so its been kind of a sad week for me. last friday, almost a week ago now, bill cowher announced that he was resigning as Steelers head football coach. now, i’ve been wanting to post about this, but i kind of haven’t been able to talk about it till now, not to mention i got a little distracted by the gators showing the world how much better they are than ohio state. but now i am ready to talk about it.
here’s the easiest way for me to say it: bill cowher has been the coach of the steelers since i was 15. i mean, at 15 i was just starting to really get into pro football as a fan. so, for my whole career as a fan, this man has been the coach. i have known no other. i have seen players come and go. i have seen assistants come and go. i have seen pretty horrible years and i have seen them win a super bowl. but every year i knew it would be bill cowher leading the team from st. vincent college in latrobe, pa., to three rivers stadium or heinz field and, hopefully, into the playoffs. every year i expected “the jaw” to appear on cbs sometime around 1:45 on a sunday afternoon, after somebody missed a tackle or cost the team by committing a stupid penalty. every week for 15 seasons i expected see spittle fly from his vicious visage while he berated a player or an official, his competitive juices literally emerging. the phrase “cowher power” is so entrenched in my vocabulary and that of all of the steel valley, that we had forgotten that there might come a day when he wouldn’t be there anymore. that day has come.
no more spit. no more chin. no more ridiculous sweaters. no more stuffing pictures in refs’ pockets. no more cowher power. it is a sad season for steelers fans. i know the show must go on, and the team is set to announce a new head coach here quite soon, but its going to take a little while for this steeler fan to get used to it.
Comments
I love cowher, too. Really love his work ethic and the way he coached.
i felt similiarly when john paul II died. stop laughing, greg. he was the only pope I had really known.
ken whisenhunt, if they hire him, is quite the looker...
i totally agree. if he really quit to be with his family, that's awesome. but if he quit to take a year off so he can then come back to coach in another crappy organization and make twice the money, i'll be pissed at him.
yeah, i felt that way when jesus, died, too. he was the only saviour i had ever known...
seriously, um, are you really going to compare the pope and bill cowher on my blog? because, if i do a head-to-head comparison, i think you know who is going to come out victorious. i mean, can you picture the pope coaching the steelers?
just kidding. but seriously, i wish that bill cowher had coached the steelers till he died, like the pope gets to be pope till he dies. maybe that's what paterno is doing at penn state...