We all know that this is shaping to be a bad year for our favorite football team, and I have to say, to quote Claude Rains as Captain Louis Renault, I am shocked - SHOCKED - to see how quickly Steelers fans have turned from disappointment, to anger, to downright apathy.
Some background: I belong to a Chat Page in Facebook called Western Pennsylvania Football Huddle, founded by friend Dan Bonk, and the purpose of this page is as titled - to discuss all things football in our area - Pitt, Penn State, WVU, local high school football, and, primarily, our Beloved Steelers. There are currently 123 members on this Chat Page. Late last night, I was checking to see what anyone was saying, and I discovered what I thought to be an amazing fact, and this is what I posted:
It is 11:00 PM on Monday night. I have just scrolled down the feed on this Chat page going back to Friday. There has not been a single comment posted in the Western PA Football Huddle chat page about the Steelers win over the Bills, which concluded approximately 31 hours ago. I don't know about you, but, quite frankly, I find that amazing and I am not sure what to make of that.
When I checked in this morning, only two people had commented on THAT post.
While the "Western PA Football Huddle" may not be a scientifically accurate sample, I can only draw this conclusion: That the famous fervid loyalty and passion of "Steelers Nation", which both the local media and the team itself trumpets incessantly, may indeed be wide spread, but it appears to be only an inch or so deep.
I mean....
Have we become so spoiled following the Steelers that a bad season - and need I remind you that the NFL is deliberately set up so that teams do have built in down cycles - that we completely turn our backs on the team when a bad year comes along? Believe it or not, folks, it is not the birthright of Steelers fans that our favorite team goes to the Super Bowl every year. Don't get me wrong, I am not advocating blind loyalty and there is a lot for which to be critical of the Steelers current state, and that should not be ignored, but this complete ennui that appears to be enveloping Steelers fans really does surprise me.
By contrast, Facebook's "Pirate Chat" page, founded by friend Jim Haller in 2012, has over 500 members and pretty much runs full steam 24/7/365 with Pirates talk. During the 2012-13 off-season, after the Pirates historic collapse in that '12 season, Pirates Chatters continued to go at it hammer-and-tongs all winter long, when there was certainly no guarantee of the successful season that took place in 2013. My point being that when things were bleak for the Buccos, the fans never stopped talking about them, while it appears that Steelers fans have abandoned them when the team's fortunes have taken a turn for the worse.
Could it possible that people love and are more loyal to the Pirates than they are to the Steelers?
As I said, I am SHOCKED!
I think that was the Bee Gees, right?
ReplyDeleteSHOCKED too find out there's gambling going on in here...Maybe it's hard too get excited because of the Big Ben trade rumors?
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