Friday, May 1, 2009 The Steelers make Pittsburgh "Six-burgh" By Nick Blake sports editor npbso4Knpsu.edu Feb. 6, 2009 All of the hype and build up has passed, and the NFL has crowned a new champion. The Pittsburgh Steelers are Super Bowl XLIII champions. Tampa Bay played host to the most watched Super Bowl ever last week, and fans were treated to what’s being debat ed as the best Super Bowl ever played. The Arizona Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Steelers met at Raymond James Stadium on Feb. 1 for what was sure to be a battle of epic proportions. The Arizona Cardinals have one of the most prolific offens es in the NFL, led by experi enced quarterback Kurt Warner apd the tworheaded monster receivers of Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin. The Pittsburgh Steelers, on the other hand, have one of the best defenses in the NFL. In fact, they did have the best defense in the league this year, ranking number one. After the numerous pregame festivities, it was finally time for the game to begin. The Cardinals won the coin toss and elected to defer to the sec ond half, giving the Steelers the ball to start the game. The Steelers didn’t waste Rachel Reeves is Spring 'O9 champ REEVES UPSETS SATTELY; TAKES AWAY TITLE By Connor Sattely managing editor cisso6o(a psu.edu Last fall, there was a bet. Whoever fell behind between Rachel and I in ratings would write an article detailing why the other person was a better sports fan. The article went over great (Thanks, Rachel), and we went on with the year. This semester, there was no bet. But, in the interest of sportsmanship, I feel that it is necessary to educate the entire Penn State Behrend communi ty on why Rachel Reeves is a better sports fan than I am. First, this semester’s contest was more comprehensive in its scope of sports. While our fall competition largely only took professional and college foot ball into account, this spring’s Beat the Experts brought in at least six different sports, at all different levels. Baseball, hockey, professional and col lege football, and more. Thus, Rachel obviously has a more extensive knowledge of sports as a whole, because her domination with a mixed sports picking competition shows that while her weakness may be football, her expertise expands through all genres of sports. Her knowledge of near ly every sports team currently any time getting their offense going on their first possession. Right off the bat, Steelers quar terback Ben Roethlisberger found an open Hines Ward for a 38-yard gain to the Cardinals’ 32-yard line. A couple running plays to runningback Willie Parker and a pass to tight end Heath Miller to set up first-and-goal for the Black and Gold. On a third-and-goal, Roethlisberger took it into his own hands to get the ball into the end zone. Roethlisberger appeared to fight his way across the goal line, but the Cardinals challenged the play, which revealed Big Ben’s knee hitting the ground prior to reaching the end zone. The Steelers settled for an 18-yard field goal from Jeff Reed to take a 3-0 lead. The Cardinals weren’t exact ly on fire on their first offen sive drive. They gained no yardage on their first play. On second down, quarterback Kurt Warner hit wide receiver Steve Breaston for a 10-yard gain, but it was wiped away due to a holding penalty. After that, they couldn’t get going and were forced to punt. The Black and Gold kept it coming with their offenseive machine running. Roethlisberger was still hot, finding wide receiver Santonio Holmes for a 25-yard gain. On Super Bowl XLIII MVP Santonio Holmes hauls in the game winning touchdown at the end of the fourth quarter. Beat The Experts: Seldom in the realm of man has such playing in the country is noth ing less than the sign of a sports prodigy. Secondly, Rachel presented her domination on a week-by week basis. Whereas my victo ry in fall was barely slipped by with a margin of only a few picks, she took the cake with a margin of eight votes. Towards the end of the year, she forced me into picking upsets to try to catch up. My terrible picks last week such as calling the Yankees over teh Red Sox, and the Devils over the Hurricanes, are evidence of my desperation. By the end of the year, I was as desolate and miserable as a winter in Erie. Sports the following play, the Steelers were tagged with a false start penalty backing them up. The Steelers were unable to get much going, and were forced into a third-and-ten sit uation. Roethlisberger was under pressure but was able to escape, hitting Miller for an 11- yard gain and a first down. After another 11-yard pass to Miller and an eight-yard run by Parker, the Steelers were again knocking at the door. The Steelers worked their way to the one-yard line where they faced another third-and-goal situation. They would find pay dirt this time when running back Gary Russel pounded his way across the goal line giving the Steelers a 10-0 lead. With the offense that the Cardinals were equipped with, there was no way that they were going to lay down for the Steelers. Warner came through with a huge play to Boldin which net ted 45-yards to the Steelers one-yard line. Warner threw a pass to Ben Patrick who made an amazing catch in the end zone, cutting the lead to 10-7. On the next two drives, the teams were deadlocked, with neither team able to get any thing done. On the Steelers next posses sion, Roethlisberger had a pass tipped by Cardinals’ defensive lineman Bryan Robinson, DANIEL SMITH / The Behrend Beacon sports domination been witnessed. Third, her powers to divine the winning team in any con test borders on the clairvoyant. Every week, she would predict with stunning accuracy upsets of all types, and would even call closely-matched games with extreme precision. Mostly, I am gracious for the opportunity to work with a gift ed sports fan like Rachel. Every week, I would nearly beg her to teach me her method for picking teams. “Rachel! Please! Have mercy,” I would cry week after week. She would respond only with a smirk, as she nailed down pick after pick. The cruelty and cold-blood- which ended up being picked off by linebacker Karlos Dansby at the Steelers 33-yard line. The Steelers forced two incomplete passes from Warner on the first two plays of the drive, but the Cardinals would strike. On third down, Warner hit runningback Tim Hightower for a first down. With back-to back passes to Fitzgerald and Boldin, the Cardinals were on the one-yard line and were poised to go into halftime with the lead. Warner dropped back for a pass to the end zone and was intercepted by the NFL’s Defensive Player of the Year, linebacker James Harrison. With some athletic moves and key blocks from teammates, Harrison returned the inter ception 100 yards for a pick six. It was the longest play in Super Bowl history. “It was very tiring, but it was all worth it. I was just thinking that I had to do whatever I could to get to the other end zone and get seven. I just want ed to help my team win. That was it. That was all I was think ing about,” Harrison said. This was the final play of the first half, giving the Steelers a 17-7 lead at halftime. The Cardinals got the ball to start the second half and they got it moving. Warner got the ed nature of Rachel as a sports fan haunted my days and my nights. Many nights, I would wake with a cold sweat, after a terrible nightmare in which I had to hold a two-hour conver sation with Peyton Manning. Oooohh, the forehead. Rather than educate her competition, Rachel went to great lengths keeping me in the dark. Still, I feel that some how, I was able to learn some of her sports knowledge sim ply by being in the same pizza filled, coffee-laden newsroom. Her knowledge of great picks extend beyond sports, howev er. She can pick almost any thing, from a guitar string, to a nose, to an opposing player in a basketball game. She’s unbe lievable, and unstoppable. The bottom line, and the fourth column here is that Rachel Reeves is clearly a bet ter sports fan than Connor Sattely. Her extensive breadth of sports knowledge extends far beyond merely football. Her consistent picks were dev astating, and her prowess at picking extends far beyond the world of sports. Final Score for Spring 2009: Rachel: 124-64 Connor: 116-72 The Behrend Beacon I 7 ball to Boldin and then run ningback Edgerrin James wheeled off three straight runs that totaled 19 yards. The Steeler defense slammed the door shut, though, allowing just two short gains and forcing an incom plete pass on the third-down play. This forced the Cardinals into a punt. To start the drive, Holmes broke out for a six-yard recep tion, and a facemask penalty against the Cardinals added 15 yards to the play. Roethlisberger kept going to the air, hitting tight end Matt Spaeth and wide receiver Hines Ward. On another pass ing play, Roethlisberger was hit late and the Steelers were given 15 yards from a roughing the passer penalty. Parker then trotted for 15 yards, giving the Steelers another new set of downs. They were kept out of the end zone, though, and settled for a 27-yard field goal from Reed giving them a 20-7 lead with 2:16 left in the third quarter. This was the Super Bowl and the Cardinals still weren’t fin ished. Warner led his offense down the field on an outstand ing drive. He completed all eight of his passes on the 87- yard drive which was capped off by a one-yard, acrobatic catch by Fitzgerald, cutting the lead to 20-14. The Cardinals got the ball back after holding the Steelers, but were unable to get going. But they pinned the Steelers on their own one-yard line on a magnificent punt. On third down, Steelers’ cen ter Justin Hartwig was flagged for holding in the end zone. The penalty resulted in a safe ty cutting an already slim lead to 20-16. After the free kick from the Black and Gold, the Cardinals’ offense wasted no time driving down the field. Warner found Fitzgerald down the middle and he was off to the races and a touchdown giving the Cardinals their first lead of the game 23-20, with 2:35 left to play. The Steelers still had some fight in them. Roethlisberger was able to drive his offense down field, scramble after scramble and pump fake after pump fake. The Steelers were able to work their way inside the Cardinals’ 10-yard line with time running out. Wille Colon takes in the win amongst the confetti, With :35 left in the game, Roethlisberger was able to thread a perfect pass through three defenders to Holmes in the back of the end zone who made a tip-toe catch to give the Black and Gold a 27-23 lead. The Cardinals had one more chance, but while Warner was preparing to unleash a last ditch, Hail Mary pass, he was stripped by line backer Lamar Woodley and the Steelers recoverd the fumble. The final score was 27-23 giving the Steelers their NFL franchise record sixth Super Bowl title. Holmes was named MVP of the game racking up nine catches for 131 yards and the game-winning touchdown. “It was a play we drew up that we were hoping to get open in the comer. The defen sive back bit up on the short route and Ben (Roethlisberger) held onto the ball long enough to get it to me,” Holmes said. Troy Polamalu found the final five minutes of the game to be very gut wrenching. “Oh my God, I don’t know. You can’t explain it. You are seconds away from me crying in the locker room, and them being out here. That’s how amazing this game is,” Polamalu said. Ward had faith in his team and was proud of how they were able to comeback. “It speaks volumes about our team. We never gave up. To come back and win like that, is just unbelievable," Ward said. Head coach Mike Tomlin won his first Super Bowl in his second year in the league, but knew he could win it, and could see himself winning it. “That’s what we all work for. That’s the planning that we put in for it, like 31 other guys. Somebody’s going to be the one, and I’m just thankful that it’s us this year,” said Tomlin. This Super Bowl was the most watched television pro gram in U.S. history with a total audience of 151.6 million viewers. The two teams didn’t disappoint. Super Bowl XLIII is being debated as being the best Super Bowl ever. It very well may be, and it is sure that there will be more great ones to follow. Don’t forget to catch all of your favorite NFL all-stars in this year’s Pro Bowl. The game will be in Honolulu, Hawaii on Feb. 8 at 4:30 p.m. on NBC.
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