Steelers Nation Week Five Newsletter
Were you suffering from a case of football withdraw like I was on Sunday? I have gotten odd as I have gotten older. I am in the mindset where I like the Steelers to play at 1:00 on Sunday afternoons, hate the bye weeks, and really do not like even when we play on Sunday Night Football or MNF. I remember being younger and loving going out for MNF and loving life when my boys were on. Those days have passed. If you actually have a job, it is difficult to stay up and watch the whole game now days. We get our team back this week, but have to wait until MNF to see them in action. This means I will stare at my fantasy team all day Sunday just wishing we were playing at 1:00. Oh well… Anyone have a similar dilemma?
Offensive Notes:
In Bill Cowher’s weekly press conference last week he questioned whether Willie Parker would be durable enough to play a whole season in our offense in the NFL. Parker is listed to start again this week, but with the rest of backs getting healthy, look for Staley and Bettis to start getting some reps in the upcoming weeks. I would love to see us control the tempo and flow of the game this upcoming week by running the ball down the Chargers Throat. San Diego has the fourth ranked defense in the AFC against the run allowing 3.7 yards per carry and 91.5 a game. This will be one of the keys to the game.
Defensive Notes:
Clark Haggans suffered a groin injury coming off his best performance as a Steeler. Haggans is expected to be out five weeks and is on a schedule to return in our game at Green Bay. James Harrison will fill in for Haggans while he is injured. Harrison will be able to fill in nicely and showed us he is capable of starting as he did so for four games last year due to Joey Porter’s (Cleveland game) pre game ejection and Haggan’s hamstring injury late last year. The real test will be whether we can stop LT running the ball, and then be able to hold Brees in check after we turn them one dimensional. If we allow LT to run the ball effectively, look for it to be a long evening watching Antonio Gates running through our secondary. San Diego looked like it may be the best team in the AFC with the way they handled the Patriots in New England. It should make for an interesting evening.
Steelers Nation!
As I look over the names I send this dribble to each week, we all have one thing in common. We all grew up in Steelers Country (Western PA, Northern WV, and Western MD). When you came home from church on Sunday, the local networks all had the Steelers on the TV and radio stations, automobiles were adorned with Steelers stickers, businesses had the logo somewhere to be found and the black and gold was the favorite team of most. I now look at this and realize that I took this for granted growing up in Western Maryland. I got the term Steelers Nation from the Post Gazette where they have a sub section under their Steelers coverage where people can send pics of them cheering for their Steelers. I look at this from time to time and just laugh at some the “fanatical” people out there. The term “Steelers Nation” means more to me than just sending in pics to the Post Gazette. It means Steelers fans from different parts of the United States showing their pride and love for the Steelers. 75% of the people that receive this e-mail no longer live in the friendly confines of Steelers Country. A lot of football fans look at us with jealousy, but most just find us annoying because we refuse to adopt their local team. We will cheer for the Steelers for the rest of our lives. It does not matter if we go 15-1 or 6-10, we will still root for the boys in black and gold. This is where we are different. Do you really think that our fans would let the NFL take one of our home games and move it away from Pittsburgh? They just did it this past Sunday in Arizona. The difference is we sell out our home games! Do you really think it takes Big Ben to sell football jersey’s (#2 currently in the league behind Randy Moss in sales)? The answer is no. We have had to endure losing seasons and our merchandise sales still remain in the upper tier for any NFL team. This is what Steelers nation is all about. As much as I like Brett Farve as a player, do you really think I could ever wear a Packers jersey? The answer would be no. I apologize if I am coming across as arrogant, but I am just attempting to illustrate my point. So now the question is, what do Steelers fans do once they move outside the area. The answer is we go to sports bars on Sundays that carry the NFL Sunday Ticket. You may not know a soul inside, but all you have to do is look for someone wearing the black and gold and suddenly you will be drinking IC Lights or Rolling Rocks and acting like you are old friends. This is Steelers Nation!
NcDevins…”Just a good ole’ Baltimore neighborhood bar”…
Back to Post Gazette’s Steelers Nation section. You can click on the below link and it will show you a map in which you can click on your state and find the nearest designated black and gold hang out.
http://www.post-gazette.com/steelers/steelerbars.asp
I normally go out on Sundays in Baltimore and watch football with my friend Brent (unfortunately he wears a purple #52 jersey). We will go to somewhere that has the NFL package and we will watch our teams and monitor our fantasy teams. There is a small neighborhood bar named NcDevins which bleeds purple through and through. By the end of last season the place was overrun with fans wearing the black and gold. The crowd was about 50/50 by season end, but the owner was just enjoying having a crowd. As I said, this is a Ravens bar, but someone recently has decided to put it on the list as a Steelers hang out. I find this quite amusing.
AFC North
The Bungles are in first place at 4-0 playing at Jacksonville (2-2) Sunday night. We are in second and head to San Diego to play the 2-2 Chargers on MNF. The Ravens and Brownies are both 1-2, while Baltimore gets the Lions (1-2) and the Brownies get the Bears (1-2). Both the Ravens and Brownies play at 1:00.
Question of the Week???
Last weeks question was: “Do you own a terrible towel, and if so, are there any interesting stories behind the towel?”
“I also bought a terrible towel with you or around the same time. I have never had any luck, meaning every time I bring it out we have lost the big game. It has been forever banished to a container somewhere in the basement. Damn, to this day I can't believe the string of bad luck that thing has brought me. I am seriously considering holding a burning ceremony before the playoffs.” Chase Burnett of Sharpsburg, MD (originally from Oakland, MD)
This weeks question is:
“Who is your favorite Steeler of current and all time?”
Please send all replies to me by 5:00PM on 10/11 for next week’s edition.
Pics of the Week.
“Farrior-Training Camp 2005” was taken by me when Brian and I attended training camp in Latrobe in August. This week’s edition will be the last of the training camp pics.
“Haggans-Training Camp 2005” is a pic of Clark and his family leaving the practice field after the work out. His little son just could not get over the attention his “daddy” was receiving.
“Jeff Reed-Training Camp 2005” Oh, the life of a kicker.
“Brian Jr” is a pic of Brian (originally from Greensburg but now living in Wilmington, DE) and Melissa’s cat wearing his Big Ben jersey. Brian has this as his logo for his fantasy football team (named One For The Thumb) in our league. This pic just cracks me up.
“How Big Ben Spent His off Season” is a link to a site of exactly how Ben spent his off season. This is for the non-golfers in the group who may not be aware of this. Before camp started he said that he and she had broken off their relationship. Enjoy…
http://www.nataliegulbis.com/
Thank you for your continued encouragement and support. Please continue to send your ideas my way. Get your towels ready for MNF. Here we go Steelers, here we go…
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