I'm 23 - Give Me An Extra Large Bowl

Ben Roethlisberger, Jerome Bettis, Hines Ward, Willie Parker... I love you all. In case you can't tell, I'm a Steelers fan. It's hard being a Steelers fan in Santa Barbara CA where no one knows what Iron City tastes like, or Yingling, or who Mellon or Frick or Carnegie were. It's hard when you're celebrating a holiday that no one else is celebrating. We went to a superbowl party, like so many people do, but, they were mostly rooting for the Steelers because my dad is a huge Steelers fan. They didn't want to be on his bad side.

I do have to make a shout out to the second youngest quarterback ever to play in the bowl. Yes, Big Ben. Damn it feels good to be 23. I couldn't have agreed with that statement last month, or even most of last week. But sometimes you wake up in the morning and everything is just a bit brighter. The flowers are a hue more vibrant, the weather is perfect (even if it's whiteout conditions), and even the snotty salesclerk is positively endearing. No, it's not because of a beautiful win (although in Big Ben's case it might be *grin*). No, for me it was more about having a normal looking face and flirting with the clerk behind the counter at Blenders In The Grass (actually, he was the supervisor, and his name was also Ben...). It was also going with my friend downtown to get his WW2 Japanese Katana appraised...and then walking around with it. It was eating grits with butter and cheese. I say these things, not to make the XL win less meaningful, because, in the careers of the Steelers, it means a lot. I say this because for the average non-NFL playing person, it is all about the grits with butter, the vibrant flower, a child's laugh, the arms of a lover.

You did notice, Ben is still single. Yowzah.

Yes, 1982 was a good year, for wine, and for people (from my first hand experience). According to the Chinese Zodiac, exactly 24 years from when I was born, this will be a lucky year for all of us born in 1982, or even 12 years later or 12 years before. I just thought I would put in a positive note, because frankly, you know it's going to be a good year, when your team wins the Lombardi Trophy.