Is Football Fun?

As a fan I mean.


I have been following the Steelers, like many of you, for over four and a half decades. I didn't get to see all of the 70's Super Bowls but I watched us play in 6 of them.
I've seen lots of great players come and go, too many to list.


I still really enjoy watching the Steelers play football. This thought came to me during the Sunday Night game vs the Chargers. I know we lost the game. I know our offense couldn't do anything for pretty much the whole time. I know our defense struggles to get off the field on 3rd down. I understand all of this. Yet I still enjoyed the game.


To me, most of the other stuff doesn't matter at all. Sure, I want to win. But you simply cannot win every game. You can't win every play, every snap. Sometimes you lose on a last second FG. Sometimes, you just take a beating that keeps getting worse the whole game. BUT, you get the other side too. And for the record, the Steelers get the other side more than most.

I'm going to enjoy the game this coming weekend too. Win or lose. I just like football. Football is fun.

 

It's becoming less entertaining for me the longer they wallow in mediocrity. If you always do what you always did, you always get what you always got. Time for change and a fresh start.

 

Or what? You'll stop watching? Start watching a different team?


This is the point of the thread. If it's no longer fun, what are you doing? The saying goes, 'the days are long but the years are short'. Find something you actually enjoy doing. We get 18 weeks of Steelers football games each year. That's 18/52. You see how fleeting and trivial a thing it really is. Yet I see people on here utterly miserable 365 days a year.


I'm not trying to say every single thing is rosey, or that there's not room for critique. But some on here wake up crying in their coffee over every little aspect. Buck up buttercup, it's not real.

 

I'm finding myself watching less of the steelers on TV. We rarely get the steelers on TV here in eastern Tennessee because we get stuck with the titans, Falcons, and Panthers unless the steelers are on prime time. I subscribed to Sunday ticket for many years to watch the steelers but don't any more. We also used to make a trip to Pittsburgh for a home game every year but stopped last year. We also used to look for steelers road games that we could drive to for a weekend getaway reasonably close but have stopped doing that as well. It's just not as entertaining for me any more and not worth the money. We go to more concerts locally and I've always been a WWE fan and still spend money going to those events. Until Rooney starts caring about winning and putting out a higher quality product, then I don't care about spending my hard earned coin on it.

 

I've only seen them play once live. Saw them play the Rams in St. Louis. That was the game Ben went out and Vick came in. That trip was so expensive though I've never wanted to do it again.


I get the Titans every week also. I used to get the Saints every week but not this season. The NFC game seems very random. I only watch it on network tv.
When I watch the Steelers elsewhere I have to go around the corner to my bar stool. I've actually gotten most of the games at home though this season.

 

and go to the exit 407 flea market
rather sit in that traffic than watch the steelers sometimes

 

Indeed. The people watching there is next level.

 

I am not enjoying watching the Steelers. They are fundamentally
horrible in all facets of the game. Unprepared and don't play with passion
Each and every week. This may change, but I doubt it. If you find watching
inconsistent performance week in week out enjoyable than to each his own.

 

^^^^^^THIS!^^^^^^^

 

Is it still enjoyable to watch? To an extent yes. However, the product on the field has definitely fallen off over the last couple decades. Unfortunately, I believe wholeheartedly that NIL is going to contribute even more to a lesser product on the field.

 

How so? I was sort of expecting that we might see more developed and prepared players coming out of college because they may be financially incented to stay in college longer. Curious how you're thinking about it.

 

They’re already making millions they’ve got zero incentive to put in the work. The money to going amateur athletes has always concerned me and was solidified by a video with Steve Smith several weeks back. He talks openly about how the NIL athletes aren’t pushing themselves anymore because they’ve already been paid.

 

Yeah, I could see that. Also, with the portal and players changing schools 3 & 4 times in 5 years in some cases, the coaching consistency won't be there and they may not be developing sound fundamentals.

 

I will defer to Coach Nick Saban on NIL and the portal. He never came out and condemned it, but he said he didn't think it was a good idea and was bad for college football overall. The disparity between the haves and the have nots will only increase.

College football will die a slow death without parity. That last part is my opinion.

 

If the Steelers ceased to exist for some reason, I would still be just as big a football fan then as I am now. I just love the game of football no matter who's playing.

 

That's cool

for me No Steelers no NFL

 

With age my interest is fading in all sports except Golf. I was prime time in the 70's. I was into sports bigtime. I still follow the Steelers, Penguins, Pirates and Pitt but not with the passion I use to. Bragging rights for a Yinzer in the 70's was HUGE but I sure got my ass kicked in the 80's. B!tches remembered

Now days I'm always saying money ruined sports. Got a little fed up with the primadonna's who would be working at a car wash if not for that talent they were blessed with. I was at old Pitt stadium as a youngster and remember a handshake after a TD.

 

You'd have made one hell of a Pirate fan. The owner would have cloned you Even thought I know better I still get worked up over the games. I've started switching the channel like my sister has started doing. We text back and forth during games and she starts telling me about a Lifetime movie.

 

Wasn't that a low scoring game. Like 10-7 or 9-6. I remember only because of Vick. You saw a win, I think.

 

Yes, we won.

 

Yep, football is fun. It's an amazing sport. My son is playing next year for the first time and I'll be coaching. I can't wait.
I watch every Thursday night, every Monday night and several games on Sundays. I love it.
I don't know if I love watching the Steelers anymore though. Don't get me wrong. I love this team. I want them to win more than anything.
But I've become numb to this team doing nothing. It's the same damn thing every year. The same stupid mistakes. The same poor coaching. The same abuse of timeouts. The same horrible playcalls. The same lack of action by the ownership. So I love the team, but I've had to really get to a place where I just don't care as much as I did.

I used to get so angry watching this team. It wasn't healthy. Now I'm in a weird place where I just don't care that much. Win or lose, I don't really care. They refuse to make changes when change is clearly required. They are going to do what they are going to do, even if it doesn't work. I can't obsess about a mediocre franchise that refuses to do what's needed. If they don't care, then neither do I.

I still love football. I still love the Steelers, but watching their games isn't that fun for me right now. It's why I don't come on here nearly as much as I used to. I just don't care.
I will care again one day, when the franchise shows they care. Until then, it's easier and healthier to just take a step back and not care as much. It wasn't really a choice I made to be honest. But I've been loudly and emotionally railing against Tomlin for 10+ years. I simply ran out of energy. I've got nothing left, good or bad.

 

It's very real. The emotions are real. The players are real. The game is real. All of it is real.
In fact, there's been extensive research done on this topic. The joy is real. The grief is real. Everything about the emotions are real.
So what part is fake?

Is it healthy to be upset about a game? That's debatable and subjective. is it healthy to be upset 365? Of course not, but if anything, that shows how real it is.

 

You went in a very different direction.