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Steeler Fanatic Sells HinesWard.com to….

Pat — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 17:28:45 +0000

You guessed it.. Hines Ward!

It’s a rather long story but I approached Hines Ward’s business manager/ attorney a while ago offering to sell the domain to Hines. I’ve owned this domain since Hines was a rookie and used it for a fan site and affiliate site and Hines Ward branded www.MVP86.com

My thought and reasoning behind the sale of the domain was two-fold. I know Hines is getting near the end of his career and could use the domain for himself. The other reason is I didn’t want the domain to end up with someone other than Hines Ward.

After talking to his attorney and good friend Andrew Ree, we agreed on an undisclosed amount for the domain and a personalized game jersey. I’m not going to disclose the amount of the sale but it wasn’t an absorbent amount and I didn’t do this to make huge profits. I did this because I am a Steeler fan at heart and wanted Hines to have the domain.

Here’s a photo of the personalized jersey and the check made out to me from MVP86 LLC. which is his company. I’ve blurred out some of the information as I’m sure Hines doesn’t want his account number and address on the net. LOL

This will be a great conversation piece to add to my Steeler collection and a story to tell for a long time. It’s also an opening if I ever meet Hines in person.

Written by Pat Lovell - The Steeler Fanatic
Pat has been following the Pittsburgh Steelers for over 30 years and is known worldwide as "The Steeler Fanatic". If you are interested in contributing to this website or would like Pat to contribute to your Blog, Website or Publication, Click Here.

Steelers Beat Broncos in Denver

Pat — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 18:34:35 +0000

In front of a national audience and on Monday Night Football, the Steelers put a beat down on the Broncos in Denver. I’ll admit, I was a little uneasy about this game and thought there was a chance for the Broncos to come out on top in this one, if it was close in the 4th quarter.

Going into the 2nd half, I thought, here we go, another 2nd half collapse by the Steelers. This was one of those times I didn’t mind being wrong. After a few mistakes in the 3rd quarter, Ben decided he was going to take control of the game.

Wow, is all I can say about Ben and his performance last night. The guy gets a lot of criticism about his play and unwillingness to get rid of the ball. I say this is a good competitive trait and not a downfall. Ben played a damn good game last night and showed his critics that he is a good quarterback. Strike that.. a great quarterback.

The offensive line gets a ton of criticism from everyone (me included) but they are creating some huge holes and running lanes for Mendenhall. I was impressed with the time Ben had on a lot of the passing plays, sure they collapsed a few times and made some assignment mistakes but overall, they played well.

The defense played at their level of smash mouth football and completely stopped the Broncos from running the football. Actually, they stuffed the run and with the pressure on Orton they controlled the flow of the game. Troy brought his A game, Carter made some big plays, Kiesel played a great game and the line backers kept Orton hurried and under pressure.

This creates some urgency with the Bengals coming to town this weekend, I think this is a MUST WIN game for the Steelers, they have to beat the Bengals at home to stay on top of the AFC North and set themselves up to win the division.

Penguins win the 2009 Stanley Cup!!

Pat — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 14:12:39 +0000

What a year to be a sports fan from Pittsburgh or a Pittsburgh sports fan! First the Steelers win the Super Bowl, now the Pens win the Stanley Cup! Wow! What a great year!!!

Everyone counted the Pens out of this one being in Detroit for game 7, then Crosby goes out with a minor injury, it didn’t look good for the Pens. But.. someone forgot to tell the players that they had no chance to win this one because they played extremely well in game 7.

Congratulations to the Penguins for winning their 3rd Stanley cup! You guys deserved it!

Super Bowl XLIII – Video Diary Part 2

Pat — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 14:03:27 +0000

Here are some more videos from the Super Bowl, these are from inside Raymond James Stadium.

The National Anthem, Steelers take the field, Kickoff, Gary Russell’s TD, Final Play of the Game, Trophy Presentation and more…

I’m working on the Halftime Show now, it’s too long for YouTube, keep an eye out for it.

Steelers Fight Song – Here We Go!

Pat — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 11:33:29 +0000

One of the biggest requests I get on a weekly basis is for the updated version of the Steelers Song. So, I headed over to YouTube and found a video someone put together of the song with some great photos.

Enjoy,

Pat Lovell

The Steeler Fanatic is Here, Are you Ready for some Football?

Pat — Sat, 03 Sep 2005 10:10:59 +0000

Well, here we are getting ready for another Season with the Pittsburgh Steelers, so I decided it was time to put my passion onto the web. I realize most of you may not know me, but I am a Steeler Fanatic. I have been following the Pittsburgh Steelers faithfully since I was a little kid and the just about all my family are Steeler fans. In fact, the area I grew up in is the half way point between Pittsburgh and Cleveland so there are a lot of Browns fans in our area as well.

The best part is going to the games with my Dad, we have been going to games for as long as I can remember. I have memories from when I was very young, once we waited in the area where the team buses brought the players to the games to see Joe Namath. I remember that like it was yesterday.

It’s something we both look forward to each year, I know I will remember these games and the time we spend together for as long as I live. I love going back and seeing friends and family that go to the games and arrive at the ‘tailgating’ areas as early as 8am.

I’ve been through the ups and downs, the highs and lows, the good years and the horrible years. I’ve seen Bradshaw, Lambert, Franco, Bubby, Malone, Kordell (those years were tough), Greg Lloyd, Kevin Greene, Merril Hodge, The Bus, and almost every opposing team and their star players, and after all this, I remain a loyal fan. I still get chills when the players run onto the field, fans waving terrible and cheering “Here we go Steelers, Here we go”. I love the atmosphere in the Stadium.

You might not think that’s a big deal, but I live 7 hours from the Stadium and go to almost all the home games! I was born and raised not very far from ‘The Burgh’ in a small town that claims Bill Mazeroski as our most famous Resident. Couple that with a Steel Mill nearly in my back yard and a Father that worked his entire life in the Mills, and it very easy to be a Steeler fan. Being a Steeler Fan in the 70’s REALLY made it easy. Remember the Glory Years of 4 Super Bowl wins in 6 years?

My Mom and Dad still live in the house I grew up in but I moved to Bloomington, Indiana about 16 years ago for bigger and better things. Well, I found bigger and better things, I call them My Wife and Kids . We love it in Bloomington and have a great life here, but during Football Season it gets rather hectic trying to plan everything around my trips back to Pittsburgh. Thankfully, my wife is very understanding and knew I was like this Before we were married.

So, that’s my ‘brief’ story and the reason for this Blog. I’m going to take a lot of time during the early stages to put up as many ‘old’ photos and stories as I can while keeping up with the current season. Now that I think about this, I probably should have started this in the Off Season, nah…….what fun would that be.

Thanks for stopping by and if you are a STEELER FANATIC like me, get ready for a fun ride this year!

Here we go Steelers – Here we Go!

History of the Steeler Logo

Pat — Sun, 02 Oct 2005 01:21:34 +0000

The Steelers logo is based on the Steelmark logo belonging to the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI). Created by U.S. Steel Corp. (now known as USX Corp.), the logo contains three hypocycloids (diamond shapes).

In the 1950s, when helmet logos became popular, the Steelers added players’ numbers to either side of their gold helmets. Later that decade, the numbers were removed and in 1962, Cleveland’s Republic Steel suggested to the Steelers that they use the Steelmark as a helmet logo.

When the Steelmark logo was created, U.S. Steel attached the following meaning to it: Steel lightens your work, brightens your leisure and widens your world. The logo was used as part of a major marketing campaign to educate consumers about how important steel is in our daily lives. The Steelmark logo was used in print, radio and television ads as well as on labels for all steel products, from steel tanks to tricycles to filing cabinets.

In the 1960s, U.S. Steel turned over the Steelmark program to the AISI, where it came to represent the steel industry as a whole. During the 1970s, the logo’s meaning was extended to include the three materials used to produce steel: yellow for coal, orange for ore and blue for steel scrap. In the late 1980s, when the AISI founded the Steel Recycling Institute (SRI), the logo took on a new life reminiscent of its 1950s meaning.

The Steelers had to petition the AISI in order to change the word “Steel” inside the Steelmark to “Steelers” before the logo was complete.

The Steelers are the only NFL team that sports their logo on only one side of the helmet. At first, this was a temporary measure because the Steelers weren’t sure they would like the look of the logo on an all-gold helmet. They wanted to test them before going all-out.

Equipment manager Jack Hart was instructed to put the logo only on one side of the helmet – the right side. The 1962 Steelers finished 9-5 and became the winningest team in franchise history to date. The team finished second in the Eastern Conference and qualified for the Playoff Bowl. They wanted to do something special for their first postseason game, so they changed the color of their helmets from gold to black, which helped to highlight the new logo.

Because of the interest generated by having the logo on only one side of their helmets and because of their team’s new success, the Steelers decided to leave it that way permanently.

Today’s helmet reflects the way the logo was originally applied and it has never been changed.