What the guy in the video - who goes by the moniker "Goob" - is trying to prove is that most Pittsburgh Steelers fans are fair-weather fans. Quite frankly, I'm more than a little insulted by the implication, especially because the interviews in this video that "Goob" conducts with Steelers fans in three bars at NC State prove absolutely nothing. Therefore, at the risk of sounding like a complete dumb@$$, allow me break things down, one argument at a time, in a little segment I'd like to call "Point-Counterpoint."
Point: Most of the fans interviewed have never been to a Steelers game, or have even been to Pittsburgh for that matter, and that makes them fair-weather fans.
Counterpoint: 1) Have you ever considered that, with the economy the way it is, most fans who live far away maybe can't afford to spend their hard-earned money on frivolities such as game tickets and airfare? 2) There are also such things as work and school that also make flying to Pittsburgh and back less of a priority. 3) It can be pretty hard to get tickets when your stadium is nearly filled to capacity every week. 4) It's not our fault if the networks where we live choose not to show the Steelers games. Before you suggest buying NFL Ticket or something like that, see number (1).
Point: There's so many Steelers fans who live far away from Pittsburgh, so they clearly just picked the team that was winning at the moment.
Counterpoint: Not every Steelers fan who's from outside the Pittsburgh area is a fan by conversion. Many of these fans were, or are descendants of, workers who were displaced from Pittsburgh when businesses closed and jobs were cut (especially in the steel and coal industries), had to move elsewhere to find work, and brought their sports allegiances with them wherever they went. That's why the Steeler Nation is everywhere, even outside the U.S. These fans still stuck with their team even through the lean years.
Point: Most of the fans interviewed did not seem to be very knowledgeable about the Steelers, so we can automatically assume they're just fair-weather fans.
Counterpoint: No matter where you go, or what you ask about, I guarantee you're gonna find at least one dummy who can't answer even the most basic trivia questions about the given subject. Just watch any episode of The Tonight Show when they do "JayWalking." For example, there was that one woman who was a history major at Carnegie Mellon, and didn't know who Betsy Ross was. But I digress. My point is, I betcha I could go into a Ravens bar and ask random people questions about their team that they couldn't answer. I grew up a Steelers fan because that's how my parents (who are both from western Pennsylvania, my dad having grown up just a few miles from the 'Burgh) raised me, and there was a lot about the Steelers that I didn't know until I was in high school or college. And about that guy who went to the game at Three Rivers and referred to their current stadium as "the new Heinz Field" - by "new", he clearly meant "currently in use", not "just opened this season". He was trying to distinguish the current stadium from the since-demolished previous stadium; he just didn't couldn't find the right choice of words - an innocent mistake that I'm sure happens to everyone. A simple instance of cerebral flatulence like that does not necessarily make him a fair-weather fan.
Point: The Steelers fans interviewed said they hate watching their team lose, and criticized Pittsburgh's inconsistent performance this season. Ergo, they're all fair-weather fans.
Counterpoint: Of course we hate it when the Steelers lose! Last time I checked, I don't think there was a fan of any sports team who could say he enjoyed watching his team lose, unless he was pulling a Pete Rose. There's nothing wrong with expecting a consistent performance from your team from game to game, or constructively criticizing the mistakes that your team makes. After all, no one's perfect. There's always room for improvement. None of the people interviewed said that they were renouncing their allegiance to Pittsburgh if they lost, which is what a fair-weather fan really is.
- Rebuttal: But Mike, you switched from being a Pirates fan to a Rays fan. That sounds pretty fair-weather to me!
- Mike's Rebuttal: Let me clarify something. The reason I stopped being a die-hard Pirates fan was not because they haven't had a winning season in 19 years. It was because I was fed up with the way the team was being run, particularly with the fact that every time a good player emerged on their team, he would be traded away within a few years for a bunch of minor league so-called "prospects" who never lived up to their potential. I picked the Rays because, when I'm not rooting for my own teams, I almost always root for the underdogs, hoping that they can overcome their perennial mediocrity and provide that "Cinderella story" kind of inspiration to others. I also found the Rays an interesting team to follow. If my sole intention had been to be a fan of a winning team, doncha think I'd have become a Yankees or Phillies fan instead? And besides, I still support the Pirates and would like to see them win; the only difference now is that I no longer feel guilty about laughing at them when they inevitably fall apart in the middle of the season. [Am I seriously debating with myself just now?]
I'm not saying that there are no fair-weather fans in Steeler Nation (since my name's not Mike-moud Paul-medinejad). But as a lifelong Steelers fan who was born and raised outside of the Steel City, I resent the stereotypes that "Goob" insinuates in his little "documentary" about most of us Pittsburgh fans being merely "fair-weather fans." The arguments made in the above video have little basis in logic whatsoever, because they do not fit the definition of a fair-weather fan, which is a fan who supports a team only when it is highly successful, and renounces said allegiance when that team is not as successful as one would like it to be.
I, of course, welcome any and all friendly debate on this topic, and encourage those of y'all out there in Reader Land who may disagree with my arguments to comment on my post; all I ask is that you please do so in a respectful and civilized manner.
Stay frosty, y'all! And GO STEELERS!
B-)
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