Worshipping the Pittsburgh Steelers
For the second time in my life I had the opportunity to walk the streets with thousands of Steelers fans as they cheered loudly for the Super Bowl Champion Steelers. Troy Polamalu jumping into the crowd was one of the highlights.
I never really made a journal entry for this event because I was away with my wife and daughter. I took a lot of photographs but only the digital ones ever really made it up online. I have family in […]
This one is for you Joyce. Better late than never. I love the playoffs. The fans have more intensity and every moment seems more charged with importance. The noise builds when the defense is on first and second down, not […]
Calling out all Steelers Fans! It’s time to get your winter booster shot of playoff pride. A bye week made it a little boring around Pittsburgh, but nothing can bring out the black and gold like a Terrible Tree. What is a […]
To Celebrate the Steelers AFC North Title, and prepare for the 2008 NFL Playoffs, I have decided to launch the updated Sixteen Sundays website. As we move forward in the hunt for the sixth Lombardi Trophy, I thought it would be nice […]
Photography is usually an endeavor of observation, but occasionally a photographic moment has emotional significance for the photographer. This is the story behind the shot of James Farrior giving a high five after Super Bowl XL. The hand that Farrior […]
The last breaths of Hurricane Ike whipped across the shores of Lake Erie tonight, adding a mysterious tone to the Steelers Sunday Night match up against AFC North Rivals the Cleveland Browns. The seagulls were squawking, flags were flapping, and […]
Season opener: Heinz Field. A warm September day means there’s lots of skin. Here is just one example showing a classic Pittsburgh tattoo. Before the game I wandered a little in the parking lots and came across a one-of -a-kind […]
Toronto, Canada. “Tickets half price.” “75% off,” says another scalper. It a a very cordial evening in Toronto. Not a lot of black and gold outside. One desperate man said “I can’t give em away. But I’ll take ten bucks […]
As the sun sets on a numerical alliteration of a date, The Pittsburgh Steelers continue to be the most important story in town. Perhaps 4 billion people were somewhere watching the opening ceremonies of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, those in […]
Pittsburgh Victory Parade, February 7, 2006 The road back to Pittsburgh was full of cars marked with “Super Bowl Champs” all the way from Detroit. At the last Ohio toll plaza, there was a traffic jam two miles long. But […]
Super Bowl Sunday. Detroit. February 5, 2006. The moment was right before kickoff. The moment I realized the significance of the event. It was when Franco Harris walked onto Ford Field with the previous Super Bowl MVP’s, waving a Terrible […]
I spent the AFC Championship game at Jack’s on the South Side (recently dissed by Rocky Mountain News writer Bill Johnson). Jack’s is around the corner from my studio so it as close to home as I can get. And […]
Over the last few years, NFL teams have started to catch on that Steelers fans travel to see their team play, and they’ll most likely pay to do it. When buying group seats in Houston and San Diego, we were […]
Ever been hit by a bus? Of course you haven’t, but you can imagine what that would feel like. If you were hit by a bus, you’d most likely want to stay in bed all day. The Bears game was […]
THIS POST IS OUTDATED. PLEASE DO NOT SUBMIT PHOTOS! I’ll show you mine if you show me yours. Here’s your chance to contribute your own fan photos to Sixteen Sundays. Email photographs to fanphotos@sixteensundays.com Please limit submissions to Four photographs. […]
There won’t be any pictures for game 12. Not because it was a week to forget but because I was a last minute addition to the injury report. Instead of Heinz Field, I got to add a new experience to […]
Looking back on my trip to Indianapolis, it wasn’t fun at all. My first bad feeling came in the Detroit airport. I was connecting on an early morning flight, the Monday after Thanksgiving. The airport was busy, but there were […]
Unless you’re a photographer working on a long-term documentary, the way you wind up in a Steelers bar is that you find yourself thousands of miles away from home on a Sunday. If football is important to you, you’ll find […]
If the term “Brownies” conjures up images of little girls with cookies, then you might be too young to remember the original rivalry that existed between Pittsburgh and the Mistake on the Lake known as Cleveland. Before Art Modell wrenched […]
Want to know how important football is in Green Bay? Even the geese head North to Lambeau Field in November. One of the wonderful things about traveling to away games is the opportunity visit other great stadiums. I felt I […]
When the last night of October comes around, things get a little weird. Monsters and madmen creep out of the timbers and converge on the city. So as the Baltimore Ravens came to Pittsburgh for Monday Night Football, the Halloween […]
The feeling of a roaring stadium produces its own kind of adrenaline, but sometimes a comfortable chair anchors the excitement of football at home. So instead of a road trip, like weeks past, I headed to Bloomfield – Pittsburgh’s Little […]
Because of last season’s record wins, losing has become unacceptable in Pittsburgh. In fact it felt like a thing of the past. But losing is part of the sport. And how you deal with a single loss says as much […]
Though not a “Sunday,” I couldn’t miss the Steelers first Monday Night Football appearance of the Roethlisberger era. So why would I travel two thousand miles for a game? Sun, sand, and black and gold fans. California provided a beautiful […]
On each and every Sunday, my wife becomes a football widow. Early in the morning I go off to tailgate and come home late after a day of Steelers football. During football season, its seems like we never see each […]
Before every game I walk amongst the tailgaters and talk to people about how they think the game will turn out. Some people have good feelings, others just don’t know. I on the other hand was afraid to make any […]
Seventeen hours after Heinz Field narrowed in my rear view mirror through the Fort Pitt Tunnel, I was standing in a Lowe’s hardware store parking lot in Texas. At 4:45 A.M., under the full moon, the legendary jersey numbers started […]
There are four cities I have called home: Houston, New Orleans, New York City, and Pittsburgh. I am still so emotionally tied to the city of New Orleans that since Hurricane Katrina I felt sick with each piece of news […]
One hundred seventy one days have passed since you last saw your heroes in action in Honolulu. After all the waiting, if you can find your way to the end of a cornfield in Latrobe, PA, you will find the […]
After 24 weeks without Steelers football, Sixteen Sundays returns. This project was born because of a unique year when the Steelers played no games on ABC’s Monday Night Football. And thus the unbelievable record setting 15-1 regular season occurred over […]
Is It Really Over? When the clock ran out on the AFC Championship game, I was still inside Heinz Field. Even as the scoreboard showed no W for the Steelers, I couldn’t think of anywhere else to go. So along […]
Thank you Steelers for a great season. Please read the next journal entry for my final thoughts. I need time to digest the outcome of the AFC Championship game. Enjoy the photographs. Final Outcome: Steelers lose to New England Patriots […]
If you have never visited Pittsburgh, you should. Besides seeing the beautiful city, you will be enthralled by the immense show of pride in every window. Pittsburgh loves the Steelers and during the playoffs everybody shows it. Securing Homefield advantage […]
This past Sunday, I witnessed a football game that was so emotionally exhausting that days later, I could barely recount the tale. I am still in a state of shock, barely able to believe what I witnessed with my own […]
Besides reflecting, I also took many pictures during the playoff bye. My side project lead me to personal shrines, temples and basements devoted to the Pittsburgh Steelers. The pictures in this gallery were actually taken at three different locations during […]
Another bye week, another time for reflection, partly precipitated by the fact that we can’t go a week WITHOUT thinking about the Steelers. So bear with me. There is a point to all this. The full experience of being a […]
I never would have imagined that a January 2 game in Buffalo, NY would be mild and sunny. When I planned the trip months ago, I did so because I thought it would be a white-out that only die-hards would […]
When I woke up on the day after Christmas, I thought it was Christmas day all over again. Excited and full of holiday cheer I returned to my regular spot in the ghetto. Not only was I back with my […]
The Holidays are a nice time to go home, and this past week I spent some time with two fans that make as many appearances as Santa. There are a small number of Steelers fans that are elevated to a […]
Breaking with tradition, I decided to start shooting on Saturday night. This is when the players are supposed to report to the Pittsburgh Hilton for meetings and curfew. There you’ll find a lobby full of fans waiting for a chance […]
The weather never stopped a tailgate. Pittsburgh Sundays have been generally pleasant until Thanksgiving. Probably payback from Lake Erie, week twelve was cold and rainy. As a result, the mood was dreary and sluggish in the lots. Those who came, […]
After last weekend in Cleveland I really needed to surround myself with Steelers fans. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette ran an article on the front page predicting over 20,000 Steelers fans at Paul Brown Stadium in Cincinnati. Now this might have sounded […]
A big step in the life of a fan is to leave the safety of the home tailgate and venture into hostile territory. The big decision for any fan in this situation is whether to don colors or not. For […]
Every fan has their own pre-game ritual, a sequence of events that mentally prepares them for the game. For some it is physical, for others it is chemical. For some the ritual takes many hours, others only twenty minutes. For […]
Drawn by a feeling of great importance, I decided to go to Jacksonville at the last minute. My instinct told me that this would be a tight game where the Steelers would need all the support they could get. I […]
Superstitions are very powerful, even if you don’t believe in them. One such superstition is that washing an article of clothing will bring bad luck. If the Steelers win another few games it is going to start smelling a little […]
Football binds the hearts of countless men. For anyone who ever played football, it is hard to pass a Sunday without feeling a sense of nostalgia. The emotions that rise when men watch or talk about football run deeper than […]
One of the reasons we love football is because we played in our youth, at a time when our bodies can withstand the physical abuse. Whether it is school-organized sport, a pickup game with friends, or a Turkey Bowl, at […]
October 10th was a very special day for many people. Ben Roethlisberger won his third start in a row. Duce Staley got his third 100+ yard game in a row. And Heather and Roger said “I Do.” The mornings start […]
The front line of fans arrives at 6:00 AM. Even then you might be fourth in line for parking. Whether you start your day with coffee or beer, it’s a good day when the Steelers are at Heinz Field and […]
Hurricane Jeanne made landfall as a Category 3 hurricane just before midnight Saturday 35 miles north of West Palm Beach. Luckily I was looking for Steelers fans in New York City. The game was postponed from 1:00 PM to 8:30 […]
If you didn’t know, “Baltimore is Steeler Country.” Yet, I met more than one Steelers fan who chose not to wear black and gold because Baltimore can be hostile territory, but since the Ravens won, they seemed to be in […]
The pre-season was about enjoying the Summer, but the first Sunday of the 2004 regular season was all business. Dennis and Michelle were the first to arrive to get in line for parking at 6 AM. They drove all morning […]