Football memories

[dougo]

I watched a football game today for the first time this season, the AFC championship game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Denver Broncos. The very first football game I ever watched was a Steelers/Broncos playoff game in 1978; the Steelers won 33-10 and went on to win the Super Bowl, and I've been a Pittsburgh fan ever since. For some reason I had remembered that score as 27-10, so I was happy today when the Steelers hit a field goal in the fourth quarter to go up 27-10. But the final score was 34-17, which is fine with me too.

Being a fan of a sports team is a weird thing, and hard to explain to someone who's never been a fan. Football is a beautiful game, especially at the professional level (I could never get into watching college football). It's one thing to appreciate it on that level, predicting (and second-guessing) the strategies, marveling at the feats of athleticism and teamwork, and tracking statistics to compare with history and see new records in the making. But when one of the teams is "your team", it adds another whole level of emotional intensity to each thrilling victory and agonizing defeat. But it's totally arbitrary: it was a more an accident of timing than any other reason for me to have picked the Steelers—I've never lived anywhere near Pittsburgh. And the team today has practically nothing in common with the team of 1978: different players, different coach, different playing style, different stadium. But it has the same name and the same colors, and somehow that's all that matters. (It also has the same owners, which is kind of remarkable, but not really relevant.) Here in Boston, I've enjoyed watching the success of the Patriots and Red Sox, but it's nowhere near as stirring as to watch the black-and-gold Steel Curtain in the playoffs, win or lose.

Now if only the Pirates could put something together again...

Comments

[chrismwage.livejournal.com]

College football is interesting -- if you have the time and energy to follow it, it's nice.. It's sloppier and faster-paced for obvious reasons, which can make it a little more exciting at times..

personally I don't even have time to keep up with the NFL

[dougo.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I like the precision of the NFL. Plus I like to watch 10+ year veterans like Jerome Bettis. And I actually like the slowness of pro football (and baseball and golf). It's more like a turn-based strategy game. Even pro basketball is too chaotic for me to really be able to follow, and forget watching hockey or soccer. Of course Tivo is a huge help for slow games—I watched today's game in about an hour and a half. The 30-second play clock makes the plays line up perfectly with the 30-second skip button...

[wrog]

yeah it's weird what with the Seattle Seahawks having just won the NFC championship -- current theory is that the aliens somehow swapped in a real football team and we're now waiting for the inevitable shock moment when the robotic heads start popping off and emitting sparks.

... and I might actually have to watch a pro game for the first time in 30-some-odd years (Dallas Cowboys vs. Miami Dolphins was evidently a big deal back in 1972, but I've totally forgotten why...).

[(Anonymous)]

Steelers/Seahawks sounds like a really fun game. I'm glad it turned out that way.

The 1972 Dolphins were the only team to not lose a single game the entire season: 14-0 in the regular season, two playoff wins, and the Super Bowl. There's a legend that the surviving members of that team get together for a champagne party every season when the last undefeated team loses a game, e.g. this year when the Colts broke their 13-game winning streak.

[(Anonymous)]

Oops, that was me. Forgot to log in again after they expired everyone's cookies.

[dougo.livejournal.com]

Argh, and I forgot to click my name instead of Anonymous when posting that comment!