10RW: You Should Root For Pittsburgh

By Jim Shearer on 01/30/2009

Another Super Bowl blog posting?

Sorry, but on the Friday before Super Bowl Sunday my typing fingers or my mind won't let me concentrate on anything else besides the Pittsburgh Steelers.

(left: Don't know who to root for in the Super Bowl yet? Let me sell you on Pittsburgh.)

Spend anytime in this fine city and you'll quickly learn why we're all like this. It might be the only city in America where jocks, grandmothers, hipsters, young kids, old men, couch potatoes, yoga enthusiasts, Catholics, Protestants, and any other oddball character you can throw in there come together for a common good--to cheer on the Pittsburgh Steelers to victory.

Here are 10 Reasons Why you should be rooting for Pittsburgh on Sunday:

#10. Steeler Nation
You think I'm nuts for being obsessed with the Steelers? I'm not alone. Steeler fans come in all different shapes and sizes. Here are a few other well-known members of Steelers Nation: Snoop Dogg, Adam Sandler, Christina Aguilera, Hank Williams, Jr., Dennis Miller, Michael Keaton, Brett Michaels, Patrick Monahan (My Morning Jacket), Anti-Flag, and word on the street is that Brad Pitt is also a Steelers die-hard.

#9. Wayne Coyne
The Flaming Lips frontman may not have grown up in Pittsburgh, but he was born there!

#8. Awesome Players=Awesome Commercials
How great is this David Fincher-directed Troy Polamalu commercial?

#7. NIN
Trent Reznor may have moved to Cleveland to pursue a career in music, but he grew up in Mercer, PA, a town just north of Pittsburgh. During NIN's "Downward Spiral Tour," Reznor said to the crowd, "This is the closest I'll have to a hometown show."

#6. The Terrible Towel
In the 70's the quirky and off-kilter Steelers' announcer, Myron Cope, instructed everyone to bring yellow dish-towels to games (he wanted to choose an item everyone owned), wave them over the heads, and cheer the Steelers on to victory. Years later, you can't got to a sporting event--or sometimes a music event--without people waving some sort of towel over their head.

#5. TV On The Radio
That's right Brooklyn, TV On The Radio's Tunde Adebimpe and Kyp Malone grew up and met in Pittsburgh.

#4. Andy Warhol
Yep, he's from Pittsburgh too!

#3. Brings Republicans and Democrats Together
Rush Limbaugh recently said he hoped President Barack Obama's financial plan fails, but I bet'cha any money he doesn't want the President's Super Bowl pick to fail--the Pittsburgh Steelers! Limbaugh, who at one time worked in Pittsburgh, is a big fan of the team, and just yesterday, President Obama went on the record and told news cameras that besides the Chicago Bears, the Pittsburgh Steelers are the football team closest to his heart. (Talk about "change," I never thought I'd hear a President side with a team in the Super Bowl!)

#2. Fred Rogers
Mr. Rogers neighborhood is in--Pittsburgh!

#1. Blueprint For World Peace
As mentioned above, if a football team can get jocks, grandmothers, hipsters, young kids, old men, couch potatoes, yoga enthusiasts, Catholics, and Protestants to break bread (and nachos) together on a Sunday afternoon, anything is possible.