Super Bowl review

• Ah, the day after.  Not used to a loss, but having to deal with it nonetheless.  A reporter in our newspaper said that the worst two weeks were the hype leading up the Super Bowl.  I disagree.  I enjoy those two weeks of buying merchandise and wearing black and gold each day.  I like playing my "Here We Go" Steelers theme song and flying my flags.  The big day actually causes me stress, a sick stomach, and lots of anxiety.  I'm not even sure I enjoyed the game one little bit, not the pregame, not the entertainment, not the commercials.  Certainly not losing.
• So, I'm putting the blame on the shoulders of Ben Roethlisberger.  He is the leader of this team and he didn't lead.  He didn't fire up the defensive.  He didn't light up the offensive.  He couldn't get anything started, and he should have had no trouble doing so.  This was his third time.  He had the talent, the years of experience, and the fans.  Perhaps not being able to party as hard as he has done in the past was an issue...shades of Tiger Woods?  If so, he had better buckle down in the offseason and find a way to win again.
• I'm also putting the blame on coach Mike Tomlin.  I don't know if he didn't, but he should have grabbed Ben by the shoulders before that last drive.  He should have grabbed his head between his hands, looked him in the eye, and said, "You are the leader of this team.  This team is a group of winners.  Lead these guys down the field and win this damn game!  No excuses.  Win the damn game."
• Hines Ward tried getting into Ben's head, but maybe, just maybe, they had all had enough of that.  
• I never expected to be where we were Sunday night.  I watched too many games this past season where the offensive couldn't move and the games were won by the defense.  That defense didn't show up Sunday night.  Without the defense and without Ben's leadership we were flat.  
• Troy Polamalu was the AP's Defensive Player of the Year.  He deserved it, no questions there, and anyone that says otherwise is just plain crazy.  What he did in the Bowl doesn't change that.  Just wished he could have shown up as the defensive Troy we all know and love.  
• I really believe we were the better team.  We should have won.
• Tired of listening to the bloggers talking about how James Harrison ranted on about his fines during media day.  Was anyone paying attention besides me?  Media day could be an interesting and funny experience, but seriously?, the questions asked of these players?  Some idiot reporter questioned Harrison about the fines.  He didn't bring them up.  Reporter after reporter kept asking him about them and they wanted a response.  So Harrison tried to be funny, and he was.  I about peed my pants when he talked about putting a pillow down on the field.  And ending it with "Mr. Goodell".  Hilarious stuff and not at all vicious.  Yet?  Reporters and bloggers blowing it out of the water.  Stop!  Take it the way it was meant to be...good fun.
• Also was annoyed at the woman reporter that asked the stupid questions of Troy Polamalu on media day regarding his hair, Cher, and the movie Burlesque.  This is why no one takes women seriously in the world of football.  Poor Troy didn't have a clue what she was going on about, but he did turn it around by singing a stanza of Cher's Believe.
• Kudos to the Packers.  If we had to lose to a team, I guess it wasn't so bad to lose to them.  I enjoyed watching Brett Favre lead them back in the day, and I have a few friends that are Packers fans so that made it easier.  I didn't know much about them this year as I was annoyed at the way the Favre situation was handled, but the President of the Packers team is the son of a friend of mine.  He flew his mother to the Super Bowl and when they showed him on the field at the end of the game it brought a tear to my eye as he looked so much like my dear friend, Murphy, his father.  Mark Murphy is a mighty fine fellow, a fellow NFL'er, and he was a pride of joy to his dad.  Mark got the Packers job as Murph discovered he had a brain tumor, and I helped Murph put the block of cheese on his head that Mark sent him in the rehab center.  I told him that it was against what I believed in, but that I would faithful cheer the Packers when they weren't going against my Steelers.  Murphy would have so enjoyed this Sunday...and so the loss is bittersweet and not so hard to take in the scheme of life...