Friday, January 21, 2005
ALRIGHT, THAT'S ENOUGH.
You asked for it.
Listen! If you have a favorite NFL team that doesn't happen to be the Steelers, that's great! That's awesome! Go to the games! Wear the colors! Buy the foam fingers! Marry the offensive coordinator! Dress from head to toe in their gear, or, better yet - don't dress in the gear at all! Paint yourself instead! Tell the world that your team is the best! Spend lots of money on bobbleheads and jerseys and kiss the pictures of the QB you have by your bed every night! Take pride in your city, by all means! Love your team! Even if you're a San Francisco fan, you are entitled to do ALL THESE THINGS! In fact, I encourage you to do so! I think that's great! And you know what? If the Steelers were 8-8 or 4-12 or anything, I would do the same!
HOWEVER
It is really really NOT COOL to say "The Steelers (or ANY team for that matter) suck." What is with that! Why is it that instead of showing support for one's team, everybody's showing DISDAIN for everyone else's team? That to me is unsportsmanlike, and generally shitty. I take pride in the fact that I have (I am pretty sure rather successfully) tried to avoid trashing all the teams in the NFL. Instead, I show my support for MY favorite team, and leave it at that.
And you know what? At BOTH the away games I've attended this season, I saw people selling "Fuck Ben" t-shirts. What IS that? (Although, if I were ben, I'd purchase one and wear it around, and hope to get lucky haha) But anyway, if you wanna show team spirit, wear a t-shirt that promotes YOUR quarterback. Don't you think it's a little immature to make one t-shirt SPECIFICALLY to trash ONE TEAM in the NFL? (And one that BEAT YOUR TEAM TWICE to boot!) Won't you feel silly wearing that on any subsequent day?
Okay. To be fair, Pittsburgh does have "Cleveland sucks" t-shirts. And... I have to admit... I think they're amusing. BUT! I would much rather wear my Steelers sweatshirt than a "Cleveland sucks" t-shirt any day. Whether we like it or not, sometimes Cleveland wins! And then what! I'd feel like an idiot wearing that t-shirt. And I'd probably get hit with things leaving the stadium.
Also, if you think about it, if you're a fan of Team A, and this weekend your team is playing Team B, wouldn't you want to make Team B sound good? This way, if Team A wins, you can say, "How awesome is my team! Team A is so great, that they can even beat the toughest opponent! - Team B!" On the same token, even if Team A loses, you can still say, "Well, Team A is so great that it almost took down Team B." Or if the game wasn't close at all you could say, "Well, Team A lost, but they're still awesome. After all, it's really really hard to beat Team B."
Think about it. If you go around saying that Team B sucks, and you win, then it's like, whoopity-do, you beat Team B... but my grandmother and cat could beat Team B, so it's no real accomplishment. And what's worse, is that if Team B wins, then your team looks like a bunch of nimrods! In fact, they look worse than Team Cat and Grandmother!
So please! Acknowledge the talent of the teams in the NFL. It's a much classier approach, in my humble opinion. You certainly won't hear me saying that the Patriots suck. You will however be able to count on hearing me say that I love my Steelers and I hope the best for them. And you bet your sweet ass I'll be in full black and gold regalia with my terrible towel by my side this Sunday at 6:30.
It's all about pride. When did it become about something else? I wouldn't go into a job interview and tell the interviewer that all the other applicants suck. I would say that I rule... and that should be enough. (Well, that and some business about qualifications and experience, but you get the idea.)
Anyway, Go Steelers.
Listen! If you have a favorite NFL team that doesn't happen to be the Steelers, that's great! That's awesome! Go to the games! Wear the colors! Buy the foam fingers! Marry the offensive coordinator! Dress from head to toe in their gear, or, better yet - don't dress in the gear at all! Paint yourself instead! Tell the world that your team is the best! Spend lots of money on bobbleheads and jerseys and kiss the pictures of the QB you have by your bed every night! Take pride in your city, by all means! Love your team! Even if you're a San Francisco fan, you are entitled to do ALL THESE THINGS! In fact, I encourage you to do so! I think that's great! And you know what? If the Steelers were 8-8 or 4-12 or anything, I would do the same!
HOWEVER
It is really really NOT COOL to say "The Steelers (or ANY team for that matter) suck." What is with that! Why is it that instead of showing support for one's team, everybody's showing DISDAIN for everyone else's team? That to me is unsportsmanlike, and generally shitty. I take pride in the fact that I have (I am pretty sure rather successfully) tried to avoid trashing all the teams in the NFL. Instead, I show my support for MY favorite team, and leave it at that.
And you know what? At BOTH the away games I've attended this season, I saw people selling "Fuck Ben" t-shirts. What IS that? (Although, if I were ben, I'd purchase one and wear it around, and hope to get lucky haha) But anyway, if you wanna show team spirit, wear a t-shirt that promotes YOUR quarterback. Don't you think it's a little immature to make one t-shirt SPECIFICALLY to trash ONE TEAM in the NFL? (And one that BEAT YOUR TEAM TWICE to boot!) Won't you feel silly wearing that on any subsequent day?
Okay. To be fair, Pittsburgh does have "Cleveland sucks" t-shirts. And... I have to admit... I think they're amusing. BUT! I would much rather wear my Steelers sweatshirt than a "Cleveland sucks" t-shirt any day. Whether we like it or not, sometimes Cleveland wins! And then what! I'd feel like an idiot wearing that t-shirt. And I'd probably get hit with things leaving the stadium.
Also, if you think about it, if you're a fan of Team A, and this weekend your team is playing Team B, wouldn't you want to make Team B sound good? This way, if Team A wins, you can say, "How awesome is my team! Team A is so great, that they can even beat the toughest opponent! - Team B!" On the same token, even if Team A loses, you can still say, "Well, Team A is so great that it almost took down Team B." Or if the game wasn't close at all you could say, "Well, Team A lost, but they're still awesome. After all, it's really really hard to beat Team B."
Think about it. If you go around saying that Team B sucks, and you win, then it's like, whoopity-do, you beat Team B... but my grandmother and cat could beat Team B, so it's no real accomplishment. And what's worse, is that if Team B wins, then your team looks like a bunch of nimrods! In fact, they look worse than Team Cat and Grandmother!
So please! Acknowledge the talent of the teams in the NFL. It's a much classier approach, in my humble opinion. You certainly won't hear me saying that the Patriots suck. You will however be able to count on hearing me say that I love my Steelers and I hope the best for them. And you bet your sweet ass I'll be in full black and gold regalia with my terrible towel by my side this Sunday at 6:30.
It's all about pride. When did it become about something else? I wouldn't go into a job interview and tell the interviewer that all the other applicants suck. I would say that I rule... and that should be enough. (Well, that and some business about qualifications and experience, but you get the idea.)
Anyway, Go Steelers.
