Training Camp Strengthens Bond Between City and Team

The hap-happiest day of the year finally arrived Thursday.

It's that proud yinzer tradition of salivating at the very thought of watching a few overpaid football players pulling big screen televisions out of their fancy cars before running wind sprints to open training camp in Latrobe, Pa. I'm pretty sure a few thousand rabid Stillers fans wouldn't mind throwing down some cash to watch that all afternoon.

So how did we get to the point where  in the delivery room, or ? Why do high school kids  or ?

Obviously, professional football (along with the college and fantasy versions) has taken over our lives. But do the Steelers really mean more to Pittsburgh that other teams mean to their respective cities? I would have to say undoubtedly yes.

The Steelers will forever be linked with the molten metal that made Pittsburgh. But it seems incredibly ironic that the football team was becoming an unbeatable dynasty in the 1970s just as the city was losing that very industry. An untold number of people left western Pennsylvania to find jobs elsewhere, but they remained devoted to the team.

Meanwhile, the Penguins were still awaiting the arrival of Le Magnifique before becoming a championship dynasty. And the Pirates' clubhouse devolved into a crackhouse during the Pittsburgh Drug Trials of 1985.

Even as the Steelers struggled through the 80s, out-of-towners held on to the football team as the only connection to their city. I knew that feeling when I lived for a couple years in Charleston, W.Va., but made sure to follow every play from my living room couch. I vividly remember shouting, “NO! NO! NO! … NO!”  and watching Jerome Bettis' fumble nearly returned for a touchdown by the Colts in the 2005 playoffs.

And considering all the problems the Steelers faced last year, it was a great ride to watch them nearly capture a seventh Super Bowl title. It all started over again Thursday.

Say what you want about the modern-day players who have tarnished the team's imagine—and the stupid lockout that really didn't affect anything but free agency and mini camps—but I can't forsee a day when yinzers aren't frothing at the mouth as the Steelers report to training camp. It's a special bond between a city and its team... unless, of course, they go 6-10.