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Monday, January 23, 2006
No respect for no-respect whiners
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Terence Moore
Et tu, Big Ben? Moments after his Pittsburgh Steelers stormed into the Super Bowl on Sunday in Denver with help from his arm, legs and guts, Ben Roethlisberger suggested that much of the world views the new Steel Curtain as just the old Paper Napkin. “Everybody expected us to lose the first game [of the playoffs],” he told reporters at Invesco Field, where he swore that those near and far always come to bury his team instead of to praise it.
You may laugh now. No NFL team has a more devout following than the Steelers. I even have two sets of neighbors who plant those ugly black and gold signs in their yards declaring “I’m a Steelers fan” before every game. Still, Roethlisberger added after his Steelers thoroughly embarrassed the Broncos, “Everybody [also] expected us to lose the second game [of the playoffs]. Everybody expected us to lose this game. No one believed in us but us. We had each other’s back the whole way, and that’s all it takes. Sometimes that’s all we want, to have each other’s back.”
In case you’re wondering, here’s the reason for those silly words from the Steelers quarterback who nevertheless had the good sense to matriculate at Miami (Ohio) University like a humble sports columnist that I know: Roethlisberger is exposing himself as one of them.
Those among “them” are into playing this tired but popular game in sports. The objective is to try to make you think that they actually think that they and their teammates are considered the scum of the earth by those outside of a squib kick of their dressing quarters. They play this game for motivation. The idea is that, if they invent a bunch of imaginary foes in their heads to join the real ones on the field, they’ll become more focused through all of that anger. They heighten the game when a championship is at stake.
The bottom line is, unless you’re the Miami Hurricanes in college football, favorites aren’t cool these days. It’s hot to be the underdog. This goes back to that old high school trick (us against them) that has risen to the college and pro levels in recent years. One moment, Tom Brady is claiming that his New England Patriots are among the persecuted despite snatching three of four Super Bowls. Another, the Texas Longhorns are citing the glowing stuff in print and on the airway about Southern Cal as the reason for their national title as much as the brilliance of Vince Young.
So let the whining begin for the Steelers, but they have some stiff competition. There is Steve Hutchinson, the Pro Bowl guard on a Seattle Seahawks team that cruised to the other Super Bowl spot at home on Sunday against the Carolina Panthers. Said Hutchinson, doing his best Roethlisberger imitation before the media at Qwest Field, “All year long, we’ve heard we didn’t have enough of that to do this, not enough of this to do that. Frankly, we get sick of hearing it. You think by going 13-3, we’d earn respect.” Added defensive tackle Chuck Darby, “We’ve got a chip on our shoulders.”
Yeah, well. Try as they might next week in Detroit, neither the Steelers nor the Seahawks will have much of a chance of winning this game within a game.
The Steelers are so overlooked that they’ve spent the AFC playoffs slaying the No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3 seeds. They have a great legacy that includes four world championships. They have a prolific defense and a stiff rushing attack, and Bill Cower ranks among the all-time elite of coaches after six trips to the conference championship game. If that isn’t enough, the Steelers are the Super Bowl favorites despite entering as a No. 6 seed.
As for the “underdog” Seahawks, Mike Holmgren is one of only five coaches to take two different teams to the Super Bowl. He’s won one, too. The Seahawks also have somebody named Shaun Alexander, and all he did was rush for more yards than anybody this season to earn the league’s MVP honors. Nobody had more defensive sacks than the Seahawks. Nobody has won more home games than the Seahawks since the end of the 2002 season.
Mostly, nobody has less reason to whine right now than the Seahawks.
Except maybe the Steelers.
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