Go Steelers!

IT'S SUPER BOWL SUNDAY!! I wanted to post an update, because I suspect our dear readers may not all be experiencing the same Frothy Football Frenzy as Pittsburgh. And since Mom and Dad will be welcoming the new Bishop 'Burgher into their lives soon, I thought it might be valuable as a sort of cultural exchange.

You may know that both teams playing today take a once week break before playing the Superbowl. This is theoretically to help the teams rest and prepare before the Big Game, but it also helps the Steelers Nation to prepare their pep rallies, the Terrible Towel Cakes, their Cardinal Stew and queue up the Fight Songs. I've been searching the internet to find a clear example of the fanatacism here, but I think you have to see both the breadth and profundity of the madness to really understand what is going on here. If you search the internet for Steelers followed by anything- there will be pages of hits- Steelers Radio, Steelers Recipes, Steelers Polka, Steelers School Supplies, Steelers School delay (I'll get back to this), it's all important stuff. If you search iTunes for Steelers music, you'll find an unbeleivable variety of artists have taken a swing at a fight song- Rock, Blues, Hip Hop, Punk, Polka- they've got it all. And these have been top requests on all the radio stations in town all week.

Friday was unoffical Steelers Party day. Much like in high school, people wear team colors the Friday before the Big Game. Black & Gold you can work into professional attire- I saw the black and gold scarf, the Steelers logo earrings, the black and gold tie- but most people just drop the professional guise and wear thier jersey. Riding in on the bus I was struck that I live in a town that by unspoken agreement will be Entirely Color-Co-ordinated for a day, every car had black and gold passengers. If only we could get this kind of concensus on the stimulus plan. My Weight Watchers meeting Saturday, every one there said at work, Friday, they had a Party for the Steelers.

Businesses that normally don't close for major holidays are closing thier doors- because lets face it- no one is going to be out. They say it is a holiday in Pittsburgh. My impression is if we win, there will be unprecident joy and goodwill spilling out into the (closed) streets, even more so than the Obama Inauguration. If we loose, there will be bitterness, tears, and petitions for the turnover of the coaching staff. But let's not dwell on that.

As a final testament to the unity the city feels about seeing its boys succeed, Pittsburgh Public Schools announced a 2 hour delay of ALL schools on Monday. Seriously. Hope you'll have extra reason to enjoy the game this afternoon. Go Steelers!

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UPDATE: FYI- Steelers won the Super Bowl. Great game on both sides, very close. Matt and I headed to Oakland to see the riots- we saw this guy and a camera watching a couch lit on fire, then heard about it (and the burning dumpsters and the Fire truck being swarmed) on the radio on our way home. After we saw the Mounted Police drove up the street a couple times, so we thought we should go home.

Couch on Fire and Party On Campus