Random Thoughts: Super Bowl Edition

Here are some random thoughts as we get even closer to the big game:

• Today was media day at the Super Bowl, and boy was it ridiculous. The fact that Entertainment Tonight gave Troy Polamalu an award for his hair tells you all you need to know about how overblown this all is! But you know what? It's still fun to have the Steelers be part of this.
  
  
• A reader suggested a new nickname for Troy Polamalu: "Neo", after the Keanu Reeves character in The Matrix, because "clearly the rules of the matrix do not apply to Troy". I kind of like it, so I'm putting it up here to see if it catches on.
  
  
• I thought it was cool that the Steelers got off the plane in Detroit yesterday wearing #6 Notre Dame jerseys in honor of Jerome Bettis. While I am starting to get sick of hearing all the "Bettis is back home" stories, it really is the big story of this Super Bowl. I'm also hoping that the Bus being the focus of all the attention will take pressure off of the guys who are actually starting in the game on Sunday (no offense to Bettis, but he's probably not going to win or lose this game for us).
  
  
• Warning: I'm about to do something that I always complain about when other fans do, but I can't help it. I was watching highlights of all this season's games on the NFL Network last night, and I realized something: the refs really have been screwing us over ALL season. Everyone is well aware of the atrocities that occured during the playoffs, but think back to some of the calls earlier in the season: the TD they called back in San Diego because the guy supposedly touched Hines' foot, that "fair catch interference" call on Chidi Iwoma that same game, touchy personal foul calls in the first Bengals game, calling back a Hines TD in the Cleveland game even though replay was inconclusive at best, ect. It's been a bad year all around for the refs, but the Steelers can definitely make the case that they were often the target.
  
  
• As mentioned a few paragraphs ago, all the talk has been about Bettis possibly winning the Super Bowl in his hometown in what will be his last game. But one story that has not gotten enough attention is the fact that after 14 years of coaching the Pittsburgh Steelers, Bill Cowher is one step away from accomplishing his ultimate goal. It is amazing enough that a coach would even last that long in this day and age, and it's even more astounding that a guy who has been around that long and has had as much success as Cowher still hasn't won the big one. I've almost always defended Cowher on this web site over the years, even when so many other wanted him fired. I would really be happy to see him finally get the championship that he deserves.