I have thought long and hard about this question. The Bungles have had one of the worst professional franchises in all of sports. It has only been recently that Marvin Lewis has started to turn this around. Hats off to Marvin. He is former Steelers assistant coach and a Western PA native. Last week in preparing to watch the Steelers/Bungles I went online and looked at the Bungles web site and even looked at a Cincy newspaper to see what was being said in the opposing town. I picked up on a lot of resentment and a genuine dislike for the Steelers. It was really odd to see this type of strong feeling involved in a sporting contest. In my opinion it is not even really a rivalry other than the fact that it was an old AFC Central and now an AFC North opponent. This is not a "rivalry"! Our rival is the Cleveland Browns. This is the turnpike rivalry, we all know it by heart. Do I hate the Browns, the answer is no. I actually admire them and their fans, I just do not cheer for them. Back to the Bungles. Why is there this hostility towards our franchise and city? The Baltimore fans hate us in the same respect. They hate us almost as much as they enjoy cheering for their own teams. So what is up with Bungles and Ravens fans? Jealousy? Perhaps, but that is not the real reason. I think the reason why these two fan bases have such resentment towards the Steelers Nation is that they actually dislike themselves. They hate the fact that in times of losing seasons they can not sell out their stadiums and we invade their stadiums and turn them into Heinz Field East or West. They hate the fact that even in good years they can not prevent their season ticket holders from selling their tickets for a profit to Steelers fans. This is the real reason why they hate the Steelers Nation, it is actually the fact that they really dislike their own fans but are not intelligent to think it all they way through and see where the real blame lies. Enough said. Bring on the Colts!
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