I haven't read this book yet - I just got my copy today - but I can tell you, from some of the stories Jim has told me about the trip, it should be a good read.
Last year, on September 17, Pittsburgh sportswriter Jim Wexell embarked on a road trip to chronicle Steeler Nation.
The book, Steeler Nation: A Pittsburgh Team, An American Phenomenon, is now available at PittsburghSportsPublishing.com.
The book tells the tale of a six-week football road trip that swung south from Pittsburgh through Atlanta and Mobile, west through New Orleans, Phoenix and Los Angeles, north to Seattle, and then back east through Yellowstone Park, Denver, St.
Louis and Cincinnati.
The trip covered nearly 10,000 miles as Wexell talked to Steelers fans, players, ex-players, as well as their family, friends and rivals, while the Steelers played their way to a division championship. The author found fans in the most remote outposts of the country and he walked in the footsteps of the current Pittsburgh Steelers.
The lives of 19 current Steelers are examined, including James Harrison, Heath Miller, Willie Parker, Lawrence Timmons, Hines Ward, Ike Taylor, Casey Hampton, Troy Polamalu, Brett Keisel, Aaron Smith, and Ben Roethlisberger, and the result is
plenty of fresh information about the group that made up the core of the 2005 championship team.
Along with pre-game tailgates and post-game interviews, included in Wexell's trip are visits with the greatest Steelers bars and fans in the country, and interviews with former Steelers greats such as Greg Lloyd, who discusses his past, present and
future with typical Lloyd passion.
Wexell spent the first two weeks of the trip with friend and RV owner Jan "Pappy" Jones. The two rode in a 35-foot motor home with Wexell's car in tow. Jones dumped the load in Tombstone, Arizona, but Wexell and his car made it home with all but a muffler and common sense intact. The trip continued into the northeast corner of the country to complete the season, the Steelers' landmark 75th in the NFL.
Wexell hosts a radio talk show on Fox Sports Radio 970 in Pittsburgh and has covered the Steelers since 1995 for numerous area newspapers, Steelers Digest, Pro Football Weekly, and SteelCityInsider.com.
It's the trip every Steelers fan would love to make, and Jim Wexell takes you with him in this 256-page journey. Steeler Nation: A Pittsburgh Team, An American Phenomenon, is available only at PittsburghSportsPublishing.com.
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