Road To The Super Bowl
This year’s NFL season has some extra motivation for me. Maybe you know our Sistersville Mayor, Bill Rice, is a huge Green Bay Packers fan. Just look at his truck. We made a bet at the beginning of the NFL season on whose team would make it the farthest in the playoffs, the Pittsburgh Steelers for me or Green Bay for Bill. The payout for the wager is the loser must wear the other team’s baseball cap for a week. This kind of bet, often referred to as a side bet, doesn’t carry much of a chance of losing your job, your spouse, or any body parts, but it still can be brutal. I read about one sportswriter that lost his “Don’t Hat Me” bet and was forced to wear a crazy Christmas reindeer lid for a week complete with blinking lights and terrible music. A Green Bay Packers hat would be almost as bad.
For Bill, since Green Bay clinched the division in week 16, his path to playoffs has been straightforward. For me, the Steelers chose the road full of hairpin curves that had fair weather fans packing up their gear and ready to go home. It is nothing short of a miracle for the Steelers to still be alive. It came down to the team needing to win the last two games and get help from others to grab a wildcard spot in the playoffs. It happened. The Steelers did their part and beat Cleveland and Baltimore, and Jacksonville shocked everyone and beat Indianapolis. Then in a crazy twist both the Las Vegas Raiders and the Los Angeles Chargers could have made the playoffs if their regular season finale had ended in a tie which would have forced the Steelers out of post season play. Steeler fans can thank the football gods there was a winner in the game, the Raiders, by kicking a game winning field goal in overtime that pushed Pittsburgh and Las Vegas in and Los Angeles out. I will admit even I was a doubting Thomas leading up to gametime, but everything that had to happen did, and the Steelers are in and the bet lives on. If things continue to pan out, our town mayor will soon be sporting a good-looking Steeler cap. Stay tuned.
I have shared before I have been a Steelers fan all my life. I have cheered for them in every state my family and I have called home. I especially enjoyed the few years we lived close to downtown Pittsburgh, but still cheered just as hard while living in North Carolina and Michigan. Ben’s last home game at Heinz Field reminded me of all the success he has brought to the Steelers. The future Hall of Famer signed his first contract with the Steelers in August of 2004 and led the team to a 14-1 record with an appearance in the AFC League Championship. He was named Rookie of the Year. In just his second season with the team, Ben helped the Steelers win the 2006 Super Bowl, becoming the youngest quarterback to win a Super Bowl Ring. That game was particularly sweet for my family as it was played at Ford Field in Detroit while we were living in Michigan. Then three years later Ben captured another Super Bowl title gaining the “One for the Thumb.” The 2021- 2022 season has been full of ups and downs. Once it was made public that Ben would be calling it quits, he was called upon to work his magic to beat Cleveland and then Baltimore in the final game. Especially special for me was to see Coach Blaine Stewart, son of the late Bill Stewart, warming up Big Ben with passing drills prior to the Baltimore game.
By the time you read this, the dye will have been cast for the Steelers. Their wildcard game is Sunday evening against Kanas City. No matter the outcome, Steeler Nation will forever be grateful to Ben Roethlisberger. We watched him grow up during his 18-year career from a rookie quarterback out of Miami University to a team leader capturing the Super Bowl championship twice and appearing in the Pro Bowl five times. Big Ben is so popular in the city of Pittsburgh a local restaurant named their burger in his honor. You can go to Peppi’s Old Tyme Sandwich Shoppe in three locations in the city to get #7 the “Roethlis Burger” which features a “sausage and burger juggernaut topped with egg and American cheese.” Sounds real good to me. So, if you see me wearing a Green Bay Packers hat next week you’ll know things did not go our way in Kansas City!
To close out this Press Box, let’s turn our attention to the local high school sports scene; we are nearing the mid-way point of the basketball and wrestling seasons and several teams are having pretty good years. River Local leads the way in boys basketball currently at 13-1 on the season. Tyler Consolidated comes in at 5-3 and heads into the weekend of January 14 & 15 hosting the annual Boggs Classic. The TCHS girls basketball record is 6-4 and they also will be participating in the Boggs Classic. Hundred Lady Hornets are above .500 with a 5-3 record. Tyler Consolidated’s Wrestling program rounded out their dual meet schedule with a record of 12-5 and remained undefeated at home. They next head into the tournament part of the schedule and hope to keep the momentum going. As all our area teams begin the second half of their seasons, we wish them good luck and good health in the new year.