You knew this was coming.
If you're not interested in football, you can skip this post, except #7, which affects us all.

Thoughts on Pittsburgh vs. Indianapolis:
1. Oh my god.
2. OH MY GOD.
3. See # 1 and 2. Phew.

4. I know there are tons of people who hate Peyton Manning and wanted to see the Colts fall (including several of my Patriots friends who reluctantly cheered for the Steelers today only because they were the lesser of two evils). But you know what? I like Peyton. I love Tony Dungy. And the Colts have had a great season. So I went into this game thinking that of course I don't want anyone to knock the Steelers out of the playoffs, but if someone had to, I was going with them because I respect them the most. Basically, I made this game into a double-edged sword. Either we lost it and I was semi-okay with that, or we won it and I would be much more angry if another team beat us later. Now, clearly, the only way I'll be happy is with the old "one for the thumb." Please and thank you.

5. Startling fact of the day: Troy Polamalu is five days younger than me?!?!

6. When I thought Bettis lost the game for us, I'll admit it, I definitely almost cried. BETTIS? My very favorite player? BETTIS? He who didn't have a single fumble all year? DID HE REALLY JUST DO THAT?! But more than that, I was sad thinking that if we lost, that may very well have been the last play of his career. And for a guy who will go down as one of the all-time greats, he didn't deserve to end it with a fumble that cost the team the playoffs. Thank god for Mr. Kicker Whose Name I Can't Spell, and Mr. Roethlisberger Whose Name I Can (see #8). True to form, when asked about it after the game, Bettis took the blame, saying something like, "That shouldn't happen; that's my job," and then gave credit to his teammates for saving the day. LOVE HIM.

7. My cellphone's predictive text function does not recognize the word "crap." HELLOOOOO?!

8. I was glad it was Ben who made that "tackle" that pretty much saved the game after Bettis lost it. Ben's got plenty of haters, and to them I say: Hate him all you want, but don't you dare say he's not a good player. I would like to think he made that tackle just for them. haha. I was also glad that after joking that you don't often hear interviewers ask him about his "big tackle," he, too, gave credit to his teammates and pointed out how uncharacteristic that was of Bettis. Don't let anyone forget that you're great and Bettis is THE BEST. That's the way to do it, Ben.

9. I love how when Mom called at the end of the game, there was all this screaming in the background, but it turned out there were only four people there. CRAZIES!

10. Sometimes, Bill Cowher reminds me of Mike Evans. And seriously, the only way I could love Mike Evans any more is if he were a Cougar alum, so that's cool.

11. Even though the announcers wouldn't stop harping on it (rightfully so), let us never speak of those two egregious pro-Colts calls again. The win was clearly offered by the football gods as atonement, and I am happy with that.