On Sunday of this week I watched the Cincinnati Bengals vs the Pittsburgh Steelers football game.  I am a big Bengal fan who lives in northern Illinois and has to put up with the Packers vs the Bears deal.  We do not get a lot of Bengal football games in the central Midwest and I was excited that the television worked and I could watch the game.

Well the Bengals lost tragically and I went to bed dejected.

When I was younger I was not only a Bengal fan but just a football fan in general.  I love the Terry Bradshaw Steelers.  Franco Harris is still one of my favorite players ever.  But something happened in my life and I now despise the Steelers.

We had a good friend, Jim Miller, in Dayton, Ohio while we lived there.  He was an all- around clown.  Always with the best jokes, cartoons, and wonderful magic tricks.  We lost touch with his family after we moved to northern Illinois.  Years later his now ex-wife called us with unbelievably sad news.  Jim and she were divorced and he was a stand-up comic who traveled the country doing comedy and magic.  I could see it!

Jim was doing a show in Pittsburgh and during his show he made a derogatory remark about the Pittsburgh Steelers.  Two guys accosted him in the bathroom after his act and beat him to death.  Over a football team, they beat him to death!  We were just devastated.

I have not looked at football the same ever since.  I love my Bengals team but could never hurt someone for making fun of them.  I make fun of them.  It is a game.  It is a football team.  Someone’s life is not worth it.

That is the reason I detest the Steeler football team.  My friend is gone and it was a horrendous act that took his life.  I’m sure he would have come up with a joke about it but I can not.

R.I.P.  Jim Miller    You were loved.