The Terrible Towel sucks

 

Thing holding a soaking-wet towel after the 2004 AFC Championship Game.

Pretty sure a lot of people know the story behind the Terrible Towel.  Basically the Steelers used to have a color commentator until he died.  He was Myron Cope.  He didn't bring any knowledge of football to the broadcast, spoke in broken sentences, and just made up words as the game went along.  So basically he was the ideal broadcaster for the Pittsburgh Steelers' fanbase to get behind.

According to Wikipedia, the Terrible Towel has its roots in the Steelers' Steroid Run in the 1970s, and it is steeped in Myron Cope's bullshit:

Two weeks prior to the Steelers' first playoff game of the 1975 season, the team's flagship radio station WTAE's Vice President and General Manager, Ted J. Atkins, and President of Sales, Larry Garrett, explained that they needed Cope's assistance in inventing a "gimmick" in order to attract sponsors to his daily commentaries and talk show. Initially, Cope did not want to participate, saying "I am not a gimmick guy, never have been a gimmick guy." However, after Garrett's suggestion that a successful gimmick would be good leverage for a raise in Cope's upcoming contract renewal, Cope replied, "I'm a gimmick guy."

Steeler fans can take solace in the fact that the puke-yellow washrags they twirl around are the result of Myron Cope wanting more money for himself.



The rest of that Wikipedia entry has loads of more information, including an entire section devoted to other teams and fanbases knocking Steeler fans down a peg by defacing the towel. But, of course, a Yinzer wrote the Wikipedia article because apparently there is a "curse" surrounding anyone who desecrates the Terrible Towel.



Get fucking real.  Only Steeler fans would think that even inanimate articles of fabric are pulling for the Steelers to win.


 
 Here's that piece of scum Hines Ward waving the Terrible Towel on Dancing With The Stars.  This was before he got his DUI that was swept under the rug.  More on Hines Ward later.