The Pittsburgh Steelers: Korea's Team?

Last Monday afternoon (Sunday night for the US time zones), the Pittsburgh Steelers won their record sixth Super Bowl, and among the Steeler faithful there was much rejoicing. Steeler Nation has citizens in nearly every corner of the world: one dedicated fan even made the trip from his US Air Force base outside Seoul to Pittsburgh for the AFC Championship Game a few weeks ago. (Link, about halfway down.)

Of course, Nana and I count ourselves as part of the Steelers diaspora, and had to suffer the indignity of teaching while our beloved team was in the Super Bowl. Doing so was a supremely odd experience. Because I grew up in Pittsburgh, nearly all of the people I love most in the world are Steelers fans. More than anything else I've seen or done since I've been here, stealing occasional glances at score updates while my people suffered all the agonies of watching your team win, then lose, then somehow win a championship game . . . this was the farthest I think I've ever felt from home. It didn't help that both of the games big highlights happened while I was indisposed: I was teaching during James Harrison's 100-yard pick-six at the end of the first half, and in a meeting during the game-winning drive. Then, when the Steelers did finally win, our celebrations were mostly vicarious: reading coverage of the game and the celebration, then watching the game itself (at last!) Monday night.

Little did we know how much of Korea was quietly celebrating with us. Tuesday morning, each of Seoul's major English-language newspapers ran a full-page spread on the Steelers' victory, with Hines Ward's statline prominently displayed. In case you haven't been following the story, Hines Ward is half-Korean, and his elevation to national-hero status in Korea after his Super Bowl XL MVP has helped alleviate some of the discrimination faced by bi-racial Koreans. He can still be found on the occasional billboard here, and he's one of the first things mentioned by Koreans when they find out I'm from the Burgh. My purely anecdotal observations also suggest that the Steelers, because of Hines Ward, sell the most merchandise here in the ROK.

I hadn't realized before this week, however, the degree to which Koreans had adopted the Steelers as their NFL team. While a knee injury kept Hines Ward from contributing much to the Steelers' win, most Koreans I've talked to about the game haven't seemed to care--they were genuinely happy that Ward's team won, and moved by Ward's emotional interview after the game. So, insofar as there are NFL fans in South Korea, the Pittsburgh Steelers seem to be South Korea's team.

Kinda cool, huh?

So, as Nana suggested to me yesterday, let this be a lesson to the Huston Texans and the Jacksonville Jaguars of the world: Make like the NBA's Rockets and sign a Chinese guy. It's a nation of 1.3 billion--there's got to be a football player somewhere in that bunch!