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A steeler fan is still a steeler fan....period.
The steelers organization is a class act just like the rooneys & players. I have talked to steeler fans who have never even been in penna let alone pittsburgh. I was born & raised not too far from the steel city (johnstown) & i also lived in the pittsburgh area (penn hills). I have only been to 1 steelers game but plenty of pirates games.
If the steelers play the chargers in san diego ill surely try to go but it wont be cheap. SD is 2 hrs away.
Location: Pittsburgh--Home of the 6 time Super Bowl Champions!
11,310 posts, read 12,372,237 times
Reputation: 4938
Quote:
Originally Posted by cdc1211
FYI..My team is the Chiefs. I dislike all Pittsburgh teams, inlcuidng the Pirates, Penguins, and Pitt.
Not to get into details, but from about age 13 on, my life in Pittsburgh became a living hell. My family played a large part in that sadly after my mom was killed by my sister's classmate. As soon as I could do something about it at age 18, I did.
During my teenage years, nobody believed me that I could cease control of things and just assumed I would be stuck in Pittsburgh forever. My remaining family cast me aside. I was disabled, and had no support or help, and basically raised and funded myself from age 15 on. This was all during the success of the Steelers in the mid 90s, and people were telling me that since I was from Pittsburgh, I had to be a Steeler fan. My answer was, "I did not choose to be from here, and no I don't". I left Pittsburgh and went to college in Missouri where I was given jobs with the school to fund my tuition. I now consider Missouri to be my adopted home state.
Because of my job, I have lived in 7 states, been to all 50, and visited 24 countries. But it's like I cannot escape this team. The media loves them. Everywhere I go, even in the oddest places, there are people in favor of this team. And its not as if I am seeing an equal amount of Bears, Packer, and Cowboy fans too. It's like, why out of 32 teams, is this the team I keep encountering. And, at least, in my experience, they have no ties and have no real reason. These people insist it has nothing to do with wins and losses. So if that is true, then I just can't put my arms around what is so great about them compared to any other team.
I admit that since I was born in 1979, I don't really comprehend the mystique of the 70s Steelers or the whole steel mill industry for that matter. The Steelers weren't anything special in the 80s, and being so young, I didn't even care about football much until the late 80s. I was much more into baseball and basketball. To me, it seemed like the Steelers were just another team that no one outside of Pittsburgh would have any reason to care about.
People can like whatever teams they want. They don't have to like their hometown teams. I sure don't! As far as I'm concerned, Pittsburgh is dominated by loud, rude, stubborn, and backwards people. Why anyone would want to include themselves as part of their fanbase is beyond me. But a lot of people do. Maybe if I had better experiences growing up, I'd feel differently.
That is your experience and your's alone. Don't hang it on every Steeler fan, the city of Pittsburgh or the city's sports teams. I appreciate your sharing your bad experience and can understand where you are coming from but to put down the city and fans as a whole isn't fair. Your experience could have occurred anywhere. It just so happened to occur in Pittsburgh.
As far as I'm concerned, Pittsburgh is dominated by loud, rude, stubborn, and backwards people. Why anyone would want to include themselves as part of their fanbase is beyond me.
My guess is that they are kind of like the Yankees, Cowboys, Lakers, Celtics,etc... They have a good tradition of winning and gain alot of bandwagon fans which is especially common with the younger crowd who might just start liking football. I have family ties and that's how I got started and that too was at a very young age.
Seriously I don't know why the fan base is as massive as it is but is sure is. Steeler Nation is real. I know when I have traveled internationally as well, there is steeler paraphernalia in bar/restaurants all over. Buenos Aires and Tel aviv for starters. It's just a curious observation.
I am a Steelers fan with no obvious tie to Pittsburgh. My family is many years removed from that area, but pretty much every family member since is a Steelers fan no matter where they live. It has been passed down for many many years.
I must be totally clueless here. I know it is in response to what I said, but what does a paint brush mean?
It means you are painting everyone from Pittsburgh and everything affiliated with Pittsburgh the same color.
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