Oh, Arizona... (and Michael Phelps)

-I thought you had it for a second there.

I wasn't sure the Steelers could go on that long of a drive given the way that they hadn't moved the ball since the first quarter. But, that was a hell of a game, probably one of the Top 5 Super Bowl endings of all time. My only complaints were I thought the refs were a little too flag happy (especially with the roughing the passer call on Roethlisberger. We should just start making quarterbacks wear skirts) and I would have like them to take a second look at the final play, just to be sure. I thought his shoulder was at least going forward, so his arm could have been. Whats the harm in waiting 2 minutes to make sure you got it right? Could Arizona have pulled off the ultimate Hail Mary? Doubtful. But it would just have eliminated all doubt about the outcome. As it is, any Steeler hater out there is going to be screaming that the refs were in their pockets, just like after they won Super Bowl XL against the Seahawks.

As for the rest of the stuff that surrounds the game, I like Bruce's performance... right up until the fake ref showed up. Kind of cheesy for the boss. I thought Jennifer Hudson's performance was great (but obviously lip-synced). And the commercials were a weak crop this year. Outside of the Pepsi Max "Guys Can Take Anything" ad, this was easily... EASILY the best thing of the night.

So, between Arizona and the Tampa Bay Rays, I guess this is the year of close-but-not-quite for Cinderella teams. I wonder if that means we'll see a team in the NBA like Memphis get hot and make a late run to make the finals, only to lose to a more storied franchise like the Celtics. Other than the final part of that equation, I wouldn't count on it.

-Now, if I could address Michael Phelps for a second:

Mike (can I call you Mike?), I know you've spent your entire adult life underwater. Because of this, stories about your lack of social skills are far and wide over the web. But you're famous now (at least for like another 2 months... then we'll forget about you until a month before the next Summer Olympics), you need to start being a little more careful. There are going to people who say that they are your friend because you won approximately 47 gold medals. Sketchy waitresses with tattoos covering their backs are going to want to be your girlfriend so you can buy them things. You need to be careful of who you let into your inner circle. Otherwise, when you do something stupid like, oh I don't know... let someone take pictures of you taking a bong hit, they're going to sell them to the highest bidder. Or, here's a wacky idea... don't let anyone take a picture of you taking a bong hit. You're not the first athlete to do pot, you won't be the last. But those guys know to do it behind close doors and away from people with cameras. Your entire image is based on you being a squeaky-clean guy. Now, this won't kill your career or anything, but it is the first chink in your armor. I mean, you don't want to lose that sweet Rosetta Stone money, now do you? Bottom line is, you're at about 14:38 of your 15 minutes. You just need to be careful for a little while longer and then you can go back to your pool and obscurity.