U mad, bro? Fans think Steelers are overrated; Readers pout about Pitt, Pirates, Patriots

When is a 4-0 start in the NFL not good enough? When you live in Pittsburgh and root for the Steelers.

That’s how we start “U mad, bro?” this week.

We also hear from persnickety Pitt fans, bummed-out Buccos backers and stubborn New England Patriots conspiracy theorists.

After the Steelers beat the Philadelphia Eagles, “BurghFan73” was so excited, he could hardly contain himself. He jumped into the comments section of my “Feats of Strength” recap of the game to celebrate.

“This is the worst 4-0 I’ve seen in a while. They will lose to Cleveland.”

BurghFan is right. They should be 5-0 … through four games.

They should’ve flown to Nashville despite the postponement. Cured coronavirus. And beaten the Titans, even if the NFL didn’t sanction the game.

Classic Mike Tomlin underachievement! #FireTomlin.

Now, as far as losing to the Cleveland Browns. Yeah. Maybe. I’m picking the Steelers. But I won’t be stunned if Cleveland wins.

And when this guy says this is the “worst 4-0 team I’ve seen in a while,” what was the last one? Off the top of your head.

No, don’t look it up. Hit me with it. Obviously, it’s on the tip of your tongue. Let’s hear it.

Tell you what, BurghFan. Let’s meet in the middle. I won’t try to sell you on the notion that they are going 16-0. And don’t you try to make it sound like they are hot trash, en route to 4-12?

Deal?

Randy from Twitter wasn’t happy with Kareem Hunt’s fervent endorsement of Myles Garrett in his “This one’s for Myles. This one’s for Cleveland” speech in advance of the Steelers game Sunday.

Would love to see the Steelers make not one peep about this, do nothing retaliatory, and beat them by two touchdowns. End of "story."

— Randy Dineen (@RandyDineen) October 14, 2020

Why stop at two touchdowns, Randy? How about a 28-point spread?

Predict that Hunt will have a fumble that goes the other way for a Steelers defensive touchdown. And hope Garrett gets into a sideline altercation with Baker Mayfield, who then bops him on the head with his own helmet just for good measure.

That’s the problem with America today. We don’t dream big enough.

Up next is Clark. He was displeased with my “Madden Monday” podcast with Mark Madden. He didn’t like our commentary about Pitt’s loss to Boston College. In it, Mark referred to the team and the coach as “B.S. artists.”

On the Pat Narduzzi front, I can’t disagree.

Clark can, though.

“And your a BS journalist! I get mad at Madden and Benz because the only time they talk about Pitt is to criticize.”

Clark, “your” right. I’d like to write more about Pitt football, beyond low-hanging criticism.

And, boy, was that B.C. loss low-hanging! It was so low, even I could reach it without a ladder.

But, in my experience, Pitt fans are so self-loathing, they only care to click on a Panthers headline if the criticism is particularly vindictive. Then they hear (or read) it, generally agree with the criticism, but don’t like the source of it.

So they tell me to “go back to Syracuse” and then they take a personal shot at Mark. Because there is rarely a retort for the actual criticism itself, so they respond with ad hominem jabs.

Just like the comments above yours on that thread.

And the circle of life is complete.

Hail to Pitt. Are they holding a Birmingham Bowl this year?

This Pirates fan is responding to my recent post about how so many ex-Buccos have been involved in the Major League Baseball playoffs.

And how the local club may never get to the postseason again.

We certainly mastered playing in front of empty stadiums in late August and through September before the rest of MLB did. But honestly, I’m having a harder and harder time caring about baseball at all anymore. The Pirates have completely worn me out and sucked all the fun out.

— Joe (@pucks_and_pols) October 9, 2020

That’s why you have to adopt the Tampa Bay Rays, Joe.

The roster is full of ex-Pirates (Tyler Glasnow, Charlie Morton, Austin Meadows). Good baseball. Except they are also chock-full of that … what’s the weird word you used?

Oh yeah, all that “fun” you mentioned.

We end with an email from a reader named Mike regarding last week’s “U mad, bro?”

In it, I mentioned how “Matt Murray’s glove is too slow” was always one of my favorite Pittsburgh sports fan tropes. And I lamented losing it, now that Murray has been traded.

Another one I mentioned is “The Patriots cheated the Steelers out of three more Super Bowls!”

I seem to have touched a nerve.

“Are you saying it’s one of your favorites because there is no guarantee the Steelers would have won a Super Bowl after getting past the ‘Houston’ Patriots? Or is it your belief the Patriots did not gain an advantage by cheating? I’m amazed that you would have that view. I mean the national media has tried to ignore what happened for two decades, but you usually don’t mind ruffling feathers and stating the truth.

What’s changed?”

It’s the first thing, Mike. Of course, the Patriots gained an advantage with Spygate. Not close to as much of one as Steelers fans want to believe. But they gained one. Otherwise, why else would they have done it?

But Steelers fans always assume that if Spygate never happened, the Patriots couldn’t have possibly won at Heinz Field in the 2001 or 2004 AFC Championship game.

And then, without even a shadow of a doubt, the Steelers would have beaten “The Greatest Show on Turf” St. Louis Rams in Super Bowl XXXVI and the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowls XXXIX and LII.

Oh, and Mike, did you ever think that maybe the feathers I’m willing to ruffle … are yours?