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Body of Steelers Fan Viewed in Recliner
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette ^ | Jul 6, 10:13 AM EDT | AP

Posted on 07/06/2005 8:45:18 AM PDT by Brujo

Body of Steelers Fan Viewed in Recliner

PITTSBURGH (AP) -- The body of rabid Pittsburgh Steelers fan James Henry Smith, who died Thursday, was laid out this week in what his family said was his favorite spot - a recliner with the Steelers on the television.

Smith, 55, of Pittsburgh, died of prostate cancer. Because his death wasn't unexpected, his family was able to plan ahead for the unusual viewing Tuesday night.

Mourners stood before a small stage erected in the viewing room of the Samuel E. Coston Funeral Home, on which funeral director Roland Criswell had placed furniture, much as it was arranged in Smith's home on game day.

Smith's feet were crossed; a pack of cigarettes and a six-pack of beer were at his side. A continuous loop of Steelers highlights was playing on TV nearby, as Smith was reclined with a television remote in his hand and a Steelers blanket across his legs.

The reaction of Smith's loved ones varied.

"I couldn't stop crying after looking at the Steeler blanket in his lap," his sister, MaryAnn Nails, 58, of Pittsburgh, told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette for Wednesday's editions. "He loved football and nobody did (anything) until the game went off. It was just like he was at home."

"I saw it and I couldn't even cry," said longtime friend Mary Jones of Wilkinsburg. "People will see him the way he was. This is just a celebration."


TOPICS: Weird Stuff
KEYWORDS: snicker
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To: Mr. Silverback

Hmmm. I'll keep that in mind.


41 posted on 07/06/2005 10:10:24 AM PDT by Asphalt (Join the NFL ping list ...everything NFL... FReepmail Asphalt to get on|FReeper Since 10/10/04)
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To: Asphalt

Nope. Don't plan on it either. I admire his playing, but a good arm doesn't make you a good writer. But then I'm not a big fan of autobiographies in general.


42 posted on 07/06/2005 10:12:02 AM PDT by Alexander Rubin (You make my heart glad by building thus, as if Rome is to be eternal.)
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To: Alexander Rubin

really?


43 posted on 07/06/2005 10:13:05 AM PDT by Asphalt (Join the NFL ping list ...everything NFL... FReepmail Asphalt to get on|FReeper Since 10/10/04)
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To: Asphalt
Yeah, yeah. But it's not as interesting as during the season

Yeah, it gets pretty darn cold up there in the north, ya hey, go Packers!

44 posted on 07/06/2005 10:13:06 AM PDT by Mr. Silverback (Proud to be 100% heteronormative.)
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To: Brujo

That's just plain creepy.


45 posted on 07/06/2005 10:15:40 AM PDT by conservativebabe (In a different century, Durbin would have been hanged.)
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To: Asphalt

Yep. I'm a cheese-bleeding, dyed in green Packers fan, but I'm not going to read Favre's autobiography. On a side note, there are a lot of Canadian Packers fans. I don't really know why. But we are Legion up here.


46 posted on 07/06/2005 10:16:10 AM PDT by Alexander Rubin (You make my heart glad by building thus, as if Rome is to be eternal.)
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To: Alexander Rubin; Asphalt

Ah, but that's what ghostwriters are for...not that most athelertes know how to pick a good ghostwriter, you understand.


47 posted on 07/06/2005 10:18:53 AM PDT by Mr. Silverback (Proud to be 100% heteronormative.)
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To: Alexander Rubin

Well, what else is there to do in the winter, really? Oh wait, hockey. But still!


48 posted on 07/06/2005 10:20:32 AM PDT by Mr. Silverback (Proud to be 100% heteronormative.)
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To: martin_fierro

Somehow, I knew you'd be here!


49 posted on 07/06/2005 10:20:45 AM PDT by airborne (Dear Lord, please be with my family in Iraq. Keep them close to You and safely in Your arms.)
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To: Brujo

Dang, I bet this is one of my distant relatives. My mother's side of the family settled PA after the revolutionary war. Her father was Henry Smith and many of the relatives through the centuries have retained that name in some form or other.

Doubt that I would have been welcome at the funeral in my Silver and Blue.


50 posted on 07/06/2005 10:21:36 AM PDT by NerdDad (Lord guide me with one hand on my shoulder and the other over my mouth.)
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To: airborne

Everybody gotta be somewhere.

< |:)~


51 posted on 07/06/2005 10:23:54 AM PDT by martin_fierro (< |:)~)
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To: Mr. Silverback

Skiing, snowboard, snowsurfing, snowskating, skating, (for adults) cross country skiing, polar bear club (also mainly for adults) snow soccer, snow football (yes, its an actual game), snowshoeing, bobsledding (if you know a good course), sledding, ice fishing, some kinds of hunting, (for the kids and the grossly immature or parents of kids) snowforts and snowball fights), I could go on but I won't.


52 posted on 07/06/2005 10:24:47 AM PDT by Alexander Rubin (You make my heart glad by building thus, as if Rome is to be eternal.)
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To: Mr. Silverback

Sure, but still. He's an athlete: a damned talented Athlete, and a fine American, but an athlete. He's not a great politician or soldier or thinker or scientist. So, for me, personally, there is little appeal to his autobiography.


53 posted on 07/06/2005 10:26:13 AM PDT by Alexander Rubin (You make my heart glad by building thus, as if Rome is to be eternal.)
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To: cjshapi

Dunno. You've evidently never met a Tide fan.


54 posted on 07/06/2005 10:28:08 AM PDT by Junior (“Even if you are one-in-a-million, there are still 6,000 others just like you.”)
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To: Alexander Rubin

I was being facetious. I grew up in Maine, so I know that snow can be made into fun.


55 posted on 07/06/2005 10:31:55 AM PDT by Mr. Silverback (Proud to be 100% heteronormative.)
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To: Mr. Silverback

;) I just like the list of snowsports. Snow is awesome. And winter is the best season of the year. When it stays above 15 below. Or even 20 below.


56 posted on 07/06/2005 10:33:59 AM PDT by Alexander Rubin (You make my heart glad by building thus, as if Rome is to be eternal.)
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To: Alexander Rubin

Good point. In fact, I'd have to say that the only people in sports whose bios I would even consider reading are Favre and Lombardi. And Lombardi's a special case, his ideas on leadership and motivation are top drawer. I WILL read his, I probably will keep pushing Brett's to the bottom of the reading list until I die.


57 posted on 07/06/2005 10:34:46 AM PDT by Mr. Silverback (Proud to be 100% heteronormative.)
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To: Petronski

I suppose I'll be laid out with a laptop and a desk :o)


58 posted on 07/06/2005 10:35:20 AM PDT by cyborg (http://mentalmumblings.blogspot.com/)
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To: Mr. Silverback

Lombardi's WOULD actually be worth reading. He was a thinker, an innovtor and he was a powerful force in a variety of arenas for many years. Plus, he's iconic. Thus, his autobiography probably has some educationa value. Plus, it'd just be fascinating to see how he ticked. ;)


59 posted on 07/06/2005 10:37:05 AM PDT by Alexander Rubin (You make my heart glad by building thus, as if Rome is to be eternal.)
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To: Junior

Roll Tide. So they are crazy too?


60 posted on 07/06/2005 10:39:28 AM PDT by cjshapi
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