Who is really America’s team?
If we’re talking basketball it comes
down to Celtic Pride and the Lake show, it’s a damn shame New York
isn’t in the mix. If we’re talking baseball I’m asking the dumbest
question of all-time, because everyone knows it’s the New York Yankees.
If we are talking soccer, then you need to specify which America, South
or North, because soccer only gets North American love every four years
during the World Cup. If you are talking football, then it’s the Dallas
Cowboys…..right?
I mean they are America’s team, according
to themselves. The Cowboys have only won one playoff game in the past
13 years. They were seen as the underdog of the 70s to the Pittsburgh
Steelers and America loves the underdog. Our fathers, uncles, and grandfathers
all grew up watching the underdogs with Roger Staubach, Randy White,
and Tony Dorsett eventually winning a Super Bowl. A kid is going to
root for the team his dad is rooting for. Our father figures continued
to root for the Boys through the rough 80s and in the 90s when they
turned it around. The Cowboys run in the 90s, winning three Super Bowls
in four years put the Cowboys the statement, “America’s” team
back in our minds.
You could make a very small case for
The New England Patriots. They dominated the 2000s. Going to four Super
Bowls and winning three. They also went 16-0 in 2008. They are also,
the nicknamed the Patriots. I mean America was founded by Patriots right?
Like I said, you can make a “small” case for the Pats.
You could also make a case for the
San Francisco 49ers. They dominated the 80s winning four Super Bowls.
It doesn’t hurt that Bill Walsh invented an offense that is still
being used by many of his disciples today. Having icons like Joe Montana,
Steve Young, and Jerry Rice also helps their argument.
The Pittsburgh Steelers could also
be seen as America’s team. Winning three Super Bowls in the 70s and
one in the 80s. Pittsburgh aka the Steel city, the working man’s city.
The name, Steelers, might as well call them the Pittsburgh Blue Collar
dudes. They went through rough times in the 80s as they were rebuilding.
They were competitive in the 90s and won two Super Bowls in the 2000s.
If I take my emotions out of it, I
have to say that the Pittsburgh Steelers are the true America’s team.
There is a Pittsburgh Steelers bar in damn near every American city.
They have six Super Bowl Championships, twenty-three Hall of Famers,
and the terrible towels. They embody America. Not everyone in America
is rich, not everyone is poor. The majority of the country falls in
the middle, blue collar/middle class Americans that find a way to survive
and get it done. From the nickname to their style of play, The Steelers
embody America’s middle class. If I had to pick one football team
to represent America, it’d have to be the Steelers.