42nd and Broadway - Scene of the Crime - HTTR!

[Carlito Sway]

Have you guys ever had had too much to say; didn't know where to begin? Welcome to my world.

So here's the deal. Like my Skin brethren who have heard altogether too much about how the Steelers are the test for this squad, I needed to watch tonight. I'm in NYC; called around all night to find a venue. Finally settled on the ESPNZone at 42nd and Broadway. Heart of Manhattan. Nowhere less skin-friendly in America. We may consider the Boys our rival, but NYC is the Washington Redskin Heart of Darkness.

To continue. Arrive at 0-0, 7:00 left in first Q. Many Steelers fans in the house, a smattering of B&G representing. Me, my boy and a friend get a table. Steelers all around. Finally get a table; Skins down 7-0. There's a table of Pitt fans quite close; one hottie black woman is being awfully mouthy. Her man is a dead ringer for Rod Woodson. I keep my mouth shut, as it seems that the O is never on the field and Plex is victimizing Champ play after play. Woman is blabbing absurdly loud, waving her black napkin like terrible towel. All I can do is shrug it off, laugh at how ridiculous she is. But still, boys, it hurt deep down. 14-0, ouch. My boy, who hasn't seen a PreSea game, looks despondant. Given the $30 min per person at the table, the night is shaping up to be a debacle.

Plex is ripping Champ. Randle-El adds insult to injury. Some weak-a$$ed Skins fans bolt. We stay put. LaVar puts the hurt on Kordell. The crowd, thick as hell, "oohs" when LaVar leaves the ground and knocks Stewart out of the game. Batch enters. As I feel he's underrated, I snarl to myself, trying not to take too much pleasure in #56 being an enforcer (karma). Skins O looks weak. My boy Colin is about ready to bolt. SD's hard counter leading to Kendrell Bell's rollup mitigates the pain. I know, it's wrong. But all the same, it looked so bad I had to smile. At least they were going to hurt some tonight. Batch gets to the goal line, passes wide open for a TD. Loud girl gets obnoxious. Damn.

After way too many offsides penalties, Batch works some reverse magic to Randel-El and makes Shade look stupid. Loud girl stands up and starts talkin ish and pointing out B&G. I stew in my own juices. Gets worse when Loverme knocks the ball out of Gillespie's hands for a fumble recovery. It looks really bad. Sage looks ineffective, bad mojo steamrolling. Pitt tacks on a FG. Half.

I'm thinking we're OK. Shane corrects me with a pick to a DL deep in our territory. I'm trying to maintain. but it's tough. Loud woman is making all sorts of noise. My boy is ribbing me about believing in the HBC, as this is the first action he's seen. SS looks chagrined. Pitt commentators are wondering if (heh heh) S-dub will complain about Cowher running up the score. Tee Martin throws a TD, we're officially screwed. Loud woman goes berserk, pointing me and my boys out, grinning. At this point, all I can say is "Say hi to Kendrell for me. In six weeks."

Shane throws a TD. Thank God. We're on the board. Ms Pittsburgh falls silent; I make the "Shh" motion. Her Rod Woodson looking boyfriend laughs. She shoots him a look. No love for him that night. She resumes heckling when they tack on 3 more. Shane finds Doering for a TD. Don't know if y'all saw the game, but wow did he buy time. I'm saying thank Jesus. Whew. Then his completed pass gets fumbled and returned for a TD. Baby girl starts yakking again. I fume but stay quiet.

4th Q. I've already written Sage off. My apologies. Kid comes in. My boy speculates that we're preserving our QBs. Kid starts kicking derriere. TD to Larry Stephens (who?), I'm cautiously optimistic. Loud woman walks away. I'm boozed by this point. Skins fans have materialized from nowhere; they laugh riotously as I tell my nemesis babe "OK, walk away. Walk away". Even her man is laughing. She disappears. The TD energizes the B&G faithful. We're down by but 13. No way! My boy begins to come around to the HBC. All that Pitt commentator smack is dissapating. All of a sudden, pick happens deep in their territory. Guys, place goes wild. I big-Up my Gator brethren by doing the ol' Gator chomp with my arms. Sage marches, TD. Woman has returned, awful quiet now. There are a gaggle of FSU/Skins fans (!) giving me high 5s as we sing HTTR and drown the place out. Pandemonium. Manager warns me that if I jump up on the table again, I'll be tossed. A chourus of HTTR, two verses and all, rings out. Steelers fans awfully quiet. Place is buzzing, heart of NYC.

T Martin marches downfield. Our Special Teams blow. Somehow, we force a fumble. Woman disappears again, right quick. All of a sudden, Skins fans everywhere. Beers flowing all around. Can it be? Might it be? No way!

Sage takes the helm. S-dub looks like Robert E Lee as he marchges upfield. Place is rocking and rolling, buzzing like the superbowl. I have hands clasped and am sweating like a jury is about to announce my fate. Big Play! Oh, damn, caught from behind. Loud assed beeyatch is silent. We march on. TD! Incredible! HTTR rings out and every employee stands stock still dumbfounded. Holy Ish. Can it be? Cowher looks dead. Commentators are dumb with shock. 4th and 8, sack, we win. Baby girl slinks out; Rod Wodson look-alike laughs as I dance a jig and the place goes berserk.

This can't be preseason. No way. Some Steeler fan walks up, redfaced and abashed, bets me $1K that the Steelers will finish with a better record and gives me his number. I smile, tell him to save his paper, walk out on cloud nine. Again, place is ringing with HTTR. IN NYC! You guys cannot understand what that means. My best friend is grinning stupidly. Hugs, hand slaps and high fives all around. Woo!

I know you all saw this game and need no recap. But I've never seen such grit, toughness, balls, and playcalling. Once SS got a handle on the Steelers DC, he owned them. All doubts about the HBC are officially over. Guys, it's one of the most amazing sporting events I've ever seen. That includes Game 6 of the World Series in 1986 when Mookie poked one past Buckner. This is special. We are legit. I couldn't calm down for hours. Amazing. HTTR, hope you all are as high as I am on this comeback for the ages.

This seaons may be one for the books - HTTR!

:cool:

[Potato Sack]

THAT was a fun read! Thank you for taking us there with you. I was in my living room with my wife jumping up and down. I'm not sure, but I think I heard someone banging on the wall. Screw them! We've got a team now!

[Brave]

Definately a good story.

Smootylicious, you might be getting a tad overzealous over a preseason game, but sounds like it was fun. Wish I'd been there.