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February 2009
BY SHARIYF GOLDSTEIN
Staff Writer
On February 1, the Pittsburgh
Steelers won their record break-
ing sixth Super Bowl when they
beat the Arizona Cardinals 27-23.
In probably the most memorable
Super Bowl in recent history, the
game literally had it all. The
game itself was well played by
both teams and was really close.
Ben Roethlisberger, the
Steeler’s quarterback, scored a
touchdown in the first half of the
game. Even though Kurt Warner,
the Cardinal’s quarterback, got
sacked in the second quarter, the
offense was on point, and they
used their speed early in the
game. Larry Fitzgerald, Cardinals
wide receiver, even had two
touchdowns, with one being a 60
yard touchdown. However, Pitts-
burgh showed why they are a
dominant force ‘and intercepted a
burgh linebacker James Harrison.
Harrison went a full 100 yards for
the touchdown. As the game pro-
gressed, Arizona got the lead
when the ball was passed to Fitz-
gerald who made the touchdown
to increase the score to 20-14.
The Cardinals would punt the ball
and put the Steelers at the 1 yard
line. Roethlisberger would go on
to throw a 20 yard pass to Santo-
nio Holmes, but their teammate
Justin Hartwig was called for
holding in the endzone. This
would result in a safety, making it
a 20-16 game. Arizona got the
ball back and within two plays
they scored a touchdown pass to
Fitzgerald. Making it 23-20, their
2:37 left in the 4™ quarter Pitts-
burgh had to act now or never. As
time was going down, Pittsburgh
began to get closer and closer to
the ball to Santonio Holmes for
the touchdown, which was re-
viewed first then the call stood.
With just 35 seconds left, Warner
completed passes to both Fitzger-
ald and Arrington. The ball was
now on the Steelers 44 yard line
and all they needed now was a
BY ANDREW KEYSER
Staff Writer
During the month of February
some important events occur.
Events like Groundhog Day on
February 2, Valentine’s' Day on
February 14, and President’s Day
on February 16, but what NAS-
CAR fans look forward to hap-
pens on February 15, and that
the 2009 NASCAR season.
The Daytona 500 is nick-
Race.” The big race. is held at
Daytona International Speedway
in Daytona Beach, Florida. Be-
fore NASCAR, races were con-
ducted on the asphalt surface of
Drivers
5
the races out on the sandy beach
of Daytona Beach, on the beach
itself. Racing on the beaches were
cars that were family cars freshly
taken off the road to see if the
driver could go faster than the
other guy. These crude races were
organized into the National Asso-
ciation of Stock Car Auto Racing
(NASCAR).
After NASCAR was formed, the
Daytona International Speedway
CAR, Bill France Sr. This Busi-
ness venture left France broke,
but he had a track on which “The
Great American Race” would be
run. In. 1958, NASCAR and Day-
_torsports stars came into the
track, they could not help but
to be impressed by the mas-
terpiece that France built. Peo-
ple were so impressed because
fo track was like no other
track anyone had ‘seen with its
and even a lake in the infield of
the track.
Right off the bat with the
first race, Daytona earned some
of its mystique. This was made
possible by not a horrible crash,
or motors blowing up, or a crowd
throwing things onto the race-
track, but the finish at the end of
the race with the win given to the
wrong driver. At the end of the
race, the win was given to Johnny
Beauchamp; later the decision
footage from a news camera at
the start/finish line. This footage
showed Lee Petty’s Oldsmobile
nosing across the line before
Beauchamp’ s Ford. :
The Daytona 500, one
event in the NASCAR season is
viewed by some to be more pres-
tigious than winning the champi-
onship for the season. This mind-
set is supported by the names en-
graved on the Daytona 500 tro-
phy, names like Lee Petty, Rich-
many other legendary racecar -
drivers’ names are on that trophy.
Drivers may win countless races
held at other tracks, but the Day-
tona 500 is a race that they dream
of winning. With humble begin-
nings, seeing the birth of a mo-
torsport to being the one everyone
wants to win, it is easy to see why
the Daytona 500 is a very special
race. ir
This year’s running of the
Daytona 500 will be the 51* time
it is to be held, and will surely be
another race to remember. With
new faces to watch compete for
the dream or just old faces with a
new season in front of them, this
Daytona 500 is guaranteed to im-
press. The race will be aired on
Fox Sports television (channels
vision provider). The event is
supposed to begin around 4:00 E/
T with pre-race ceremonies and
the extra pre-race ceremonies and