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Pittsburgh’s Second Golden Age · Pittsburgh Sports Memories

0:01
SPEAKER_01: Hello and welcome to another uh episode of Pittsburgh Sports Memories.
0:06
SPEAKER_01: I'm your host, Steve Ward, and I'm joined with my co-host Tim Hannon.
0:11
SPEAKER_02: Hi, everybody.
0:13
SPEAKER_01: Um on today's episode, we'll be um discussing a Pittsburgh sports golden age.
0:36
SPEAKER_01: Um so when these uh great sports moments are happening, uh you don't think the like when they're happening, when you're in the moment, you don't think to look back and look at the bigger picture and see what was going on.
0:48
SPEAKER_01: And um, but you know, it doesn't happen a lot.
0:51
SPEAKER_01: Sometimes you get like a one-off, but like every so often there's just like this run of like events that seem to happen like within like a 10 to 15 year period, and it's just like kind of amazing because it just doesn't really happen that often.
1:05
SPEAKER_01: But if you can live through it, it doesn't happen in every city either.
1:09
SPEAKER_01: It seems to happen like Pittsburgh, uh more than other cities Pittsburgh size.
1:15
SPEAKER_01: So uh on this episode, we'll look back at uh what I think is the golden age that just had happened.
1:21
SPEAKER_01: So um join us on this fun trip down into uh golden age here.
1:27
SPEAKER_01: So uh first off, I guess as usual, we gotta define our terms here.
1:32
SPEAKER_01: So uh what defines a great sports age?
1:36
SPEAKER_01: And um, so how I defined it was um championships in multiple sports within a couple of years, and you have to have legendary Hall of Fame players, and uh you have to have some legendary moments that defined that era.
1:50
SPEAKER_01: So uh any any any disagreements on any of those points there, Tim, or anything to add?
1:57
SPEAKER_02: No, I think that's a good way to frame it.
2:02
SPEAKER_02: Awesome.
2:03
SPEAKER_01: All right, well, um getting uh a little deeper into there.
2:07
SPEAKER_01: Um so I'm going to say um this golden era, um, there was obviously one in the 70s that everybody knows about, and we'll talk a little bit more about that at the end.
2:17
SPEAKER_01: But um when did this like when am I?
2:20
SPEAKER_01: I'm saying it has started in 2003, and the ending uh later later in the podcast probably is debatable because it's still so fresh.
2:30
SPEAKER_01: Like I extended it to 2020, but maybe you there might be an earlier year we could kind of cut it off.
2:36
SPEAKER_01: So I'm like, you know, that I think 2003 though is pretty non-debatable.
2:42
SPEAKER_01: I think that's kind of when this sports era started, and um, so and I think it starts with the drafting of Ben Rothelsberger in 2004.
2:52
SPEAKER_01: So, you know, when Ben got drafted, the Steelers that really put the Steelers over the top.
2:58
SPEAKER_01: And it also like other teams were drafting and building a team, such like the Penguins.
3:04
SPEAKER_01: They actually drafted Marc-Andre Fleury the year before 2003, and then Ben gets drafted in 2004, and then that same year, Malkin for the Penguins gets drafted second overall, even though he wouldn't get to play for the Penguins for a couple more years.
3:21
SPEAKER_01: Um, Neil Walker was actually drafted by the Pirates in 2004, and Andrew McCutcheon um a year later was drafted by the Pirates in 2005.
3:31
SPEAKER_01: So, like coming up to there, boy, that's like what would you say?
3:35
SPEAKER_01: That's like four pretty major players in Pittsburgh sports for the next 10 to 15 years, right?
3:42
SPEAKER_01: So it when we haven't even gotten to the probably the top guy that's getting drafted, and that would be Sidney Crosby in 2005.
3:51
SPEAKER_01: He's drafted first overall, and that's like within two years.
3:55
SPEAKER_01: Boy, the Penguins had like three high draft picks within like three years, and boy, they really um you know they really maximize that.
4:06
SPEAKER_01: Um so after that, the uh the Steelers the after that the Steelers go 15 and 1 in Ben's rookie year, and then they win the Super Bowl the season after.
4:17
SPEAKER_01: And also another like thing I kind of threw in here was like Pittsports.
4:20
SPEAKER_01: Now, I mean I'm sure people would argue like, oh, Penn State and West Virginia, you know, they're not local teams, okay?
4:28
SPEAKER_01: They're just not, they don't reside within Pittsburgh or the Pittsburgh area.
4:32
SPEAKER_01: I don't care how many Penn State fans live here.
4:34
SPEAKER_01: That's like saying the Pittsburgh Steelers are a hometown teen in LA because there's more Steeler fans there than LA Charger fans.
4:44
SPEAKER_01: I I'm going geographically, I'm not worried about, you know, uh who you know who has more fans.
4:53
SPEAKER_01: So the Penn State fans can go cry somewhere, I guess, in the corner, and you know, have their I don't know, uh what would be Happy Valley sports memories.
5:05
SPEAKER_01: So they'll have to have their own podcast there.
5:09
SPEAKER_01: Um so Pit Basketball actually at the same time, they had hired Ben Howland in 1999, but they really started to get rolling in like 2002, 2003, and they hired Jamie Dixon in 2003 and uh kept him all the way to 2016.
5:26
SPEAKER_01: So Pit Basketball goes on this like amazing run at the very same time.
5:30
SPEAKER_01: Like the Steelers are getting good and the Penguins are getting good, so it's kind of weird.
5:35
SPEAKER_01: Now, not to be left behind in the dust, although they probably kind of were, was Pit Football.
5:41
SPEAKER_01: They had Walt Harris in 2004, unfortunately.
5:43
SPEAKER_01: We covered that in another podcast, uh, Walt's last season there, and then they they'd had Dave Onstat for a couple of years, and they did okay, and uh, but uh they they finally went through a bunch of coaches before settling on Pat Narduzzi, and um Pit Football is kind of like uh they they have a moment, but not really as many moments as the uh other teams.
6:07
SPEAKER_01: So and then main reason was that I think how many coaches from 2003 to 2020 did Pitt Football go through?
6:16
SPEAKER_01: They went through like they went through like eight.
6:18
SPEAKER_02: They went through they I think they went through six in just that two year span.
6:22
SPEAKER_02: Two years whenever yeah in like 2011-2012.
6:26
SPEAKER_02: So yeah, there was a lot.
6:29
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so that's probably contributing to um not their not having as much success as maybe they should have their talent.
6:37
SPEAKER_01: Wait till I read off.
6:38
SPEAKER_01: So so the championships of this 2003 to 2020 era, and like I 20, you can just kind of put asterisks or question marks.
6:48
SPEAKER_01: Maybe that's where it ends, maybe it doesn't.
6:50
SPEAKER_01: But yeah, well, I'm sure me and Tim will have some fun debating that later.
6:54
SPEAKER_01: Um, the Steelers wins uh have Super Bowls wins in 40, Super Bowl 40 and 43.
7:00
SPEAKER_01: The Penguins have Stanley Cups in 2008 and 2009 season, 2015, 2016 even, 2016, 2017 season.
7:08
SPEAKER_01: Uh Pitt Basketball, they have Big East regular season championships in 2002, 2003, 2004, and 2011.
7:16
SPEAKER_01: So I guess 2002 might still be a little bit before really I considered this golden age to really kick in.
7:23
SPEAKER_01: And then um uh they they have uh tournament champions, they win 2003 and 2008, they win the big east tournament.
7:31
SPEAKER_01: Um uh Pit Football uh does have a Big East 2004 there, like co-champs.
7:37
SPEAKER_01: I think they were a three-way tie with Syracuse and Boston College, but they had some sort of edge, and they end up going to the Fiesta Bowl that year.
7:46
SPEAKER_01: Um they have 2010 their co-champs also.
7:51
SPEAKER_01: And um 2021 they finally win their championship.
7:55
SPEAKER_01: Um, so it just really, really shows like, you know, even Pit Football had some you know championships over that.
8:02
SPEAKER_01: I guess it is 17 years, but I mean there's teams that haven't done anything in 17 years, so that's Cleveland.
8:09
SPEAKER_01: So um it just certainly shows the dominance of all the local teams.
8:15
SPEAKER_01: The AFC champions, the Steelers, were in the AFC Championship 2004, 2005, 2008, 2010, and 2016.
8:23
SPEAKER_01: They had a Super Bowl 45 appearance, which they lost to Packers and Aaron Rodgers.
8:28
SPEAKER_01: Um Pit Basketball made the tournament like 2002 to 2011, and then 13, 14, and 16.
8:38
SPEAKER_01: That's like a crazy run of tournament success, like for a team not named like Duke or North Carolina or UCLA or you know, that's like blue blood stuff, like you know, and they made the Sweet 16 uh in 2003, 2004, 2007, 2009, and they made the Elite Eight in 2009.
8:59
SPEAKER_01: Um, yeah, some guy made Scotty Reynolds stopped them from going to the Final Four.
9:04
SPEAKER_01: Someday, like, we'll have to cover that.
9:06
SPEAKER_01: That's like that's one of the more painful losses in uh Pittsburgh Sports.
9:13
SPEAKER_01: We'll save that for another product.
9:15
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, that's up there with Sid Slid, quite honestly.
9:19
SPEAKER_01: Um so uh pit football, what were they doing?
9:22
SPEAKER_01: Hey, it was the 2013 Little Caesars Pizza Bowl was one of their their great moments, and uh I was just watching some of the highlights of this, and I I I don't I I I like remember how we were saying like they went through like eight coaches pit football, like pit football still had Aaron Donald, James Connor, and Tyler Boyd, and Tom Savage was the quarterback.
9:43
SPEAKER_01: They had a pretty good team, and they still won six and six.
9:47
SPEAKER_01: And I I just agree with that that like the when you have a coaching staff that turns over that much, it just destroys your program.
9:55
SPEAKER_01: Of course, in that that uh that uh time frame, they went to the Sun Bowl and lost three to nothing.
10:01
SPEAKER_01: They went to the Meinike Car Care Bowl and they got 10 wins that year.
10:06
SPEAKER_01: That was 2009, and they they went to the 2004 Fiesta Bowl, which they lost to Alex Smith, and now the uh the ex-coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars, Urban Meyer.
10:17
SPEAKER_01: Apparently he likes to kick players or something.
10:21
SPEAKER_01: Uh maybe he was kicking Alex Smith, that's why Alex Smith played so well.
10:25
SPEAKER_01: Poor Alex Smith, can't catch a break.
10:28
SPEAKER_01: Um, meanwhile, the Penguins uh they went to the conference finals in 2013 and lost to the Bruins, and they were division champs like 2012, 2013, 2013, 2014.
10:40
SPEAKER_01: And uh, hey, even the pirates decided they were gonna have some good years, and that's how good like the mojo, the sports mojo in the city was so good they even carried the pirates out of their funk.
10:50
SPEAKER_01: They broke their uh you know their w their losing streak.
10:54
SPEAKER_01: Um they had uh 2013-2014 wildcard games, and of course the 2013 Cueto wildcard game is the best pirate moment since the 79 World Series.
11:06
SPEAKER_01: I don't think I mean really the pirates haven't had much of anything, but I I would put that up there with anything.
11:14
SPEAKER_01: So that's kind of the big moments that kind of happen throughout this this you know era, I guess.
11:20
SPEAKER_01: I mean it's so hard to pin down, you know, when it started or ended, but you know, this is all up for debate, I'm sure.
11:28
SPEAKER_01: Um some of the big names uh that were involved in this uh Ben Rothelsberger, and I this is the man who started this, and um Troy Paul Malu, of course.
11:41
SPEAKER_01: Um James Harrison, he's a legend, uh Jerome Bettis, you have uh Alan Fanica, Heinz Ward, Antonio Brown, TJ Watt, Cam Hayward, Le'Veon Bell, and of course Antonio Holmes.
11:55
SPEAKER_01: I mean, all like just great big names that were uh, you know, just I mean this is like kind of crazy, like how many great players just came through in this short amount of time.
12:05
SPEAKER_01: Like, I mean, you go back to the 80s or even the 90s, I don't think there's much you know that you can like compare.
12:12
SPEAKER_01: And it wasn't just one team.
12:15
SPEAKER_01: You know, Sidney Crosby was the cornerstone of the Penguins, then Malkin.
12:20
SPEAKER_01: Who I you think Malkin's one of the more underrated NHL players?
12:25
SPEAKER_01: I I I I you know.
12:27
SPEAKER_02: Well, uh yeah, I mean he he had the you know, he he was kind of the second guy on on a great team.
12:34
SPEAKER_02: So maybe maybe a little Scottie Pippen kind of thing going on there with him.
12:39
SPEAKER_02: Uh and he's he's been kind of up and down at times in his career, but yeah, I agree.
12:44
SPEAKER_02: He's he probably will it'll be interesting to see what his legacy is, you know, ten years from now.
12:51
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I wonder, I I think he'll make the NHL Hall of Fame, but like did they have a top 100 play?
12:57
SPEAKER_01: They had a top 100 player list and he didn't even make that, and I thought that was odd, like to not even throw him on like somewhere in the 80s or 90s.
13:06
SPEAKER_01: So um, of course, Monkar and Dre Fleury, he had that big save in game seven, so that was a big moment for the penguins.
13:13
SPEAKER_01: And he had a big uh big save on uh Ovechkin, too, in that playoffs earlier, and that was in a game seven, also.
13:19
SPEAKER_01: And everybody forgets about Jordan Stahl.
13:21
SPEAKER_01: Like Jordan Stahl was really good.
13:23
SPEAKER_01: I mean, I don't know if he's had quite the career impact since he left the penguins, but boy, he was really good when he played for the penguins.
13:32
SPEAKER_01: And of course, you could forget about the H was it the HBK?
13:38
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, HBK, yeah.
13:39
SPEAKER_01: So Hagland Benino Kessel line, which carried the Penguins to like one of the smoothest playoff runs of all time.
13:48
SPEAKER_01: Uh Chris Latang, uh, he's kind of like Ben Rothelsberger.
13:52
SPEAKER_01: Like, like you know Ben, like he'll scramble around there and be like, no, Ben, no, and then he'll like throw a touchdown pass and be like, Yay, Ben, yay! Like Chris Latang's like kind of the same kind of he's like the same kind of player.
14:02
SPEAKER_01: Like he'll like skate in front of his goal, and you're like, oh my gosh, don't do that.
14:05
SPEAKER_01: You're gonna get you know, and then it's like then like he like makes this fantastic move and skates down the whole ice and scores a goal, and like, yes, Chris, yes, you know.
14:13
SPEAKER_01: So it's like good Chris Latang, bad Chris Latang.
14:15
SPEAKER_01: It's just you know, I I don't know.
14:17
SPEAKER_01: It's very Ben Rothelsberger.
14:19
SPEAKER_01: It's like you just kind of have to like learn to live with it, I guess.
14:23
SPEAKER_01: Like he's gonna run around and he's gonna score some goals, but he's gonna run around and probably give up a bad goal, too.
14:29
SPEAKER_01: Normally, the goals that he gets are you know more than the goals and he gives up.
14:36
SPEAKER_01: So that's that's Chris Latang there for you.
14:40
SPEAKER_01: Uh another guy like that probably is fading in people's memories is Matt Murray.
14:46
SPEAKER_01: I mean, he won us two cups.
14:47
SPEAKER_01: I I can't complain.
14:49
SPEAKER_01: He's like one of the more solid goaltenders.
14:52
SPEAKER_01: He really did.
14:53
SPEAKER_01: And uh another guy, Sergei Gontar, like it was just like another forgotten guy that's is I don't know if he's gonna make the hall of the NHL Hall of Fame, but he's had a heck of a career.
15:04
SPEAKER_01: And like, I mean, he really didn't get a cup until he joined the Penguins later.
15:08
SPEAKER_01: So but he was kind of like brought into like what mentor Malkin.
15:13
SPEAKER_01: That was kind of his his role there.
15:15
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I don't know that they win that first cup in 2009 without Gonshar, honestly.
15:19
SPEAKER_02: I think you could make that argument easily.
15:23
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
15:25
SPEAKER_01: So uh the Pirates, some of their key players.
15:28
SPEAKER_01: Um, Andrew McCutcheon, who we mentioned, um, just uh he ended up winning an MVP award, right?
15:34
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
15:34
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
15:35
SPEAKER_01: Neil Neil Walker had a great career.
15:37
SPEAKER_01: Garrett Cole.
15:38
SPEAKER_01: I mean, unbelievable.
15:40
SPEAKER_01: Russell Martin.
15:41
SPEAKER_01: I know he only played here for a couple years, but he was a really good defensive catcher.
15:45
SPEAKER_01: And I always liked Chung Ho Gong, and I thought he was a really good player until Joe Madden cheap had his player cheap shot him.
15:52
SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
15:53
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I just that still bothers me because that guy, I think that totally ruined that guy's career, and nobody cares because he's like from Korea and he's not, you know.
16:02
SPEAKER_01: No, baseball never cared about that until like a Mets player got hurt.
16:06
SPEAKER_01: It was like, oh no, now we got an issue.
16:09
SPEAKER_01: So um moving on to some of the big names of Pitt Basketball.
16:14
SPEAKER_01: Um, you have Duan Blair, who ended up to play for the Spurs and a couple other NBA teams.
16:19
SPEAKER_01: It was just unbelievably awesome for Pitt.
16:21
SPEAKER_01: Allevance Fields, uh, another great point guard.
16:25
SPEAKER_01: Uh Sam Young.
16:26
SPEAKER_01: I think Sam Young spent quite a number of years in the NBA.
16:30
SPEAKER_01: And of course, Brandon Knight, who is kind of like the legend who kind of started everything, like Pitt's like run of dominance there, the point guard.
16:40
SPEAKER_01: Now comes the like the really like depressing part, and maybe just because I really like pit football, but like, okay, here I'm going to read you a bunch of names, and you tell me how many people are going to be in the NFL Hall of Fame.
16:55
SPEAKER_01: Uh, Dorell Reeves, Larry Fitzgerald, and Arnold Aaron Donald, Deion Lewis, Larod Stevens Alling, LaShawn McCoy, Clinch Sandsons, James Connor, Quadri Allison, Kenny Pickett, Jabal Seard, and Jordan Whitehead.
17:08
SPEAKER_01: They all play for your put Panthers at one point or another from 2003 to 2020.
17:15
SPEAKER_01: And some of these guys all played together.
17:18
SPEAKER_01: Like I said, in the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl, you literally had three, and I think I didn't put what I didn't have Tyler uh Tyler Boyd on there.
17:26
SPEAKER_01: And they don't have Tyler Boyd on there.
17:28
SPEAKER_01: I mean, like, yeah, I I mean obviously like Clint Sessions and you know Quadri Allison probably aren't gonna be, but Jabal Sheard like was really good.
17:38
SPEAKER_01: And I think he won a Super Bowl with the Patriots, and he was really good when he was in Cleveland.
17:43
SPEAKER_01: Cleveland just stunked.
17:45
SPEAKER_01: I mean, Jordan Whitehead's been Jordan one won a Super Bowl with Tampa Bay last year, didn't he?
17:50
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
17:51
SPEAKER_01: So like these guys are I it's just the head scratching, like they put out as much talent as any of the big of Ohio State.
18:03
SPEAKER_01: I mean, I would compare this list of people to anybody Ohio State or Alabama or any of those teams have put out, you know, it's just I don't know, it just scratches your head why they haven't had more success.
18:15
SPEAKER_01: I guess it's kind of like they have like one or two really good guys and then a bunch of like not as good guys, whereas those programs probably have like more of the like I think that's the difference between Pitt and Penn State.
18:26
SPEAKER_01: It's like Penn State has like better like overall college players, or Pitt will have like one or two like really good players and then the rest are kind of like below average college players.
18:37
SPEAKER_01: Maybe that's what holds Pitt football back.
18:39
SPEAKER_02: But it's amazing the list of um pit players, like you said, that there's that many, there's that much talent in that short of a period of time, and they didn't have all that much to show for it.
18:50
SPEAKER_02: Um I was trying to think of guys you forgot.
18:52
SPEAKER_02: You already mentioned Tyler Boyd.
18:54
SPEAKER_02: I know nobody cares about punters, but Andy Lee is like a a three or four time first team all-pro in the NFL, and I think he's still I think he's playing for the Cardinals.
19:03
SPEAKER_01: I mean, he's been he's holding for, yeah, yeah, he's holding for the Cardinals.
19:06
SPEAKER_01: I was yeah, I was just watching the Cardinals game to watch James Carner the other day.
19:10
SPEAKER_01: It was like that would that was just on the other day, and like it's literally had like it was great because Lewis Riddick is like a big pit.
19:17
SPEAKER_01: It's nice to have like you know, you don't there aren't that many pit people out there, and Lewis Riddick's a big pit guy, and he was doing Monday night football, and uh James Connor kind of broke a tackle from Aaron Donald, and it was just it was like it was great.
19:29
SPEAKER_01: And then they shared the picture of them.
19:30
SPEAKER_01: They're both played in the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl in 2013.
19:33
SPEAKER_01: It's like yeah, how did Pitt go six and six?
19:36
SPEAKER_01: And they have Tom Savage on that team.
19:38
SPEAKER_01: Like, I was just like literally, that's probably my next idea for a podcast is we're gonna cover the 2013 Little Caesars Pizza Bowl.
19:45
SPEAKER_01: It's just it's like, what the heck?
19:47
SPEAKER_01: Like, how did the it's just it just goes back to like when you switch coaches that much, it's just yeah, you're it's gonna catch up with you.
19:56
SPEAKER_02: That list of players on all the teams and that list of that kind of the list you gave before of all the championships or all the you know deep playoff runs.
20:04
SPEAKER_02: I mean, that's that was it wasn't until you kind of read it off that I kind of remembered, man, this era was amazing.
20:11
SPEAKER_02: And uh, you know, you you talked about the 70s.
20:14
SPEAKER_02: I know you're gonna talk more about the 70s at the end.
20:17
SPEAKER_02: The the what did we have in between, right?
20:19
SPEAKER_02: We had the 80s where like everybody stunk.
20:22
SPEAKER_01: And it wasn't nothing, yeah.
20:23
SPEAKER_01: Not I mean you had the pirates had that short little two or three window, and they did have Barry Bonds in 80 Man's Slide.
20:29
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, that was more that was more in the 90s.
20:31
SPEAKER_02: I mean the 80s, yeah.
20:32
SPEAKER_02: The 80s, the pirates were like about to move.
20:35
SPEAKER_02: The Penguins were, you know, the Penguins drafted Mary, but that was about all they had.
20:39
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, they had Mario and yeah, Robbie Brown, and that's about it.
20:42
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
20:43
SPEAKER_02: The Steelers had, you know, Bubby Brister and Mark Malone at quarterback.
20:46
SPEAKER_02: The the pit football had, you know, I don't know, Ironhead Hayward.
20:49
SPEAKER_02: They had some good players, but they were mediocre.
20:52
SPEAKER_02: Pit basketball was made.
20:53
SPEAKER_02: Like there was nothing in the 80s at all.
20:55
SPEAKER_02: And then the 90s came, and you had the Pirates in the NLCS, you had you had the Penguins win two Stanley Cups, you had the Steelers got good under Bill Cower, but the 90s and early 2000s, it was like all letdowns.
21:08
SPEAKER_02: You know, it was Sid Slid, it was David Volick for the Islanders scoring in overtime, it was the the Neil O'Donnell throwing the interception in the Super Bowl.
21:18
SPEAKER_02: Like, you know, everything that you had in that era, it like I don't know what was worse.
21:24
SPEAKER_02: Like the 80s, you didn't have anything.
21:26
SPEAKER_02: You like didn't even have the chance for championships.
21:28
SPEAKER_02: But then in the 90s and early 2000s, you had all these like close, you know, Steelers lost four AFC championship games at home.
21:35
SPEAKER_02: You had all these close opportunities that never materialized.
21:40
SPEAKER_02: So I don't know which was more frustrating.
21:42
SPEAKER_02: And then it and then, like you said, when Ben gets drafted, that that that kind of time frame is when this all kicks off, and then all of a sudden, finally, like those of us who are fans that were maybe a little younger for the seventies, like the payoff finally happens, and man, was it was it fun.
22:00
SPEAKER_01: It was a heck of a payoff.
22:01
SPEAKER_01: I I yeah we definitely hit hit the jackpot there.
22:05
SPEAKER_01: I I mean just to win, I mean, just to win one championship is like, you know, normally, you know, get you pretty, you know, but we'll compare that we'll do some comparisons later.
22:15
SPEAKER_01: But I want to keep like you know going with like you know, some more legendary moments.
22:19
SPEAKER_01: Like what were the big moments of this era?
22:22
SPEAKER_01: And um for the Steelers, once again, yeah, I'm gonna go through the Steelers part, you know, the the four the three pro teams and the pit stuff.
22:31
SPEAKER_01: So um the Steelers, they had the tackle by Ben in that what in the wildcard game, you know, canceled the reservations, you know.
22:39
SPEAKER_01: We got a game to finish up area.
22:41
SPEAKER_01: Uh the catch by Santonio Holmes.
22:43
SPEAKER_01: That's still, I don't know if that really has a nickname with a tippy-toe touchdown.
22:47
SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
22:48
SPEAKER_01: Um, Troy Palma's interception in the AFC Championship game.
22:52
SPEAKER_01: Of course, the interception by James Harrison in Super Bowl 43, which kind of gets forgotten because of the late game heroics of some guy named Larry Fitzgerald.
23:01
SPEAKER_01: Hey, where did he go to college again?
23:03
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
23:03
SPEAKER_01: Um uh ending New England's winning streak on Halloween.
23:08
SPEAKER_01: I know that's kind of like more of a minor moment, but I always thought that was big.
23:11
SPEAKER_01: That was was that Ben's rookie?
23:12
SPEAKER_01: Yes, that was Ben's rookie season, the 15-1 year.
23:15
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
23:16
SPEAKER_01: And uh, of course, Ben's 15-in-one rookie season, which is just amazing by the Steelers.
23:23
SPEAKER_02: Steve, you could also throw the um Antonio Brown cats to to win the division to beat the Ravens.
23:29
SPEAKER_02: Um, I I Oh yeah, yeah.
23:32
SPEAKER_02: Might have been on Christmas.
23:33
SPEAKER_01: I mean, I just that team never just yeah, I remember that.
23:36
SPEAKER_01: That team just never like achieved anything, but they still were really good and they just they never could get over the hump.
23:42
SPEAKER_01: Like, I don't know what it was.
23:44
SPEAKER_01: They just they had the talent, but they never I don't know if they they didn't have the discipline.
23:48
SPEAKER_01: Like, that's another great topic to talk about, like why that team never won a championship.
23:53
SPEAKER_01: Like the Brown, Bell, Ben, you know, Boswell team.
23:58
SPEAKER_01: Like that, it really seems like there should have been a Super Bowl somewhere in their least appearance, you know?
24:04
SPEAKER_01: And it just they're never able to get over the hump for whatever reason.
24:08
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I mean, I I would still that I still feel like that moment's such a great moment, though, because it was for the division and beat the Ravens.
24:15
SPEAKER_02: Ravens it was yeah, a last second touchdown, and he say what you want about Antonio Brown, but that play, he I mean, he fought his way into the end zone.
24:24
SPEAKER_02: He literally fought like two guys pulling on him to get the ball over the goal line.
24:29
SPEAKER_02: So I always thought that was kind of a special moment.
24:32
SPEAKER_02: Um in in Steel history.
24:36
SPEAKER_01: He could be a stats guy at times, but at other times, like he would really show such heart.
24:40
SPEAKER_01: Like there was like times like late in the game, like, give me the ball, I'm gonna make a catch, I'm gonna make a play.
24:45
SPEAKER_01: Like, so Antonio Brown's like so up and down.
24:49
SPEAKER_01: Like, you know what I mean?
24:51
SPEAKER_01: Like, if he just had a little bit more, I think, of a level head, he could have he's probably gonna go to the Hall of Fame.
24:58
SPEAKER_01: And he's such a great wide receiver, but it's just like you know, million-dollar talent, 10 cent head, and it's just it's unfortunate because he really probably could have been like up there with Jerry Rice and Randy Moss.
25:11
SPEAKER_01: I mean, the the the guy just you know kind of like you know jobbed himself with those couple years where he just was totally nuts.
25:19
SPEAKER_02: I I've said this, I think, on a previous podcast, but I'll say it again.
25:22
SPEAKER_02: If I had to list the the top three guys I had the most fun watching ever, and and not in any particular order necessarily, it'd be Mario Lemieux, Larry Fitzgerald, and Antonio Brown.
25:35
SPEAKER_02: He was just so like you said, he was so he's the best receiver in CR history.
25:39
SPEAKER_02: And yeah, it's a shame.
25:40
SPEAKER_02: It's a shame because he could still be playing for us and he could still be really good.
25:46
SPEAKER_02: So, but like you said, kind of a topic for for another episode.
25:50
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
25:51
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
25:52
SPEAKER_01: Um uh moving on to the moments by the Penguins.
25:55
SPEAKER_01: Um, the save in game seven by Flurry in 2009, uh, the save in Ovechkin by Flurry.
26:02
SPEAKER_01: Um, there were goals.
26:03
SPEAKER_01: I remember there was goals by Brian Rust against Tampa, and that was in a conference title, but that was two big goals by Brian Rust in a game they had to have against Tampa.
26:12
SPEAKER_01: And Tampa had they have that goalie they have now, right?
26:15
SPEAKER_01: Because Ben Bishop had gotten hurt and they had to play.
26:17
SPEAKER_01: Was it Vassales?
26:18
SPEAKER_01: Is it Vassales?
26:19
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, Vassales.
26:19
SPEAKER_01: He's really good.
26:20
SPEAKER_01: He's really good.
26:21
SPEAKER_01: He was the reason that that series went seven games.
26:25
SPEAKER_01: Um, also, of course, Chris Latang, that game six against San Jose.
26:29
SPEAKER_01: That's a Stanley Cup winner, actually.
26:32
SPEAKER_01: Um, the Gold Boy Crosby in the winner classic shootout.
26:36
SPEAKER_01: Um, and of course, Patrick Hornquest.
26:38
SPEAKER_01: He had a cup cup winner in game six with other minute left to play against Nashville.
26:43
SPEAKER_01: So um, those are all legendary penguins moments.
26:45
SPEAKER_01: I'm probably missing a bunch in there, but you know, we we could go on and on with penguins.
26:50
SPEAKER_01: They had so many great moments in those three Stanley Cup runs.
26:54
SPEAKER_02: And the Hornquest goal is is one of the more underrated ones.
26:59
SPEAKER_02: Well, well, one that one that I would put on there definitely is the Kunit school that that won the Cup in Game 7.
27:05
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
27:06
SPEAKER_01: That was another one was the it was an Elliott Brian.
27:09
SPEAKER_01: He just played out of the yeah that was another one.
27:11
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah, that poor guy because he played his heart out for sure.
27:15
SPEAKER_02: Um, but uh um yeah, the the I feel like the Horncoy school um is a little bit underrated because um you know, like you said, it came it was that game was tied zero zero and he scores with in the final minutes to win the Stanley Cup.
27:33
SPEAKER_02: And I don't know, like that's a big deal, right?
27:36
SPEAKER_02: I I just feel like that's not if you're gonna list all the Great Penguins moments, that's not the first one that pops into your mind.
27:42
SPEAKER_01: It was that Pekka Renee that it was still Rene, right?
27:44
SPEAKER_01: Was the goal goalie, yeah.
27:46
unknown: Yeah.
27:46
SPEAKER_01: And he kind of hits it off his back, and it's not like a pretty goal, like like Letang's goal in against San Jose, where like he skated all the way around the goal and like shot it in the opposite corner, and that's like a very Chris Letang kind of goal.
27:59
SPEAKER_01: Like once again, the good Chris, bad Chris, you know.
28:02
SPEAKER_01: But so it would have been really bad if like he would have turned it over in the corner as a defenseman and been down.
28:08
SPEAKER_01: But Chris Letang doesn't do that, he's too talented.
28:11
SPEAKER_01: So but there's some great penguins memories there, and um and uh you know, not to be you know left behind, and since this era just the magic in Pittsburgh, whatever the Pittsburgh sports magic was going on, was going on.
28:24
SPEAKER_01: Um uh Pit uh the Pirates, uh they had their Quato wildcard game.
28:30
SPEAKER_01: Um McCutcheon did their MVP and they broke their 20-year losing streak.
28:35
SPEAKER_01: So um even though the Pirates didn't really win, I don't think even they they didn't win a division, did they?
28:41
SPEAKER_01: No.
28:41
SPEAKER_02: No.
28:43
SPEAKER_01: But they did get uh, you know, they did have some other great moments.
28:46
SPEAKER_01: So uh good good for them, I guess.
28:50
SPEAKER_01: Yay! Um uh pit basketball, my goodness, what a run.
28:56
SPEAKER_01: Um winning the big east tournament in 2003.
28:59
SPEAKER_01: Um remember we've talked about this LeVance Fields hitting that shot to beat Duke in Madison Square Garden.
29:05
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that was huge.
29:07
SPEAKER_01: That was really big.
29:09
SPEAKER_01: Uh I don't remember if anybody remembers this except for me.
29:12
SPEAKER_01: Uh Ronald Ramone hitting a last second buzzer beater to beat WVU at the uh at the Peter at Pete in 2008.
29:19
SPEAKER_01: That was like right after 13-9.
29:21
SPEAKER_01: And like like it's like Pit the West Virginia can't beat Pitt in anything, not even basketball.
29:27
SPEAKER_01: But that's a fun one.
29:28
SPEAKER_01: Um I remember when the either they beat uh Wisconsin and then see the double-A tournament.
29:33
SPEAKER_01: That was with like uh Carl Krauser, and that that's one of the better moments.
29:37
SPEAKER_01: That that was just like it ended up pit was a higher seed and had to play Wisconsin, who should have been uh it ended up being like a Wisconsin home game because of where it was played.
29:46
SPEAKER_01: And I mean that was just one of those those games.
29:49
SPEAKER_01: It like Pit basketball was a those and they're really good, which is a shame.
29:54
SPEAKER_01: Um Pitt football, you know, like we said, they they had a lot of downs, but um 13-9 happened, so that that was definitely a big moment.
30:04
SPEAKER_01: Uh 2016 Clemson, the and that was the last Clemson loss that year before they won the national title.
30:11
SPEAKER_01: Um, and I think that was their last home loss until 2021.
30:16
SPEAKER_01: So like I they didn't lose for another four or five years after that.
30:21
SPEAKER_01: Of course, in 2016 they they beat Penn State and kept them out of the national championship.
30:26
SPEAKER_01: So we have that going for us.
30:29
SPEAKER_01: Um in 2017, I was at this game, they beat Miami when Miami was ranked number two.
30:34
SPEAKER_01: Because of course, you don't want to be ranked number two and play Pitt.
30:38
SPEAKER_01: It's a dangerous, it's a dangerous proposition.
30:42
SPEAKER_01: Um, 2018, that's another fun year.
30:44
SPEAKER_01: And I know like I think Pitt went like seven and five or six and six that year, and they did end up going to the ACC championship game.
30:52
SPEAKER_01: That was just like the they beat Virginia Tech with like this incredible quadri Allison like run, like where he went for like 90 yards.
31:01
SPEAKER_01: And this guy, uh I remember the guy from Virginia Tech, Caleb Farley, and he's actually the NFL.
31:06
SPEAKER_01: He tried to tackle Allison, and Allison was like broke through the line, like Pitt was at its own three, and he's breaking through the line, and like you see, like Allison has a decision, he can go out of bounds after like a 40-yard gain, or like just run Caleb Farley over, and it's like I'll run Caleb, and he just literally runs the guy over and goes for like another 40 yards for a touchdown.
31:26
SPEAKER_01: So it was uh that that was always I always that was one of my favorite Pitt plays.
31:31
SPEAKER_01: And of course, in 2021, this just happened.
31:34
SPEAKER_01: Pitt finally wins their first ACC football championship, and I think that's their first conference championship in football of outright of any kind because they were independent for the longest time and they were they only ever were co-big East champions.
31:47
SPEAKER_01: So yay for Pitt, 100 years of football, it finally happened.
31:52
SPEAKER_01: And of course, Kenny Picken finishing third in the Heisman voting, but good for Kenny sticking around.
31:58
SPEAKER_01: And uh another thing that happened was Larry Fitzgerald finished second in the Heisman voting and in 2003, and like I was just looking at this.
32:06
SPEAKER_01: He finished ahead of Eli Manning, but behind Jason White.
32:11
SPEAKER_01: Like, who voted for Jason White over Eli Manning and Larry Fitzgerald?
32:15
SPEAKER_01: Oh, that's Ron Cook.
32:16
SPEAKER_01: I mean, like, okay, if you don't like Larry Fitzgerald, that's fine, and you want to make the argument he doesn't touch the ball every time.
32:24
SPEAKER_01: So you voted for like Jason White over Eli Manning?
32:28
SPEAKER_01: That's crazy.
32:31
SPEAKER_01: And it's just uh like it goes to show like what a joke the Heisman is.
32:35
SPEAKER_01: I mean, it just they have no credibility.
32:38
SPEAKER_01: I mean this is the same people that gave Paul Horning on a six-and-six Notre Dame team, the Heisman over Jim Brown.
32:47
SPEAKER_01: So you know it the that that that award doesn't have any credibility, hasn't had any for like what 50 years now.
32:54
SPEAKER_01: So go figure.
32:56
SPEAKER_01: That's my fun little rant on uh the Heisman trophy.
33:00
SPEAKER_01: Hope everybody enjoyed it.
33:03
SPEAKER_01: Um so how how does uh Pittsburgh's golden era stand up against other cities?
33:09
SPEAKER_01: Um if you think about it, Pittsburgh really only has three pro sports teams and they have one major local college.
33:15
SPEAKER_01: If for comparison, like Philadelphia, they have like a lot, they're a much bigger uh city with 1.5 million, and they have four pro sports teams.
33:25
SPEAKER_01: They have all four pro sports teams, but also they have like five or six major local colleges.
33:30
SPEAKER_01: So, but and their last but their last championship was 2018 with uh Nick Foles and the Eagles, and that's the Eagles' first Super Bowl win.
33:39
SPEAKER_01: I mean, I guess and the Flyers what land the la have you seen the Flyers win the cup?
33:44
SPEAKER_01: That was 1975, and I think the Phillies won uh a World Series back what 2008 or something.
33:51
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
33:52
SPEAKER_01: So I mean it's really like even like bigger cities like Philadelphia haven't had success.
33:57
SPEAKER_01: And like just for comparison, I think Pittsburgh has a 302,000 is the last census as of to 2020.
34:05
SPEAKER_01: So if you compare us to like you know cities maybe because Philadelphia is probably a a much bigger city, not really an apples to apples, like Cleveland is probably and Cincinnati would be two very good cities to compare us to.
34:17
SPEAKER_01: Uh Cleveland has 385,000, and they have three major pro teams, but they don't have a college team per se.
34:24
SPEAKER_01: I mean, I guess Ohio State, I mean I guess I mean I don't know.
34:29
SPEAKER_01: It's kind of like a Penn State thing.
34:30
SPEAKER_01: They're they're not really located, but everybody's an Ohio State fan there.
34:34
SPEAKER_01: So I don't know.
34:35
SPEAKER_01: But even though I mean they've only had one championship in 2016, and I was it took like LeBron James like miracle stuff to pull that out.
34:46
SPEAKER_01: So here we'll uh here here's a nice little uh video about Cleveland for uh you can kind of listen to this, it's it's entertaining.
34:55
SPEAKER_00: Fun times in Cleveland again, Cleveland! Come on down to Cleveland town, everyone.
35:02
SPEAKER_00: Under construction since 1868.
35:08
SPEAKER_00: It's up to the fish at most three times here, year.
35:14
SPEAKER_00: This guy has at least two DUIs.
35:16
SPEAKER_00: The five, five, go, go, step, go five, fake, stop, five, five, still feed art, are made exported depression.
35:32
SPEAKER_00: We think this is art.
35:34
SPEAKER_00: It could be worse though it leaves.
35:35
SPEAKER_00: We're not Detroit We're not Detroit.
35:41
SPEAKER_01: Well, hey everybody, uh, go visit Cleveland, right?
35:44
SPEAKER_01: Yay.
35:45
SPEAKER_02: Or Cleveland.
35:48
SPEAKER_01: Well, they're not they're not Detroit, Tim.
35:51
SPEAKER_01: They're not Detroit.
35:52
SPEAKER_01: They got that going for you, for them.
35:55
SPEAKER_01: But um, that's always just fun.
35:57
SPEAKER_01: That was actually made by somebody in Cleveland.
35:59
SPEAKER_01: Good good for them.
36:00
SPEAKER_01: Uh it could be worse.
36:02
SPEAKER_01: You could be Detroit, or you could be Cincinnati.
36:05
SPEAKER_01: Um, Cincinnati does have uh two major sports, like if you count like the MLS, like FC Cincinnati, but and their last championship was in 1990 with the Reds World Series.
36:19
SPEAKER_01: So um, once again, no major colleges really in Cincinnati except for Ohio State or I guess maybe Kentucky, right?
36:25
SPEAKER_01: Kentucky's kind of across the border there.
36:28
SPEAKER_01: So maybe maybe there's a few Kentucky fans in Cincinnati.
36:31
SPEAKER_02: As of the time of this recording, the University of Cincinnati's having uh a really good football season, so you got that going for them.
36:39
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, they don't get the the fan base that like they're kind of in the same situation Pitts in, like where they're in like a a pro town with like a major state university that will that has a bigger fan base probably in their town than the local team.
36:54
SPEAKER_01: So so I guess that is their kind of you know, Cincinnati.
36:57
SPEAKER_01: But in Cincinnati, like good for them.
36:59
SPEAKER_01: The University of Cincinnati's had a lot of success.
37:01
SPEAKER_01: I mean they've had like a bunch of 10-win seasons, so we'll see.
37:06
SPEAKER_01: They gotta play Alabama at some point here, right?
37:08
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, coming up next couple weeks.
37:10
SPEAKER_01: So I guess we'll guess we'll see what happens to them.
37:14
SPEAKER_01: Um so uh if you include all of Allegheny County, which sometimes people do, like Pittsburgh, that puts us up to like two million, so maybe maybe Pittsburgh is bigger than we think or not, because like you know, just the way however you tabulate it.
37:30
SPEAKER_01: Um I I looked for like you know comparisons with like the bigger cities.
37:35
SPEAKER_01: And um Pittsburgh is overall with um what do we have, 17 championships.
37:42
SPEAKER_01: So that puts us like right ahead of St.
37:45
SPEAKER_01: Louis and actually Philadelphia does have 20 if you count up all the MLB, NBA, NHL, whatever, MLS, whatever you want.
37:55
SPEAKER_01: New York has the most at 61, and Boston has 40.
37:59
SPEAKER_01: So I mean, you know, we're in Detroit.
38:02
SPEAKER_01: Hey, we're not Detroit has 22, so haha, Cleveland.
38:06
SPEAKER_01: Detroit has way more championships than you.
38:10
SPEAKER_01: Cleveland, just for reference, has 13.
38:13
SPEAKER_01: So which is how does Detroit have 22?
38:18
SPEAKER_02: Like the Red Wings and the basketball and yeah, I mean again, you're if if we're talking about eras, I mean, it's it's how many championships?
38:30
SPEAKER_02: Even in Pittsburgh, there's a couple other championships for one in eras where you know very few people on the source were alive.
38:38
SPEAKER_02: Uh so you know, it's it's really about you know what what what did you as a fan get to experience rooting for those teams in your area?
38:49
SPEAKER_02: And you know, sometimes it's not as many championships as in New York City, but if it's in a certain time frame, then you loved it.
38:57
SPEAKER_02: I mean, look look at I don't know if you're gonna talk to Steve at all about the city of Tampa, but look what they're experiencing right now.
39:04
SPEAKER_02: You know, they've had they've had three championships in the last, you know, what, year, a little over a year.
39:11
SPEAKER_02: So, you know, do they have as many as some of these other cities know?
39:14
SPEAKER_02: But you know, you those fans will look fondly back on this time and say, oh my gosh, we were winning championships and we were having parades, you know, at the same time.
39:24
SPEAKER_02: So I I I think sometimes that's more valuable than like total number of championships.
39:29
SPEAKER_01: I think in a smaller town like Pittsburgh or Cleveland or you know, like it just means like a little bit more to people because like New York, like, you know, not everybody in New York's gonna be like, you know, really into that sports.
39:42
SPEAKER_01: There's just so many people and so much to do, they probably you know have other interests besides that.
39:48
SPEAKER_01: Whereas like when Pittsburgh, when the Steelers are going to the Super Bowl or the Penguins are going first daily cup or whatever, like even when Pitt was in the championship game, it seemed like the whole city would seem to really get into it, you know.
39:59
SPEAKER_01: So I doubt that happens as much in some of these other markets.
40:03
SPEAKER_01: Um, they did have a pretty cool like things number of times winning multiple championships in one calendar year, and uh, we've done it twice.
40:10
SPEAKER_01: No New York, I guess, has done it seven times, and LA's done it three.
40:14
SPEAKER_01: And like you said, Tampa's they have this only doing it once.
40:18
SPEAKER_01: So I guess that's like you said, like the the Super Bowl and then the two things.
40:24
SPEAKER_01: Um and so Tampa did 2021, Pittsburgh we did in 2009, Boston did in 2004 with the Patriots and Red Sox.
40:34
SPEAKER_01: Oh yeah, that's right.
40:35
SPEAKER_01: And the Los Angeles 2020 because they had Lakers and the Dodgers.
40:38
SPEAKER_01: So you know, and you know, when we're you know, you figure Pittsburgh and Tampa, wow, we're in there with like the big dogs, like you know, because you figure Boston, LA, and New York, that's like major cities, you know?
40:50
SPEAKER_01: They're they're just and they have all these, you know, they have more resources and you know, just a bigger market.
40:56
SPEAKER_01: And you know, if you can stand you know up with those guys, yeah, you're doing all right.
41:02
SPEAKER_01: So um how does this uh golden age compare with the um other ones?
41:08
SPEAKER_01: Well, yeah, like you said, two Super Bowl champions, three Stanley Cups, pit basketball with two biggies titles and an elite.
41:15
SPEAKER_01: And uh it might be an outlier, but pit football with the ACC championship.
41:20
SPEAKER_01: Um, just for comparison, the 1970s Golden Age, which you know, I I consider that starting with the drafting of me and Joe Green, which I guess technically was 1969, and then I say it ended with the Super Bowl win in 1980.
41:33
SPEAKER_01: I mean, I I would say, you know, I I have the condors on there, but they won in 1968, so I don't know if it really kind of they were kind of like you know another outlier kind of thing.
41:44
SPEAKER_01: But they had four Super Bowls, two World Series, and a pitfull football championship.
41:49
SPEAKER_01: Um the Penguins even made the playoffs a couple of times.
41:52
SPEAKER_01: And um, you know, the definitely the 70s, you know what they they probably have a little bit of an edge over this just because like Pitt had an undefeated season in football, that doesn't happen that often.
42:06
SPEAKER_01: And um, you know, four Super Bowls and two World Series.
42:12
SPEAKER_01: I mean, does that equal two Super Bowls and three Stanley Cups?
42:16
SPEAKER_01: You know, that's six five to six.
42:18
SPEAKER_01: So it's a little the the seventies probably were a little bit more dominant in Pittsburgh sports than this, whatever this era was.
42:26
SPEAKER_01: I don't know, 2003s to 2020s, like they had it has an extra seven years on on the 70s, which is a little more compact.
42:35
SPEAKER_02: So yeah, yeah, I would tend to agree with that, Steve.
42:39
SPEAKER_02: It's it's it's it's a hard comparison, but uh I think one thing you could give the 70s an edge is you had a team with the Steelers that was literally one of the greatest dynasties of all time.
42:52
SPEAKER_02: And I don't know that you could say that about um you know the the the the penguins or the steel wars teams that won championships of this era, like you can't they're great teams.
43:03
SPEAKER_02: I don't know that you can put them in like the top three of all time dynasties, right?
43:08
SPEAKER_02: Um, although maybe you can make an argument for the penguins winning back-to-back cups in the in the cap era, which is not easy to do.
43:14
SPEAKER_02: But yeah, the the that that's probably why you give the edge to the 70s because of the Steel teams.
43:20
SPEAKER_02: Um and then you know, to have the Pirates win two World Series and Pit go undefeated and and win a national championship on top of it.
43:28
SPEAKER_02: It's hard to argue.
43:30
SPEAKER_02: But so I would give the edge to the 70s, but like are we gonna complain?
43:36
SPEAKER_02: You know?
43:37
SPEAKER_02: I I mean we've been very blessed in this era.
43:42
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah.
43:43
SPEAKER_01: And um now for the real like I guess is how we're gonna end it.
43:47
SPEAKER_01: Since you know, everything's gotta be all good things that's come to the end.
43:51
SPEAKER_01: Father time is undefeated, unless you're Tom Brady, who's apparently some sort of vampire and will be living forever.
43:58
SPEAKER_01: Who knew Alva?
44:00
SPEAKER_01: Juice was the fountain of youth.
44:02
SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
44:02
SPEAKER_01: Maybe that's why I moved to moved to Tampa.
44:04
SPEAKER_01: It wasn't Pon Staleone looking for the fountain of youth down there.
44:07
SPEAKER_01: Maybe he found it.
44:09
SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
44:10
SPEAKER_01: Um so uh why do I think this golden age is over?
44:14
SPEAKER_01: Um, well, one of the reasons was when Jamie Dixon left Pit Basketball, he took all the competitive, he he packed up his bag and was like, here, let me take all the winning and competitiveness with me on my way out the door.
44:26
SPEAKER_01: And uh, pit basketball, absolute garbage since 2016.
44:31
SPEAKER_01: They are just horrible.
44:33
SPEAKER_01: So um, they've kind of gone back to where they were before Ben Holland showed up in the 90s, which is very sad because it was a lot of fun to watch pit basketball be that good for that long.
44:44
SPEAKER_01: And it wasn't like a one-year flash in a pan, that was 10 years of really, really good pit basketball.
44:51
SPEAKER_01: Um, the Pirates, you know, after three years of being competitive, they let everybody go.
44:57
SPEAKER_01: Let Andrew McCutcheon go, let Neil Walker go, and now they've gone back to hundred-year lose hundred-year losses every year and five-year plans and fireworks night, and hey, Journeys come into play after the game.
45:10
SPEAKER_01: Who wants to see them?
45:11
SPEAKER_01: And yeah, it's uh so uh yeah, the uh the the pirates have kind of gone back to what they always were for a long time.
45:19
SPEAKER_01: Um Crosby he was hurt a lot this year, and he I think he's in decline.
45:25
SPEAKER_01: He's 34 years old right now, and I gotta say he's probably on the back end of his his career career, and it's just you know, Marc-Andre Fleury isn't around anymore.
45:36
SPEAKER_01: Nothing against Tristan Jari, but I just I don't see them winning a Stanley Cup with Tristan Jari, but I could be wrong, and I'll be happy to eat Crow and you can play this over and over again and make fun of me, but you know, but I just I don't know.
45:50
SPEAKER_01: I don't don't see it with Tristan Jari, but hey, whatever.
45:54
SPEAKER_01: Um, of course, Marco Andre Fleury, he's been traded.
45:56
SPEAKER_01: And Malkin's been hurt for a long time.
45:58
SPEAKER_01: I think I saw somewhere like he's missed, like if you total up all the time he's missed, he's missed like three seasons total now.
46:05
SPEAKER_01: So uh Malkin has really been now the rumor's going around that Ben Rothesberger, he's gonna be retiring at the end of this season.
46:13
SPEAKER_01: And I think I think that probably makes sense to me.
46:16
SPEAKER_01: He'll probably be gone.
46:17
SPEAKER_01: So the guy who kind of started it, you know, is gonna it'll be a nice little like bookend to end it.
46:23
SPEAKER_01: Um put football, I mean, is it just an exception that they won the ACC this year in a down year when Clemson wasn't dominant?
46:33
SPEAKER_01: But I don't know if Clemson, you know, just had a bad year and the way back to being Clemson next year, but at least in Pitt's division in the coastal, like all the major players like Virginia Tech, Miami, who else, Virginia, they all had to change coaches this season.
46:49
SPEAKER_01: So Pat Narduzzi, if he can like keep himself together, he could at least dominate that division for the next two to three years while these other schools try to get it together.
46:58
SPEAKER_01: And there's even rumors that Miami wants to leave the ACC.
47:02
SPEAKER_01: I don't know what Miami's thinking, like why they would get more money in the SEC, and I don't know why the SEC would want Miami.
47:11
SPEAKER_01: It's a very small draw.
47:13
SPEAKER_01: Like, I bet there's more Florida fans in Miami than there is the Miami fan, you know, University of Florida.
47:21
SPEAKER_01: So I don't know what's going on with Miami besides you know they're overestimating their uh their pool and draw.
47:29
SPEAKER_01: Um I and I just think like just between you know, obviously the Pirates are in a heap of trouble, and I don't think the Pirates are gonna be very good in the next two to three years.
47:41
SPEAKER_01: And I think the Steelers are going the same way.
47:43
SPEAKER_01: I could like I think Ben's gonna retire.
47:46
SPEAKER_01: When you don't have the quarterback, it's tough to win a championship, and then they don't it doesn't seem like it seems like their defense is totally fallen apart and they haven't drafted well the last couple years.
47:57
SPEAKER_01: Like all their draft picks really aren't panning out.
48:00
SPEAKER_01: I mean, unless like Devin Bush and some of those other guys, like, you know, maybe he comes back from his ACL better next year finally.
48:07
SPEAKER_01: Maybe it just took him a year to get better.
48:09
SPEAKER_01: I don't I don't know how you win on defense.
48:12
SPEAKER_01: And and what happened to Stefan to it?
48:14
SPEAKER_01: Did he just like it?
48:16
SPEAKER_01: Does he still alive?
48:17
SPEAKER_01: Does he exist?
48:18
SPEAKER_01: Is he just a figment of our imagination?
48:20
SPEAKER_01: I mean I just can't win in like their offensive line.
48:25
SPEAKER_01: I just I I don't know.
48:26
SPEAKER_01: I don't know how the Steelers rebuild.
48:28
SPEAKER_01: And the Penguins, like I said, like Crosby's fading, they don't have a goaltender really anymore.
48:34
SPEAKER_01: Matt Murray got traded.
48:36
SPEAKER_01: Jari I don't think is the answer.
48:39
SPEAKER_01: And Malkin seems like he's hurt.
48:41
SPEAKER_01: Even if they get like Malkin back, like I I don't know that like you make a deep run with Tristan Jari.
48:47
SPEAKER_01: And that's like in hockey, like not having a goaltender is like not having a quarterback.
48:51
SPEAKER_01: If you you don't have a goaltender, you're you're not really gonna go that far.
48:57
SPEAKER_01: Um and you know, you could argue over this.
49:00
SPEAKER_01: Like, do you think it ended like it's gonna end this year, or do you think it already ended in 2016, like when the Steelers lost that championship game to the Patriots and everything kind of fell apart like after that?
49:13
SPEAKER_01: Like you could argue that like this really ended in 2016 and that Pitt ACC championship was just kind of like a one-off and a down year with Clemson, you know, where Pitt got to keep all these extra like six-year seniors because of the you know, COVID.
49:28
SPEAKER_01: So you could argue that, but I like to extend it to 21 just so we can throw some Pitt Football ACC championship stuff in there.
49:36
SPEAKER_01: And I mean, maybe it's an outlier, maybe it isn't, maybe it's the air really is over, and we're all just kind of, but I think I think sometimes it, you know, we enjoyed it.
49:45
SPEAKER_01: 2003 to 2016, that's 13 years of dominance either way, or two or to 2021, you know, if you want to extend it to four or five years.
49:53
SPEAKER_01: So I mean any thoughts on you think it's over or not over or when it ended.
50:01
SPEAKER_02: I I like extending it to 2021 because what pit what Pitt did with the ACC championship.
50:07
SPEAKER_02: Um, you know, you and I watched that game together and and we were kind of taking it in in the final minutes, saying, like, oh my god, Pitt for the first time in our lifetime as fans, you know, came through and won something big.
50:20
SPEAKER_02: Uh so I feel like to me, that was almost right up there with Super Bowl 40 or you know, moments like that.
50:27
SPEAKER_02: Um, I think it is over.
50:29
SPEAKER_02: I it's depressing as that that whole um you know description you just gave is you're right.
50:36
SPEAKER_02: I mean, Ben Rothesberger uh is is gone soon, Sidney Crosby and Malkin and those guys on the backside of their careers.
50:45
SPEAKER_02: It it's over.
50:46
SPEAKER_02: I don't I don't know if it's over like 1980's over, right?
50:51
SPEAKER_02: Where everybody like everything just collapses on itself.
50:54
SPEAKER_02: Um I don't know if it starts up again sooner than we think.
50:58
SPEAKER_02: I mean we can't predict the future.
51:00
SPEAKER_02: Um but yeah, I I would I like I like your positioning of 2003 to 2021.
51:07
SPEAKER_02: I think that's a good time frame for this era.
51:10
SPEAKER_02: I think there's so many great moments, so many great players, and so many championships in that era.
51:16
SPEAKER_02: Um if we do, if all the teams stink for the next 10 years, we as fans were gifted, just like you said about Steve, about those other cities, we as fans were gifted something that most sports fans don't get gifted.
51:30
SPEAKER_02: So whether it's over or not, we should at least take the time to be grateful.
51:36
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's always good to appreciate what you have than what you didn't have.
51:41
SPEAKER_01: And uh, hey, like yo, we're not Detroit, right?
51:45
SPEAKER_01: There you go.
51:46
SPEAKER_01: Thank thank goodness.
51:49
SPEAKER_01: Well, um, that's all for uh this episode.
51:52
SPEAKER_01: Um, if you have any uh thoughts or comments, uh check us out on uh Twitter.
51:56
SPEAKER_01: Um I'm sure you know there's always some great comments on Twitter.
52:00
SPEAKER_01: Um well thank you for tuning in.
52:02
SPEAKER_01: Uh as usual, give us a good ranking.
52:04
SPEAKER_01: Uh word of mouth is always helpful, and um, we'll uh see you next time on uh Pittsburgh Sports Memories.