Is Bill Cowher a traitor?

It’s been said before, but we’re big time fans of other sports teams besides the Steelers…the Pittsburgh Pirates and Penguins and the Penn State Nittany Lions.

So right now, we’re sporting some disgusting playoff beards and are in full NHL mode.

Interestingly enough, old friend of the Steelers’ Bill Cowher has turned into a figure of contreversey in the Eastern Conference Finals of the NHL.

In case you’ve been living under a rock, Cowher routinely mans the “warning siren” for the Hurricanes home rink in Raleigh.

Penguins fans aren’t too happy and our friends at tPB are in full “jobbing” mode.

But is Bill Cowher really a turncoat? Find out after the jump.

I wrote a rant a little while back calling out Steeler Nation for people having loyalties outside of Western Pennsylvania. In case you didn’t catch it, the main point was that Pittsburgh isn’t always perfect for everybody, a simple point that yinzers seem to overlook when the expect every player to sign for 1/4 of their worth to wear some form of the black and gold.

But where does a former coach who grew up a yinzer fit into the picture?

Before Steelers and Penguins fans are ready to throw Cowher over the Smithfield Bridge, let’s think about a few things.

1. Bill Cowher was a football coach. Yes, another obvious fact that people seem to be missing. Another annoying trait of yinzers is that they (err…we) automatically expect each athlete of the local teams to become an impassioned supporter of every other team in the area. Evgeni Malkin at a Pirates game? Breathtaking! John Russell in Mellon Arena? Remarkable! This goes along with the “belief” that everybody secretly loves Pittsburgh and is just waiting for the right time to reveal it.

If Cowher is sounding a siren for the Cleveland Browns or the Baltimore Ravens, this might be something worth getting worked up about. But he had nothing to do with hockey in Pittsburgh while he was here and his job was not to be a Pittsburgh Penguins fan.

2. Bill Cowher was a fine coach and a fine representative of the city. The AFC Championship loses sucked balls, let’s just throw the obvious out there. Cowher’s legacy will always be coming one game short in my eyes, but a dozen or so divison titles is a whole lot better than many coaches ever accomplish. Cowher’s playoff strategy was far from flawless, but don’t forget that he was stuck working with Neil O’Donnell and Kordell Stewart most of his tenure as coach…two guys who aren’t exactly known as being “clutch.” Once Roethlisberger showed up, it only took Cowher two years to win the big game. Oh, and a few of those big playoff losses were to a Patriots team that was very, very good, as much as we’d all like to forget

Cowher’s worth ethic, background, and protruding jawline also made him the “face” of Pittsburgh during his time as head coach. He rarely did anything stupid or embarrassing and was a guy that Steeler Nation related to and felt confidence in as a leader.

3. One turn of a siren does not undo 15 seasons of great service. Truth be known, I could care less who Bill Cowher roots for now and where he chooses to live. If he was still a member of the Pittsburgh Steelers organization maybe this would matter, but he’s gone. While he was in town, the Steelers won 161 games, 2 AFC Championships, and a coveted 5th Super Bowl ring. He was a fierce competitor and was everything the Rooney’s envisioned him to be when he was a young defensive coordinator in Kansas City.

Bill Cowher came to Pittsburgh to win a championship and he did that. As diehard Pittsburgh fans, that’s all we should really care about. This is where us as fans need to draw a line.

Dan Rooney supported Barack Obama, so McCain fans should start buying Joe Flacco jerseys?
Nate McLouth is a Red Wings fan, maybe Buccos fans should pelt him with garbage during the SCF?

Athletes, coaches, and sports managers who live and work in Pittsburgh have lives and passions that exist beyond Allegheny County…yes, even ones who grew up here.

So it will hurt a little bit…or a lot…to see our former coach cheering for the Hurricanes tonight. But anybody who thinks this ruins his legacy or makes him a traitor should be out on the golf course making up conspiracy theories with Capitals and Flyers fans. The only coach that Steelers fans need to worry about is Mike Tomlin and if Penguins fans are worked up over Bill Freakin’ Cowher when they are a game away from heading to the SCF, then God help us all indeed.

Go Steelers.

Go Pens.

Long live Bill Cowher.