Sports in Pittsburgh
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- Main Articles: Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh Metro Area, Pittsburgh Tri-State
Pittsburgh's dedication both to amateur and professional sports has a long history. Pittsburgh has been called the "City of Champions" for its success in sports, particularly during the 1970s. The jerseys of most Pittsburgh professional teams, have the signature Pittsburgh yellow adorning it. Many of the professional teams in Pittsburgh wear the colors black and gold.
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[edit] Professional Football
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In the 1890s, Pittsburgh had the distinction of hosting William Heffelfinger, the first professional football player, having the first season-long professional squad, and nearby Latrobe, Pennsylvania is where the first wholly professional football game occurred.
Since their inception in 1933, there are not many things that incite as much passion and adoration in Pittsburghers as the NFL's Steelers do. They are the oldest franchise in the American Football Conference of the NFL, and the most championed team in their conference. Pittsburgh has hosted more Conference championship games then any other NFL city. Since the Super Bowl is randomly selected years ahead of time, the only way an NFL franchise can display its championship greatness to its home city is through earning the right during the season of play to have "home field" advantage and then back it up by winning every game before the neutral site Super Bowl. The Steelers have done this feat more than any other NFL team. The team won four Super Bowls during the '70s under head coach Chuck Noll and a core group of players, including multiple hall of famers. Noll remains the only coach in NFL history to win more than three Super Bowls, even close to 30 years after his teams earned him that title. In 2006, the Steelers won Super Bowl XL, becoming only the third team in NFL history to have won five Super Bowls (the Dallas Cowboys and the San Francisco 49ers are the others), and the only NFL team to win a Super Bowl as the sixth and last seed in the playoffs, forced to play every contest in opponent stadiums. The Steelers were the first team to win three Super Bowls and also four Super Bowls.
Much more than NFL football, the Pittsburgh region is rich in football tradition at every level. The University of Pittsburgh Panthers football teams have won nine national titles, and two other city universities, as well as Washington & Jefferson College located just outside the city, have earned bids to major bowl games throughout their history. One of the most heated rivalries in all of college sports takes place every fall in the Backyard Brawl. Separated from the University of Pittsburgh by just 90 miles, the West Virginia University's Mountaineers play home games just five miles from the Pennsylvania state line and within the Pittsburgh DMA.
Many members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame hail from Pittsburgh (e.g. Dan Marino and Tony Dorsett) or have played for the Steelers (e.g. Terry Bradshaw, "Mean" Joe Greene, and Franco Harris).[1]
[edit] Professional Baseball
Pittsburgh's baseball past dates back to the 19th century, when a team was first fielded for the National League. With superstar Honus Wagner, the Pirates began the century as a powerhouse. They've appeared in a total of seven World Series', including a loss to the famous Murderers' Row New York Yankees of 1927, and a victory on Bill Mazeroski's walk-off home run in 1960. During the 1970s, the Pirates won six division championships and bracketed the decade with World Series victories over the Baltimore Orioles in 1971 and 1979.
Pittsburgh's sports heritage includes having hosted two Negro Leagues teams, showcasing the likes of such baseball greats as Josh Gibson and Satchel Paige. The Pittsburgh Crawfords and the Homestead Grays were dynasties in their own right, competing frequently in the Negro League world series. In 1971, the Pittsburgh Pirates became the first Major League Baseball team to field an all-black lineup. It has been suggested that "no city is more synonymous with black baseball than Pittsburgh."[2]
[edit] Professional Hockey
Ice hockey was originally introduced to Pittsburgh in 1896. The city was home to one of the original American-based teams of the NHL, the Pirates, and later on, successful minor league squads, the Pittsburgh Yellow Jackets and the Pittsburgh Hornets. The Mario Lemieux-led Penguins brought home back-to-back Stanley Cup Championships in the early 1990s. The Penguins nearly relocated out of Pittsburgh in 2007, but a new stadium deal will keep the Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Jordan Staal, and Marc-Andre Fleury-led Penguins in Pittsburgh.
[edit] Professional Basketball
The city's first basketball team was the Pittsburgh Rens from 1961-1963. The city also celebrated the American Basketball Association's Pittsburgh Pipers, which won the world's first modern basketball championship (which for the first time allowed the dunk and three-point shot) in 1968. The Pipers later changed their name to the Pittsburgh Condors, but would never again reach the heights of that first season. Pittsburgh was the home to the minor league basketball Rens of the 1950s and 1960s and the Piranhas in the early 1990s.
Currently, Pittsburgh is home to the Pittsburgh Xplosion. The team plays at the Mellon Arena and Petersen Events Center. It is in the Continental Basketball Association (CBA). The team's website is PittsburghXplosion.com
[edit] College Football
The region once had a thriving college football scene with University of Pittsburgh, Duquesne University, Carnegie Mellon University (then called Carnegie Tech), and Washington and Jefferson College all making "major" bowl game appearances and ranking high in national polls from the 1910s through the 1940s. The University of Pittsburgh ('Pitt') Panthers was a national power during this era, claiming 8 national championships under the guidance of coaching legends such as Pop Warner and Jock Sutherland. More recently, the 1970s saw the Panthers win a National Title and contest for two others. Overall, the school claims nine collegiate football national championships. Pitt is the only university in Western Pennsylvania to still play college football at the major Div. 1A level.
As for innovation, the penalty flag was first used at not-too-far-away Youngstown State University, and the first College football on TV game included local squad Waynesburg College.
Duquesne is noted for establishing numerous "firsts" in collegiate football. Former head coach Elmer Layden is credited with devising the system of hand signals that officials use today. The signal system was put to use for the first time on November 11, 1928, when Duquesne hosted Thiel College at Pitt Stadium. Layden was also the first coach to use two sets of uniform jerseys for home and away contests. In 1929, graduate student manager John Holohan conceived the idea of Pittsburgh's first night game at Forbes Field. On the evening of November 2 that year, the Dukes made history by defeating Geneva College, 27-7, in front of more than 27,000 spectators.
[edit] College Basketball
The region has a rich college round ball tradition. Including the University of Pittsburgh "Pitt" Panthers, the Duquesne University Dukes, Robert Morris University Colonials, and the Pittsburgh DMA-included West Virginia University Mountaineers all have rich histories in both the National Invitation Tournament and NCAA Tournament. Pitt claims two National Championships (1928 and 1930[1]) while WVU (1942 and 2007) and Duquesne (1955) have won NIT titles. Since the 2001-02 season, Pitt has won multiple Big East Conference championships and appeared in seven straight NCAA Tournaments, advancing to the Sweet 16 four times.
[edit] Other teams
The region's sports history includes other teams such as:
- Baseball - the 1890 Pittsburgh Burghers and the 1914-15 Pittsburgh Rebels
- Football
- the 1980s USFL Pittsburgh Maulers (owned by San Francisco 49ers owner Eddie DeBartolo)
- the Arena Football League Pittsburgh Gladiators of the late 1980s and early 1990s. Pittsburgh hosted the first-ever "Arena Bowl", with the home team making two appearances in it.
- Indoor soccer - Pittsburgh had an indoor soccer team from 1978-88 called The Pittsburgh Spirit.
- Tennis - The Pittsburgh Triangles of the short-lived World Team Tennis took the Association championship in 1975, their second year of play.
- The Pittsburgh Marathon was a major running event.
[edit] High School Sports
Football is the major sport across the region on all levels; high school, college and professional. Baseball and hockey are also big draws as well as minor and school league basketball. Pittsburgh has more public swimming pools per capita than any other place in the world. Most local high schools have indoor pools and many communities, country clubs and home-owner associations have vibrant summer swim clubs.
[edit] Famous Pittsburgh Athletes
Many famous athletes hailed from the Pittsburgh region, including:
- Baseball - Stan Musial, Josh Gibson, Hack Wilson, Bobby Wallace, Bill McKechnie, Honus Wagner, Rollie Fingers, Tito Francona, Terry Francona, Dick Allen, Buddy Bell, Dick Groat, Bob Moose, John Wehner, Bill Mazeroski, Matt Clement, Pete Vuckovich, Ken Griffey Sr, and Ken Griffey, Jr.
- Boxing - former world champion boxers Michael Moorer, Harry Greb, Billy Conn, Fritzie Zivic, and Paul Spadafora
- Football - Western Pennsylvania, the "cradle of quarterbacks" has produced Hall of Famers Dan Marino, Johnny Unitas, Joe Montana, George Blanda, Jim Kelly and Joe Namath as well as dozens of other quarterbacks of note including Johnny Lujack, Gus Frerotte, Marc Bulger, Bruce Gradkowski, Charlie Batch and the modern NFL's first black quarterback, Willie Thrower. Metro Pittsburgh has also produced football standouts in other positions, including Bill George, Randy White, Mike Ditka, Kevan Barlow, Joe Schmidt, Jim Covert, Ty Law, Jack Ham, Bill Fralic, Russ Grimm, Lavar Arrington, Jason Taylor, Sean Gilbert, Curtis Martin and Tony Dorsett.
- Basketball - John Abramovic, John Havlicek, Chuck Daly, George Karl, Pete Maravich, Press Maravich, Maurice Stokes, Danny Fortson
- Hockey - Ryan Malone, RJ Umberger, George Parros
- Golf - Arnold Palmer, Rocco Mediate
[edit] Pittsburgh sports in film
- Angels in the Outfield - the 1951 version — centers on the Pittsburgh Pirates as the main team. The 1994 remake, which focuses on the California Angels, premiered at Three Rivers Stadium, which drew one of the stadium's highest attendance totals in history.[citations needed]
- The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh depicts the fictional Pittsburgh Pisces in the finals and includes cameos of many NBA players and Harlem Globetrotters.
- All the Right Moves, starring Tom Cruise, involves local high school and college football.
- Sudden Death, the action movie starring Jean-Claude Van Damme, is set in Pittsburgh during the 1992 Stanley Cup finals.
- Kingpin, the 1996 Farrelly Brothers movie starring Woody Harrelson, Randy Quaid, and Bill Murray was mostly shot in the Pittsburgh area. Many Pittsburgh-area bowling alleys were used for scenes in the movie.
[edit] References
- ^ Official site of the Pittsburgh Steelers - Steelers Hall Of Fame
- ^ John Perrotto. "Baseball Plog", Beaver County Times, August 14, 2006.
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