By Lou Christine (Feb 3, 2006)
Some are referring to this year’s NFL Championship Game as Super Bowl “Extra-Large”—due the game being the 40th Super Bowl and, therefore, Super Bowl XL.
In the past, I’ve written Super Bowl previews for Atención. Some of my predictions I’d prefer to forget.—but some people around town still won’t let me. No boo-hooing from me, that’s what one gets for going out on a limb and making written and bold predictions from time to time.
There was the Green Bay–Denver debacle back ’97 when John Elway and the Broncos waxed Brett Favre and the Packers—after I had predicted the opposite. In ’03, I called the game to go exactly the way it did in Super Bowl XXXVII—only I had it backwards. Tampa Bay pulverized the Raiders rather than the other way around.
Such miscalculations had moi refraining from picking winners, so in other Bowl previews, I just presented the strengths and weaknesses of teams, primarily to give insight and let the casual fan in on what to expect.
I’ve decided, however, to go cavalier once again. The Pittsburgh Steelers, in my view, will win and dominate the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl XL.
As we take a look at both teams, Seattle comes out of the National Football Conference with the best record: 13–3. The Pittsburgh Steelers, of the American Football Conference, had a regular season record of 11–5. They eked into the play-offs as a wild card team, forcing them to play all their play-off games on the road. Seattle rightfully earned home-field advantage throughout the play-offs due to their record, and received a first-round bye that had them playing one less game than Pittsburgh in order to get to Super Bowl XL.
Seattle Seahawk strengths
Offense: The NFL’s Most Valuable Player, Shaun Alexander, rushed for over 1800 yards and scored a record-breaking 27 touchdowns during the regular season. Alexander is also a fine receiver out of the backfield. There’s quarterback Matt Hasselbeck, an all-pro signal caller who has matured as a leader and is agile with a strong, accurate arm. The Seahawks receiving corps has been mostly a patchwork of personnel all season, due to injuries. Nevertheless, wide outs Darrell Jackson, Bobby Engram and Joe Jurevicius have come through when healthy, and tight end Jerramy Stevens has made clutch catches when called upon. Fullback Mack Strong has led the way blocking for many of Alexander’s big gains. Seattle’s front line has opened holes for their running game and has protected the Seattle quarterback.
Defense: The Seattle defense has been pesky and opportunistic, with terrific speed, and has shown toughness—something Team Seattle has lacked in the past.
Special Teams: Seahawk special teams and kicking games have also excelled.
Coaching: Mike Holmgren formerly coached the Green Bay Packers during two Super Bowls, winning one and losing the other. Holmgren has a great football mind, and is the consummate teacher and strategist.
Pittsburgh Steeler strengths
Offense: Pittsburgh’s strengths revolve around quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, an imposing 6'5" second-year pro. Last year as a rookie, Roethlisberger led the Steelers to the AFC Championship game, but lost out in that game against the New England Patriots. This year—despite injury and missing important games in midseason, which the Steelers lost—Roethlisberger has come back with a vengeance to guide his team to the big game. The Steeler running game has a thunder-and-lightning duo with Willie Parker as their speedster, and veteran Jerome Bettis as the team’s battering-ram ball-carrier near the goal line (more on Bettis later).
As for receivers, Hines Ward is a wide out with hands like glue and a nose for the end zone. Antwaan Randle El is another speedy receiver, who played college quarterback for Indiana and is a triple threat to run, catch or pass the ball. Randle El also returns kick-offs and punts, while exploding for key touchdowns for the Steelers during his four-year career. Cedrick Wilson is the third receiver and has come on strong late in the season and during the play-offs. Rookie tight end Heath Miller has made great contributions to the Steeler offense as a blocker and key pass-receiver. Working as a solid unit, the Steeler line is mature and outweighs the Seahawk defense.
Defense: The Steelers are renowned for their tough defense since the glory days of their famed “Steel Curtain.” They might not be the Mean Joe Greenes and the Jack Lamberts of the past, but this year’s crop of linebackers and down linemen are a rough-and-ready bunch of bone-crushers. Free safety Troy Polamalu is a real ball-hawk who seems relentless and determined, while seemingly always winding up where the ball is.
Special Teams: In turn, Steeler special teams and the kicking game are more than adequate, same as the Seahawks’ performance.
Coaching: The Steelers are coached by Bill Cowher—perhaps not as analytical as Holmgren, yet Pittsburgh native Cowher is a fiery leader who instills Steeler pride and motivates with a take-no-prisoners approach. Cowher made one other Super Bowl appearance as Steeler head coach back in Super Bowl XXX, only to go down to the Dallas Cowboys.
A little NFL history
The Seattle Seahawks, in their 30th season, becomes the 26th of 32 NFL franchises to earn their way to the big game. Cleveland, Detroit, Jacksonville, Arizona, Houston and New Orleans have yet to field a team for any Super Bowl. The team from the Great Northwest, in the past, has mostly been a ne’er-do-well in the league and has only produced one Hall of Famer with long-ago receiver Steve Largent.
Despite Seattle being a number-one seed, and with Pittsburgh being a number-six seed, odds makers have made the Steelers a four-point favorite. Go figure.
Yet, looking at the regular season, Seattle had an easy-as-pie schedule. Their competitors in the NFC West were more-or-less cupcake teams this year. Seattle swept Arizona, San Francisco and St. Louis in both home and away games for six wins. They smoked weak Houston and Tennessee teams, and blew out a devastated-by-injury and inner-team turmoil Philadelphia Eagles in a non-memorable 42–0 Monday Night Football slaughter. They beat Indianapolis in the last game of the season, when Indianapolis had nothing to play for since they had already clinched their division.
Seattle has never played well east of the Rockies in their entire history—so take into consideration that this year’s Super Bowl is played in Detroit, in what will turn out to be a hostile environment with Motown being much closer to Pittsburgh. Steeler fans will turn out in force, and the Seahawks will get a loud dose of leather-lunged Steeler fanatics wildly waving their trademark “Terrible Towels.” Seattle faces a long and proud football tradition in the name of the Pittsburgh Steelers, with their fans who live and die by their team. There are views—including mine—that the Seattle team will be star-struck and just happy to be there in the first place, and once the game starts... .
The scenario
Football-wise, the Seattle defense is quick but small in the scale of professional football. Seattle’s defensive front should get pushed around by the bigger and imposing Pittsburgh line, allowing Steeler running backs to grind them down. Pittsburgh has even chosen to wear white jerseys—a move that psychologically makes them look bigger than Seattle, who’ll be dressed in not-so-tough teal blue.
Even with Seattle’s fine offensive line, Pittsburgh’s 3–4 front defensive line has three defensive lineman occupying the time of Seattle’s five-man offensive line—leaving eight Pittsburgh defenders free to blitz, fake blitz, and blanket receivers while throwing in complicated defensive schemes that should confuse Seattle. Add to the mix the emotional Cowher, who will have his team in frenzy. Emotionally, I don’t see much hope for Seattle.
During the play-offs, Pittsburgh soundly beat Cincinnati, Indianapolis and Denver—three tough teams. On top of that, Pittsburgh future Hall of Famer veteran running back Jerome Bettis is a Detroit native and team favorite. He was going to retire last year and only came back because this year’s Bowl was going to be played in Detroit. It’s as if his teammates have been on a holy quest to get the big fellow back home to play for the final game of his outstanding career, which makes the black-and-gold of the Steelers—regardless of what colors they’re wearing—sentimental favorites.
So, go ahead: Send it in, bet the farm, bet the mother-in-law, because perhaps Seattle builds great airplanes, has robust coffee and has produced pretty cool grunge music, but the Microsofties will be no match for a juggernaut, no-nonsense Steeler squad that should pin Seattle’s ears back and make it a rout. Pro football showcases man’s savagery and pushes it to the forefront—and the Steelers are a glowing example of such.
Yet, as they say in the game, “On any given Sunday ...”—and if for some reason Seattle can run on Pittsburgh to set up the pass, they could have a chance, but I don’t think so and neither does the rest of the pro football world.
Lou Christine is a local writer and long-time contributor to Atención.
Cactus and Champagne Fun-Raiser for El Charco
By Bob Haas; Photos by Richard Cretcher and Jennifer Haas (Feb, 3, 2006)
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Hidden just above town to the east—situated around and in a breathtaking canyon—is a place of extraordinary beauty known to the locals as El Charco del Ingenio. El Charco is a spectacular natural monument dedicated to the conservation and appreciation of our natural resources. |
It’s also San Miguel’s Botanical Garden, committed to the restoration of native vegetation, as well as the care and maintenance of local flora of the Bajío area. The garden is home to over 100 species of migratory and resident birds. El Charco’s collection of cacti and succulents includes many rare and endangered species.
El Charco was established by a few residents in 1990 as a private, not-for-profit foundation, and it has grown into a world-renowned botanical garden. El Charco del Ingenio is registered with the Mexican Environment Agency (SEMARNAT) as a conservation area with an intensive management plan. In addition, El Charco carries out exchanges and programs with other botanical gardens and scientific institutions to share information about biodiversity and conservation. The land is managed by El Charco del Ingenio, A.C., to preserve this magnificent place and protect it for the future. It is a significant part of San Miguel’s natural and historical heritage. The mission statement of El Charco reads: “To protect and preserve our natural heritage while developing a Botanical Garden dedicated to Mexican flora and providing an oasis of peace and tranquility for all.”
Modeled on the Sonora Desert Museum in Tucson and the Phoenix Desert Botanical Gardens, El Charco covers about 170 acres of high-desert terrain. In 1995, the Garden received the National Prize of Ecological Merit from the Mexican government. The city of San Miguel protects El Charco as a natural preserve. In 2004, the Dalai Lama declared El Charco to be a Zone of Peace.
Popular legends have interwoven with myths and stories since the Spanish conquest, contributing to confusion over the name “El Charco.” El Charco menas “puddle” or “pool,” while “Ingenio” is the Spanish word for “sugarmill”—an enterprise that flourished in the canyon several hundred years ago.
An historic reservoir receives water draining from nearby mountains, forming permanent wetlands where birds and other wildlife abound. During the rainy season, water overflows the dam, cascading into pools in the wooded depths of the canyon. The high canyon walls open toward the west, with a magnificent view of San Miguel, the wide valley of the Laja River and, on the far horizon, the Sierra de Santa Rosa.
| Managed by trained staff, the Botanical Garden is a community resource for all ages and sectors of the population, with an emphasis on environmental education and its place in popular culture. | |
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A wide range of activities—including community gatherings, courses, workshops, concerts and ceremonies—take place here, reflecting the multicultural nature of San Miguel de Allende. Every year in July, the traditional festival of La Santa Cruz del Charco del Ingenio is held, bringing together a colorful mix of altars and local dances from communities throughout the region. Several times a month, the Gardens host temascales, traditional herbal steam bath rituals, within the ruins of an ancient hacienda on the reserve.
El Charco is open daily from sunrise to sunset. Admission is 30 pesos, with children under 10 admitted for free. Annual membership is 500 pesos and allows daily entrance with up to two guests. To reach El Charco from town, take a taxi the first time, and then you can walk back downhill to the Ignacio Ramírez covered market in about 15 minutes. For more information, visit the Botanical Garden or the website at
www.laneta.apc.org/charco.