Champions Once Again

A "Super" wish for 3 friends

You know you are getting old when some of your friends don’t even remember the last time the Steelers won the Super Bowl.....three of my friends (the 3 Js), are huge Steeler fans....the last time the city of Pittsburgh celebrated a Super Bowl title, these guys were still wearing diapers....(not to say that one of them still doesn’t wear a diaper every now and then – but that is another story)....

Like I have written before, Bill Cowher deserves to win this game.....and it would be nice to see a class-act like Jerome Bettis leave with a Super Bowl ring.....but on a personal note, these three buddies of mine also deserve to see their Steelers win the Super Bowl....

Over the last two weeks I have seen many Browns fans oozing with jealousy and trying to take any cheap shot they can at the Steelers.....The Vindicator’s Joe Scalzo acted like a first-grader when he predicted the Seahawks to win by the score of 637 gazillion to 0.....(grow up already!!!).....and of course The Plain Dealer took their cheap shots at the city of Pittsburgh which I thought was strange being that Cleveland has been rated one of the worst cities in the nation and a city who’s river caught on fire many years ago....Yeh, the Browns fans have been very sore losers.....even if Pittsbugh loses today, the Browns fans should still keep their traps shut....remember, the Steelers waxed the Browns twice this year including a 41-0 drubbing at Steelers Field....errrr, I mean Cleveland Browns Stadium....

So yes it would be nice to see the Steelers win because these three friends are class individuals.....they love their Steelers but they are not obnoxious or arrogant....they love their Iron City Beer and Black and Gold....they may often sleep with their Terrible Towel....they have come so close to glory only to be disappointed by losing to the Chargers and Patriots....and having Bill Romanowski talk trash at Three Rivers.....who can forget the 15-1 record only to fall short....and the name Larry Brown still haunts them....they made it through Neil and Kordell....and how can we forget Tommy Gun....there was Barry and Bam....and thank God there is now Bettis....and where is Yancey??.....and to them Myron Cope is a God.....

Hopefully around 10:30 p.m. today, they can crack open an Iron City and have a toast to their team -- Double Yoi!!! -- the World Champions!!!!

Super Bowl Memory - Dallas' misfortune

The Steelers third Super Bowl victory may have been their most fortunate....Super Bowl XIII, pitted the first ever re-match of a prior Super Bowl game....

In Super Bowl X, the Steelers beat the Dallas Cowboys 21-17 in Miami....three years later the two foes would meet again in the same place - the Miami Orange Bowl....

Prior to the game, Dallas linebacker Hollywood Henderson berated Steeler quarterback Terry Bradshaw by saying that Bradshaw was so dumb that he could not spell "cat" if you spotted him the "c" and "a".....Henderson’s rants only added fuel to the game’s fire....

After a dead even first quarter (7-7), Dallas jumped to a 14-7 lead early in quarter two when Henderson sacked Bradshaw and Larry Hegman stripped the ball from Bradshaw and ran 37-yards for a touchdown.....that lead last only 1:43 as Bradshaw struck back with a 75-yard pass to John Stallworth to tie the game.....

The Cowboys were marching deep into Steeler territory late in the half when Mel Blount killed the Dallas rally with an interception of Roger Staubach....with less than two minutes left, Bradshaw led the Steelers to a 21-14 halftime lead in just six plays....

Most of the third quarter was a series of punts....however, late in the quarter Dallas began marching toward a game tying touchdown.....with the ball third and three at the Steeler nine-yard line, Staubach hit a wide open Jackie Smith in the middle of the endzone, only to see Smith drop a guaranteed touchdown....Smith managed to get behind the Pittsburgh defense, but this future Hall of Famer who was acquired late in the year from the St. Louis Cardinals quickly became a goat....but the Cowboys misfortune was just beginning....

With the scoreboard showing a narrow Steeler lead at 21-17, Pittsburgh knew they had to score more points....with a drive going, Bradshaw threw a pass deep toward Lynn Swann, however, his legs got tied up with Dallas cornerback Benny Barnes.....at the very least it was incidental contact....but more than likely the official would say the ball was not catchable.....inexplicably, a flag was thrown – and it was called pass interference on Barnes....that would be the second bad break for the Cowboys, but not the last on this drive....

Four plays later, the Steelers had a third and nine at the Dallas 22 when Franco Harris galloped right through the middle of the Dallas defense for a touchdown.....but replays showed that Harris would have been stopped short of the first down as Cowboy safety Charlie Waters had a clear beat on Harris....however, the umpire got in Waters way which allowed Harris a clean alley toward the endzone....this was the third bad break....

The fourth bad break came on the ensuing kick-off when Roy Gerala slipped on his kick-off attempt and booted it right to Dallas’ Randy White....however, White was playing with a cast on his one hand and was unable to handle the kick....with the ball loose on the ground, the Steelers recovered....

And once again, Bradshaw wasted no time as he hit Swann in the back of the endzone on a sliding 18-yard touchdown to make it 35-17....

Any lesser team would have caved in, but behind the arm and spirit of Staubach, the Cowboys scored twice to make it 35-31 with 22 seconds left.....however the Steelers recovered the onside kick to seal the victory....

Within a nine minute span, the Cowboys watched a Super Bowl win slip through their hands because of four unfortunate plays....