Why are Ther So Many Steelers Fans in Cleveland?

This was a question I was asked by a female friend, who most of the times asks stupid questions.....But this one was good, coming from this dolt. She asked this question after watching the last Browns, Steelers game in a Cleveland area bar with a group of friends....She was amazed by how many people were there cheering for the Steelers....I offered one theory, and other people made their own comments...Mostly stuff like "f**k those a$$h*les" and stuff like that....

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I became more intrigued by this question, and wanted to find out a little more.

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My first reason is simple...When the Browns left for Baltimore, Clevelanders had to make a choice....Who do I cheer for? If anyone at all? No way am I cheering for Modell and his f**king Ravens....I doubt many folks from Baltimore were thrilled at the idea of cheering for the Colts when they went to Indy.....So where do you turn....Look at the map....Pittsburgh or Buffalo are about the same distance away.....We could have stayed in state with the Bengals....But not me...My choice was to pay more attention to College Football...But I had friends who got on board with the Steelers...Sometimes your rival can also be your friend...These two towns weren't that much different from each other...So for some it just made sense.

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But as I got into this more,I realized this went deeper....Back to before some of us were born....If you look at Pittsburgh now, in an economic sense it's doing much better than Cleveland....It wasn't always that way....I won't get into my hatred of the local politicians here...that's a whole other topic for another day....Anyway, When Pittsburgh, and really Southwestern PA were struggling economically, families moved where there was work....Mostly blue collar work...So they headed to Northeast Ohio....And they brought their love of the Steelers with them.

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Here's a example from my own life...My Mother was born in Brownsville, Pennsylvania....My Grandfather worked in the coalmines....When the mines started closing up, the people started leaving, and heading to where the jobs were...Eventually My grandparents moved their family to the Cleveland area where my grandfather found a job....He always cheered for the Steelers, and made sure to bust my fathers balls about every Browns loss until the day he died.

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So now there are multiple generations of Steelers fans in Ohio, because grandpa could leave his "Terrible Towel" back in Pennsyltucky.....Look out Pittsburgh...If things keep going the way they are, you're gonna get a wave of Browns fans moving into your neighborhood.

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Quick side note....If you're ever in southwestern Pa, and you see a sign for Brownsville....Don't blink...You'll miss it....I think the population is down to about 72 people....So many of those little towns that helped build this country are gone now.

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Take it easy,

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Later, The Beeze.