steelers-super-bowl-ring-2009The Pittsburgh Steelers picked up their Super Bowl LXIII rings last night, and this is the biggest ring yet.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has the story:

The Steelers’ Super Bowl ring keeps getting bigger, and Joe Greene, who picked up his sixth last night, could not decide which he likes more.

You have six kids, you love them all equally.

“There is no best,” Greene said.

The latest, which weighs in at 3.7 ounces and contains 63 diamonds that go 3.61 carats, is Greene’s and the Steelers’ biggest, by far, dwarfing their ring from Super Bowl XL.

Counting all the diamonds, it was another whiteout night across town in Pittsburgh.

“It is a beautiful ring,” said Greene, who earned four as a Hall of Fame defensive tackle for the Steelers and two more as a scout. “Beautiful, beautiful ring.”

Greene is one of five club employees who have earned six rings, including Dan Rooney and scout Bill Nunn. At one time, 22 players owned four Super Bowl rings, earned over six seasons in the 1970s.

Gotta love “Mean” Joe Greene.  I do, and I’m glad he’s still a part of the franchise.

Twenty-eight team members joined the “two ring” club.

The ceremony was supposed to last until 11 p.m., but Ben Roethlisberger left first:

Ben Roethlisberger was the first to emerge at 7:43 p.m., holding the large box with the large ring inside. He jumped into his Porsche and sped across town to Mellon Arena for the game.

That was the Penguins game at the Igloo, Stanley Cup game six.  The Penguins topped Detroit 2-1 and have tied the series at 3-3.  Friday night is do or die for each team.

As I write this, I’m wondering what I’ll be thinking six months from now as I look back on this post.  Two days hence, we’ll know who gets to keep the Stanley Cup for a year.  Six months down the road, and the Steelers will be well into the 2009 seasons, battling cold games in Pittsburgh.

Let’s go Pens! Take the cup!

And congratulations to the Steelers.