A Letter From The Editor: Trying to cross some items off my Pittsburgh Steelers ‘bucket list’

The Pittsburgh Steelers report back to training camp this week, and it is the official start of another season of the black-and-gold. Every year when this time rolls around, I find myself looking ahead not just as a fan, but as the editor of a major Steelers website.

With that in mind, I always think about my Steelers’ “Bucket List”, and wonder if I will be able to cross off any of these items during this upcoming 2019 season? The upcoming year is promising, although the loss of Antonio Brown has many in a tizzy, but with Ben Roethlisberger back and an improved defense, the hope is 2019 will be different from 2018.

To be honest, the first four seasons with me at the helm saw the Steelers make the playoffs every year — except last year. I was spoiled and wasn’t prepared to roll out 2019 NFL Draft coverage in early January. It was a punch in the gut to the entire fan base, and so you have to wonder how 2019 will unfold.

Will I be able to cross off any of these off my list? Some of them are out of my control, and some have absolutely nothing to do with wins and losses during the regular season...but here is my Steelers/BTSC “Bucket List”:

• Attend the Friday Night Lights Latrobe High School practice

I have attended training camp before, when I was younger, but never been to the Friday Night Lights practice where the pads pop and you get a real feel for the state of the team/position battles.

• Attend training camp while covering the team with BTSC

As stated before, I have yet to attend training camp since being the editor of BTSC. Even from the stands it would be cool to give our readers an inside look as to what is going on in Latrobe, PA.

• Getting credentials and watching a Steelers game in the press box at Heinz Field

To be honest, I haven’t requested credentials from the team in a long time, and that is because we have never been granted them in the past. The Steelers state they only give credentials to “legitimate” news sources. According to them, we don’t fall into that category.

• Covering a Super Bowl for BTSC and SB Nation

In the past SB Nation has sent site editors to the Super Bowl to cover the team. With the upcoming Super Bowl in Miami, I would love to head south in February!

• Seeing a Steelers Super Bowl win while editor of BTSC

I have watched other sites’ traffic explode after their team wins the Super Bowl, and I’m sick of seeing it be other teams. This isn’t just about traffic, but about the Steelers reclaiming their spot atop the NFL’s hierarchy when it comes to Super Bowl trophies.

• Interviewing a current Steelers player on a BTSC podcast

The BTSC podcast platform has been my baby long before I was the editor of this site. Lance and I did “The Standard is the Standard” back in the Coolong days, and I have watched it grow into what it has become today. Being able to get an exclusive interview with a current player would be a crowning achievement for the platform.

• Turn BTSC into a site that rivals the team’s official webpage as fans’ primary stop for all things black-and-gold

If you go to Google and search “Steelers Blog”, we are the first site to show up. If you search “Steelers Site” we are about 5th down on the page, behind sites like Steelers.com, ESPN and other larger sites. My dream has always been for BTSC to become the one-stop-shop for all things black-and-gold...one that rivals the team’s official website.

Will I get to cross any of these items off my bucket list this season? While some are out of my control, there are others which are firmly in mine, and the team’s, control. Let’s hope some of these get taken off the list in 2019!

HERE WE GO STEELERS!!

(Editor’s Note: With the season starting this week, once the preseason starts my Letter from the Editor article will be moving to a day during the week, probably Wednesday or Thursday, during the season.)