect I’ll be jumping up and down screaming at the bar. I don’t expect I’ll be hoarse for 3 days after. I don’t expect much of anything. I’m just hoping for an exciting game (I don’t really care who wins), a good half-time show (I just had to Google to find out it will be The Who performing), and some funny commercials featuring talking babies and Clydesdales.

I hope the folks in Indianapolis and New Orleans will have a lot more fun than that.

But I guarantee, it won’t be NEARLY as much fun as Stiller fans have when it’s OUR team in the spotlight. Was that only a year ago? Seems like forever.

It may be that all games are silly. But then, so are humans.
~ Robert Lynd

In between stressing about work, I’m savoring being a citizen of Steeler Nation this week and getting psyched watching things like these amazing kids (age 11 to 13!) or this bit of inspiration from the AFC Championship game. I wonder what the stadium will look like on Sunday — a repeat of Detroit with its sea of black and gold would be fantastic. (Am I the only one bummed the Steelers will be wearing their white jerseys?) I’m torn between watching (and listening to Bill and Tunch) from the comfort of my living room and trying to go to our local hangout bar down the street, as Mike suggested. Hmmm, if we stay home, I have to make the food (although Emeril’s jalapeño poppers I made for last week’s game were awesome!); if we go out…great bar food and endless beer. But, can I last for the 4 hours or so we’d have to hang out before the game starts to get a seat? Such decisions…

I hope you’re pondering equally weighty matters as the “wintry mix” continues to fall. Time to drag myself (kicking and screaming) to the dungeon cellar for my date with the devil NordicTrack, which just turned 15 this month. Imagine if I had actually been using it steady all these years…

Oh, and you know you’re in Steelers heaven when everybody’s favorite local eatery does this for the Super Bowl and has to post disclaimers like this!

What an enormous magnifier is tradition!
How a thing grows in the human memory and in
the human imagination, when love, worship, and all
that lies in the human heart is there to encourage it.
                                         ~ Thomas Carlyle

• The Patriots blow it — ha! Cheaters apparently really never win – ’nuff said about this 18-1 team
• Eli Manning wins the big one the year after his big brother does (imagine how their PARENTS feel?)
• The Giants defense is amazing — and if there’s one thing every Steelers fan appreciates, it’s great DEE-fense.
• The Giants win as underdogs, after winning all their playoff games on the road, just as the Steelers did 2 years ago
• Belichick does not equal Chuck Noll’s record 4 coaching wins
• Brady does not join Bradshaw and Montana with 4 SB wins
• Belichick shows a huge lack of class (big surprise) by leaving the field before the game ended
• Plaxico demonstrates humility and grace in his first, teary post-game interview — qualities that certainly weren’t part of his persona during his Steelers years
• Ben has a funny commercial for American Idol
• Tom Petty gives a great half-time show

Actually, that last point was going to be the topic of this post — before the game turned out so well. The most humorous aspect — when they let people storm the field as soon as the band started (surprising, because what if someone had tripped and been trampled?) And then you see that none of the stage-rushers was even alive when the songs Petty was belting out were hits. What, these kids learned the songs from their parents?

I couldn’t help but think how great it would have been if the field had been stormed by middle-agers like me…likely would have been a slower storm, but we’d have gotten to the stage eventually. At least it would have seemed realistic (but likely a lot less eye candy for the cameras). Too funny.

It reminded me of Mike’s and my experience last summer when we saw Huey Lewis in concert. I had forgotten how many hits he had — there were at least 10 songs everyone knew all the words to. But it was definitely an older crowd out there under the stars at Seven Springs reliving the ’80s and their youth. Huey still sounds great, by the way.

Ditto Petty & Co. I was impressed by how good they looked, spiffy in their suits, stars all the way. So refreshing after so much grunge, as was hearing their always unique sound. It’s hilarious that after the Janet Jackson debacle, the NFL has stuck with boomer-friendly rockers…Paul McCartney, the Stones, Prince, and now Tom Petty. And the halftime shows have never been better.

So, congrats to Petty and the Heartbreakers for a great show, and to Manning and the Giants for an even better one. Way to go runnin’ down the dream.

Sports serve society by providing vivid examples of excellence.
                                                                          ~ George Will