What city does Pittsburgh consider its biggest sports rival? (Philadelphia: weather, town)

[erieguy]

Originally Posted by Gee Whiz

From my experience, Browns fans hate the Steelers more than Steeler fans hate the Browns. Sure, you'll find people in the Mon Valley etc. who build their life around football who are like "I hate the Browns." However, most Pittsburghers are indifferent to this. They just want to beat the Browns when the Steelers play them or if we need them to lose for playoff purposes, which has not been an issue for a while. Their hatred for the Steelers stems from one word; jealousy.
I actually had a Clevelander want to fight me because I said that I did not hate the Browns. He hated the Steelers so much that he wanted hatred back towards the Browns to justify his hatred.

This.

[JimboPGH]

Originally Posted by Pitt Chick

While I do not believe that the rivalry with the Browns is the best (fizzled out a while ago...), I WILL concur about the hatred - at least back in the old days. We got seats to a game in Cleveland and were excited until we saw where they were. Right on the fringe of the Dog Pound. Ouch!

That hatred hasn't gone anywhere, which is why it's the Steelers best rivalry: we hate the Ravens because they use to be the Browns and because they were our main competition for several seasons, but we hate the Browns because it's in our damn bones.

Truly great rivalries are not dependent on both teams being competitive to be intense. The fact that the Steelers and Browns have never really been good at the same time (they were dominant in the '50s and very good in the '60s and '80s, while we were dominant in the '70s and very good in the '90s and '00s) is testament to the rivalry being one of undistorted mutual distain.

I'll put it this way: after a few more years of the Ravens and Steelers NOT playing each other in the playoffs (and of Ray Lewis being retired) that rivalry will have completely lost it's luster, and we'll be back to hating the Browns more than anyone because that's who we've truly hated all along.

[erieguy]

Originally Posted by JimboPGH

That hatred hasn't gone anywhere, which is why it's the Steelers best rivalry: we hate the Ravens because they use to be the Browns and because they were our main competition for several seasons, but we hate the Browns because it's in our damn bones.

Truly great rivalries are not dependent on both teams being competitive to be intense. The fact that the Steelers and Browns have never really been good at the same time (they were dominant in the '50s and very good in the '60s and '80s, while we were dominant in the '70s and very good in the '90s and '00s) is testament to the rivalry being one of undistorted mutual distain.

I'll put it this way: after a few more years of the Ravens and Steelers NOT playing each other in the playoffs (and of Ray Lewis being retired) that rivalry will have completely lost it's luster, and we'll be back to hating the Browns more than anyone because that's who we've truly hated all along.

Not true. The Ravens will remain competitive as they're a properly run organization and only if the success falls for a long period of time will the rivalry fizzle out. It takes success and meaning for rivalries to carry on. Only when/if the Browns become significant will that rivalry spark. Its also why the Bucs have no real rivalry. Until a team is successful on a regular basis, barely anybody truly cares.

[Herodotus]

Originally Posted by Gee Whiz

From my experience, Browns fans hate the Steelers more than Steeler fans hate the Browns. Sure, you'll find people in the Mon Valley etc. who build their life around football who are like "I hate the Browns." However, most Pittsburghers are indifferent to this. They just want to beat the Browns when the Steelers play them or if we need them to lose for playoff purposes, which has not been an issue for a while. Their hatred for the Steelers stems from one word; jealousy.
I actually had a Clevelander wanted to fight me because I said that I did not hate the Browns. He hated the Steelers so much that he wanted hatred back towards the Browns to justify his hatred.

This is 100% true. Steeler fans haven't really hated the Browns since the early 70's. In the heyday of the rivalry, it was more a case of Steeler fans feeding off of the hatred from Cleveland, and enjoying beating the Browns because you knew how hard their fans took it. I think Yankees/Red Sox is very much the same way. Boston hates NYC, and the Yankee fans enjoy making them miserable.

[Pitt Chick]

Originally Posted by JimboPGH

but we hate the Browns because it's in our damn bones.

Nah... not in mine. And most people I know feel sorry for them, not hatred at all.

[erieguy]

Originally Posted by Pitt Chick

Nah... not in mine. And most people I know feel sorry for them, not hatred at all.

Yep.

[JimboPGH]

Originally Posted by Pitt Chick

Nah... not in mine. And most people I know feel sorry for them, not hatred at all.

Pffffff! Lame.

Don't ever let pity get in the way of hatred. Do you want Jim Brown to come back and start pushing us around? Huh? *jabs in the ribs with a pointy stick* Do you want that? Didn't think so.

Let's keep kicking Cleveland while they're down. Here's to turning "Johnny Football" into "Johnny Permanent Brain Damage" next year!

[Herodotus]

Originally Posted by JimboPGH

That hatred hasn't gone anywhere, which is why it's the Steelers best rivalry: we hate the Ravens because they use to be the Browns and because they were our main competition for several seasons, but we hate the Browns because it's in our damn bones.

Truly great rivalries are not dependent on both teams being competitive to be intense. The fact that the Steelers and Browns have never really been good at the same time (they were dominant in the '50s and very good in the '60s and '80s, while we were dominant in the '70s and very good in the '90s and '00s) is testament to the rivalry being one of undistorted mutual distain.

I'll put it this way: after a few more years of the Ravens and Steelers NOT playing each other in the playoffs (and of Ray Lewis being retired) that rivalry will have completely lost it's luster, and we'll be back to hating the Browns more than anyone because that's who we've truly hated all along.

I'm not buying any of that. No one cared about the Ravens games the first 4 years they were in Baltimore, despite where they had come from, although Ravens fans had become very annoyed by the huge number of Steeler fans that were invading their stadium every year. The rivalry has little to do with the Rats coming from Cleveland, and everything to do with what has happened on the field since 2000. Baltimore came here and shut us out 16-0 in the season opener in 2000. Their fans began to get mouthy on the internet, and for the first time, there were expressions of annoyance coming from Steeler Nation. The Ravens won the Super Bowl that year, the first time one of our division rivals had done that. This made the Ravens a big game on next season's schedule. In their first meeting in 2001, the Steelers outplayed them, but lost when Kris Brown missed several field goals. This generated tons of trash talk between the teams. As a result, the rematch became the first Steelers/Ravens game that generated a big buzz in Pittsburgh. We met for a third time in the playoffs that year, and the rivalry was off and running. 2006 was when it began to go from a good divisional rivalry, to something truly special. The Ravens crushed the Steelers twice that year, including the game where Ben was blasted several times by Ravens defenders. The Steelers returned the favor the next year, blowing the doors off of baltimore in a prime time game where Steeler legends were honored at halftime. Since that point, it seems as though every game is vital, and is fought down to the wire.

[JimboPGH]

Originally Posted by Herodotus

I'm not buying any of that. No one cared about the Ravens games the first 4 years they were in Baltimore, despite where they had come from, although Ravens fans had become very annoyed by the huge number of Steeler fans that were invading their stadium every year. The rivalry has little to do with the Rats coming from Cleveland, and everything to do with what has happened on the field since 2000. Baltimore came here and shut us out 16-0 in the season opener in 2000. Their fans began to get mouthy on the internet, and for the first time, there were expressions of annoyance coming from Steeler Nation. The Ravens won the Super Bowl that year, the first time one of our division rivals had done that. This made the Ravens a big game on next season's schedule. In their first meeting in 2001, the Steelers outplayed them, but lost when Kris Brown missed several field goals. This generated tons of trash talk between the teams. As a result, the rematch became the first Steelers/Ravens game that generated a big buzz in Pittsburgh. We met for a third time in the playoffs that year, and the rivalry was off and running. 2006 was when it began to go from a good divisional rivalry, to something truly special. The Ravens crushed the Steelers twice that year, including the game where Ben was blasted several times by Ravens defenders. The Steelers returned the favor the next year, blowing the doors off of baltimore in a prime time game where Steeler legends were honored at halftime. Since that point, it seems as though every game is vital, and is fought down to the wire.

Paragraphs, my man, paragraphs...

I said that the reasons we hate the Ravens were a). they're really the Browns and b). because they've been our main competition in recent years. I think you missed that second part.

Personally, I started really hating the Ravens just after they moved to Baltimore, when the Lancaster NBC affiliate was forced by the NFL to show their games over the Steelers (which ended up making Central PA a fertile area for Dish Network).

Again, the Browns rivalry has endured without either team being a powerhouse at the same time. Sports fans with goldfish memories or no sense of history, who don't think the Browns are a rival because we've dominated them since their return to the league, forget that the roles were reversed from the early 50's to the early 70's, and again through most of the '80s.

If the Ravens are still a fierce rival in 30 years after long stretches of not playing them in the playoffs, then maybe it can lay claim to being bigger than the Brown rivalry. Until then, it's just a flash in the pan, like the Raider rivalry of the '70s if they had been in the same division.

[Gee Whiz]

There's a saying in Cleveland. "My favorite two teams are the Browns and whoever's playing Pittsburgh." I have heard this from many people from Cleveland. Most Pittsburghers don't care if Cleveland wins unless they are playing the Steelers. We don't obsess over it like they seem to.