I remember reading this board last year after the Evans-Cundiff debacle in Foxboro. I couldn't sleep. I had a hard time eating. I was torn up because I thought we had blown our best shot to go to the Super Bowl in a long time. And I know that you won't always get that shot. There are tons of die-hard, classy, dedicated fans around the country who have never seen their team go to a Super Bowl. I feared that I would have to feast on the memories of Super Bowl XXXV for the rest of my life.

But this team has done the incredible. From Joe Flacco's pinpoint throws, to Q's will-not-be-denied TD catches, to Pitta getting up after a clearly illegal hit, to Ellerbe intercepting a ball with a cast the size of a bowling ball on his left hand, to Pierce/Rice/Leach getting key first downs, this team refused to give up. And now, at the same site of last year's debacle, they persevered, they believed and they overcame.

As soon as the game was over, I paid through the nose, but I will be going to New Orleans with my father, brother and sister (my Mom and wife are not football fans and my kids are too young) to take in Super Bowl XLVII.

We aren't done yet. We still have work to do.

But that work is the concern of another day. Tonight I want to thank all of you for providing me an outlet of like-minded fans, believers in the team and lovers of Baltimore. Thank you for giving me somewhere to go in the darkest hours of last year's loss. Thank you also to the team for never giving up and always believing -- Ray, Sizzle, Ed, Joe, Ray Rice, college classmate Matt Birk, Mount McKinnie, Marshall Yanda, Q, Torrey, Dennis, Justin, Sam, Jacoby and everybody who made this happen. I am proud of you. Now get out there and win it all -- and send the General out in style.

If anybody else is going to New Orleans, let me know. After the tickets bled me dry, I will likely be road tripping down there. But I will be there. Let's hope the team can bring it home.