First off, I have to start by mentioning something that most people know about me: I am a huge fan of the Utah Jazz. This generally doesn't surprise people, since I grew up in Utah - of course I would have some affinity to the local major league sports franchise. It's interesting that I never did have the opportunity growing up to follow them as much as I would have liked, but I always followed as closely as I could. Once again, no surprise.
What generally comes as more of a surprise to people is that I am at least as big of a fan of the Pittsburgh Steelers. I have been since I was fairly young. I still remember listlessly watching them get crushed at the hands of the Dallas Cowboys in Super Bowl XXX, back when Neal O'Donnell and Kordell Stewart were on the team. It should therefore come as no surprise that I look on the Cowboys with something between disgust and contempt. I also remember my then-future father-in-law secretly tuning in to Super Bowl XL every so often to watch his Seahawks (my in-laws are from the northwest) lose to Ben Roethlisberger, Hines Ward and Jerome Bettis.
My love for the Steelers really stems from my father. Although he wasn't as big of a sports fan as some other members of his family, he grew up in the Pittsburgh area and so had an affinity for the major-league teams of the steel city. As an off-shoot of this, I am also a fan of the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Pittsburgh Pirates, although I didn't ever really care enough for baseball or hockey growing up to follow them. Of course, the Pirates have also been horrendous in recent years, so there wasn't much worth following.
At any rate, I just wanted to take this opportunity to tell everybody who cares to know that, even though I probably won't watch the Super Bowl on Sunday, I will be checking to see who wins. I have no doubt that Big Ben, Willie Parker, Heath Miller, Hines Ward, Santonio Holmes and that amazing defense will come through for us members of Steeler Nation yet again!
