Prayer for The Chief!
Posted on 01/31/2006 3:03:21 AM PST by beyond the sea
DETROIT (AP) -- Steelers fans longing for their prayers to be answered this Sunday have an ally with some experience -- Cardinal Adam Maida, the archbishop of Detroit.
Maida, who spent the first 54 years of his life in and around Pittsburgh and is a Steelers season ticket holder, made no secret of his loyalties Monday as the Steelers arrived in Detroit.
"Am I a fan? Yes," Maida said at a news conference, where he was surrounded by Steelers memorabilia, including a "terrible towel" and a signed helmet given to him by former coach Chuck Noll. "I went to all the Steelers games I could, and I always arranged my schedule even as a priest so that I could go to those Sunday games."
The team's late owner, Art Rooney, attended mass almost daily at the church where Maida was in residence in the 1960s, the archbishop said. On Saturday nights, Rooney would drop off hundreds of tickets to be distributed among the priests and nuns to help fill what was often an empty stadium. The Steelers weren't at their best in those days, said Maida, 75. "It reminds me of what the Lions are going through now."
Wanting to support Rooney, Maida bought three season tickets, which he still holds to this day. His nephews currently make the most use of them.
Among the historic Steelers moments that Maida has witnessed is 1972's "Immaculate Reception," ......
Many fans had already left the stadium by the time the famous play was made. "I wouldn't leave," Maida recalled. "My brother says, `It's time to go, let's beat the traffic.' I said, `It's not over till it's over."'
He added: "There must have been some divine intervention."
(Excerpt) Read more at sportsillustrated.cnn.com ...
Must've been St. John Lateral
They had some good stories on the local news last night about the Cardinal rooting for the Steelers. Did you see any of it? It was way cool.
There was a story posted on the Steeler mailing list some years back by a man whose father died in the early 1980's. The father's obituary mentioned he was a lifelong Steeler season ticket holder. According to the poster, at the end of the funeral Rooney came up to him and said he had seen the obituary and wanted to pay his respects and thank him for his father's support.
Do not know if the story is true, but I would like to think it is.
Prayer for The Chief!
Seriously, who ISN'T rooting for the Steelers on Sunday? Only people in Seattle and Cleveland.
I do not know.
That's funny. I was staying with my grandmother that winter, too.
She lived in New Orleans, and we were just leaving her house to take my girlfriend to the bus stop to head back to Pittsburgh after visiting me over her Christmas break from college.
My girlfriend, now my wife of 31 years, grew up a devoted Roberto fan and was crushed by the news that her hero's plane was missing.
Go Stillers!
The just result: Steelers 45/ Seahawks 6
Btw, one of the priests at our parish wears a Stillerz stoll (sash) on his vestments on game days. It has the steel logo :)
33 years here with my wife/girl friend
Go STILLERS!
;-)
I'm rooting for the BIRDS this time around. Pitts has already won their far share. Actually, I wouldn't care if the game ended in a tie.
I saw the Cardinal story on WPXI's 10 PM News on Fox.
I saw it on the Channel 4 news at 6. Much news on about the Steelers, even more on tonight's news. Everyone is pretty excited. Reminds me of the first time they got to the Super Bowl.
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