|
As I move from one season to the next, I start to follow different teams. Just a few months ago, I religiously watched the Cleveland Caviliers and what seemed to be a downhill rollercoaster into mediocrity after a promising start. Right now, I am following the Cleveland Indians. In the fall I will only root for one team, the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Having teams from rival cities is preposterous. The contradictory nature of my situation baffles hardcore fans, but it’s just the way I have always been.
I grew up in Youngstown, a city in northeast Ohio that has seen better days since the steel industry left in the 70s.
Youngstown is conveniently located between Pittsburgh and Cleveland on Interstate 76/77. Youngstown is in Ohio. It is also about a twenty minute drive to the Pennsylvania border.
I was destined to choose from the start.
So who to choose? I never really had a favorite baseball team when I was younger, but I did have some favorite players such as Mark McGwire. But when the Indians started to rebuild their franchise in the early 90s, I started to gravitate to them. They had guys who can flat out play during those dominant years.
Can you name the starting lineup of the 1995 World Series team? I can. Do you remember Carlos Baerga? What about “El Presidente?” The team had All-stars from top to bottom that I enjoyed watching.
With basketball, I latched on to the Cavs from the start. Mark Price, although a terrible color commentator, was my favorite player. I even backed (ugh) Danny Ferry for awhile when the Cavs began to sink from contenders to perennial lottery team.
And then, there was the Steelers, probably the one team I have loved longer than any other team.
Growing up in the Nolfi household, the football allegiances were across the board. My dad liked the Houston Oilers. My aunt liked to pick her teams based on which hunks played for them, so she invariably wound up liking Charlie White and the Dallas Cowboys. But, I can credit my love for the Pittsburgh Steelers to two people: my grandpa and my uncle.
It begins with my grandpa. A northern Italian immigrant, my grandpa followed the dominant Steelers team of the 70s. The Steel Curtain, Terry Bradshaw and Franco Harris were his idols. He even had his Terrible Towel in his casket at his funeral. Looking back, I think they were his team because they were a gritty, blue collar team, just like he was a gritty, blue collar guy.
He planted the seed. A neighborhood friend who was big on the Steelers nurtured it. But it was watching the ranting and raving of my uncle at the ineptitude of his Cleveland Browns that allowed my passion for the Steelers to mature.
This was my first encounter with a diehard Browns fan. At first I was uncomfortable with the outbursts of rage or excitement over his team’s performance, but over time, his tirades about Bernie Kosar’s less than stellar play stirred my emotions. Until this point, I had never known a rivalry, and, by siding with the Steelers, my love for the black and gold solidified into what it is today.
Even while writing this column, I got beef from my roommates simply for asking about the status of Larry Brown and the Cavaliers.
“It’s not like it really matters with that non-existent sports team in Pittsburgh,” was the remark from my roommate, a Browns fan.
This is the typical jabbering I face from him and my other diehard Browns fan for a roommate. “You’re from Ohio, how can you like a team from Pennsylvania?” and “You have to pick a sports city, you can’t choose,” are two of the most heard comments when I watch sports with them.
But this is the life I live as a ‘tweener. They didn’t have the chance to choose because they lived near Cleveland. I was stuck in between two major sports cities, in a town where half the people root for Cleveland, while the other half cheers for Pittsburgh. I had that opportunity to pick.
You can say that I am a fair-weather fan and, by all means, go ahead because I could care less. My teams have special meanings. I am reminded of my grandpa lecturing me on the wizardry of Terry Bradshaw and bragging to my aunt about how the Steelers beat the Cowboys twice in the Super Bowl. I have the visions of sitting at the Jake with friends and family. I remember how excited I was when the Cavs drafted Lebron James.
I have followed each of these teams through championship years, rebuilding phases and just flat out stinking up the stadium. I don’t need to follow a city, I just follow MY teams.
|
|
|
1 comment - join this discussion...
|
|
|
|
|
|
