Most of the people in Pittsburgh watch every game, even my grandmother who is 82 years old. I bet she can't name the punter, but she never misses a game. Steelers have the largest fanbase in the NFL. Sure you will have the not so hardcore fans, but there are not more than any other team. I think the fans are most of the reason for the Steelers continued success. If the Steelers lose, it is a tragedy..the fans are up in arms, and heads are rolling. Bad players can't hide on the Steelers. If you are bad player on the Browns, Bengals, etc..most people in the city can care less.
Congrats on your team's victory and good luck in SB45. I'm a bit torn, because as a Bears fan I can't bring myself to root for the Packers, but I'm certainly no fan of Big Ben! The Jets are a good team but will never be up there with franchises like the Steelers until they actually get it done when it counts. It's really only and all about the rings.
ok, i hear you, but don't you get it? You win, we don't. Don't question our fan base, when your team does nothing but win. Some of your previous posts were horseshit, and you know it.
I like the Bears too, but I also have no hate towards GB either. The Jets have a great motivator with Ryan. They will get their ring(s) with Rex. And believe me, as a fan who is about to see the Steelers in their 8th SB, I never talk about "the rings or trophies", to me it's about teams playing through adversity and believing in themselves and when you have that (like the Jets do), all the other stuff is just gravy. Believe me, it will come.
Its easy to tell this to a franchise that hasn't won it in 42 years. I'm sure you guys were devastated when you guys didn't make it to the superbowl last year.
It didn't come for the Bills. It didn't come for the Vikings. It didn't come for the Eagles. It comes off as a bit condescending to talk about how the rings don't really matter when the team you root for has six already. I have a feeling that if the Steelers hadn't been to a SB since 1969 you might feel a bit differently.
We didn't even make the POs last year and to be honest, I wasn't expecting to get this far this year either. I know it took the Steelers a lot of years to get their first win. I guess I just look at these times of free agency, every team has a shot. The Jets have been this close 2 times now. The Steelers have been knocked out of the championship by the Pats a few times too and we're constantly reminded of that too. When you keep coming this close, it eventually comes.
OK, sorry, guess you're a little touchy. I wasn't meaning to be condescending. Just saying that for 2 years the Jets have gotten this far, eventually you get to the SB when you keep coming close. I was born in 1966, I have been a Steelers fan since I have a memory. I'm sure I would still feel the same way as you had I been born before and watched the Steelers be the laughing stock of the league from 1932 until the 1970s, but 40-some years go by before they started winning, I just wasn't around for them.
I don't think you were intentionally being condescending. You seem like a good person, B and G. I don't mean to be touchy. It's just a fresh wound right now. I really want to win, just once.
Try being a Pirates fan..I still have my scorecard from the 91 Championship series versus the Cinci Reds. The thing about the NFL is there is parity. There is a salary cap. There is no inherent advantage on team has over another i.e. Yankees outspending everyone else. The Steelers have done it through good and stable ownership, good fanbase, and stable coaching. Steelers have only had three coaches since Richard Nixon left office. Anyone can emulate the Steelers formula if they want to. ..they just choose not to.
I'm calling bullshit on this statement. A lot of his previous posts were horseshit. Frankly, I don't see the need to get myself into a dick-measuring contest with Steelers fans. Their fan base is huge because their city became an economic blight in the 70s and 80s when their teams were winning. You had fan diffusion and team success at the same time, of course they're going to expand.
It's a bit silly, IMHO, to compare the NFL to MLB because the two leagues have such divergent financial structures. For all of baseball's spending and the NFL's "parity", baseball has had more teams which have been competitive and have never had a repeat champion this entire past decade. All of the Yankees' spending this past decade got them precisely one WS winner. While you're picking on the Yankees, it might be interesting to note that via the luxury tax/revenue sharing arrangement in MLB, the Pirates are making a good deal of money from the Yanks. It's good to see that your ownership has used this money to line their pockets instead of spending it on improving their team. The Rays have won 2 AL East titles and a pennant in the past 3 years. The Twins are perennial contenders. The Pirates' problems are from terrible drafting and poor management. But you do have a beautiful stadium (which no one goes to).
I was simply saying no one has any reason to bitch about the Steelers being successful because they do not have any inherent advantage. It is not the Steelers fault for having a successful organization. They don't do anything special. They just have stability and superb people from the top down. It's not like baseball where a team can be successful by outspending another franchise. Hell the title of the thread implies they are "stealing" which is not the case.
