First Energy Stadium Was More Like Heinz Field Sunday – And It Sucked

Here’s another one: How many head coaches have there been in Steeler history?

If you answered 18, you are a true Steeler fan. If you answered 3, you are a frontrunner.

How long have the Steelers existed? If you answered “since 1933” or “82 seasons,” you are a true Steeler fan. Even if you answer “since 1940” (since the franchise was known as the Pirates from 1933-39), I’ll give you that one on a technicality.

If you answered “since 1970,” you are a frontrunner. You probably didn’t even realize the Steelers were once known as the Pirates until I just mentioned it.

I had a 32-year-old fan tell me today how much fun the 1970s-era Steelers were “to watch.” Brother, you weren’t even a glint in your father’s eye when those teams played.

True or false: The Steelers merged with two different NFL franchises to stay afloat.

If you answered true (the Eagles in 1943 and the Cardinals in 1944), you are a true Steeler fan. If answered anything but true, you are a frontrunner.

Do you know who Bubby Brister is?

A real Steeler fan bristles at the very mention of that name with a resigned “Yes,” usually followed by an explicative. A frontrunner says, “Bubby who?”

I think my favorite answer to any of these questions is the bewildered look, followed by “(Bleep) you, man!” Then, clad in their Ben Roethlisberger or Troy Polamalu jersey, they turn and storm away. That makes me smile.

As the clock wound down Sunday and the Steelers were in control, FirstEnergy Stadium was about 90 percent towel-twirlers. Most of my fellow Browns fans had long gone. But not me. I stood in the thick of the lion’s den clad in my Browns pants, Browns winter hat with a Browns hoodie and a “Three River Rednecks” T-shirt underneath my parka refusing to budge.

This is our house, damnit! And while those Steeler fans were nauseating – and even more so once the Bills-Jets score flashed across the scoreboard, which meant they had clinched a playoff berth – I wasn’t surrendering my territory.

I hope Browns owner Jimmy Haslam – once a silent partner in the Steelers organization – took note of that. His firing of general manager Ray Farmer and head coach Mike Pettine came just mere hours following the 28-12 loss, while the supposed starting quarterback out with concussion symptoms was reportedly partying in Las Vegas and not in Cleveland during the game.

The Browns can’t continue to wash, rinse and repeat every two years, but when you make dumb hires in the first place, you are stuck in this perpetual cycle. It’s imperative to get this right.

I remember a glorious time when the Steelers came to Cleveland and Steeler fans wouldn’t dare come into our house. I remember when most times the Browns would defeat the Steelers at home and compete for playoff berths and beyond.

Can it happen again? I hope so. It’s now up to Haslam to make it happen. He’s failed twice already – Joe Banner, Mike Lombardi and Rob Chudzinski was a colossal flop, and Farmer and Pettine were just as bad, if not worse in different regards. The third time HAS to be the charm, because if we’re doing this a fourth time in two years, there’s gonna be a lot more frontrunners around here than Browns fans.

Until next time, remember that Cleveland Rocks!

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