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Black and Blue (Gold) Fans
I'm now well into my thirties and can’t remember a time when I wasn’t a Steelers fan. For me it all started with my older brother Dirk back in the seventies. At that time the Steelers were the team to beat, the dynasty of the decade so to speak; the team with the Steel curtain that imparted black and blue on other teams.

As a boy I occasionally wore the Steeler t-shirt to school and watched a few games from time to time. The first super bowl featuring the Steelers I saw, was super bowl 30 (XXX) played in Tempe Arizona. The Steelers had players like Kevin Green and Greg Lloyd; I remember thinking how big Lloyd’s arms were. A few other notable names were Kirkland, Bettis, Dawson, Gildon, Stewart, Thigpen, Woodson, Tomczak and of course coach Bill Cowher. The Steelers went on to lose 27 to 17 to the Dallas Cowboys. As I walked away from that game feeling black and blue, something began to well up inside me and I knew that life for me would never be the same. I came away with a feeling of pride and excitement for my newly found hobby, Steeler Football.

Since that day I have followed the Steelers emphatically. It would be another ten years before I would see my beloved Steelers back on the world stage at super bowl XL, and then again in super bowl XLIII. Despite being the first NFL team to garner 6 super bowl wins, Steeler Fans have had there share of disappointing black and blue seasons. Yes, there are some "bad-sports" that root for the Steelers, but I for one love the Steelers rain or shine. This reminds me of a story my older brother once told me about a friend of his who was an Alabama Crimson Tide fan. Evidently, when the Tide played their instate rivals the Auburn Tigers, his friend would just disappear for a few days each time Alabama lost. Somehow going AWOL helped him get over the Alabama loss and head back to reality.

For me it’s not about the wins or the losses, it’s about something bigger that is unexplainable except to other true sports fans. Sure I’ll coach from my sideline chair and occasionally yell at the TV, but when it’s all said and done I’m black and blue or in this case GOLD through and through!