I don't know anyone who has actually worked at a steel mill in Pittsburgh. I speak Chinese better than I speak Pittsburghese. Iron City Beer? Yuck.But I grew up in Pittsburgh and went to quite a few Steeler games. Sundays were Steeler days. When I was a baby and the Steelers were winning Super Bowls, my dad even made me my own baby-sized Terrible Towel from a washcloth (which he has now given to the dog to wear on her back during game days).
I haven't lived in Pittsburgh or western PA since 2001, but I have followed the Steelers. Sometimes I have followed the games and seasons more than others. But what I find fascinating is the community built around Steeler fans around the US. As soon as I graduate and get a job as a geographer somewhere and no longer have time to travel to China to do research, I am going to do research on what has been called Steeler Nation and the high number of Steeler bars all around the US. [Some of the bars won't even let people in who are not wearing black and gold. Crazy.] What I have learned from living outside of Pittsburgh is that Steeler fans extend far beyond western PA. Its interesting because there is a direct link to people moving out of Pittsburgh as steel mills shut down at the same time that the Steelers were at their prime, having won 4 Super Bowls in the 1970s. As a result, I've met hard core Steelers fans who have never been to Pittsburgh, but have parents or grandparents from Pittsburgh.
I had no idea what I would find in the Irish bar in Beijing I went to Monday morning to watch the game. It did not take long for those wearing black and gold to find one another. By the end of the game, I was exchanging email addresses with my new friends (many from Pittsburgh). Throughout the game we had cheered together, hugged, high-fived, squeezed hands, and worried together. I had never met these people before yesterday morning, yet we had all shared a similar experience watching the Steelers win Super Bowl XLIII. Even while I watch the games, I recognize the ridiculous-ness of how American football looks to people not familiar to the game.
But I see someone waving a Terrible Towel and know we have a common connection. Its that shared experience with Steeler fans--many times people I don't even know--that makes it an exhilerating experience.
Soon I will get back to rice.
1 comment:
It's TRUE! I have been so amazed by the far reaches of your Nation. Went to a wedding over the weekend and one kid had his jersey on OVER his formal attire. I love telling the story of you and your Terrible Towel at a market in China. I think if you wrote a book on that, you'd have a huge amount of buyers!
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