Jackson Meat Party, Steelers-Ravens

My friends Wes/Corey Jackson threw a party Sunday night to bid farewell to Corey having any free time to throw parties, as she's starting back to school spring semester soon. She blogs about her experiences as an older student (older than typical college-age students, anyway) here. Also, they had lots of meat (steaks!) on hand, so they decided to have a little steak-inventory-reducing party for the Kyle folks in the band. Hey, Jackson Meat Party -- that's not a bad band name! It also sounds like a political 3rd party I could get behind.

So we had some steaks, potatoes, and some bacon-wrapped-stuffed jalapenos, red wine, and Dos Equis. We alternated between watching the Pittsburgh Steelers vs Baltimore Ravens in the AFC championship game and a Delirious concert DVD (Live at Willow Creek). See below for one of the better songs from that concert that our band wants to learn, Miracle Maker (great guitar solo):



We had a great time, although I was a bit concerned that I'd just watched someone die on TV near the end of the Steelers/Ravens game. Video highlights here. Down 24-13 near the end of the game, Ravens QB Joe Flacco threw a short pass over the middle to running back Willis McGahee, who was leveled by Steelers safety Ryan Clark on a vicious helmet-to-helmet hit. McGahee was knocked out cold and dropped the ball, basically ending the game when the Steelers recovered. He was carted off the field in full neck brace. I thought the guy was dead when I saw the hit. Fortunately he is expected to recover fully and have no lasting damage. It certainly makes me rethink whether I'll let Daniel play football, though -- jeez.

And so the Steelers will play the, let me see if I have this right, the ARIZONA CARDINALS in the Super Bowl? The same Cardinals who finished the regular season 8-8 and were being called one of the "worst teams ever to make the playoffs"? The same Cardinals who lost to the Philadelphia Eagles by over 30 points near the end of the regular season beat the same Eagles in the NFC championship game? Yep. It is seeming more and more like the regular season W-L record doesn't matter in determining who will win the championship. As long as your team makes the playoffs, they have a legitimate shot to win it all, esp if all the key players are healthy.