# Who do football fans in Erie, Pennsylvania cheer for? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 8, 2005, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-do-football-fans-in-erie-pennsylvania-cheer-for/320639 "2005-09-08T11:31:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-do-football-fans-in-erie-pennsylvania-cheer-for/320639/1 "2005-09-08T11:31:54Z")
I always wondered where Erie stood in the world of football fandom. It’s equidistant between Buffalo and Cleveland, and Pittsburgh is just a bit farther away. The place seems to have a vibe that leans more towards Buffalo. However, you can get both the Buffalo News and Cleveland Plain Dealer on Erie newsstands. Being in the same state as the Steelers might have an influence, though. So, do Erie residents cheer for the Bills, Browns, or Steelers, or are loyalties split? ---
**Author:** ![Madd\_Maxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Madd\_Maxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Madd_Maxx)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-do-football-fans-in-erie-pennsylvania-cheer-for/320639/2 "2005-09-08T11:48:57Z")
When in doubt, Da Bears. ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-do-football-fans-in-erie-pennsylvania-cheer-for/320639/3 "2005-09-08T11:50:58Z")
I can’t speak to Erie, but Central Pennsylvania has the same situation going. We’re technically in the Baltimore Ravens viewing area, because they’re geographically the closest NFL team to us, so we get those games on Sundays. However, we’re also roughly halfway between Philly and Pittsburgh, so there are a lot of fans of both teams. I know many people who root for a Pennsylvania team on principle because our tax dollars fund their stadiums. There are also a smattering of Redskins fans, and Lord alone knows why. I’d imagine Erie is about the same. Robin ---
**Author:** ![PookahMacPhellimey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pookahmacphellimey/32/3175_2.png) [@PookahMacPhellimey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PookahMacPhellimey)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-do-football-fans-in-erie-pennsylvania-cheer-for/320639/4 "2005-09-08T12:01:42Z")
Oops. I read Eire. And the reply is that they’re not cheering a lot right now. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-do-football-fans-in-erie-pennsylvania-cheer-for/320639/5 "2005-09-08T12:15:02Z")
Well, as it happens I was born in Erie, PA and we were always Pittsburg fans. Then again, my dad and his family are from there so that also weighs in heavily. ---
**Author:** ![Madd\_Maxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Madd\_Maxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Madd_Maxx)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-do-football-fans-in-erie-pennsylvania-cheer-for/320639/6 "2005-09-08T12:25:58Z")
> [@MsRobyn](#): > > I can’t speak to Erie, but Central Pennsylvania has the same situation going. We’re technically in the Baltimore Ravens viewing area, because they’re geographically the closest NFL team to us, so we get those games on Sundays. However, we’re also roughly halfway between Philly and Pittsburgh, so there are a lot of fans of both teams. I know many people who root for a Pennsylvania team on principle because our tax dollars fund their stadiums. There are also a smattering of Redskins fans, and Lord alone knows why. > > I’d imagine Erie is about the same. > > Robin Because we are everywhere and we are loyal. Hail to the Redskins! See, it’s contagious, like yawning. [/Central PA 'Skins Fan] It’s nice to have the choice of what team(s) to watch though. Philly, Pittsburgh, and Baltimore games are almost always on one channel or another and there is even the occasional Redskins game. Short of NFL Sunday Ticket it’s not a bad deal. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-do-football-fans-in-erie-pennsylvania-cheer-for/320639/7 "2005-09-08T12:50:52Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > Well, as it happens I was born in Erie, PA and we were always Pittsburg fans. Then again, my dad and his family are from there so that also weighs in heavily. I also was born in Erie, and I also recall a lot of Steelers fans. My family wasn’t into sports, though. This was in the 70’s, so things may have changed since. ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-do-football-fans-in-erie-pennsylvania-cheer-for/320639/8 "2005-09-08T14:10:01Z")
My guess: the Nittany Lions ---
**Author:** ![phungi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/phungi/32/395_2.png) [@phungi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phungi)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-do-football-fans-in-erie-pennsylvania-cheer-for/320639/9 "2005-09-08T14:31:39Z")
early onset Alzheimer’s? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Mad\_Hermit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b5ac83/32.png) [@The\_Mad\_Hermit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Mad_Hermit)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-do-football-fans-in-erie-pennsylvania-cheer-for/320639/10 "2005-09-08T14:38:16Z")
> [@MsRobyn](#): > > I can’t speak to Erie, but Central Pennsylvania has the same situation going. We’re technically in the Baltimore Ravens viewing area, because they’re geographically the closest NFL team to us, so we get those games on Sundays. However, we’re also roughly halfway between Philly and Pittsburgh, so there are a lot of fans of both teams. I know many people who root for a Pennsylvania team on principle because our tax dollars fund their stadiums. There are also a smattering of Redskins fans, and Lord alone knows why. > > I’d imagine Erie is about the same. > > Robin Carlisle, PA is the Redskins training camp site. ---
**Author:** ![kelly5078](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6f9a4e/32.png) [@kelly5078](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kelly5078)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-do-football-fans-in-erie-pennsylvania-cheer-for/320639/11 "2005-09-08T14:40:02Z")
I went to college 40 miles south of Erie, and it was definitely Steeler territory. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-do-football-fans-in-erie-pennsylvania-cheer-for/320639/12 "2005-09-08T15:35:20Z")
The few people I knew from Erie were all big Steelers fans. ---
**Author:** ![Madd\_Maxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Madd\_Maxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Madd_Maxx)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-do-football-fans-in-erie-pennsylvania-cheer-for/320639/13 "2005-09-08T15:51:46Z")
> [@The Mad Hermit](#): > > Carlisle, PA is the Redskins training camp site. Used to be, see [here](http://www.redskins.com/news/trainingCampDetail.jsp?id=5545). > [@Redskins.com](#): > > It is the third year in a row and fourth time in the last six years that the Redskins are hosting their pre-season summer camp at the year-round facility. > > Head coach Joe Gibbs praised the 2004 training camp at Redskins Park, saying that he enjoyed the convenience of holding camp near the year-round facility. > > “In general, I kind of liked it here,” Gibbs said last August. “I was curious how I would like it. The only two places I’ve held camp is in Carlisle (Pa.), and here. From the short amount of time we have for camp, to go all the way to another site would probably be too much moving around.” > > During Gibbs’ first tenure with the team from 1981-93, the Redskins held training camp at Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pa., each year. In 1994, the team moved to Frostburg State College in Frostburg, Md., then moved to Redskins Park in 2000. > > The Redskins returned to Carlisle for training camp in the 2001 and 2002 seasons. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-do-football-fans-in-erie-pennsylvania-cheer-for/320639/14 "2005-09-08T16:35:33Z")
Altoona (where I lived most of my life) is firmly within the Greater Stillers Hegemony, and Lancaster (where I live now) is firmly within the Wide-Area Iggles Network, but I don’t know a thing about Erie. ---
**Author:** ![fiddlesticks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddlesticks/32/18129_2.png) [@fiddlesticks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fiddlesticks)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-do-football-fans-in-erie-pennsylvania-cheer-for/320639/15 "2005-09-08T16:51:34Z")
The Steelers seem to have a pretty far flung fan-base. I’ve spent some time in western Ohio (around Dayton, specifically) and found a surprisingly large number of Steelers fans. There was even a local radio station that carried the Steelers games (Myron Cope is quite the character). I’d be curious to know if this is a recent development with the absymal state of the Bengals since 1990 and Modell’s abandonment of Cleveland and the sorry state of the New Browns, or if that part of the state adopted Pittsburgh as “their team” long before Paul Brown set up shop in Cincinnati, or if it was only when the Steelers became dominate in the '70s that they acquired this following. ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-do-football-fans-in-erie-pennsylvania-cheer-for/320639/16 "2005-09-08T18:05:48Z")
A handful of my western-Jersey coworkers have Terrible Towels in their cubicles as well… ---
**Author:** ![The\_Mad\_Hermit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b5ac83/32.png) [@The\_Mad\_Hermit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Mad_Hermit)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-do-football-fans-in-erie-pennsylvania-cheer-for/320639/17 "2005-09-08T18:18:39Z")
> [@Madd Maxx](#): > > Used to be, see [here](http://www.redskins.com/news/trainingCampDetail.jsp?id=5545). True, I stand corrected. I was just answering why there were so many 'Skins fans in southcentral PA. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-do-football-fans-in-erie-pennsylvania-cheer-for/320639/18 "2005-09-08T18:30:29Z")
Some Erie residents were undoubtedly old Browns fans who followed the team to Baltimore and became Ravens fans. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-do-football-fans-in-erie-pennsylvania-cheer-for/320639/19 "2005-09-08T19:59:47Z")
It’s not just Erie. There are a lot of places with geographically divided loyalties. Off the top of my head. Des Moines, Iowa (Chiefs and Vikings mostly, but also many Bears fans) Shreveport, Louisiana (Cowboys vs. Saints) Columbus, Ohio (Browns/Bengals) And so it goes. ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-do-football-fans-in-erie-pennsylvania-cheer-for/320639/20 "2005-09-08T20:42:09Z")
> [@](#): > > It’s not just Erie. There are a lot of places with geographically divided loyalties. Central Connecticut. Interestingly, in my experience the Yankees vs Red Sox dividing line was farther east than the Patriots vs Giants/ Jets dividing line, while the Bruins vs Islanders/Rangers was even farther east (everybody seems to have agreed to never speak again of the departed ‘Forever .500’ Whalers). This experience was before any of the recent Boston championships, so I’m sure the bandwagon-jumpers have moved the lines slightly. Nobody knows of any maps of these things? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-do-football-fans-in-erie-pennsylvania-cheer-for/320639.md?page=2)