If My Aunt Had Balls, She'd Be My Uncle

Since I grew up in Iowa, my allegiance to the Pittsburgh Steelers might have been a simple case of mistaken identity. The uniform of my beloved Steelers and the University of Iowa Hawkeyes was probably difficult for me to distinguish while I was a child. Nevertheless, I am and have been a Steelers fan for as long as I can remember.

This is challenging because when you support a successful team that is not your hometown team (Iowa, incidentally, has no professional hometown teams) you get labeled as a bandwagon jumper, a fair-weather fan, etc., and your team is accused of getting all the breaks. Last night's Super Bowl was no exception.

Today I have oscillated between the pride of a historic accomplishment and the irritation with those who are disappointed with the outcome. Most of those who are disappointed are picking apart every detail and piece of minutiae related to last night's game (I guess I am a glutton for punishment because I have been checking message boards to read all of those claims) and clamoring for one more shot or changing a play and changing the outcome of the game in their minds.

My favorite of all the comments is from those who claim that they are not fans of either team. While that may be true, you don't go to message boards if you don't have a rooting interest. Earlier this year, a referee blew a call in a Denver Broncos-San Diego Chargers game. After seeing the replay, it was an obvious mistake; however, it didn't cost the Chargers the game. They had two opportunities to stop the Broncos from winning the game and they failed. I, who had no rooting interest, never went to a message board to disparage the referee, Ed Hochuli, even though I could plainly see it was an error in judgment and he admitted as much after the game.

The great thing about team sports is that there are no perfect performances. Nobody executes everything perfectly all of the time because that would be impossible. Sports are compelling because there is adversity and timeliness and obstacles to overcome. Referees miss calls, players miss tackles and blocks, and somebody eventually perseveres.

So for all those who say that there was a hold or a clip on James Harrison's amazing interception return for a touchdown, tough shit. For all those who claim that Kurt Warner did not fumble on Arizona's final offensive play of the game, too bad. For those who wanted to see a flag thrown because Santonio Holmes used the ball as a prop after scoring what turned out to be the game's final and deciding touchdown, boo-hoo.

When the Steelers got torched on that touchdown pass that Kurt Warner threw to Larry Fitzgerald, I told my wife that the Steelers had a tremendous opportunity. They took advantage of that opportunity and won the game, period.