One For The Thumb

This is the problem with being a sports fan. I have proclaimed my love of my football team in the past. Now that they're going to the Superbowl, all of a sudden everyone will think I'm a band wagon fan. In fact, I blogged about how much I fucking hate the Patriots and mentioned how they seemed to have my team's number. Still, I have already had some people doing the "Sure you're a Steelers fan" thing.

I probably shouldn't have to blog about the fact I am a fan because it looks too much like "Me thinks the dude doth protest too much". BUT I will tell you ... I am stoked.

The Christmas gift I remember the most were my Pittsburgh Steelers PJ's I got when I was in 2nd grade. I don't know why I remember them so well. They were this yellow with black cuffs job that was probably made of some sort of synthetic highly flamable and toxic material. But hey, it was the 70's then; hell, the river in Cleveland caught fire back in those days.

But I was one of those kids playing football during lunch. I don't know what it was that made so many of the kids in my school Steelers fans during the 70's and early 80's. Maybe it was because we were working class kids and the Steelers have that blue-collar ethic of just shut your mouth and get the job done. We always saw the Dallas Cowboys as a Texas team out there in Eastern New Mexico and the only people who seemed to be Cowboy fans were transplanted Texans and well ... non-minorities. Every Hispanic and African-American kid I knew were fans of anyone but the Cowboys. We were inundated with Dallas Cowboy TV shows, radio programs, and newspaper coverage. In those days, the Broncos were a joke for the most part and the Cardinals were just a dream. The only other teams near us were the Chiefs and the Oilers.

But the Steelers represented that team that could beat the flashy and loud mouthed Cowboys. I almost sense that there was a racial / ethnic / socioeconomic divide among people where I grew up about football. The working class and the minorities seemed to be Steelers and Raiders fans while the wealthy and non-minorities seemed to be Cowboy fans.

Aside from that though, I stuck by this team. I was there when Chuck Noll left. I was there during the Bubby Brister era. I was there during the lean years. I suffered through Mark Malone (yeah, he was an Arizona State alum but terrible in the NFL) and Kordell Stewart. I watched the Cowboys finally get one back from us (those bastards).

And now they're back in the big dance. I've been waiting since I watched the Steelers win in 1980. The chance is here and it looks like it's going to be a huge game. I've got to get out my Steelers jersey with my name on it for game and wave my Terrible Towel!!!