The Steel Crane

The Steel Crane

The Cast

By The Fillerbuster

04 March 2023

My Uncle died this week.  No, this isn’t a depressing outlet of the sadness I feel.  No, this isn’t a non-sports blog on a sports blog website.  No, I won’t bore you with details of the life and death of someone you don’t know and something that is personal to me.

This is a celebration of two things.  This IS sports related.  This is something Uncle David would have loved if he was still with us.  This isn’t everything I knew him or loved him for, but these two things called to me to put on paper.

Steelers.  Karate Kid.

Two things I adore.  Two things I love.  Two things that changed my life.

Let’s address the second one first, as I just got reminded of this after a long overdue discussion with my cousin.  We all used to watch this movie religiously.  Karate Kid.  Along with his urging for me to be a free spirit, pursue what I want, make the mistakes that would make me better, and take adventures, we used to watch this movie.  I did all of those things, and still love Karate Kid (by the way, if you are not on Cobra Kai and like Karate Kid to any degree, you should stop reading this and use this time to watch an episode).  I totally forgot about this Karate Kid item until my cousin Arick reminded me.  Maybe that is why I have used The Crane actually in a fight situation in a bar (true story, and the guy ended up laughing so hard that I did it and said he couldn’t defend it that we forgot what we were mad at).  Maybe that is why I watch it on TV whenever I am on the couch when nothing else too important is going on even though I could watch it on demand at any point in my life.  The improvisational moment seems more on point.  Maybe it is why I quote it constantly, to the chagrin of wife, friends, and people who probably aren’t friends with me since I quote the movie too much.  Maybe that is why Mr. Miyagi sayings mean just as much or more than Confucius.  Anyway, don’t ever talk trash about Karate Kid in my presence.  I thought I knew why I loved it just because it was what it was, but the loss of Uncle David and the conversation with Arick reminded me why it is possibly engrained in my subconscious.  Sweep the leg.

Second, the Steelers.  I am PRETTY sure this is how the story goes.  And, if this is the wrong account, and I am pretty sure it is not incorrect, this is the story I have told every single Sunday for my entire life when people wonder why I am a Steelers fan.  Here is what I got.  I am from Philly, well South Jersey, and my entire family was Eagles fans.  I remember my dad taking me to a 38-0 stomping at Veterans Stadium when I was little and people around me using words I didn’t understand.  Our family was was South Jersey Silver Linings Playbook.  Anyway, I was born in 1972.  I remember getting black and gold gear (he lived in Bradford, just north of Pittsburgh) very early in life.  Maybe he had a feeling.  Maybe he wanted to piss off my Eagles family.  Maybe, he knew the path I was supposed to take.  But, the gear came by mail, and when I was three, they won their first Super Bowl in 1975 and I never looked back.  My favorite player was Rocky Bleier, and my mom later let me read a book with cuss words (Fighting Back)!  Actually, now that I think about it, my first book was that, and my first tape my mom let me buy was Van Halen 1984, which had a baby smoking a cigarette on the album cover.  Wait, now that I think about it, I had a pretty cool mom, lol.  Back to the story.  My uncle from western PA made me a Steelers fan right outside of Philly.  Again, he was telling me to think outside the box and not have to be the person who was born in some local box that I had to abide to.  I am still a Steelers fan to this day.  I have lived in Denver since 1997, and still won’t switch teams.  My wife and I actually had a early date where I got “Tebowed” at the Broncos stadium.  I hope she burnt the tape of me after.  Anyway, that may or may not be the right Steelers/Uncle David story, but it has been a tough week, and the way I remember it is the way I want to remember it.

So, thanks for letting me vent.  Thanks for reading.  Thanks for letting me let you know that I think The Crane is the most unstoppable move in fighting, why Mr. Miyagi is the wisest man to walk this Earth, why the Steelers are my organization forever, and why I miss that man.  I could spend hours thinking about why we didn’t talk later in his years and feel bad about it, but he is the one person who probably knew we both knew this and who appreciated the cards I sent here and there and treasured every single word we exchanged.  He got it. We both dropped the ball, but it was all good in some ways, even if we had to reach for those ways. We were separate, but always knew the bond we had.  The Steel Crane.  Steelers.  Karate Kid.  I am going to sift through some old photos and find balance, wax on/wax off, and look at some old Jack Lambert photos of him staring down the QB.  Maybe today is the day that I paint the fence.  Or maybe my next tattoo will be The Crane with Danielson (only half joking).