Super Bowl XLV.

Well, here we go again.

As long as I can remember I have been a Pittsburgh Steelers fan.  Sunday night they beat the New York Jets 24-19 to advance to play the Green Bay Packers in Super Bowl XLV (45) on February 6th in Arlington, TX.  Needless to say, I am pumped as any fan of the Steelers would be, in a reserved manner.

I don't talk smack to my friends about the Steelers or any of my teams as a general rule.  I do so for a few good reasons.  The main one being that I don't want to look like a total jackass if the shoe drops for the Packers and Pittsburgh loses.  I did that in 1996 when the classic matchup happened between the Steelers and the Dallas Cowboys and I had to take my lumps from my co-workers who were predominantly Dallas fans as you may have guessed.  It wasn't pretty.

I remain confident, however that the Steelers will prevail on Super Bowl Sunday and win an unprecendented 7th Super Bowl title.  I can say that I have been alive for every single one of them.  From the four that happened when I was in grade school to the 2006 and 2009 victories I have been part of every single one of them.  I am proud to be a die hard fan of the Steelers and of all my favorite teams which posed a bit of a quandry this season on the NFC side of the ball.

The Packers beat the Chicago Bears to earn their spot in the big dance and they are the only team in that conference that I can say I really root for.  I have since the heady days of the 1985 Mike Ditka/Buddy Ryan, "Super Bowl Shuffle" team that had Jim McMahon and Walter Payton and William "Refrigerator" Perry.  They were a BEAST of a team in their day, truly one of the best teams ever in the annals of NFL history, even though they only were around for two seasons or so.

That was nearly 30 years ago (ugh, I'm old), but I followed them in a quiet fashion along with my beloved Steelers and this year they had a better-than-average shot at meeting Pittsburgh in the Super Bowl.  It would have been football nirvana for me as both my favorite team would have been there but you know which jersey I would have worn come Super Bowl Sunday?

HELL YEAH!!!