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When Everyone Was Winning · Pittsburgh Sports Memories

0:00
SPEAKER_01: Hey everybody, welcome to another episode of the Pittsburgh Sports Memories Podcast.
0:05
SPEAKER_01: My name is Tim Hannon, and I have a co-host with me.
0:09
SPEAKER_01: Steve Wirt.
0:10
SPEAKER_01: In this episode, we're gonna jump in the podcast time machine and go back one decade to the sports year of 2015-2016.
0:20
SPEAKER_01: What was significant about that time?
0:21
SPEAKER_01: Well, it marks the last time where all three of Pittsburgh's pro sports teams, the Steelers, Penguins, and Pirates, were legitimate contenders.
0:45
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, that hasn't happened too often in Pittsburgh sports history, but yeah.
0:51
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and and you know, Steve, it's uh it's no secret that we've seen some some more slimmer times lately from all three of those teams.
1:01
SPEAKER_01: Some, you know, I'd say maybe some more than others.
1:05
SPEAKER_02: I think when you have like um Hall of Fame players on at least two out of three of those teams, you know, when you got Ben and I will eventually get in the Hall of Fame, and I think Sydney Crosby is a pretty much a lock for the hockey hall of fame.
1:19
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, you have two of the better players in each of those sports, you know, you're gonna have you know.
1:26
SPEAKER_02: I mean, I don't think Andrew McCutcheon makes the Hall of Fame, but you never know, he's a borderline case.
1:32
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, when you have those players, not not just even having those players, but having those players kind of at the apex of their careers.
1:38
SPEAKER_01: All at the same time.
1:39
SPEAKER_01: All at the same time, yeah.
1:41
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so so 2015-16, that that's what happens for all three of our sports teams.
1:47
SPEAKER_01: They're them and their best players are all on the top of their games.
1:50
SPEAKER_01: And each of those three teams has some similarities.
1:54
SPEAKER_01: You'll see as we go through this.
1:56
SPEAKER_01: Mainly they each lose one of their best players at the worst possible time.
2:02
SPEAKER_01: So we'll go through each of those seasons one at a time, starting with the Pirates.
2:08
SPEAKER_01: The Pirates enter the 2015 season, sporting back-to-back playoff appearances.
2:13
SPEAKER_01: Wow, that still feels so strange to say that.
2:18
SPEAKER_02: Maybe they'll get back there, Tim.
2:20
SPEAKER_01: Oh, sure.
2:21
SPEAKER_01: I'm sure.
2:22
SPEAKER_01: I mean, we have such solid ownership.
2:24
SPEAKER_01: I can't imagine us not, you know, riding the ship.
2:27
SPEAKER_01: The the Pirates had posted the highest attendance in franchise history the previous season, and had boasted the third best local television ratings in all of MLB.
2:39
SPEAKER_01: So they're riding pretty high, but the big question is can they take the next step?
2:45
SPEAKER_01: The Pirates are led by, Steve already mentioned this guy, the 2013 National League MVP Andrew McCutcheon.
2:52
SPEAKER_01: They have Pedro Alvarez, who had led the National League in home runs two years earlier.
2:58
SPEAKER_01: They have other really solid players like second baseman Neil Walker, gold glove outfielder Starling Marte.
3:06
SPEAKER_01: They have Garrett Cole and Francisco Lariano as dependable starting pitchers as well.
3:12
SPEAKER_01: Of course, just like any other season, there's a few lineup changes.
3:15
SPEAKER_01: The Pirates lose Russell Martin to Toronto in free agency.
3:19
SPEAKER_01: He's replaced by Francisco Cervelli.
3:21
SPEAKER_01: They also signed Korean All-Star Young Ho Kong to a four-year contract.
3:26
SPEAKER_01: And he has a stellar rookie season.
3:28
SPEAKER_01: He finishes third in the National League rookie of the year voting.
3:32
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, but you gotta remember, he was like, what, almost 28, 29.
3:37
SPEAKER_02: He was on the older side.
3:39
SPEAKER_02: Sure.
3:40
SPEAKER_01: Sure.
3:40
SPEAKER_01: He was on the rookie.
3:42
SPEAKER_02: He had played all those years in Korea, obviously.
3:45
SPEAKER_02: But he's a very good player.
3:47
SPEAKER_01: He was.
3:47
SPEAKER_02: He was, yeah.
3:49
SPEAKER_01: Uh in terms of the starting rotation, the Pirates lose Edison Wolkes, who was their best pitcher in 2014.
3:55
SPEAKER_01: But welcome back, AJ Burnett.
3:58
SPEAKER_01: Burnett had left to go play for the Phillies, but he told his agent he wanted to come back to Pittsburgh, and the Pirates were able to sign him at a discount.
4:05
SPEAKER_02: A player wanting to come here.
4:07
SPEAKER_02: Wow, what a what a what a novel concept.
4:10
SPEAKER_02: Yes.
4:11
SPEAKER_01: As we get more into this episode, you'll see that 10 years ago feels like more than 10 years ago.
4:20
SPEAKER_01: The season starts a bit slow.
4:22
SPEAKER_01: The Bucks get swept by the Reds in their opening series.
4:25
SPEAKER_01: By the end of May, they're in third place, hovering around 500, seven games out of first.
4:31
SPEAKER_01: So all this talk about taking the next step forward doesn't really seem to be happening.
4:37
SPEAKER_01: But when the summer months start, the Pirates start stacking wins.
4:41
SPEAKER_01: The problem for them is that the best team in all of baseball that year is the St.
4:47
SPEAKER_01: Louis Cardinals, who are in the same division as the Pirates.
4:51
SPEAKER_01: So to catch St.
4:52
SPEAKER_01: Louis, they're going to have to win some games against St.
4:56
SPEAKER_01: Louis.
4:56
SPEAKER_01: And that brings us to the weekend before the All-Star game where the Pirates have a four-game series against the Cardinals at PNC Park.
5:04
SPEAKER_01: They split the first two games, and then on Saturday, July 11th, the Cardinals take a three to nothing lead, but the Pirates battle back to send the game into extra innings.
5:14
SPEAKER_01: In the 10th inning, the Cardinals hit a home run, but the Pirates tie the score in the bottom of the inning.
5:19
SPEAKER_01: So like back and forth we go all the way until the bottom of the 14th when this happens.
5:27
SPEAKER_05: the pitch.
5:28
SPEAKER_05: High fly ball to center field.
5:30
SPEAKER_05: It's hit pretty well toward the wall.
5:33
SPEAKER_05: Oh my god! Goodbye, God! Andrew Bacon has won it! They're going crazy! The Pirates have won this game! And an incredible game! You can raise the Jolly Roger and call it maybe the best all time in Pittsburgh.
5:54
SPEAKER_01: Might be a little bit of a Yeah, yeah, but that's okay.
6:00
SPEAKER_01: It was exciting.
6:01
SPEAKER_01: I get it.
6:02
SPEAKER_02: That was big.
6:03
SPEAKER_02: I remember when that happened.
6:04
SPEAKER_02: I was coming home from work when that happened.
6:07
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I I I was actually in the Dominican Republic when that happened.
6:13
SPEAKER_01: And I remember watching that on my phone.
6:15
SPEAKER_02: The DR, baby.
6:17
SPEAKER_01: And and in and thinking, like, wow, what a what a great win.
6:21
SPEAKER_01: And as crazy as that game was, Steve, the next day was maybe even crazier because that's the fourth game of the series.
6:29
SPEAKER_01: The Pirates are again in extra innings.
6:32
SPEAKER_01: And this time they're not down by one.
6:34
SPEAKER_01: They're down by two, and they're down to their last out.
6:38
SPEAKER_01: But Starling Marte singles home Geordie Mercer, then Cervelli singles home Marte to tie it.
6:44
SPEAKER_01: And that brings up Gregory Gregory Polanco.
6:48
SPEAKER_05: Gregory Polanco, everybody, up 33,544.
6:54
SPEAKER_05: The stretch by Rosenthal, the pitch, swinging life drive, they've got it again.
7:01
SPEAKER_05: The place is a mob scene.
7:04
SPEAKER_05: It's chaos.
7:06
SPEAKER_05: Pandemonium.
7:08
SPEAKER_05: The Buccos have come back to beat the Cardinals.
7:12
SPEAKER_05: They're two and a half out at the all star break.
7:16
SPEAKER_05: Braves the Jolly Jolly Roger.
7:22
SPEAKER_05: wow.
7:23
SPEAKER_02: I forget what that was like over there in PC Park way back when, huh?
7:26
SPEAKER_02: When the pirates were competitive.
7:28
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
7:29
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and and the excitement.
7:30
SPEAKER_01: Like you folks listening on this podcast obviously can't see the video of this, but the fans just going crazy.
7:37
SPEAKER_01: Just going crazy.
7:38
SPEAKER_01: So excited, so into this team, so wanting to support good baseball.
7:44
SPEAKER_01: And it like I said, I was watching that game in the Dominican Republic on my phone, thinking like this this kind of feels like a team of destiny.
7:53
SPEAKER_01: Like they weren't in first place, they were chasing the Cardinals.
7:56
SPEAKER_01: But you win two games like that, and you just think this team could do anything, right?
8:00
SPEAKER_01: I mean, that's kind of the feeling at the time.
8:04
SPEAKER_01: The Pirates carry the moment momentum of that series uh through the rest of the season.
8:09
SPEAKER_01: Kutch is great.
8:11
SPEAKER_01: Uh Mark Mark Melanson, if you remember him, Steve, breaks the all-time saves record for the Pirates.
8:17
SPEAKER_02: He was really good back then.
8:19
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
8:20
SPEAKER_01: This 2015 Pirates team is the best Pirates team probably since 1992.
8:27
SPEAKER_01: As the Pirates are making their run, another team gets red hot.
8:31
SPEAKER_01: A team called the Chicago Cubs.
8:34
SPEAKER_01: The Cubs make the NL Central a three-team race, and they do that on the back of a pitcher that we talked about in our Athletes That Killed Pittsburgh episode, Jake Arrietta.
8:44
SPEAKER_01: Arietta was a very average pitcher for the Orioles, and then he becomes a very average pitcher for the Cubs.
8:50
SPEAKER_01: In mid-June of that season, he's 6-5 with a 3.40 ERA, which is again very average.
8:58
SPEAKER_01: But then, holy cow, you want to talk about the ultimate catch lightning in a bottle stretches in baseball history or Steve.
9:06
SPEAKER_02: Sure.
9:06
SPEAKER_02: I spider tack in a bottle.
9:08
SPEAKER_02: Sure.
9:10
SPEAKER_01: See Steve.
9:11
SPEAKER_01: Steve was something in a bottle.
9:12
SPEAKER_01: Something else in a bottle.
9:14
SPEAKER_02: I don't think it was steroids.
9:15
SPEAKER_02: I think it was Spider-Tack because he wasn't an overpowering pitcher.
9:18
SPEAKER_02: I think he was using a substance.
9:20
SPEAKER_02: He was like, uh, what was that guy in Major League?
9:23
SPEAKER_02: Oh, the old Vaseline ball.
9:25
SPEAKER_02: You know, he was definitely.
9:28
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, he was Eddie Harry.
9:29
SPEAKER_02: He was throwing bit because like if you remember, he didn't throw like super hard or anything.
9:33
SPEAKER_02: He just had this cutter that like went all over the place and you couldn't hit it.
9:38
SPEAKER_02: And I honestly think he was a big spider-tack guy.
9:41
SPEAKER_02: I I prove me wrong, Cubs fans.
9:43
SPEAKER_02: Whatever.
9:44
SPEAKER_01: Well, regardless.
9:46
SPEAKER_02: It wasn't cheating back then, so I guess it's okay.
9:50
SPEAKER_02: It was just cheating as much as Albert Buhol's using an illegal bat this whole time.
9:56
SPEAKER_02: So I mean it because Major League Baseball makes up makes half-assed rules where they let people use crap that's illegal because they've been in the league for 10 years.
10:05
SPEAKER_02: Why are people allowed to throw spitballs 10 years after it was illegal?
10:09
SPEAKER_02: Oh, because he's been around that long.
10:11
SPEAKER_02: Baseball.
10:12
SPEAKER_02: Don't get me started on baseball.
10:14
SPEAKER_02: The way they cherry pick, just like, oh, we won't let Pete Rose in the Hall of Fame.
10:18
SPEAKER_02: You have like 20 other people that did way worse stuff that affected the games, and you let them in and do whatever.
10:24
SPEAKER_02: And uh they just if they don't like you because you didn't talk to the media, then you get punished.
10:30
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, well, well, um just just hold on to that thought, Steve, because I've got something coming up very soon.
10:36
SPEAKER_02: That's gonna be well, I know I know what's coming up soon.
10:39
SPEAKER_01: So Jake Arietta.
10:40
SPEAKER_01: Cake Arietta goes 16 and 1 for the rest of the season.
10:44
SPEAKER_02: 16 and one attack.
10:46
SPEAKER_02: Brought to you by spider tack.
10:48
SPEAKER_02: From June through September and Vaseline.
10:51
SPEAKER_01: He throws a no-hitter, a 0.86 ERA.
10:55
SPEAKER_01: It's it's literally, and I and this is not hyperbole, this is like stat-driven.
10:59
SPEAKER_01: It's the greatest picking season since Bob Gibson in 1968.
11:03
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, because Bob Gibson and Jake Arrietta, they're right there.
11:06
SPEAKER_02: They're they're yeah.
11:08
SPEAKER_01: For for for several months in 2015, they absolutely were.
11:13
SPEAKER_02: I would have loved to see Jake Arietta have to hit against Bob Gibson.
11:16
SPEAKER_02: Bob Gibson would have drilled him just for being there.
11:20
SPEAKER_01: That's also true.
11:22
SPEAKER_01: So so the Cubs are pretty good.
11:24
SPEAKER_01: And um, okay.
11:27
SPEAKER_01: So I have to take a pause before I talk about what happens next and just play this warning, mostly for Steve.
11:36
SPEAKER_06: The following content contains discussion of sensitive subjects that may be distressing or triggering for some individuals.
11:43
SPEAKER_06: If you find yourself wanting to hurt members of the Chicago Cubs while listening to this section, please seek the support of a paid professional.
11:53
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
11:55
SPEAKER_01: So in September, the Pirates and Cubs are playing each other at BNC Park.
12:01
SPEAKER_01: Cubs outfielder Chris Coughlin tries to slide into second base, but he doesn't slide into second base.
12:08
SPEAKER_01: He slides into Young Ho Kong.
12:09
SPEAKER_02: He's not sliding into second base, Tim.
12:11
SPEAKER_02: He's sliding into the second baseman.
12:13
SPEAKER_02: Right.
12:14
SPEAKER_02: Which apparently that's how you uh you know tag the base, you slide into people.
12:20
SPEAKER_01: So this was something that happened.
12:22
SPEAKER_02: In a play that would even be le legal in NFL football.
12:25
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, this is so for years and years, if if there was a chance at a double play, the strategy was hey, try to get in the way of the second baseman or the short stuff.
12:37
SPEAKER_01: Who's ever who's ever stepping on second, trying to throw to first to make the double play?
12:42
SPEAKER_01: And and it makes sense if the guy's standing on second, you're sliding into second, and you kind of try to slide into him or get in his way.
12:51
SPEAKER_01: In this case, Young Ho-Gong is like 20 feet away from second base, and Chris Coughlin just targets him, and he tears his his ACL.
13:02
SPEAKER_01: And that's it.
13:02
SPEAKER_01: Young Ho-Kong's long lost for the season.
13:05
SPEAKER_01: This guy that was you know a very integral part of the Pirates lineup uh because the Cubs just decided to slide into him.
13:14
SPEAKER_01: Steve, your thoughts.
13:16
SPEAKER_02: I know I know you you think very I can't believe you're not gonna play the clip.
13:20
SPEAKER_01: No, no, I had no, I'm I'm not gonna that's why I played the warning, Steve.
13:25
SPEAKER_01: Because playing the clip would then send you through the roof.
13:29
SPEAKER_01: So we're not gonna play the warning.
13:30
SPEAKER_02: Well, because Steve Blast does say, if you watch the clip, he does say, well, that's kind of baseball.
13:34
SPEAKER_02: He does he doesn't blame the Cubs like in the moment.
13:38
SPEAKER_02: And I think the biggest like thing with baseball and just the way they run it is this wasn't a problem.
13:46
SPEAKER_02: And he's like, Well, that's hard nose baseball.
13:49
SPEAKER_02: And then uh, who was it for the Dodgers?
13:52
SPEAKER_02: Did it to the guy from the Mets?
13:53
SPEAKER_02: I for I forget the name of those.
13:55
SPEAKER_02: It was Tesla.
13:56
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, he doesn't Ruben Tehada for the Mets, yeah.
14:00
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and does the exact same thing, and all of a sudden it's a problem.
14:03
SPEAKER_02: Gee, why?
14:04
SPEAKER_02: Huh?
14:05
SPEAKER_02: Interesting.
14:06
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, interesting how that works.
14:08
SPEAKER_02: And I mean, personally, if I would but once again, when you've crappy ownership that doesn't do anything and just puts up with it, this is what you get.
14:17
SPEAKER_02: And I mean, it really ends Chung Ho-Gon's career.
14:21
SPEAKER_02: I mean, not that maybe he would have burned out anyway because he did have some off-the-field issues, so maybe he it wouldn't have worked out for him, but I always felt bad.
14:31
SPEAKER_02: It like it's kind of those what ifs in Pittsburgh sports history.
14:35
SPEAKER_02: What if you know he gets out of the way or he doesn't get hurt, or he just gets hurt a little bit and can come back for the playoffs.
14:43
SPEAKER_02: I I don't know.
14:44
SPEAKER_02: I I don't I did the pirates, I don't think the pirates even threw at anybody over this or anything.
14:49
SPEAKER_02: I I I don't I don't know.
14:51
SPEAKER_01: Like you said, it was it was kind of baseball and nobody nobody outside.
14:57
SPEAKER_02: But it was so blatant.
14:58
SPEAKER_02: It was just so blatant too that was so blatant.
15:00
SPEAKER_02: Like you said, he he wasn't sliding towards the bag.
15:02
SPEAKER_02: Like if it was a close play at the bag and maybe maybe Gong's like a footstep or or two footsteps off the bag, you're like, well, you know, that's the way it goes.
15:13
SPEAKER_02: But he he like you said, he was 10 to 15.
15:15
SPEAKER_02: He he was unless this guy was sliding into center field, that there was no reason to be there.
15:22
SPEAKER_01: Right, right.
15:22
SPEAKER_01: And and the thing you mentioned about Chase Lutley and Ruben Tahada, that literally happened later that season.
15:30
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
15:31
SPEAKER_01: And and then all of a sudden, oh the horror, oh, we have to change the roles, but nobody cared about it at the time for the pirates.
15:38
SPEAKER_01: So it's unfortunate.
15:40
SPEAKER_01: It's it's really one of the one of the bigger inj injustices in racing.
15:46
SPEAKER_02: That's where ownership's gotta step up, too.
15:48
SPEAKER_02: And you gotta, you know, sometimes you just gotta, you know, you gotta do you either gotta form allies in the league office or something, or or or or go to the media and just shoot your mouth off and take the fine.
16:01
SPEAKER_01: Steve, could you even imagine?
16:03
SPEAKER_01: First of all, picture somebody even trying to explain what happened to Bob Nunning.
16:09
SPEAKER_02: I don't know.
16:09
SPEAKER_02: He's like, wait a minute, is this did somebody fall off the chairlift of seven springs?
16:13
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, right.
16:14
SPEAKER_01: I mean, I I don't know.
16:15
SPEAKER_02: Is Shanghai Gong the the the operator there?
16:17
SPEAKER_01: I don't see literally, yeah.
16:20
SPEAKER_02: He he for him to even grasp so so Chris fell off the chairlift on the jungle.
16:28
SPEAKER_01: I mean, literally, so so yeah, him going to the media or him making us think about it.
16:33
SPEAKER_01: It he's not that kind of owner.
16:35
SPEAKER_01: He's not he's not the engaged, you know, like care about his team type of owner.
16:41
SPEAKER_01: So that's just reality.
16:44
SPEAKER_01: So the Cardinals, Pirates, and Cubs finish with the three best records in all of baseball.
16:51
SPEAKER_01: The Cardinals have 100 wins, the Pirates 98 wins, and the Cubs have 97 wins.
16:56
SPEAKER_01: So if the Pirates or Cubs had been in any other division in baseball, they would have had home field advantage for the playoffs.
17:03
SPEAKER_01: Instead, they have to play a one-game wild card playoff game at PNC Park on October 7th.
17:10
SPEAKER_01: The Bucks start Garrett Cole, the Cubs, of course, start Jake Arietta, and Arietta dominates.
17:15
SPEAKER_01: He throws a complete game shutout.
17:17
SPEAKER_02: Brought to you by Vaseline.
17:21
SPEAKER_02: This game sponsored in part by Vaseline.
17:25
SPEAKER_02: Not just for chapped lips anymore.
17:29
SPEAKER_01: In that wild card game, uh, future pirate.
17:32
SPEAKER_01: Oh, we were just so close to signing him Kyle Schwarber as a three-run home run.
17:37
SPEAKER_01: Because we were, Steve.
17:38
SPEAKER_01: We were gonna totally sign that guy.
17:41
SPEAKER_01: Uh in Chicago wins four to nothing, ends the pirate season as Sean Rodriguez takes out his frustration on a Gatorade cooler and the dog out.
17:49
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, we they get Kyle Schwarber.
17:51
SPEAKER_02: We get Sean Rodriguez in a Gatorade cooler.
17:54
SPEAKER_02: I think they traded Sean Rodriguez for the Gatorade.
17:59
SPEAKER_01: For the money to buy a new one.
18:02
SPEAKER_02: Well, you know, maybe if Sean Rodriguez would have punched the Vaseline jar, we would have had a chance.
18:10
SPEAKER_01: It it it really is a bummer of an ending to that season.
18:14
SPEAKER_01: Which which was like a which was like a kind of a magical season.
18:18
SPEAKER_01: If you think back to like those Cardinals like finishes in the summer, it it just it sucks it came down to one game where their pitcher was unhittable, but that's just the way it went.
18:28
SPEAKER_02: Well, I think too, like they lost some games late in the season, didn't they, to set this up too.
18:33
SPEAKER_02: They had a they had a better chance to get out of this.
18:38
SPEAKER_01: That's a pretty good season.
18:39
SPEAKER_01: You can't do much better than 98 wins.
18:42
SPEAKER_02: There were years when like 90 wins would have won you the division.
18:45
SPEAKER_01: Heck yeah.
18:46
SPEAKER_01: That's what I'm saying.
18:47
SPEAKER_01: That year, Steve, if if that year any other division, you put them in any of the American League divisions, any of the other National League divisions, 98 wins wins them the division.
18:57
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
18:58
SPEAKER_01: But not the Central.
19:01
SPEAKER_01: So uh for each of these, we'll talk about an aftermath.
19:05
SPEAKER_01: So for the aftermath for this one, as of the time of this recording, the Pirates have never, again, even sniffed the postseason.
19:12
SPEAKER_01: They start slowly dismantling the team because Bob Nutting.
19:16
SPEAKER_01: Arietta is never as dominant as he is in 2015.
19:19
SPEAKER_01: He deals with some injuries, and he's actually I didn't realize this, Steve.
19:22
SPEAKER_01: He's out of baseball altogether by 2021.
19:25
SPEAKER_02: He had that was like towards the tail end of his career anyway.
19:29
SPEAKER_02: Like I don't think he was he had been in the league for years before.
19:33
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, he wasn't like a newcomer.
19:34
SPEAKER_01: That's why I said he was like an average pitcher for Baltimore for a few quite a few years before that.
19:41
SPEAKER_01: Uh but yeah, he was definitely uh the the very definition of Flash in the Pan.
19:46
SPEAKER_02: That is the year the Cubs win the World Series, right?
19:49
SPEAKER_01: No.
19:50
SPEAKER_01: Uh neither neither the Cubs nor Cardinals actually even make it to the World Series, Steve.
19:55
SPEAKER_01: Do you remember which team made it that year?
19:58
SPEAKER_02: From the National League?
19:59
SPEAKER_01: Uh-huh.
20:02
SPEAKER_02: I don't know.
20:03
SPEAKER_02: Dodgers, Mets.
20:04
SPEAKER_01: It's the New York Mets.
20:06
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, Mets, yeah.
20:07
SPEAKER_02: That was who lose to who they lose to, the lose to the Kansas City Royals.
20:13
SPEAKER_01: Could you have imagined a Royals Pirates World Series, Steve?
20:16
SPEAKER_01: That would have made sense.
20:17
SPEAKER_02: I could imagine like all baseball retching in the bathroom because they would have loved it because like C they don't need a salary cap.
20:28
unknown: Yeah.
20:28
SPEAKER_01: That's true.
20:29
SPEAKER_01: They would have hung on to that for a decade to prove that baseball didn't need a Pirates, Pirates Royals, Pirates Royals.
20:36
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
20:37
SPEAKER_02: And then both teams are in the toilet for the next 10 years.
20:41
SPEAKER_01: And and the Cubs did not win that year, despite the prediction from Back to the Future 2.
20:46
SPEAKER_02: Well, did you notice that ever that was the year they were paying over slot?
20:52
SPEAKER_02: Remember that the Pirates started doing that in the draft.
20:54
SPEAKER_02: They're paying over slot, and all the other small market teams started doing that and they were competitive.
20:58
SPEAKER_02: And as soon as the Yankees and Dodgers closed that loophole, the Yankees, Red Sox, Dodgers, boy, look who went back to being not competitive again.
21:08
SPEAKER_02: Funny thing about that.
21:11
SPEAKER_01: Yes, that's true.
21:13
SPEAKER_01: So so yeah, the Cubs, the Cubs don't win the World Series, but don't feel too bad for them because they do win it all the following year, thus ending their 108-year championship drought.
21:23
SPEAKER_01: Yay, cubbies.
21:25
SPEAKER_02: Well, they're on a 10-year drought now.
21:27
SPEAKER_02: So 90 more years, 98 more years to go.
21:32
SPEAKER_02: I hope those Cubs fans are happy with the World Series because they're never going to see another one in their lifetime.
21:37
SPEAKER_01: Probably not, but you know what?
21:39
SPEAKER_01: They still have they've seen one more in their lifetime as I've seen Pirates.
21:43
SPEAKER_02: I I've seen a w I was I I was three years old.
21:46
SPEAKER_01: Well, yeah, I was alive for the for the last time too, but I don't don't remember it.
21:51
SPEAKER_01: So so yeah, as the Pirates are going on their playoff run, the Steelers are kicking off their twenty fifteen season, and the Steelers are in the middle.
22:00
SPEAKER_01: Of like part two of Ben Rothesberger's career.
22:04
SPEAKER_01: So if you think part one is where they make it to three Super Bowls, they have this really good defense, then they're kind of mediocre for a couple of years, and a lot of those part one guys retire.
22:16
SPEAKER_01: And for this part two of his career, they build this really powerful offense led by Ben with guys like Le'Veon Bell, Antonio Brown, David DeCastro, Mark Marquise Pouncey, and Martavis Bryant.
22:30
SPEAKER_01: Meanwhile, the defense is still kind of in transition.
22:34
SPEAKER_01: Uh longtime Steelers defensive coordinator Dick Lebau had resigned before that season.
22:40
SPEAKER_01: And Ike Taylor, Brett Keisel, and Troy Palomalo all retire before that season as well.
22:44
SPEAKER_02: So I don't think Dick Lebeau's anywhere else.
22:48
SPEAKER_02: Is that the end of his coaching career?
22:51
SPEAKER_01: I think he went to Tennessee after.
22:53
SPEAKER_02: I think you're right.
22:54
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, he may be one or two years.
22:56
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
22:57
SPEAKER_01: And I don't know that he was like the defensive coordinator.
22:59
SPEAKER_01: I think he was like some other title.
23:01
SPEAKER_01: Um don't quote me on that.
23:03
SPEAKER_01: I don't have that here, but I I want to say he went to Tennessee.
23:06
SPEAKER_01: So so at this point, the Steelers are kind of an unfamiliar territory as a franchise because for decades they've always been a defense first team, and here they are as one of the premier offenses in the NFL, stacked with a bunch of guys who were like high fantasy football draft picks, and that was very un-Steelers like, wasn't it, Steve?
23:28
SPEAKER_02: No, we love like high flying offense around here.
23:31
SPEAKER_02: That's what we're we're the greatest show on almost turf.
23:36
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
23:37
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and that's what I mean.
23:39
SPEAKER_01: It was it was unusual.
23:40
SPEAKER_02: The greatest show on really bad turf at Hinesfield.
23:44
SPEAKER_01: And that that just yeah, that just wasn't the way that you know people were used to to steal our football, but that's okay.
23:51
SPEAKER_01: And it was fun to watch.
23:53
SPEAKER_01: The Steelers also caught some controversy in the offseason when they signed quarterback Michael Vick.
24:00
SPEAKER_01: Vick, of course, had been convicted of running a dog fighting ring.
24:03
SPEAKER_01: He had served two years in prison for that, and a lot of people in Pittsburgh were upset by that signing.
24:09
SPEAKER_01: Steve, you and I have talked about this before, and I think I I think I speak for you, but I'll tell me if you disagree.
24:15
SPEAKER_01: I think we're both of the position that, you know, we're dog lovers, what he did was horrible, and at the same time, you know, he served his time for it, and at least on the surface, seemed to be very remorseful and willing to make amends for it.
24:31
SPEAKER_01: So at the end of the day, I don't think either of us were too upset about the story signing on.
24:37
SPEAKER_01: Correct?
24:37
SPEAKER_02: I yeah, I don't I don't know what the what war you want the guy to do.
24:41
SPEAKER_02: So I mean sometimes you just gotta you know, guy did what he needed to do and moved on and paid a pretty heavy price for it.
24:51
SPEAKER_02: So yeah.
24:53
SPEAKER_02: I don't think he deserves a life sentence for that, let me say that.
24:57
SPEAKER_01: Right.
24:58
SPEAKER_01: Right.
24:58
SPEAKER_01: Right.
24:59
SPEAKER_01: I I I don't even know that people wanted him in prison.
25:01
SPEAKER_01: I think people just didn't want him to have a career.
25:05
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah.
25:06
SPEAKER_02: I think he's coaching somewhere now, like a head coach of like a high school worse.
25:10
SPEAKER_01: I think he is too, yeah.
25:11
SPEAKER_01: And I think some of that's worn off.
25:13
SPEAKER_01: Again, he's been a pretty good citizen since then.
25:15
SPEAKER_02: You don't, yeah, you don't hear.
25:17
SPEAKER_02: So maybe you know he it was a good thing, you know, it wasn't a the the positive that came out of it was he's a better person.
25:22
SPEAKER_01: So yeah, which is I I mean, technically the point of prison is supposed to be rehabilitation.
25:30
SPEAKER_01: So I I I don't know.
25:32
SPEAKER_01: I again you never know a person's real heart.
25:34
SPEAKER_01: You know, somebody could just be faking it.
25:37
SPEAKER_01: But I I I don't know.
25:39
SPEAKER_01: I the uproar was and like I said, Steve, you and I both love dogs.
25:43
SPEAKER_01: I get it.
25:44
SPEAKER_01: Like it was it that was real bad.
25:46
SPEAKER_02: It'd have been better off he killed three people.
25:49
SPEAKER_01: Yes, literally, it would have been.
25:50
SPEAKER_01: People would have been quicker to forgive them.
25:53
SPEAKER_01: Um, but people love dogs, and I I get that too.
25:56
SPEAKER_01: It it just it just strikes me as um, you know, uh we decided as a society we we have a punishment for this type of crime.
26:05
SPEAKER_01: He served that punishment, he seemed to be remorseful.
26:09
SPEAKER_01: So if you want to lobby your your government to change the punishment, then go for go for it.
26:15
SPEAKER_01: Do that.
26:16
SPEAKER_01: But I mean, I don't I don't know.
26:18
SPEAKER_01: So so yeah, that was a big controversy.
26:21
SPEAKER_01: But let's talk about the actual season.
26:23
SPEAKER_01: The Steelers face some adversity in the first half of that season.
26:27
SPEAKER_01: Pouncey breaks his leg in a preseason game and he's lost for the entire year.
26:33
SPEAKER_01: Kicker Sean Swisham tears his ACL in a preseason game, and he never again plays pro football.
26:41
SPEAKER_02: Wow.
26:42
SPEAKER_02: I didn't know that.
26:44
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, he was a decent kicker too.
26:47
SPEAKER_02: Did they sign they signed him as like a free agent or something, didn't they?
26:51
SPEAKER_01: They they had signed him in 2010, the year that they cut Jeff Reed in the middle of the season.
26:56
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
26:56
SPEAKER_01: And so he had been on the team then for for five seasons at that point.
27:01
SPEAKER_01: And yeah, he was he was pretty reliable.
27:03
SPEAKER_01: Uh and I think that was the Hall of Fame game, I think, that they were playing.
27:08
SPEAKER_01: And yeah, he tears his ACL, and that's the end of his career.
27:12
SPEAKER_01: You know what Sean Suissum does today, Steve?
27:15
SPEAKER_02: Uh not kick field goals.
27:18
SPEAKER_01: He works for the Penguins.
27:20
SPEAKER_02: Really?
27:20
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
27:21
SPEAKER_02: He's still in Pittsburgh after I I know he he's not a native, he's not from Pittsburgh or anything, right?
27:26
SPEAKER_01: Right.
27:27
SPEAKER_01: He works for the Pens.
27:28
SPEAKER_01: He's the director of uh the girls' hockey program for the Penguins Elite.
27:32
SPEAKER_02: Wow, I wonder if he knows how to ice skate.
27:34
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
27:35
SPEAKER_01: Well, he's Canadian, so he probably Oh, that's right.
27:38
SPEAKER_02: He is Canadian.
27:40
SPEAKER_02: He probably learned that pretty early.
27:42
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
27:42
SPEAKER_02: Ah, I forgot he was Canadian.
27:44
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
27:45
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
27:45
SPEAKER_01: So yeah, he actually works for the Pens.
27:48
SPEAKER_01: Uh Ben Roslisberger gets hurt too in week three.
27:53
SPEAKER_01: He's lost for a few weeks.
27:55
SPEAKER_01: And then Vontez Berfecht, who we're going to talk about later in this episode, takes out Le'Veon Bell in a week eight game in Heinzfield, and Bell is lost for the season.
28:04
SPEAKER_01: So you got your starting Hall of Fame Center, your kicker, uh, your all-world running back are all out for the season.
28:14
SPEAKER_01: Uh, and Ben, like I said, was down for a few weeks also.
28:16
SPEAKER_01: So the high-powered offense really takes a hit.
28:19
SPEAKER_01: And the Steelers are only four and four at midseason, but they're resilient and they find ways to win some big games.
28:27
SPEAKER_01: So, so we'll just go through some notable moments in the season.
28:31
SPEAKER_01: On October 1st, the Steelers suffer one of the more unbelievable losses in the history of Heinsfield against the Ravens.
28:40
SPEAKER_01: So when Sweesham got hurt, the Steelers had traded for a kicker named Josh Scobie, who had played for, I think, Jacksonville.
28:50
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
28:51
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
28:51
SPEAKER_01: And in this in this October 1st game against Baltimore, Scoby misses two field goals in the final two minutes, either one of which would have won the game, and he misses them both.
29:03
SPEAKER_01: Then in overtime, the Steelers twice, twice get into field goal range, but they can't attempt a field goal because they have no faith in Scoby.
29:14
SPEAKER_01: So they they go for it on fourth down both times and they get stopped.
29:17
SPEAKER_01: And the Ravens, because they have Justin Tucker just get to the 50-yard line and it's over.
29:24
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
29:25
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and he kicks the game winner.
29:27
SPEAKER_01: And and Steve, I was at that game.
29:29
SPEAKER_01: I did not see Justin Tucker kick that field goal because my dad and I walked out as he as they were lining up.
29:38
SPEAKER_01: And it was a 52-yard kick, but it was Justin Tucker just never, ever, ever missed.
29:44
SPEAKER_01: I don't know if people remember how dominant he was.
29:46
SPEAKER_01: He just never missed.
29:48
SPEAKER_01: So, like literally, once they got into field goal range and they and they whatever down it was, they brought him out.
29:53
SPEAKER_01: I'm like, okay, we we're just like bye.
29:57
SPEAKER_01: I I just it wasn't even, it was just it wasn't even worth going through the motions of having him kick the ball because he knew he was going to make it.
30:05
SPEAKER_01: So as bad as that loss was, it ends up being significant because the Steelers cut Scobie because of that game, and they pick up a guy who had been cut by the Texans and the Giants by the name of Chris Boswell.
30:21
SPEAKER_02: That is weird that he went through two other teams.
30:25
SPEAKER_02: But I don't know.
30:26
SPEAKER_02: I mean, kickers do that.
30:28
SPEAKER_02: I I don't know.
30:29
SPEAKER_02: He he definitely finds himself here.
30:31
SPEAKER_01: So yes.
30:32
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and and and that happens.
30:34
SPEAKER_01: I mean, uh, remember um uh the kicker for Tennessee, Rob Burrows.
30:40
SPEAKER_02: Yes, right, yeah, he was good for years, yeah.
30:42
SPEAKER_01: And he and he was with the Steelers, but but he was he was one of those guys that was like he was behind was it Boswell or he was it was behind Jeff Reed.
30:50
SPEAKER_02: Jeff Reed, yeah.
30:51
SPEAKER_01: So so he's one of those guys that they you know you bring in for training camp as a training camp leg, but you know you're not gonna keep them.
30:57
SPEAKER_01: The Steelers did that recently with Ben Solis from Pitt.
31:00
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
31:00
SPEAKER_01: So so sometimes when you see like, oh, the Texans cut him and the Giants cut him, well, maybe it's just because they already had kickers and they they had him there.
31:08
SPEAKER_01: Maybe the kicker got hurt in preseason or something like that.
31:11
SPEAKER_01: Either way, like you said, Steve, it ends up working out pretty well.
31:16
SPEAKER_01: Uh Boswell ends up becoming, you know, definitely one of the one of the greatest kickers in the history of the team.
31:21
SPEAKER_01: So it's just funny, losing that game to Baltimore actually ends up being a huge blessing in disguise.
31:28
SPEAKER_01: Also in October, the Steelers are playing their final ever game at San Diego.
31:34
SPEAKER_01: Remember when San Diego had a football team?
31:36
SPEAKER_02: I only remember the LA Chargers.
31:39
SPEAKER_02: Especially that one season in 1960.
31:43
SPEAKER_01: So they're down 20 to 17 in this game, but they have the ball at the one-yard line with five seconds left.
31:49
SPEAKER_02: I remember this play.
31:51
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
31:51
SPEAKER_01: So so this is an interesting choice, right?
31:53
SPEAKER_01: You're you're down three, five seconds to go.
31:56
SPEAKER_01: You could kick the field goal, that'll the pretty easy field goal from the one-yard line, send the game into overtime, or put all your tips in the middle of the table and go for the win with the risk that if you get stopped, then the Chargers win.
32:10
SPEAKER_01: So let's see what happens.
32:13
SPEAKER_05: Wildcat big at the bottom of the screen.
32:15
SPEAKER_05: It's Belt.
32:15
SPEAKER_05: Belt seeking space.
32:16
SPEAKER_05: Belt trying to go over the touch.
32:18
SPEAKER_05: He fights to the goal line.
32:19
SPEAKER_05: He's in for the touchdown.
32:21
SPEAKER_05: At the gun.
32:22
SPEAKER_05: The Steelers win.
32:26
SPEAKER_02: That was Michael the Michael Vick game, yeah.
32:29
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, Michael Vick started that game.
32:31
SPEAKER_01: That was when, like we said, play very well.
32:34
SPEAKER_01: Ben had gotten hurt, so Vick had had to come in the middle of the season, start a series of games.
32:40
SPEAKER_01: I think Landry Jones even started a game.
32:42
SPEAKER_01: Uh and and Le'Veon Bell, he got he got if again you can't see this if you're listening.
32:49
SPEAKER_01: He got stopped on his first try.
32:51
SPEAKER_01: And his second effort, he got in.
32:54
SPEAKER_01: So that was a big win.
32:56
SPEAKER_02: You forget how good he was.
32:57
SPEAKER_02: He he was like kind of a glider, like he wasn't like super fast, but when he hit the hole, he was through it pretty quick.
33:05
SPEAKER_02: And he had good instincts.
33:07
SPEAKER_02: I just he just fell off like that stupid contract.
33:12
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
33:13
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
33:14
SPEAKER_01: It's a shame.
33:15
SPEAKER_01: Another like what could have been, Steve.
33:17
SPEAKER_02: Well, he's a knucklehead.
33:19
SPEAKER_02: They were it just had too many knuckleheads on that team.
33:22
SPEAKER_01: They did.
33:24
SPEAKER_01: They did.
33:24
SPEAKER_01: Speaking of knuckleheads, in week nine, the Steelers.
33:28
SPEAKER_02: What a line.
33:29
SPEAKER_02: What a segue.
33:30
SPEAKER_01: The Steelers are playing the Oakland Raiders at home.
33:33
SPEAKER_01: Man, all these teams from 10 years ago that don't exist anymore.
33:36
SPEAKER_02: Uh and it turns into quite the Oakland Raiders, yeah.
33:40
SPEAKER_01: It's it's 35 to 35.
33:43
SPEAKER_01: And the Steelers have the ball in the final minute of the game, but they're at their own 28-yard line and they're facing third down.
33:50
SPEAKER_01: So let's see what happens in that game.
33:53
SPEAKER_05: Rush is coming.
33:54
SPEAKER_05: Jones throws it.
33:55
SPEAKER_05: It's cut by Brown.
33:57
SPEAKER_05: Antonio Brown drowsing into one from Temletary.
34:00
SPEAKER_05: It's a foot race.
34:01
SPEAKER_05: Antonio Brown is out of bounds.
34:09
SPEAKER_02: Good old Landry Jones.
34:11
SPEAKER_02: He wasn't bad for a while.
34:13
SPEAKER_02: He was a solid backup.
34:16
SPEAKER_01: He was.
34:17
SPEAKER_01: And that was Antonio Brown.
34:19
SPEAKER_01: Like I said, speaking of knuckleheads, catching that pass, uh, setting up Chris Boswell for a tip shot game-winning field goal with six seconds left.
34:27
SPEAKER_01: So, so a bunch of like the Steelers really gutting out wins, uh finding ways to make big plays.
34:35
SPEAKER_01: But the real high water mark of the season comes in week 15 at home against the Denver Broncos.
34:44
SPEAKER_02: This actually kind of made the Broncos season.
34:46
SPEAKER_02: This is the reason they won the Super Bowl.
34:49
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, well, though, and Denver Denver that year, uh, like like Steve alluded to about the winning the Super Bowl.
34:57
SPEAKER_01: In week 15, they're the best team in the AFC.
35:00
SPEAKER_01: And they have a defense.
35:01
SPEAKER_01: Really, that's that's what's powering them.
35:04
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
35:04
SPEAKER_01: Because they have Peyton Manning, but Peyton Manning, it that they weren't playing them.
35:07
SPEAKER_02: They were playing Brock Osweiler.
35:09
SPEAKER_01: Right, because Peyton Manning was kind of ineffective.
35:11
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
35:12
SPEAKER_01: So they were they were the classic, you know, all those teams from years past, the 85 Bears or the 2000 Ravens, or the I wouldn't say their defenses were that good, but the classic like game manager quarterback, yeah, really, really good defense.
35:26
SPEAKER_01: Well, that day, the Steelers offense shows how good they are.
35:31
SPEAKER_01: Ben throws for 380 yards.
35:34
SPEAKER_01: Antonio Brown has 189 yards receiving and two touchdowns, including the game winner with three minutes left as the Steelers prevail 34 to 27 over this impenetrable.
35:47
SPEAKER_02: Did they still have Bell for this game?
35:50
SPEAKER_01: No, Bell had gotten hurt by then.
35:51
SPEAKER_02: Oh, okay.
35:52
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, but I think they had D'Angelo Williams, who we'll talk about later.
35:56
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, he was uh uh played a pretty good season, yeah.
35:59
SPEAKER_01: Well, the the year before that, Bell had gotten hurt for the playoff game against Baltimore.
36:04
SPEAKER_01: He got hurt the last week of the season, and they had to sign Ben Tate, I think, off the street.
36:09
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah, it was terrible.
36:11
SPEAKER_01: And and it was terrible.
36:12
SPEAKER_01: And so that year they were totally committed to okay, we're gonna have a quality second running back.
36:18
SPEAKER_01: And D'Angelo Williams was that guy until he got hurt too.
36:23
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
36:24
SPEAKER_00: That's right.
36:24
SPEAKER_01: So so at this point, the Steelers are set to make a run at the Super Bowl.
36:29
SPEAKER_01: They're 9-5 with two games left, and all they have to do to clinch the playoff spot is to beat a 4-10 Ravens team in the penultimate game of the season.
36:38
SPEAKER_01: Does that sound familiar, Steve?
36:40
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
36:40
SPEAKER_01: Have we seen this scenario recently where, hey, two games left, just win that, win that second to last game, and you're in the playoffs.
36:48
SPEAKER_01: Well, the Steelers blow it.
36:51
SPEAKER_01: And now, in the last week of the season, they not only need to beat the Browns, but they need the Buffalo Bills, who at this point are not very good, to beat the Jets.
37:01
SPEAKER_01: Fortunately for the Steelers, they take care of business and the Jets go full New York Jets by blowing the Buffalo game.
37:07
SPEAKER_02: You never go the full New York Jets.
37:09
SPEAKER_01: The Jets always go the full New York Jets.
37:13
SPEAKER_01: So the Steors are in the playoffs.
37:16
SPEAKER_01: Uh, the first round is at Cincinnati, and we've talked about this game a ton in previous episodes, so I'm not going to go into the full detail.
37:23
SPEAKER_02: It's a nightmare.
37:24
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I would say the two things you really need to know.
37:27
SPEAKER_01: Number one, the Bengals cook harder than any other team in any other game in the history of sports.
37:33
SPEAKER_02: Jerry Porter really causes a lot of trouble in this game.
37:35
SPEAKER_02: I don't know who he is, but he he causes a lot of trouble.
37:40
SPEAKER_01: You want to talk about hyperbole.
37:42
SPEAKER_01: I don't think it's hyperbole to say this was the biggest collapse in the history of sports.
37:48
SPEAKER_01: The Bengals literally bigger than Bill Buckner?
37:52
SPEAKER_02: I know.
37:52
SPEAKER_02: Bigger than like the Penguins blowing a three games, the non-like.
37:58
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, but at least at least that was like on the field stuff.
38:00
SPEAKER_01: Like literally, the Bengals have this game iced.
38:03
SPEAKER_01: They fumble, and then they give the Steelers 30 yards and penalties to set up the game-winning field goal.
38:11
SPEAKER_01: Like I I you know, Bill Buckner, at least that was like a play.
38:15
SPEAKER_01: You know?
38:16
SPEAKER_01: And the Penguins blowing like the three games, nothing away.
38:18
SPEAKER_01: Like, that was like on the ice, like stuff actually happened.
38:21
SPEAKER_01: Here, it was like literally just here, here, we don't want to win.
38:26
SPEAKER_01: Take 30 yards and penalties.
38:29
SPEAKER_01: So, anyway, it was it was it was quite the uh quite the choke job by the Bengals.
38:34
SPEAKER_01: That's number one.
38:35
SPEAKER_01: Number two, Vontez perfect, who, like we said, had already ended Levy on Bell season, injures both Ben Rothesberger and Antonio Brown in this game, which really destroys the season for Pittsburgh.
38:46
SPEAKER_02: Doesn't I don't think he ever got fined for any of that, did he?
38:50
SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
38:51
SPEAKER_01: I don't, it didn't matter.
38:52
SPEAKER_01: I mean, what the fuck?
38:53
SPEAKER_02: He like elbow, he like knee Ben's shoulder, which messed him up.
38:58
SPEAKER_02: He couldn't throw the next week, and then like he he concussed Antonio Brown, although Pac-Man Jones thinks he wasn't concussed.
39:05
SPEAKER_02: So I trust I trust uh Dr.
39:08
SPEAKER_02: Pac-Man Jones.
39:09
SPEAKER_02: I mean, when I'm going for all my neurological services, I go to the Dr.
39:13
SPEAKER_02: Pac-Man Jones.
39:15
SPEAKER_02: Dr.
39:15
SPEAKER_02: Jones, what's your diagnosis?
39:17
SPEAKER_02: Not concussed.
39:19
SPEAKER_02: Okay, gotcha.
39:20
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, the Bengals were an embarrassment, but but perfect, yeah.
39:24
SPEAKER_01: I mean, that's so the Steelers have to go to Denver for the divisional round without Bell or Brown.
39:30
SPEAKER_02: No, Brown was perfectly fine, Tim.
39:32
SPEAKER_02: This was all a Steelers plot between you know, Dan Patrick uncovered it on his radio show that it was a Steelers plot that Antonio Brown winked at Pac-Man Jones, Dr.
39:43
SPEAKER_02: Pac-Man Jones, neurologist, to to to uh you know, say he wasn't hurt so they can get in the field goal range.
39:50
SPEAKER_02: And then to keep the uh the what would you call the charade up.
39:54
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
39:54
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, they they had the sacrificed their whole season.
39:57
SPEAKER_01: They they did all that to keep their season going, but then you know they sacrificed it because you know you gotta commit to the bit, I guess.
40:04
SPEAKER_01: Ben does play in that game, but like you said, Steve, he could barely throw.
40:08
SPEAKER_01: He was nursing in bad shoulder.
40:10
SPEAKER_01: And then, like we said, they didn't have D'Angel Williams because he had gotten hurt a few weeks earlier.
40:15
SPEAKER_02: They almost win this game, which is unreal.
40:17
SPEAKER_01: And and that's that is what's unreal.
40:20
SPEAKER_01: So so they're they're relying on the backup to the backup running back, a guy named Tucson.
40:26
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, Fitzgerald Tucson.
40:28
SPEAKER_01: And to his credit, he actually plays really well.
40:30
SPEAKER_01: And the Steelers have a lead in the waning moments of the fourth quarter, and they have the ball in Denver territory with the lead, but Tucson fumbles.
40:40
SPEAKER_01: Denver It was kind of got kicked.
40:42
SPEAKER_02: Do I remember it was like one of his own players, or somebody kicked the ball?
40:46
SPEAKER_01: Somebody kicked it, yeah.
40:47
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
40:47
SPEAKER_02: So it wasn't like uh he was just drone, like run.
40:50
SPEAKER_02: Well, not even Jerome got hit.
40:52
SPEAKER_02: He wasn't like just running down and the ball fell out, or was it well?
40:56
SPEAKER_01: Somebody no, the ball, I thought the ball got kicked after it was on the ground.
41:00
SPEAKER_01: Regardless, uh, he fumbles.
41:01
SPEAKER_01: I mean it is what it is.
41:03
SPEAKER_02: Again, he was he was like a special teams player, probably at best.
41:09
SPEAKER_01: And that that's what just stunk because if man, if you had Ben, Bell and Brown for that game, then uh yeah, who knows what happens.
41:21
SPEAKER_01: If we almost beat them without those guys, or with you know 20% of Ben, uh just imagine if we have them.
41:30
SPEAKER_02: Well, it that wasn't the championship game.
41:32
SPEAKER_02: That was the divisional round.
41:33
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
41:34
SPEAKER_02: So who would they would have had to play the championship?
41:36
SPEAKER_01: The Patriots.
41:37
SPEAKER_02: Oh, well, that would have been a loss.
41:40
SPEAKER_01: But who knows?
41:40
SPEAKER_01: Again, it it you never know because it never happened.
41:44
SPEAKER_01: So so the aftermath of the season, the Steelers are still really competitive with that group for the next two years.
41:51
SPEAKER_01: They even make it to an AFC championship game.
41:53
SPEAKER_02: Did you ever hear the story of the locker room after that game?
41:57
SPEAKER_02: Like Denver game?
41:59
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, like the the playoff Denver game.
42:01
SPEAKER_02: Like they said players like Mike Tomlin apologized to the team, and like they said everybody was just like so upset and distraught.
42:09
SPEAKER_02: And I don't know if it was Williams or one of the running backs.
42:12
SPEAKER_02: I I want to say it was William was there, said, you know, Mike Tomlinson said, Oh, I should have done a better job, or we really you know, it just just really heartfelt stuff.
42:20
SPEAKER_02: So that was that that's a shame that was a really close-knit team.
42:24
SPEAKER_02: And I guess maybe, you know, Brown and Bell really hadn't started their antics yet.
42:29
SPEAKER_01: So yeah, yeah, and and that's what ends up happening is Bell and Brown self-destruct, then Ben suffers that elbow injury, and and really the team struggles for the next decade to get back to to the heights where they once were.
42:45
SPEAKER_01: Uh, Vontez Perfect is eventually blackballed by the NFL after teams determine he's just too reckless of a player.
42:52
SPEAKER_01: Again, like Young Ho Gong, the the you know, like that whole incident.
42:57
SPEAKER_01: Too little too late for the Pittsburgh team.
42:58
SPEAKER_01: Oh well.
42:59
SPEAKER_02: Well, they didn't do anything about it until remember Cam Newton was laying in the end zone and he was like twisting his ankle, trying to like like twist his foot off.
43:09
SPEAKER_02: That's when they finally did something when it but they let they let people take shots at Cam Newton more than anybody else.
43:16
SPEAKER_02: It's too bad the Bengals didn't play the Patriots more, because then Burfick would have been out of the league a lot quicker.
43:21
SPEAKER_02: He does that to Brady and that or Mahomes.
43:24
SPEAKER_02: I mean that's game over for those.
43:27
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, or or Peyton Manning.
43:28
SPEAKER_01: Like if he was in a division with one of those guys, it would have been a different story.
43:31
SPEAKER_01: I totally agree.
43:33
SPEAKER_01: Uh the Broncos, like we said, do win the Super Bowl that year thanks to their defense shutting down a Carolina team who had long only lost one game that season.
43:43
SPEAKER_02: They were red hot, but that defense was really good.
43:46
SPEAKER_01: It was, but man, again, it's such a big what if.
43:50
SPEAKER_01: Like, if if we just would have been healthy for that Denver game, does it turn out different?
43:55
SPEAKER_01: Maybe, maybe not.
43:56
SPEAKER_01: We'll never know.
43:57
SPEAKER_01: So that's the Steelers season.
44:00
SPEAKER_01: Last but not least, let's talk about the Penguins.
44:04
SPEAKER_01: Because they're on a completely different trajectory than those other two teams coming into the 2015-16 season.
44:10
SPEAKER_01: The Stewart and Pirates had found success in previous years, and they're kind of both looking to take the next step.
44:16
SPEAKER_01: The Penguins, they're kind of a mess.
44:20
SPEAKER_01: Back in 2014, they had fired longtime GM Ray Shiro and longtime head coach Dan Biosma.
44:26
SPEAKER_01: Jim Rutherford was hired as a new GM, and he has a real rocky first season.
44:32
SPEAKER_01: He makes a terrible trade, dealing away the first round pick for David Perron.
44:37
SPEAKER_01: And then he botches the salary cap limit near the end of the season, and the Penguins have to play with only five defensemen for their last couple of games.
44:44
SPEAKER_01: I don't know if you remember that.
44:46
unknown: Yeah.
44:46
SPEAKER_01: That was a whole debacle.
44:48
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
44:48
SPEAKER_01: Even worse is the coach they hire to replace Files Bond.
44:52
SPEAKER_01: It's junior hockey coach Mike Johnston, who, you know, to his credit, he had a ton of success coaching at that level, but really had no business being an NHL head coach.
45:03
SPEAKER_01: And I don't know, Steve, if the pens just thought like they had outsmarted everybody with that hire or what.
45:08
SPEAKER_02: It was like he was a very generic hockey coach.
45:12
SPEAKER_02: It was like one hockey coach, and like you open the bag and there's Mike Johnson.
45:17
SPEAKER_02: Central casting.
45:18
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
45:18
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
45:19
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
45:20
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
45:21
SPEAKER_01: It it didn't go well.
45:23
SPEAKER_01: So so by December of 2015, while the you know, like we said, Pirates are had gone to the playoffs, the oars are heading towards the playoffs.
45:32
SPEAKER_01: The the Penguins are hot garbage at this point, and Johnston's fired.
45:37
SPEAKER_01: And it kind of feels, at least it in December of 2015, like maybe this is the end of an era.
45:44
SPEAKER_01: Sidney Crosby is a minus seven.
45:48
SPEAKER_02: They'll never win another Stanley Cup, let alone two.
45:51
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
45:52
SPEAKER_01: Right.
45:53
SPEAKER_01: And and but but for real, that's how it felt at the time.
45:56
SPEAKER_01: I mean, and Sid Sid's a minus seven.
45:58
SPEAKER_01: He's about to enter his 30s.
46:00
SPEAKER_01: Same with Malkin Latang and Flurry.
46:02
SPEAKER_01: None of those guys really seem like they're going to be super effective anymore.
46:06
SPEAKER_02: And Flurry's like not doing well.
46:08
SPEAKER_02: He'll never last like three or four more years.
46:10
SPEAKER_02: He'll be out of the league.
46:12
SPEAKER_01: That's that's for real.
46:13
SPEAKER_01: I mean, we're joking because we know how it turned out, but I mean that's honestly how it felt at the time.
46:18
SPEAKER_02: Well, let's say the other there was a goalie he was out of the league in a couple years, but it wasn't Marc Andre.
46:24
SPEAKER_01: Well, yeah, we'll we'll talk about him too.
46:27
SPEAKER_01: Uh also in December, just to add insult to injury, Pascal Dupuis announces that due to issues he's having with blood clots, he's going to have to abruptly retire from hockey.
46:37
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, that was bad.
46:38
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, a lot went wrong early in that season for whatever reason.
46:42
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
46:43
SPEAKER_02: And we're not even.
46:44
SPEAKER_02: But the penguins the penguins have a lot of like seasons like this, though.
46:47
SPEAKER_02: Like they have at least one other season that's kind of a complete disaster like this.
46:53
SPEAKER_02: And it ends up much the same way.
46:56
SPEAKER_02: Which is just weird.
46:58
SPEAKER_01: Yep.
46:59
SPEAKER_01: So uh you're you're you're right.
47:01
SPEAKER_01: Uh basically things start coming together sort of out of nowhere, but but also Rutherford makes some deals.
47:11
SPEAKER_01: Some of these are some of these are in season, but some of them had been uh prior to the season and it's starting to sort of starting to come together.
47:18
SPEAKER_01: So specifically, here's some of the key deals that he had made.
47:21
SPEAKER_01: Um like I said, so a lot of these were before the season, but he trades James Neal to Nashville for Patrick Hornquest.
47:30
SPEAKER_02: That was actually a good that was a good deal.
47:32
SPEAKER_01: He trades Brandon Suter to Vancouver for Nick Benino.
47:36
SPEAKER_02: Which doesn't seem like much of anything at the time.
47:39
SPEAKER_01: Right.
47:39
SPEAKER_02: But Sutter had been like mediocre.
47:41
SPEAKER_02: He wasn't bad, but I don't know.
47:43
SPEAKER_02: At the time it just felt Rutherford's just dealing the deal.
47:46
SPEAKER_02: That's why I felt like that.
47:48
SPEAKER_02: I swear he has like ADHD or something.
47:51
SPEAKER_01: Well, well, well, Suter they brought him in when they when they Jordan Stahl.
47:56
SPEAKER_01: Yes.
47:57
SPEAKER_01: And so they this penguins were you know one of their like core principles as a hockey team is we need to be able to roll three lines.
48:08
SPEAKER_02: Well, they like to have three centers and a goalie.
48:11
SPEAKER_02: That they like they like to build their team down the middle.
48:14
SPEAKER_01: Exactly.
48:15
SPEAKER_01: And when they had Jordan Stahl, it was Sid, Malkin, Jordan Stahl.
48:19
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
48:20
SPEAKER_01: And so when Jordan Stahl left, it's like, okay, Brandon Seuter will be the new guy, and he just never was.
48:25
SPEAKER_01: And so they got Nick Benino to be that guy.
48:27
SPEAKER_01: But like you said, uh right, that was kind of the thought at the time.
48:32
SPEAKER_02: But it's kind of that way during the whole season until later in the spring.
48:37
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I'll let you tell the story.
48:38
SPEAKER_01: Yep, yep, yep.
48:39
SPEAKER_01: Uh, some other some other moves.
48:41
SPEAKER_01: Uh Rutherford trades Rob Scuderi to Chicago for Trevor Bailey.
48:45
SPEAKER_02: Rob Scuderi, no, not Rob.
48:48
SPEAKER_01: Well, now was Rob Scuderi's second stint with the Penguins.
48:51
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
48:51
SPEAKER_01: And and he had a real, real good first stint.
48:54
SPEAKER_01: In fact, he was highly integral to that 2009 Stanley Cup run.
48:59
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
48:59
SPEAKER_01: But he had gone to the Kings, I think.
49:02
SPEAKER_01: And then they had brought him back for a second stint, and he wasn't good.
49:05
SPEAKER_01: Letang really hated partnering with him.
49:08
SPEAKER_01: It just it just did not work well.
49:10
SPEAKER_01: So they trade him for Trevor Daly.
49:12
SPEAKER_01: That works out very well.
49:14
SPEAKER_01: Uh, Rutherford trades a third round pick to Edmonton for Justin Schultz.
49:18
SPEAKER_01: He trades David Perron, who, like we said, was a bust, and Adam Clantetting to Anaheim for Carl Haglin.
49:25
SPEAKER_02: Oh my god.
49:27
SPEAKER_02: What a steal.
49:28
SPEAKER_02: What an absolute steal.
49:31
SPEAKER_02: I thought that guy was good when he played for the Rangers.
49:34
SPEAKER_01: Well, I was just gonna say, the year before this, our season ended on Carl Hagel.
49:41
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and over.
49:42
SPEAKER_02: But he's kind of like a one-trick pony kind of player.
49:45
SPEAKER_02: Like he's just speed.
49:46
SPEAKER_02: He's all speed.
49:47
SPEAKER_01: Apparently, Anaheim thought so because they traded him for David Prawn and Adam Clandeting.
49:53
SPEAKER_01: Uh Rutherford also signs veteran Matt Collin, who has a lot left in the tank, actually.
50:00
SPEAKER_01: And and the the one move that, like the Big Lebowski's rug, really ties the room together.
50:06
SPEAKER_01: Rutherford trades a handful of players and draft picks to Toronto for a guy named Phil Kessel.
50:14
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, that that was the yeah.
50:17
SPEAKER_02: That ends up being the reason we win the well, him and Nick Benino and Yeah.
50:23
SPEAKER_01: Carl Aglin.
50:25
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
50:25
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so the HBK line.
50:29
SPEAKER_01: Yep.
50:29
SPEAKER_01: So the Penguins the other thing they do is they promote minor league coach Mike Sullivan to be their new head coach.
50:36
SPEAKER_01: And all of a sudden, they're contenders again.
50:39
SPEAKER_01: Uh Malkin and Letang both make the All-Star game.
50:42
SPEAKER_01: Crosby outscores all NHL players from December 12th through the end of the season.
50:49
SPEAKER_01: Remember, he was a minus seven on December 12th, and he ends up outscoring everybody.
50:54
SPEAKER_01: He's a finalist for the Heart Trophy.
50:57
SPEAKER_01: Fleury posts an impressive 35 wins in 58 games played.
51:02
SPEAKER_01: Sullivan creates, like Steve said, that third line consisting of Haglin, Benino, and Kessel.
51:07
SPEAKER_02: He doesn't do it intentionally.
51:09
SPEAKER_02: It was because Balkin got hurt.
51:11
SPEAKER_02: Yep.
51:11
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
51:12
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
51:12
SPEAKER_01: And and it kills very quickly, though, doesn't it?
51:16
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
51:17
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
51:17
SPEAKER_02: Well, I think too, when you're playing like when they're the third line in, that that's that's a first line on a lot of other teams.
51:25
SPEAKER_02: Yes.
51:25
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
51:26
SPEAKER_01: Yep.
51:26
SPEAKER_01: And and that's like like we said, the the the penguins, like having that core principle of being three centers deep and having three lines that you constantly like you you just have you have no break.
51:39
SPEAKER_01: Right.
51:39
SPEAKER_01: And you're like, oh good, they have the third line out.
51:41
SPEAKER_01: We can just you know we can just put our not good defensemen, yeah.
51:45
SPEAKER_02: Because most teams like they'll have like a pair of defensemen that are pretty good, but you won't have like three, three or two or three pair of the yeah.
51:53
SPEAKER_02: Correct.
51:53
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
51:54
SPEAKER_01: Correct.
51:55
SPEAKER_01: Uh Sullivan also gets a ton out of his guys that he had had in Wilkesbury, especially Brian Rust and Connor Sherry.
52:04
SPEAKER_02: The immortal Connor Sherry.
52:07
SPEAKER_01: The the Pens make the playoffs, but just like the Pirates and just like the Steelers, they suffer a major injury down the stretch, and it's their goaltender.
52:16
SPEAKER_01: Mark-Andre Fleury sustains a concussion, and he's out for the foreseeable future.
52:21
SPEAKER_01: So the Penguins are going into the postseason with a scrawny 22-year-old kid named Matt Murray as their goalie.
52:30
SPEAKER_01: Well, Murray and even his backup, Jeff Zakkoff, helped the Penguins knock out the Rangers in round one.
52:36
SPEAKER_02: Because yeah, Murray gets hurt the last game of the season, doesn't he?
52:39
SPEAKER_02: Yes.
52:40
SPEAKER_02: Was that the Flyers who did that?
52:42
SPEAKER_01: I think it was.
52:44
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
52:44
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
52:45
SPEAKER_02: Because they start Jeff Zack off like a couple of games.
52:49
SPEAKER_02: They do.
52:49
SPEAKER_02: They do.
52:50
SPEAKER_01: Um, but he wins.
52:51
SPEAKER_01: I think he I think he won the first game and lost the second one, but then Murray comes back.
52:56
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, he like, it was like, okay, you just kept us afloat long enough to win your roll goalie.
53:02
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
53:03
SPEAKER_01: So they they beat the Rangers in round two, they faced the president's trophy winning Washington Capitals.
53:10
SPEAKER_01: This is a team with Alexander Ovechkin, the guy who will become the greatest goalscorer in NHL history, and a bunch of other really good pieces that they had put around him in an attempt to finally get him a Stanley Cup.
53:22
SPEAKER_01: But hey, it's Pittsburgh versus Washington, and Capitals just don't have good luck in this series.
53:29
SPEAKER_01: So sure enough, the Penguins take a 3-2 lead in the series and then a three to nothing lead in game six.
53:35
SPEAKER_01: So it looks like they're headed to the Eastern Conference Finals because all they have to do is win game six.
53:40
SPEAKER_01: They've got a nice, comfortable three-to-nothing lead until one of the most bizarre incidents in Penguins' history happens.
53:47
SPEAKER_04: Here comes a call.
53:49
SPEAKER_06: Bisberg's family.
53:50
SPEAKER_06: Minor finally the layup game.
53:53
SPEAKER_04: Three in a row.
53:56
SPEAKER_04: I've never seen it.
53:57
SPEAKER_04: In a matter of how many minutes, Doc?
53:59
SPEAKER_04: Three minutes, four minutes.
54:02
SPEAKER_01: So some context here.
54:04
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
54:05
SPEAKER_01: They keep shooting the puck over the yeah, so so so let's back up a little bit.
54:10
SPEAKER_01: When the NHL came back from that 2005 strike, they made a bunch of role changes.
54:16
SPEAKER_01: One of those changes sought to address what happens when, like Steve said, someone shoots the puck over the boards from their own end of the ice.
54:24
SPEAKER_01: Not from anywhere else.
54:26
SPEAKER_02: Teams would like get in trouble in their own end, and that's what they would do.
54:29
SPEAKER_02: They would just, instead of like gaining the red line, they would just shoot the puck into the seats and be like, okay, we can make a line change now.
54:36
SPEAKER_01: Correct.
54:37
SPEAKER_01: Because you you can't if you shot it down to the other end of the ice, then it's icing.
54:44
SPEAKER_02: Were you allowed to change on icings back then?
54:46
SPEAKER_02: Because they changed that too.
54:47
SPEAKER_01: You were.
54:48
SPEAKER_02: But you could at least change.
54:49
SPEAKER_02: But I think now you can't change on an icing either, can you?
54:53
SPEAKER_01: I I you can't.
54:54
SPEAKER_01: But but but even but even that's risky because you have to shoot it like past everybody to get it to the other end of the ice.
55:00
SPEAKER_01: But boy, Steve, if you can just shoot it into the crowd.
55:03
SPEAKER_01: Oops, I shot it into the crowd.
55:05
SPEAKER_01: And the way this role had worked is that it was a judgment call.
55:09
SPEAKER_01: So if the ref determines that, oh, you did that on purpose, like they they were pressing, the other team was pressing, you you know, you you were just looking for a quick way to, like you said, slow them down, then the referee could call a two-minute delay of game penalty.
55:24
SPEAKER_01: But if he determined, like, oops, you didn't mean to do that.
55:28
SPEAKER_02: Or if like you shot it and it went too high up the glass, like yes, yeah.
55:32
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, because it's like, okay, you know, my eyes tell me that I don't think that guy was like trying to rifle one into the crowd.
55:39
SPEAKER_01: It looks like he was just trying to like get the puck away from the goaltender or whatever, and oops, it went into the crowd.
55:46
SPEAKER_01: The the problem with that is that it often led to controversy, and one of the biggest controversies occurs in game seven of the 2001 Eastern Conference semifinals.
56:00
SPEAKER_01: The Penguins and Buffalo Sabres are tied late in the third period of that game when Buffalo creates a really good scoring chance in the Pittsburgh zone, only to see Penguins defenseman Darius Casparitas.
56:12
SPEAKER_02: Well, he never beat the rolls, yeah.
56:14
SPEAKER_01: Essentially throw the puck into the stands.
56:16
SPEAKER_01: And we'll link that play.
56:18
SPEAKER_01: You can watch it for yourself.
56:19
SPEAKER_01: He literally grab the puck like kind of hits him in the chest.
56:23
SPEAKER_01: He grabs it with his hands and he throws it over the boards.
56:27
SPEAKER_01: And much to the chagrin of the Buffalo fans, no penalty is called.
56:32
SPEAKER_01: And then to really rub it in, Casperitus ends up getting the game winning goal in overtime.
56:37
SPEAKER_02: I forgot about him throwing the puck into the stands at Buffalo.
56:42
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
56:43
SPEAKER_01: So so by 2005, the NHL decides having its refs determine a player's motivation for shooting the puck into the crowd or throwing the puck into the crowd in this case, was probably asking like a little too much of the ref.
56:58
SPEAKER_01: And they decide to just make it an automatic two-minute penalty, regardless of intent.
57:04
SPEAKER_01: And and honestly, this kind of follows what other leagues were doing too.
57:07
SPEAKER_01: Remember the NFL Steve used to have like the five-yard, I didn't mean to do it, face mask versus like the 15-yard face mask.
57:14
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
57:15
SPEAKER_01: And they just made them all 15 yards because again, they were like, God, that's asking a lot of our refs.
57:20
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
57:21
SPEAKER_02: Well, it'd like you go up and ask the player, did you mean to do that?
57:24
SPEAKER_02: Right.
57:27
SPEAKER_01: Yes, I was.
57:28
SPEAKER_01: Or your finger just kind of gets stuck.
57:30
SPEAKER_02: And yeah, you imagine like a player being, yes, I was.
57:34
SPEAKER_02: I won that whole 15 yards.
57:35
SPEAKER_02: I'd do it again.
57:36
SPEAKER_02: Bontez perfect would have.
57:38
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
57:40
SPEAKER_01: Bontez perfect would have been like I just was trying to make sure he was dead.
57:45
SPEAKER_02: I really wanted to check out his helmet.
57:47
SPEAKER_02: It looked really cool.
57:48
SPEAKER_01: You gotta finish the kill.
57:50
SPEAKER_01: You can't leave any signs of life.
57:52
SPEAKER_02: Oh my god.
57:53
SPEAKER_01: Um, the the the the so I get it.
57:55
SPEAKER_01: Now, again, the problem with that is like in the face mask case, sometimes, yeah, the guy's finger just gets caught, right?
58:01
SPEAKER_01: It's not meant to be a face mask, but it now it's an automatic 15 yards.
58:06
SPEAKER_01: And in this game with this role uh with the with the shooting the puck into the crowd here in the 2016 playoffs, the penguins take not one, not two, but three delay of game penalties in succession.
58:20
SPEAKER_01: And it wasn't anybody's fault.
58:22
SPEAKER_01: Like no one was pulling a Casparitas.
58:25
SPEAKER_01: All three were accidental.
58:26
SPEAKER_01: It was just them trying to get, you know, just trying to get the pike out of danger.
58:31
SPEAKER_01: And I really think it was accidental.
58:33
SPEAKER_01: And the rest didn't do anything wrong either.
58:35
SPEAKER_01: That was again, it was an automatic call.
58:38
SPEAKER_01: It it didn't matter if it was they were trying to do it or not, it's an automatic penalty, and that creates a succession of five-on-three power plays, and Washington's able to use that to send the game into overtime.
58:49
SPEAKER_01: And and to me, this was always the most critical point of that entire season because this is where the season could have been lost for the Penguins, right?
59:00
SPEAKER_01: Like you're cruising towards uh a playoff victory, a playoff clinching victory, and some really, really bad luck happens, and now you're in overtime, and you could really just throw in the towel there mentally, but instead this happens.
59:16
SPEAKER_04: Haglin gets to it, goes around near corner to Kessel in the slot.
59:20
SPEAKER_04: Turny shot by Haglin.
59:21
SPEAKER_03: It goes on the body again.
59:22
SPEAKER_03: It's over.
59:23
SPEAKER_03: The Penguins, Nick Benino, may have touched it.
59:26
SPEAKER_03: And the Penguins have won this game in overtime at the 632 mark.
59:32
SPEAKER_03: And ladies and gentlemen, Elvis has just left the building.
59:37
SPEAKER_03: And all the President trophy men couldn't put Humpty together again.
59:43
SPEAKER_02: Wow, a little dig at the Capitals there, huh?
59:45
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
59:46
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I miss Mike Wang so much.
59:51
SPEAKER_01: So the pen the penguins then play a wild seven-game conference final against the Lightning, where Fleury actually comes back, but then gets pulled again for Murray.
1:00:00
SPEAKER_01: In game seven of that series, a young Bryant Rust is the unlikely hero with two goals to send the Penguins to the Stanley Cup finals in this against the San Jose Sharks.
1:00:10
SPEAKER_04: And in game six of that series, four seconds ago, the Penguins have jumped over the boards.
1:00:15
SPEAKER_04: It's over the 2016 Stanley Cup champions, the Pittsburgh Penguins.
1:00:22
SPEAKER_04: Are these players something between the bum.
1:00:27
SPEAKER_04: all is something that you have to experience to really understand how this will carry the rest of their lives.
1:00:35
SPEAKER_02: They should do it again the next year, too.
1:00:38
SPEAKER_01: Well, let's talk about the aftermath.
1:00:41
SPEAKER_01: The Penguins do win it all again the next year.
1:00:44
SPEAKER_01: They then make it to the second round of the playoffs in 2018 before finally losing to the Capitals who get Ovechkin that elusive Stanley Cup.
1:00:53
SPEAKER_01: As of the time of this recording, they have yet to win a playoff series since.
1:00:59
unknown: Yeah.
1:00:59
SPEAKER_01: The nucleus of that team starts slowly fading away, and Mike Sullivan and the Penguins mutually agree to part ways in 2025.
1:01:08
SPEAKER_01: And the rebuild is on, although Crosby figures to be here hopefully for this foreseeable future.
1:01:14
SPEAKER_01: So if Ben Rothesberger had a part one and part two, Steve, here's hoping that Sid gets his part three.
1:01:20
SPEAKER_02: Oh wow, part three.
1:01:21
SPEAKER_02: I didn't think about that.
1:01:23
SPEAKER_02: But yeah, good for um I don't know, penguins players.
1:01:26
SPEAKER_02: And did we talk about Matt Matt Murray?
1:01:29
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, Matt Matt Murray, one of the weirder, like Steve Blast type figures.
1:01:34
SPEAKER_02: Like that's it was so good these two playoff runs, and then I don't think he's even in the league anymore.
1:01:42
SPEAKER_02: And it's only I mean, normally goalies play forever, don't they?
1:01:46
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, he well, we talked about Jake Arietta earlier.
1:01:50
SPEAKER_01: I mean, it wasn't so it wasn't quite like Jake Arietta, because like you said, Jake Arietta had been around for a while before that.
1:01:56
SPEAKER_01: But it was it was you know, and it wasn't it was a little longer than what Jake Garrietta had.
1:02:01
SPEAKER_01: Jake Gary had like four months of being on top.
1:02:04
SPEAKER_01: Matt Murray had two years.
1:02:05
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
1:02:06
SPEAKER_01: But but still, you're right, it's it's eerie how he went from being like what you thought was going to be this all-time great.
1:02:13
SPEAKER_01: He was 22 when they won that first Stanley Cup, he was 22, which goalies aren't really that good when they're that young.
1:02:19
SPEAKER_01: They usually take a few years to kind of round into shape.
1:02:22
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
1:02:23
SPEAKER_01: So you just thought the and that's why they let Flurry go.
1:02:26
SPEAKER_01: You know, people, people to this day who are complete liars are like, I always said they should have kept Flurry.
1:02:34
SPEAKER_01: It's like, no, that no.
1:02:35
SPEAKER_02: I thought I thought getting rid letting Flurry go was the choice was uh a smart I mean it it didn't seem like a dumb choice to me.
1:02:43
SPEAKER_02: It was like, well, you got this guy and you know he should be good for a while.
1:02:48
SPEAKER_02: I mean, who knew like this was gonna happen?
1:02:52
SPEAKER_02: They'd still be, even if they would have kept Flurry and let Murray go, they would have, you know, they'd be in the same situation now because Flurry would have retired.
1:03:01
SPEAKER_01: But every every general manager in every sport would have made that same decision.
1:03:06
SPEAKER_01: It would have it would have been like keeping like if the Packers would have kept Brett Favre instead of Aaron Rodgers right at the end of that.
1:03:13
SPEAKER_01: You know, it's like you can't when you have somebody that's young and who won two Stanley Cups, he had already won't be able to get it.
1:03:19
SPEAKER_01: It looked good doing it.
1:03:20
SPEAKER_02: It wasn't like he was a passenger on those teams.
1:03:24
SPEAKER_01: So yeah, you're right.
1:03:25
SPEAKER_01: It you're right, Steve.
1:03:26
SPEAKER_01: It is one of the weirder arcs in Pittsburgh sports history.
1:03:31
SPEAKER_01: So that is the 2015-2016 sports year again.
1:03:37
SPEAKER_01: Kind of fun to look back at a time when literally all three teams were contenders and one of them even won a championship.
1:03:44
SPEAKER_01: Uh, like we said, it's not quite like that these days, but here's hoping to get back to that sometime soon.
1:03:52
SPEAKER_01: Thank you everybody so much for listening to our little show here.
1:03:56
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1:03:59
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1:04:09
SPEAKER_01: Thanks again, and we'll catch you next time.