About the Authors
I'm an 18-year-old freshman to be at USC who lives and dies with the Trojans, Lakers, and Angels. In addition to writing, commenting, and editing here at ArmchairGM, I also have my own sports website, SoCal Sports Hub.com (http://socalsportshub.com). More By The Beast
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Meet the Users: Steel Town
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This is the 30th edition of the popular Meet the Users series, where The Beast will be interviewing a particular ArmchairGM user. The goal for the series is to allow all users to know each other better. The 30th edition goes to Steel Town
1. How did you learn about ArmchairGM and why did you decide to join?
I'm not completely sure on this one. I think it was DNL who contacted me. For some reason I decided not to ignore the email as spam. I went to the site, checked it out and here I am today.
2. Which Steeler Super Bowl have you enjoyed the most this century. 2006 or 2009?
It would have to be the 2005 Super Bowl (SBXL). That was a rollercoaster of a year for Steelers' fans. They had, by all acounts, a mediocre season. I can remember after they lost to Baltimore that the season was over. Then they backed into the playoffs. I still didn't have much hope for the team until they punched the Bungles in the mouth. After that game you could almost feel that the were gonna go all the way. They followed up the Bengals game with another exciting match-up againts Indy. At that point the city was going crazy. Every bar on the south side was having Black and Gold nights throughout the week leading up to the AFC Championship game. The Broncos didn't seem like a threat so it was really a 3 week waiting game 'till the Super Bowl. My friends and I couldn't find seats anywhere down town to watch the game. We ended up at some Hawiian themed bar with only one small tv, but that was enough. Finally after 25 years I was going to see my first Steelers Super Bowl victory. Once the clock struck zero we all ran out to the snow covered streets. I hugged the first towel waving fanatic I saw. My friends and I got separated and we all marched jubilantly 16 blocks down E. Carson street to the meeting place we had picked out before the game. The Steelers have one another since then, and they will probably win more. But, none will ever be as exciting for me as that first one I got to see.
3. What do the Steelers need to do in order to repeat next year?
This is always a tricky question. In Pittsburgh it's basically "In Rooney we trust". If it were up to me, I would trade up in the draft and take a "sure fire" O-lineman. They lost some depth when Nate Washington left, so they might need to fill that hole through the draft or free agency. They do have Limas Sweed. If he can learn to catch the ball he will fit in nicely. For all of the drops he had, he sure was good at getting open. The last thing I think they need to do is add depth to the conerback position. Loosing Bryant McFadden was probably their biggest offseason loss. William Gay looked promising last year, but I just don't see him becoming the player they need. I hope they take a CB in one of the early rounds. But, in the end whatever the Rooney's and Kevin Colbert do will be fine by me.
4. Is there any reason to be optimistic about the Pirates in 2009 or are they doomed once again?
Well, it depends on what you mean by optimistic. Will they have a good season, or even a .500 season? No. But, there is always the chance that some of the prospects will be called up to the big club and give us fans a much needed glimmer of hope for the future. I believe they finally have a competent management structure in place that showed last year that they will draft talent and not the best bargain. The team really needs to rebuild their minor league system so the more they lose the better. They desperately need all of the blue chip prospects they can get their hands on so a few more top three picks would make me happy.
5. I've always wondered why Pittsburgh teams all wear black and gold. As a Pittsburgh resident, why is that?
It all starts with the Crest of the city. The crest, which is the family coat of arms of William Pitt, is predominantly black and gold. The Rooneys were the first to use the color scheme on the Pittsburgh Football Pirates, who later became the Steelers, in 1933. Art Rooney was full of civic pride and since most of the players were coming out of Pittsburgh's steel mills it made sense to use the city's colors. The Pirates followed suit in the 40's after WWII changing from Red, White, and blue to the black and gold. I am not really sure why the buccos changed colors. But, do we really need another team with some combination of red, white, or blue? The Penguins were the last team to fall in line, which makes sense since they were the last team to arrive in town anyways. After the Steelers and Pirates won their respective championships in 1979 the city declared itself the "City of Champions". The struggling Penguins franchise wanted in on the action so they opted to drop the blue on blue color scheme they had and went to the familiar black and gold for the 1980 season.
