reflections on a steeler game

well, by now you probably know that i went to the steeler game on sunday, and you might be wondering how it went. well, in a word: incredible. in an image (or a few):

here are a couple of my favorite shots:

i want to write a bit more later about the game itself, and the end of the regular season, but here i just want to say a bit about my experience at the game. first of all, thanks to my dad and seth and some guys called chris and andy for finding a way to help get me to heinz field. i am very grateful.

dad and i got up and left around 9 or so and got up to pittsburgh and parked. we walked across the seventh street bridge (the andy warhol bridge) and walked through all the tailgating, just enjoying the atmosphere and the energy. we stopped at the clark grill (in the old clark candy building) and had wings before heading over to the stadium. we got in there around 11:30 and watched the guys warming up before heading to the store where i got a terrible towel (i hadn't brought one with me since i didn't know i was going to a game. by the way, i learned an important lesson this week: always, ALWAYS bring a terrible towel with you wherever you go. you never know when you might need it). then we found our way to our seats to catch the pregame activity. our seats were great. right down in the lower level in the end zone section on the closed end of the field. potentially they're not awesome seats if much of the action happens at the other end, but we lucked out because there was a lot of activity down in our end. we were 10 rows back from the front, and i was amazed at how close i felt to the actual game. it took my breath away. so awesome.

the whole game was so great for me. i was wide eyed the whole time, just like a fat steelers sponge, trying to soak in every little thing. many times i just looked around and tried to embed the images and sounds on my psyche. it was so foreign to me in away, since i've watched it on tv a million times, but i've never been there, and yet, in another way, i felt like i had come home and i belonged there.

the weather was awesome. the fans were fantastic. the atmosphere was much more charged and energetic than i had expected. the browns were fun to watch implode. and i just enjoyed it all, with my steeler tattoos under my eyes, and my terrible towel waving madly.

my favorite moment occured late in the game when the big screen showed this incredible video montage of the defense, with dramatic music soundtracking the bone-crushing hits. it got the fans all worked up and in a frenzy, wildly chanting defense, defense, defense! two or three plays later, with the fans still chanting and still energized by the video, tyrone carter picked off a tipped ball and ran it in for a touchdown and the place just went nuts. i screamed until i could taste blood in my throat. and i waved that yellow towel until my arm hurt.

if you are still reading, something is probably wrong with you. but thanks for reading. thanks for sharing my steelers joy. now the only thing better would be if they won three more games this year. more on that later. for now, though, i am no longer a heinz field virgin. and i am so satisfied.