Gamenight

Happy birthday to me. I am 34 today. Jesus never reached that age, so I guess I’m doing something right.

I’m not feeling that much like partying tonight, though. I’m meeting friends at the Original Steakhouse & Sports Theatre in Durham tonight, and some of us will stick around and watch the Steelers-Colts game until the bitter end. My enthusiasm for this game, however, has waned.

Why? Because for as much as I’ve said that all I want for my birthday is a Steeler victory tonight, the truth is that I didn’t get what I really, really wanted for my birthday. And it has nothing to do with Samsung HDTVs or Monday night Steeler victories. Giants fans who watched Jay Feely miss that third field goal in Seattle yesterday probably felt the same way I feel right now. Steve Mariucci may feel this way, too. Actually, Mariucci may be jumping for joy now that he no longer has to work for the worst franchise in pro football…

But I digress. This disappointment has left me feeling less than celebratory — so much so that I’m resigned to the fact that the Steelers will lose tonight. After all, that defense can’t get off the field on third down when Anthony Wright is at quarterback. What do you think Peyton Manning is going to do to it? It makes me feel a little better about not spending all that money I didn’t have to fly to Indianapolis and write about my game experience from inside the Hoosier Dome.

Still, this is supposed to be a great evening. Birthdays come around only once a year, and J.J. & Angela watch a Steelers game in public only a few times a decade. (J.J. gets into it just a little bit more than most fans.) So I will put on my happy face, my Permanent4 jersey and my Treo 650, and I will head out to the Original Steakhouse & Sports Theatre and celebrate the evening, for that is what should happen on birthdays.

Liveblogging will commence after kickoff. I’ll be partying until then. For a more in-depth preiew, go here. Enjoy the game.

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