On the Steelers: A black and gold Christmas
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Still searching for Christmas gifts for that special Steelers fan? We have some no-brainers that actually might stimulate a fan's brain. These gifts are simple to find, relatively cheap and easy to wrap or stuff in a stocking.
They are books and one DVD. Some of the books are new and some have been published within the past few years. We've read -- or watched -- them, done all the work and weeded through others that are not recommended here.
You can find all of them in local bookstores, on websites such as Amazon.com or at individual websites or addresses listed here:
'Rooney, A Sporting Life'
By Rob Ruck, Maggie Jones Patterson and Michael P. Weber
It's voluminous, 641 pages including the index, but it's the "War and Peace" of the most important figure in Steelers history, Art Rooney. The book was a decade in the planning and writing and even more in the research. Everything is there, including details about The Chief's big haul at the race tracks, which occurred in 1937 and not, as myth has had it for so long, before he entered the team in the NFL in 1933.
'The Chief'
Starring Tom Atkins
You've read the book? Now go see the movie. 'The Chief' was the hit one-man play so well performed by Atkins annually for nearly a decade, and it's now been turned into a movie. The DVD captures the essence of the play. Many of us who knew Rooney have done double-takes watching Atkins, who at times looks uncannily like The Chief and has the voice to go with it.
People I know in football, such as former New York Giants general manager Ernie Accorsi, made pilgrimages to Pittsburgh to see 'The Chief' on stage. Now everyone can see it, and with some of the extras that go with DVDs.
One problem might be finding it. The local Borders were sold out, so I ordered one online before Thanksgiving and it's still on back order so you might have to look harder and be patient. I received a copy from a family member so I could review it.
First Published December 12, 2010 12:00 am
