You should know that the idea for this topic is not original. I was reading a piece by Will Leitch in The Sporting News that struck me as relevant, especially to Steelers’ Fans. You see, Leitch is a baseball fanatic. He knows all the players on all the teams; all their statistics and current contract status. He makes the statement that because of this, he can’t just watch and enjoy the game for what it is. His father, who loves the game as much as Will does but knows little of the statistics and even less of the dollars and cents side of the game, can see a pitcher and cheer for him as a player on his favorite team whom he hopes will strike out the current batter. Will on the other hand, cannot help but know that no matter how well this particular pitcher does, he was given a ridiculous contract given his over all production. Will starts doing the math even as the game is going on and stops appreciating the game for what it is. In Will Leitch’s mind, his father is the clear winner when it comes to the ability to simply watch and enjoy a baseball game.

Boy does that sound like many Steelers’ fans.

Anyone who has been a member of the nation for any time at all knows that many Steelers’ Fans are…different. We are not the run of the mill football fan. We are like Will Leitch. We know every player on the Steelers’ roster no matter his place on the depth chart (and probably the majority of most other teams) and his stats and contract information. Furthermore, we can all name 3-4 players we would rather have at that position and who is overpaid and who isn’t. Speaking for myself, while I would never willingly miss a Steelers’ game, for most of the season when the playoffs are still in doubt I don’t really “enjoy” the game. I survive it. Winning is life or death and I am constantly viewing the player by his overall value and weighing his place on the team by the tangibles that can be measured; judging and mentally searching for a way to do better. I believe many Steelers’ fans are the same way.

Are we “too close”? Do we invest far too much on the nuts and bolts of the game and not enough on just watching the contest and the drama play out? I am a firm believer that most Steelers’ fans are a cut above the norm when it comes to football intelligence. We treat the game like a religion here in Western PA from the time we are toddlers till we depart this mortal existence and it shows. We are each, in our own way, historians of the Steelers and not many fans from other teams can go toe to toe with us in either knowledge of history in the current incarnation of our respective favorite teams.

But is that always a good thing?

Is it possible that maybe…ignorance IS bliss? Can it be that sometimes less is more? Have you ever caught yourself missing the way you loved the game when you were a kid? When it was enough that the Steelers won this week and next week would take care of itself? Have you ever missed the days when Steelers’ players were your heroes despite their mistakes, despite the fact that maybe they dropped a sure touchdown pass and we loved them simply for their effort and the fact that they wore the black and gold?

I know I do.