Super Bowl Party

Another great season of Steelers football. I always love having everybody over each week for Steelers games. And, it was especially great getting everybody together for the Super Bowl. I was just sorry that we couldn't deliver a victory. 

McFoofy the new Steelers Mascot

I always thought the Steelers were one of the standards in football. They don't change their uniforms with every passing trend, they don't change their colors, and they STILL only have their logo on one side of their helmet. Why not? Because it's Pittsburgh, and much like Green Bay, the people live for Steeler football and the club simply does not have issues selling merchandise or putting tails in seats. I've been on the waiting list for season tickets approaching a decade (to put the ticket situation in perspective).

With Steeler tickets at a premium, and the Pittsburgh weather, you don't have to worry about people towing along toddlers that don't understand the game and need to be entertained by a mascot. And, I really don't think that the Steelers have ever had the problem of attracting "future consumers." But, for the sake of argument, I'll assume that they felt the need to do something to commemorate the 75th anniversary, and this mascot was the result of a collective marketing brain trust.

The look of this mascot is not awful. It gives a nod to the tradition and spirit of the Steelers. It conceivably could be "gritty." The Steelers have come to embody the knock-mouth, no nonsense, strong work ethic steel tradition of the city it represents.
So, it would only be natural that they selected a name that also upheld that grit and spirit that is Pittsburgh Steelers football, right?

Foofy McFoofy!?! Steely McWhatever...I can only hang my head. The name is shameful and whoever made the selection from 70,000 entries was giving little, or no, thought to the tradition that is the Pittsburgh Steelers.

I really hope that (much like the Steeler'ettes and the ill fated dance troupe of the 80's) this "Boy Named Sue" mascot quietly fades into an obscure object of future bar trivia.
(For the record- I submitted the name Iron Mike, as a nod to Iron Mike Webster who was the on-field embodiment of all things Steelers)

Pittsburgh Steelers and Sex

It's a funny thing walking into the office the morning after a prime time Steeler victory. Everybody has that same, exhausted, hung-over smile of satisfaction of a job well done. It's kind of like that after-sex glow of drained exhuberance. Nobody needs to say a word, everybody looks a little rough around the edges, but everyone is content in their own happy way. With at least three more prime time games and as many 4pm games, it's a look that I'm looking forward to seeing many times over this season. Excuse me, I'm off to take a nap on my desk with a smile on my face. Go Steelers!

Pittsburgh: THE Superbowl City

Rick Reilly, of Sports Illustrated, said it best when he said that Pittsburgh NEEDED to win the Superbowl. I don't think he knew the number of ways that he was right. Pittsburgh has been a dead city walking for about 20-something years. Think about it, the last time the Steelers won the Superbowl, the last time the Pirates won the World Series, our major industry fell, thousands were unemployed. The city has been struggling to right the ship since the early 1980's. I don't mean just economically.

Pittsburgh has built a new economic frontier with hospitals, medical research, banks and other blue-to-white collar jobs. But, the city still seemed to be in a funk. There was a cloud of doom hanging over the shoulders of the one-time steel-mill worker that is now finishing out his career at WalMart. There's been a lack of pride in all that Pittsburgh has. I've been lucky enough to travel around the US--to the "other places which have it so much better." And, I have to tell you, I don't think Pittsburgh'ers know how damn good they have it. They have all the luxeries of big city living, but we're still a small town. We don't have the rampant problems other cities have. Yet, we have great food, music, entertainment, shopping and business. But, I think people were unwilling to look past their personal cloud of doom to see all that we have.

This Superbowl was more than a big game. The Superbowl was more than the return of the Steelers to national recognition. This Superbowl was the return of pride to a city that desperately needed to re-connect with its citizens. It's been a long, long time since I've seen somebody beat their chest and say they were proud to be a Pittsburg'er. Even as we drove to Detroit, saw fellow Pittsburg'ers walking the streets of Detroit, there was a sense of community and pride. Coming back from Detroit, Pittsburgh'ers were waving out the windows to one another. We all came back to a city that had something to rally around--our Steelers.

We've always lived and died by our Steelers, which is what Rick Reilly meant. But, this reaches well beyond that. I know this is a temporary boost to our pride, but it was a necessary one. Add to this, the potential economic impact. Steeler fans were eating out more, they were buying more supplies, they were buying more merchandise, they were travelling more, not to mention the out-of-towners that were also investing in our city. Combine this pride and an economic shot in the arm, it is my hope that we can begin to see an emotional and economic turning of a corner.

So, let it be agreed, that Pittsburgh NEEDED this Steelers Superbowl win on a number of levels!