Fandom: Chapter IV

Notes:

�Week 1

-God knows we have enough material, on a regular basis, on which to criticize our Head Coach.� Let�s give him a brake on using Bettis on the goal line.� The guy did score 3 TDs!!!� Granted, Duce would have scored, also, but the move did work�.leave the guy alone on this one.� And please, no more about Duce not standing for this much longer.� Duce was fed the ball 24 times in Game 1, 3 times as much as he would have had it in Philly, by his own description.� Now, having said all this, I was just as shocked as anyone to see Bettis in the game at the 2 minute mark for his 2-yard loss.

Week 2

-Enough about Joey Porter�s so-called �cheap shot� on Todd Heap.� I�m sure that some of you will disagree, but my only regret is that Joey didn�t put Heap out for the season on that shot.� I obviously don�t buy this not wishing injury upon anyone.� If our biggest division rival loses their best receiving weapon for an extended period�..I�m all for it.� Not wishing a life-threatening or even a career-ending injury on poor Toddie�.but a broken leg�sure thing.� This situation really comes down to Heap�s not being out there if he�s supposed to be off limits.� If his team was so damn concerned, they should have called a time-out, and gotten his hurtin� ass off of the field.

Does anyone else realize, or care, that the Steelers are unlikely to wear their white jerseys this season until they go into Cinci on Nov. 14.

Out of Town Fandom:

I�ve lived in New England for 25 years, and my biggest frustration, until 10 years ago, and the advent of DirecTV, was not being able to watch my beloved Steelers on Sundays.� I�d watch all of the pregame shows, then 1:00 would come, and the shitty Patriots would come on the screen or worse yet, given the smallness of our region, the New York Football Giants!!� I was reduced to waiting for the 10-minute ticker to follow my team�s score.� I think, though, that this may have deepened my Steelers commitment, as I would not now ever dream of missing a Steelers game, though I have taped them as described in an earlier article.� Here are some lowlights & highlights of being an out-of-town fan (post 1979).

Lowlights:

-Has to be the Fog Bowl game in Foxboro, 1996 playoffs.� The longest goddam afternoon I ever had a sports fan.� Pats fans, who I�ll forever hate, win their first ever home playoff game, aren�t happy enough with the win, but have to give me shit, too.�� Finally, I say, ��.hope you do better than 46-10 this time.�

-Ahhhhhh!!!� 2001 AFC Championship game�.and I�m stuck flying back to New Hampshire with a planeload of drunken, obnoxious Pats fans again.� My wife calls me from NH when the game ends, �What happened?� she says, as though I�m expected to know.� �Dave, you can�t come home�you better stay in Pittsburgh a couple more days.�� Why did I look a gift horse in the mouth�.why did I not say, �Yes, dear, you�re right.��..and she was right.

-1994 AFC Championship game�.Wife�s gone out with 5 year old daughter (good!!!); I�m home with 2 year old son.� Asshole O�Donnell throws behind Barry Foster (watch the tape of that last series�.all three passes, even the completion to John L on 3^rd down, was behind the receiver), we lose.� �Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck.� Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck.� Fuuuuuuuuuuuuck,� I scream.� Anthony looks at me, bewildered.

Highlights (always more fun):

-1994 Playoffs vs. Cleveland (discussed previously�my epiphany, my religious experience)

-1995 Opener vs. Detroit.� Norm Johnson kicks last minute FG to win the game.� I run around my living room, �Steelers win�..Steelers win�..Steelers win,� I roar.� I do a somersault.� My foot kicks Anthony square in the nose.� He drops like a shot.� Wife glares at me�..very sobering experience.� Next week, though, Steelers score�.I�m roaring again.� �Daddy, Daddy,� Anthony says, �Kick me in the nose again.�� Of such moments, fans are bred.

-1997, December in Foxboro Stadium:� We�re losing the whole game, and then with 2 minutes left, Bledsoe throws the Immaculate Interception to Kevin Henry.� Steelers win in OT; guy next to me says to me and my nephew, �You guys are assholes; Fuck you.�� Me & my nephew laugh like schoolgirls, point to the scoreboard.� Sixty-thousand zombies stream out of Foxboro.

-1998, on vacation in North Carolina�s Outer Banks, week before Thanksgiving�.looks like we�ll have to miss the game and watch it on tape later that week.� But wait�.there�s a place in Nags Head, Slammin� Sammy�s�.Slammin�s has 5 games on, but fully 2/3 of the people there are Steelers fans.� Felt like I was in the North Side.� Steelers beat Jax.

-1989 (this one�s not mine).� Steelers 17-Browns 7, despite miserable performance by Todd Blackledge at QB.� My brother Tony got rid of his wife & daughter for the day, was home watching with his 5-year old son. The next night, Tony is watching the news with his wife.� Blackledge�s face comes on the screen.� �Hey Dad,� my nephew says, �There�s Asshole.�