Steelers game #9

Nothing beats a regular season playoff game. For all intensive purposes, if we lost to the Bears, we were done for the season. The roads were pretty slick that morning. Lots of snow fell overnight and there was a mix of light rain. We picked up friends in Washington, PA. Nicole and her husband - I really like these two. I took them to an Allman Brothers show a year ago, but that's largely irrelevant.
I hooked up with the regulars. It seemed they were partying a little extra hard - probably just trying to stay warm. It wasn't freezing but the forecast did call for snow showers. We made our way through the lot and I couldn't help but notice this crew of a dozen tailgaters. They had a massive RV decked out with Bears logos and all the amenities - directv hookup, mammoth grill, portable bar, etc. Unfortunately for them, they also had a prime parking spot on the corner of Gold Lot A. I doubt they had considered that 40,000 out of the 65,000 Steeler fans would end up walking right by their RV. The end result - they were getting pummelled with snowballs from every conceivable direction. I'd say about 100 per minute - no joke. They were holding up ok, swatting some of them away, and occasionally, they'd throw an errant one back at the crowd. I sat and watched for about 5 minutes. It proved to be a good lesson for opposing crowds at late season games. If the forecast calls for snow, you might want to rethink your tailgating agenda.
Due to the cold weather, tickets were everywhere - easiest score of the year. I ended up getting a freebie from a Marine who was helping with the toys for tots campaign. I honestly could have wall-papered my laundry room with extra tickets.
Hooked up with G Max and Rip for the second half. They had great seats on the 35 yard line - probably the 2nd best seat I had all year.
Then, an all-out white-out descended upon us. We were getting pelted with wet snow for almost the entire second half. You couldn't see anything beyond the stadium. The skyline and Mt. Washington were nonexistent. It was actually very surreal. I was a little worried about the drive home, but it turned out to be a non-issue as the snow never really stuck. Steelers ended up taking care of busines with Bettis and Hines Ward leading the way.

Steelers 21
Bears 9