Super Bowl Special
Left Behind in the Burgh
By Val Porter

Is the Super Bowl the biggest spectacle in sports? Forget the fact that several sports have championships that go seven games, and forget the Olympics. How can you disagree that the Super Bowl tops them all? It has become a two week extravaganza of media coverage, concerts, parties, and oh yeah… football.

It seems that for those of us unable to get to the game, parties were one of the biggest topics of discussion leading up to game day. I would guess for some people, they put more planning into their Super Bowl party than their own wedding. My husband MIGHT fall into that category. It's close.

My idea of a great football party is to just bring the tailgate inside. I mean, that's football food, right? You gotta have that stuff. There's no making food that comes from the city the game is in, or making food from the cities the teams are from. (We get a pass on that one when the Steelers are in it.)

No foo-foo food and nothing healthy. It's got to be hearty and maybe sloppy too. My favorite dish to make this year was kielbasa and kraut. Fry some onions in butter, put that in a big pot with the kraut, the kielbasa and some beer. Cook that for about four hours. Yeah, that's what I'm talking about. That's football food.

But many Pittsburghers partied this year with grouper sandwiches, in Tampa. Everybody knows somebody who went to the game. I, in fact, know lots of somebodies who went to the game. In fact, that crew that I work with every morning, the DVE Morning Show, they all went to the game and left me behind.

Can you believe it? They left me behind to enjoy a week of fun and frivolity. It didn't seem to me that they were working too hard. Seemed like for some it was all fun and games. They left me in some of the worst weather we've had this winter and then had the nerve to complain about sweating at media day. You poor things. If I was there, I'd have made sure you had bikini-clad young girls following you around with palm fronds fanning you to cool the air in your vicinity. See what you missed by leaving me behind?

Alas, maybe it's best that they left me in Pittsburgh. My loyalty was tested this year. You see, a friend of 20 years is the wide receivers coach for the Arizona Cardinals. I have known Mike Miller since our days at WCUC at Clarion University in the late 80s. We actually met because of football. He settled an argument I was having with someone about the Minnesota Vikings "40 for 60" patch. I won that argument, with Mike's help. We've been friends ever since. And as much as I love our Steelers, I'm very proud of my friend. I wanted him to have a championship ring! I'm confident he'll get one. And I just got word today that he's been promoted to passing game coordinator for the Cardinals. He's like the Jefferson's baby…movin' on up.

But after being left behind to hold down the fort here in Pittsburgh, I can only say one thing. Here we go Steelers, here we go!