The Sado-Masochistic Mental State of Steelers Fans: A Canadian Story
Imagine you have a slight disagreement with your spouse. You’re at the grocery store and deciding which flavour of pudding to buy your son for his lunches — you think he’d prefer vanilla while your spouse thinks it’s chocolate. You decide to go along with your spouse’s idea despite strongly believing they’re wrong — you think your son definitely prefers vanilla.
Something interesting and somewhat paradoxical is likely to happen as a result of the above situation. Despite loving your spouse and son, part of you may secretly hope that your son will be disappointed in the lunch selection. It’s a paradox forged out of the simultaneous, yet competing desires to emotionally want the best for loved ones, yet also desire to be right.
This is a paradox that exists for all sports fans from time to time, and it certainly is a paradox affecting fans of the Pittsburgh Steelers at the moment, but the emotional stakes are much bigger. And growing.
The Matt Canada Problem
Surely you’ve heard of Matt Canada. He’s the Offensive Coordinator hired by the Steelers in 2021 and current target of every person with a sports opinion in the western hemisphere. The offense has consistently underperformed during his tenure and there exists a large and growing list of statistics that support the conclusion that his offense has been reliably preventing the team from having more success.
In 2022, it was mostly Steelers fans calling for him to be fired with some growing recognition by the national football media that this was a story to follow. Four games into the 2023 season and the spotlight has grown immensely bigger with national pundits regularly wondering aloud why he continues to have a job.
I’ve been Steelers fan since the early 90s and a sports fan for even longer. I’ve never witnessed so much attention and vitriol directed at a non-player in sports. I can’t recall fans chanting to fire a coach mid game (a game they won!) and the sight of grown men having emotional breakdowns on TV has been startling.
What does all this have to do with wanting your son to dislike chocolate pudding? We’re about to see a similar paradox play out with the Steelers. And I’m worried it’s going to get bad. Really bad.
The Sado-Masochism of Being a Fan
Psychologists are well aware of the fact that people sometimes choose self-harm when other options are available. This might occur at a clinical level, like when adolescents or those with a particular mental health disorder physically self-harm (for example, cutting), which can occur as a dysfunctional emotion regulation strategy.
But sometimes the self-harm occurs for other reasons. For example, humans are sometimes more motivated by the need to maintain a coherent world view than to feel good. If we know that a particular thing is true, then upholding and recognizing that truth can be so important we’re willing to suffer as a result.
We occasionally see it play out when people have low self-esteem. People with low self-esteem have been found to prefer interacting with and even marrying people who don’t treat them positively. They will sometimes prefer the person who confirms what they truly believe — that they’re nothing special. The truth might hurt and for some people the pain is worth it.
Sometimes people seek painful truths for ego-based reasons. They’d rather be right than happy. You’ve met these people before — dropping all kinds of uncomfortable truth bombs on a first date or telling their boss what they really think (despite the potential consequences) — because they’d rather risk being alone and unemployed than be diplomatic, tactful or sensitive.
Sports fans in general are known to have the opinions (putting it mildly). Some more than others. It’s part of the joy of being a sports fan. It can be as much a social lubricant at dinners and parties as alcohol.
Cue Matt Canada. Every Steelers fan has formed a very firm opinion on this human being, myself included. It’s a firm truth. Sports fans also have egos and like all human egos there will be a motivation to defend that ego if threatened. And the biggest threat to Steelers’ fans ego right now is a strong performance by the Steelers’ offense.
That’s right, the situation with this team and its fan base is so unhealthy and bizarre right now that many of the fans will likely be rooting against their own offense this weekend against the Ravens. Why? Because the pain of short-term failure outweighs the threat of the offense doing well, which might prompt the powers that be to keep Canada on board.
A truth worth suffering for.
So as a Steelers fan who happens to be a clinical psychologist, I’m now getting to witness and personally experience the sado-masochism that many other sports fans get to experience from time to time. I’m now hoping the Steelers offense continues to struggle so that I can be right. And it pains me to say this — I actually hope they fail so that they fire Matt Canada and start to move forward.
All sports fans get to this ring of Hell with their team at some point. The coach of your favourite hockey team is too stupid to admit the goalie needs to go, so you secretly start rooting for some ugly goals against your own team. Ever think the GM of your favourite basketball team has been building a loser franchise, so your start cheering against them in the hopes he gets fired?
It’s the noble self-harm. I want the person I love to fail. I hope my son says he hates chocolate pudding and my spouse is wrong.
It’s part of the human sports condition. The truth must prevail and Matt Canada must go! It’s sports sado-masochism and I’m standing firm in my willingness to go down in flames here.
And On a More Serious Note….
The controversy to keep Canada employed has grown so exponentially the past few weeks that it’s become a national story beyond Steelers Nation. Everyone is now forming and expressing a very strong opinion — including non-Steeler football fans, non-football fans, and the majority of NFL analysts (how do I know this? — I’m a Steelers fan on the internet).
I expect fans to continue the Fire Canada chants, sarcastically cheer first downs and who knows what else to make their displeasure (their truth) known. On the other side of this thing are the Steelers’ decision-makers — the ones with the power to make changes. Based on coach Tomlin’s recent press conference, where “practice attire” was singled out as the variable that needed changing, and the history of the team to never fire coaches mid season, the math on this could get ugly.
The fans need to be right on this, but it’s likely going to be the case that their pound of flesh won’t come until the end of the season. That’s not good — for anyone.
As mentioned earlier, I’ve never seen a non-player take this much heat and criticism and in such a national spotlight. For as much as I want my team to fire Matt Canada, I’m also starting to wonder what all of this is starting to do to his mental health.
On a weekly basis now, there are reems of articles (I know, I know), online videos and innumerable social media posts devoted to not just calling this person names, but to systemically demonstrating how inept he is is at his job. During the live broadcast of the games, they are regularly showing shots of Canada in the booth, again at rate I’ve never seen before.
Part of the reason I hope the Steelers fire Matt Canada is for the benefit of Canada himself. The longer the team struggles under the glare and heat of this spotlight, the more it just simply has to wear on a person. I don’t know Canada and so maybe he’s a remarkably resilient human being. But for the record — everyone has a limit.
I do hope someone is being mindful of how all of this will continue to affect him. And the apoplectic fan base. And coach Tomlin. And all the befuddled analysts.
Needless to say, the entirety of this situation has grown bizarre and concerning and I hope it comes to a positive resolution sooner than later.
Until then, let’s go Steelers?
