National Exposure against Pitt...most likely

CIN @ ATL might be the bigger game, actually. But I’d guess we have the second largest coverage.

This Steelers game is the big one. We need this just as much as we needed the Jets and Pats games.

We'll have CBS' #2 team calling it (Gumbel/Dierdof).

I haven't looked at the schedule yet and who's playing at 4 PM. But it's getting the some elevation.

I just hope Wake somehow ends Big Ben's career on national television.

Well, it's not like it matters that it's a home game because the stadium is going to be packed with Steeler fans anyway. Hopefully it is national so I don't have to go out and hang out at a bar which will invariably filled with Steeler fans.

my only wish for that game is we leave injury free

That would be awesome. I am 5 for 5 for non sunday ticket games. Glad I didn't pay for it this year. That's 5 for 5 in Ontario of all places!

Has there ever been a team in any sport with more bandwagon fans than the Steelers? For every diehard you find at least one who only likes them because they win a lot. I just hope we can find some way to beat these guys.

"muscle979 wrote:

Has there ever been a team in any sport with more bandwagon fans than the Steelers? For every diehard you find at least one who only likes them because they win a lot. I just hope we can find some way to beat these guys.

I'm actually a die-hard Hines Ward fan. Dude's the football player every highschool football kid should assimilate.

"muscle979 wrote:

Has there ever been a team in any sport with more bandwagon fans than the Steelers? For every diehard you find at least one who only likes them because they win a lot. I just hope we can find some way to beat these guys.

Yes, New England.

I live in CT, and growing up, I couldn't find a pats fan if I tried. After they won the SB in 01, all these Patriot "fans" came out of the woodwork.

"muscle979 wrote:

Has there ever been a team in any sport with more bandwagon fans than the Steelers? For every diehard you find at least one who only likes them because they win a lot. I just hope we can find some way to beat these guys.

Whoa. I don't know about that. The Steelers have one of the best fan bases in all of sports.

too bad we can't play the rest of our schedule on the road. We seem to have better focus on the road.

"Rocky Raccoon wrote:

Whoa. I don't know about that. The Steelers have one of the best fan bases in all of sports.

I guess that's one way to look at it. They win a lot. I'd call Lions fans one of the best fanbases in all of sports. They come back year after year and are repeatedly rewarded with more failure. I've met plenty of people who are Steelers fans b/c they basically rejected their loser local team and picked one that's easy to root for. There are a lot of Steelers fans here in the Baltimore area leftover from after the Colts left. I wonder why these people picked the Steelers over say the Redskins, the Eagles, the Giants, or whoever? It couldn't possibly have been b/c the Steelers win all of the time. Like it's so hard to go around waving a terrible towel everywhere when your team has winning seasons all the time. Give me the guy who was wearing his Lions stuff all year long during the 0-16 season. That's my superfan.

I'd be interested to see what would happen to the Steelers fanbase if they had to endure any extended period of losing and irrelevance. Some would stick around for sure, but would it still be what it is now?

"Rocky Raccoon wrote:

Whoa. I don't know about that. The Steelers have one of the best fan bases in all of sports.

One of the largest, sure. One of the best? I don’t know about that. They travel well, but like the Yankees, Red Sox, Colts, Patriots, Cowboys, and Lakers, it’s easy to be a Steelers fan. It’s the path of least resistance.

Another thing I’ll credit Steelers fans with is that they don’t pretend that they’re the underdog or are being somehow slighted by everyone else. Yankees fans act like their team is universally despised despite the fact that they have the largest fanbase in baseball. I mean, Tom effing Brady is a Yankees fan and he plays in Boston.

But beyond that, Steelers fandom really isn’t all that remarkable.

Steelers are known to put more fans in the seats of away games than any other fanbase. I wouldn't really call that bandwagoning. Patriots and Cowboys on the other hand...

"Ohio Fanatic wrote:

too bad we can't play the rest of our schedule on the road. We seem to have better focus on the road.

Our team doesn't know how to take praise. They don't know how to respond with the crowd behind them...It freaks them out.

They're the ultimate contrarian team so far.

"Ohio Fanatic wrote:

too bad we can't play the rest of our schedule on the road. We seem to have better focus on the road.

Oh don't worry, next week will feel like a half away game. Probably 30% Steelers fans. Not a knock on Dolphin fans, there's just tons of steelers fans all over, especially South Florida.

Very important game though. We can take out (arguably) the best team in the NFL in front of a larger than normal audience. Of course, we could've done that against the Jets and/or Pats as well, so easier said than done. Going to need to cut out the mistakes in the red zone though and find the end zone more.

With my luck up here in NE, they will probably broadcast BUF-BAL...

Jokes aside, it has a shot along with, as Desides stated, the CIN-ATL game

"Clark Kent wrote:

Yes, New England.

I live in CT, and growing up, I couldn't find a pats fan if I tried. After they won the SB in 01, all these Patriot "fans" came out of the woodwork.

I agree wholeheartedly, NH and Boston, MA is riddled with bandwagoners...It is incredible to see let me tell you. I first saw it when they went to the Super Bowl against GB way back in the late 90s...Leroy Butler/Desmond Howard time period (guys remember that one?). All of a sudden you see all these Patriots fans everywhere and the news...everyone was in shock they made it that far after years of mediocrity. Continues to now where...omg there is a waiting list for season tickets. For this reason, I have skewed my hatred for a team in the division from the Jets to the Patriots more recently. The majority of their fans, also, know jack **** about the team...honestly...I am proud when I meet Dolphins fans around the country that know the team, players, history. In this, I find solace for now...

"Pandarilla wrote:

Our team doesn't know how to take praise. They don't know how to respond with the crowd behind them...It freaks them out.

They're the ultimate contrarian team so far.

That just might be an excellent point...have any other thought's about that?

We don't do well when national audiences are watching...

"ckparrothead wrote:

We don't do well when national audiences are watching...

Sad but true.

But if we ever want to win the Super Bowl, then this team needs to get used to playing in the spotlight.

We did fine last year in primetime. Beat the Jets and Panthers, nearly beat the Colts. I don't think that's the problem.

Anyway, looks like NY market and probably New England will get Pitt-Miami even if it's not the "main" game. Far less people in this region will care about the "have been to the playoffs twice since 1990" Bungles and Falcons. We don't want to lose on Jets/Patriots TV. They always put a division game, and we can forget the Bills pretty much.

"muscle979 wrote:

Has there ever been a team in any sport with more bandwagon fans than the Steelers? For every diehard you find at least one who only likes them because they win a lot. I just hope we can find some way to beat these guys.

"Clark Kent wrote:

Yes, New England.

I live in CT, and growing up, I couldn't find a pats fan if I tried. After they won the SB in 01, all these Patriot "fans" came out of the woodwork.

you both lose.

San Diego. Before they started winning it was more than 50% of other teams filling up the stands. You cannot top that, anywhere. Raider games, the local news would estimate that 2/3 would be raider fans, 1/3 charger fans and I'm dead serious.

Oh, on more than one occasion raiders fans would jump and in one case stabbed Charger fans, in their own stadium.

"emocomputerjock wrote:

Well, it's not like it matters that it's a home game because the stadium is going to be packed with Steeler fans anyway. Hopefully it is national so I don't have to go out and hang out at a bar which will invariably filled with Steeler fans.

You know what, I just thought of something.....could that be the reason why we have trouble at home this year. I mean it can't be a great feeling to have so many of the opposing teams fans in our home stadium cheering against them in their own backyard.

Maybe it's a psychological thing.

The Jets and the Pats fans usually have a good turnout at our home games...right?

Either way these guys need to get a chip on their shoulder when they play this next game and have that "Anthony Fasano" FU attitude (faking the Lambeu Leap) this week against the Steelers.