Pittsburgb vs. Cleveland

[Sir Artsdradamus]

Great year in Pittsburgh sports
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
By Ron Cook, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Do we know how to do a victory parade or what?
Heaven knows we've had enough practice. The celebration yesterday in honor of the Penguins was our second in 132 days, dating to the February party for the Steelers after Super Bowl XLIII. It was the third in 40-plus months, counting the parade for the Steelers after Super Bowl XL in February 2006.
Cleveland hasn't had three in 40 years.
Actually, that's factually incorrect.
Cleveland hasn't had even one in 45 years for any of its major professional sports teams.
My gosh, how many have we had during that same period? Nine? 10? 11?
That's right, there have been 11.
Not to be snooty.
I probably don't have to tell you how fortunate you are to be living in Pittsburgh instead of Cleveland when it comes to sports. I just hope you realize how truly lucky you are, period. You're living through a sports year that very likely won't be matched the rest of your life.
The Steelers beat the Arizona Cardinals to win the Super Bowl.
The Pitt men's basketball team came within one terrific, length-of-the-court drive by Villanova's Scottie Reynolds of going to the Final Four.
The Penguins beat the Detroit Red Wings -- on the road in Game 7, no less -- to win the Stanley Cup.
Amazing, absolutely amazing.
And here's the most surreal part:
If you're old enough -- probably 40 or over -- this isn't even the best sports year of your life.
That was 1979.
The Steelers won their fourth Super Bowl in six years, a dynastic run that transcended sports. It didn't just show the rest of the country and the world that Pittsburgh no longer was the dirty, sooty steel city that so many had looked down their noses on for so long. It gave Pittsburghers a proud identity that endures and thrives to this day. Steelers Nation -- millions and millions strong -- overcomes all, from the painful closings of the mines and the mills to the all-too-slow transformation of the city to an academic and medical hub to these horrendous economic times.
The Pirates won the World Series in '79. It's almost impossible to imagine now, but they were once much bigger and more loved than the Penguins. Their championship completed a remarkable decade in which they won six division titles and also the '71 series.
We Are Family!
And don't forget the Pitt football team in '79. It went 11-1, the first of three consecutive 11-1 seasons and part of a phenomenal 62-9-1 run over six seasons that began with the '76 national championship orchestrated by coach Johnny Majors and driven by Heisman Trophy winner Tony Dorsett.
For me, '79 will never be topped.
Not that '09 is bad. And it's not even half over. How cool is that? Training camp starts in Latrobe in 45 days. Some will tell you that's when the real sports year begins around here.
It's easy to think this core group of Steelers will win another Super Bowl or two or three. Big Ben Roethlisberger is signed through the 2015 season. Two championships in four years do not seem like nearly enough for him. Wouldn't it be something if he matched the four that Hall of Famer Terry Bradshaw produced in the '70s? Or topped them?
It's just as easy to think the Penguins will hoist the Stanley Cup again soon. Star players Sidney Crosby, 21, Evgeni Malkin, 22, Marc-Andre Fleury, 24, and Jordan Staal, 20, still are mere babies in their sport. Can you believe Staal couldn't drink champagne out of the Cup in Detroit the other night? Not legally, anyway.
LOL!
Crosby and Staal are signed through the 2013 season, Malkin through '14 and Fleury through '15. Together, they might just win more Cup titles than the two won by the most legendary Penguins player of all -- Mario Lemieux -- in the early '90s. That, of course, would delight Lemieux the team owner to no end.
You really are lucky -- almost beyond belief -- to be living here.
As for Cleveland fans, well ...
Their time finally might be coming after those 45 long years.
They do have LeBron, right?
At least for one more season, anyway.
It would be a real shame if he left the Cavaliers as a free agent in 2010.
Yep, a real shame.



http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09167...xzz0Iby9AXEc&D

[THE W]

such a random comparison.

[Dooch]

its because they measure themselves to us, even tho we have indeed been winless for a long time.

You gotta understand, they are a much smaller city than Cleveland so its this inferiority complex they have.

[check two]

Bernie Kosar is $19 million in debt? lol

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He wasn't the most spectacular athlete, but Bernie Kosar is probably underrated as a quarterback: In college, he did as much as any single figure to turn Miami from a football backwater into "The U," where he led the 'Canes to their first national championship in 1983, formed one half of the slowest duo to ever grace the cover of Sports Illustrated, finished fourth in Heisman voting in 1984 and had NFL teams falling all over themselves for the chance to draft him in '85. He took the Browns from the bottom of the league to within a few minutes of the Super Bowl in 1986, 1987 and 1989 and is still among the most popular players ever in Cleveland.

Consider also, though, how many times Bernie was on the wrong side of history. He was on the losing sideline when Frank Reich led Maryland to the greatest comeback in NCAA history, bringing the Terps back from a 31-0 hole at the half for a 42-40 stunner over Miami in 1984, and when Doug Flutie launched his famous, Heisman-clinching Hail Mary to push Boston College past the 'Canes in the Orange Bowl later that year. Kosar was on the losing sideline when John Elway took the Broncos 98 yards on "The Drive" to win the '86 AFC Championship, and handed Ernest Byner the ball he would infamously lose three yards shy of the tying touchdown at the end of the '87 AFC Championship. The Browns trailed Denver by a field goal at the start of the fourth quarter before falling short again in '89. The man has known his share of disappointment.

Now the 45-year-old restauranteur and Arena League football CEO finds himself opposite the worst economy of his lifetime, and it's tougher than Elway: Kosar filed for bankruptcy today, listing a staggering $19.5 million debt to creditors including his ex-wife; a Tampa bank that financed some bad real estate deals; his old boss, the owner of the Arena League's Cleveland Gladiators; and his old franchise, the Browns themselves, to whom he owes $1.5 million. His steakhouse in Miami went out of business last year.

So presumably this will not be a great Father's Day for Bernie Kosar. For a guy who's been on the business end of so many dramatic comebacks, though, this would be the ideal time to cash in that karma.

[Dooch]

its not like Bernie cant get a job somewhere in sports tho.

[Sir Artsdradamus]

he just got to hope that whatever he does, that vinny testeverde doesn't decide to do the same thing and take his job again.

[Dooch]

Bernie was at the end of his career when Vinny took over.

But I was one of the people calling for Vinny. Kosar was finished.

[check two]

Is it just me or does the word Pittsburgh look like it's spelled Pittsburgb in the thread title? Though, when I went into the actual thread, it looks like it is spelled correctly.

[Sir Artsdradamus]

well fix it check 2. aren't you the mod? i realized i mistyped, so i edited. but it only changed it inside the thread.

[check two]

I've changed mispelled thread titles before. Though, I can't seem to be able to change this one. Maybe because you had corrected the title of the thread from within the thread itself.

[Sir Artsdradamus]

how else was i supposed to change the title of the thread? from the outside of it?

[Dooch]

hahaha.....no matter what Pittspuke's teams do, it won't hide the fact that the city is 97.3% uneducated white trash.