Super Bowl Champions!

Congratulations to the Pittsburgh Steelers for winning their sixth Super Bowl Championship by defeating the Arizona Cardinals 27-23. I recommend visiting the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette for full coverage of the game as well as any and all of the blogs listed in the links sections on the right for other takes on the game. While I remain amazed by the James Harrison interception and touchdown return and the Santonio Holmes winning catch, for now, I want to write about the Steelers in general as opposed to the specifics of the game. (I may write more about the specifics later today or sometime over the next few days.)

I feel extremely lucky to have been born in Pittsburgh and to be a Steelers fan. I was too young to remember the first four Super Bowl titles, but learned all about the Steelers history from my dad and great uncle. Six Super Bowl championships are unprecedented and the tradition of excellence starts with the Rooney family. The Rooneys are model owners in the NFL as demonstrated by the continuity in the organization. How else can you explain the fact that there have only been three head coaches since 1969? Coach Mike Tomlin is an excellent leader and defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau may be the most respected coach in the league.

I linked to two stories yesterday about the legacy and history of The Terrible Towel and how all of the proceeds from each towel purchased go to the Allegheny Valley School. Every sports team seems to distribute towels or pom-poms for meaningful games, but, to my knowledge, the Steelers were the first major team to have this. I don’t think there is a curse involved with the towel, but bad things happen when you disrespect it. Did you hear that T.J. Houshmandzadeh and mayor of Phoenix?

Being a Steelers fan is easy. The team isn’t flashy and is known for tough defense and grind-it-out running game (though not so much with the running game this season). You generally don’t hear about Steelers players getting arrested or causing problems. Instead, you get great players and people like James Farrior, Troy Polamalu and Hines Ward. The Steelers work ethic reflects the city and vice versa. The Steelers are Pittsburgh. I am extremely proud of the Steelers and congratulate the team and the city of Pittsburgh on number six! Way to go Steelers!


P.S. I hope I didn't ruin this post by including a Bubby Brister picture. He was #6!