theSteeler
02-06-2006, 11:20 PM
As I paced back and forth like a caged lion at Shootz Cafe at only 2:30 pm, I started to remember the long walk back to my tailgate at Reinholds after the devestating loss to the Bungl--sorry, Bengals (old habits are hard to break). Amidst the quiet crowd and lowered heads, there, in the middle of the street lay a lonely Terrible Towel, drenched and dirty, being ran over by every other car passing by. I ran out into that street and retrieved the Towel, pocketing it alongside the Towel I had used for many years.
The ride back home was tough, especially listening to the talk shows smash the Steelers over and over. When i got home, I put my Towel on the mantle, and preceded to wash the abandoned Towel I had found.
The following day I had awakened with the sting of the loss still deep inside my heart, let's admit it, the outlook was bleak and we needed alotta help if we were to turn things around. Before heading to work, I went downstairs to check on the condition of the Towel. To my surprise, that muddy ugly little Towel from yesterday, a clear representation of the state of the Steelers, was again a vibrant Steeler Gold Towel, that looked fresh as the day it had been made. As the week went on, that sick feeling I had began to change to a determination to face the challenges that my team were to face and to go down fighting with them, win or lose.
The following week, the old Towel was left to stay on the mantle, and the once abandoned Towel had been chosen to accompany me to take on the Bears...and along my side it remained every game since...from that cold and snowy day vs Chicago, to the Shootz Cafe in South Side...
My heart was pounding as I watched the resolve on Joey Porter's face during the National Anthem. Early on, it showed clearly that Ben and the boys had come out a little nervous, but like great teams do, they found a way to just bend--not break. That pass Ben made to Hines will go down in Super Bowl lore forever...and it showed the Seahawks that the Steelers weren't as asleep as they seemed...as bad as we played, there we were with a
7-3 lead at halftime.
The second half started off as good as you could wish for as Fast Willie Parker blew by the Seahawks defense like Sonny Crocket in his car of the week in MIAMI Vice (forshadowing anyone?)...then, there we were, 6 yards away from a 21-3 lead, beer in my hand, and a girl that I had just met kissing my neck and grabbing my a$$, and I'm thinking, can THIS get any better...then GAAA, what the hell was that? It was like the Colts play all over again!!
Soon, what could have been a 21-3 lead had been cut to 14-10, and just like that, there were the Seahawks knocking on the door again...my God, I thought, we ain't going out like that! Talk about a rush of emotions...there is that soft pretzel Stevens catching a pass on the 2 yard line, then a penalty...then a play that true championship teams make...Ike Taylor intercepting Hasselbeck and rambling down the sidelines...the roar of the crowd in Shootz was spinetingling..but nothing like what would occur as Ben handed off to Willie, who handed it to Randle El...down the field...TOUCHDOWN HINES WARD!!! 21-10, 8 agonizing minutes to go...tick...tick...tick...the place was like a shaken champagne bottle, just waiting to blow...Hasselbeck sacked, they gotta punt, Bussie rumbles for 3, Ben for a
1st down...2 minutes left...1 minute...30 seconds...as I looked outside, the streets were empty...kinda like a crowd at Browns Stadium in the 4th quarter of most of their games...then 3 seconds...2...1...and we are WORLD CHAMPIONS...and those empty streets of 30 seconds ago had been replaced suddenly with thousands running down Carson Street like William Wallace in Braveheart...
All those years of agony, the losses in the AFC Championships, the loss to Dallas in XXX, 26 years of waiting, the "Torch" had finally been passed from our parents generation to ours...this was One for the Thumb, but it was also as Dan Rooney stated, 'One for the One'...this team of warriors, a team of true heart, and a team of destiny had, like the Towel, gone from a dirty washed up item, to the top of the world, and believe me, other than seeing the game in person, there was no other place I would want to be than in the streets of Pittsburgh on this night, as that beautiful gold Towel had been raised and waved in victory amongst Steeler Nation, our dreams had come true...the Pittsburgh Steelers are Super Bowl Champions!
Steelers, I love you, thank you for never learning the word quit.
Bus, you will never be forgotten, you will always be the face of this franchise and I'm proud to have met you.
Ben, remember that feeling from raising the Lombardi Trophy. I kinda think that won't be the last time you'll get that opportunity. In fact, I think i'll join you in person next year in Miami to watch you do it again...Feb 4, 2007...
Coach Cowher, I think we can put to bed any questions about your ability to win big games, eh?
What a year Steeler Nation! Walk proud, raise your hands with one finger pointing #1 high to the sky...we are once again the City of Champions!
http://media3.steelers.com/MediaContent//2006/02/05/21/sbxl_bettis_win_L__62416.jpg
"We are traveling a path right now that no one else has been on. However you want to view that, it will be a big challenge for us. But we certainly aren?t going to let history dictate our journey. As I told the players a lot of times, your journey can make history. That?s kind of the mindset that we have"--Coach Cowher
The ride back home was tough, especially listening to the talk shows smash the Steelers over and over. When i got home, I put my Towel on the mantle, and preceded to wash the abandoned Towel I had found.
The following day I had awakened with the sting of the loss still deep inside my heart, let's admit it, the outlook was bleak and we needed alotta help if we were to turn things around. Before heading to work, I went downstairs to check on the condition of the Towel. To my surprise, that muddy ugly little Towel from yesterday, a clear representation of the state of the Steelers, was again a vibrant Steeler Gold Towel, that looked fresh as the day it had been made. As the week went on, that sick feeling I had began to change to a determination to face the challenges that my team were to face and to go down fighting with them, win or lose.
The following week, the old Towel was left to stay on the mantle, and the once abandoned Towel had been chosen to accompany me to take on the Bears...and along my side it remained every game since...from that cold and snowy day vs Chicago, to the Shootz Cafe in South Side...
My heart was pounding as I watched the resolve on Joey Porter's face during the National Anthem. Early on, it showed clearly that Ben and the boys had come out a little nervous, but like great teams do, they found a way to just bend--not break. That pass Ben made to Hines will go down in Super Bowl lore forever...and it showed the Seahawks that the Steelers weren't as asleep as they seemed...as bad as we played, there we were with a
7-3 lead at halftime.
The second half started off as good as you could wish for as Fast Willie Parker blew by the Seahawks defense like Sonny Crocket in his car of the week in MIAMI Vice (forshadowing anyone?)...then, there we were, 6 yards away from a 21-3 lead, beer in my hand, and a girl that I had just met kissing my neck and grabbing my a$$, and I'm thinking, can THIS get any better...then GAAA, what the hell was that? It was like the Colts play all over again!!
Soon, what could have been a 21-3 lead had been cut to 14-10, and just like that, there were the Seahawks knocking on the door again...my God, I thought, we ain't going out like that! Talk about a rush of emotions...there is that soft pretzel Stevens catching a pass on the 2 yard line, then a penalty...then a play that true championship teams make...Ike Taylor intercepting Hasselbeck and rambling down the sidelines...the roar of the crowd in Shootz was spinetingling..but nothing like what would occur as Ben handed off to Willie, who handed it to Randle El...down the field...TOUCHDOWN HINES WARD!!! 21-10, 8 agonizing minutes to go...tick...tick...tick...the place was like a shaken champagne bottle, just waiting to blow...Hasselbeck sacked, they gotta punt, Bussie rumbles for 3, Ben for a
1st down...2 minutes left...1 minute...30 seconds...as I looked outside, the streets were empty...kinda like a crowd at Browns Stadium in the 4th quarter of most of their games...then 3 seconds...2...1...and we are WORLD CHAMPIONS...and those empty streets of 30 seconds ago had been replaced suddenly with thousands running down Carson Street like William Wallace in Braveheart...
All those years of agony, the losses in the AFC Championships, the loss to Dallas in XXX, 26 years of waiting, the "Torch" had finally been passed from our parents generation to ours...this was One for the Thumb, but it was also as Dan Rooney stated, 'One for the One'...this team of warriors, a team of true heart, and a team of destiny had, like the Towel, gone from a dirty washed up item, to the top of the world, and believe me, other than seeing the game in person, there was no other place I would want to be than in the streets of Pittsburgh on this night, as that beautiful gold Towel had been raised and waved in victory amongst Steeler Nation, our dreams had come true...the Pittsburgh Steelers are Super Bowl Champions!
Steelers, I love you, thank you for never learning the word quit.
Bus, you will never be forgotten, you will always be the face of this franchise and I'm proud to have met you.
Ben, remember that feeling from raising the Lombardi Trophy. I kinda think that won't be the last time you'll get that opportunity. In fact, I think i'll join you in person next year in Miami to watch you do it again...Feb 4, 2007...
Coach Cowher, I think we can put to bed any questions about your ability to win big games, eh?
What a year Steeler Nation! Walk proud, raise your hands with one finger pointing #1 high to the sky...we are once again the City of Champions!
http://media3.steelers.com/MediaContent//2006/02/05/21/sbxl_bettis_win_L__62416.jpg
"We are traveling a path right now that no one else has been on. However you want to view that, it will be a big challenge for us. But we certainly aren?t going to let history dictate our journey. As I told the players a lot of times, your journey can make history. That?s kind of the mindset that we have"--Coach Cowher