An Emory University study, whether it's completely scientific or not, says that Pittsburgh Steelers fans are the saddest in the NFL, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
How did they come about this conclusion? Two marketing professors from the university, Michael Lewis and Manish Tripathi, analyzed messages posted on Twitter following every game of the 2012 season, which ended with the Steelers not making the postseason.
For two days following Steelers losses last season, less than a third of the messages posted about the Steelers — 33.1 percent — were positive. That number was the lowest of any NFL team, according to their study.
"That makes total sense to me," said Lewis, a western Pennsylvania native.
Good news, though, Steelers fans: You're not the most unstable fan base, per the study. That honor belongs to the Oakland Raiders. Naturally.
Following Steelers victories in 2012, tweets about the team from the Pittsburgh area were overwhelmingly positive (79.6 percent) — a difference of 46.5 percent. The gap between the Raiders' wins and losses was 47 percent.
The conclusion appears to be that Steelers and Raiders fans apparently celebrate their wins quite joyfully but take their losses as hard as almost any other fan base. Despite a big win Sunday night, the Steelers currently are on the outside looking in as far as the playoffs are concerned. And the Raiders, well, it's another year of rebuilding.
But there were a few other shocking developments from the study.
The group found that Dallas Cowboys fans were the most stable, the Philadelphia Eagles were third and that the Houston Texans — losers of 12 straight after winning their first two games — were the fourth-most stable. It's good to know, perhaps, that there's less of a chance of anyone melting down in Texas in December.
http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nfl-sh...3325--nfl.html