Super Bowl XLV: 10 Reasons Why the Pittsburgh Steelers Win

Hmmm. The Steelers are in the Super Bowl again, and they're about to win, again. Why in the world would anybody be surprised by this? Listen. This franchise, much like men's basketball at Duke, women's basketball at UConn and the USA women's softball team, have transformed from destination to domination.

Now, I can't take too much time to explain the destination thing right now, so you're going to have to wait awhile. In short, winners have destinations, not goals, hopes or dreams. And some of these destination-setters become dominant winners (like Pittsburgh). Trust me. I'm a Win Doctor. BAM!

Let me do this. I will use my book, 10 Traits of Winning Athletes, to explain why the Steelahs will win ring No. 15 (just kidding, ring No. 7 actually). So, eat, pray, love. Oops, I mean, read, learn, agree.

Trait 1: Winners are Convinced—The Steelers are convinced that they deserve to win, should win and will win. There is absolutely no thought about losing. Just ask James Harrison if he ever thinks about losing a game. Uh, probably not.

Trait 2: Winners have Captains—One word that is totally overused and meaningless in sports today is the word leadership. Winners don't have leaders, they have captains. Captains are winners who encourage those around them to win, bottom line. Leadership is influence. Captainship is transforming. Do you really think that Troy Polamalu influences this team to win or do you think he transforms them into winners themselves? You know the answer.

Trait 3: Winners are Conditioned—Is there anything worse than a professional athlete who gets "gassed" or needs rest? Have you ever seen a Steeler who asks to come off of the field because he's "gassed?" Whatever. While the other teams wear down, the Steelers rev up. Game over!

Trait 4: Winners are Coachable—Just watch the Steelers play. They are totally responsive to the coaching they receive. Their coaches make the calls, and because they are winners, the players make the plays.

Trait 5: Winners are Consistent—If there is one trait which describes the Steelers, it's consistency. Every game, every week and every season, we all know how the Steelers will win. They value "routine" winning performance over occasional spectacular plays. They prefer Lombardi trophies over ESPN highlights.

Trait 6: Winners are Committed—The actual meaning of the word committed indicates who you become, not what you do. The Steelers, like all other dominant winners, have transformed from doing winning things to becoming winners. This means that winning becomes automatic behavior for teams like Pittsburgh.

Trait 7: Winners are Confident—Now, does anybody really think that the Steelers don't already know that they're going to win this game? Don't worry about them being overconfident either. They know who they are and what they do, so winning is a forgone conclusion.

Trait 8: Winners are Courageous—Courageous athletes are those who win when the "game is on the line." Whatever. The game is never on the line to winners. Winners win, and nothing else. When Ben Roethlisberger has the ball with two minutes to go and he needs a touchdown to win, he doesn't think that it's a pressure situation. For crying out loud, he just gets the ball, scores a touchdown and wins. That's courageous if you ask me.

Trait 9: Winners are Calculators—Winners figure out what it takes to win, and they get it done. Let's face it. If the defense needs to blitz to win, they will. If the offense needs to revert to a running game to win, they will. If the Steelers need to etc. etc. etc., they will, and they will win.

Trait 10: Winners are Converters—As with all winners, they don't always have more "talent" than the other team. They simply have players who have found a way to convert the talent that they do have into winning. Think about it. The Steelers real talent is winning, so what else matters?

I know this is a lot of information, but it's short and sweet. The Pittsburgh Steelers are dominant winners, and Super Bowl XLV will prove that again. BAM!