Well, I'm sitting in my apartment mere hours after the Pens won the Stanley Cup for the first time since 1992. I'm not a huge hockey fan, but playoff hockey is alright by me; good enough to watch the Pens for two months (and grow my playoff beard). The situation in the city is crazy. I watched the first two periods at PNC Park while attending the other game between Pittsburgh and Detroit tonight (the Tigers prevailed, 3-1). It was unbelievable how many Detroit fans were at the ballpark, watching the game in the Hall of Fame Club in their lipstick-red Wings jerseys. I left after the 2nd period, traversing downtown unaware of the bomb threat at the corner of Ft. Duquense Boulevard and 9th Street, trying to get home in time for the 3rd period. The Pens, of course, pulled it out in an intense final six minutes when the Wings attacked and attacked, and the Pens were just trying to buttress the fort. The intensity was heightened by the fact that it was Game 7.
Game 7s are one of the most special things we get in return for our love of sports. When two teams are so evenly matched that it comes down to one game and often times one pitch or shot, the moment rises in importance. The passion and grit come to the forefront. These are guys that have played over 100 games in basketball and hockey, and around 180 in baseball, and they are on the biggest stages they will ever see. The mistakes are magnified; the heroes deified; the memories crystallized. Everybody remembers game 7. EVERYBODY. Even for those bandwagon Penguin fans like myself, the memory will last long after the Stanley Cup Champs t-shirt shrinks and fades.
Pittsburgh has regained the title "City of Champions". We remain a city of many monikers (Steel City, Iron City, Robo-burgh, America's Most Livable, The City of Bridges) but this one remains my favorite, and we've wrested it back from Boston. To have the Steelers and Pens win within months of each other is incredible; both major pro sports champions are from Pittsburgh at this point of 2009. And the point that I keep coming back to is this: the last time the Pens won the Cup, 1992, was the same time the Bucs last made the playoffs.
Since that time, the Bucs of course have had 17 losing seasons in a row. For a fan like me, this is torture, and in a perverse way it is multiplied by these other teams winning coupled fact that I really consider myself more of a Bucs fan than any other 'burgh team. Watching the ferver that the Pens and Steelers create excites me for many reasons, but probably none more so than it reminds me why I remain an ardent Pirate supporter. Some day, I hope that my favorite team from the 'burgh has the same zealous following currently enjoyed by our other pro teams. I have no doubt that it will happen; it's just been a really, really, really long wait, and it won't be over for another few years. At least maybe my other favorite team, the Pitt men's hoops team, can be more successful.
Speaking of men's hoops...Scottie Reynolds really screwed up what could have been an even better year for 'burgh sports. His lame attempt at cementing March fame kept Pitt out of their first real Final Four. Even so, Jamie Dixon led his team deep into March and continues to build a winning program. While constantly let down by the Bucs around mid-May, Pitt hoops is able to hold my attention and engender my support for an entire season; at some point, due to the battle of attrition, they may have to pass the Bucs as my favorite team in Pittsburgh.
At least none of my sports dreams are really hitched to the fading star of Dave Wannstedt.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment