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Remember early 2000?



Inspired by something SteelerBuddha said in the Week 6 thread about how lucky we are to have this team, compared to what fans of teams like the Lions, Rams, Chiefs, etc. go through.

 

Star-divide

I cite 2000 because it's recent enough to think of.  I was oblivious to football at the time, but do any of you remember?

In 1999, as they had in 1998, a somewhat promising Steelers team absolutely fell apart down the stretch.  Then the 2000 season (the Kent Graham year; the final season at Three Rivers) looked like it would be an absolute joke, with an 0-3 start.  Maybe it was that second loss, in which the Stillers put on a clinic in how not to manage the clock, and lost to a Browns team that sucked more than they did.  Maybe it was the third loss, in which they almost upset Tennessee before letting Steve McNair go something like 370 yards in 0.5 seconds (I'm exaggerating slightly).  But, anyone remember how you felt then?  Because that's the last time you would have really understood what it's like to have a consistently losing team.  That's when you might have understood what it's like to be a Rams fan today.

Then Kordell Stewart re-earned the starting job after Graham was injured, the defense stepped up, and the 2000 Steelers then won 5 straight, including two upsets on the road that *no one* expected.  This led a to an inconsistent/streaky year and a 9-7 finish that was almost but not quite good enough for a playoff berth.  They haven't had two consecutive losing seasons since '98-'99, which was itself quite an anomaly for the Steelers of this era.

As SteelerBuddha put it, yes, we are pretty darn lucky.

It's almost a good thing (although not really) about the Pirates.  I don't care about baseball at all, but it keeps the city karmically balanced, so to speak, and makes Pittsburghers a little less likely to get spoiled by the success of the Steelers and Pens.

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I remember that year.

My only trip to Pittsburgh, Sunday night loss to Jacksonville, when no one could catch anything and Fred Taylor got 240 or so and the Steelers still could have won.
Also it was cold and I got on TV.

by SNW on Oct 20, 2009 11:56 AM EDT reply actions   0 recs

Stay away from Heinz this year please!!

"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty." - Winston Churchill

by PixburghArn on Oct 20, 2009 12:35 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

Just kidding

I remember that game. Sorry about your misfortune in getting tickets to that game of all games.

"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty." - Winston Churchill

by PixburghArn on Oct 21, 2009 1:16 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

No worries

My wife and I loved the city and had a great time anyway. And remember it was Three Rivers not Heinz.

by SNW on Oct 21, 2009 6:03 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

I never went to a game at TRS

Wish I would have. But I do go to Heinz.

"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty." - Winston Churchill

by PixburghArn on Oct 22, 2009 9:08 AM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

That was the whole trip

TRS before it was gone.

by SNW on Oct 22, 2009 1:13 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

Heinz Field

Is very nice and I do like it, but the atmosphere for the Steelers in Three Rivers Stadium was the ultimate. It only held around 55,000 but the way that bowl was shaped it held in and amped the crowd noise much louder than what Heinz Field can. It still gets loud at Heinz but nothing like old TRS. As good as TRS was for the Steelers it was too cavernous for the Buccos. PNC is a sight. best ballpark in the land.

by BubbyBrister6 on Oct 22, 2009 3:07 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

My dad told me it was unreal

He was at a Denver/Steelers playoff game there. He said they went nuts from the time they smashed oranges on the wall to the final whistle.

"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty." - Winston Churchill

by PixburghArn on Oct 22, 2009 3:16 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

Yep your old man's

reaction is what everybody’s reaction was when they went there. At least from what i hear. My first game ever was against the Browns on Chuck Noll’s final game and it was unbelievable. Easily the best experience at a Steelers game I have ever been and I have been to Jacksonville in 2004 when rookie Ben led a last minute FG for the win on a sunday night and the snow game against Chicago to start the Super Bowl run in the drive for five but none of them were as good as that first one in 1991.

by BubbyBrister6 on Oct 23, 2009 1:33 AM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

I only saw Pirate games there.

But they were winning then.

"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty." - Winston Churchill

by PixburghArn on Oct 23, 2009 7:37 AM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

The great days

of Barry Bonds and Bobby Bonilla…..

by BubbyBrister6 on Oct 23, 2009 12:50 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

yep

"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty." - Winston Churchill

by PixburghArn on Oct 24, 2009 12:05 AM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

memories

It’s all us bucco fans have. lol

by 1STstate bucco on Oct 24, 2009 3:00 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

waaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

I hate you Francisco Corderoooo!!!!! Stan Belindaaaaa I hate you!! ALl you left me was broken. There that felt better.

"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty." - Winston Churchill

by PixburghArn on Oct 25, 2009 12:44 AM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

I remember that game I think. I lost a bet and had to wear a Jaguars jersey to school the next day.

" I’m glad we play Pitt twice, and not Tenn this year." - Salty Browns Fan.

by Johnny_S on Oct 20, 2009 3:49 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

2000 was a great year

They did miss the playoffs after a rocky start but they kept fighting and they showed a ton of heart. They started the season off having that infamous WWE style brawl in the locker room during mini-camp and then they had that 0-3 start and then something clicked and they fought and clawed beating the Super Bowl Champs the Ravens and the Raiders who I think had the best record in the AFC. That team laid the groundwork for the success they had the rest of the decade.

by BubbyBrister6 on Oct 20, 2009 1:42 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

why not just go back to 2003?

more recently obviously, and actually was a losing team compared to the 9-7 2000 team.

by tdp992 on Oct 20, 2009 9:51 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

The Titans to early-2000's Rams

It’s a different comparison. The 2003 team was a squad that everyone knew was capable of more falling on its face. It’s the equivalent of someone like the Titans this year – the confusion and frustration of wondering why the team that looked so exciting is suddenly getting killed out there. But that was one isolated year. 2003 followed a strong “comeback” season and improved towards the end, to set the stage for 2004’s 15-1 run. If that were the worst the Steelers had gotten in the past 10 years, we’d be even luckier.

But to understand what it’s like to be a part of a culture of losing, I think one would have to go all the way back to the second or third loss of 2000. Before they got it together, I mean. That’s the only time in recent memory Steelers fans were faced with a Steelers team that not only looked terrible, but had been consistent losers for multiple years in a row, and – at that moment – displayed little apparent promise of ever getting any better. That, I imagine, is closer to what Rams/Lions/Browns/etc. fans live with. Well, and Pirates fans.

by TheSpatulaMessiah on Oct 20, 2009 10:36 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs


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