The hate is great is Cincinnati, but the Steelers are greater

Since moving to Cincinnati this summer I've started to understand how much Bungles fans hate the Steelers; although, that idea didn't fully crystalize for me until this past Friday while driving through late afternoon traffic.  An on-air shift operator for a local radio station was bemoaning the Cincinnati Reds early exit from the MLB playoffs, but quickly added that there was some good news . . . "the Steelers lost last night."

Let's think about this a moment -- You are a Cincinnati sports fan (of course you're not, but try to imagine it just for a moment) and the Reds just suffered an epic FAIL.  With a 2-0 series lead in a five game set with the last three games in Cincinnati, the Reds can't win even one.  That has never happened before in the MLB playoffs.  Even the Chicago Cubs --the Cubs! -- collapse in the 1984 NLCS wasn't THAT bad because at least one of their last three losses was in San Diego.  That said, Cincinnati fans are supposed to feel better "because the Steelers lost last night"?  Not even the Bengals winning something, but the Steelers losing a week 5 contest is supposed to somehow alleviate the second worst* postseason collapse in MLB history?  Wow.  That is, perhaps, the most desperate thing I've ever heard -- an epic post season collapse is somehow made better because a team (in another sport) lost a regular season game, not even a third of the way through the season.

It actually made me feel sorry for Cincinnati Bengals fans . . . and made me feel better about the Pittsburgh Steelers 2-3 record this season.  As Steeler fans, our satisfaction is determined by the performance of our team, and not another.  While we may be distraught about a 2-3 start to the season--for Bengals fans, that's considered promising.  And no matter how bad the Steelers may do this year (no friends, I don't think we've hit the bottom of the rabbit hole yet), we'll always have these moments . . . 

in Super Bowl XL

and Super Bowl XLIII

. . . and countless other memories.  What do the Bungles have . . . 

Exactly.

Stay Steeler Fans my friend . . . 

*The worst of course has to be the New York Yankees blowing a 3-0 series lead in the 2004 ALCS against their arch rivals, the Boston Red Sox.