A Rejuvenated Steeler Fan

Well, today was the first Steeler game of the year, and they won, so it's a good start. It's a good start for my fandom of the team as well, as when I lived in Knoxville, my love of the Steelers had waned a bit.

I think it traces back to the Super Bowl win. I really didn't think we deserved to win that game; we didn't play well, and the refs made a bunch of bad calls that went our way. Then, we suffered through the 8-8 season, Cowher's retirement, the Faneca situation, and the first year under Coach Mike (not to mention the current status of ownership). For me, I just was kind of tired of being a Steeler fan. I'm a huge Pirate fan, and I've seen them lose for a long time, and I'd rather that the Pirates won a championship before the Steelers win another. I think this started wearing on me, as it seemed as if everyone in Pittsburgh is only a Steeler fan (except when the Pens are good).

Today, I was rejuvenated, and this was made possible by my friend Brandon. He and I are Pine Richland grads (Class of '99) and we also graduated with graduate degrees from IUP at the same time (Class of '05). He works for the Houston Texans. I met him in Jacksonville last NFL season to go to the Texans Jags game in town, and it was a good time. When I saw that the Steelers and Texans played in Pittsburgh this year, I told him we'd have to meet up. He did it one better: he offered my brother and I the opportunity to work for Texan radio.

We were paid $50 to stand on the sidelines (!) and hold the parabonic microphones; you know what I'm talking about. They are the mikes with the big glass shields that are used at the line of scrimmage to pick up the sounds on the field. We had to follow the ball around the field all day, and it was an awesome experience.

One of the best aspects was the fact that we got to listen to Texan radio while working. It was interesting to hear what they had to say. They were very disappointed with the Texan effort. They also sang the praises of our beautiful city, especially the North Shore sports complexes and, of course, our confluence of rivers.

This gave me such a renewed interest in the Steelers. The fans were extremely loud all day, until we had the game wrapped up in the fourth quarter. It was cool to see all the black and gold from the field perspective. It really was a once in a lifetime type of experience. Now, I'm looking forward to every fall weekend not only because of Pitt football, but Steeler football as well. It feels good to be back.