Okay, so get this: The entire NFL news outlet we’re all constantly hitting refresh on? Yeah, it didn’t just magically appear. Believe it or not, this site actually launched 25 years ago, but the real story, the one that sparked it all, started 34 years ago today. A reader just dropped a reminder that it all goes back to a baseball fan’s absolute gut-punch, the kind that makes you walk away from the game forever.
Before the Gridiron, There Was the Diamond
Before he was all-in on football, the guy who started this whole thing was a straight-up baseball fanatic, soaking up every pitch. Growing up a mere 60 miles from Pittsburgh, it was all about the Pirates for him. He was that kid, poring over newspaper box scores every single day, living and breathing the game. Picture this: listening to games on the radio with his grandfather, who apparently had a Tupperware container that often missed its mark as a spittoon. Gross, maybe, but pure fan dedication. That 1979 “We Are Family” Pirates squad? Man, that felt like pure magic, a once-in-a-lifetime ride. Little did he know, it really was.
The Crushing Blows That Ended Fandom
The ’80s weren’t kind to those Pirates, hitting rock bottom in 1985 with a brutal 57-104 record. Ouch. But then, by the end of the decade, the team actually started looking legit, setting themselves up for three straight National League East titles. The 1990 NLCS loss to the Reds, 4-2? That felt like bonus money, just a warm-up. “Next year’s gonna be our year!” was probably the mantra. Then 1991 rolled around, and blowing a 3-2 lead to the Braves in the NLCS? That stung. A lot. But the writer calls it “just the appetizer.” The absolute lowest point possible, the moment his time as a baseball fan officially ended, was the 1992 NLCS. He and his future wife were actually there for multiple games, even the night Deion Sanders showed up after playing a football game. That series, that heartbreak, was the final straw.
That’s right, that soul-crushing 1992 NLCS loss wasn’t just a tough defeat for a Pirates fan, it was the specific domino that fell, the moment his heart broke for baseball. And from that personal lowest point, an entirely new path opened up, eventually leading to the creation of the very NFL news outlet we’re all relying on for our football fix today. Crazy how things turn out, huh?
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Pro Football Talk.
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