Super Bowl Forty worth the price of admission

Steelers rob Seahawks? The Bus gets his ring

by Ian Van Anden
Assistant Sports Editor

America witnessed its 40th Super Bowl Sunday Feb. 5 as the Steelers and Seahawks fought for the right to be National Football League Champion. When it was all said and done, the Steelers marched away with 21-10 victory and the Lombardi Trophy.
In a game filled with both controversy and excitement, the nation couldn’t have asked for anymore from the nation’s top two football teams.
The game started out very slow and with the exception of three attention grabbing plays was pretty uneventful. The first quarter resulted in only three points, when Seahawks place kicker, Josh Brown hit a 47-yard field goal with 22 seconds remaining in the quarter.
The score came after Seahawks wide receiver Darrell Jackson was called for offensive pass interference in the endzone. Jackson had caught an apparent go ahead score but replays show he grazed a Steelers defensive back in order to create space for the catch.
In a league that usually allows the offensive player to all but undress defensive backs in order to get to the ball, saw its referees call the “first” offensive pass interference penalty of the year.
This call prompted much complaint from the Seahawk organization. When they returned to Seattle, Head Coach Mike Holmgren proclaimed, “We knew it was going to be tough against the Pittsburgh Steelers. I didn’t know we were going to have to play the guys in the striped shirts as well.”
This play has been the most controversial and talked about play stemming from the Super Bowl. Well at least from the Seahawk’s side of things.
The Steelers then snatched a four point lead when “Big” Ben Roethlisberger snuck in behind Jerome Bettis and the left side of the Steelers offensive line. After Bettis was stopped on two consecutive running plays inside the five, he led the way for Roethlisberger to find the endzone.
This touchdown was the first of many controversial plays in the game, but the referees seemed to get this one right.
Roethlisberger seemed to barely break the plane of the endzone before being brought to the ground and the original call was a touchdown. Upon further review, the referee found that “Big Ben” did indeed score the game’s first touchdown.
The first half ended with a measly 7-3 score. The nation tuned in to ABC to watch the Rolling Stones perform.
The second half had more highlights and more action. Willie Parker got the half off with a bang as he scampered for a record setting 75-yard touchdown. This score was the longest rushing touchdown in Super Bowl history.
The score came with only two plays into the half with 14:38 left on the game clock. This play seemed to slant the momentum completely to the Steelers sideline.
The Seahawks were able to answer back on three play drive that took them all of 20 yards. This short drive was made possible when Seahawks defensive back Kelly Herndon intercepted a Roethlisberger in the red zone and returned it to the Steelers’ 20 yard line.
Three plays later Seahawks Pro Bowl quarterback Matt Hasselback found his tight end Jeremy Stevens open in the endzone for a 16-yard touchdown pass. The score cut the Steelers’ lead to four points.
The fourth quarter yielded only seven points on the most electrifying play of the game. Up by seven, the Steelers coaching staff decided to pull a trick out of their hat.
The play made use of the versatile talents of their wide receiver Antwaan Randle El, the former Indiana University quarterback, on a wide receiver reverse pass. As Randle El rolled out into the flat he found Super Bowl MVP, wide receiver Hines Ward wide open for a 43 yard score.
The play sealed the victory for the Steelers as their defense would not budge against the Seahawks anxious offense.
The new version of the Iron Curtain yielded only 90 yards to the league MVP and Seahawks most potent offensive threat, Shaun Alexander.
By then end of the night, the Steelers had clinched the coveted Lombardi Trophy and veteran running back Jerome “The Bus” Bettis had finally clinched his World Championship ring.
By winning Super Bowl XL, the Steelers had clinched their fifth Super Bowl title in its franchise’s long and storied history. Their five titles tie them with two other storied franchises, the Dallas Cowboys and San Francisco Forty-Niners.
Upon winning the game, Bettis swiftly announced his retirement, deciding to leave the game with his team on top. At the beginning of the 2006 season, the Steelers will be without emotional leader Bettis but will be known as the defending Super Bowl Champions.
While many tuned into the most watched event on television, two actually watched the most important game of the NFL season, many just simply want to see the commercials.
The commercials have even started to become more important than the game itself. Sporting networks, yes even ESPN, take time out to discuss to the top commercials during the airing of the Super Bowl.
Prices to get company’s slogans, and advertisements in-between the on field action have skyrocketed. And for maybe the only time all year, that channel doesn’t change during commercial breaks.
Some favorites this year came from AmeriQuestt. Bud Light also had some classics. At the Super Bowl party I attended, the favorite was the FedEx commercial that included the cavemen; TiVo was definitely put to use (I however left the room to find the other TV because the game came back on and I could care less about the commercials).
Now advertisers have another year to think up their catchy ads and slogans.

Inside the Numbers

Steelers
Total Yards - 339
Rush Yrds -
181
Pass Yrds -
158
Pentalties -
3 for 20
Turnvers - 2(Ints)

Seahawks
Total Yards - 396
Rush Yrds - 137
Pass Yrds -
259
Pentalties -
7 for 70
Turnovers - 1(Int)

Super Sunday...
It only comes once a year

The Game :
Steelers 21 Seahawks 10

Most Valuable Player :
Hines Ward WR
5 Catches 123 yards 1 TD

Warm heart feeling :
Jerome “The Bus” Bettis finally winning a Super Bowl ring.

Biggest Play :
Antwaan Randle El’s WR reverse pass to Heinz Ward 43-yard TD

Biggest Controversy :
Offensive Pass interference call on WR Darrell Jackson erasing a potential Seahawk TD. Did the zebras play fair?

Best Steeler’s Quote :
“I’m going to Disney World...And I’m taking the Bus”
- Hines Ward

Best Seahawk’s Quote :
“We knew it was going to be tough against the Pittsburgh Steelers. I didn’t know we were going to have to play the guys in the striped shirts as well.”
- Mike Holmgren

Interesting Numbers :
This is the Steeler franchise’s 5th Super Bowl Title.
(‘75, ‘76, ‘79, ‘80). Tied with Dallas and San Francisco for most SB titles all-time.

Willie Parker’s 75-yard TD run is the longest in Super Bowl History