It's... snowing?

Welcome back to the blog on this, Dublin's best day of snow since two years ago.

Yes, it is snowing. Correction, it was. This morning as I trekked into college on the bus I was pelted with snowballs left and right. Not from people, no - from the sky! Yep, it's a weird sight in the morning, but sort of a welcome one. I mean, you eventually get bored of rain and wind. It was about time the weather man spiced things up a bit.

And you know, the snow may have come at a good time. Last night Super Bowl XLIII delivered a highly entertaining game between two teams who went all out for a victory. The Cardinals, billed as the underdogs throughout the playoffs, battled the Steelers, who were the seven point favourites. The game was a topsy-turvy affair as most NFL games turn out to be, with momentum swinging like a pendulum.

Perhaps the biggest play of the first half was Defensive Player of the Year, Pittsburgh's James Harrison intercepting a Kurt Warner pass at the goal line and taking it back a Super Bowl record 100 yards for a touchdown. It's not often you see a linebacker going the length of the field. Truly, an amazing play.

At the half, the score was Pittsburgh 17, Arizona 7. The Cardinals got the ball first in the third quarter, but their offense stalled. Penalties played a big part in the following drive, where Pittsburgh drove down the field to the Arizona red zone. In six attempts, they could not get the ball into the endzone. The score was 20-7 as the fourth quarter began.

Then the Cardinals did what they have been doing best during their playoff run - shock the world. Or more specifically, the Steelers. Pittsburgh got a little conservative, and savvy veteran Kurt Warner found Larry Fitzgerald down the seam for a huge touchdown pass. The score was 20-14, and suddenly things were heating up.

I sat on my sofa at home throughout all of this with my friends, John and Jeroen. Jeroen had come all the way from the Netherlands for the game. He is a massive Steelers fan, so it made the event that bit more interesting.

The fourth quarter began in thrilling fashion, with the Cardinals taking the lead and scoring 16 points. The score was now 23-20 to Arizona. The Cardinals had rattled the Steelers, and it was up to Ben Roethlisberger and the offense to win or tie the game for the men from Pittsburgh.

The drive to win the game for the Steelers was all about WR Santonio Holmes, who came up with 4 big receptions to tally his 9 catch, 131 yard, 1 TD performance. Holmes was a reliable target for Roethlisberger, who found him consistently to move the ball inside the Cardinals 5 yard line. Then, the game-winning touchdown happened, as Big Ben (as he is affectionately known) found Holmes in the right corner of the endzone with an inch perfect pass. Holmes got two feet down incredibly and the celebrations began.

The Steelers held on to win their 6th Super Bowl, an achievement unprecedented in NFL history. Santonio Holmes was named the MVP, in my opinion deservedly. You could have given it to Big Ben, but Holmes had to get it.

Well, it was a really entertaining game and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was better than I expected it to be, quite frankly. I just hope that next year my Panthers can get there and win our first one.

That journey has already begun, as the cycle of the NFL begins all over again with the top draft prospects being scouted and teams meticulously looking through their rosters with a fine toothcomb. Yep, it won't be long before we're drafting our fantasy football teams and the new season is upon us.

Until then, we make do with... well, nothing. We try, is what I'm saying!

Thanks for reading this Super Bowl themed edition of the blog!