No NFL team to cheer for

Well said.

 

That's the thing, mike. I've seen it every bit as bad in other NFL cities. Washington Redskins fans, for example, are every bit as bad. They just haven't had the success.

And I'm not sure I understood the point you were trying to make about the Super Bowl team. You have a problem with Steelers fans claiming that Pittsburgh was the best team in the NFL the year the Steelers won the Super Bowl?

 

Yeah ... in a way. I have a problem when they tell me, "The Steelers were the best team all season." Well, clearly they weren't. When you're the sixth seed in the postseason, you were not the best team all season. They weren't better than the Colts, Seahawks, Broncos or Bengals during the regular season; when you're not even the division champion, how can you be the best team?

Now, they certainly played the best when it mattered the most -- and for that, by all means, be proud of their success because who knows when a No. 6 seed will win three consecutive road games en route to a title again? But to tell me, without a doubt in their minds, that they were clearly the best team was wrong.

That's my point, sir.

 

Just because you're the "best team" doesn't mean you're the champion. Just because you're the "champion" doesn't mean you're the best team.

The playoffs (NFL, MLB, you name it) don't determine the best team. They determine the champion. There often is a difference.

 

So, they were the best team in football in '04 when they went 15-1?

 

Exactly. But you know who doesn't like to hear that?

 

They were the best football team in the regular season in 2004, just like they were the best team in the postseason in 2005. But they weren't the best team all the way through the entire football season either time. Few teams are. The Patriots, for example, are one of them -- for now, at least.

 

True...and I understand the deal on the '05 Steelers. But there was a reason you got the arguments with Steelers fans. That team that had a lot of critics because of the record, even though they had been 15-1 and ran into a red-hot Patriots team the year before.

The constant conversation about the officiating in that Super Bowl also put Steelers' fans on the defensive. When your team wins a championship, it does get a little frustrating to hear all the excuse-making and conspiracy theories from elsewhere.

 

The 2006 St. Louis Cardinals hear it, too. So why aren't their fans quite as knee-jerk defensive about their championship? Steelers fans seem to crave more external validation, instead of just basking in the glow of a surprise Super Bowl title given to them by an admittedly weak team.

 

I don't doubt your last point, but I never prompted a Steelers fan with those conspiracy theories. These guys were just tools.

 

Maybe...but I think there are two important distinctions.

The Cardinals didn't have to deal with an officiating controversy, and they didn't have to deal with such a butt-ugly championship game. That may have been the worst-played Super Bowl ever.

 

Understood....and there are some of those in any fan base. I just think some championship teams face more questions than others and that one in particular faced a lot.

For example, there was definitely a lot of that conspiracy-theory stuff on this board at the time.