The Nation's Tears: Volume II

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grsharky7

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"They do whatever it takes to win" - what an awful organization!
Yeah the Steelers would never do anything shady to win. Steroids in the 70's....no biggie there.
After the AFC championship game Steeler fans completely shut down. I was actually worried about the mental health of some of my friends. It was as if the Pats had psychologically broken all of Pittsburgh and I loved every second of it. There is real fear here that the Pats will reach the magical number 6 and their superiority will fall by the wayside.
 

Smiling Joe Hesketh

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From reading comments on Reddit and Deadspin, that AFCCG was pretty much the proof for many Steelers fans that they're never going to be better than NE if they continue to run that zone defensive scheme. A lot of frustration on their part about sticking to a scheme that Brady consistently shreds.
 

BigSoxFan

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Yeah the Steelers would never do anything shady to win. Steroids in the 70's....no biggie there.
After the AFC championship game Steeler fans completely shut down. I was actually worried about the mental health of some of my friends. It was as if the Pats had psychologically broken all of Pittsburgh and I loved every second of it. There is real fear here that the Pats will reach the magical number 6 and their superiority will fall by the wayside.
Yup. This year completely broke the Steelers fans I know. They're now Jets fans even though their team has actually been very successful (when they don't have to go through New England, that is).
 

tims4wins

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From reading comments on Reddit and Deadspin, that AFCCG was pretty much the proof for many Steelers fans that they're never going to be better than NE if they continue to run that zone defensive scheme. A lot of frustration on their part about sticking to a scheme that Brady consistently shreds.
Brady has never thrown a pick against Tomlin. I mean, that's insane.
 

dcmissle

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From reading comments on Reddit and Deadspin, that AFCCG was pretty much the proof for many Steelers fans that they're never going to be better than NE if they continue to run that zone defensive scheme. A lot of frustration on their part about sticking to a scheme that Brady consistently shreds.
Pitt media too. For all the Zeise foolishness, there are some good reads at PPG and other places. One of them advocated surrendering their 1st for Butler.

Pressure, pressure, pressure -- team seems fixated on that -- doesn't work if you can't man up.
 

grsharky7

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From reading comments on Reddit and Deadspin, that AFCCG was pretty much the proof for many Steelers fans that they're never going to be better than NE if they continue to run that zone defensive scheme. A lot of frustration on their part about sticking to a scheme that Brady consistently shreds.
Even when Lebeau was there and blitzing like crazy, Brady tore them up. He had more success against Brady than their current DC, Butler, but the Pats still had their way with Pittsburgh many times.

I love bringing it up to Steeler fans that their two most recent Super Bowl runs didn't go through NE. The Broncos knocked NE out in 05 and they were w/o Brady and missed the playoffs in 08. Meanwhile Brady has beaten them 3 times on the way to championships.
 

reggiecleveland

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The pain from that HR has been drowned out by what came after, but I still don't care to watch it. I still have the video of that swing ingrained in my head from that night. Of course, I probably saw about a dozen replays in the immediate aftermath as I just stood there completely despondent.
I love the Boone Homer. It is the lying who're that broke up with me right before I met my wife, had two beautiful kids, and lived the good life.
I love the Boone Homer it is the prologue and "Jeter's golfing, this is better" is the epilogue.

Buckner I am okay with too. I would still like a WS win over the Mets, and while we are at it the Reds.
 

InstaFace

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From reading comments on Reddit and Deadspin, that AFCCG was pretty much the proof for many Steelers fans that they're never going to be better than NE if they continue to run that zone defensive scheme. A lot of frustration on their part about sticking to a scheme that Brady consistently shreds.
It's kinda crazy that for all their bluster, routinely being a top playoff team, and winning 2 SB titles in the Belichick-Brady era, that they are 2-10 against Tom Brady on the field. One of those was the game that stopped the 21-game win streak in 2004, and the other was the total shitshow in 2011 in a year we went to the SB anyway (they also beat Cassel in 2008). Other than that, they usually give us a game, but they haven't come out on top, ever.

The Peyton-era Colts were less of a one-sided rivalry. I'd have a complex about it too. At least, with the Bills and Jets, their team has never actually been a legitimate SB contender during that time, so they had no heightened expectations of anything (except the 2010 Jets, of course). The Steelers have actually won it twice, won the AFC a third time, and been a top contender a half-dozen other times in the Roethlisberger era (not to mention 2001...), but every time they match wits with Brady & Belichick, they've just had their hearts ripped out time after time.

My wife is from the burgh and thankfully doesn't care about sports, but man, watching games when visiting her family there, I really have to keep my yap shut.
 

Pandemonium67

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My son-in-law and all his family are big Steeler fans. He says the Pats-Steelers are like an unrequited hate affair.

I'd feel bad for him, but at least he doesn't have to root for a team that's QB'd by a criminal who deflates footballs.
 

ifmanis5

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Yup. This year completely broke the Steelers fans I know. They're now Jets fans even though their team has actually been very successful (when they don't have to go through New England, that is).
Wait, what? They got frustrated about not beating the NEP so they switched to supporting... the NYJ?
 

PBDWake

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As much as I love the sentiment, I can't help but laugh at the first "Remember when you blew that lead" being posted by someone with a Golden State Warriors avatar.
 

Smiling Joe Hesketh

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I just got back from a family vacation in Southern California. I wore my Pats hat most of the week (including to Disneyland). Much to my surprise, the people to started talking to me about football universally said pretty much the same thing: "How can someone NOT be impressed by what Belichick and Brady have done?" I had expected some "I hate the Pats!" comments, but quite literally never got any of that.

I was pretty surprised, honestly, since places like Deadspin are filled with disdain for the Pats. Maybe it's due to Southern California (I doubt I would have gotten the same reaction from, say, a vacation in Pittsburgh or Denver), but still.

Anecdote does not equal data, blah blah blah, but you catch my drift.
 

bankshot1

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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Welcome <a href="https://twitter.com/Takk">@Takk</a>! You are joining the tightest brotherhood in the NFL, lets get to work! <a href="https://t.co/TPkHSdVwam">pic.twitter.com/TPkHSdVwam</a></p>&mdash; Ryan Schraeder (@RyanSchraeder73) <a href="">April 28, 2017</a></blockquote>
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Rather than embrace the uncomfortable, its probably better to hold a lead.
 

kelpapa

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I just got back from a family vacation in Southern California. I wore my Pats hat most of the week (including to Disneyland). Much to my surprise, the people to started talking to me about football universally said pretty much the same thing: "How can someone NOT be impressed by what Belichick and Brady have done?" I had expected some "I hate the Pats!" comments, but quite literally never got any of that.

I was pretty surprised, honestly, since places like Deadspin are filled with disdain for the Pats. Maybe it's due to Southern California (I doubt I would have gotten the same reaction from, say, a vacation in Pittsburgh or Denver), but still.

Anecdote does not equal data, blah blah blah, but you catch my drift.
You would get that response in Denver for the most part. It's unbelievable.
 

H78

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You would get that response in Denver for the most part. It's unbelievable.
Sort of.

I live in Denver (you may as well?), and what I usually get is something on par with how Red Sox fans treated Yankees fans in the twilight of Jeter's career:

"Jeter sucks! Haha...yeah. [momentary silence] But really, it's hard not to respect the guy..."
 

Bowhemian

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I just got back from a family vacation in Southern California. I wore my Pats hat most of the week (including to Disneyland). Much to my surprise, the people to started talking to me about football universally said pretty much the same thing: "How can someone NOT be impressed by what Belichick and Brady have done?" I had expected some "I hate the Pats!" comments, but quite literally never got any of that.

I was pretty surprised, honestly, since places like Deadspin are filled with disdain for the Pats. Maybe it's due to Southern California (I doubt I would have gotten the same reaction from, say, a vacation in Pittsburgh or Denver), but still.

Anecdote does not equal data, blah blah blah, but you catch my drift.
It's been a few years since I was last in So Cal, but last time I was there, a majority of the people I met weren't from So Cal. Many of them were from "Boston". I put Boston in quotes, because to them, Boston encompassed most of NE. I guess my point is that there are not a lot of native Californians in Southern California. Or at least was the case many years ago. I guess it's kind of like Florida.
 

TheoShmeo

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There's been a sea change here in the NY area, too. No doubt, Jets fans generally still hate the Pats. But I think the combination of the two recent SB wins, overcoming the idiot Goodell and the nature of the SB 51 win have combined to cement the respect. I hear lines like "I'll never like them but you gotta respect Brady and Belichick" frequently. And some Giants fans go so far as to say they like the Pats and root for Brady. Not that it's a landslide but it's certainly more than a trickle.
 

TomTerrific

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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Welcome <a href="https://twitter.com/Takk">@Takk</a>! You are joining the tightest brotherhood in the NFL, lets get to work! <a href="https://t.co/TPkHSdVwam">pic.twitter.com/TPkHSdVwam</a></p>&mdash; Ryan Schraeder (@RyanSchraeder73) <a href="">April 28, 2017</a></blockquote>
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Rather than embrace the uncomfortable, its probably better to hold a lead.
That is some outstanding trolling from the first responder to the tweet. What makes it even better is how it completely flies over the head of everyone else.
 

djbayko

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I thought of that, but the folks who brought it up were in fact from SoCal, native born. I asked.
True, but those native South Californians have spent their lives in an environment where they are constantly interacting with transplant fans from all over the country. I've also noticed that it's much more normal to be tolerant of other people's sporting interests and not so bull headed when it comes to your own team since I moved out here. Even when I run into the occasional Lakers die hard, the air is quite different than meeting a Yankees fan in NY.
 

Cousin Walter

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http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/19345706/pittsburgh-steelers-coach-mike-tomlin-makes-fun-patriots-facebook-miscues

PITTSBURGH -- Mike Tomlin was self-deprecating during Friday's commencement address at Robert Morris University, even working the New England Patriots into his 16-minute dialogue.

"I'll proceed with a couple of assumptions," the Pittsburgh Steelers coach said. "And I realize that assumptions are very dangerous. There's a cliché about assuming, isn't it? It can make Patriots out of you and me."
 

koufax32

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I haven't checked yet but I assume a photo of Tomlin is on the Wikipedia entry for "butthurt."
 
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jmcc5400

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It won't. But we will probably talk ourselves into the idea that Pittsburgh is the team we want to avoid come the playoffs.
 

Papelbon's Poutine

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I thought it was kinda funny. He was playing to the crowd. I have no issue with Tomlin and think frankly he's on the short list of guys I'd be happy succeeding BB (not that it would ever happen).
 

Future Sox Doc

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I thought it was kinda funny. He was playing to the crowd. I have no issue with Tomlin and think frankly he's on the short list of guys I'd be happy succeeding BB (not that it would ever happen).
Steelers fans don't feel that way from the fans I know (I lived in that area). A lot feel he doesn't have what it takes to bring them back to the Super Bowl. His record against the Pats is a huge sticking point for them, and while successful, they feel he should have won more titles.
 

RG33

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I thought it was kinda funny. He was playing to the crowd. I have no issue with Tomlin and think frankly he's on the short list of guys I'd be happy succeeding BB (not that it would ever happen).
I totally agree. I think we would love Tomlin for the most part if he coached here or anywhere else. He seems like a good guy -- certainly not a HC in the class of Belichick, but a guy players like playing for who has been largely succesful.
 

TheoShmeo

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Future Sox Doc, that's been my experience as well. My closest friend is a Steelers fan...he worried about the defense all season and specifically about how they were coached. He was bitter at their style of defense in the AFCCG, and blames Tomlin since the buck stops with him.
 

Over Guapo Grande

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I thought it was kinda funny. He was playing to the crowd. I have no issue with Tomlin and think frankly he's on the short list of guys I'd be happy succeeding BB (not that it would ever happen).
Wait... what?

The coach who has never altered his defense against the Pats, despite Brady repeatedly carving it up... is the guy you would want as a coach? YVMV, but Tomlin would be a hard pass (and a soft 6) for me.
 

BigSoxFan

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Wait... what?

The coach who has never altered his defense against the Pats, despite Brady repeatedly carving it up... is the guy you would want as a coach? YVMV, but Tomlin would be a hard pass (and a soft 6) for me.
Same here. Give me McDaniels with a strong DC, please.
 

Ralphwiggum

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Tomlin is a guy who thinks that scowling a lot on the sidelines and projecting a tough guy image is a big part of coaching a football team. He's also a "we do what we do" type coach who doesn't alter his game plan based on opponent all that much. In other words, he's pretty much the opposite of BB.

He won a Super Bowl so it obviously works on some level, but I think going from BB to a guy like him would be very frustrating for Pats fans (although in fairness whoever comes next has an impossible act to follow).
 

thehitcat

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Thanks Lose that's perfect. He can keep his fake tough guy act in Pittsburgh. He's a butthurt whiner who doesn't change in the face of overwhelming evidence. I'd take John Harbaugh over him in a hot minute and just saying that gives me hives. We are not going to enjoy the post-BB era much I fear.
 

Devizier

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Steelers fans don't feel that way from the fans I know (I lived in that area). A lot feel he doesn't have what it takes to bring them back to the Super Bowl. His record against the Pats is a huge sticking point for them, and while successful, they feel he should have won more titles.
Yeah, they're wrong. And thank god for that.
 

pappymojo

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"They're not as great as people would like you to think they are. They're not invincible" - Bill Polian on the #Patriots

Who wants you to think that the Patriots are greater than they really are?

The quote seems different than the tweet though (still butthurt).

http://nesn.com/2017/05/bill-polian-has-some-fighting-words-for-patriots-says-they-arent-invincible/

“Tom Brady was a quarter away from losing the Super Bowl last year pretty decisively,” Polian said, via WEEI.com. “They are a great team. They are not as great as people think they are. They’re not invincible. What they are is exceptionally well-constructed and exceptionally well-coached. But, Tom Brady isn’t going to play forever. He showed some signs of being human last year on a number of occasions, including in the Super Bowl.”

A quarter away from losing the Super Bowl last year pretty decisively?
 

Leather

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"They're not that great. In reality, they could have lost every game they've ever won had things gone differently."
 

joe dokes

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But, Tom Brady isn’t going to play forever.
Average male life expectancy is the US is 77 Polian turned 74 in December. I wonder who enters their next phase first.
 
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