LIVE BLOG: Super Bowl XLV From Ed's Mudville Grill

Read how Super Bowl Sunday went down at Ed's Mudville Grill.

20 minutes from kickoff:

Game day.

Other than holidays does anything bring Americans together more than the Super Bowl? Heck, let's include holidays, is there anything? Christmas? Easter? Fourth of July? American Idol? I don't know. Super Bowl might win.

Anyway, I'm at Ed's Mudville Grill in downtown Clayton. I'll be live blogging tonight's game. Should be interesting. Right now people are looking at me like I'm crazy trying to write a term paper at a sports bar on Super Bowl Sunday.

Ed's is cracking right now (did I just type "cracking," ugh). Lots of games, squares, predictions, there's a slight chance there might be some other wagers going on. Just saying it's possible.

Great setup here, too. Everyone has their own name tags. You had to reserve a seat in advance so it isn't over crowded. This makes me think, why am I blogging? I should have just enjoyed this? The things one does for Patch.

OK, I'm rambling and getting in trouble. I'll try and be insightful, not that I've watched much football in the last two months (last sentence of the previous paragraph), but I'll try and make this fun.

10 minutes: Over/under on the amount of grammar mistake in the live blog is 51. Have to say, the over is tempting. Oh, by the way, the teams have taken the field.

7 minutes: Seems to be a very neutral crowd at Ed's. I see one guy wearing a Packers shirt and a kid wearing a Hines Ward jersey.

6 minutes: The "Glee" girl is singing "America the Beautiful." I think I hear my mom screaming. There was also a W. sighting. I wonder if he wishes he was handling the Egypt situation right now instead...I'm going to guess no.

5 minutes: Christina Aguilera singing the national anthem? Um, interesting. Pretty cool the crowd erupted when they showed the troops. Also, anyone else notice the flags behind Christina look like France's flag? So not American.

2 minutes: Introduced myself to my neighbors here at Ed's (Tara's group). I think they're less weirded out by me typing away now.

? minutes: I guess we're running a little late. A little eruption in the restaurant after the coin toss. Huh, I wonder why?

FIRST QUARTER

14:54 — Big Ben takes over at his own 36. Talk about one likeable guy.

13:35 — Almost forgot...Steelers 31, Packers 28.

13:13 — Packers got lucky there; dropped punt but got it back. Now here comes Aaron Rodgers...who actually is likable.

11:00 — Packers drive stalls at mid-field. Service at Ed's has been impeccable so far. Surely this has nothing to do with being part of the media. Absolutely nothing.

Commercials — I actually like football and I don't really like commercials, but there was a cheer for the Bud Light ad. One of the games here at Ed's is guessing what the first three commercials were going to be. Bud Light was a popular choice.

8:00? — Trying to eat buffalo wings, blog, not get computer sticky and watch game at the same time. Failing at everything.

7:30 — Ed's is playing a random trivia game. How many people have attended the first 44 Super Bowls? My guess is 3.1 million, but if I win I'm going to be blamed for using the computer. But I didn't!

5:53 — BREAKING NEWS: Alex Rodriguez has lost both his left and right arms. That was too funny! TOO funny. Ed's in tizzy. America is in a tizzy. I'm tizzied.

4:00 — TOUCHDOWN. Packers strike first. Perfect throw by Rodgers to Nelson down the sideline. Packers 7, Steelers 0

3:20 — TOUCHDOWN! Big Ben (I write Big Ben because I can't spell Rothliesberger) throws a big fat duck that gets picked off and taken to the house. Last time I live blogged a football game the score was 92-7 (or something like that). I hope that doesn't happen again. Packers 14, Steelers 0

1:00 — Random story. A few months back I did my Patch training in Chicago. There was a group of editors from Wisconsin also training. They really love the Packers. Not, "I'm a 49ers fan, I love the 49ers," type of love. But true love. Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan in Sleepless in Seattle type of love. It's a little strange. Wait, did I just make a Sleepless in Seattle reference? This has not been a good weekend. Back to the game...Steelers at the 50.

SECOND QUARTER

13:30 — Steelers complete a long third down and are driving. I feel a little strange giving play-by-play updates. I mean, is anyone falling the game ONLY on Clayton Patch? Seems unlikely.

11:01 — FIELD GOAL. Steelers score. Packers 14, Steelers 3

11:01 – So remember the, "How many people have attended the Super Bowl ever?" question from the first quarter here at Ed's? The answer was 3,421,??? or something. I was 300,000 off. But someone was just 30,000 off. 30,000! Nothing will be more amazing tonight.

6:00 — I just talked with Scott Garrett, the guy who guessed the attendance number. Basically, he thought about the size of stadiums for the 60s, 70s, 80s and so on. Then multiplied some numbers and got within 30,000. Thought about asking some tough journalism questions (Just admit it, you cheated, huh?). Then I remembered I was at a Super Bowl party.

4:35 — Another game here at Ed's. "What is the total points scored in the first 44 Super Bowls?" I'm guessing 2,157. If Mr. Garrett wins this one I'm going to grill him.

3:37 — TOUCHDOWN! Anyway...Packers score again. This game might just be a case of Aaron Rodgers being better than Big Ben. Packers 21, Steelers 3

2:24 — Steelers trying to score before the half. At the Packers 40. Also, answer to the points scored questions was 2,002.

1:54 — My goal for this blog is to get 12 comments; I'll write six of them. Please people. Help me justify to my boss that spending my day writing about the Super Bowl is worth it. No, seriously, please!

1:37 — Steelers continue to go down the field. Charles Woodson is hurt. How old is Charles Woodson? I think I was in elementary school when he was at Michigan.  Oh, by the way...

:39 — TOUCHDOWN! Right when I slam Big Ben he drives his team down the field for a critical score. Second half might be interesting. Packers 21, Steelers 10

:39 — Was just thinking if Big Ben wins this do we have to consider him one of the best quarterbacks of the era, with Brady and Manning. I mean, this would be his third Super Bowl and he's still relatively young. This is depressing.

HALFTIME — It's hard to watch the game too closely because of all the typing, eating, cleaning of keyboard, tweeting and reporting (yes, bosses, I did some reporting!). But the Packers passing game is better than the Steelers defense right now. To the show...ugh.

SHOW — Ummmm, I think the Black Eyed Peas think they're so cool they can wear anything and get away with it. This might be pushing it.

SHOW — Want to write something nice about Fergie but do not want to put my job in any kind of danger.

SHOW — Clayton crowd does not seem overly entertained.

SHOW — Usher drops down from the scoreboard. Cool, I guess.

SHOW  — OK, I'm starting to enjoy this. I won't lie. Some how the ice cube heads work. 

THIRD QUARTER

15:00 — And we're back. I'm going for 2,500 words (at about 1,200). This means a lot of bad jokes. I apologize.

13:00 – Packers' James Jones might have just dropped a TD pass. If the Steelers come back that would be something to remember.

13:00 — Trying to think about how I could implement the live blog format to other aspects of Clayton Patch's coverage. Like, would it make City Council meetings more interesting? Can City Council meetings be interesting? (For the record, I love City Council meetings. On week's there isn't one I'm 47 percent less happy. No joke. I'm not being sarcastic at all.)

10:50 — Steelers driving. They are inside the 10.

10:19 — TOUCHDOWN. Steelers go right down the field and score. Ed's crowd has yet to snap back into the game since halftime. Anyway, this could be a good one. Packers 21, Steelers 17

10:13 — Jordy Nelson with another Packers reception. My friends will tease me but I didn't know who Jordy Nelson was three hours ago.

9:something — Packers have to punt again. Last trivia question here at Ed's: What does the Green Bay Packers helmet stand for? I should really know this but I really don't.

7:00 — Steelers driving again and have all the momentum. Big Ben just missed Mike Wallace on a bomb or they would have the lead. If you didn't notice, as soon as I slammed Ben he's been sensational. I'm sure they pulled up my blog at halftime in the locker room to give him motivation. Your welcome Pittsburgh.

4:30 — Pittsburgh misses a field goal. It looked like there was no way the Steelers weren't going to score on that drive. Let's see if Rodgers can rise to the occasion.

2:30 — Packers remain stuck on 21. Green Bay's defense is spending too much time on the field and Mendenhall will eventually hurt them. How do you like that for analysis?

:47 — Steelers punt. Rodgers is trying to the throw the ball as hard as humanly possible every throw. It's not working.

:37 — Packers have 37 total rushing yards. Not good. Packers to punt...again.

:25 – Just in case we haven't given Ed's Mudville Grill enough love this week (this is like the third story), this is their 16th Super Bowl party since opening in 1994.

:11 — Pace of the game has slowed down. Steelers ball at the Packers 41 after a short punt.

Commercial — The NFL ad where they showed the different sitcoms over the years was pretty good.

FOURTH QUARTER

14:50 — Packers get a turnover...will their offense wake up?

12:50 — Jordy Nelson! Packers best player today? Takes a reception inside the 10.

11:57 – TOUCHDOWN! Green Bay takes advantage of the turnover and scores; Nelson's long third down catch was the biggest play. It's the Packers game to lose now. Packers 28, Steelers 17

11:57 — Someone just announced, "Oh, Patrick wins!" It's some sort of game they got here at Ed's. Anyway, I smile, start to stand and some little kid runs up to collect his prize. I guess Patrick isn't the most uncommon name. Darn.

10:00 — Realizing blogging for three hours becomes a chore eventually. I'm running out of words. Holding penalty just really hurt the Steelers.

7:34 — TOUCDOWN! Mike Wallace is fast. Great throw from Big Ben and the speedster streaks into the end zone. Then the Steelers run the option on the 2-point conversion...and it worked! Ed's is heating up. Fans are tense. No sure how many Steelers or Packers fans are ere, but there could be financial consequences for the final 7 minutes, 34 seconds. Packers 28, Steelers 25

5:52 — Packers complete a huge 3rd and five. Rodgers found Jennings streaking down the middle. As I type, another first down. My Patch training partners might be breathing a little easier right now. Green Bay in field goal range.

3:15 — Great drive by Green Bay. Got a third and goal from the five right now. TD here and it's over.

2:10 — FIELD GOAL. Jorby Nelson was just inches away from being Super Bowl MVP. Couldn't catch a ball that touched his finger tips. Packers had to settle for three. Big Ben has been here before, can he do it again? Packers 31, Steelers 25

1:59 — Last time I watched the Steelers have a game-winning last minute drive in the Super Bowl I was watching from a couch in Ireland. A little different atmosphere here.

:49 — Brett who? Aaron Rodgers is a super star of super stars in Wisconsin. It wasn't a great game, but the Packers deserve the win. Big Ben's INT for the TD really hurt the Steelers. Put them in a huge hole early.

FINAL — Packers 31, Steelers 25: Between the games, food and people it was a good time here Ed's Mudville Grill. They set me up well, so, thanks guys.

Looking forward to doing it again next year.