Manchester Meet-Up: The Brotherhood

vs Browns (1 November)

Transport woes, Jared Verse woes, too good to be true, and the host buys a pint... or eight.

Unlike the crowd at Acrisure Stadium on Sunday, the Ape & Apple (which sounds more like a Phil Bridge Vodcast analogy every time you say it) was a relatively quiet affair. So quiet, in fact, the Early Meet Up-ers quickly moved on to the main event.

The faithful instead gathered downstairs at The Brotherhood, the Manchester branch awaiting those who could make the trip, whether battling family commitments, work schedules or transport chaos.

Phil bought a Guinness to celebrate being there.

With an hour to go before kick-off, we made our way to the library upstairs. A lovely little space that instantly transformed into a sweatbox as Roethlisberger, Bettis, Freiermuth and assorted Steelers jerseys mingled together.

The group regulars were all present: Jason, Phil, Colin, Aaron and a surprise appearance from Mark Hanson, there to shock fellow podcast compadre Michael Hart.

Unfortunately, Michael had to cancel.

Mark had to make do with the non-podcasters instead, consoling himself with an early plate of poutine. Phil demanded a review.

Thumbs up.

Phil celebrated by buying a Guinness.

As the 6pm countdown approached, conversation naturally turned to Ravens vs Bills pre-game coverage. The bar staff then took that literally and switched the television to that game.

The main bar was directly underneath us.

We didn't need to shout our disapproval.

Phil bought a Guinness to celebrate the restoration of the correct channel.

New faces began to arrive, looking understandably cautious as Phil and Jason attempted to match profile pictures to real-life humans. Michael, Donovan, Stephen, Alan and Jake all made their meetup debuts and soon settled in.

Phil bought a Guinness to celebrate.

Then came the game.

There were no tantrums as the Steelers matched their divisional rivals from the opening whistle. It was Jaylen Warren's birthday, and the Browns' run defence generously provided holes roughly the size of 25 birthday cakes.

The defence arrived early too.

Most comments were reserved for Deshaun Watson, many along the lines that he seemed perfectly content spending the afternoon on his back. Meanwhile, McCormick attempted to introduce Jared Verse's brain to some common sense. Head first.

For much of the first half, things were joyous. The lone exception was Jason, who brought his legendary Game Thread battle cry of "RUN THE DAMN BALL" into the real world, repeatedly throwing his head back in frustration whenever the Steelers offence tried to be too clever.

Phil bought a Guinness to celebrate Jason's frustration.

Throughout the evening, Mark delivered Sky Sports News-style updates with magnificent aplomb.

"Penix has four interceptions."

"Baker has fewer passing attempts than Penix has Interceptions."

"Every member of this meet-up currently has the same number of passing yards as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers."

Phil bought a Guinness to celebrate.

TJ Watt collected sacks. Mount Washington continued being Mount Washington. Cam Heyward deflected passes with all the determination of a politician avoiding difficult questions on a Sunday morning talk show.

The masses were happy.

Donovan handed out high-fives at every available opportunity.

Steelers games aren't supposed to be like this.

Phil was even warned that this could be the last Manchester meet-up if the Steelers somehow managed to lose.

The Browns attempted to respond, but even from the one-yard line couldn't find enough to score a touchdown.

The meet-up was safe.

Whatever voodoo The Dive Bar (RIP) and Bunny Jackson's may have thrown at us in years gone by, The Brotherhood delivered on every count.

Phil had a Guinness to celebrate.