Well, it's almost 1:00 am, and I'm finally getting to this blog. Yeah, that's pretty late, but I distinctly remember my wife (the boss) telling me that I've got to be prepared to update the blog every day. And so, here it goes.
I only started checking out public blogs on sports sites during this past NFL playoffs, and didn't start actually posting messages until after the SB. But in that relatively short period of time, I have discovered the psycho-fan.
Yep, these psycho fans are out there. I haven't seen a ton of them, but the few I have seen make up for lack of numbers with a frightening degree of loyalty to their team, right down to threats of physical violence towards those that disagree with them. You may have noticed that this blog does not disclose any of my personal information. Let's just say that this is not an accidental feature.
Back to the psycho fan. This offseason, psycho fans from three teams have been particularly vocal: the Baltimore Ravens, the Arizona Cardinals, and the Dallas Cowboys. This isn't really surprising, as the fans of these teams have the most to be upset about because of the Steelers' win.
Baltimore fans are presumably angry because the Steelers beat them three out of three times this season, the third in the AFC Championship game to get into SB43. I've heard it said (Don Banks from SI) that the most painful game to lose probably isn't the SB, it's either of the conference championship games. This rings true, as the SB loser can at least say they went to the big game and partook in all of the festivities and spectacle leading up to the game. The conference championship losers fall just short and miss out on all of that. Being division rivals only adds to the pain, I expect.
Arizona fans are presumably angry for an obvious reason, the SB loss. In that championship game, the Steelers took an early lead and at certain points seemed on the verge of turning the game into a blowout. It never happened, of course, the Cards fought back and made a real game out of it, even taking a slim lead with two and a half to go. Because of that, the Pittsburgh mini-comeback ("Don't call it a comeback!"), punctuated by the amazingly close TD catch by Holmes, must have been particularly painful.
But out of the three teams, the one with the most hateful and antagonistic fans is the Dallas Cowboys. Hands down. By a country mile. If you are only a casual sports observer (if you ever find yourself reading this blog then your are probably not just a casual sports fan), you might wonder, Why would Dallas fans be so affected by the Steelers' win? The answer is, because this last title was Pittsburgh's sixth SB championship, thereby breaking a three-way tie with Dallas and San Francisco, each of which has five titles. Dallas, in fact, had very high expectations for this last season but ultimately failed to make the playoffs (this is what I think fuels Dallas anger more than San Fran anger, as the 49ers have been struggling lately and might not have had terribly high hopes for this last season).
Let me be clear: I'm not painting all Dallas fans with the same brush. In fact, I'm rather impressed with the objectivity of most Cowboys' fans. I'm just talking about the few, the (overly) proud.
I'll get into specifics in a later post.
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Can this be done without everyone thinking I'm a fairweather fan?
Wow, my own blog. This may not seem like a big deal to lot of people, but to a largely computer-illiterate, newfangled technology-fearing stooge like me, this is like flying solo to Jupiter in the space shuttle Challenger. At least I'm not prone to hyperbole.
So how did this start? Hey, how does any guy in his mid-30s get up enough courage to do something way out of his comfort zone? That's right, my wife ordered me to do it. Allright, "ordered" is a strong word. Let's just say she strongly advised and recommended that I start my own blog after seeing me spend more and more time posting messages on various sports blogs (si.com, fanhouse.com, yahoo.com, etc.). This kind of message-posting is something I started doing after the Steelers took it all in SB43.
That's right, I'm a Steelers fan (faint moans and groans). Because of that, I'm worried that anyone and everyone who reads this blog will automatically assume that I'm some kind of fairweather, bandwagon-jumper who's now taking up for Pittsburgh solely on account of their recent championship. Not true! Not true!
I actually became of fan of the Steelers in 1990 when I started playing highschool football. My coach, in his infinite wisdom, permitted me to "play" (I use that term loosely) the position of outside linebacker in our team's 3-4 defense. I'll concede that, while our team was actually very good, it was not (primarily) because of me. Okay, okay, fine, it was despite me. I was listed in the third string, sometimes (generously) in the second, depending upon the weather, the opponent, and the alignment of the stars. I also got to play some special teams, and was known as a "special teams demon" (if, by "demon", you mean short, slow guy who is the last one to jump on the pile, then yes, I was a "demon"). In sum, I wasn't much of a player. But that sure got me started as far as looking at the pro 3-4 defenses that had great linebackers. And, you guessed it, that meant the Pittsburgh Steelers. Oh yeah, guys like Kevin Greene and Greg Lloyd became my heroes. And after that, Levon Kirkland and Chad Brown. Then Earl Holmes and Jason Gildon. Even Joey Porter. And now, James Farrior, James Harrison, and Lamar Woodley. So although my highschool football "career" (again, I used that word loosely) is responsible for giving me a sore neck, PTSD, and a male stalker (story for later), it also gave me my love for Pittsburgh Steeler football. I've been a hardcore Steelers fan for over fifteen years now. And, yes, my wife loves me despite this fact.
With that out of the way, I'll tell you that I anticipate blogging primarily about NFL. Yeah, the season just ended, but true fans know that there's no real NFL offseason anymore. There might be some snide, occasionally sincere, commentary directed towards pro-basketball and baseball (tennis might find itself in there once in a while), but for the most part there's going to be a football-heavy focus (hence the name). On to Jupiter!
So how did this start? Hey, how does any guy in his mid-30s get up enough courage to do something way out of his comfort zone? That's right, my wife ordered me to do it. Allright, "ordered" is a strong word. Let's just say she strongly advised and recommended that I start my own blog after seeing me spend more and more time posting messages on various sports blogs (si.com, fanhouse.com, yahoo.com, etc.). This kind of message-posting is something I started doing after the Steelers took it all in SB43.
That's right, I'm a Steelers fan (faint moans and groans). Because of that, I'm worried that anyone and everyone who reads this blog will automatically assume that I'm some kind of fairweather, bandwagon-jumper who's now taking up for Pittsburgh solely on account of their recent championship. Not true! Not true!
I actually became of fan of the Steelers in 1990 when I started playing highschool football. My coach, in his infinite wisdom, permitted me to "play" (I use that term loosely) the position of outside linebacker in our team's 3-4 defense. I'll concede that, while our team was actually very good, it was not (primarily) because of me. Okay, okay, fine, it was despite me. I was listed in the third string, sometimes (generously) in the second, depending upon the weather, the opponent, and the alignment of the stars. I also got to play some special teams, and was known as a "special teams demon" (if, by "demon", you mean short, slow guy who is the last one to jump on the pile, then yes, I was a "demon"). In sum, I wasn't much of a player. But that sure got me started as far as looking at the pro 3-4 defenses that had great linebackers. And, you guessed it, that meant the Pittsburgh Steelers. Oh yeah, guys like Kevin Greene and Greg Lloyd became my heroes. And after that, Levon Kirkland and Chad Brown. Then Earl Holmes and Jason Gildon. Even Joey Porter. And now, James Farrior, James Harrison, and Lamar Woodley. So although my highschool football "career" (again, I used that word loosely) is responsible for giving me a sore neck, PTSD, and a male stalker (story for later), it also gave me my love for Pittsburgh Steeler football. I've been a hardcore Steelers fan for over fifteen years now. And, yes, my wife loves me despite this fact.
With that out of the way, I'll tell you that I anticipate blogging primarily about NFL. Yeah, the season just ended, but true fans know that there's no real NFL offseason anymore. There might be some snide, occasionally sincere, commentary directed towards pro-basketball and baseball (tennis might find itself in there once in a while), but for the most part there's going to be a football-heavy focus (hence the name). On to Jupiter!
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