The guilty pleasure of watching professional football

By R.K. Barry

Last week I stumbled on an article about the long-term health impacts on those who play professional football. The article referenced a University of North Carolina study that indicated that:

[r]epeatedly concussed National Football League players had five times the rate of mild cognitive impairment (pre-Alzheimer) than the average population [and that] retired NFL players suffer from Alzheimer's disease at a 37 per cent higher rate than average.

But the really chilling finding of the study was that "the average life expectancy of all pro football players, including all positions and backgrounds, is 55. Several insurance carriers say it is 51."

The article citing the study went on to quote many people associated with professional football, as they all agreed that this was concerning and that they would continue to do things like modifying rules and improving equipment to better protect players.

Okay. All good.

Who knows how accurate these projections are. But I don't think it is particularly controversial to suggest that the game is ending lives prematurely -- and apparently by a lot.

I write this as a football fan. I love my New York Giants and go back so far as to have vague recollections of Y.A. Tittle playing at Yankee Stadium. But I wouldn't have much of a moral compass if I wasn't a little worried by all of this.

To a degree, I comfort myself with the thought that I am more a fan of the finesse part of the game, the strategy, the athleticism, rather than the brute violence -- but the game is violent. When played as designed, very large, very fast men hit each other hard enough to cause permanent damage, leading to significantly shortened lifespans.

There are all sorts of ways to rationalize this. Many of the players are making obscene amounts of money, likely more than they would ever make in any other occupation. The decision to play belongs to them. Other jobs are dangerous and the payoff not as rich. All true, but we don't cheer on cops and fireman doing their jobs in the hope that something violent and exciting might happen (unless we are really sick).

In truth, I don't know where this discussion goes in my own mind. I'm still going to watch football should there be a season come September.

But I can't help thinking that we haven't progressed all that far from the days of the gladiators who might be taken away dead immediately after competition. The only difference now is that athletes have to wait 15 or 20 years before the ravages of the game take their final toll -- decades before a natural life expectancy would demand.

Something to think about. 

(Cross-posted at Lippmann's Ghost.)

The Packers win Super Bowl XLV. And yet we Steelers fans can still be proud of our team.

By Michael J.W. Stickings

I don't really have all that much to say about the Super Bowl. (I tweeted a lot during the game, so check out my feed and, if you so desire, follow me.)

I was emotionally invested in the Steelers to an incredibly deep degree and it was a tough loss. And yet I'm not terribly disappointed.

I didn't think they'd make it this far, what with Big Ben's suspension and the injuries to key members of the offensive line, and they lost to a really good team on Sunday, a Packers team that was much better than its regular-season record and low playoff seed, a Packers team that is really quite likeable, much more so than the Ravens and the Jets and Steelers's main rivals in the AFC.

Okay, I'm disappointed. But I'm not bitter. And I'm disappointed because they didn't play nearly as well as they could have, and should have. They got off to a terrible start, turned the ball over three times, and didn't come through when it mattered. But they had a chance to win, long before the final drive. They just didn't do it. And while a Super Bowl loss is hard to take, it's still a Super Bowl loss, meaning the Steelers made it further than 30 other teams in the NFL.

I became a Steelers fan back in the '70s, when I was a kid growing up in Montreal. We didn't have an NFL team, obviously, and so everyone just sort of picked one. There were older Giants and Packers fans, newer Dolphins and Vikings fans, and of course, Steelers and Cowboys fans. I don't remember how it happened. I was four or five. I liked the Steelers even before I liked the Canadiens, who are a religion in Montreal. And I got to see them win a couple of Super Bowls, their third and fourth. And then it was a long stretch through some lean years until they got back on top, and I've seen them win two more Super Bowls in just the past several years. And, really, they've been one of the league's top teams for a decade. So why should I be all that disappointed?

I love the Steelers, and I take ever loss hard. After the game I wasn't angry or bitter. I just felt bummed out. I didn't say much. I had most of the game to anticipate a Packers victory, but that second half was intense, and it looked like the Steelers might just pull it off, an improbable comeback after a miserable first half. But it was not to be.

But I'm proud of what they accomplished this year, and I feel good about their prospects -- assuming there's even an NFL season this year.

And so we move on. It's the agony and ecstasy of sports fandom. The lows, even taken in perspective, are hard to take, but the Steelers have given us many highs over the years, and we Steelers fans, even in defeat, can find not just solace but a certain joy in being fans of such a magnificent franchise.

Congrats to the Packers. They deserved it. But congrats also to our beloved Steelers for a great year.

Steelers 24, Jets 19

By Michael J.W. Stickings

J-E-T-S! Jets! Jets! Jets!

Ah, go %@#& yourselves.

My beloved Steelers pulled it out, 24-19 over Rex Ryan and the Jets, and now it's on to Super Bowl XLV in two weeks in Texas.

I'm terrified of the Aaron Rodgers and the Packers, who beat the Bears 21-14 in a game that wasn't even that close, but I take great pleasure in the fact that the Steelers and the Packers, two of the NFL's oldest and most respected franchises, will be playing for it all in Cowboys Stadium, given how much I despise Jerry Jones and the Dallas Cowboys and everything about that wretched franchise.

Jones thought this was his year, of course, and that the Cowboys would be playing for a championship right at home in his new mega-monstrosity. They stunk, and they won't be, and now it's time for Pittsburgh and Green Bay to get it on.

But that Jets game...

What a first half. The Steelers were simply dominant, going up 24-0 and then taking a 24-3 lead into halftime. But I was worried. As good as the running game was, behind Mendenhall, the passing game wasn't there, and I was sure the Jets would pull it together and make a game of it. And on their first drive of the second half, the Jets rolled for a TD, a 45-yard pass from Sanchez to ex-Steeler (and MVP of the Steelers Super Bowl win a couple of years ago) Holmes after cornerback Taylor slipped.

Uh-oh.

While the Steelers couldn't do a think on offence, with Roethlisberger having a bad game (and the team's Pro Bowl rookie center, Maurkice Pouncey going down to injury in the first half, yet another blow to an already-depleted o-line), the Jets were moving the ball. They didn't have much of a running game, but Sanchez wasn't buckling under the pressure and recovered from a bad first half to lead the Jets down the field. The Steelers' D, which wasn't getting much pressure on Sanchez, held firm inside the five, stuffing Tomlinson on fourth down, but a bad snap led to a safety. 24-12.

Uh-oh.

And then the Jets marched down the field again, and, on a nice play that saw Holmes set a pick to free up Cotchery, made it 24-19 with just over three minutes to go.

I was a wreck already. Now I was on the verge of completely falling apart. I was completely overwhelmed. Resignation was already setting in. I couldn't even muster much anger.

But the Steelers held on.

To run the clock out, they just needed to make a few first downs. Roethlisberger kept the drive going with a pass to Miller, their sure-handed tight end; it was behind him, but he caught it. Later, on a crucial third down, Roethlisberger, facing pressure, rolled out and found Brown, one of the Steelers' promising young receivers, the guy who made the huge 58-yard catch against the Ravens last week, holding the ball against his helmet as he ran down inside the five, setting up the Steelers' winning TD, for the first down that sealed it.

No, he didn't have a great game, but, when he needed to Big Ben did what he does so often, making a play seemingly out of nothing.

And that was it. Ryan threw his headset to the ground, Big Ben took a few kneels, and now the Steelers are off to their record eighth Super Bowl, having won a record six.

With all the injuries this year, with all the issues they've had on the o-line, with Big Ben's four-game suspension and a young group of up-and-coming receivers, it's amazing they've made it.

Just amazing. I thought they were a pretty weak 12-4 team, and it looked the Patriots were the best team in the AFC, and I wasn't exactly confident they'd get past the Ravens and Jets, but here we are.

They did it.

The Packers are peaking right now and will likely be the clear favourites to win the Super Bowl, but I'll start worrying about that game tomorrow. For now, I just want to enjoy this.

I love the Pittsburgh Steelers.

I've watched pretty much every minute of every game this year, and I read as much as I can about them. I was at the first game of the regular season, in September, an OT win at home over Atlanta. The whole year has been incredibly intense.

And now it's on the Super Bowl! How awesome is that?

Steelers 31, Ravens 24

By Michael J.W. Stickings 

Some of you know that I'm a rather huge fan of the Pittsburgh Steelers. I was terrified going into today's game against the Baltimore Ravens, perhaps our biggest rival. It's not that I thought the Steelers would lose, just that Steelers-Ravens games are always tense affairs, and this was no exception. I'm not sure I have any nerves left.

What a game, though. After getting up 7-0, the Steelers fumbled twice inside their own 20 and ended up down 21-7 at the half. My mood, needless to say, was not good. It was anger and frustration mixed with resignation, and I just didn't see how they'd ever come back against a tough Ravens D with an o-line that has been weak all season, in part because of injury, and just didn't seem to be able to afford Ben Roethlisberger enough protection for the offence to move the ball consistently. And it didn't help that their first drive of the second half ended with a punt.

But then... then it was time for the Ravens to turn the ball over. The Steelers great D stepped up and made things happen, forcing three turnovers and going up 24-21. Then the Ravens tied it with a FG after the Steelers made a huge stop (and after a Ravens TD on a punt return was called back).

And then, on 3rd and 19, with just a couple of minutes left, Roethlisberger found one of the Steelers' speedy young receivers, Antonio Brown, for a 58-yard bomb down inside the Ravens' 5. And after being stopped twice, Mendenhall rushed it in for the winning score.

Awesome. Simply, utterly, amazingly awesome. Wow.

**********

And now I suppose I have to root for the Jets over the Patriots tomorrow -- because the Steelers have a much better shot of beating the former than the later, and would host the Jets instead of having to travel to New England.

But I'm trying not to think too much about that now.

I'm ecstatic, I'm on a major sports high, and now I'm just going to sit back and watch the Packers-Falcons game (go Pack!) without being anxious about the Steelers.

**********

Oh, speaking of Steelers fans...

I have quite a bit of Steelers gear and periphernalia that I've accumulated over the years, and my kids often wear their Steelers shirts (my older daughter has earrings, too), but I've got nothing on a guy named George Danesky:

Danesky, a 62-year old semi-retired transplant from South Fayette has created nothing short of a Steelers sanctuary in the basement of his Blue Ridge, Ga., home, about 100 miles from Atlanta, near the borders of North Carolina and Tennessee.

Literally one-half of his home is completely devoted to the Steelers.

"We live in a 5000 sq.ft. house. The basement is 2500 sq. ft Every inch of that 2500 sq. ft. is painted in official NFL Steeler gold and all trim is black. The entire basement is dedicated to, used for games, partying, and display of our thousands of Steeler items," which includes jerseys, helmets, footballs, framed prints, pennants -- many of them autographed -- as well as figurines, bobbleheads, Iron City cans, banners, posters, and all manner of novelty items.

The basement is wired with 16 methodically placed 16 speakers, so that the effect is like being in the stadium. The speakers are attached to a 72 inch H.D. television.

There is a full kitchen and a 30 foot bar equipped with its own television mounted on the wall. The entire area is heated with a double sided fireplace in the very center of the room, both sides have firescreens adorned with the Steeler emblem.

A full bath and a guest bedroom, are also all Steeler decorated, including sheets, comforter and curtains and there is an area he refers to as, "the locker room" which houses all of his family's Steeler jerseys, coats, t-shirts and other clothing.  His Chrysler PT  Cruiser is decked out too, in a black and gold paint job and "GOSTLRS" vanity plates.

You might think this is lame. (It might be if it were for, say, the Jets.) If you think that, you clearly know nothing of sports fandom, which is about passion and loyalty and pride. Personally, I think it's pretty cool. And while I'll never match Danesky -- who will? -- his example certainly gives us Steelers fans something to admire. Here are some photos (the post at the Post-Gazette's Blog 'n' Gold has more):