1- Steelers Games at the Pour House
Now say what you will about Steelers fans, but as bias as I am, I can't think of a better group of people to experience our recent good fortune. I realize that a lot of people don't like us (places like the Pour House don't help our reputation), and truthfully, I can't blame them. I'd like to think a lot of it is jealousy, but (as a Pittsburgher I can say this) - we're spoiled. Simply put. With two Lombardi trophies and a Stanley Cup in just three years, being named America's Most Livable City (again), and being chosen as the host of this year's G20 Summit, the only thing keeping Pittsburgh grounded nowadays are the Pittsburgh Pirates. That said, even the Pirates have a somewhat desirable history. Personally, I cannot stand to watch an entire baseball game, and honestly, I don't know many people who can, so I am perfectly content focusing on football for the Fall.
This brings me to why I will miss Steelers Games at the Pour House. As the season opener coverage began on Thursday night, it wasn't the mediocre performances by the Black Eyed Peas and TIm McGraw (that I only tolerated because football was soon to follow), it was the vision the self proclaimed City of Champions that made me so happy. As I told many throughout the night, I had almost forgotten how much I love football. That is...until I saw the fireworks over Heinz Field and my team (that I have a somewhat unhealthy obsession with) run on onto the field. I miss Pittsburgh (obviously since I am moving there in just 3 weeks) and for me, over the past 7 years, the Pour House has been as close to the Burgh as I could get; as close to home as I could get. (yes, I fully admit I am apparently painfully corny and ridiculously sentimental. If I ever claim to be otherwise I fully permit you to punch me in the face.)
Pittsburgh in DC. The scene on Pennsylvania Avenue in Capitol Hill on game day is one that could make even the biggest Pittsburgh cynic just a little bit envious. For hours leading up to the game, Steelers fans flock up and down the street to secure their spot at this otherwise very ordinary bar. Among my friends, it’s the talk of the week. The person who gets there first to commandeer space, is in a very real sense considered a hero. It truly is a little piece of my home town in what I consider to be a very impersonal and arrogant city. I half expect the theme song from Cheers to be playing when I walk in the door. Thank God it never is, but there are more god damn Steelers songs than you can even imagine, and at the Pour House they play each and every one of them throughout the night. I hear the bar isn’t even owned by Pittsburghers anymore, but you wouldn’t know it, because Pittsburgh ex-pats continue to gather there game after game, year after year. There are Steelers championship pennants and flags everywhere and the freaking stairs are even black and gold. The stairs!! I don’t particularly LOVE their pierogies, but for Christ sakes, they have pierogies on the menu. How can you NOT order them?
(Note: Naturally, this year the Cup is in attendance as well. And by "The Cup" I of course mean a replica created by my dear friends at the Pour House after Game 7 of the SCFs. Some may call it obnoxious, I call it the culmination of my life [dramatic much??])
Saving the World. On week night games, one of the best parts of the Pour House are the unknowing staffers and interns from the Hill stumbling into what I deemed earlier as a seemingly “ordinary bar.” These poor people just spent a good 10 hours, working for pennies with the simple intention to save the world (whatever that means). All they want is a god damn beer. What do they get? Borderline psychotic Steelers fanatics screaming in their faces... I may not be a Raiders fan or even an Eagles fan, so I’d like to think I’m nicer than some, but you better believe that if you walk into MY bar on game day without your Steelers gear on, EVEN if you ARE saving the world (or doing God knows what else on Capitol Hill) and even if it is YOUR bar every other day of the week, I don’t want you there. By the end of the first half, these people are by far the drunkest in the bar. Some may leave after the first few minutes of the game, but many stay, because honestly it’s like train wreck. Watching football fans in their element may cause severe intoxication, but it’s certainly something that very few can pass up.
The People. It’s not just about the crowds. Pittsburgh is a small town, and it’s great to remember that when you’re stuck in the masses of a forever transient metropolis. During the course of the game, it is inevitable that you will meet at least a half dozen new people who will soon consider you among their nearest and dearest. When you show up next week or even next year, they’ll be waiting for you; beer in hand, saving you a spot– because after all, you did just almost experience the heart break of a century together. And let’s be honest there are few things better than quickly locking arms with the stranger next to you as the Pittsburgh Polka is blasted throughout the bar after a Steelers victory. And then of course there is the “You Smell Like…Lady." You know who I’m talking about. Every sports bar has this person. The person who goes around calling the plays. They each have their perfect line, and the dance they do when they’re right. Sure, 9 out of 10 times they’re going to be wrong, but that one time they get it right makes up for the other 9 ten fold. Why? Because it makes them the Bar Oracle, the person who has a direct ear with the football gods. The Pour House, in particular, has this woman. She comes up to you and smells you. She literally fucking smells you and then says sternly and intently “You know what you smell like?” “What (crazy lady)?” “You smell like an interception!” And you know what, last night after she said that, hell yes Troy Polamalu got a fucking interception! I love this woman because she reminds me of why I love sports. She takes a chance every time; knowing sometimes (usually even) she'll be wrong, she'll lose, but she'll eventually get it right, and everyone loves her for it. She reminds me that there's something to be said for losing. Losing is what make's winning feel so incredible! And the fear of losing is what makes sports fans love every minute of every game. (Can’t lie…the 6 Lombardi Trophies don’t hurt either)
Conclusion. I will conclude by acknowledging two specific points. 1 - I am moving to Pittsburgh where I will be more than sufficiently saturated in Steelers Football; and 2- The Pour House has it’s draw backs – the bathroom floods, and you can’t get a normal sized Diet Coke to save your life - but regardless I will miss my little piece of Pittsburgh in DC. After all, why would anyone want a Diet Coke during a football game anyway???
If you made it all the way through to the end, I thank you, and I hope I didn’t bore you too terribly.
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