Super Bowl XLV

The Conference Championship games are over and the Pittsburgh Steelers will take on the Green Bay Packers for the title of World Champions for the 2010 NFL Season. It will be a match-up of two of the more storied franchises in professional football. The Steelers have six World Championships, all coming in the Super Bowl era. The majority of those titles were earned under Chuck Knoll in the 1970s. The "Steel Curtain" was the name for one of the toughest defenses in the history of the game. The most recent of championships came in 2005 and 2008, each with Ben Roethlisberger leading the team at quarterback.

The Green Bay Packers were in existence a year earlier than the NFL. The team is located in the smallest television market and is owned by the citizens of the city. In 1997 the team opened up the stocks to all of their fans for $200 a piece. It is the only major league franchise operated in this way. Green Bay has a record 12 World Championships including three Super Bowl victories. The Packers enter Super Bowl XLV after taking the NFC Conference Championship from long-time rival, the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field.

This year's title game will be played for the first time at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas. A crowd of 105,000 is expected on February 6th.

Super Bowl Win #6

Although I was cheering for the Cardinals, this is what a Super Bowl should be. After a first quarter domination, I thought we were heading for a Super bore, but the Cardinals kept fighting back and finally took the lead.
How did Ben Roethlisberger continue to elude the Cardinal defensive pressure? Not a Ben fan, he should've been the MVP.
Hats off the Arizona Defense. They continued to stop the Pittsburgh Offense from goal line situations, except for the final drive. They earned a Safety and kept the Steelers to field goals twice when Pittsburgh made it within the five.
I do question some of the penalties, but definitely not a deciding factor in the game.

Super Showdown Set

The Super Bowl is set and let the Kurt Warner saga be repeated for the next two weeks. It is the Cardinals and Steelers and I'm sure few had predicted this match-up when training camp began in July. And today, Cub fans were reminded of how the Cardinals were able to break their 61 year of futility. That was in comparison to the Cubs' 100 years. Thanks, Fox!

But there are other former Iowans involved in this year's game. First year NFL player Ken Iwebema was drafted in April to play for former Iowa Defensive Line coach, Ron Aiken. I could not be any happier for Aiken. Ron is one of the nicer people in the coaching profession. When he left the University many were surprised to see him leave Iowa City with his children in school, for the NFL life in Phoenix. Aiken is truly a family man and put them ahead of his coaching career. He emphasized to me how, at his previous stops, the family would always gather for at least one meal during the season, even if it meant they ate in the car while their sons slept in their car seat. When they moved to Iowa City, Ron would bring his three sons with him to the Cedar Rapids hotel on Friday nights during the season as he met with the team. Each son was well-mannered--yes sir, no sir--and sat in the hotel lobby and read their chosen book. Any time he could spend with his family was precious to Ron. I am very happy to see him have the opportunity to play in the sport's biggest game.

I am also a new fan of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. My loyalties still belong to the Green Bay Packers, but after visiting the Buccaneer complex while in Tampa, I have a new found appreciation. Video Director Dave Levy treated us very well, but also new head coach, Raheem Morris. While Levy and I talked privately in his office, Morris started a conversation with my four students who were waiting in the hallway. Morris spoke with them for nearly five minutes the day following the last game of the season. Levy commented on how great of a person Morris was and how happy he was to have him as the new defensive coordinator. Levy must be very pleased with the hire now.