What's the big deal about Steeler football? Read on...

[SPEEDBEAD.]

This was an email I received today.  For those you you who "get it," congratulations.  For those of you who don't....BEAT IT!!   ;D

Enjoy

WHAT'S THE BIG DEAL ABOUT STEELER FOOTBALL?

Being a Steeler fan means so much more than football. It means being from a corner of the world unlike any other.

It means being from a place where the people are so tough-minded that they have survived the  Homestead strikes, the  Johnstown  flood and most recently the Etna Floods. These people have the DNA of hard work, in mills and mines, without the necessity of complaint. They live simply, with no frills. They don't have movie stars or fancy cars.

Instead, they have simple traditions like kielbasa, Kennywood, and celebrations. They live in distinctive neighborhoods like Polish Hill and the Hill District and all of the surrounding counties. These people are genuine.

They don't have chic internet cafes and cappuccinos, but they have The Original Hot Dog joint, Primanti's, Eat n' Park and Iron City Beer. People from  Pittsburgh don't have sunny beaches or fancy boats, but the rivers roll gently, connecting the small towns of people whose histories have been built on strength and humility.

People from  Pittsburgh don't have the biggest shopping malls or the best nightclubs, but they'll take Friday night high school football and Steeler Sunday over anything.

Steeler football means so much more than you think. It symbolizes a Diaspora of generations who had the best childhood they could imagine.

They ran free without a care or concern in the valleys of those  Allegheny Mountains . Their blue-collar world was easy ... there was no one to tell them that they lacked material things. There was no one to tell them that they needed more.

As the steel mills closed and the jobs disappeared, some of these people had to leave. While the world benefits because they spread their  Pittsburgh values, they long for their home where things were simpler and more pure.

They teach their kids about Jack Lambert, Lynn Swann, Terry Bradshaw, Franco Harris, Jack Ham, L.C. Greenwood, Joe Greene, and Myron Cope in hopes of imparting not

just the knowledge, but the feeling that they represented.

They are everywhere, those Terrible Towels. They wave, not just for the team, but for the hearts they left behind.

They wave in living rooms in  Fort Lauderdale and in the bars of  Washington ,  D.C. They wave all the way to the Seattle Superdome! They wave for the Rooney family, whose values mirror our own - loyalty, grit, and humility.

They wave for football players like Jerome Bettis and Hines Ward, whose unselfishness and toughness have allowed sports to be about the game and the team.

Make no mistake that Steeler football is not just about football. I could not be prouder to be from the  Pittsburgh area than I am right now!! Even if you no longer live in the area, you have South Western Pennsylvania in your blood no matter where you go.

And deep down in your heart of hearts, you can still hear the Super Bowls of times past, the excitement in everyone's voices especially our fathers, cousins, and anyone else who gathered around the TV on Football Sundays!

Make no mistake, its just as exciting right now! It's not just about rivalries and who is better than the other, it's about family, tradition and roots! It's more than football, but its football at its finest! If you now live in  Arizona ,  Colorado ,  Ohio ,  Indiana ,  California ,  Florida ,  Nevada , or  Texas , be proud of where you were born and who your FIRST favorite football team was!

Go Steelers, Picksburgh GO STILLERS! Ah yes!

"Picksburgh"

Yunz is from the Picksburgh area or maybe you grew up

there if:

1. You didn't have a spring break in high school.

2. You walk carefully when it is "slippy" outside.

3. You often go down to the "crick."

4. You've told your children to "red up" their rooms.

5. You can remember telling your little brother/sister to stop

being so " nebby."

6. You've gotten hurt by falling into a "jaggerbush".

7. Your mother or grandmother has been seen wearing a "babushka" on her head.

8. You've "worshed" the clothes.

9. I ask you to hand me one of those "Gum-Bands" an' you actually

know what I'm talking about.

10. You know you can't drive too fast on the back roads, because of the deer.

11. You know  Beaver   Valley , Turtle Crick, Mars, Slippery Rock, Greentree and  New Castle are names of towns. And you've been to most, if not all, of them.

12. A girl walks up to three of her girl friends and says,

"HEY,YENZ GUYS!"

13. You hear "you guyses" and don't think twice. Example: "you guyses hause is nice."

14. You know the three rivers by name and under stand that "The Point" isn't just on a writing instrument.

15. Someone refers to "The Mon" or "The Yough" and you know exactly what they're talking about.

16. You remember the blizzard o f 1993 (or 1976, or 1950, or 1939,

or...) and remember not being able to go outside because the snow was over your head and you would have suffocated.

17. Someone starts the chant, "Here we go Still-ers!" and you join in.

In the proper cadence, waving the appropriately colored towel.

18. Bob Prince and "There's a bug loose on the rug." hold special meaning for you.

19. You've either eaten a Farkleberry Tart or know someone who has.

20. You drink pop, eat hoagies, love perogies and one of your favorite sandwiches actually has coleslaw and French fries ON it.

21. You know what a "still mill" is.

22. You expect temps in the winter to be record-breaking cold and

temps in the summer to be record-breaking hot.

23. You know what Eat 'N Park is and frequently ate breakfast there at 2:00 AM after the bar closed and made fun of people.

24. You order "dippy eggs" in a restaurant and get exactly what you wanted.

25. You spent your summers, or a school picnic at  Luna  Park , Kennywood, Westview,  Sand  Castle  , or Idlewild.

26. You've been to the Braun's Bread Plant or  Story   Book  Forest for a school field trip. We went to the Heinz plant and the Isaly's plant for Cub Scouts.

27. "Chipped ham" (from Isaly's) was always in your refrigerator when you was growin'up.

28. You refuse to buy any condiments besides Heinz unless a  Pittsburgh athlete's picture is on the side of the container.

29. When you call the dog or the kids you shout, "Kum-mere" and they come.

30. Franco, Roberto, and Mario don't need last names and you can recite their exploits by heart.

31. Food at a wedding reception consists of rigatoni, stuffed cabbage, sauerkraut and polska kielbasa.

[J Francho]

Its cute that in light of impending doom, you can reminisce.

[CWB]

Urban Rednecks.

I wonder how many days it took to compose that

Anyway, I hope they beat the cheeseheads from Green Bay.

[Glenn]

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[SPEEDBEAD.]

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That would be correct if the thread was titled "What will the Seahawks be doing this Sunday."

[5bass]

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[SPEEDBEAD.]

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Al Davis' decaying corpse making you a little sick, big boy?   ;D

[JigMe]

.

[NewAngler]

So the Steelers have tradition.

You still like boys.

[SPEEDBEAD.]

So the Steelers have tradition.

You still like boys.

I know you are newly single, but I dont roll like that homeboy. :-*

j/k man, glad to see you on the boards again. You going to have some more free time to fish this year?

[NateFollmer]

I hate the Steelers, but I have done most of that list...

Oh and I go down to the Creeeeeeeeek, not the Crick.

I always thought they were called jaggerbush's.... way to ruin my day!

[deaknh03]

sounds like anyplace USA, every area has it's own quirks. To me being a true steeler fan means you agree with doing roids for decades, and then don't mind when your star player rapes a couple of chicks, I guess I missed that part when I read that blurb.

[NewAngler]

So the Steelers have tradition.

You still like boys.

I know you are newly single, but I dont roll like that homeboy. :-*

j/k man, glad to see you on the boards again. You going to have some more free time to fish this year?

Once all this bullish is striaghtened out I will have a ton of free time to fish. You gonna make it down to the P'mac this year?

[bassfisherjk]

That's a fun list Speed,Thanks.Steelers all the way!!

[jeremyt]

I don't dislike the steelers, and for the most part their fans are some of the best people I ever met.  For some reason though when they won their last two superbowls everyone was a steelers fan.  I hate bandwagon fans.  The Steelers and the Pats are by far the two teams with the most.  That being said I think I am kinda neutral this year on who I want to win.

[CAdeltaLipRipper]

I want the chargers to hurry up and win a super bowl. I cant believe a team with that much talent and as good as they are haven't won one yet.I mean you know how many championships theyve won?5 AFL West championships, 10 AFC West championships,a conference championship and an AFL championship

[Glenn]

Steeler fans look like bumblebees with a bad shave. The men look even worse. ;D

[Tin]

32. You drive your street bike into bridge abutments.

33. You lock young college girls in bathrooms ....

34. You keep your pimp hand strong while in Lake Tahoe.

35. Someone saying "Hello" to you and going to shake your hand so you take your gum out of your mouth and put it in their hand.

[Fishing Rhino]

Tradition? Ghettos? Here ya go. The fishing port of New Bedford, once the Whaling Capital of the world. Fall River, once the textile capital of the world. Brockton, about thirty miles away, the hometown of Rocky Marciano and once the shoe capital of the world.

Fall River, the city of hills, mills, and pork pies. When the textile industry left for the South in the mid 1900s, the textile capital of the world became the you know what of the world. Kinda like what happened to Pittsburgh's steel industry.

Fall River, where the textile mills were built from huge granite blocks cut from quarries adjacent to the mill sites.

The section around the city hall was known as the "Granite Block" because all the buildings were built with granite. Durfee High School was built from granite.

In Fall River, the Polish section has Pulaski Park, the French, Lafayette Park, the Italians, Columbus park. Did I mention that Fall River is also the home of the infamous Lizzy Borden.

Fall River, where child labor in the textile mills was a way of life.

Lizzy Borden took an axe and gave her mother forty whacks. And when the job was neatly done, she gave her father forty one.

What's that you were saying about namby pamby Pittsburgh?

[SPEEDBEAD.]

sounds like anyplace USA, every area has it's own quirks. To me being a true steeler fan means you agree with doing roids for decades, and then don't mind when your star player rapes a couple of chicks, I guess I missed that part when I read that blurb.

Yep, as I'm sure you're ok with a lamb skin boot wearing quarterback, a cheating coach and having the dirtiest defensive player in recent memory.

Anytown USA, ya got that right.   :

[Tin]

sounds like anyplace USA, every area has it's own quirks. To me being a true steeler fan means you agree with doing roids for decades, and then don't mind when your star player rapes a couple of chicks, I guess I missed that part when I read that blurb.

Yep, as I'm sure you're ok with a lamb skin boot wearing quarterback, a cheating coach and having the dirtiest defensive player in recent memory.

Anytown USA, ya got that right. :

RAPE / SEXUAL ASSUALT > Uggz

[deaknh03]

sounds like anyplace USA, every area has it's own quirks. To me being a true steeler fan means you agree with doing roids for decades, and then don't mind when your star player rapes a couple of chicks, I guess I missed that part when I read that blurb.

Yep, as I'm sure you're ok with a lamb skin boot wearing quarterback, a cheating coach and having the dirtiest defensive player in recent memory.

Anytown USA, ya got that right. :

dirtiest defensive player? you now have the dirtiest offensive and defensive players on your team, harrison and ward. And brady is a little fruity with the uggz, but he doesnt have to force himself on women to get a piece.

[SPEEDBEAD.]

James Harrison is "dirty" because of the league's pansy rules.  I can't really argue about Hines Ward.  LOL (I'll still be wearing his jersey, sue me.)   ;D

Hope everyone enjoys the game.

I know I will.

[1inStripes]

STEELERS SUCK.  STEELERS SUCK.  STEELERS SUCK. 

[CAdeltaLipRipper]

sounds like anyplace USA, every area has it's own quirks. To me being a true steeler fan means you agree with doing roids for decades, and then don't mind when your star player rapes a couple of chicks, I guess I missed that part when I read that blurb.

Yep, as I'm sure you're ok with a lamb skin boot wearing quarterback, a cheating coach and having the dirtiest defensive player in recent memory.

Anytown USA, ya got that right. :

dirtiest defensive player? you now have the dirtiest offensive and defensive players on your team, harrison and ward. And brady is a little fruity with the uggz, but he doesnt have to force himself on women to get a piece.

Brady is the most bada$$ quarterback thats ever lived. His team is top dog almost every year he's won them 3 super bowls and he has one of the best records ever.Only threw 5 picks this whole year.Always is up in the top passing ratings. He doesn't play for my team, but he's my favorite quarterback lol