Costa Rica has an abundance of so many things: volcanos, mangoes, zipline tours and sloths among them. It inspires many to grow bad facial hair. (Thankfully, no videos for evidence this week.) What it often lacks is an internet connection, which was welcome. The second town my wife and I stayed in, Manuel Antonio, had no internet for the four days we were there. They also had no working ATM, which was less awesome, but still sorta charming.

I flipped on an ESPN Deportes towards the end of my trip and caught a four-day old clip of A-Rod's interview with Peter Gammons. I was so grateful that I had missed the 24-hours a day ESPN coverage of the story, and quickly changed the channel. (Possible A-Rod tabloid covers, though, raced in my head. Living in NYC during the A-Rod era has been great for laughs).

So I have some catching up to do. I'll be writing up a quick column for the main site today, and will try to get my sea legs under me here. Here we go, off-season.

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 08:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

With the fun in Tampa over, our attention now turns to the 2009 season. I've written up the ten biggest off-season questions we'll be tracking. It was written for NBCSports.com, so the nitty gritty fantasy stuff will have to wait. We've got time.

The fantasy season lasts only 16 weeks, but the football season really started for us at Rotoworld around July 21, when the Jason Taylor and Jeremy Shockey trades were digested. Six plus months later, one of the most memorable catches in NFL history sent me home. (And yes, the throw was even better).

I'm taking a solid week off to recharge before getting back to the business of covering the league again and preparing for the 2009 season. The combine, after all, is 15 days away. Thanks as always for coming along for the ride, and I'll see you on February 10.

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 11:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (9)

The column is up and I'm back at my hotel for a quick stop before a morning flight. I'm not thinking straight enough to put together coherent thoughts on how the Steelers won, but here are a few stray things I learned after the game that I'd like to record before my goldfish-like memory forgets it all.

I've been posting all my entries in two places ... but it's becoming a little unwieldy with some post-game responsibilities coming up. So head over to NBCSports.com where Tom Curran and I are all over the in-game blog ... the exact same posts you'd see here!

NBCSports.com's liveblog from the Super Bowl.

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 08:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Pittsburgh's defense took control of the game by stopping Arizona on their first drive to maintain a two-score lead.

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 08:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (18)

The Cardinals out-gained the Steelers 129 to 27 by turning almost exclusively to the pass, which seems like a good idea, despite the final result of Kurt Warner's bone-headed pick. All nine Cardinals first downs are via the pass.

Most of the stats are close. The big difference is that Arizona didn't score off Ben Roethlisberger's interception. James Harrison scored a touchdown off Warner's throw that none of us will ever forget.

The Steelers get a chance to show they really can run the ball now with a two-score lead at halftime of the Super Bowl. If Willie Parker has a half-way decent second half, it's probably all over.

Already the press box is debating whether Tyree's play of Harrison's play is more amazing. I'd vote Tyree. Also I can confirm that that the sound-proof press box was the only place in the stadium not rocked by Bruce Springsteen. Many of us wanted to get out to listen, but it wasn't possible. So we were typing.

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 08:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)

Instead of a tie game or a four-point lead at halftime, Kurt Warner throws a ridiculously bone-headed pick to James Harrison, who makes one of the greatest plays in Super Bowl history to close out the first half. A stunner. The Cardinals dominated that second quarter like the Steelers dominated the first, but they have nothing to show for it. I've written about Arizona's ability to shake off tough spots, but recovering from that play will be very difficult.

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 07:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)

Karlos Dansby with his tenth career interception after Bryan Robinson tipped a Ben Roethlisberger pass. Dansby is a great player in the open field, so Mewelde Moore did a terrific job laying the wood on Dansby. And Dansby did a better job holding on to the ball.

Karlos Dansby with his tenth career interception after Bryan Robinson tipped a Ben Roethlisberger pass. Dansby is a great player in the open field, so Mewelde Moore did a terrific job laying the wood on Dansby. And Dansby did a better job holding on to the ball.

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 07:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

By the letter of the law, the chop block call on Edgerrin James was correct. It's questionable whether the linemen were engaged though when James hit the defender. That more or less killed a possible scoring drive for Arizona, with LaMarr Woodley's sack on Levi Brown pushing the Cardinals further backward. The game is moving very quickly. Both teams have had three possessions in 27+ minutes.

- Gregg

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 07:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Kurt Warner did a great job getting the ball quickly against the Steelers pass rush early in Arizona's scoring drive. His anticipation is amazing to watch in person because the receivers don't look remotely open yet when he throws. Then Warner gets terrific protection for just one play, and the Cardinals hit a 45-yard crosser to Anquan Boldin.

So to recap: Game definitely not over.

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 07:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)