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And, no, I obviously don't mean any kind of Steeler football stats
from yesterday because the only one that mattered was a "W" and
we didin't get it.
No, what I mean is this...at lunch today I went over to the local mall
to do a bit of quick shopping. I'm in this hellaciously busy place called
"A Southern Season" where everything is gourmet and the store is busting
the walls with all sorts of high-end goods and is packed with customers every time
I go there. Not exactly the kind of place you'd expect to see rough and tough
football types, I can assure you.
So, as I'm dodging shoppers down the aisle with the nimbleness of a KO returner
heading for 6, I look up and there's this guy with a Steelers sweatshirt standing
there with his wife. As I pass him I say, "Rough game yesterday, eh?"
Now, mind you I'm in a business suit and heels, just another urban business
person bustling through the nameless crowds in the name of commerce; looking
far from a football fanatic myself at the moment.
But, the guy turns to me and says, "Good grief, how many times can we watch
the same meltdown in the secondary?" And his wife chimes in, "So, where was
Townsend? I didn't see his number? Did he even play?"
And, I stop in my tracks and respond, "I just can't believe our offense, which
as taken so much heat over the last few years, is finally holding it's own to
some degree only to have our DEFENSE of all things fail us! What a turn of events!"
And, so it went. For the next 15 minutes of my precious lunch hour the crowds fell away
for me and two strangers. We were instantly in our own little world, comparing
observations and struggling for answers, sharing memories of other seasons, why
we're Steeler fans, recalling plays that "should have been", and on and on.
And, for those 15 minutes, I felt like I had a soft, warm Steeler blanket wrapped around me. No, it didn't make the loss of the game and the season any easier to swallow, but it
at least added some balance to my mental state. A feeling that not everything had
crashed in Steeler world; we still had each other.
I had mentioned to my husband at the end of the game yesterday, "Well, at least I
know I'm not alone. Fifty bazillion Steeler fans around the planet are just as pisced and
bummed out as I am."
And, for a few brief minutes, out of the blue, me and two of those fifty bazillion other
Steeler fans comforted each other and it was amazing.
Taking comfort in numbers. It's the best I can do, but I'll take it...
from yesterday because the only one that mattered was a "W" and
we didin't get it.
No, what I mean is this...at lunch today I went over to the local mall
to do a bit of quick shopping. I'm in this hellaciously busy place called
"A Southern Season" where everything is gourmet and the store is busting
the walls with all sorts of high-end goods and is packed with customers every time
I go there. Not exactly the kind of place you'd expect to see rough and tough
football types, I can assure you.
So, as I'm dodging shoppers down the aisle with the nimbleness of a KO returner
heading for 6, I look up and there's this guy with a Steelers sweatshirt standing
there with his wife. As I pass him I say, "Rough game yesterday, eh?"
Now, mind you I'm in a business suit and heels, just another urban business
person bustling through the nameless crowds in the name of commerce; looking
far from a football fanatic myself at the moment.
But, the guy turns to me and says, "Good grief, how many times can we watch
the same meltdown in the secondary?" And his wife chimes in, "So, where was
Townsend? I didn't see his number? Did he even play?"
And, I stop in my tracks and respond, "I just can't believe our offense, which
as taken so much heat over the last few years, is finally holding it's own to
some degree only to have our DEFENSE of all things fail us! What a turn of events!"
And, so it went. For the next 15 minutes of my precious lunch hour the crowds fell away
for me and two strangers. We were instantly in our own little world, comparing
observations and struggling for answers, sharing memories of other seasons, why
we're Steeler fans, recalling plays that "should have been", and on and on.
And, for those 15 minutes, I felt like I had a soft, warm Steeler blanket wrapped around me. No, it didn't make the loss of the game and the season any easier to swallow, but it
at least added some balance to my mental state. A feeling that not everything had
crashed in Steeler world; we still had each other.
I had mentioned to my husband at the end of the game yesterday, "Well, at least I
know I'm not alone. Fifty bazillion Steeler fans around the planet are just as pisced and
bummed out as I am."
And, for a few brief minutes, out of the blue, me and two of those fifty bazillion other
Steeler fans comforted each other and it was amazing.
Taking comfort in numbers. It's the best I can do, but I'll take it...
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