The Evil Empire Wins AGAIN!!! :(

Hello, blogfans!

Well, the drooling, terrible towel-waving Neanderthals of Pittsburg have something to be excited about. Their team, the Steelers (do they still make steel there? I thought all of the steel business went to the Far East a long time ago?) beat my team, the Browns, once again.

At least it was a game this time. We were ahead 21-9 at halftime and went ahead 28-24 at the first of the fourth quarter, but Rothslisberger (means "my mother loves squash" in Lithuanian) drove them down for a late TD and forced us to drive 50 or so yards to tie in regulation (no one kicks field goals of longer than 40 yards or so in that place. I'm not sure why, but I think it was built on the site of an Indian graveyard or perhaps the remnants of US Steel). Of course, our field goal try to tie came up short, so the evil empire won again!

You have to hand it to Pittsburg. Over the years, they've been one of the class organizations in football. They draft well; they're well-coached. They keep players who make a difference and let players go who are past their prime. They've basically been a model for how to run a professional football franchise. My hat's off to them.

Their fans, however, are another story. What a smarmy bunch THEY are! No class whatsoever! They wave their little yellow towels and pretend like they've got a say. It's easy to be a Steelers fan. They've been iminently successful over the years. It's sort of like being a fan of the 49er's in the 80's. "Oh, you're a 49er's fan? Welcome to the bandwagon! Where were you when we played at Keisar Field and no one even knew when game time was? Thanks for showing up! If you're still here when the trophies start to tarnish, THEN I'll know you're a fan!"

Some of the Steelers fans are okay. They hung around from the days that there were two places that no NFL player wanted to go - Green Bay, and Pittsburg. Green Bay because, well....it's GREEN BAY! Pittsburg because....they hadn't won so much as a coin toss since God was in diapers, let alone a football game! Anyway, those guys are okay. I can comiserate with the long suffering fan who finally finds peace when their team rises above and learns how to win. Thus has been the fate of my beloved Browns. Imagine the idnignation of having your team whisked off to Baltimore in the middle of the night! Imagine the surreal scene of having your team rise from the dead, only to be totally inept for the first 5 or 6 years of reemergence. We're having a better year this year, and, if the schedule we face from here on out is any indication, we should make the playoffs this year. The sad part is....sooner or later, we have to beat that team from Pittsburg to be considered legitimate. I thought it was coming today, but I was wrong. Maybe, if we continue to improve, we'll get that job done in the playoffs.

I sure hope so! - Dan