Climbing an Endless Mountain
There are 32 teams in the NFL and each have the same goal: to be a champion, a Super Bowl champion. Winning does not come easy. Players across the country put in endless amounts of work throughout the year so they can hoist the Lombardi Trophy. However, in the end, only one team can do so.
This year the two teams left are the New England Patriots and the Atlanta Falcons. Both are well deserving, yet there are no Pittsburgh Steelers in the Super Bowl.
I have been a diehard Steelers fan since I was a little kid, and you might say I have a heart of black and gold at this point! I’ve been through it all, the good and the bad, and my team always pulls through in the end… except for this year.
After a hard fought season, my boys lost to the Patriots 36-17 in the Conference Final, and if you don’t know football, that’s the last game before the Super Bowl.
Needless to say I was a mess that weekend. You would think my team would play their best game all year, being only one game away from the promised land. Well, you would be wrong about that, my friend. The Steelers not only played horrifically but ceased to be the powerhouse they’ve been all year.
Yes, I know there’s always next year, but as a fan you feel every high and low as if you were on the team. So when your team is that close to achieving the ultimate goal, yet fails, you can’t help but think, “What else can we possibly do?”
You won’t always be successful, and as much as it sucks, that’s reality. If you were to climb a mountain, you would start at the bottom, put in as much time, energy and effort that you could muster and work your way up.
The Steelers are still climbing that mountain. They want to be successful but they haven’t reached the peak quite yet. Trust me, it’s not fun watching them lose the way they did, but they will learn from their mistakes and climb the mountain again next year.
Now only one team can reach the peak each year, so it’s only fair to congratulate the Falcons and Patriots. When the Super Bowl comes around, instead of pouting and reminiscing about the Steelers season, maybe I’ll stop and watch the game to appreciate what these teams have been through to get to this point.
But the Patriots better lose… Go Steelers!
