Because Steelers...

1/12

Here we go Steelers....

I had something all planned out for my Wednesday morning group but Sunday changed all that.  Sunday, January 9th was one of the most engaging, entertaining, tension filled and ultimately satisfying days I have ever had in over six decades following sports.  The ultimate result left me with no choice but to celebrate the Steelers.

An NBA schedule change meant I would be  at the Barclays Center with my boys watching the Nets eke out an overtime victory against the Spurs while the Steelers game began.

Things did not  look promising. My hometown team had a strange season of beating heavily favored teams and losing other games in embarrassing, even humiliating fashion. The Steelers Monday Night Football decisive victory over the Browns was a good final Heinz Field farewell for quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. And guaranteed at least a non-losing  record.  

However, in order for the Steelers to make the playoffs, three things needed to happen. First, the Steelers needs to defeat favored arch-rival Baltimore.  Then the lowly dysfunctional Jacksonville Jaguars needed to upset the heavily favored Indianapolis Colts. Then the final game of the season between Raiders and Chargers would have to end up not being  tied.

I made it home in  time to see the final minutes as the Steelers somehow managed to  kick a field goal and defeat the Ravens in overtime.  That guaranteed that Big Ben would retire with never have had a losing season in 18 years.  And coach Mike Tomlin no losing seasons in his first fifteen years as coach, the most successful African-American coach in NFL history,  I reminded my friends that Steeler owner Dan Rooney was responsible for the "Rooney Rule” by which any team interviewing for a new head coach must include Black and/or other  minority candidates. It’s a good legacy.

But low and behold, the Jaguars handily defeated the Colts!  Only one piece left! And in over 270 games this season only one ended in a tie…involving, of course the Steelers.  This game will involve the Chargers, who have no business in Los Angeles, and the Las Vegas Raiders who should never be anywhere other than Oakland…

So with breathless anticipation we watched the final game of the season which unbelievably ended in regulation with a tie. As overtime wound down, the announcers pointed out that if the Raiders just took a knee, both teams would  move forward and the Steelers would be out. So with two seconds left the Chargers inexplicably call a time out and the Raiders kick a field goal and win as the clock passed midnight.  Thank you Raiders!  

here we go...

Across the country Steeler fans breathe a collective sigh of relief. In the final moments my brother  in Ohio texted me “this is psycho sick…” And via What’s App, my son in Berlin told me he had set his alarm to get up at 5:45 am just to make sure the game was not tied only to find out it was and so watch until the breathtaking end. Of course ending eleven hours of anxiety. 

Never have I ever, as they say… No matter what happens next week, this was worth it…..

So I wear my Steelers hat. ( I have five and wear one until there’s a loss then switch..this is my second time through the sequence). And my 1954 repro retro practice jersey with faded graphics. And my coffee mug to complete the day. 

Bring on the Chiefs!  Being reminded once again that anything can happen. 

Living in coronavirusworld 169: Like time out of joint

 

9/16

.....and still matter....

Pittsburgh

In recognition  of the opening of the NFL season, I wear a hat from my hometown Pittsburgh Steelers but the shirt I wear was a design created after the Tree of Life shooting in a Pittsburgh synagogue, killing 18, in 2018. ( I’m still somewhat annoyed that local congregation Romemu has used it as  part of their branding. Something about it to me  is just not appropriationable.)

Romemu sign

I like that all but one Steeler had  the name of Antwon Rose, Jr., a Pittsburgh  teenage victim of police shooting, on the backs of their helmets. But anything the NFL does related to justice without Colin Kaepernick  remains hollow. 

We are discussing a  New Yorker  article on Christianity’s White Supremacy Problem by Michael  Luo. We  remain curious as to the evangelicals’ continued support for Trump.  It seems to be about power. Facing the reality that whites will soon be in the minority in this country. That Charlottesville chant: “You will not replace us.”  The article begins by recounting how Fredrick Douglass thought his owner would act better after his conversion..  In fact, he became harder in his ways, feeling theologically justified.  We continue to love with that legacy.

Joel recalls the infamous obedience experiment where participants are commanded to inflict pain on a subject. How quickly most agree. 

Denial keeps white privilege in place.

We also speak of tribalism and identity....Again. We asked ourselves how important is our identity as being Christian?  As a way in, a way to, or a way through?

Steve P  divides people into mature and not mature as to their understanding of their place in the world, openness to others.

I remember a book a family friend recommended to me one time. A novel called “The Scheme of things.”  The premise is that there is the way things are (the ultimate truth, which we can never fully know) and the scheme of things, the framework we choose to organize our life, be it Christianity or Marxism or “the market” or…We all choose a "scheme." The problem comes when we mistake our chosen scheme for the way things are. 

Addiction (in the broadest sense) leads to calcification leads to idolatry. 

The Malik EL Shabazz African market is open again...

Market is open

My friends open another season of their Glooey Zoomy Show creating a community of artistic exploration (and even whimsy) in the midst of pandemic. Which, sadly, continues. 

9/17

Ralph Ellison, The Invisible Man

Yankee protest

My 5K today takes me though Harlem into the South Bronx. Along the way, I pass memorial to Ralph Ellison, author of the iconic novel Invisible Man.  I arrive at Yankee Stadium too late to see the protest from earlier in the day with neighbors demanding the Yankees pay a fair share, while so may small businesses that are codependent on the Yankees…bars, restaurants, apparel and memorabilia stores, etc .....are going bankrupt in the pandemic. 

Speaking of time....

I meet my friend Beppe at the Gate for my personal celebration of Halfway to St.Patrick’s day. That was the day everything shut down leaving bar windows in an eerie state of decorated suspended animation. The uncelebrated St.Patrick’s Day decorations stayed up for weeks, if not months, leaving a definite post-apocalyptic vibe. It has been six months. So I order my Jameson’s on the rocks and a Guinness.  We reflect on six months. Beppe talks abut the feeling of being unmoored. Of time feeling out of joint. Was it truly summer? The last six months like one long extended Covid season. Other than cooler air, what will be fall? One day flows into the next and it all kind of mushes together. It’s 8:30. Still around 70’ out. I am savoring the Guinness. 

My NFL Dilemma

9/8

The Steelers Diaspora knows no bounds...

A new NFL season is upon us. Usually I would be breathless with excitement about another season of following the Pittsburgh Steelers. But this year, I have a dilemma.

Some context is necessary. Rooting for the Steelers is not just being a sports fan, even a passionate one. For someone from Pittsburgh, it's more like being part of an ethnic group or religion, even with it's own rituals and liturgies. It's part of who you are.

The Steelers rise to football prominence and power coincided with the city of Pittsburgh reaching its nadir as the steel industry collapsed. Mills that lined the banks of the three rivers and supported the nation's war effort and post war boom employed workers by the tens of thousands. These mills shaped a region's identity and ethos. As the furnace fires were banked and doors shuttered, hearts and spirits broke. Even more, desperate workers fled the city in an ever flowing stream seeking economic survival creating a Pittsburgh diaspora across the country.

The Steel Curtain Steelers gave the city a sense of dignity and pride. Franco Harris' "Italian Army" bridged the gap between August Wilson's Hill and Italian Bloomfield.  When you arrive at the Pittsburgh Airport, you're met by two life size figures: George Washington in his French and Indian War era uniform and Franco stretching for the "Immaculate Reception".

The Rooney family never forgot it's immigrant Irish roots and kept the family home on the north side. The modestly appointed owner's suite always kept room for neighborhood kids every Sunday. The Rooneys, like the Maras in New York, were throw backs to a different era where football was a family game. (Actor Rooney Mara is a daughter of that era.) Steeler alumni tend to stay in the city and remain part of the city. It's all one fabric. And of course they play at Heinz field.

Sunday afternoons are a form of liturgy. (Not to mention that some Pittsburgh congregations have created black and gold liturgical stoles for their clergy for use during the ecclesiastical season of playoffs...). We gather in homes or in Steeler bars or those multi-screen sports bars carrying our "Terrible Towels" ( thank you Myron Cope of blessed memory) and seeking others wearing black and gold and for the next 3 hours feel like we're home again.

Throughout many changes in my own family, those Sunday afternoons were the one time we came back together. When we got two new cats, black and white and gold and white, we named them Troy and Casey. (True Yunzers will get that.)

It transcends class and politics. I remember visiting a nursing home during playoffs and seeing the beds festooned with black and gold. When my courageous pastor friend was brought up on ecclesiastical charges for celebrating the marriage of two women, all out of town trial  guests found a "Terrible Towel" in their welcome basket. Look, it just IS.

BUT....there are realities I can no longer ignore. First, there is the no longer deniable evidence of what the game does to the human brain. And the NFL has continued to go Big Tobacco on that one. I'm haunted by the image of Mike Webster's later years, to name only one. The anchor of the Steelers' Super Bowl offensive line and perhaps the epitome of its character reduced to paranoid dementia and homelessness from a damaged brain. That's hard to ignore.

Then there's the reality that was pointed out to me by my sports management graduate son. That even though the NFL is the richest of the big 4 sports, it's players share the LEAST in its profits, have the shortest careers and fewest guaranteed contracts and most life changing injuries and weakest union. Randy Newman's use of the "plantation" image is not far off. The fact that players are voluntary employees doesn't change the basic justice issues involved here.

And as if that were not enough, we now have the situation of Colin Kaepernick.

Repping Kaep

Essentially, for having chosen to take  a knee during the national anthem ( and where else in the world does every sporting event have to begin with the national anthem?) in support of the protest against the unabated killing of black persons by police, aka "black lives matter", Kaepernick has effectively been black balled by the NFL.

Look, I know all the qualifications. Yes, he turned down an offer. But yes, the 49ers would have released him had he signed. Would they have resigned him with a different contract? Who knows. And yes, he has sometimes been unwise and immature. Piggy socks? Uh, no...Castro t-shirt? Not so smart, but....Not voting? Well, not strategic but I actually  understand. .Most importantly, Kaepernick has shown a passionate desire to learn and grow and study his heritage and yes, put his money where his mouth is devoting millions of his own money to at risk youth. In essence, a responsible young man seeking to do what he can to better the world. One might think that admirable.

But when recent quarterback signings include second tier arena league journeymen, it can no longer be denied that there's a black ball, literally, for Kaepernick. The league has welcomed back countless domestic abusers and one notable perpetrator of animal cruelty. But somehow a dignified protect against injustice is too much.

Wearing Kaep at Maggie's

Family members have forwarded the call by group of black pastors to "black out the NFL". ((https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HuEY9imwkfU) Hundreds rallied in front of NFL headquarters to call for a meeting. Folks I stand with in the city, like Gathering for Justice (https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?shva=1#search/primer+failed+superpower/15e16c4604b581ad), have made this their action for the fall.

As a side note, the NFL may be facing a bigger problem ultimately. While one of my sons will continue to participate in fantasy football for professional reasons, there is no passion there. Among my boys friends, many have turned off on the NFL. They still back their particular baseball teams in season. They are passionate about the NBA ...the whole league, not just teams. And not a few of their friends have season tickets for the NYCFC soccer team, which seems to have connected with millennials.

So here's my problem...how can I stay connected to the Steelers and my roots without supporting the NFL? Is it possible? How long should the boycott last? Until Kapernick gets a job? Goodall meets with the ministers? My one son compared it to do convincing his fraternity brothers to give up hazing. Just because it's tradition doesn't make it right. But the Steelers thing is more than tradition. It runs deeper. So this Sunday, what do I do?

I actually for the first time chose to miss a Steelers game in NewYork this preseason when it would have cost $225 to take my boys to a meaningless game the guys they want to see no longer appear in any ways.  $75 ahead to cheer for the laundry, as Seinfeld put it.