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This is how bad it is for Bill Christy.

Back in October when the Steelers played the New England Patriots the first time this season, Christy was so agitated, pacing and yelling at his TV screen, that "before I knew it, I had consumed a whole pizza in about 10 minutes."

And that's when the Steelers were winning.

So Christy may be the perfect poster child for the hundreds of thousands of other Black and Gold fans who have spent last week getting increasingly nervous as the Big Game approaches.

Their anxiety may have something to do with the fact that the Steelers barely edged out the New York Jets on Jan. 15, while the Patriots manhandled the Indianapolis Colts.

But psychologists say other factors are far more important: Are you an optimist or a pessimist? Are you a fanatic fan? And, how good are you at predicting how you'll feel on Monday morning, no matter what happens?

"People have their gut-level belief -- optimist or pessimist -- and garner evidence in support of that belief," said Christopher Peterson, a psychology professor at the University of Michigan who has studied what's behind positive and negative outlooks. "That's why sports is such a wonderful thing, because outcomes, especially in baseball or football, are rarely clear-cut. And that's why it's so much fun.

"I would imagine today that optimistic Steelers fans assume that everything will work out just fine, and pessimistic fans think things will go horribly."

A critic by nature

Christy, a Washington, Pa., native who teaches fine arts at the Ohio University branch in Zanesville, Ohio, has to admit that he sits somewhere in the pessimism camp.

"My wife used to say I was the king of complainers," Christy said. "I read my students' papers and I'm critical because I'm trying to help them write a better paper the next time -- so that is how I approach things."

Christy claims he's "actually chilled out more in the last couple years," but you wouldn't know it when he describes how he'll behave today.

"When they're on, I'm screaming at the TV. I'm yelling, cheering; I'm mad, happy, and this Sunday will be more of the same."

Christy also represents the other major factor in how fans feel today -- he's an intense, longtime, hard-core fan.

The hormonal surge that is washing through Pittsburgh right now is directly related to how far along the fan spectrum someone sits, says Murray State University psychologist Daniel Wann.

Wann, who has written two books about sports fan psychology, conducted an experiment at his school that proved the point.

Before a major Murray State basketball game, Wann selected a large group of fans who ranged from the mildly interested to the intensely devoted.

He gathered them three days before the basketball game, then again a few hours before, then one hour before, and, finally, just minutes before tip-off.

Each time, he had them complete a standardized anxiety measurement scale.

As expected, the anxiety "only increased for those who highly identified with the team -- it didn't occur with the moderate and lesser fans."

This variation can show up among members of the same family.

'If they play well, I enjoy it'

Take the DeFrancos of Churchill.

Donald DeFranco, a neuroscience and pharmacology researcher at the University of Pittsburgh, describes himself as a "medium" Steelers fan.

"I see this as kind of entertainment. If they play well -- even if they lose -- I enjoy it. I hope they go all the way; but if they don't, I'll be happy with what they've already accomplished."

DeFranco described his wife, Helen, as a milder fan who "would probably give up on the Steelers if they weren't winning."

But my son, Julian, is the fanatic. He was down at the stadium last [weekend]. He bought a ticket from a scalper."

Helen and Julian said Donald has it about right.

Julian, reached Wednesday at the University of Wisconsin, where he's a sophomore biochemistry major, conceded he already was nervous.

"This is probably the one game that I'm worried about. I'm thinking about how Roethlisberger and [Patriots running back] Corey Dillon will do, and how good [Patriots coach] Bill Belichick is. It will probably affect my sleep this weekend."

His mom, who supervises UPMC's nurse anesthetist program, said she decided to become a bigger Steelers fan this year not just because they were winning, but because of Big Ben himself.

"He was so honest after the last game saying, 'I did everything I could for this team to lose,' and I thought, 'Wow, I wish my staff could be this way all the time,' and that was impressive."

Besides, Helen DeFranco said, her staff talks about the Steelers constantly, especially since they can't wear team colors in the operating room. "And they're losing sleep over this team, so I'm losing sleep too. By association with my staff, I'm stressed out, and I won't have a happy staff if they don't win."

Yet she knows her natural optimism will return, no matter what happens today.

"When there's a barrier in my life, I'm going to overcome it. I'm going to keep moving forward. This train is not going to stay at the station."

And in fact, whether Steelers fans know it or not, that's how it will be for most of them -- life will go on tomorrow.

One reason many fans can't imagine recuperating if the Steelers lose is that they don't know about the "impact bias."

Daniel Gilbert, a Harvard University psychologist who has studied the topic, says the impact bias basically means that people exaggerate how sad they're going to be if something goes badly, and how happy they'll be if something goes well.

There are two basic reasons for this miscalculation, Gilbert says.

One is that people forget about all the other things going on in their lives that will influence their emotions.

If people are simply asked to list what will be happening to them the day after a big event, they will predict their emotions much more accurately.

The other reason Steelers fans will not be devastated for days on end if their team loses is: "People are marvelous at rationalizing adversity. We've been designed by nature to pick ourselves up and move on."

Murray State's Wann agrees.

"Sports fans ... have developed a great list of coping strategies.

"If the Patriots beat the Steelers, I can already tell you what people are going to say. They're going to say that the Patriots were a dynasty team, because it feels better to lose because the other guys were better than to say we lost because we stank."

Given everything the psychologists say, Bill Christy may be the worst judge of how he'll feel tomorrow -- still, he thinks he has a good idea.

"If they win I'm going to be beaming from ear to ear and ragging on my colleagues because most of them are Browns and Bengals fans.

"If they lose, I'll probably have my door closed -- but I won't take it out on my students."