I spent the better part of last week in sunny Negril, Jamaica, on a well deserved vacation with Mrs. Rexx. We spent all week just basting in the hot sun and relaxing. Or so I thought until one afternoon, I looked up and there walking in front of me was a guy with a Pittsburgh Steelers Super Bowl Champs hat. That black and gold emblem made me want to puke, but I held it down and just said, "take that damn hat off!" He looked at my Ravens cap, smiled and replied, "three times, baby!" He went on to thank me for helping his team "prepare" for their game winning drive against the Cardinals, based on the plays they made each game to defeat us.
We spoke throughout the rest of the week and although he's been to Pittsburgh, like so many of Steeler Nation, he didn't live there. Instead he lived in Silver Spring, Maryland, but we bonded in the fact that we both hated the Washington Redskins and Cleveland Browns as well. His "lady friend" was a Ravens fan and when he tried to place his hat on his beach chair facing me, she was kind enough to throw it under the chair.
There were a bunch of other hats and t-shirts with NFL affiliations all over the place and even a couple of Steelers fans on my flights, but luckily I was able to sit upwind from them. I did pick up a sweet "Jamaican-ized" Orioles t-shirt, but they didn't have any Ravens gear at the store. Spoke to a Redskins fan who liked the Ravens and was pissed at his team's horrible ending of their season. However, he also liked the Steelers, so I ended that conversation quickly.
Sometimes, all you want is to get away from it all, but try as you might, the black cloud of Steeler Nation is never far enough away from you, and even extends into the Caribbean!