Being a Steeler fan means so much more than football. It does not even have much to do about winning, although winning is certainly better than losing. 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 strike and the Johnstown Flood. They survived working 24 hours a day in mills and railroads and foundries and factories and mines during depressions, recessions, and wars, and they always knew on whose side they were. They even survived the abandonment of their industries and jobs.
These people have the DNA of hard work, without the necessity of complaint. They live simply, with no frills. All they ever want is to educate their kids and make their kids' and grandchildren’s' lives better than theirs. If you want to make a life-long friend of a Pittsburgher, just help his child.
They don't have movie stars or fancy cars or Rodeo Drive. Instead they have chipped ham, kobassi, and a "couple of beers." Instead they have the Strip, Polish Hill, Norside, Sousside and the Hill, and for an outing they go "Dan Tan" or Kennywood, and they miss the streetcar.
These people are genuine. They don't like chic cafes and cappuccinos,
but they support the Original Hot Dog and Iron City Beer. (and don't forget Jack's) And they never forget when it is their turn to buy! People from Pittsburgh don't have sunny beaches or fancy boats. (They think a pontoon houseboat is a yacht)
But the rivers roll gently, connecting the small towns of people whose histories have been built on strength and humility and work, 3 to 11, 11 to 7, 7 to 11, then swing...and then start again.
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. They went out in the summer morning and came home at dark. 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.
One October home run in 1960 was the greatest event in Pittsburgh history from VJ Day until the day the Steelers won their first Superbowl.
As the steel mills closed and the jobs disappeared, some of these people had to leave. Their children had to leave to find their fortune and place in the world. The world benefited because they spread their Pittsburgh values, even if they might still long for their home where things seemed simpler and more pure.
They try to teach their kids about Jack Lambert and Joe Greene and Clemente, and Mario, in hopes of departing not just the knowledge, but also the goodness and the passion they represented. (Just ask about Jack Lambert or his football camp, and what he was, or remember Joe Greene in his famous Coke commercial)
These Pittsburgh fanatics are everywhere, with those terrible towels created by the worst broadcaster ever heard on the radio, who donated the rights to the terrible towel to Allegheny School for Retarded Children. The school has earned over $2,000,000 from the towels, not counting this year's sales, which may be up this year by all reports. The towels wave, not just for the team, but also for the hearts they left behind. They wave in living rooms and (motel railings in Fort Lauderdale) and in the bars in D.C.
They wave all the way to Seattle. They wave for the Rooney family, whose values mirror Pittsburgh's own -- loyalty, grit, and humility. (Art Rooney came to my uncle's funeral, and my uncle was just a referee!)
The Steelers don't need cheerleaders! They know when to cheer, when to be quiet, and who to cheer and who to boo. The Fans wave their towels for football players like Jerome Bettis and Hines Ward, whose unselfishness and toughness have allowed sports to be about the game and the team. The Steelers have the Steel Symbol only on one side of their helmet to save money. Everyone know whose helmet it is, so why waste money for two decals?
Steeler football is not just about football.
Posted by Ron at March 5, 2006 11:11 AM