Packers Top Steelers, Win the Super Bowl

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February 7, 2011
Ceci Ferrara
Sports Writer
Sports Insider

The Green Bay Packers are Super Bowl XLV Champions—barely.  In the last minute of the game, the Pack failed to score the game-clinching touchdown, giving Big Ben and the Steelers one final shot to win it all. After settling for a field goal, the Packers watched as No. 7 and the gang took the field, hoping to charge down the field and take the title once again–by one point.  But Roethlisberger, whom Troy Aikman and Joe Buck described as “great under pressure” — who was placing his helmet on as the camera panned to him — didn’t deliver this time.  With less than a minute, the Steelers went to fourth down and the Pack held their breath.  Would it be another late-game winning stunner like we saw against the Cardinals in ’09?  No, it was an anticlimactic incomplete pass that led the Packers to their fourth franchise title.

Sunday was a game fueled by Steelers’ turnovers and a silent defense, along with momentum crushing penalties.  Pittsburgh was penalized four times for 32-yards in the first half, while Green Bay was only penalized once for what was called an unsportsmanlike celebration by Nick Collins after returning a 36-yard interception for a TD.  Collins fell to his knees in the end zone, which seemed a fitting display of thanks and exhilaration to me.  The Packers got two pick-sixes in the first half, accounting for 14 points of their 21-10 halftime lead.  Troy Polamalu missed on a tackle; James Harrison was nearly invisible.  While Green Bay had losses of their own — Green Bay stars and NFL vets Charles Woodson and Donald Driver sustained injuries that caused them to leave the game during the first half — it wasn’t enough to silence the Pack, who won the game 31-25.  Packers QB Aaron Rodgers was named the game’s MVP, while Woodson said despite hating sitting on the sidelines, there was nothing to cry about because he was “still a champ.”

With the big game over, football fans will now sit tight to see if the player’s union and the team owners can reach an agreement before a lockout occurs on the horizon of which looms the possibility of a ‘footballless’ autumn.

Wizards

The Wizards, who aren’t exactly good at home (just not as terrible as on the road), are currently riding a seven game losing streak, including two on the Verizon Center court.  The Wizards seemed poised to take home their first win in six games on Saturday after a second-half resurgence while trailing 52-46 at the half.  Their free throw shooting was key in this game.  While these are usually easy to get points, the Wizards were only 8-18 from the free throw line, compared to 26-35 by the Hawks.  There were some upsides to the game: Nick Young, sporting a new ‘do’ (a 70s-era afro), scored a solid 21 points, while Al Thorton completed what is being pegged ‘the dunk of the year’.  Despite these individual accomplishments, the players couldn’t come together to take home a win.  They take on the Bucks and Spurs at the Verizon Center before heading to the home of the even-more dismal Cleveland Cavaliers.  The Cavs are 8-43 this season having the longest losing streak in NBA history with 24 straight. In comparison, from 2009-2010, they were 61-21 and made it to the playoffs. The only good thing for these two teams is their draft stock keeps rising.  Last year they got the No. 1 draft pick, which goes to the worst team in the NBA—a lottery you don’t really want to win.

Capitals

The Caps, meanwhile, had better luck at the Verizon Center Sunday, when the court was transformed into ice for an afternoon matchup against the rival Pittsburgh Penguins.  It was a rematch of the NHL’s New Year’s Day Bridgestone Winter Classic.  The Caps came out on top again in a 3-0 win that left the Pens scoreless.  The Penguins were missing some of their top players with Center Evgeni Malkin and star Sidney Crosby out due to injuries.  The win wasn’t any less sweet for the Caps though, who are now three points behind the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Southeast Division.  The Caps still need a strong winning streak to get to the top and an even stronger one to jump ahead of the Lightning (whom — might I add — they beat Friday night on the road).  Brooks Laich, who scored the final goal on Sunday said afterwards, “To do it against two good opponents is nice, but the main thing is the four points and jumping up in the standings.”

PGA

The PGA season is young, but that isn’t stopping Mark Wilson from stealing the spotlight.  He won the Sony Open Classic in Hawaii in January and is currently two strokes ahead of the three closest players at the PGA Phoenix Open, as it goes into its final day today.  Tiger Woods, meanwhile, has played in one event so far in 2011—the Farmers Insurance Open in late January, where he failed to place.  It is a far cry from the Tiger of only a couple of years ago, who was poised to become the winningest golf champion of all time.  Now, he isn’t sure if he’ll make the top 10.  Golf doesn’t seem to currently have a “top” player, sans veteran Phil Mickelson.  It has been a revolving door of names and faces since Tiger lost his top post. Will Tiger make a resurgence in 2011, or has he lost it for good? Only time will tell.  For Mark Wilson and other PGA golfers, he can take all the time in the world. 

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