Bluffing the Marcos General

This firsthand account is posted here in its entirety on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the EDSA People Power nonviolent revolt which ousted former Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos in February of 1986.


Bluffing the Marcos General

by Colonel Romeo Y. Lim
Philippine Army (Ret.)

ON 21 February 1986, I took the first flight of Philippine Airlines bound for Cebu to represent my then commander, Brigadier General Felix Brawner II (Philippine Military Academy Class of 1957) at the burial of one of our officers -- the late Captain Jess Ygot who was killed in an ambush in Davao a few days back.

Ygot was killed by a sniper after the V-150 armored tank they were riding was overturned by a landmine. He and his troops would have survived the landmine explosion but the NPA (New Peoples Army) started to burn the V-150 and they had to bail out because of the intense heat. As they got out of the armored tank, the NPA opened fire on them.

After the burial, I left the same day and was joined on the plane by then Captain Felix Calimag who was the escort officer of Ygot's remains. We both went straight to headquarters of the First Scout Ranger Regiment (FSRR) in Fort Bonifacio in Manila direct from the airport and were greeted by a surprise party. Apparently, the party was for me and Captain Calimag because we shared the same birth date. The party lasted until the early morning of 22 February 1986.

At the time, my regimental commander who graduated no. 1 in his class, held two concurrent positions. He was J-3 (Chief of Operations) of GHQ, Armed Forces of the Philippines and Commander of the FSRR. Because of his very hectic schedule, Brig. Gen. Brawner delegated the administrative duties of the FSRR to me. It was no easy task as I had to oversee the operations of five Scout Ranger battalions, 14 independent companies, one training center and three task groups deployed from Aparri to Cagayan de Sulu near North Borneo.

Although I was his Chief of Staff, I held a temporary rank of Lieutenant Colonel. Not only was I the only Chief of Staff in the Philippine Army who held that rank temporarily, I was also the youngest lieutenant colonel at the time. Brig. Gen. Brawner's schedule made it possible for him to visit the FSRR headquarters only during Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday (athletic days) to sign documents and issue any important instructions. The rest of the week, he would communicate by telephone.

I was groggy from the previous night's celebration when Brig. Gen. Brawner called me on the phone that fateful day of February 22, 1986 to inform me that Defense Minister Juan Ponce Enrile and Armed Forces of the Philippines Vice Chief of Staff General Fidel Ramos had withdrawn their support from President Ferdinand Marcos.

Right away he asked me about the status of the troops inside the garrison and I told him that we had the newly organized 3rd Scout Ranger Battalion and two independent companies ready for deployment. I had initially put together the 3rd Battalion but I subsequently turned over the command to my kumpadre who was then Major Ricardo Brillantes of PMA Class of 72 (now Major General of the Army Support Command, Philippine Army) who was newly relieved from the Scout Ranger Training Center at Camp Capinpin in Tanay, Rizal.

I declared a red alert but some of the troops had already left for the weekend. My First Sergeant also informed me that the night before, an unidentified person delivered a counter-sign ribbon to the headquarters and he asked me what to do about it. That fed my suspicions that some members of my unit had already joined the military rebels.

On Sunday, February 23, the group of then Defense Minister Enrile and General Ramos transferred to Camp Crame from Camp Aguinaldo. Another kumpadre, Major Delfin Lorenzana (PMA Class of 73) called me from Crame and told me not to deploy any troops without informing him first. He also said that half of his class was already in Camp Crame.

I gave in to his request.

At the time, the group of Enrile and Ramos feared the Scout Rangers the most because it was an elite military unit under the command of Brig. General Brawner who was known to be very loyal to President Marcos and was a trusted ally of then Armed Forces Chief of Staff Fabian Ver.

That day, I was summoned to report to the Headquarters of the Philippine Army. I was very surprised when I entered the conference room because I was the only officer in uniform who was not a general. Among the 'star' personalities present were Rear Admiral Ochoco who was then Flag-Officer-in-Command of the Philippine Navy; Major General Josephus Ramas, Commanding General of the Philippine Army; Major General Piccio, Commanding General of the Philippine Air Force; Brigadier General Tadiar, Commandant of the Philippine Marines; Brig. General Antonio Zumel, Superintendent of the Philippine Military Academy; Brig. Gen. Cerilo Oropesa, Chief of Staff of the Philippine Army and five other generals whose names I cannot recall.

One prominent civilian personality who was at the conference was then Governor Dulay of Quirino Province who was a former Constabulary officer. He later died in prison after being implicated in the Suzuki Boys of Batanes scandal.

The group's consensus was for me to bring one company of Scout Rangers to EDSA and upon reaching the area, to open fire at the crowd so they would disperse. My conscience rebelled against these instructions and right then and there, I came up with an idea to stall them so they would not force me to immediately carry out the orders.

I told them that I would initially send my intelligence officer to assist the ground troops. Then I went back to the FSRR headquarters and told my staff that if anyone looked for me, I was off reporting to Brig. General Brawner. The fact was, I stayed inside our radio room in the basement listening to radio communications and making myself unavailable to the pro-Marcos forces.

On the evening of that Sunday, Colonel Irwin Ver (PMA Class of 70), son of Gen. Fabian Ver, presented the coup plotters to the Philippine Army troops at the Philippine Army Gym at Fort Bonifacio. Three of them were my friends and kumpadres: then Col. Jake Malajacan (PMA Class of 71), Major Ric Brillantes, and Captain Saulito Aromin (PMA Class of 74).

On February 23 of Monday morning I started calling up the family and relatives of Brig. Gen. Brawner to trace his whereabouts. I also called up Lt. Col. Dunda Matabalao, the commander of the Scout Ranger Training Center who was an outstanding and brilliant Muslim officer. He was one officer whom Brig. Gen. Brawner had a high regard for.

Philippine Army command continued to call my office but my staff denied that I was in the vicinity and gave the excuse that I was probably at EDSA. In the meantime, my junior officers from PMA Classes '82 and '84 were already very restless and itching to go to EDSA to join the anti-Marcos forces. I told them that we shared the same sentiments but I needed time to extract Brig. Gen. Brawner who was still in Malacanang. I wanted him out of harm's way but at the same time, I also did not want him to pressure the troops to follow unconscionable orders.

Over at Malacanang, President Marcos was being interviewed by a TV anchor who asked him about the continuous defection of his generals. Marcos confidently said that the cream of the crop among the generals were still loyal to him. My heart then sank when I saw Brigadier General Brawner standing behind the President.

I immediately called up Malacanang and asked to talk to General Ver. When he got hold of the phone, he immediately asked me what the problem was. I told him that I directed the Scout Rangers to go to EDSA to disperse the crowd but the soldiers were hesitant to follow my orders unless it was Brig. Gen. Brawner himself who told them. I begged, pleaded and cajoled General Ver to allow Brig. Gen. Brawner to proceed to Fort Bonifacio to join the troops, at the same time praying that my bluff would work. I also told him that this decision was the consensus of the officers after I had a dialogue with them.

Ver called my bluff. Thereafter, Brig. General Brawner himself rang me to say he was proceeding to the FSRR headquarters. Upon knowing this, i contacted Mrs. Brawner, some close relatives of his and Col. Matabalao and asked them to proceed to the headquarters. There, I instructed them on what to do.

When the general arrived, I took him aside. I suggested to him that in view of everything that was happening, it would be better if he instructed the troops to "freeze", that is, not to move in favor of any side. He looked at me and in an indignant tone told me that "freezing" the troops would be an act of cowardice. With that, I requested him to pass by his room where he saw his wife, relatives, and Col. Matabalao. Except for the colonel, everyone started crying. All of them asked him to defect. Meanwhile, I gathered all the officers and told them that if Brig. General Brawner asks who was still willing to fight for President Marcos then no one should raise their hand. Sure enough, the general called for a command conference and asked the question.

No one raised their hands.

Visibly surprised at the outcome of the conference, the general returned to his room. It was already late afternoon of Monday, the 24th of February. He then told his wife, children, close relatives and Col. Matabalao that he was no longer going back to Malacanang.

After this emotional meeting, I immediately ordered our demolition experts to start burying landmines on the road leading from the entrance to the regiment to the headquarters. I was apprehensive that our neighbors, the Philippine Marines, would try to attack us since they were still allied with Marcos at that time. By late afternoon, I gathered the junior officers led by then Lt. Noel Buan (now a Medal of Valor awardee after being held by the NPA) and told them to go to Channel 4 and announce that the Scout Rangers were now allied with the Enrile-Ramos group. I called up Major Delfin Lorenzana to tell him what transpired at the Scout Rangers headquarters when then Col. Gregorio Honasan grabbed the phone and congratulated me. The phone was then handed to General Ramos who likewise congratulated me.

But being the skeptic that he was especially because of the situation, General Ramos instructed me to ask Gen. Rodolfo Canieso (PMA Class of 56) to go to the FSRR headquarters and check the veracity of the rangers' defection. When I contacted Gen. Canieso, he jokingly questioned how I, as a lieutenant colonel, had the gall to direct a general.

When Canieso arrived at headquarters, he was visibly pleased to see the Scout Rangers intact and now allies of the anti-Marcos forces. If Brawner had any second thoughts about this decision to stand down, Canieso's presence dispeled any doubt. He had to act in deference to Canieso who was an upper classman.

On the morning of Tuesday, February 25, 1986, I instructed my soldiers to shoot anyone entering the FSRR headquarters who did not immediately identify themsleves as allies of the rebel forces since we were only a few hundred meters from the Army headquarters. I also told them not to answer any phone calls. Fearing the worst, I detailed a battle strategy where we would use the nearby Libingan ng mga Bayani (National Heroes Cemetery) as an exit point should we be overwhelmed.

No such confrontation happened. Later that day, Col. Honasan called me to ask if I can accommodate the Philippine Marines who were going to surrender. When I said yes, hordes of Marines came and laid down their arms at our headquarters. Promptly issuing them the required receipts for their respective arms, rebels and surrenderees all sat down to a table to partake of whatever food we had available.

That night, President Ferdinand Edralin Marcos, the 10th President of the Republic of the Philippines, left Malacanang Palace to start his exile in Hawaii. He was destined to die in a foreign land several years later.

The rest, they say, is history.

--

Making Primadonnas and Show Business Figures Walk the Plank

Winter Olympics competition? ho hum. The Oscars? who cares? Both participants and audiences from these two boring events can take a tip from SI's Frank Deford's observations below.

Sports-World Lessons for Hollywood

February 1, 2006

from National Public Radio's (NPR) Morning Edition

LINDA WERTHEIMER, host: Some friendly wagers may be made on this weekend's Super Bowl, and those who are not avid fans of the Seattle Seahawks or the Pittsburgh Steelers, may skip watching the game and instead head to the movies.

Commentator Frank Deford says Hollywood could learn a thing or two from professional sports.

FRANK DEFORD (Sports commentator, Sports Illustrated): The two most popular things that people pay to go to see are games and movies. The celebratory apex of the sports and film year is upon us again, first with the Super Bowl this Sunday and then with the Academy Awards a month hence. But it's a much better time for sports, isn't it?

The Super Bowl is invariably the most watched TV show of the year, while the Oscars struggle to keep a much smaller audience. Not only that, but there's even talk now that someday soon, people won't even go out to movie theaters anymore. All films will go directly for DVD viewing at home.

Perhaps Hollywood can learn a thing or two from sports. Now, first of all, there's a huge difference between the way movie and sports success is tabulated. Sports publicizes the number of people who show up for games, attendance. And what do movies do? Every week you read about how much money films grossed, receipts. This is crazy. I don't want to be
told how much Warner Brothers makes any more than I want to know how much George Steinbrenner makes.

The dopey Hollywood bean counters would encourage us to want to go to a movie more if we knew, say, that so many actual people, human beings, saw such and such a movie last week. Why, if I knew that millions of actual people were going to an Adam Sandler movie, I might even be tempted to go to that. No.

But it is revealing that whereas most sports tickets cost more than movie tickets, people complain more about the cost of movie tickets. Of course they do, they see how much movies gross, not how many people watched.

Also, movie theaters should have luxury boxes. This is supposed to be a democracy, but sports has proven that we prefer stratification when we assemble. The Academy Awards should be run like sports playoffs. Instead of having five nominees, say, for the Best Actor's category all sitting there on Oscar night, eight actresses would have been nominated yesterday. And in the next few weeks they would have been paired against each other. For example, Academy
voters would have to choose Felicity Huffman or Dame Judi Dench, the winner to meet the winner of the Charlize Theron, Reese Witherspoon quarter final. Hello Hollywood, playoffs build interest.

The Super Bowl also attracts a larger audience with its halftime show, which appeals to many people who don't care for football. This Sunday, for example, the Rolling Stones will interrupt the football. The Academy Awards should use the same philosophy and have a halftime show with sports. What's sauce for the goose is, right?

For instance, this year after the semi-final best actor vote between Philip Seymour Hoffman and Heath Ledger is announced, halftime sports. We could, for example, have Tiger Woods, Vijay Singh, and Phil Mickelson playing a par three hole, or Shaquille O'Neal, Tim Duncan and Yao Ming in a free throw shooting contest, right there on the Oscar stage.

Of course, this is not to say that the Super Bowl couldn't learn something from the Academy Awards. I think that Joan Rivers ought to be outside the Detroit stadium, discussing what clothes the players are wearing to the game. Why, here comes Ben Roethlisberger now, wearing a perfectly gorgeous brown car coat from TJ Max, with a lovely plaid lumberjack
shirt from K-Mart, muddy brown Dockers, all set off by a dreamy black and gold baseball cap. Ben, Ben, over here on the red carpet. Ben, Ben.

WERTHEIMER: The comments of Frank Deford, senior contributing writer at Sports
Illustrated. He joins us each Wednesday from member station WFHU in Fairfield, Connecticut.

This is Morning Edition from NPR News, I'm Linda Wertheimer.

A Valentine's Day Ode to Self Empowerment and Technology

Entertainment only the Muslims can deliver - 'Jack Nicholson in my Living Room - screen grab from One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, 1993' and 'Moro National Liberation Front Surrender, Lanao Del Norte, Mindanao, Philippines, 1991', all images, Ben Razon

I've been incommunicado for the past three and a half weeks blithely ignoring all that's happened to local civilization, but not just because i'd been following the run-up of my Pittsburgh Steelers to the Super Bowl but anyway, it's been about my discovery of something else of late, and why the entire Muslim brotherhood of DVD piracy and smuggling of wherever I could find racks and piles of discs in the basements of Makati Cinema Square, the crowded narrow streets of Arlegui, and the hallowed halls of Harrison Plaza should all receive a commendation of service and duty which they have given to the select citizenry of this metropolis starved for ANY alternative means to the wowowee salvation through mass stampede entertainment - and who have vowed never to patronize the usual pied piper's show business offering of garbage or death in this godforsaken metro void.

But here's the neatest, most defiant, beating the establishment angle to this. I RIP the contents of these carefully chosen but soon to be unplayable and worthless DVD discs to the computer hard drive and I do the next nastiest and deliciously badass step: convert these movies, concerts, and select features for transfer to the coolest, most portable instrument receptacle gadget of them all: the fifth generation video iPod. This is the first time in the history of modern man that one can literally carry in one's warm pocket and close possession all their favored, cherished, and most personal copies of undictated, uninfluenced, and unpressured selection of entertainment, after having used one's brain and the one thing that cannot ever be bought or copied -- the matter of personal TASTE that defines any civilized person in this day and age. That, and on top of a middle-finger, damn the torpedoes, screw your bottom line profit stance to the pimps and moneychangers of hollywood, broadway, the western world and anyone who dares call themselves a media entity.

Which to us mortals with any feeling, wits or intellect left, IS the true service and empowerment purpose of technology. So aside from wishing you, one and all a happy valentine's.....

um, what's on your iPod? ;-)

Life after the Super Bowl

Back to photography after watching women's beach volleyball and the Super Bowl? Not on your sorry piss ass life. Let's talk about other more INTERESTING things happening in the world wide world. Since it's Valentine's tomorrow, let's talk about flowers, shall we?

The United States started granting refugee status for the almost 15,000 Hmong refugees staying illegally at the Wat Tham Krabong in the province of Saraburi, Thailand. A registration process started February 2004 at the refugee camp, which squats on land owned by the Wat (Thai for temple).

In a statement issued by the U.S. State Department in December 2003, the U.S. will open a refugee resettlement programme for the Hmong who had been told by Thai authorities that they are no longer welcome to stay.

During the Vietnam War, the Hmong were recruited and trained by the C.I.A. to form a secret army to fight the communists. When the Pathet Lao took over the country in 1975,thousands fled to neighbouring Thailand.

In the 1990s, a Buddhist monk offered the Hmong refuge into the Wat after efforts by the Thai government to repatriate them back into neighbouring Laos. The temple is actually a rehabilitation centre for drug addicts.

The Thai government became intolerant of the camp. The Thai military took control of the temple and made it a restricted area after they accused it of harbouring drug traffickers and members of the Hmong resistance movement waging a guerrilla war against the Lao government. Coils of razor wire ring the camp. The Thai army controls entry and exit to and from the camp.

Most of the younger generation of Hmong have been living in the camp all their lives and are eager to relocate to the United States. More likely to end up in Saint Paul, Minnesota where the largest Hmong population live. The elderly, however, are more reluctant.

The Hmong sustain themselves in the camp by making and selling silver craft, knives, farm tools and embroidery, most of which are exported to the United States. Others who have managed to get work permits work outside the camps in factories and in farms.

Most have relatives living in the U.S., but are concerned about 'being a burden' to their new host families as they fear they will have no source of income and will not find work when they resettle. Very few are skilled apart from farming and silver/blacksmithing. Fewer speak English.

The Hmong is reported to have the highest male suicide rate among the ethnic minorities living in the U.S.

and those fucking flowers? they're on the wall at the oarhouse right now.

jose enrique soriano

'flowers of the philippines' - a refreshing exhibit of colourful images of philippine flowers by jose enrique soriano, now showing at the oarhouse. bring butterflies.

The Morning After

Okay, i've gotten a restful night's sleep after yesterday's and much of last week's marathon activity of football postings in the run-up to the Super Bowl and my poor computer may be the only thing more exhausted than i am in all the time i've kept it on monitoring mode of all the sports sites with game analyses, updates and stories on the Pittsburgh-Seattle game. The rest of creation seems to fade away into oblivion when you're an american football fan during the NFL season especially around playoff and the conference championship clashes, and that's just as well with me since it keeps me pumped and hyper-involved about something besides other current events crap of music, art, photography and least of all the politics of tragedy, society, religion, public relations, egocentricities and fashion. Yes, it's about mental and emotional housecleaning at this time of year simply because the exercise puts everything in right and proper perspective that man is basically the insane animal that he is to begin with, and there is nothing you can do for them. NOTHING. Get my point?

Hell, the king of American Trash host Jerry Springer himself couldn't come up with this even in his most inspired moment.

So I say, Talk to The Hand, and the Pacman can go fight King Kong next for all I care.

Is there anything left looking up to in God's good earth? I'm asking.

Ben

ps - why are there no pictures from yesterday's super bowl breakfast at the oarhouse? yeah i brought my camera alright bright and early 6am but did you know that in the excitement of watching the game i forgot to take pictures of the local and expat crowd that gathered, i was just glued to the TV and my nerves were frazzled for most of the 1st and 2nd quarters because the steelers looked like they were still looking for their pacing in the game until they finally got a comfortable lead in the second half (this was right after I finished my breakfast while watching mick jagger and the stones at the halftime show which i immediately followed up with ice cold san miguels, yes, before 10 o'clock in the morning, folks) where lo and behold pittsburgh started SCORING and letting the alcohol settle in while sitting at the bar with a bunch of other football crazies, so i really didn't have much choice but to go with the sweeping tide of the others who were already pounding back the beers, so things got REALLY happy and LOUD as the counting down to the two-minute warning in the fourth and final quarter of the game and just feeling so ecstatic that pittsburgh was finally getting its fifth super bowl trophy and joining the ranks of two other NFL teams, the cowboys and the 49ers to have 5 Vince Lombardi Trophies in their prized possession. whew! great game, great time. :)

Victory!

Jerome Bettis, a.k.a. 'The BUS', holds the fifth Vince Lombardi NFL Championship Trophy of the Pittsburgh Steelers upon winning Super Bowl XL in Detroit's Ford Field yesterday.

photo courtesy of AP/Winslow Townson, and Pittsburgh Steelers Official NFL Site

The SHOWDOWN in MOTOWN BEGINS

IT all comes down to 60 minutes of football - stretched to a live, globally televised, three-hour sports, advertising and show business spectacle from Detroit for an audience of over a hundred million people glued to their TV sets from Manila to Iraq and back to the heartland of America. It's Super Bowl Game Time, and we're down to the opening kickoff between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Seattle Seahawks in what promises to be a history-making championship game for either team with nearly equal power to power, strength for strength matchups on both offensive and defensive sides in a very physical, aggressively played GAME.

Even for the non-football fan or neophyte viewer, what will come across instantly will be a sense of excitement, immediacy and relentless attack between both the Steelers and the Seahawks played on every instance the ball is snapped. And in the sandwiched breaks and bladder-emptying middle of this pressure-packed four quarters of play, all of Madison Avenue's million-dollar advertising and the entertainment input of Stevie Wonder and the Rolling Stones will heap on more commercial gasoline to the fire which won't come soon enough as we all hold our breath up to the end of this singular most hyped-up event in modern-day sports -- with the team who has wanted it all and fought accordingly to win it, will be given the title of champions.

But in the middle of all this, please remember all that high-definition watching and eating also means staying alive after the game. Or just turn off the damned TV and read Spin Magazine writer Chuck Klosterman's far more entertaining musings. His most recent book, 'Killing Yourself To Live: 85% of a True Story' - may shed light on why this is ALL just so much fun.

Cheers everybody and GO PITTSBURGH! ;-)

Ben

'MOTOWN Moving To The STEELERS' Beat'

The Vince Lombardi Championship Trophies of the National Football League in the Pittsburgh Steeler domain from Super Bowls IX, X, XIII, and XIV. The fifth marked XL is waiting in the wings less than 48 hours in Detroit to come home to Pittsburgh.
Photo/Ben Razon, 1980

"I know the fans have witnessed some immaculate things. Don't give up now. Keep it going. Forget about the dynasty and the '70s. This is your dynasty. You should make it yours. I also told him (Jerome Bettis) to forget about retiring. Remember, when we win Super Bowls, we do them two at a time." -- John 'Frenchy' Fuqua, former Pittsburgh Steelers running back in Super Bowls IX and X, as quoted in the Pittsbugh Post-Gazette article by Robert Dvorchak, February 3, 2006.

Friends of The Oarhouse

Welcoming back a couple of long-lost visitors and prodigal sons to the Oarhouse, photographer mune yamamoto who was here for the first EDSA uprising twenty years ago, and filipino actor bembol roco, an old friend and whose gracious notoriety in the role of 'kumar' as mel gibson's (guy hamilton) 'assistant' in Peter Weir's The Year Of Living Dangerously has never been forgotten. to my left is an actor of equal stature, ronnie lazaro who played the lead character in Raymond Red's 'Anino' which won the Palme d'Or in the short film category at the 53rd Cannes Film Festival in 2000. And that long-haired guy who wishes not to be mentioned is neither a prodigal son or a long lost visitor but on any given night, you'll see him around at the Oar too. I think he's got enough notoriety as it is. ;-)

Ben

American Football Factoids and the Non-Sports Fan's Guide To Super Bowl XL

James Alder on his piece, 'Interesting Super Bowl Factoids' writes, 'Along with 40 years of Super Bowl history come some rather incredible and interesting numbers that describe not only our priorities as a society, but our consumption habits before, during, and after the big game. For instance, did you know that Super Bowl Sunday is the second-largest day of food consumption behind Thanksgiving (American Institute of Food Distribution) and the sales of antacid increases 20 percent the day after (7-11 stores)? Seems logical, huh?'

Here's a great piece by Denise Hazlick of MSNBC for those of you who've been scratching their heads wondering what all the fuss is about the Super Bowl and why even for the non-sports individual, the event in and of itself in all of american sports telecasts is worth a look see if you haven't caught the drift and gist of what it's about.

From JT'S NFL Rant:
'Pittsburgh is a more hard-core sports city because of the success of its professional franchises — from Bill Mazeroski's walk-off home run against the New York Yankees in the ninth of Game 7 the 1960 World Series to Mario Lemieux's strength and grace as he led the Penguins to back-to-back Stanley Cup titles from 1990-92. We remember the “We are Family” 1979 Pirates lead by Willie Stargell, and who could forget “Franco’s Italian Army” and the “Terrible Towel?” '
-- JT the Brick, NBCSports.com Contributor

plus in the astrological order of the stars why, writes Andrea Mallis who carries the curious title of 'Sports Astrologer' (yes there are people who write about american sports at this level of Uranus) Pittsburgh is seen as holding an edge over Seattle according to the lineup of the planets on game day. So go figure.

and finally for those who would just like to brush up on the simple explanation of the ground rules as to how american football is played and would like to just have an idea as to what to expect when they watch this mysterious spectacle on the tube, this site goes about the basics well.

Ben

Taking The BUS Home To Detroit

Steeler running back Franco Harris addresses the Super Bowl XIV victory rally at Point State Park, Pittsburgh, 1980

photo by Ben Razon

It's time to 'fess up' that ever since the Pittsburgh Steelers won their first Super Bowl in 1975 that i've been a diehard and avid fan of the black and gold, all throughout former head coach Chuck Noll's championship years during the 70s of quarterback Terry Bradshaw, running backs Franco Harris and Rocky Bleier, and the vaunted 'Steel Curtain' defense of Joe Greene and Jack Lambert that defeated the Minnesota Vikings, Dallas Cowboys, and the Los Angeles Rams in Super Bowls IX, X, XIII, and XIV.

So with the past we now fast forward to the present team that's preparing to face down the Seattle Seahawks in this year's season-ending game of the NFL. And the story of Jerome Bettis a.k.a. 'The Bus', the veteran Steeler running back who's become the sentimental story of Super Bowl XL, as he winds down his career with Pittsburgh and has come back to his hometown of Detroit to play in what may well be the last game of his 13 years in pro football.

There's a mood and character about the many who've played for the Steeler organization that is unlike any other team in the National Football League, namely one of a certain undeniable loyalty, unity, and unabashed commitment to play one's heart out for the team and win games regardless of what happens on the field. These guys are family members who look out for each other and who have never felt an ounce of jealousy with one another regardless of position, ability and status within the team. And what a fanbase and following they have had over the years. The many ethnic immigrant communities of eastern Europe that make up the city of Pittsburgh are all rabid Steeler fans who speak of the team the way they would be proud of an elder brother or a son who's done good. I felt this when I was living and going to school there, and it's really a very down home, small community atmosphere in which the crucible of Pittsburgh's sports teams have been formed, whether it's the collegiate Pitt Panthers, the Pirates of baseball, or the Penguins in hockey. But on top of the hierarchy is definitely the Steeler flag and the legions of their fans waving the black and gold terrible towels for Coach Bill Cowher and company. With all due respect to the NFC Champion Seattle Seahawks and the hope of a great classic confrontation in the Super Bowl, of course.

The shadow of past Steeler teams who've won four Vince Lombardi trophies for the City of Pittsburgh will be looming over this present-day outfit who are gunning to bring home the Fifth.

Ben