Not so Fast

Maybe Big Ben can drink like a champion but he sure as heck didn't play like one in Super Bowl XLV. 

Now that the red, white and blue confetti has fallen from the retractable roof heavens in Cowboy Stadium and gently settled upon the astroturf of Jerry Jones' 1.2 billion-dollar football playhouse, Patriot fans can rejoice in the fact that Aaron Rodgers is the MVP of Super Bowl XLV, not Ben Roethlisberger. Forget all the intolerable hype force fed to us for the past two weeks about how Big Ben, should he lead the AFC Champion Steelers to their third Lombardi Trophy in six seasons Sunday night against Green Bay, would have to be considered just as good as our very own Tom Brady.

The media had to choose a story to focus on and who better to shine the spotlight on than a player desperately trying to repair his shattered image? Less than a year ago, Big Ben went from a two-time Super Bowl champion to the laughingstock of the league, mired in sexual assault allegations stemming from a rowdy bathroom encounter with a college co-ed at a seedy Georgia bar (not a first for Roethlisberger). Luckily for Ben, some of the heat was deflected upon another super-star athlete whose racy infidelities were being uncovered at the very same time, shattering every ounce of respect he had earned throughout his prolific career: Tiger Woods.

Still, if there's one thing America loves it's catharsis. In fact, we're addicted to it so much because we all have the ability to relate to pop-culture figures like movie stars, politicians and professional athletes who fall from grace right before our eyes. Everyone has screwed up once or twice in their lifetime and the idea of purging one's sins through courageous or great acts gives us all hope for achieving the ultimate prize: redemption.

The idea of catharsis is as old as the Bible and just as much a part of the human condition as love, hate, fear and happiness. This is exactly why the Michael Vick story has become so popular recently. Yes, he committed disgusting and reprehensible acts. But he served his time, paid his dues and now he's on top of the world again. This type of transformation is exactly the kind of story we can rally around. For Big Ben, leading the Steelers to victory on Sunday night in Dallas would be the final chapter in his search for redemption.

Still, New England sports fans are a different breed. We could care less about the catharsis and redemption of Roethlisberger. To us, just the mention of his name in the company of Brady's greatness had us fuming from the ears. And even though the Packers broke our football hearts nearly 14 years ago when Mike Holmgren and the old gunslinger Brett Favre lit up Bill Parcells and Drew Bledsoe in Super Bowl XXXI, fans across New England found themselves rooting for Green Bay solely because of the fact that we couldn't stand to watch Roethlisberger catapult himself into Brady's category.

In the end, we got what we asked for. Big Ben cracked under the insurmountable pressure of America's biggest stage, just like Christina Aguilera during the National Anthem. A record TV audience of 111 million watched as he threw two interceptions (one of which was returned for a touchdown) and was unable to lead his team down the field when they needed a score to stay alive in the final minutes. Final score: 31-25 Packers.

So rest assured, New England fans. Big Ben is not as good as Brady and the Steelers are not a dynasty like the Patriots were and continue to be. Still, as good as that last sentence sounds, I still can't help but think this year's Patriots would have wiped the floor with either of those teams, just like they did in the regular season.