Cory Brookhouser, Erie

Here we go again. Believe it or not, I wasn’t going to involve myself in this years’ war of words.

You know, the one that begins with, “there are more Pittsburgh Brown fans here than Cleveland Steeler fans.”

Since I’m obviously about to go off on some rant, allow me to clarify one thing. I will be discussing the Steelers and the Browns.

The only reason Buffalo is even mentioned is because the Nazi Football League chooses to televise Bills games in the Erie area.

Who in their right mind thinks there are more Bills fans (here) than either Steelers or Browns fans?

The hell you say! I wasn’t going to become involved until I made the mistake of ducking into the Beer Mug.

I love the Mug but how was I supposed to know that anyone in an Erie bar would be discussing the Browns and Steelers???

Now, I know that you’ve all been honored with an idiotic comment or two in your lifetime and here comes another.

(Wait for it.)

While enjoying my frosty beverage someone slightly more seasoned than I stated that there were no Steeler fans in our hometown until they started winning. That’s just brilliant.

He said that there were Packer fans, Colts fans, Bears fans, and (oh yes) Browns fans. He seemed very angry that everyone seemed to jump on the bandwagon when the Pittsburgh Steelers actually started winning games.

You know, to be perfectly honest, the guy was probably right. I wouldn’t know because I was born in the year the Steelers won their first playoff game and as I said, he was slightly more seasoned.

I’m about to tell you why he was stupid to be angry about it. Please name me one sports program that started out, and flourished, by being losers.

Please don’t use either the Browns, Indians, or Cubs to back up your argument. At one point they were all winners. The reason that there were Colts fans or Browns fans in Erie is because they both had a tradition of winning.

Do you think the Yankees, as a perfect example of this, are so popular simply because they are from New York? I think it might have something to do with all those rings.

People love a winner and unless you follow Cleveland sports religiously, it’s very difficult to always be that lovable loser. Yet I do know what it’s like. I was a teenager in the 80’s and grew up watching my Steelers lose many, many, games.

I’m not even old enough to remember the successes of the 70’s but that’s when it all happened. It’s where the tradition that now exists got its start and why the Steelers are in the top five in NFL merchandising every year.

It’s also why there are more Steelers fans in Erie than there are Browns fans. It’s true but who cares?

I’m not trying to sway anyone’s opinion. If I were the only Steelers fan, I would still bleed black and gold. I’m just glad that Football is the talk of the town again. I hope you sell a lot of papers.

Dan Casey, Erie

I've been a Cleveland Browns fan since the early 1950s.

It was such an intense love affair that I once kicked a girl out of the house because she turn the game off so we could "neck."

(My wife says I'd probably do the same to her today.)

There were fans for the Lions, Eagles, Giants, Colts, Packers and the great Steeler fans. (They were lucky to win one or two games a year) But there was no doubt, this was Browns territory.

The '60s brought some changes.

The Cowboys and Vikings had been added to the NFL and the upstart AFL was making noise with its wide open offense.

Freddy B. was helping to make fans for the Raiders, and Buffalo was another area team that making new fans.

Art Modell took over ownership of the Browns and in a clash of egos, fired one of the best coaches in football.

He followed that up by giving Jimmy Brown a choice of either playing football or acting in movies. But even with this turmoil, the Browns remained the top team for the fans in this area.

In the '70s, the Steelers became a powerhouse. There was little doubt they were the best team in the area and they began to attract "fans" from other teams who couldn't stand being losers.

This included so called "Browns fans."

The "In-Your-Face" attitude was born as these new Steeler fans began to act as if they were the ones on the field. But by the end of the 70s, this was still Browns territory.

The '80s brought much of the same with the Browns having a few good years, but we were routinely beaten by the Steelers.

Then came the '90s. The "great" Art Modell decided to move our beloved team and for four years, there were no Browns.

Some fans moved on to other teams, but those of us who waited were "rewarded" with our new team in 1999. It's been a struggle ever since.

What's even worse is knowing that this is now "Steeler Territory." Hopefully, the Browns will become a winning team again and will attract new fans. Until then, enjoy your spoils, Steeler fans.

Leo Swigonski, Erie

I work with assorted fans of all 3 teams who on occasion, get carried away in child-like fits of passion.

On 'Star Trek' Mr. Spock used facts and logic to solve problems facing the Enterprise. Being a neutral fan, I'll use facts and principles of geography,mathematics and the field of art to find the answer to this football dilemma.

Using geography, Cleveland is in the state of Ohio, while Buffalo belongs to New York.

Pittsburgh and Erie are located in Pennsylvania.

Through math, we learn the Browns have only witnessed Super Bowls on television, not from a sideline. The Bills have appeared in two losing efforts while the Steelers have won five times.

The subject of art utilizes color, and Cleveland bedazzles us with orange and a shade of brown that brings to mind the hue, and sometimes the odor of, fresh manure.

Buffalo features a red creature with a blue streak on its helmets.

After five Super Bowl victories you'd think the Pittsburghers would go all out for another Steeler decal for the other side of their helmets.

You can score yourself at home and tabulate the results. But this is America, so root for your favorite team regardless of what others think.

On the subject of America, the stinkin' Dallas Cowboys are not 'America's team' -- but
that's another story.

Sean Kiley, Erie

Here is, essentially, my testimonial about why I'm a Steelers fan:

I have a confession to make. I was not always the die-hard Steelers fan that I am now. When I was a kid, growing up in Davenport, Iowa, my first love was the 1985 Chicago Bears and a great big defensive tackle/fullback named "The Refrigerator."

We moved here in the summer of 1986, with the Bears at the apex of their greatness and the Steelers in the middle of a decade of mediocrity. Steelers fans were still basking in the fading glow of a group of guys that were either all retired or close to it. The genius of Chuck Noll was beginning to wear out. I couldn't stand Steelers fans, Browns fans, and the Bills, well, they were a joke.

What turned it for me was a series of events beginning in 1992. The Bears and my hero, Coach Mike Ditka, parted ways.

The second was the coming of a new coach for the Steelers, Bill Cowher.

I spent some time rooting for both teams until I was 18 and I joined the Navy. That was the year that I decided that the Bears had disappointed me for the last time. They started out strong, and then faltered down the stretch, leaving the city of Chicago in its usual state: waiting for next year.

The Steelers, on the other hand, were AFC Champions and on their way to the Super Bowl. I watched in a state of bewilderment as Neil O'Donnell threw away their chances for a title. Worst of all, it was with a room full of Cowboys fans.

This began an obsession of mine to see the Steelers on TV as often as possible. Being stationed in Norfolk, Va., and Monmouth, N.J., led to my perpetual disappointment about seeing the Steelers.

We watched what we could; eventually finding a bar in Red Bank owned by a guy from Imperial, Pa. who got the Steelers on the satellite every week. When I was discharged from the Navy, I came back to Edinboro a diehard, with black and gold running through my veins.

I couldn't really regard Browns fans with contempt because, well, there were NO BROWNS. They'd left. (Something like that would never happen in Pittsburgh, at least not to the Steelers.)

I had no direction for my football hatred. Then a target presented itself: The Bills. No longer the loveable bunch of losers of my childhood, they were a decrepit franchise going through a series of quarterbacks and bad teams that were somehow dominating my local channel each and every week.

How was this possible? The Bills? Really? How in the heck did a town that is populated by Steelers fans (except on local talk radio, but I digress) wind up in the Bills market? I don't even KNOW a Bills fan.

My hate was divided, though, with the return of the Browns. Browns fans are a unique bunch, in that I've never seen a group a fans that rooted with such intensity for a team that has been so bad for so long.

It's like a virus of insanity has infected these people, always finding excuses for
their team being so bad, losing games left and right, and never having it be the reason that was staring them in the face: their team was an abysmal failure at hiring coaches and front office personnel.

After a back and forth bit for a few years, it's become apparent, at least to me, that the Steelers have the Browns number. And whether it's the 2003 comeback in the playoffs, the 2005 Christmas Eve blowout, or last season's two-for, with the opening shellacking, and the late-season comeback, it's obvious to me that the Steelers are going to be coming out on top in this rivalry for some time to come.

Sure the Browns might win a game here or there, but even a broken clock is right twice a day. Do I hate Browns fans? No, how could I hate people with such delusions? I just feel sorry for them.

Robert Nuhfer, Erie

I think the rivalry between the Steelers, Browns and Bills is like "The Three Little Pigs."

The Steelers pig wants to build Erie out of steel. The Browns pig wants to paint his house brown. And the Bills pig wants to praise the wonderful Erie grass!

I think many Erieites would go along with me when I say GO TITANS!!!!

-- John Dudley