RE: Greetings from Steeler Nation

As a life-long Yankees fan and nearly 6-year resident of New York City, I know plenty of people who will tell you New York's fans are the greatest. I'm willing to guess these folks have not spent an extended stay in the city of Pittsburgh, especially not days before the Steelers are due to play in the Superbowl.

Years ago, when I flew to Pittsburgh for the first time with my husband (then my boyfriend), I absolutely marveled at how everyone in the airport was talking about the Steelers' odds in an upcoming regular-season game. Many people were wearing football jerseys or stopping in the airport gift shop to make sure they had some proper black and gold attire before setting even one toe of one foot on Pittsburgh soil. Later that week, I saw jerseys everywhere - on the waitresses at restaurants, the cashiers at the grocery store, everywhere. Days after this, it was finally game day. Do not wait until Sunday to do your grocery shopping within 50 mles of Pittsburgh, let me tell you.

A year or two after that first visit, we came to Pittsburgh watch the Steelers play the Superbowl...on television. I didn't quite understand until we got there, but short of getting tickets to the game itself, a living room in Pittsburgh is the best place you could be to watch a
Steelers Superbowl. The days leading up to the Superbowl were a media barrage. The top stories on the local news were not about politics, war, crime or the economy. They were about how practices were going, which players were healthy or potentially injured, the shortage in the
Pittsburgh area of Terrible Towels and the ballooning price of Jerome Bettis jerseys. In addition to debates on the radio about the Steelers' chances against the Seahawks, there were open debates about whether schools should be open the day after the game. (If I remember correctly, they were on a 2 hour delay so tykes could stay up late and watch history be made.) Advertisements let us know that Kaufmann's would be opening up late on Sunday night after the game ended so people could get Superbowl Champion tee-shirts right away, should the good guys win. Of course, the Steelers did win, and while some fans flooded suburban malls for their gear, others (including myself) reveled with perfect strangers in the streets of the South Side. But truly, none of the Steelers faithful were strangers that night.

Just three years later, the good, loyal fans in Pittsburgh are holding vigil as their gridiron heroes prepare for the big game in Tampa. There are Steelers updates that play on the radio every 10 minutes to let us know that Hines Ward didn't practice yesterday, but he never practices on Wednesday, so there is no cause for alarm. People placed orders no later than a week in advance at a local bakery to reserve their Terrible Towel Cookies. Local ads show local celebrities, including broadcasters and the young hockey stars of the Penguins singing, "Here we go,Steelers, here we go...". I'm sitting in the waiting room of a medical office as I type this, and I'm surrounded by black and gold streamers, signs, and even a wreath adorned with Troy Polamalu's number 43. The nurses are wearing Ben Roethlisberger jerseys.

I love my Yankees, and we are classy, adoring fans, but there is no sports town on Earth that comes close to the loyalty, vigilance and complete unity of purpose of Pittsburgh. Certainly not Phoenix. Here's to hoping for another wild night on East Carson Street!