With the Super Bowl now in the rear view mirror and the Dark Empire that is the Patriots reigning over the NFL as new champs, I figured it was time to do my season in Review!
First and foremost, the season was a success and a testament to the excellent Coaching of Mike Tomlin! The Steelers returned to the top of the division despite some serious deficiencies in their defense. The last loss of the season is always a bitter pill to swallow and losing to the Ravens of course makes it worse, but that shouldn’t resonate on the great work that the Steelers did.
2014 Game Beer winner:
It is a tie between Antonio Brown and LeVeon Bell! The voters were split and lets be honest, it will cost us one extra T-shirt if LeVeon or Antonio Brown cash it in. I wouldn’t want to snub either one of them. They both absolutely dominated the year!
My Favorite “Road” Game:
Buckley’s (https://www.facebook.com/pages/Buckleys-Irish-Pub/141369932624782) in Center Moriches! We hung out with our friends Matt and Jen and had a great time as the Steelers walloped the Texans!
Honorable Mention: The Irish Exit in NYC on second ave! I highly recommend this spot! I only got to watch about half the game there but it was the Colts game and the crowd was nuts!
My Favorite Road Game: NONE. We only went to one Away game.
Honorable Mention: The Steelers losing to the Jets in a classic trap game. It was like a Steelers home game, but the Steelers fell. It was a fun day as KGB and I went with my buddy Bill and good friends Christine and Mike. Mike made Jello shots including black and gold! Very thoughtful! But I am still pissed we lost!
My Favorite “Home” Game: Steelers wrecking the Bengals while KGB and I watched with the family at the house. My son Dante called the Bomb to Bryant! We had 100 snacks and the kids were bouncing off the walls! Also dropping 43 on the Ravens and watching Silverback terrorize Flacco should get an honorable mention!
My Favorite Home Game: This was easy because I only went to one game in the ‘Burgh again. If the Steelers win this game, this is probably my favorite game I have ever been to. The fact that they came up short kills me because I was with my entire family! I have to put things into perspective though. I got to sit with Tom Janicki and we had a tailgate with the BWG Original Chapter(more on that later). It also was most likely Brett Keisel’s last game as a Steeler, I am willing to sacrifice that piece of history for one more season of course. I also got to see Jahri Evans (Bloomsburg Alumni play)
My Favorite Snack for any game: KGB’s “Kielbasa in a blanket” with Hot Mustard! They are awesome and just amazing.
Special Thanks:
Writing this blog is a labor of love, something I enjoy doing and in some ways it is cathartic.
First and foremost we want to thank the readers, we are grateful to you because it makes us feel like we have an obligation to friends and Steelers fans to keep this going. We are over 2000 Subscribers now!
A special thanks to The Janickis, Tom Janicki, the founder of Beer We Go Steelers and hosts us every year for a game! He also hosted my Cousin Vinny and his son Vinny this year. I am grateful to Tom for his friendship and his love of all things Steelers! He is my brother in Black and Gold!
I am thankful to Ben Harkins and his crazy brothers! We tailgate once a year with the Harkins brothers and it is always memorable. This year they hosted my entire family at the “Terrible Bra and Grill”. They introduced my son Billy to “Riot Punch” which in retrospect might not have been our best move! The tailgate culminated in a Marshmallow fight!
I want to thank our dear friends Matt and Jen, despite their own team allegiance they joined us for every “road” game and we had a great time!! I am officially putting it on the record that I forgive Matt for jinxing the Steelers on my Birthday! He absolutely jinxed them.
I want to thank former Steelers Robin Cole, Barry Foster and Louis Lipps. They made our only tailgate this year, something we will talk about forever. Specifically I want to thank Mr. Cole who couldn’t have been nicer to my family! He represents EVERYTHING that is great about being a Steelers fan!
That brings me to Dermonti Dawson, John Jackson and Franco Harris. I have said this before and will restate it, it is very difficult to meet your “heros” because they often have a habit of letting you down. I met all three of these guys, at the Joe Namath Golf Outing,
John Jackson is literally a gentle giant, he was funny as hell and couldn’t have been a better guy. He introduced me to his group and said meet my buddy Beer We Go on the course. Terrific guy! He also told a celebrity (Who I am not allowed to mention) to be keep his mouth shut when the celebrity said something extremely negative about Big Ben and the handling of his “situations” by Mr. Rooney. He was polite but the look he gave, made the celebrity understand that you don’t talk smack about the Rooneys.
Franco Harris, is exactly as advertised, a quiet gentleman who couldn’t have been more polite and nicer, I actually felt bad for bothering him. He was speaking with Ed “Too Tall” Jones. He needed golf clubs and I was quick to try and lend him mine. (The club helped him out.) Next year should be cool and I can’t wait to see Franco. He was very gracious about the T-shirt as well!
Lastly but certainly not the least, I have met Dermonti Dawson three years in a row. He could possibly be one of the best people I have ever met. Forget the fact that he is arguably (to me he is the best) the best Center in the history of the NFL and a HOF, he is truly one of the most polite and nicest people ever. He made some impression on my friends and I. He went out of his way several times for me because I was a Steelers fan and he truly represents the goodness in all celebrity athletes. He also loved the BWG T-shirt!
I want to thank all my kids, for the first time we packed the entire family up and brought EVERYONE to the ‘Burgh. With five kids in tow you can imagine the logistical challenge and expense. They never complained once! Made the most out of the trip and enjoyed every minute of the game and tailgate. The trip included a trip to Pepis, a shopping trip to the Strip District, a ride on the Incline and drinks on the top of Mount Washington and of course, a trip to Primanti Bros. not once, not twice but three times in three days! Billy, Eric, Hailey, Luc and Dante…I hope your Steelers trip showed even a little bit why I love this team! When the Steelers fell to the Saints my heart sunk, not for me but for my kids! But what buoyed me through the rest of the season was soon as the whistle blew. My son leaned over to me and said, “We get to come again next year right?”
Most of all I wanted to thank KGB, my amazing girlfriend who despite her own misgivings, gave up Thanksgiving weekend to go to the ‘Burgh. She cooked a veritable feast every week of game day snacks. Hosted people for games, went out for games on “School” nights and put up with nonsense. I didn’t throw anything all season and I didn’t F-Bomb (that often) in public places. See Babe I am growing up! Love You BEER WE GO!
BEER WE GO STEELERS, BEER WE GO!
We will be here all offseason and next week will be a quick hits about Coach LeBeau, The Bus and all things Steelers!