I’ve Got A Feeling….
The Bus Celebrates a TD
When the whole country wanted the Red Sox, not the Cardinals, to win the World Series in 2004, I couldn’t help but think about the still rabid St. Louis fans – come on now, you get it… don’t you? During a time of year when serious and casual baseball fans alike usually divvy up pretty evenly, unless you were a card-carrying St. Louis fan, people were overwhelmingly pulling for the Sox. I thought about the Cards fans, “Surely they have some human conviction deep down that would like to see the Sox win. Surely.”
Before yesterday, everyone (particularly the NFL, some might say) wanted Tony Dungy, Peyton Manning and the Colts to win the Super Bowl. Football fans whose teams have long been out of it had staked their claim on Indy as the team to root for. And even an idiot (including me) could understand why. A 13-0 start, a Christmas tragedy, a golden boy QB… all factors which will garner fandom like none other. (By the way, I’m not dogging golden boy quarterbacks. While not quite as loved as the eldest Manning son, Ben’s pretty darn close to being a golden boy himself.)
All of that said, with baseball a distant memory and wading deep in the NFL playoffs, I admit that yeah, ok, I get it. I know why the world wanted Indy to win. But absolutely nothing (NO amount of heart-tugging for the Colts) could rain on my exuberant parade Sunday afternoon when I first watched Big Ben march his offense deftly down the field to defiantly announce to the deafening crowd that they came to play. And play they did. There were so many moments that even now put a smile on my face. Beautifully accurate passes and a big handful of sacks. However, only one memory induces in my spirit the kind of relief that continues to come in waves, long after the moment has passed. To Ben Roethlisberger (who surely reads my blog): Thank you, thank you, thank you for tackling Nick Harper near mid-field and thus saving our season. You played an amazing game, but I will always remember the sight of you grabbing Harper’s calf and denying him a free pass straight into the end zone. It was like the knife had started to sink into my heart, but you apprehended my attacker. Damage had been done, for sure, but hope remained that my life (er, I mean, the Steelers’ season) was not over just yet. And really, whether this team went on or not this year, it means the world to me that Jerome Bettis did not have to end his career on such a terrible and freak play.
Ben Saves the Day
A few excruciating plays and endless minutes later (at which point I said dramatically, but with all seriousness, “Have commercials ever seemed so insignificant?”), I yelled out “WIDE RIGHT! WIDE RIGHT!” and I became acutely aware that there was a Buffalo Bills fan sitting in my living room who might not like hear those words. I resorted to just screaming and running around my living room like a maniac. The most accurate kicker in NFL history, Mike Vanderjagt, had just missed a 46-yard, would be game-tying field goal. As an aside, my roommate really enjoys these entertaining little outbursts of mine, although I’m not so sure about my neighbor.
As far as I was concerned, the Steelers just won the Super Bowl. Yes, THAT’S what that game meant to their fans. The first No. 6 seed, ever, to beat a No. 1 and go on to a conference championship game. To finally respond to the team that dropped an 80-yard bomb on us in the first moments of that Monday Night game (and caused me to strain a muscle in my shoulder). The favored attention-garnering team from last year that couldn’t step up against the Patriots, and now the underdogs this year stepping it up like champs. I know I’ll be changing my tune come next week, and whatever should come after that, when I want the Steelers to win more – and more. But for today, I couldn’t be happier or more content.
For those of you non-Pittsburghers who don’t understand what the title of this entry means, you’ll have to wait and hope to find out next week. As superstitious as I’ve become, I refuse to finish it until our fate next Sunday is decided. However, I can’t stop any of you from finishing it yourselves in the comments. ☺ And for those of you who want me stop blogging on the Steelers already, well, I wouldn’t hold your breath.
The Bus Celebrates a TD
When the whole country wanted the Red Sox, not the Cardinals, to win the World Series in 2004, I couldn’t help but think about the still rabid St. Louis fans – come on now, you get it… don’t you? During a time of year when serious and casual baseball fans alike usually divvy up pretty evenly, unless you were a card-carrying St. Louis fan, people were overwhelmingly pulling for the Sox. I thought about the Cards fans, “Surely they have some human conviction deep down that would like to see the Sox win. Surely.”
Before yesterday, everyone (particularly the NFL, some might say) wanted Tony Dungy, Peyton Manning and the Colts to win the Super Bowl. Football fans whose teams have long been out of it had staked their claim on Indy as the team to root for. And even an idiot (including me) could understand why. A 13-0 start, a Christmas tragedy, a golden boy QB… all factors which will garner fandom like none other. (By the way, I’m not dogging golden boy quarterbacks. While not quite as loved as the eldest Manning son, Ben’s pretty darn close to being a golden boy himself.)
All of that said, with baseball a distant memory and wading deep in the NFL playoffs, I admit that yeah, ok, I get it. I know why the world wanted Indy to win. But absolutely nothing (NO amount of heart-tugging for the Colts) could rain on my exuberant parade Sunday afternoon when I first watched Big Ben march his offense deftly down the field to defiantly announce to the deafening crowd that they came to play. And play they did. There were so many moments that even now put a smile on my face. Beautifully accurate passes and a big handful of sacks. However, only one memory induces in my spirit the kind of relief that continues to come in waves, long after the moment has passed. To Ben Roethlisberger (who surely reads my blog): Thank you, thank you, thank you for tackling Nick Harper near mid-field and thus saving our season. You played an amazing game, but I will always remember the sight of you grabbing Harper’s calf and denying him a free pass straight into the end zone. It was like the knife had started to sink into my heart, but you apprehended my attacker. Damage had been done, for sure, but hope remained that my life (er, I mean, the Steelers’ season) was not over just yet. And really, whether this team went on or not this year, it means the world to me that Jerome Bettis did not have to end his career on such a terrible and freak play.
Ben Saves the Day
A few excruciating plays and endless minutes later (at which point I said dramatically, but with all seriousness, “Have commercials ever seemed so insignificant?”), I yelled out “WIDE RIGHT! WIDE RIGHT!” and I became acutely aware that there was a Buffalo Bills fan sitting in my living room who might not like hear those words. I resorted to just screaming and running around my living room like a maniac. The most accurate kicker in NFL history, Mike Vanderjagt, had just missed a 46-yard, would be game-tying field goal. As an aside, my roommate really enjoys these entertaining little outbursts of mine, although I’m not so sure about my neighbor.
As far as I was concerned, the Steelers just won the Super Bowl. Yes, THAT’S what that game meant to their fans. The first No. 6 seed, ever, to beat a No. 1 and go on to a conference championship game. To finally respond to the team that dropped an 80-yard bomb on us in the first moments of that Monday Night game (and caused me to strain a muscle in my shoulder). The favored attention-garnering team from last year that couldn’t step up against the Patriots, and now the underdogs this year stepping it up like champs. I know I’ll be changing my tune come next week, and whatever should come after that, when I want the Steelers to win more – and more. But for today, I couldn’t be happier or more content.
For those of you non-Pittsburghers who don’t understand what the title of this entry means, you’ll have to wait and hope to find out next week. As superstitious as I’ve become, I refuse to finish it until our fate next Sunday is decided. However, I can’t stop any of you from finishing it yourselves in the comments. ☺ And for those of you who want me stop blogging on the Steelers already, well, I wouldn’t hold your breath.
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