NFL: Now Freedom Lives

"I got a peaceful easy feeling
and I know you won't let me down."

-- Peaceful Easy Feeling, The (Not Philadelphia) Eagles



I am not ashamed to say that I have various NFL themes in my iTunes collection. When it is, say, mid-April, I plug in the speakers after everyone is sound asleep and just blast them until I can't take it anymore.

It is like eating your favorite calorie-filled indulgence. Or watching the climax of a horror movie you've never seen before. Or sex.

It's something you can only take for so long when you think no one is looking.

But when football season finally rolls around... it's like... life is normal again. I ease into it pretending not to care about preseason, and then I oscillate the first few games about hosting parties and really watching the game... but when it gets cold, I know I'll have my Sundays booked and my NFL pages bookmarked.

Being from Pittsburgh, the Steelers are kind of a tradition. How could they not be? If you are from here, you know exactly what I mean: we dress our kids up in jerseys -- NOT knockoffs, either -- and frame our license plates in black and gold. We buy Iron City even though it tastes like shit, and we spend 15 bucks every time a new Terrible Towel is issued. We'll spend a week in an online forum debating team jerseys (and now helmets) and we'll watch the game among friends and act as though we could coach better.

What have we done with ourselves since February?? We were a patient city, kind to each other, biting our bottom lips as though we didn't have anything to talk about except for the weather and directions to PNC Park.

But now.... ahhhhhhhhhhh. All is right again. The city is awash with pride and Browns bashing and hyping Big Ben.

My big concern this week outside of planting bulbs and fertilizing my lawn is picking the Philly game. Any thoughts?

sirschy@hotmail.com