Super Sunday

For the second straight year Super Bowl Sunday produced a memorable game that went right down to the very end with the Pittsburgh Steelers pulling out a heart-wrenching 27-23 victory over the upstart Arizona Cardinals in Tampa, Florida. For those who thought nothing could top the Giants last-minute victory over New England last year, Super Bowl 43 saw the teams combine for 23 fourth-quarter points and Pittsburgh win a record sixth Vince Lombardi Trophy.

With the exception of one play the game was not very memorable going into the final quarter as the Steelers led a penalty-filled contest 20-7. That one play was a 100-yard interception return by Pittsburgh’s James Harrison on the final play of the first half which gave the black and gold a 17-7 lead just when it appeared Arizona would go ahead.

However the fourth quarter was a classic with the Cardinals scoring 16 unanswered points, capped by Larry Fitzgerald’s 64-yard catch and run which put Arizona ahead 23-20 with just 2:37 left to play. It turned out that was enough time for Ben Roethlisberger, who drove the Steelers downfield and connected with MVP Santonio Holmes on a perfectly-executed pass play with 35 seconds left for the winning score to set off a wild celebration
as fans waved their “terrible towels” in joy.

It seemed many did not have high hopes for the game but the teams put on quite a show and to be honest I think the better team lost. The Cardinals overcame 11 penalties and a 100-yard defensive touchdown to torch the vaunted Steelers defense for 407 yards. But in the end Pittsburgh emerged with the victory on a night which saw Bruce Springteen and the E Street Band rock the house for 12 high energy minutes at halftime. The show and the game made for a very good Super Sunday. As for the commercials…well Doritos stole the show with the snow globe ad. Budweiser’s use of their famous Clydesdales produced a couple of cute spots, I liked the Pepsi commercial featuring Bob Dylan and Will.I.Am and what was more tragic then Ed McMahon and MC Hammer pitching the selling of all their gold? Actually the Cardinals losing in the final minute was pretty sad if you like rooting for the underdog.