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Martinsville High School Alumni
Class of 1967 |
Message List
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"Livin' in the Steeler Nation" - 14 |
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02/06/09
Debby (Davis) Gagliano
(1967)
DebbyGagliano@hotmail.com
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Western PA is a very strange place to live if you don't enjoy -4 degree weather AND you don't particularly care about football...these 2 comments are considered blasphemous around here because the regard for the Pittsburgh Steelers borders on religious rapture at the very least. People actually buy a separate vechicle to paint with Steeler colors and insignias and drive them to tailgate parties, schools, etc. during the season. I even know the location of 2 private homes painted black and gold and emblazoned with Steeler player pictures! Each elementary and high school wears black and gold on every Friday of football season, most work sites do the same (including mine), and people pass around "Steeler" black and gold recipies for all the parties hosted. Wal-Mart looked like Christmas Eve the day before the Super Bowl: Steeler displays, everyone including babies dressed in black and gold (not me!), continuous chattering about the game and specific players, huge trays of deli food in the check out line, etc. The Pittsburgh Public Schools were on a 2-hr. delay for the day after the game, win or lose. I decided to take my car to a car wash about 30 minutes before kick-off and there was ABSOLUTELY no traffic: local businesses normally open on Sunday were closed and every bar within 100 miles was hosting a reservation-only Steeler party. Even the air felt "electric" with excitement. Fans who could not afford the trip to Tampa descended on Pittsburgh and all hotel rooms were booked solid for about 25-50 miles and there were parties everywhere. I've never seen anything like this, even when the team won 2 years ago. Over 350,000 people attended the official parade in Pittsburgh even though we still have 10 inches of snow on the ground. My 82-year-old mother-in-law is a rapid sports fan who has been known to hang up on those people crazy enough to call her when the Steelers or the Pirates are playing. She was in her glory on Sunday after the game and called my husband to discuss the plays and "who did what to whom"...I'm glad they won because it's difficult to live in my house when they lose! |
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