I'm gonna say that Steelers fans (from my experience) are some of the best to watch a game with, they don't whine so much about cheating (probably because they know their dynasty was fueled by juice of the anabolic variety) its more of a mutual respect for a worthy foe. As opposed to all Bills, Jets, Dolphins, and Colts fans of the world.
When they're not playing the Pats, I sometimes cheer for the Steelers because my cousin Dino has been a fan of them his whole life. It started when he and his brother were watching Super Bowl XIV as little kids. There was a lot of hype about the Steelers (they had already won three SBs), and Dino got caught up in it and started rooting for them. His brother, out of spite, began cheering for the Rams, and both stuck with those teams even to this day. (In fact it was their example, i.e. showing that you CAN live in Wisconsin and not like the Packers) that made me decide to find my own team to follow, and ultimately I picked the Pats.
Anyway, my cuz has always been an ideal Steeler fan. He never talks trash or anything like that. He may get ornery if he watches a game and they don't do well, but he doesn't turn into a total a-hole like some people do. Prime example - late in the 1995 season the Steelers played at Green Bay in a game the Packers had to win to clinch their first division title since 1972. It so happened that this game was on the same day we had traveled to my aunt and uncle's house for our Christmas weekend. It was a tight one and the Steelers almost had it wrapped up, until Yancy Thigpen famously dropped a pass in the end zone in the final seconds. Needless to say, everyone in the house but Dino was hootin' and hollerin', he just sat there staring at the screen like "What the...?" My aunt was afraid he was going to go back to his house and skip out on opening presents, but he didn't. He stayed and just didn't let the heartbreaking loss bother him, even though my uncle kept rubbing it in the rest of the night.
But wait, it gets better. A few years later, when I talked to him after SB 36, he told me that even though he was mad at the Pats for beating the Steelers in the AFCCG, he wanted them to win in the Super Bowl, even though that meant his brother's team would lose. Why? They had watched the Packers/Rams divisional playoff game together (the one where the Rams demolished the Packers, ran up the score and picked off Favre left and right) and his brother had been a real dink, *****ing that the Rams STILL weren't doing well enough for his tastes. In other words, he had turned into the kind of fan Dino always strived not to be.
By contrast, a longtime friend of mine (now former friend) became a Steelers fan after we graduated high school, and this ultimately ruined our friendship. It started when the Patriots had the nerve to beat the Steelers in the "Fog Bowl" game in the '96 playoffs. After that he never had one good word to say about the Pats. Eventually, every other NFL team and player also became objects of scorn to him. We all have teams and players we hate, but it's like he just started hating everyone who had the gall to walk on an NFL field and not wear a Steelers uniform.
He became the kind of fan you go out of your way to avoid, except that he was my best friend so we still did a lot of things together. But after a while I just couldn't take it. Like at the start of the '99 season, when the Pats beat the Jets in New York on an AV field goal. Needless to say I was excited that day, and I went to his house that night to watch the Steelers/Browns game (the Browns first game back since Modell moved the original club to Baltimore). I wore one of my Pats hats, and he said half-jokingly "What you doing wearing that (#*#*$)@@)$* hat in my house?!" I was like, "Guy, we won a game today no one thought we had any chance of winning, why wouldn't I be revved up about it? Besides, it's the start of the season, we're no threat to your guys yet." Then that night as we were watching the game, he became even more of a jerk. The Steelers won 41-0 or something, the Browns were having major expansion team growing pains, but it was never enough for him, he kept yelling, "Get those f***ing f****t Browns, f***ers never shoulda come back anyway." It just went on and on. I'm no Bills fan, but I have at least a smidgen of compassion for how the Pats treat them like a red-headed stepchild these days... but not this guy.
Finally, the day of the Pats-Steelers season opener in 2002 (the first game at Gillette and the Pats' first as defending SB champs), I called him and got his answering machine. I said, "You know, I was going to call you and say good luck tonight, and may the best team win, like I always do with my cousin who likes the Steelers. But I realize with you it's pointless, you'd never do that for me, because you just don't give a damn about anything except the Steelers winning. So you know what? I hope your team gets their a**es kicked and you go 0-16 the rest of the year."
And I've never talked to him since.
That may seem a bit extreme, but what was I supposed to do? I've never disliked somebody just because of their team. One of my best friends at my job is a freakin' Dolphins fan, fer cryin' out loud.
Sorry about the :hijacked: , but I just wanted to show how Steelers fans (or any fans) can be both the best and the worst.
