The Steelers are the NFL's top villain

[Notleadpoisoned]

Re: The Steelers are the NFL's top villain

I really enjoy the hate we get everytime thousands of Steelers fans take over an opposing team's home stadium. That kind of hate brings out that Steelers pride in me everytime.

[Shawn]

Re: The Steelers are the NFL's top villain

In football hate equals respect. You don't hate the teams that don't scare you. You don't hate the teams that don't embarass you. Everytime another team steps on the field they run the serious risk of being man handled.

[steeler_fan_in_t.o.]

Re: The Steelers are the NFL's top villain

4. James Harrison's hits on Sunday struck a sore note with NFL fans. I bounced around the internet today and the non-Steelers consensus seems to be that he deserves suspension for intentional headhunting. Harrison is also the pride of this generation of the Steel Curtain, setting the tone with his violent and supremely effective play against run and pass.

Actually I disagree with this.

I have also bounced around a bit and while I have found a lot of hate against the Steelers on this issue, it seems to be coming mostly from three fan bases.......Browns, Pats, and Cowboys. The funniest part about the whining NE fans is that they are the greatest benefactors from all the Harrison scrutiny in that it takes the spotlight off of the player it truly belongs on - their very own Brandon Meriweather.

I have seen a lot of support - much from the Ravens fan base. The strange thing is that I have never seen Steeler fans and Ravens fans band together before.

[AngryAsian]

Re: The Steelers are the NFL's top villain

I would love for JH to have a '07 Ratbird game this Sunday, where the whole defense and team for that matter take his lead and destroy Miami. That would be the best retort. As for being the villain, I share the sentiments that most feel... this team has always played best with the 'Us Against The World' chip on its shoulder. '05 and '08 are testaments to that fact. Please send all the hate you can muster, we'll keep taking the Lombardis.

[cruzer8]

Re: The Steelers are the NFL's top villain

I really enjoy the hate we get everytime thousands of Steelers fans take over an opposing team's home stadium. That kind of hate brings out that Steelers pride in me everytime.

Goosebumps.

[The Man of Steel]

Re: The Steelers are the NFL's top villain

I really enjoy the hate we get everytime thousands of Steelers fans take over an opposing team's home stadium. That kind of hate brings out that Steelers pride in me everytime.

Goosebumps.

Ditto

[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PF_3NQTH2D0"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PF_3NQTH2D0[/url]

[DukieBoy]

Re: The Steelers are the NFL's top villain

We got SIX Appeal.
Hate on that all they want.

[ALLD]

Re: The Steelers are the NFL's top villain

Others hate the Steelers just like those who are not from NYC hate the Yankees and they are happy when they lose. The Steelers are the most successful team since the Super Bowl era began.

Look at all the rule changes made in the name of Steelers. Mel Blount and Hines Ward have rules to reduce tough play. Tom Brady has a sissy rule because he is one.

[hawaiiansteel]

Re: The Steelers are the NFL's top villain

In the books, NFL crackdown not a game changer

By TIM DAHLBERG, AP Sports Columnist


LAS VEGAS (AP)—The number was the same for both the wise guys and the people who bookies in this gambling city like to call squares. On the big electronic board in the sports book at the Red Rock resort, the Pittsburgh Steelers were 3-point favorites to win on the road in Miami, a spread that wouldn’t change much even if James Harrison(notes) made good on his threat to retire.

The Steelers have always been good to this city’s sports books because of the large amount of action they attract. This year they’ve been good to bettors, who had their way with the books on four of Pittsburgh’s first five games.

Telling Harrison not to go helmet-to-helmet on the Dolphins isn’t going to change that. Nor, in the eyes of people who make their living studying and analyzing NFL games, will it change the way the games are played.

“I haven’t heard of any of the sophisticated bettors factoring it into their handicapping,” said Art Manteris, who oversees betting operations for Red Rock Station and several other casinos.

The non-sophisticated bettors—aka the squares—cared even less. They were more concerned about Brett Favre’s(notes) state of mind for his prime-time clash in Green Bay than the crackdown the NFL is waging against hits to the head.

“Taking three points with Favre would be a no-brainer if it weren’t for all that other stuff,” said one bettor filling out a parlay card at the Red Rock.

While much of the talk in locker rooms around the league this week was that the NFL’s strict new policies on hits to the head would cause defenders to think too much and make defenses less effective, there’s not much talk among bettors and oddsmakers over what the changes might do to the point spread.

That’s mainly because they don’t think the crackdown will affect games at all.

“Obviously you could say maybe the Steelers will play a little more tentative, but I don’t see it,” said Jimmy Vaccaro, director of sports operations for the Lucky’s chain. “The Harrison thing, I almost think the refs will be easier on him because how can you invoke a rule in the middle of the season?”

An unscientific sampling of bettors at the Red Rock found no lack of enthusiasm for the Steelers, the team most identified with the stricter enforcement of rules against hits to the head because of the two last Sunday that netted Harrison a $75,000 fine and led him to briefly ponder retirement.

Hardly surprising because the Steelers have been covering spreads all season. And, while defense may win games in the NFL, the game would be affected more if Ben Roethlisberger(notes) didn’t line up behind center than if Harrison was suddenly ineffective because he was afraid to draw more fines or a suspension.

That view may change if defenses suddenly lie down in this weekend’s games. No one expects that to happen, though, including the players who must perform if they are going to continue to get paid.

“It’s kind of, for the lack of a better term, it’s kill or be killed,” Giants defensive end Dave Tollefson(notes) said earlier this week. “Obviously that’s the wrong way to put it with these situations, but are you going to be the hammer or the nail? That’s not good enough to just hit each other. You have to hit that guy and make a tackle after that, or he has to finish you. This a high-performance business. You have to do what they ask and do it well.”

Big hits, of course, are one big reason the NFL is so popular that one of the least attractive Monday night matchups of the year drew more television viewers than Game 3 of the Yankees-Rangers series that was up against it. Violence sells and sells well, as evidenced by network NFL ratings that are higher this season than they have been in years.

America’s favorite game is also America’s favorite game to wager a few dollars on. More than $2.57 billion was bet in Nevada sports books last year, most of it on football, and anything from a forecast of rain to the state of Favre’s brain is analyzed in a dozen different ways on both sides of the betting counter to try and spot a possible edge.

If there was one to be gained by betting against smashmouth defenses, the wise guys would be all over it. The fact that they’re not is a pretty good indication the game will remain the same.

Tim Dahlberg is a national sports columnist for The Associated Press. Write to him at tdahlberg(at)ap.org

[url="http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=ap-timdahlberg-102310"]http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=a ... erg-102310[/url]

[flippy]

Re: The Steelers are the NFL's top villain

Don't hate me cause I'm beautiful....

I'm really not into the whole hate thing. I just want a team of guys that are driven to be the best. I want guys that speak softly and carry the biggest stick.

I want players who rise above the norm. That set themselves apart. That set an example for others to follow.

Can't hate on that.

[pepsyman1]

Re: The Steelers are the NFL's top villain

Having a percentage of the population that hates our team is normal. It's been that way from the days of the Steel Curtain. You think Jack Lambert was looked at any differently than some fans look at Harrison? Our team has always been the intimidators...the Raiders in the 70's always wanted to looked at the way we were...the tough, mean guys of the NFL. They were mean, sometimes dirty, but their defense was never close to ours. The Cowboys were always called America's Team, we were always their villain. I got no problem with that. I remember reading an article about the Steelers before our 4th Superbowl...the writer called the Steelers "the monolith of the NFL". It still fits...the hell with all of them, stop us if you can.

[hawaiiansteel]

Re: The Steelers are the NFL's top villain

add Miami to the list of cities who think the Steelers are villains...

[papillon]

Re: The Steelers are the NFL's top villain

add Miami to the list of cities who think the Steelers are villains...

Gladly...

Pappy

[TallyStiller]

Re: The Steelers are the NFL's top villain

Media tries to set a narrative. When Bill Belichick and his ******* were winning titles, they tried to set them up as heroes, with Brady being Superman and Fabio rolled up into one, but nobody bought it. They were hated outside of New England. Meanwhile, then, now, and undoubtedly future, the same media can't stand us, dis us constantly, and yet we have one of, if not THE largest fan base in the country in any professional sport. If we're becoming the Yankees of football, so be it, but d*mnit, I want some media a**kissing to go along with it!!! Pucker up, ESPN!!!

[hawaiiansteel]

Re: The Steelers are the NFL's top villain

Pittsburgh Steelers: Is the NFL Placing a Larger Chip on Their Shoulders?

By Nick Signorelli (Steelers Featured Columnist) on October 22, 2010




As a life long fan of the Pittsburgh Steelers, there is a troublesome trend with the Steelers that was really concerning me heading into the Week 7 game against the Miami Dolphins.

See, the Steelers like to play to the level of their competition. When they are playing great teams, they play great. When they are playing poor teams, sometimes they play poorly. When they are playing teams in the middle, much like the Miami Dolphins, sometimes they play poor, and lose because of it.

I was worried about the game against the Miami Dolphins, because they are not a team that is great, but far from a team that is bad. Miami is a middle of the road team, and the Steelers could have been in for a trap game.

Notice, I said COULD HAVE.

The Pittsburgh Steelers, are loved by Steelers Nation. Those that do not love the Steelers, normally HATE them. The joy around the NFL when Ben Roethlisberger was suspended was like the Steelers had already been eliminated from the Playoffs.

People were predicting the Steelers would win four games, or be lucky to go 8-8. Everyone KNEW that the Steelers would be lucky to go 1-3 during Roethlisbergers absence. What happened?

The Steelers got a chip on their shoulder, because people said, "they can't."

In 2005, the Steelers were almost not in the playoffs. Everyone wrote them off, saying that they could not make the playoffs.

The chip—win final four games, then another three on the road in the playoffs, and eventually become Super Bowl Champions!

In 2009, everyone said the Steelers would end the season on an eight game losing streak. After losing to the Browns, the talk of how doomed the Steelers were started.

The chip—Steelers win their final three games, beating two teams that were in the playoffs, and one that was eliminated when they lost to Pittsburgh.

In 2010, when Ben Roethlisberger was suspended, and everyone said the Steelers would be horrible.

The chip—Steelers defense looks like the Steel Curtain, as they pound the Falcons, Titans and Buccaneers, and almost beat the Ravens, with their fourth string QB.

Again in 2010, James Harrison is fined for a hit, that is questionable.

The Chip—???

See, the Steelers like to play with that chip on their shoulder. They like for people to talk bad about them. They like when they play away, and hear the opposing fans BOO them. It is motivation. It is inspiration.

Why? Because they know, when people want them to play poorly, is when they play their best. When most teams have distractions, the Steelers have motivation.

Unlike the game may have had against the Dolphins, had the NFL not decided to put the chip back on their shoulder.

Thanks, NFL.

[url="http://bleacherreport.com/articles/498799-pittsburgh-steelers-is-the-nfl-placing-a-larger-chip-on-their-shoulders"]http://bleacherreport.com/articles/4987 ... -shoulders[/url]