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The last game of the season approaches with reflection a look back....

slashsteel

Thank you for everything Franco, R I P.
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And ohhhh what a season it has been. You look back at this emotional roller coaster of a year, wondering when the ride ends. Hoping it won't be any time soon.

Early on W L W L, it looked the part of another playoff sitting at home cussing a mister cool shaded coach, obviously with a pedigree you and I found to be questionable. Three seasons of mediocrity ! enough is enough! a lot of fans said or thought this, including myself. Bad time management, excessive penalties, a ongoing development of playing down to bad teams. Questionable draft picks. We couldn't hand out enough fingers to point, often needing just one distinct finger to wave in displeasure. No more buying merchandise, no more attending games until the ship is righted!

Yeah many a slip between a cup and a lip. You found yourself ordering perhaps the newest Steeler blanket, and attending a game. Well hell you friend had a extra ticket why not! So hard to stick to a calendar when being so passionate about a team. I find myself falling short, and like Tomlin I acknowledged it, owned it if you will.

Call us spoiled, call us fickle, sure no sideline sidestep taking place. We are.........

And how you may have misgivings still about a coach or a player or a GM. You are just happy your team has returned to the playoffs. Now what can they do? Lets dust off the big screen, butter the popcorn and find out.

The season will go as far as the secondary allows, as far as the pass rush allows, the offense will need to score TDs over field goals, as the defense isn't the stingy defense of years past. Ben will have to expand on arguably one of his finest statistical seasons. The rookies will have to make significant plays in regards to Tuitt and Bryant. And Bell will have to well answer the bell along with Antonio, these killer B's will need to yes produce.

As I captain obvious my way along, I find myself excited.

And as a Steeler fan how can you not be?

Go Steelers ! !

ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh yeah

lets see what you can do ! !
 
Heck YEA !!!!!! Along the way, beleivers are made...............................





Salute the nation
 
Stay the course O Steelers brave
and claim your place in history!

Now is not the time to resign,
the hour is with you finally
and you must not look away or
leave the field without claiming victory.

Heinz Field has begun to roar again
after more than two years of silence,
of indifference to your Coordinators' pain
and lying oblivious to your martyred Head Coach’s blood.

The waves of countless eyes rose and fell in unison
here and there rows of empty seats filled.
Fathers, daughters, mothers and sons stood together
with the barriers of age and gender, gone.

Let us unleash a raging Offense
that shall never be a mere compliment
satisfied with the crushing of a few Ravens,
or a handful of Bengals and Browns!

Let the oppression and tyranny too be crushed
along with corruption and ignorance
so those who keep a proud league crippled
may perish below your stomping feet!

Carry on the hopes and dreams
of the players who sacrificed their bodies, blood and tears
so you may have examples of how you can shine
finish what they, long ago, had begun
do not live within your fears! Perform above the line!

Once you have rectified your history
let no one think that the time has come to return
to mediocrity or to be hidden from the playoff sun
stay the course O Steelers brave
And pave the way through which seven shall come!

- With apologies to Amit Rahman for paraphrasing his poem "Stay The Course"
 
We are met together at a time when great exertions and a high constancy are required from all who cherish and sustain the Steeler Nation. Difficulties surround us and dangers threaten from this side n'at. Exultant enemies are gathering: weak friends are nervous or disheartened. Voices are raised in counsels, both equally unwise, of impatience or of lassitude. From such a situation you may emerge triumphant, but to do that there will have to be, in leaders and in followers, shrewd clear plans of action, true stout-hearted comradeship, and unwearying determination. - apologies to Churchill
 
I was surprised of the development of Bryant, I thought from watching him at training camp and preseason he was going to be a bust.
 
I was surprised of the development of Bryant, I thought from watching him at training camp and preseason he was going to be a bust.

It's hard for us fans to judge a player's will to get better in their first training camp. Especially when not much is expected from them their first year. All we heard from the media was that he was raw and unfinished. They didn't play up the stories about his staying after practice to work with Mann or seeking out AB for guidance until after he started to "emerge".
 
I was surprised of the development of Bryant, I thought from watching him at training camp and preseason he was going to be a bust.

He was catching a red zone TD when I saw him in training camp. Perhaps you saw him on a different day. (shrugs)
 
I expected him to take longer to develop than he did to get to this point. I thought he might see the field and make a few catches here and there maybe even a first down or two. He has been a pleasant surprise and is exceeding expectations both physical and production wise.
 
We shall defend our Pittsburgh , whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the grassy fields, we shall fight on the turf, we shall fight in the open air fields and in the domes, we shall fight in our division and the American Conference, we shall fight until we stand victorious in Arizona; we shall never surrender.

A paraphase from:
Sir Winston Churchill
 
In light of our past two 8-8 seasons and our return to the playoffs this year:

Far better is it to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure... than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much, because they live in a gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat.

Theodore Roosevelt
 
Keep the youngins focused and we got a chance.
 
If we can win in the WC round, and get a shot at Denver, I pray that the Steelers can make amends for 2011, and put the following video to bed:D
 
Keep Tomlin from coaching and just let him wear his cool shades and we'll be fine.

More like keep DL from playing Ike and Troy and we should be fine. but it looks like they both might be ready. So I'm sure Dick will plug them right back into the starting line up.
 
We can only hope to avoid New England...no other AFC team scares me. Maybe NE will get knocked off along the way.
 
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