Welcome to Super Bowl XLIII (43 for those not of Roman descent), temporary home of the Pittsburgh Steelers and Arizona Cardinals, who are fighting for the 2008-2009 crown. One point before we get started: Jennifer Hudson can sing the hell out of the National Anthem.  I still don't think anyone will beat Whitney Huston's version of it, but wow did she take a good run at it.

Game time!  Arizona wins the coin flip... and defers!  What!?  Perfect weather, little to no wind and a shaky (albeit on a very hot streak of late) defense, and you're going to give the ball away to start them game off?  What happened to leading with strength, putting your best foot forward, etc.?  Arizona got to the Super Bowl on the strength of an increasingly clutch Kurt Warner and its future Hall of Fame wideout Larry Fitzgerald.  If Arizona doesn't pull off this game, I'm placing part of the blame on this inexplicable decision.  If someone could email or comment on this with some sort of reasonable explanation, it would be very much appreciated.

At the 9:45 mark in the first quarter, Pittsburgh methodically marched down the field for three points.  Wasting half the quarter and getting points, the Steelers made the Cards regret that decision pretty quickly.  Seriously, who does that?!  Doesn't a team realize they've gotten to the biggest game in the world despite its defense, rather than because of this?!  I can't stop screaming!

7:00:  Ben Roethlisberger makes a huge Eli-esque escape from a near-sack, compleeing a pass downfield for a substantial gain.  Horrible, awful memories of last year's Super Bowl are now officially creeping up.  I bet there was no holding on that play either...

7:09:  Will Ferrell is apparently going to appear in a movie version of "Land of the Lost."  Does anyone actually know for a fact where he is heading with his career?  First he's a comic genius, reaches the pinnacle of his career with Anchorman, then progressively gets worse hitting the "Contemplating Suicide, or possibly retirement" stage with "Semi-Pro."  Then there was the newer, better "Stepbrothers."  Now he's Brendan Frasier?  This guy has moved now moved forward, backward, up, down and sideways with his career choices, what could possibly be left?  If I see a Michael Bay action film with his name on it anytime soon, I'm fleeing the country.  I truly believe it's the only way I'll be safe.  Think it doesn't make sense?  Try truly thinking about Will Ferrell's career so far, and you'll see where I'm coming from.

7:10: Danica Patrick in her GODADDY commercial this year gets into a shower for no reason.  She really doesn't care about presenting herself as an athlete first, does she?  God bless that woman.

7:11:  Gary Russell rushes in a one-yard touchdown for the Steelers.  10-3 Pittsburgh.  I thought I'd write that he scored for the Steelers because I've watched every game available to me this season, played in five fantasy football leagues and still never heard of this guy.  What were the odds in Vegas for Russell as the Super Bowl MVP?  1,200:1?  1,000,000:1?  Remind me to put some money on the next back-up fullback for the favored team in Super Bowl XLIV, would you?

7:31:  Steve Breaston returns a punt deep into Steelers territory; great return.  Did someone mention Arizona's special teams advantage in their predictions?  I seem to remember someone mentioning that.  Breaston is starting to look like an early MVP favorite if 'Zona pulls this off.

7:42:  A Bud Light commercial where the guy is describing drinkability with a real-life telistrator.  Given John Madden's recent hilariously wrong usage of this device, wouldn't this be an excellent weapon to equipt this man with?  I would never need any more entertainment.  Ever.

7:44:  Karlos Dansby intercepts Roethlisberger.  I think you can take him out of the MVP race.  He's been hanging tough in the pocket, but so far to a fault.  He's either had to rush throws or take horrible sacks with horribly equal yardage losses.  

7:51:  Larry Fitzgerald finally catches a pass 29 minutes into the game.  Looking at Anquan Boldin's numbers so far, I'm reminded of that certain someone's prediction for this game.  Something about throwing to the guy not in the triple-coverage scheme?  

7:52:  With 23 seconds left, Pitt's vaunted defense is running scared, letting Arizona march across midfield, into field goal territory, then to chip-shot territory, then to 1st and goal on the two.  A touchdown here could be fairly devastating for the Steelers.  The Cardinals would steal every ounce of momentum in that stadium with the ball coming immediately back to... Oh... Oh no! ...Oh my God!

With just seconds left in the half, Certain Someone's choice for MVP, Defensive Player of the Year James Harrison intercepts Kurt Warner and stumbles, tumbles, hops, and skips 100 yards and gets tackled into the end zone.  Well that just changes everything.  With the momentum now strongly with Pittsburgh, Arizona now has to game plan to get back into the game entirely through the air instead of trying to play the ball control, field position game having two all-star wide receivers makes so blissfully easy.  

8:30:  The commercials have not been all that great so far, which is a minor disappointment.  Just a few good ones, but there is still time to improve on that.

8:47:  Pittsburgh receives a ridiculous gift of a "roughing the passer" from the refs after nearly watching their quarterback go down for a loss of 15 yards.  This is the problem refs have with Ben Roethlisberger and his self-destructive tendency to hang in the pocket until he is taking on pass rushers head-on:  No one knows anymore whether to throw him to the ground and risk a 15-yard unnecessary roughness penalty, hold him in a bear hug, and hope his forward progress is ruled stopped before he can shovel pass to his running back for a 40-yard gain, or try to actually bring the guy down, and get called for a 15-yard "roughing the passer" when there's no way to tell if the guy has thrown a pass, because people have been tackling him for 3 to 5 seconds now.  Christmas came early (or late) to the Steelers in this game.  

8:52:  A screen pass to Santonio Holmes.  These quick passes to Holmes are working out very well for Pitt.  They probably shouldn't stop throwing in that man's direction tonight.

8:57:  Unnecessary Roughness penalty on Adrian Wilson because he tumbled into the holder on a field goal try.  These calls are out of control for a game of this magnitude.  These BS calls have no place in the Super Bowl.  You want to protect quarterbacks, kickers and defenseless players proving points during the regular season?  Fine, great, I love it.  In the Super Bowl, let these guys play it out unless there is something fragrant, for the love of all that is holy!

9:01:  Arizona keeps the deficit reasonable with a great red zone stand, forcing Pittsburgh into a field goal after a "1st and goal" stiuation.  They may just not be out of this yet.

9:30:  From the 1 yard line, Larry Fitzgerald caps off a fantastic drive with a vintage Randy Moss-esque jump-to-the-moon catches.  And, after I wrote down the words "vintage Randy Moss," John Madden explains how no one in the history of the game was able to jump up and get the ball at the highest point quite like Larry Fitzgerald.  How long is the attention span of a typical football analyst, anyway?  Does it actually last a full two seasons?  Or do they clear everything at the conclusion of every draft?  The guy who is going to the hall of fame because of catches like that is still playing at a high level on a playoff caliber team with the best quarterback in football!  This game is making me "scream type" a whole lot.  I need to chill.

9:43:  Arizona finally catches a huge break of their own on a Pittsburgh holding penalty.  Safety.  

9:49:  Kurt Warner, drunk on his own power, hits Larry Fitzgerald on a slant-and-go that splits the safeties in cover-2, and the play was over as soon as he turned up field.  Seeming to gain five yards for every ten he was chased, Fitzgerald burnt the grass all the way to a touchdown.  The Arizona Cardinals are poised to win the Super Bowl if the defense can come up with one more stop.

9:55:  So much for that thought.  Pittsburgh, trying desperately to get into field goal range, manage to escape every inescapable situation for 1st downs and substantial gains.  Roethlisberger had another patented "back from the dead" escapes to hit Santonio Holmes, inexplicably open on the right side of the field, who runs all the way down to the Arizona 10.  Now instead of tying this game, the Steelers have every right to waste some clock and get in the end zone.

9:57:  Santonio Holmes, open in the back of the end zone, is overthrown by 10 yards for a missed touchdown.  Then, on the very next play, Ben Roethlisberger overthrows him by almost the same distance, except this time Santonio Holmes makes what may end up being the greatest catch in Super Bowl history.  Laying out to make his body a good four inches longer than it normally is, Santonio toed the grass while controlling the ball perfectly all the way to the ground.  Unbelievable.  I've never seen anything like this.  Pittsburgh takes a 27-23 lead.

10:08:  Arizona now must move 77  yards in about 6 or 7 plays.  That seems like too tall a task for even this team, with two receivers completely capable of drawing 50-yard interference penalties, and one able to jump eight feet to grab balls that haven't yet reached their highest point.  

10:09:  After a failed attempt or two, Kurt Warner takes too long to heave a ball downfield he didn't even have to aim, and loses a fumble to one of all 3 1/2 pass rushers.  Losing a ball on a strip sack against a "Prevent" pass rush?  That's just awful.

Final Score:  Pittsburgh 27, Arizona 23

Okay, Santonio Holmes should definitely be the MVP here, with 9 catches for 131 yards and an incredible, game-winning touchdown.  However, James Harrison scores the trophy until that final drive, or maybe it was after he drew an inexcusable Unnecessary Roughness penalty for repeatedly kidney-punching an Arizona offensive lineman into oblivion.  Unfortunately for me and my pick for MVP, the voters tend to look not-so-kindly on players that go UFC in front of 100 million people for no apparent reason.  Thanks a lot, James.

Congratulations to the Pittsburgh Steelers, winners now of more Super Bowls than any other team in history.  And, they are now in a solid second place behind the Patriots for "Team of the Decade," passing the Colts.  With basically one more season to go, they could just about supplant the Pats for this title if they repeat.  Damnit, Brady, where are you!

A note on the site:  Everyone should be able to contribute in the "My Madden" blogs.  So, if you feel like rambling about your Madden season to someone who may just listen, rant away.