The official Steeler fan thread

[Darth Thanatos]

So does this mean I can make a Laker fan thread on the flagship board?

[DennyMcLain]

If they soak Heinz Field before each home game, I think it could work to their advantage.

[Darth Thanatos]

They really should switch to a different turf. That field is a joke.

[Glenn]

So does this mean I can make a Laker fan thread on the flagship board?

Yes.

[DennyMcLain]

From ESPN.com

Former Steelers broadcaster, Terrible Towel creator Cope dies

Associated Press

Updated: February 27, 2008, 10:08 AM

PITTSBURGH -- Myron Cope, the screechy-voiced announcer whose colorful catch phrases and twirling Terrible Towel became symbols of the Pittsburgh Steelers during an unrivaled 35 seasons in the broadcast booth, has died. He was 79.

Cope died Wednesday morning at a nursing home in Mount Lebanon, a Pittsburgh suburb, Joe Gordon, a former Steelers executive and a longtime friend of Cope's, told The Associated Press.
Cope had been treated for respiratory problems and heart failure in recent months, Gordon said.

Cope's tenure from 1970 to 2004 as the color analyst on the Steelers' radio network is the longest in NFL history for a broadcaster with a single team. Cope was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame in 2005.

Even after retiring, Cope -- a sports talk-show host for 23 years -- continued to appear in numerous radio, TV and print ads, emblematic of his local popularity that sometimes surpassed that of the stars he covered.

Beyond Pittsburgh's three rivers, Cope is best known for pioneering the Terrible Towel, the yellow cloth twirled by fans as a good-luck charm at Steelers games since the mid-1970s. The towel is arguably the best-known fan symbol of any major pro sports team, has raised millions of dollars for charity and is displayed at the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

"You were really part of it," Steelers owner Dan Rooney told Cope in 2005. "You were part of the team. The Terrible Towel many times got us over the goal line."

An announcer by accident, Cope spent the first half of his professional career as one of the nation's most widely read freelance sports writers, writing for Sports Illustrated and the Saturday Evening Post on subjects that included Muhammad Ali, Howard Cosell and Roberto Clemente. He was hired by the Steelers at age 40, several years after he began doing TV sports commentary on the whim of a station manager, mostly to help increase attention and attendance as the Steelers moved into Three Rivers Stadium.

Neither the Steelers nor Cope had any idea how much impact he would have on a five-time Super Bowl champion franchise that, within two years of his hiring, would begin a string of home sellouts that continues to this day.

Cope became so popular that the Steelers didn't try to replace his unique perspective and top-of-the-lungs histrionics when he retired, instead downsizing from a three-man announcing team to a two-man booth.

"He doesn't play, he doesn't put on a pair of pads, but he's revered probably as much or more in Pittsburgh than Franco [Harris], all the guys," running back Jerome Bettis said. "Everybody probably remembers Myron more than the greatest players, and that's an incredible compliment."
Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press

[Glenn]

That sucks.

I'll wave my towel for him when I get home.

Me too!

[Glenn]

http://www.post-gazette.com/steelers/blogngold/

No Nittany chin.

Ed Bouchette went straight to the source today to clear up a rumor floating around the Internets that Coach Cahr could succeed Joe Paterno at Penn State:

"Bill Cowher's house is for sale in Raleigh, N.C., and he and his family will move -- two miles away.

Cowher said yesterday with a laugh that "I'm not going anywhere," after Internet reports noted that his house was for sale and rumors linked him with another coaching job, this one at Penn State.

"Put that to rest," Cowher said firmly yesterday. "I'm staying here."

Cowher, who resigned as Steelers coach after the 2006 season and moved to Raleigh, said he and his wife, Kaye, are building a new house on a golf course two miles from their current one, which is for sale. He said they decided the house they bought in fall 2005 was too big for them and their youngest daughter and they will downsize.

"My for-sale sign went up after the last NFL job was filled to avoid speculation," Cowher said with a laugh.

Cowher's name has been linked to any number of job openings in the NFL since he left the Steelers, and he's turned down several requests to talk to teams about their head coaching job."

[Glenn]

So are there any Steelers fans left here anymore besides me?

At one time we had JS, Gecko, bangpow and a few others I think.

[Glenn]

Glenn I hope you enjoyed your stank ass run. Because the post Bettis era is looking iffy.

[DennyMcLain]

I posted a while back that the Steelers needed somebody like a Shone Greene from Iowa. Now, more than ever. At the very least pull a Refrigerator Perry and get some beef back there for goal line situations.