Well, that went better than expected…

Super Bowl XLV Media Day ended without incident for the Pittsburgh Steelers.  It was actually a fairly subdued affair with Troy’s hair, Brett Keisel‘s beard, and Ines Sainz‘s ass garnering as much publicity as the Green Bay Packers.  The Diesel’s epic facial hair inspired some of the best quotes of the day.  Asked if the beard was ready for the big game, Keisel responded, “The beard’s getting too caught up in all this media attention.  It’s basking in all its glory.  It needs to focus more on the game.”  Meanwhile, Antwaan Randle-El paid it the ultimate compliment by predicting it would win in a fight against Troy’s flowing locks.

The expected ambush of superstar quarterback Ben Roethlisberger never occurred.   Oh, the media jackals peppered him with a number of thinly veiled questions about his turbulent off-season but Ben was prepared to answer them with a friendly smile and good-natured quips.  In fact, he was so successful Deadspin was reduced to taking one sentence from an hour of interview time and making a forced unfunny joke so the trucker hat wearing fratboys who skim that site in between bong hits could giggle like Beavis and Butthead.

Watching Big Ben joke around with a little kid (an eleven-year-old from Dallas was there covering the game for his school paper) and speak so eloquently about his faith makes it impossible to not root for the guy.  Clearly, the mentoring he’s received from the Rooney Family, Bill Cowher, and Merril Hoge (who will be autographing copies of his fantastic autobiography at the BOOKS-A-MILLION in Grapevine Mills Mall from 4-5 P.M. this Saturday for those of you in the Dallas area) has allowed him to turn his life around.  Ben has clearly embraced the Christian values he learned growing up in Findlay, Ohio.  Truly only the willfully ignorant or stubbornly obtuse refuse to see Ben has successfully transformed into the hero he wishes to be.

One person who no longer fits that description is Steelers legend Terry Bradshaw.  With FOX broadcasting this year’s Super Bowl, their entire broadcasting team was also on hand for Media Day festivities.   Reporters asked the Blonde Bomber about his current relationship with Big Ben.

I hope this puts to rest any talk of T.B. “hating the Steelers.”  One of the things which makes Steeler Nation great is the fact we respect the history of our franchise.  It embarrasses me to no end when people rag on or attempt to discredit what Bradshaw did for this city.  He was exactly right when he said championships are the ultimate measure of a player’s worth and Bradshaw has the rings to back him up.  Still, the fact two of the greatest quarterbacks in NFL history have patched things up has to be heartening for any true fan of the Black and Gold.

While hugs were exchanged between Terry and Ben, one person feeling no love was Roger Goodell.  The Steelers used this platform to blast the Ginger Dictator at every opportunity.  Good for them.  He spent the entire year pulling one stunt after the other in his never-ending crusade to screw over the Steelers.  Only a blind man or an utter fool couldn’t see Ginger’s obvious vendetta against the boys from the ‘Burgh.

Hines Ward, donning a Troy wig (told ya the entire day was about hair), started by blasting the league’s hypocritical stance on concussions.  Max Starks went off on the Ginger Dictator for straight up lying about the “The Steelers Hate Ben” story Peter King published then later retracted from SI.  According to Max, if Ginger was so interested in player feedback, how come he refused to answer any questions about Ben’s unfair suspension when he met with the team during training camp?   But perhaps the OH SNAP moment of the afternoon was when James Harrison was asked about the clean aggressive hard-hitting style of  football men used to play before Ginger’s attempted pussification of the game.

Greatest  burn ever?   GREATEST BURN EVER.

There’s nothing like the smell of playoffs in the air.  Everywhere you go in Pittsburgh, there are signs to remind you of this weekend’s impending contest with the Baltimore Ravens.  You cannot escape it.  This city lives and breathes their Steelers.

If you’re like me, you walk a fine line between cautiously optimistic and absolute wreck.  I’m not some Rainman-like savant, although it would come in handy if the North Shore Casino was ever finished.  I’m not a superstitious person by nature (I own a black cat and yes, his collar is gold) but playoff time seems to kick my OCD reflex into high gear.

Walking around downtown, the assortment of scraggly unshaven faces tell me I’m not the only one like this.  A Playoff Beard is only my first concession to a successful post season run.  Does anybody else wear the exact same shirt week after week if the Steelers continue to win?  The same pants?   Same underwear?  C’mon, I can’t be the only one.

When I watch ESPN and hear the talking heads jumping aboard the Pittsburgh bandwagon or see things like the current cover of Sports Illustrated, I get nervous.  When email buddies from inferior NFL cities tell me they have a feeling the Steeler are going to the…  I have to stop them and shush them up, lest their words jinx the team.

I was thinking back to the last time the Ravens and Steelers faced off.  There was a lot on the line that crisp December day.  The AFC North title.  A guaranteed spot in the playoffs.  A first round bye.

And a couple pair of Steeler Crocs.

To that end, I thought if a contest riding on the game brought the Steelers luck last time, we HAVE to do something similar this time.  Cue the people at Mars Snackfood, makers of fine chocolate candies.  Through my ever-growing influence and their kind generosity, we’re teaming up to announce the first ever Beating The Ravens Is Like Taking Candy From A Baby M&M Contest.

These aren’t any plain ordinary M&M’S, though.  These are officially licensed Pittsburgh Steelers NFL Blends M&M’S.  Mars has reached an agreement with the NFL to produce a line of My Team M&M’S which are customized with the logos and colors for every team in the league.  How cool is the Steeler version (pictured above)?

Whether it’s a gift for that special fan in your life, adding team spirit to your baked goods, or serving a really unique snack at your Steeler Sunday party, these are guaranteed to be a big hit.  You can purchase them directly from the My M&M’S website in either 7-oz bags or a 5-pound box.

You can also win some from me.  The people at Mars have kindly gifted you lucky NPC readers a chance at not one not two but FIVE 7-oz bags (retail price $12.99 each) of these customized Steeler M&M’S.   All you have to do is what you did last time.  Guess the TOTAL NUMBER OF POINTS you expect to see scored this Sunday in the AFC Championship game.  In other words, dream up a final score, add the numbers together, and post that guess IN THE COMMENTS.

If your guess is grossly incompetent, your sweet tooth will still have a shot at winning as I’ll take all the participants, put their names in my Steeler ball cap, and pick a 2nd winner.  One guess, two shots at winning.  Each winner gets five bags and I’ll contact them for their addresses and info after the contest is over.

I received a sample of these M&M’S and let me tell you I’m not only a hero at work for sharing the coolness, I can’t wait for this weekend when my friends and family get a load of my find.  So put your thinking caps on and enter the first annual BRLTCFB M&M Contest!  I really need to come up with a shorter name for this thing…