With all due respect to Lamar Hunt and his trophy, the Pittsburgh Steelers are out looking for the one with Vince Lombardi's name on it now.
The Steelers knocked off the Denver Broncos on Sunday and became the first No.6 seed in NFL history to make the Super Bowl and just the first team since 1985 to win three road games on their way to the big one.
I'll be honest with you, I'm not sure what I'm going to do over the next two weeks. It seems like a long time from now, but on the plus side it's a little extra time to savour in what was the best effort the Steelers had put forth all season. Third down conversions, big plays, taking advantage of opportunities. It was fun to watch but it still doesn't mean I'm going to talk about the next game coming up. I'm still superstitious.
Hard to think that, for me, anything could trump the feeling of watching the Steelers earn just their second berth in the Super Bowl in — essentially — my lifetime. (Born in 1976, the Super Bowls of the 1970s weren't even a memory to me). And it's true that there isn't anything that trumps it.
Although Kobe Bryant tried.
Say what you want about Kobe and you either love him or hate him — and I've said before that if he wasn't playing for the Lakers I probably wouldn't like him that much — but what he did Sunday night against the Toronto Raptors is something that any sports fan has to be thankful they were around to witness.
I watched roughly the final 5:32 of the game, at the office, and Kobe had 64 at that point and thought back to Bill Simmons' piece about Kobe's decision to not go after 80 in a win over the Mavericks. Seems Kobe's damned if he does and damned if he doesn't after all. The guy is harped on for being a selfish player but yet here's a columnist who outright wants him to take that game on his own.
Anyway, I thought about 80 and thought, with five minutes left, it's silly to think he's going to do it. Then he hit a three — a tough one — then he came off a screen and the Raptors defended it like they would have defended the 12th man off the bench in garbage time, left him open to drain another three. Then a shooting foul, then a three-point shooting foul, etc. etc. Suddenly there went Elgin Baylor's 71, then David Thompson's 73 and then 80 is only a couple points away with a couple minutes to play.
We all know how it ends. Eighty-one points.
Adding to the beauty of the moment was the fact the Raptors held a lead at the half and, of course the bigger picture, was that the 55 in the second half gave the Lakers the W.
As a pure sports fan, The 81 Game is one of the moments I will remember forever. Not as a Lakers fan but as a guy who appreciates when you've seen the rarest of rare feats or something exceptional. Twenty-seven points in the third quarter, 28 in the fourth and 55 for the second half, outscoring the entire Raptors team in the second half.
In a world that is often polluted with hyperbole — the Associated Press said the Steelers-Seahawks Super Bowl could go down as one of the best of all time. C'mon now — anyone who watched that game Sunday can say they watched one of the greatest performances in the history of sport and not be remotely exaggerating.
That's something special.
Also of note, Tim Duncan turned down a chance to play for the Olympic team and even said "I have no interest in that" while Kobe has said he's excited to compete for the U.S. in the world championship and Olympic games. So there's Duncan, the NBA golden child, seemingly scoffing at the chance to play ball for his country while Kobe's jumping at the chance. Just an interesting comparison between a guy everyone seems to love to hate (unless he's on your team) and the man who can do no wrong.
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