Happy birthday, Steelers!

By Michael J.W. Stickings

On this day in 1933, Art Rooney -- "The Chief" -- founded the Pittsburgh Steelers (then called the Pirates, just like the local baseball team). This will be their 80th season in the NFL.

There were decades of mediocrity, and worse, but the Rooneys have owned the team ever since, and things started looking up with the arrival of coach Chuck Noll in 1969. Since then, there have been six Super Bowl victories, stability in the head coaching position with Noll, Bill Cowher, and Mike Tomlin, and an astonishing list of All-Pros and Hall of Famers.

You know I love the Steelers, right? There's no other team in any sport I love more -- no, not even the Montreal Canadiens, whom I grew up with that hockey-insane city -- and it is with immense pride that I call myself a fan of such a wonderful franchise, owned by a wonderful family, with wonderful fans all throughout Steeler Nation.

It's an all-year fandom sort of thing. I watch every game, anticipating it all week long, my mood very much determined by how they do, but I follow the team very closely during the offseason as well. My wife and I go down to Pittsburgh every year for a game. We love the city and the people, and we look forward to it all year long. And when we're there, we see up close just how much the Steelers mean to Pittsburgh, and we love being a part of it even for just a short time.

Whether you're a Steelers fan or not, I highly recommend The Ones Who Hit the Hardest: The Steelers, the Cowboys, the '70s, and the Fight for America's Soul by Chad Millman and Shawn Coyne. It's a great book about football and the best book I've ever read about the Steelers, focusing not just on the rise of the team in the '70s but on the local and national socio-political context, specifically the steel industry, that helped shape and define the team and its place in Pittsburgh history.

So, today, as we endure yet another Sunday without (American) football, as we count down the days to training camp, let me wish the Steelers a very happy birthday.

And Jack Lambert as well, the great middle linebacker of the famed Steel Curtain defence and one of the best players ever to wear the Black and Gold.