"America's Team"

If you've listened to any sports-talk radio the past couple of days, it seems the hip thing to do now is declare the Pittsburgh Steelers the New America's Team. First of all, let's get some things straight: despite the fact that I am a Dallas Cowboys fan and believe - nay, am convinced - that the NFL as we know it today would not exist without the Cowboys, I have always hated that nickname, and wish that NFL Films and Tex Schramm had never made it up. To be honest, when it comes to NFL football, I actually think there are multiple "America's Teams": the Cowboys, Raiders, (ugh) Redskins, Packers, and yes, the Steelers. The Steelers just happen to be the hot commodity right now.

Now I'm not in any way diminishing what the Steelers have done; right now, today, as of this moment, they are the elite gold standard in pro sports. Uncle. I give. BUT - to call them - as some are suggesting - the greatest pro sports franchise of all time is completely asinine. First of all, it's a dumb subject that is base purely on the opinions of talking heads. Second, all of the gushing about them is making it sound like the rest of the league has been basically trying to catch up with them since the early 70's. Baloney! Do you realize that other than Super Bowl XIV in January of 1980 - which was actually the Super Bowl for the 1979 season - the Steelers did not make a single Super Bowl appearance in the 80's? They only made one in the 90's, Super Bowl XXX following the 1995 season when the AFC was clearly the weaker conference, and they couldn't even get over on the Cowboys in that game with Dallas playing probably their overall worst Super Bowl ever. I remember well that many wondered why Bill Cowher never seemed to be on the hot seat despite his lack of postseason success (not to mention the failed Kordell Stewart experiment). And I never hear any Steeler fans fondly reminisce on the good old days of Cliff Stoudt, Bubby Brister or Neil O'Donnell. The fact is, the Steelers have had their ups and downs just like everyone else, and I'm quite honestly getting nauseated at the way supposedly objective media members are suddenly drooling over them.