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Ultimate Pittsburgh Sports Bracket · Pittsburgh Sports Memories

0:00
SPEAKER_00: Welcome to uh Pittsburgh Sports Memories.
0:02
SPEAKER_00: Uh my name is uh Steve Ward, and uh joining me is Tim Hannon.
0:07
SPEAKER_00: And as usual, we'll be covering uh sports topics from the uh Pittsburgh uh sports scene.
0:13
SPEAKER_00: Um today we have a pretty uh exciting one.
0:15
SPEAKER_00: It's uh the best team seasons of Pittsburgh Sports all time.
0:20
SPEAKER_00: This is any sport professionally or college that has been played.
0:25
SPEAKER_00: We didn't include high school, sorry, you know, like that Bethel Park winning, you know, girls' softball team.
0:31
SPEAKER_00: We didn't we didn't you didn't make the cut, sorry, unfortunately.
0:35
SPEAKER_00: But um if you would like to follow along, if you're following on our podcast, you can go to uh the website, Tim.
0:40
SPEAKER_01: Pittsburghsports memories.weebly.com and and there'll be a printout of this.
0:45
SPEAKER_01: Um we're doing it in a bracket format.
0:47
SPEAKER_00: Yes, it's gonna be yeah, N CAA bracket.
0:50
SPEAKER_00: We'll we'll say the um seeds and stuff and what round we're on, but if you'd like to follow along visually, you could uh pull that up on your screen or print it out however you'd like.
1:13
SPEAKER_00: Um the three criteria basically I used for this was um if the team had won a championship, um how easy the run was, you know, was it a pretty smooth run?
1:26
SPEAKER_00: And the third one was the strength of the competition they faced in general.
1:31
SPEAKER_00: So with those three criteria in mind, um, without any further uh introduction, we'll jump right into the bracket.
1:38
SPEAKER_00: Uh the first bracket, I didn't list them as north, south, east, and west, but okay, whatever.
1:44
SPEAKER_00: It's the first part is the number one seed would be your 1978 Steelers who won Super Bowl 13 against Dallas.
1:51
SPEAKER_00: I think it was 35-31.
1:53
SPEAKER_00: It's probably one of the better Super Bowls in general, still considered.
1:57
SPEAKER_00: It was a very back and forth game.
1:59
SPEAKER_00: But um they the Steelers uh beat uh Roger Stahlbach, who I think they had the second best record in the NFL that year.
2:07
SPEAKER_00: So it's pretty good.
2:08
SPEAKER_00: And they're going against the 16, those plucky 2018 Pittsburgh Rev Riverhounds.
2:14
SPEAKER_00: Um, this is probably the Riverhounds' best season so far.
2:18
SPEAKER_00: Uh they won the their league, which in American soccer is equivalent to the championship in England if you follow soccer.
2:25
SPEAKER_00: So it's like triple-A baseball, it basically is what it's equivalent to.
2:30
SPEAKER_00: And they they won the USL regular season for the first time ever, but they did lose to eventual champion Louisville in the playoffs, and it was actually a home game, and they had uh they had a sellout, which for them is only 6,000 people, but for soccer in Pittsburgh, it was a pretty good turnout.
2:48
SPEAKER_00: Um that game, um I had the uh 78 Steelers moving on to the next round, obviously, because I mean the Riverhounds are just a lesser professional team that aren't on the highest level of their sport yet.
3:02
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, good call on that.
3:04
SPEAKER_01: That was a pretty easy one verse six team.
3:05
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, no upset there.
3:07
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
3:08
SPEAKER_00: Um moving on to staying in this uh, I guess part of the bracket, the number eight seed was the 1927 Pirates, who lost to lost the World Series to some team from New York called the Yankees.
3:22
SPEAKER_00: And um that 1927 team, Yankees had, oh, I don't know, Ruth, Larry, Gehrig, the whole murders row.
3:30
SPEAKER_00: So you can kind of forgive the Pirates for losing that one.
3:33
SPEAKER_00: I mean, that was probably a pretty tough.
3:34
SPEAKER_00: Like the 27 Yankees are considered one of the best teams in the ever, but the 27 Pirates did win the pennant and did play the World Series, although they did lose the Yankees.
3:44
SPEAKER_00: They went up against the number nine seed, which was the 2016 Pitt football team, which had an 8-4 record, and they beat Penn State and national champion Clemson on the road, and Penn State ended up being a top four team too.
3:59
SPEAKER_00: So that was a very successful team.
4:02
SPEAKER_00: Um I had uh this is kind of I mean it's an eight-nine, so it's not a big upset, but I thought uh Pitt would have had a little more successful season, even though they didn't win their bowl game that year.
4:13
SPEAKER_00: Um I had Pitt football moving on over the 27 Pirates, even though the Pirates did win the pennant.
4:19
SPEAKER_00: But I mean it was kind of that was kind of a close call there, I thought.
4:22
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I mean, to your point about competition, right?
4:25
SPEAKER_01: That was one of your criteria.
4:26
SPEAKER_01: And the 2016 I don't know what the 1927 National League how comp competitive that was, but 2016 Pitt beating the two of the top um teams in the Power Five conferences um was pretty impressive, and and beating Clemson on the road was pretty amazing too.
4:42
SPEAKER_01: So that was a pretty good team.
4:43
SPEAKER_00: Which is funny because I predicted that before this season.
4:46
SPEAKER_00: I should have bet money on that.
4:47
SPEAKER_00: I would have won lots of money.
4:48
SPEAKER_00: I definitely did not.
4:50
SPEAKER_00: Because I said that and it was funny.
4:52
SPEAKER_00: As soon as I came in the next day, the people were like, You predicted.
4:55
SPEAKER_00: I was like, Yeah, I've been a pit fan for way too long.
4:59
SPEAKER_00: Um staying on this side, uh, number six seed 2013 Pirates win wild card, the infamous Quato Chant game.
5:07
SPEAKER_00: Um, to the number 12 seed 1984 Steelers, who lost in the AFC Championship game, to Dan Marino, that was the infamous Harvey the Toast Clayton game.
5:17
SPEAKER_00: They couldn't cover Clayton and Duper.
5:19
SPEAKER_00: Um out of that, I had the since the Pirates won their wild card, they did lose to the Cardinals the next yard next thing, but I think the Pirates had a little more successful season.
5:32
SPEAKER_00: So I went with the 2013 the little Pirates over the 84 Steelers.
5:39
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
5:39
SPEAKER_01: Good good call on that one, Steve.
5:40
SPEAKER_01: We we did an episode about that 2013 team and about that Quato game, and that that was kind of a really good memory.
5:48
SPEAKER_01: And I don't know that a lot of people remember the 84 Steelers.
5:51
SPEAKER_01: That was a that was a nine and seven team that you know got kind of got hot in the playoffs and upset Denver and made it to the championship game.
5:59
SPEAKER_01: But Martin Malone was our quarterback.
6:01
SPEAKER_01: I don't think anyone would ever mistake them for an all-time great team.
6:04
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and they lost to like in that that 84 Dolphins teams lost to the 49ers pretty handily.
6:10
SPEAKER_00: So it wasn't like the Dolphins.
6:12
SPEAKER_00: They were the best team in the AFC, but they definitely weren't even probably the second best team in football that year.
6:18
SPEAKER_00: So um the number seven seed versus the ten seed, the seven seed was the 2008-2009 Pitt Basketball.
6:26
SPEAKER_00: They had 31 wins, they were a number one seed.
6:30
SPEAKER_00: Um they lost to Villanova in the Elite Eight on the Scotty Reynolds play.
6:37
SPEAKER_00: Um that's a painful memory.
6:39
SPEAKER_00: Uh another the number 10 seed uh 2001 Steelers, they went on to uh go 13-3 with Cordell Stewart for some reason having a resurgent year.
6:51
SPEAKER_00: They ended up losing to the Patriots with uh with Cordell at the quarterback.
6:56
SPEAKER_00: And for this one, I did have the lower seed to 10.
6:59
SPEAKER_00: I thought the Steelers at 13-3 was a little better season.
7:03
SPEAKER_00: I mean, I I think that Pitt basketball team underachieved that year.
7:07
SPEAKER_00: They really should have beat Villanova.
7:09
SPEAKER_00: I mean, Villanova was okay.
7:12
SPEAKER_00: I mean, no, they were a good team, but I don't know.
7:14
SPEAKER_00: Pitt I don't know, it's just so disappointing.
7:17
SPEAKER_00: I not that the Steelers losing to the Patriots wasn't disappointed, but maybe looking back they did, you know, 13-3 was a really successful season.
7:26
SPEAKER_00: So I had the 2001 Steelers moving on from that matchup.
7:29
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, interesting matchup here because both of those teams lost games that I don't think everybody people expected them to win.
7:37
SPEAKER_01: So at the time they were both upsets, but I think looking back, the the Patriots weren't a Cinderella team like we all thought they were at the time.
7:44
SPEAKER_01: They actually were dynasty.
7:46
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, maybe just the edge on strength of competition.
7:48
SPEAKER_00: The Patriots are a little even though they were considered a plucky upstart, you know, underdog, maybe they're a little better than the Villanova team that Pitt ended up losing to.
7:57
SPEAKER_00: Um number five seed versus number eleven seed, the 1993 Penguins.
8:04
SPEAKER_00: Um they won the President Cup, but they lost to the Islanders in the second round.
8:10
SPEAKER_00: Um this is that's an interesting team, and uh we'll I we'll talk about them probably a lot more as we go on.
8:16
SPEAKER_00: Um the number 11 seed was the 91 Pirates, who um they lost to the Braves in seven games in the NLCS.
8:25
SPEAKER_00: This was not the Sid, this was the year before Sid Slid, so this was not that year.
8:29
SPEAKER_00: They still had I guess they still had Bonilla that year, yeah.
8:32
SPEAKER_00: They did.
8:33
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so I had the uh Penguins, the 93 Penguins team moving on from that.
8:38
SPEAKER_00: Even though they lost to the Islanders in the second round.
8:41
SPEAKER_00: Like I'd I like to save some stuff as we go further on.
8:45
SPEAKER_00: I will talk about them more, but but they were definitely that team was loaded.
8:50
SPEAKER_01: It it was.
8:51
SPEAKER_01: And that 91 Pirates team, that was one of my favorite teams.
8:54
SPEAKER_01: Um that was such a good year.
8:56
SPEAKER_01: They had won the division the year before, and then they just got even better.
9:00
SPEAKER_01: Don Smiley won 20 games that year inexplicably, and you really thought that was gonna be their year.
9:06
SPEAKER_01: They were they were up three games to two in the NLCS coming back home for the last two home games, and they got shut out at home in game six and seven.
9:13
SPEAKER_00: I think the uh who they did the Braves, was that the year the Braves won?
9:17
SPEAKER_00: No.
9:17
SPEAKER_00: No, they did not win the World Cup.
9:19
SPEAKER_01: They lost to Minnesota in the bottom of the tenth inning in game seven.
9:22
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
9:23
SPEAKER_01: So that was a pretty good Braves too.
9:24
SPEAKER_01: It was, and they had Glavin, and that was the year Glavin won the Cy Young, and they had Smoltz, and they had that great rotation.
9:29
SPEAKER_00: But like I said, that 93 Penguins team was loaded.
9:33
SPEAKER_00: It was.
9:33
SPEAKER_00: It was loaded.
9:34
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it was.
9:35
SPEAKER_00: Which another team that kind of underperformed a little bit.
9:39
SPEAKER_00: Um, number four versus 13, uh, Super Bowl 43, 2008 Steelers.
9:46
SPEAKER_00: They went on the San Antonio Holmes catch.
9:49
SPEAKER_00: Um, there's a 1970 Pirates team.
9:51
SPEAKER_00: They lost to the Reds in the NLS.
9:53
SPEAKER_00: The Pirates did that a lot in the 70s.
9:55
SPEAKER_00: Uh the big red machine was too much, so I had the Steelers since they won the Super Bowl, moving on to win Super Bowl 43.
10:05
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that was one of the first.
10:07
SPEAKER_01: I don't know if that was the first year or second year when they instituted division play and they started doing an NLCS instead of just winning the overall pennant.
10:14
SPEAKER_01: Yes.
10:14
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, because I think it was 68.
10:16
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, they started.
10:17
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and it was a five-game series, and I I believe Cincinnati swept that series.
10:20
SPEAKER_01: I think it was a three games to nothing sweep.
10:22
SPEAKER_01: So the Pirates had a very good year that year, but Cincinnati was clearly better as opposed to the OH Steelers, which obviously proved to be the best team in the league by winning the championship.
10:33
SPEAKER_00: Um, the 2017, the third seed versus the 14th seed.
10:37
SPEAKER_00: Um, the 2017 Penguins, they win the Stanley Cup back to back over Nashville.
10:42
SPEAKER_00: Another Riverhounds team, they uh made the playoffs for the first time in three years.
10:48
SPEAKER_00: They lost in a shootout in seven rounds.
10:50
SPEAKER_00: I actually was at this game.
10:52
SPEAKER_00: It was they played a team, the minor league team for the Philadelphia Union.
10:58
SPEAKER_00: It's like the Bethlehem something or other, Bethlehem Steel or something like that.
11:02
SPEAKER_00: Because they couldn't be the Steelers, so they had to be the Steelers.
11:04
SPEAKER_00: But they won on heartbreaking fashion, too.
11:07
SPEAKER_00: Like the the Riverhounds get gave up like a I remember a late free kick that went off the post and in, and then they played overtime straight up, and then seven rounds of shootout.
11:17
SPEAKER_00: You were literally down to like the fenseman get kick it, you know, and just finally one of the fencemen for the Riverhounds missed, and that was kind of the game.
11:26
SPEAKER_00: But um I definitely had the uh who was it, the Penguins, the Penguins back to back.
11:32
SPEAKER_00: That was their second back-to-back cup win.
11:34
SPEAKER_00: I had them uh going over that over that uh River Hounds team.
11:40
SPEAKER_00: Um the next team in the bottom of the bracket, and the last for this little, I guess what would they call that, pod or whatever, what do they call that in the region, I guess, yeah, would be the number two seed 1979 Steelers who won the Super Bowl 14 over the Rams.
11:57
SPEAKER_00: That was the last of the Dynasty 70s teams, versus the 1952 Duquesne basketball team who made a sweet 16 appearance in the NCAA tournament.
12:08
SPEAKER_00: And um I just think that Steelers team was still pretty good, and that's a Dynasty.
12:13
SPEAKER_00: That's pretty amazing.
12:14
SPEAKER_00: Duquesne makes makes an NCAA tournament.
12:18
SPEAKER_00: But um this that it's just a bad matchup for Duquesne, like that team was just better.
12:22
SPEAKER_00: Like it's just it's hard to argue with that one.
12:25
SPEAKER_02: Yep.
12:26
SPEAKER_00: So going to the bottom part of the region, going back to a number one seed in whatever we're calling this part of the region, sure, the South.
12:34
SPEAKER_00: I don't know, whatever.
12:36
SPEAKER_00: Uh the 1971 Pirates beat Baltimore in seven games with Clementian Blast.
12:41
SPEAKER_00: That's like an iconic team.
12:43
SPEAKER_00: Um, that game seven, if you ever watched it, it's amazing.
12:46
SPEAKER_00: They uh it's basically all Clemenny and Blast.
12:49
SPEAKER_00: Um the Riverhounds, again, another Riverhounds team.
12:52
SPEAKER_00: Um, another game I was at, um, they have Lamar Hunt Cup in MLS, which is like basically an open, like the US Open.
13:00
SPEAKER_00: Like you can have any soccer team from like Joe's soccer team down the street to like DC United.
13:07
SPEAKER_00: And DC United came to Pittsburgh and um the Riverhounds played them all the way into overtime and ended up giving up two goals in in overtime.
13:16
SPEAKER_00: And for like a triple A, it'd be like the Washington Wild things taking like the Yankees to extra innings, you know, and losing.
13:25
SPEAKER_00: That's basically what happened.
13:27
SPEAKER_00: Um, but the obviously the Pirates winning the World Series, and that's an iconic Pirates team, and a very good Pirates team definitely moved on from there.
13:36
SPEAKER_01: Makes sense.
13:37
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
13:37
SPEAKER_00: Uh the number eight seed was 1981 Pitt Football.
13:42
SPEAKER_00: They are 11-1 record with a number two final ranking.
13:45
SPEAKER_00: I think the only game they lost was to a blowout at Penn State at the end of the year, which Penn State fans are still hanging on to.
13:52
SPEAKER_00: Good luck with that.
13:53
SPEAKER_00: Um number nine was the 1990 Pirates.
13:57
SPEAKER_00: They won the pennant, but they lost to eventual the World Series champion Reds with like Dibble and I forgot.
14:03
SPEAKER_00: They had a couple other pretty good pitchers on that team.
14:06
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, Randy Myers, John Franco, yeah.
14:08
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, they were loaded.
14:09
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so um moving on from that, I had the uh Pitt football.
14:14
SPEAKER_00: Since they're 11 and 1, a little better, a little more success.
14:18
SPEAKER_00: I think they won, did win their bowl game.
14:20
SPEAKER_00: I don't know if they, yeah.
14:22
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that was that was a loaded pit team.
14:24
SPEAKER_01: And that's a that's another.
14:25
SPEAKER_00: It's like Hugh Green and stuff, yeah.
14:27
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that was that was like again, if you would have had anything that resembled a playoff back then, Pitt probably wins the national championship.
14:36
SPEAKER_01: But losing the game to Penn State just killed.
14:38
SPEAKER_00: And it was like the last game of the year.
14:41
SPEAKER_01: And they were up 14-0 in that game, too.
14:42
SPEAKER_00: And eventually the final-seven though.
14:45
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it just somehow it got away from them.
14:48
SPEAKER_01: So it's unfortunate.
14:49
SPEAKER_01: It was a rivalry game and they they didn't come up big, but that's one of the things I hate about college football, especially back then.
14:55
SPEAKER_01: You you know, if that game would have been September 2nd, it might not have mattered, but because it was near the end of the year, it mattered, and so it's just the way college football is.
15:05
SPEAKER_01: You know, why you can't have a playoff system to determine the best team, I'll never understand.
15:09
SPEAKER_01: But that's a topic for another day.
15:11
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
15:11
SPEAKER_00: I well, we could probably do a whole hour on that.
15:13
SPEAKER_00: I have my own ideas.
15:14
SPEAKER_00: Easily, yes.
15:15
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
15:16
SPEAKER_00: And it probably really isn't that hard to solve, quite honestly.
15:20
SPEAKER_00: You could, yeah.
15:21
SPEAKER_00: All right.
15:22
SPEAKER_00: Not to get into that too much, because I could go on for a long time about that.
15:25
SPEAKER_00: Um, the number six seed, um, 1902 Pirates, this is before the World Series, so I wasn't sure what to do with this team.
15:34
SPEAKER_00: Like, they won the pennant, but that but there was the I think the American League was around then, but they didn't play them till 1903, right?
15:44
SPEAKER_00: Correct.
15:45
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so so I don't know what to do with this Pirates team.
15:49
SPEAKER_00: They they won a championship, maybe.
15:52
SPEAKER_00: I mean, they're kind of like some of the Pitt football national champion teams.
15:56
SPEAKER_00: You're not quite sure.
15:57
SPEAKER_00: Like it's just I'm not quite sure where to put them.
16:00
SPEAKER_01: They they won everything that there was to win.
16:02
SPEAKER_01: You can say that about them.
16:05
SPEAKER_01: There was nothing else they could have won.
16:07
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
16:08
SPEAKER_00: I mean, I don't know how good the Boston Americans or whoever was really good in the American League was.
16:13
SPEAKER_01: Well, you might you might temper it by saying that they did the same thing the next year.
16:16
SPEAKER_01: And obviously teams change year to year, but in 1903 they did the same thing.
16:20
SPEAKER_01: They won the pennant, but then they lost the first World Series to Boston.
16:24
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
16:24
SPEAKER_01: So maybe they weren't the best team in America if you go by what happened the next year, but again, you'll never know because there wasn't a chance to find out.
16:32
SPEAKER_00: Uh in the in the twelfth seed was the 2012-13 Penguins.
16:36
SPEAKER_00: They made the conference finals, but they got totally swept by Boston.
16:40
SPEAKER_00: They signed again late in the season as a rental player.
16:44
SPEAKER_00: I mean, they got kind of like totally like swept out of the that were really there was really another kind of an underachieving team, probably.
16:54
SPEAKER_00: Um, I I just had the Penguins going moving on from this because I don't know, I think a conference final, like I don't like I said, I didn't know what to do with that Pirates team, but I just figured that Penguins team was good, but they kind of underachieved, and I guess a conference final is better than a National League pennant.
17:13
SPEAKER_00: I I don't know.
17:14
SPEAKER_01: That's fair.
17:15
SPEAKER_01: I mean it's it's really hard to compare errors.
17:17
SPEAKER_01: Like I I'll hear people say, well, the Packers have more championships than the Steelers.
17:22
SPEAKER_01: It's like, okay, but when they won the 1929 NFL championship and there was like eight teams and four of them folded in the middle of the season, you know, because they didn't have enough money.
17:31
SPEAKER_01: Like they're like it's just hard to compare errors.
17:33
SPEAKER_00: It's the same thing with like when people argue about the Canadians having what, 26 cups?
17:38
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, there's six teams.
17:40
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
17:40
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's not the same.
17:41
SPEAKER_01: So it is hard to compare errors.
17:43
SPEAKER_01: So I that's I I think that's a fair upset there.
17:47
SPEAKER_00: Um okay, here we go.
17:48
SPEAKER_00: Here's a here here's an upset for you.
17:51
SPEAKER_00: Upset alert.
17:52
SPEAKER_00: Here you go.
17:53
SPEAKER_00: Uh the number seven seed was 1929 Pitt Football.
17:57
SPEAKER_00: Now they were the national champs despite Pitt went to the Rose Bowl every year for four years and lost every year.
18:04
SPEAKER_00: And they lost a Rose Bowl to USC, but because college football is college football, they still were national champions.
18:11
SPEAKER_00: So I kind of held that Rose Bowl loss against them because it's kind of ridiculous that you still won a national championship but lost a Rose Bowl.
18:19
SPEAKER_00: And the the number 10 seed in the 1955 Duquesne basketball, they won the NIT tournament.
18:27
SPEAKER_00: And I and not to like I rank this team very highly because number one, Duquesne isn't exactly an athletic powerhouse, but in the 50s they were in basketball.
18:38
SPEAKER_00: And you have to understand in 1955 there were only what 32 teams in the NCAA tournament, right?
18:47
SPEAKER_00: So winning the NIT was quite an accomplishment because the NIT was a very strong, it wasn't like nowadays where it's a complete joke.
18:56
SPEAKER_02: Right.
18:57
SPEAKER_00: But you really did have probably like there were teams that probably got snubbed because you maybe played like in a tough conference or you know, whatever.
19:06
SPEAKER_00: So they definitely were beating probably ACC teams that were, and it isn't like Duquesne's like UCLA or Duke or North Carolina or you know, Kentucky, one of the blue buds.
19:16
SPEAKER_00: I mean, I I I don't know.
19:18
SPEAKER_00: I think that that winning that NIT tournament's probably a pretty big moment in Duquesne sports.
19:24
SPEAKER_00: What say you, Duquesne alum?
19:26
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I'm I'm all for it.
19:28
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, no, I uh Duquesne has very little to celebrate in in the history of their basketball program.
19:33
SPEAKER_01: So uh I will I will take winning the NIT and and moving on.
19:38
SPEAKER_00: But it was wor like I said, it was much tougher back then.
19:41
SPEAKER_01: It was.
19:41
SPEAKER_01: And the and the NCAA wasn't what the NCAA is today.
19:44
SPEAKER_01: So when they talked about it wasn't it wasn't this clear-cut first tier, second tier like it is today, like you said.
19:51
SPEAKER_01: So it it meant something back then.
19:53
SPEAKER_01: It wouldn't mean nothing today.
19:54
SPEAKER_00: Aaron Powell So in an upset that even though Pitt was the national championship, I just put more weight in that NIT when I think they tougher and they actually won something that was proven and it was probably very difficult to do.
20:06
SPEAKER_01: Aaron Powell And that's lame that they lost the Rose Bowl.
20:09
SPEAKER_01: I mean I I love Pitt, but it's like, come on.
20:11
SPEAKER_01: How are you gonna ask you?
20:12
SPEAKER_00: Well they did that a lot.
20:13
SPEAKER_00: They did uh they did a lot of losing in the Reboul.
20:17
SPEAKER_01: Again, we're gonna go back to this whole college football playoff idea, so we better move on.
20:20
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
20:21
SPEAKER_00: Um, number five is the 1925 Pirates win World Series over the Washington Center, Senators, and I think who's the guy, Big Train or I was like uh Walter Johnson, I think, was the pitcher for the Senators.
20:33
SPEAKER_00: Yes.
20:33
SPEAKER_00: I mean, this is like the forgotten world series.
20:36
SPEAKER_00: I remember like one time I got stuck, and my son had a library like report.
20:41
SPEAKER_00: He had to go to the library, so I was stuck like on that one floor in the Carnegie Library where they have all the old newspapers on microfish.
20:48
SPEAKER_00: And I was so bored.
20:49
SPEAKER_00: I was like in between like looking up, well, when's Armistice Day?
20:52
SPEAKER_00: Let's see what the Postgazette had to say about the armistice.
20:55
SPEAKER_00: It's like, oh, let's look up the 1920s.
20:57
SPEAKER_00: I like literally read all the papers, like the sports pages from like the 1925 World Series, and it literally just made like a little, it wasn't like today where it's like big, it was just a little sidebar.
21:07
SPEAKER_00: It's like our pirates won the World Series, they're the Viesnees, you know.
21:11
SPEAKER_00: But they did win, and it's like the forgotten World Series for whatever reason.
21:16
SPEAKER_00: So and they took on the um that and the 11 seed that was the 1994 Steelers who lost the AFC championship to the Chargers, was again another team that kind of underachieved.
21:28
SPEAKER_00: I had the since the Pirates won the World Series and those Steelers didn't win anything, not even the AFC.
21:35
SPEAKER_00: I had the 1925 Pirates and they're forgotten.
21:38
SPEAKER_00: Not in this, they're not forgotten to us.
21:41
SPEAKER_00: They're moving on to the next round.
21:44
SPEAKER_01: So so going back to your criteria again about the competition, the Senators were the defending world champions that year.
21:51
SPEAKER_01: They had won the World Series in 1924.
21:54
SPEAKER_01: And so they they you know they were beating the best teams, whereas the Steelers had beaten Cleveland.
22:00
SPEAKER_01: That year in the playoffs.
22:01
SPEAKER_01: It was a really good team that year, but they couldn't beat San Diego.
22:04
SPEAKER_01: They never got a shot at San Francisco or Dallas.
22:06
SPEAKER_01: You know, they there was no way you could say that they were they hadn't proven that they were one of the top three or four teams.
22:11
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
22:13
SPEAKER_01: That's a good point.
22:13
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, because Dallas and San Francisco are kind of the two best teams that year in 94.
22:17
SPEAKER_00: Right.
22:18
SPEAKER_00: So the next up on the um list and is another upset alert.
22:24
SPEAKER_00: And this is probably like a lot of people are going to like yell at their screen about this one, but this should this be fun.
22:29
SPEAKER_00: Number four is the 2010 Steelers.
22:32
SPEAKER_00: They lost Super Bowl 45 to Green Bay to the number 13 seed, the 1975 Pittsburgh Triangles.
22:40
SPEAKER_00: If you don't remember the Pittsburgh Triangles, neither did I before I did this.
22:45
SPEAKER_00: I think I vaguely remembered being mentioned, but they won a world team champions championship, and they actually won the championship.
22:52
SPEAKER_00: Whereas that Steelers team, I thought, really wasn't that good, and they didn't really I mean they beat Baltimore, right, in the championship, but they had to come back.
23:00
SPEAKER_00: That was the was that the Antonio Broadway.
23:02
SPEAKER_00: That was in the catch.
23:03
SPEAKER_01: That was in the divisional round.
23:05
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, they had the like the helmet catch games.
23:08
SPEAKER_00: Correct.
23:08
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and then they they were really getting blown out for most of the Super Bowl, too.
23:12
SPEAKER_00: Right.
23:13
SPEAKER_00: To like a good Green Bay team.
23:15
SPEAKER_00: So I didn't like give them much credit as maybe as I should have in the so in upset alert fashion, the Pittsburgh Triangles are moving on.
23:22
SPEAKER_00: And beating the Steelers.
23:24
SPEAKER_00: The World Team Tennis Championship is worth more than a Super Bowl trip.
23:29
SPEAKER_00: Put that in your pipe and smoke it, I guess.
23:33
SPEAKER_01: I I you know what?
23:34
SPEAKER_01: It would be it would be uh fun to do an episode on that twenty ten team because I agree with you.
23:39
SPEAKER_01: I think out of all their teams back then, especially out of the teams who went to the Super Bowl, that was by far the least, you know, that was that was just an underwhelming team.
23:48
SPEAKER_01: They lost uh four games that year, but every time they played a good quarterback, Brady blew them out, Drew Brees and the Saints blew them out.
23:55
SPEAKER_01: And they got lucky because in the playoffs they played Flacco, and then they played Mark Sanchez and the Jets in the championship game.
24:02
SPEAKER_01: And then in the Super Bowl, they almost got the Bears.
24:04
SPEAKER_01: The Bears had had lost the NFC championship to Green Bay, and they would have played Jay Cutler in the Super Bowl, and they could have stolen the total world championship, but their defense was not up to the task.
24:14
SPEAKER_01: And then Green Bay had a quarterback and that they couldn't handle that.
24:17
SPEAKER_01: The offense didn't play.
24:18
SPEAKER_00: Jake Cutler would have emoted them the he would have given them a frowny face.
24:24
SPEAKER_01: It was not a good team.
24:25
SPEAKER_01: I honor I always thought the 2011 team, the team that lost to Tim Tebow, I always thought that team was actually better than the 2010 team.
24:34
SPEAKER_01: So I'm with you on the upset here.
24:37
SPEAKER_00: All right, Pittsburgh Triangles moving on.
24:39
SPEAKER_00: I couldn't name you a player on the Pittsburgh Triangles, but uh sure.
24:44
SPEAKER_00: Uh the number three seed, the 1909 Pirates.
24:49
SPEAKER_00: This is their first World Series win.
24:51
SPEAKER_00: And they had um the 14 seed to 2003 Pit Basketball.
24:55
SPEAKER_00: They won the Big East regular season in the uh tournament they made this Sweet 16.
25:00
SPEAKER_00: Pit basketball's done that a lot.
25:03
SPEAKER_00: Uh I have the Pirates winning their first World Series, definitely moving on over like another like making the Sweet 16 is kind of like you know, a decent pit basketball team, but not one of the greats.
25:15
SPEAKER_00: So definitely moving on there.
25:17
SPEAKER_00: And then and coming down to the bottom of the bracket, the number two seed, uh, everybody remembers this game.
25:22
SPEAKER_00: The 1960 Pirates, Maz home run over the Yankees, a pretty good Yankees team.
25:27
SPEAKER_00: The Pirates, you know, really got kind of fortunate they played a home game for Game 7.
25:33
SPEAKER_00: But they um I had them going against the 1988-89 Penguins.
25:38
SPEAKER_00: They defeated the uh Rangers in the first round.
25:41
SPEAKER_00: I remember them losing to the Flyers.
25:43
SPEAKER_00: I remember that series.
25:44
SPEAKER_00: Because the Flyers were like, they scored an empty net goal and they like mocked Robbie Brown's celebration.
25:48
SPEAKER_00: I think that's the also the series where uh Hextahl went after Robbie Brown.
25:52
SPEAKER_00: It was.
25:53
SPEAKER_00: Robbie Brown really got under the Flyer skin.
25:55
SPEAKER_00: But the Flyers got the last laugh.
25:57
SPEAKER_00: That was their Mario's first playoff appearance since and it was the first team's first playoff appearance since 81-82.
26:04
SPEAKER_00: Uh since the Pirates won a World Series, I had the Pirates were moving on to the next round, 1968.
26:09
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I I loved that 89 Penguins team.
26:11
SPEAKER_01: That was when I when I first started getting really into hockey, was that era, and that was the first really good team we had.
26:16
SPEAKER_01: So I I was so into that team that year in that series, it was so heartbreaking because they were up three games to two and they they lost game six and seven, but uh obviously the 60 Pirates have to have to move on in that matchup.
26:29
SPEAKER_01: That's a pretty easy one.
26:31
SPEAKER_00: Uh okay, moving the other side of the bracket, we'll go back up to the top.
26:37
SPEAKER_00: Come on, if I can move it.
26:39
SPEAKER_00: All right.
26:40
SPEAKER_00: Uh going to the top of the bracket.
26:42
SPEAKER_00: Um nine number one seed um is the 1979 World Series, the family.
26:48
SPEAKER_00: They beat Baltimore on a Willie Stardil clutch home run in the seventh inning, I do believe.
26:53
SPEAKER_00: Um played against uh the 16th seed, which is a Robert Morris in 2010.
26:58
SPEAKER_00: They went to the they made the tournament, which is big time for Robert Morris.
27:02
SPEAKER_00: They won the conference, but they lost to Villanova on a like a bunch of like okay, crap calls.
27:09
SPEAKER_00: I mean, literally, Scotty Reynolds had 18 points, 16 of which I think was from the foul line.
27:16
SPEAKER_00: There was one time, like literally he was dribbling the ball, and the player from like Robert Morris just cleanly stole the ball, and the refs were like, tweed! It's like, no, you cannot steal the ball from Scotty Reynolds.
27:27
SPEAKER_00: He does not turn the ball over in this game.
27:29
SPEAKER_00: It was it was bad.
27:31
SPEAKER_00: It was bad.
27:31
SPEAKER_00: And the that coach ended up being kind of a jerk, but I guess maybe that's why he didn't get any calls.
27:37
SPEAKER_00: And a pretty easy one, another easy one since it is a 116.
27:41
SPEAKER_00: Uh, the 79 family moves on.
27:44
SPEAKER_00: Uh, in our 8-9 seed, uh 1931 Pitt football.
27:49
SPEAKER_00: Um, the national champs, uh, they they they went eight and one.
27:53
SPEAKER_00: Their only loss was the Notre Dame um versus another 70s Pirates team, 1975 Pirates.
28:00
SPEAKER_00: They won 92 games, but they lost to the Reds again in the N NLCS.
28:05
SPEAKER_00: Um once again, Pitt won the national championship even though they did lose to Notre Dame.
28:09
SPEAKER_00: I had Pitt moving on since they won the national championship, and the Pirates once again just couldn't they they probably like you know, really they couldn't get past the Reds in the 70s.
28:20
SPEAKER_00: That really is the kind of the story of the Pirates in the 70s there.
28:24
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, they were sort of the second best team in the National League for most of that decade.
28:28
SPEAKER_01: That was that's kind of the theme.
28:29
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
28:30
SPEAKER_00: Um in the number six seed versus the twelve seed was the 1901 Pirates uh winning the world uh winning the National League another pre-World Series title.
28:44
SPEAKER_00: Uh versus the Pitt Football 10-3 record late loss to Cincinnati that spoiled the season.
28:51
SPEAKER_00: I was at that game, not the 1901 game, obviously.
28:55
SPEAKER_00: Uh I had uh Pitt Football moving on.
28:57
SPEAKER_00: I thought they had a little they did win their bowl game.
29:00
SPEAKER_00: They got really kind of shafted.
29:01
SPEAKER_00: They ended up playing in the Minickey carcare bowl.
29:04
SPEAKER_00: So Deion Lewis had a really great game in that.
29:08
SPEAKER_00: And um once again, I don't know what to do with these Pirates teams that won National League pennants that didn't.
29:14
SPEAKER_01: Not a lot of love for the for the early 20th century.
29:17
SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
29:17
SPEAKER_00: I mean, I don't know what the uh poor Honus Wagner has like kind of come back from this grave and like beat me up or something.
29:23
SPEAKER_00: Although he wouldn't because he's such a nice guy.
29:26
SPEAKER_01: But yeah, the 2009 Pitt team, that was that was probably their best team in the like post-Dian Marino era.
29:34
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
29:35
SPEAKER_01: It probably was.
29:36
SPEAKER_00: Well, they they ran Deion Lewis like 40, 50 times.
29:39
SPEAKER_00: Like I never thought much of Dion.
29:40
SPEAKER_00: I don't know why I never thought Deion Lewis was that good, but I guess he he's better than I.
29:45
SPEAKER_00: I always kind of underestimated him.
29:47
SPEAKER_00: I always thought this they had a really big offensive line and he was decent enough running back to kind of hide behind him.
29:52
SPEAKER_00: Like because he was so short, he would like kind of hide and just kind of pop out and get like six yards easy.
29:57
SPEAKER_01: A lot of people would remember that team.
29:59
SPEAKER_01: If they would have they had a 31-10 lead on Cincinnati, I was at that game too.
30:03
SPEAKER_01: And had they hung on to win that game instead of blowing a 21-point lead.
30:07
SPEAKER_00: They would have to play Tim Tebow.
30:08
SPEAKER_01: They would have played in the sugar bowl, and they might not have won that game.
30:11
SPEAKER_01: They probably wouldn't have won that game.
30:13
SPEAKER_01: But a lot of people would have remembered them a lot more had they played in the sugar bowl against Tim Tebow than you know had they not had they played in the car care bowl.
30:22
SPEAKER_01: So it was a it was a pretty good team.
30:23
SPEAKER_00: I think the unloosed to get a free set of snow tires for that.
30:28
SPEAKER_00: Help them when he was with New England.
30:30
SPEAKER_00: Uh uh the number seven seed was 1934 Pitt Football.
30:35
SPEAKER_00: They are co-national championships, national champs with Minnesota with an eight and one record versus the 95 Steelers who lost Super Bowl 30 to the Cowboys.
30:46
SPEAKER_00: I I just thought the 95 Steelers just like I don't like a co-national champions losing one game.
30:54
SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
30:55
SPEAKER_00: I mean, these are kind of kind of an even matchup, but I I don't remember the 1934 Pit Football team, and I remember the 95 team, so I I put to put them through.
31:05
SPEAKER_01: So Yeah, that was a memorable team.
31:07
SPEAKER_01: We did an episode about them.
31:09
SPEAKER_01: Uh and you and I were just sharing YouTube clips the other day of some of those games.
31:13
SPEAKER_01: It was a memorable team.
31:15
SPEAKER_00: And no offense to the 1934 Pitt, but you know, I think it's just like once the just the weird college football thing, like how do you go like co-nash or I don't know.
31:25
SPEAKER_01: Well, and again, different era that's in the middle of the depression.
31:27
SPEAKER_01: I wonder how many people were even going into college, much less, much less playing college football.
31:31
SPEAKER_01: So you have to account for some of that too.
31:34
SPEAKER_00: Um the uh we got the number five seed, the 1972 Steelers.
31:39
SPEAKER_00: They won on an immaculate reception, but they lost to the Dolphins on a fake punt in the championship game, versus the number 11 seed 1996 Penguins, who lost to Florida in the conference finals.
31:51
SPEAKER_00: That was when the trap was coming in.
31:53
SPEAKER_00: And they have John Van Beesbrooke as their quarter or their goalie.
31:58
SPEAKER_00: I had uh the Steelers moving on in that one.
32:01
SPEAKER_00: I mean, they both did lose kind of in their championship game.
32:04
SPEAKER_00: I just it's a little bit more of an iconic team, and I mean, I don't know.
32:10
SPEAKER_00: Maybe Oakland was pretty good, and the Dolphins that was their undefeated season, so probably the competition was a little stiffer.
32:17
SPEAKER_01: So yeah, that's a good point.
32:18
SPEAKER_01: I mean, that you had the Immaculate Reception versus the four overtime goal in the 96 playoffs, so you gotta give it to the Steelers ever.
32:27
SPEAKER_00: Uh in 92, we have the Penguins winning their second cup over the Blackhawks.
32:32
SPEAKER_00: Another Penguins team that's how many Hall of Famers on this one?
32:36
SPEAKER_00: Uh four, five at least.
32:40
SPEAKER_00: Uh versus the 13 seed 2004 Steelers who go 15 and 1, but they lost the AFC championship game to the Patriots.
32:49
SPEAKER_00: I think this is one of the best Steeler teams of all time, but they really drew a short straw there taking on those 92 Penguins, and I think that 92 Penguins team was just better.
32:58
SPEAKER_00: And they won a championship, and they're just, like I said, I mean they're just a much better team than the Yeah.
33:04
SPEAKER_01: I agree with your result there.
33:05
SPEAKER_01: I'm just surprised you had the 04 Steelers at the 14th seed because I know that's why.
33:09
SPEAKER_01: Maybe it was a bad it was a bad seed for them, but yeah, well, sometimes that happens in tournament selection.
33:15
SPEAKER_01: Blame the committee.
33:16
SPEAKER_01: Darn committee.
33:17
SPEAKER_01: Darn committee made up of.
33:22
SPEAKER_00: The number three seed is the uh 2016 Penguins.
33:26
SPEAKER_00: They won the Stanley Cup.
33:27
SPEAKER_00: There was their uh first of their back-to-backs in the six the 16s.
33:32
SPEAKER_00: I don't know, in the ten the teens.
33:35
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
33:35
SPEAKER_00: Back in the teens.
33:37
SPEAKER_00: Uh that was with the HBK line.
33:39
SPEAKER_00: Uh versus the 2008 Pittsburgh Passion Women's Football.
33:43
SPEAKER_00: They went 8-0 and won a championship.
33:45
SPEAKER_00: But uh again, um not to disparage women's football, but I'm gonna say the 2016 Penguins Stanley Cup was probably a little tougher competition and just more popular sport and moving on.
33:57
SPEAKER_00: But hey, they made the cut made the tournament.
33:59
SPEAKER_00: And sometimes, you know, when you're a 14 seed, you celebrate that, right?
34:03
SPEAKER_01: Very good.
34:03
SPEAKER_00: They they cut down the they tore down the field goal post at Couple Stadium after they made the tournament, I'm sure.
34:09
SPEAKER_00: Nice.
34:11
SPEAKER_00: Uh the the number two seed on the bottom of this bracket is uh the 1974 Steelers.
34:17
SPEAKER_00: This was their first Super Bowl.
34:18
SPEAKER_00: They won Super Bowl nine over the Vikings versus the 1990 1999 Penguins.
34:24
SPEAKER_00: They defeated the top seed Devils on a Yawger goal that saved the team.
34:29
SPEAKER_00: We did a whole podcast on that.
34:30
SPEAKER_00: They did lose the Maple Leafs the next.
34:33
SPEAKER_00: Um, I had the 74 Steelers moving on since they won a uh Super Bowl.
34:39
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that like we talked about in that episode, the 99 Penguins was kind of a mediocre team that overachieved and had Yawger playing his best season that he ever had.
34:48
SPEAKER_01: So it's a memorable team and they deserve credit, but definitely not better than the first Steelers team that won the Super Bowl.
34:56
SPEAKER_00: Um now we're in the bottom half of the bracket.
34:58
SPEAKER_00: The I don't know, what do you call it, the West Division?
35:01
SPEAKER_00: Sure.
35:02
SPEAKER_00: Um the number one seed in this was the 2005 Steelers that won Super Bowl 40.
35:07
SPEAKER_00: Um favorite team, probably my favorite Steelers team of all time, favorite Super Bowl win.
35:13
SPEAKER_00: It was the first Super Bowl that I remember them winning, even though they, I mean, I guess I was like could have cried uh again goo-goo gaga in 1979 when they won.
35:22
SPEAKER_00: I mean, I was three years old, yeah.
35:25
SPEAKER_00: But uh in the and they were going against the uh 16 seed 1984 Pittsburgh Spirit.
35:32
SPEAKER_00: If you don't remember the Pittsburgh Spirit, they were an indoor soccer team.
35:36
SPEAKER_00: Uh they made the playoffs and they lost to Cleveland in the playoffs.
35:40
SPEAKER_00: Obviously, the Steelers winning Super Bowl 40 moved on over the Pittsburgh Spirit.
35:45
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I love the Pittsburgh Spirit.
35:47
SPEAKER_01: 1984 I went to a lot of games that year actually.
35:50
SPEAKER_01: My family, I was do you remember anybody?
35:52
SPEAKER_00: I don't know anybody off the team.
35:53
SPEAKER_01: Oh, yeah.
35:54
SPEAKER_01: Uh Stan Turlucki was their best player.
35:57
SPEAKER_00: Was he like a regular soccer player that started playing indoor?
36:00
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, they all were.
36:01
SPEAKER_01: I mean, it was I I don't remember what the details were, but he was really good.
36:06
SPEAKER_01: I don't remember if he was on the team in 84.
36:08
SPEAKER_01: He might not have been it by that point, but they had some good players and it was fun to watch.
36:12
SPEAKER_01: And for years I thought that's what soccer was because I was a kid.
36:15
SPEAKER_01: I hadn't seen what real soccer was.
36:18
SPEAKER_01: And I just thought that's what soccer was 515 in a little arena with a bunch of goals.
36:23
SPEAKER_01: And I was shocked when I got a little order to find out that's not what soccer was, but it was fun to watch.
36:28
SPEAKER_01: Definitely the 2005 Stewart's were.
36:30
SPEAKER_00: Well, they made the tournament there wherever they are, they're they're celebrating.
36:34
SPEAKER_00: Uh, number eight seed was our 1937 Pitt Football National Championships.
36:38
SPEAKER_00: They went 9-0-1 with a tie to Fordham.
36:41
SPEAKER_00: That tie to Fordham is considered a big upset in Pitt football history for some reason, because I think Fordham was a number one or number two seed at the time.
36:50
SPEAKER_00: And the um versus the 90, the number nine seed, which is a 1968 Pittsburgh Pipers.
36:56
SPEAKER_00: They won an ABA championship with uh star Connie Hawkins.
37:00
SPEAKER_00: Um, this is another close one.
37:02
SPEAKER_00: I I just had the Pitt Football National Champions going on.
37:06
SPEAKER_00: I mean just a little maybe higher competition even for 1937.
37:11
SPEAKER_00: And it's the ABA.
37:12
SPEAKER_00: I don't know how good the ABA was in 1968.
37:14
SPEAKER_00: That was pre-was that pre-Dr.
37:16
SPEAKER_00: J, and that's pre-merger too.
37:18
SPEAKER_00: Yeah with the NBA.
37:19
SPEAKER_01: They didn't merge till the 70s.
37:21
SPEAKER_01: I mean, yeah, again, it's it's there's a lot of good memories of the ABA, and it was cool that Pittsburgh had a team and a team that won the championship, but then they moved the next season right after they won the championship.
37:31
SPEAKER_01: So it was still pretty unstable at that point.
37:34
SPEAKER_01: Um and the if they hadn't had Connie Hawkins, you know, I don't know how much we'd even remember that.
37:40
SPEAKER_01: So fair I I'm with you.
37:42
SPEAKER_01: Let's put the national championship and they were undefeated national championships.
37:45
SPEAKER_00: So uh number six, the 1903 Pirates.
37:49
SPEAKER_00: They played in the first World Series to the Boston Americans and their obnoxious fans, the Royal Rotterds.
37:56
SPEAKER_00: Uh the against the 12th seed, those 1982 Pitt Panthers who beat Georgia on a super sugar bowl on a fourth down play to was it John Brown, the tight end?
38:06
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
38:07
SPEAKER_00: Uh and kind of an upset, like I had uh Pitt moving on from this, beating a team that you know did make a championship game at least.
38:16
SPEAKER_00: And the in the World Series was nine games back then.
38:18
SPEAKER_00: Right.
38:19
SPEAKER_00: Fun fact.
38:20
SPEAKER_00: But they didn't play all.
38:21
SPEAKER_00: I think they they won like in the sixth or seventh game anyway.
38:25
SPEAKER_00: But uh yeah, I had the 82 Pitt team with Marino beating the 1903 Pirates.
38:30
SPEAKER_00: I think Wagner Honus Wagner was on that team too, probably.
38:33
SPEAKER_01: He was in Boston had Cy Young.
38:35
SPEAKER_01: Uh it was a tough matchup, and and it was it was it was pioneering.
38:41
SPEAKER_01: I mean, I think it was more important that they played a World Series and that the the the fact that they you know lost it because it started its annual trend that continued almost every year after that.
38:52
SPEAKER_01: So that was a big deal historically.
38:54
SPEAKER_01: Um I don't know how good of a team they were again.
38:56
SPEAKER_01: It's hard to rank 1903 competition.
39:00
SPEAKER_01: So the 1982 pit team, like you said, has that memorable trigger ball.
39:04
SPEAKER_00: And I guess you should bring up too there was like segregation back then, so you didn't need to maybe face the best competition.
39:11
SPEAKER_00: That's a very good point.
39:12
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
39:13
SPEAKER_00: Um in number seven seed was the 2001 Penguins, they lost the conference file to the Devils versus the number 10 1936 Pitt football.
39:23
SPEAKER_00: They finally won the Rose Bowl over Washington, 21 to nothing.
39:26
SPEAKER_00: Yay, it's our only Rose Bowl win.
39:28
SPEAKER_00: So I had since Pitt won the Rose Bowl, and I think the Rose Bowl's still like made my dad, my dad really got me indoctrinated on this.
39:35
SPEAKER_00: Like the Rose Bowl is his favorite bowl, you think, and I kind of like have started to agree with him.
39:39
SPEAKER_00: I think the Rose Bowl's the you know, his keys are daddy of them all, you know.
39:43
SPEAKER_00: So you win that, that's definitely the biggest bowl game you can win in my mind, you know, even though there's national championship now, kind of.
39:51
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
39:52
SPEAKER_00: So I have 1936 Pitt moving on over the 2001 Penguins.
39:58
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that 2001 Fens team.
39:59
SPEAKER_01: I I fully intend to do an episode about them at some point.
40:02
SPEAKER_01: That was the year Mario came back, and and it was a it was a great year.
40:06
SPEAKER_01: A lot of good stories that year, but hard to argue with the team that that won the Rose Bowl, even if it was in 1936.
40:14
SPEAKER_00: Uh the number five seed, uh the 2008 Penguins, this was the team, the first time they're really no the second year they're back in the playoffs, and they lost to the Red Wings in the final um versus the um 11 seeded 1989 Steelers.
40:31
SPEAKER_00: Um they after a bad start, that was this is the team.
40:34
SPEAKER_00: We I did we cut we covered them in one of our podcasts.
40:37
SPEAKER_01: In our 80s Steelers, yeah.
40:38
SPEAKER_00: Because they gotten blown out by Cleveland and I think Cincinnati, but Noel was able to put it together, and um he got them uh into the playoffs and they upset the uh the Houston Oilers, and then they um almost upset the Broncos, but that was it's in Denver.
40:54
SPEAKER_00: It's tough to beat Denver in Denver.
40:56
SPEAKER_00: But um I think the that 2008 Penguins team was just better, they had more star power, and it was like kind of a preview of things to come.
41:05
SPEAKER_00: And they did go to game six, which they almost scored at the last second.
41:10
SPEAKER_00: Like the puck went in by I didn't know the puck never did go in, but it was really close to going.
41:15
SPEAKER_01: So it was Marion Hosa at the last second to tie it.
41:18
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that was a really good team.
41:19
SPEAKER_01: They stormed through the playoffs, they only lost two playoff games and were to the Stanley Cup final.
41:24
SPEAKER_01: Like they just stormed through the playoffs, uh, and then the Red Wings were just better.
41:28
SPEAKER_01: And yeah, that 89 Stewart team is still one of my favorites.
41:32
SPEAKER_01: Um, but they they weren't a very good team.
41:34
SPEAKER_01: They they were dead last in the league in total offense that year.
41:37
SPEAKER_01: Bubby Burster was their quarterback.
41:39
SPEAKER_01: So it was a fun year, it was a great year, memorable.
41:41
SPEAKER_01: They got Jerry Glanville fired, that was awesome, but uh wasn't really that good of a team.
41:47
SPEAKER_00: Uh the number four seed was the 91 Penguins.
41:50
SPEAKER_00: This is kind of a soft spot team.
41:53
SPEAKER_00: Like they won the first cup in team history.
41:55
SPEAKER_00: Pretty good team.
41:56
SPEAKER_00: They they kind of got lucky.
41:57
SPEAKER_00: They only had to play even though Minnesota got hot, Minnesota wasn't that great of a team.
42:01
SPEAKER_00: I guess they did have Belf, they have Belfort as their goalie?
42:05
SPEAKER_00: No.
42:06
SPEAKER_01: Uh yeah, Belf no, um John Casey.
42:08
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, John Casey, yeah.
42:09
SPEAKER_01: Belfour with Chicago the next year.
42:11
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
42:12
SPEAKER_00: But um against the 13-seeded 2010 Pit basketball wins the Big East in the number one seed in the NCAA tournament.
42:21
SPEAKER_00: I think it's the year they lost to Butler in the second round, was it?
42:24
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I think.
42:25
SPEAKER_01: That was the year but that was when Butler had their back-to-back uh championship game appearances.
42:30
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's kind of a disappointment.
42:31
SPEAKER_00: That was the one they fouled the guy like on the other side of the court, I think.
42:35
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
42:35
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
42:36
SPEAKER_00: And so I had the Penn's first cup win.
42:39
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
42:40
SPEAKER_00: Um 1976, the last time Pitt won a national champs, they are the number three seed the next bracket versus the 1992 Steelers.
42:49
SPEAKER_00: Um, this was kind of the Steelers' big comeback year after some down years.
42:53
SPEAKER_00: They went 11-5, but they lost to Buffalo in the first round of the playoffs in a blowout really well.
42:59
SPEAKER_00: Rod Woodson got hurt, and they just there's this guy, Sammy Walker, and like even like interviews with Jim Kelly and them later, he was third in Sammy.
43:08
SPEAKER_00: But uh I have the pens.
43:10
SPEAKER_00: Uh no, I have the pit football moving on from that one because they were national champs and they blew out Georgia.
43:15
SPEAKER_00: Like, woohoo.
43:16
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
43:17
SPEAKER_00: SEC.
43:18
SPEAKER_00: There was lots of SEC chanting, I'm sure, right.
43:21
SPEAKER_01: A lot of m another memorable steeler season.
43:24
SPEAKER_00: But Pitt, I think, in chanted independent, independent, because they weren't in a conference and whatever.
43:28
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
43:29
SPEAKER_01: Memorable memorable steeler season, but but again, uh one where they were nowhere close to the best team in the league that year, whereas Pitt was the best team in the country.
43:38
SPEAKER_00: Um the number two seed at the bottom of the bracket, the last team we'll go over in this uh initial round, I guess.
43:44
SPEAKER_00: There is no name for the first round, is there in N C double A.
43:47
SPEAKER_00: No.
43:48
SPEAKER_00: We'll call it the first time.
43:50
SPEAKER_00: Uh the nineteen seventy five Steelers, they won the Super Bowl over Dallas.
43:55
SPEAKER_00: Um that's I think that's the first Super Bowl win over Dallas.
43:59
SPEAKER_00: Correct.
43:59
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
44:00
SPEAKER_00: And then the um 1992 Pirates.
44:03
SPEAKER_00: Uh painful one there.
44:04
SPEAKER_00: They they played seven games.
44:06
SPEAKER_00: They had the lead.
44:08
SPEAKER_00: The umpire gets hurt.
44:09
SPEAKER_00: Um he won't call a strike for poor Stan Belinda.
44:13
SPEAKER_00: Stan Belinda grooves one to Francisco Gabrera, and Sid Breen hobbles in.
44:18
SPEAKER_00: So that that was uh easy one there.
44:21
SPEAKER_00: The Steelers win the Super Bowl over Dallas, then uh we'll not say anything more about that board.
44:26
SPEAKER_01: Let's never speak of it again.
44:28
SPEAKER_00: Except in that podcast we do on the 90s.
44:31
SPEAKER_01: Yes.
44:31
SPEAKER_01: Just a few more rounds of therapy, and I'll be ready to cover that one.
44:34
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
44:34
SPEAKER_00: Moving on to the, we're not even into the Sweet 16 yet, but this is the second round.
44:39
SPEAKER_00: But um some of these teams we've already gone over.
44:42
SPEAKER_00: Um in the second round matchup, uh, top of the bracket, back in the other side again, the 1978 Steelers, Super Bowl 13 win versus 2016 Pitt Football 8-4.
44:54
SPEAKER_00: Uh, like I said, I think this is probably the Steelers' best Super Bowl win.
45:00
SPEAKER_00: And I rate this team very highly because, like I said, Dallas is a very good team.
45:04
SPEAKER_00: Put football had a good season, but they didn't win their bowl game, didn't win the national championship.
45:08
SPEAKER_00: Kind of had like your stereotypical pit season, upset a couple high-ranked teams.
45:13
SPEAKER_00: So I have the uh Steelers Super Bowl 13 win coming in over that.
45:19
SPEAKER_00: Um the 2013 Pirates Cueto chant game versus the Steelers Cordell 13-3 team.
45:28
SPEAKER_00: Um I had the uh Steelers moving on since they went a little farther in the playoffs than the Pirates did.
45:35
SPEAKER_00: I mean I yeah, because they only made the divisional.
45:39
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so the P and the Steelers made the championship and lost to the eventual champion.
45:44
SPEAKER_00: So I have the two 13-3 Steelers moving on to the Sweet 16 from that.
45:50
SPEAKER_00: Um the 93 Penguins lose to Islanders.
45:55
SPEAKER_00: This is probably like I'll say more, like I've been kind of like waiting to talk about this because this is probably one of the best teams in Penguins history, and they never won a Stanley Cup.
46:04
SPEAKER_00: And I think it's the only team that the Penguins never won that's the only team that won a president's trophy, right?
46:09
SPEAKER_00: Yes.
46:10
SPEAKER_00: So they're really good.
46:12
SPEAKER_00: And then just the the 2008 Steelers, they won Super Bowl 43, but they didn't I I never like I just kind of felt like they got a little lucky in their matchups, like they played Arizona, like in Arizona was kind of like got hot at the right time.
46:27
SPEAKER_00: Like the teams I was like afraid of them playing got all eliminated.
46:31
SPEAKER_00: I remember that year.
46:32
SPEAKER_00: And then, you know, they did have to beat Baltimore in a championship game in a memorable championship game, I think.
46:37
SPEAKER_00: Was that yeah?
46:38
SPEAKER_00: Yes.
46:39
SPEAKER_00: So that was uh I mean it's a good Steelers team.
46:43
SPEAKER_00: It's a great win, but and maybe there's a little bit of an upset, but I just think that Penguins team that I know they this kind of breaking my own rule here, but I just I put the Penguins losing to the Islanders ahead ahead of the the Steelers winning Super Bowl for the game.
46:58
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's that's a that's definitely a a controversial one there, Steve.
47:02
SPEAKER_01: But I I see what you're saying there because that 93 Pence team was so good.
47:06
SPEAKER_01: They set the NHL record for consecutive wins at the end of the they had won 17 games in a row, I think, at the end of the season.
47:13
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
47:13
SPEAKER_01: So that's how they went into the playoffs with the longest winning streak in league history.
47:17
SPEAKER_01: That was the year Mario came back from cancer.
47:19
SPEAKER_01: I mean, they were just unstoppable.
47:22
SPEAKER_01: They were going to win their third cup, they were gonna play Wayne Gretzky in the St.
47:25
SPEAKER_01: Lake Cup Finals.
47:25
SPEAKER_00: Well, they would have had to beat uh the Canadians, too, who had a guy named Patrick Wall playing out of his mind.
47:31
SPEAKER_00: They would have.
47:33
SPEAKER_01: But they could have it would have been Mario versus Gretzky in the finals.
47:36
SPEAKER_01: It just everything was set up.
47:37
SPEAKER_01: It was such a disappointing loss.
47:40
SPEAKER_01: Um because that team was probably better than the other two that won the cup.
47:44
SPEAKER_01: It probably was.
47:45
SPEAKER_01: Up and down the roster.
47:47
SPEAKER_01: But sometimes you just sometimes the best team doesn't always win, and that was a good example.
47:52
SPEAKER_00: Well, they never can beat the Islanders.
47:53
SPEAKER_00: Every team has their Achilles heel, and for the Penguins, for some reason that's the New York Islanders.
47:58
SPEAKER_00: Yes.
47:59
SPEAKER_00: And uh that like I said, that Super Bowl 43 team, they were decent.
48:04
SPEAKER_00: I think they did have a top-ranked defense, but they got absolutely shredded in the Super Bowl.
48:09
SPEAKER_01: I mean, yeah, Larry Fitzgerald in the fourth quarter.
48:12
SPEAKER_01: I mean, you yeah, you could argue there were a lot of upsets that year in the playoffs.
48:16
SPEAKER_01: Like you said, Arizona was a 9-7 team.
48:18
SPEAKER_01: And then even the Steelers, even playing the Ravens was tough.
48:23
SPEAKER_01: Um, but again, there were a lot of upsets.
48:25
SPEAKER_01: They didn't have to play the Colts and Peyton Manning.
48:27
SPEAKER_01: Uh, that was your Brady got hurt.
48:29
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
48:29
SPEAKER_01: So they didn't have to go through the Patriots.
48:31
SPEAKER_01: So you could make an argument that the competition maybe wasn't the best that year for the Steelers.
48:37
SPEAKER_00: All right, moving on to the next matchup, which would be the 2017 Penguins.
48:42
SPEAKER_00: That was their second of their back-to-back cups in the teens.
48:46
SPEAKER_00: 1979 Steelers, they won Super Bowl 14.
48:51
SPEAKER_00: Um, that was against the Rams.
48:53
SPEAKER_00: I guess that was the second.
48:54
SPEAKER_00: These are two, these are the battle of the two back-to-back teams, aren't they?
48:59
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
48:59
SPEAKER_00: And I just think the Steelers really struggled beating the Rams.
49:04
SPEAKER_00: They really did.
49:04
SPEAKER_00: They were down in that game.
49:06
SPEAKER_01: In the fourth quarter.
49:07
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
49:07
SPEAKER_00: And like, and the Rams weren't really that good.
49:09
SPEAKER_01: The Rams were another I keep saying I feel like I've said nine and seven like four times this episode, but the Rams were a nine and seven team that year.
49:16
SPEAKER_01: They beat Tampa Bay in the NFC championship game.
49:19
SPEAKER_01: So that was another year of a lot of upsets.
49:21
SPEAKER_01: Trevor Burrus, Jr.
49:21
SPEAKER_00: And the Steelers kind of that was the year they kind of got lucky against Houston with Renfro being called out of the end zone when he really wasn't.
49:28
SPEAKER_00: Trevor Burrus, Jr.
49:29
SPEAKER_01: They were good.
49:29
SPEAKER_01: They were good.
49:30
SPEAKER_01: That was probably the worst of their four Super Bowl teams.
49:33
SPEAKER_00: And Houston probably should at least have been in that game late in the game, you know, rather than down two touchdowns.
49:40
SPEAKER_01: And the 2017 Penguins, uh, I've always said that's probably the least I don't know how to say it, the least talented of the five Stealing Cup teams, but it was always my favorite.
49:49
SPEAKER_01: Like I just felt like that team never quit.
49:51
SPEAKER_01: They just they were going to win that cup no matter what.
49:53
SPEAKER_01: Uh even if it took double overtime of game seven in the conference finals.
49:57
SPEAKER_01: It was just a great team.
49:58
SPEAKER_01: So yeah, I'm I'm with you on this one.
50:00
SPEAKER_01: I'd give the Penguins over the 2017 Penguins over the 79 Steelers.
50:05
SPEAKER_00: Uh so now we got the 71 Pirates who won the World Series against all those Baltimore 20 game winners against the uh 1955 Duquesne.
50:16
SPEAKER_00: Uh yeah, or no, am I nope, hold on, I skipped ahead there.
50:20
SPEAKER_00: Okay, yeah, we're installing the suite the the second round, right?
50:23
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
50:23
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
50:23
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
50:24
SPEAKER_00: 1971 Pirates, who won the World Series versus the 81 Pitt Football, who's 11-1.
50:29
SPEAKER_00: I went with the 71 Pirates, they won the World Series.
50:32
SPEAKER_00: Pitt Football underachieved a little, losing that game last year.
50:36
SPEAKER_00: They did get a number two ranking.
50:38
SPEAKER_00: And um, okay, um moving on to the next uh matchup, that would be the 2012 Penguins who were swept in the conference final by Boston, whereas the 1955 Duquesne wins the NIT.
50:51
SPEAKER_00: There's another upside.
50:52
SPEAKER_00: I I really rank this Duquesne team highly because I really think, like I said before, I think the NIT was really you meant something outside of like it was probably really was you were the de facto second champion of the NCAA back then.
51:07
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I think that's fair.
51:08
SPEAKER_01: And that 2012-13 Penguins team that got swept in the conference final, they put up two goals in that in that series.
51:15
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
51:15
SPEAKER_01: Um they and they had beaten the Islanders and the Senators, like two teams that weren't great to get there.
51:21
SPEAKER_01: That was a strike shortened season.
51:24
SPEAKER_01: I just it wasn't it was it was a good team because they made it far, but I never thought it was a great team.
51:31
SPEAKER_01: So I'm with you there with Duquesne.
51:33
SPEAKER_00: Uh and then the next matchup is the 1925, the Pirates Forgotten World Series versus those plucky Pittsburgh Triangles.
51:41
SPEAKER_00: Uh there's a pretty easy one.
51:42
SPEAKER_00: The uh Pirates winning the World Series is definitely worth more than whatever the championship the Pittsburgh Triangles won.
51:49
SPEAKER_01: So I did look it up, Steve.
51:52
SPEAKER_01: Uh Vetus Garelitas was their best player on the Pittsburgh Triangles.
51:56
SPEAKER_01: He later went on to win some some big titles like the Australian Open.
52:00
SPEAKER_01: So the Australian Open.
52:04
SPEAKER_00: Is that a major?
52:05
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's a grand slam.
52:06
SPEAKER_01: So he was a good tennis player.
52:08
SPEAKER_01: You asked you asked who played for the Triangle, so I wanted to give you a name there before we eliminated them out of this bracket.
52:14
SPEAKER_00: Nice.
52:15
SPEAKER_00: Nice.
52:15
SPEAKER_00: But the 25 Pirates definitely.
52:17
SPEAKER_00: And I think the tw did they have Pie Trainer or like uh one of the those br uh the other Yeah, the Wayne Brothers.
52:26
SPEAKER_01: The Wayners.
52:26
SPEAKER_01: I think they had the Wayne.
52:28
SPEAKER_01: I think that was that era, yes.
52:30
SPEAKER_00: And uh the next bracket, uh the 1909 Pirates, their first World Series win, versus the 1960 Pirates, the Battle of Pirates World Series win.
52:41
SPEAKER_00: Uh no offense to the 1900 Pirates.
52:43
SPEAKER_00: The first time is always the memorable, but 1960 is just iconic and more memorable than the 1909.
52:50
SPEAKER_00: I mean, I don't think it's either too just because it's I think if you go to 2060, fast forward, you know, how many years that is in the future, and people still be talking about the 1960 World Series.
53:01
SPEAKER_01: You're right, you're right.
53:02
SPEAKER_01: And they both beat um really good teams.
53:04
SPEAKER_01: 09, they had to beat Detroit with Ty Cobb.
53:07
SPEAKER_01: In 1960, they had to beat the the Almighty Yankees.
53:10
SPEAKER_01: So that's right.
53:10
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it was the battle of like the good guy Honus Wagner versus like everybody hated you.
53:14
SPEAKER_00: The field of dreams.
53:15
SPEAKER_00: We all hated when we played.
53:18
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's true.
53:19
SPEAKER_00: So I told them to stick it.
53:21
SPEAKER_01: So yeah, but it was it was like I think both of the series were against teams that were powerhouses, and the Pirates won both times, but definitely you're right.
53:31
SPEAKER_01: 60 Pirates just because they're so iconic.
53:34
SPEAKER_00: And then the Yankees were good.
53:36
SPEAKER_00: But both those teams were really good.
53:37
SPEAKER_00: I mean, the Tigers and the Yankees definitely had Hall of Famers and Maris, and it was Mantle.
53:42
SPEAKER_00: Mantle, yeah, Yogi Berra.
53:44
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
53:44
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
53:45
SPEAKER_00: So uh, and it's always fun to hear New York fans whine.
53:50
SPEAKER_00: Moving over to the other side of the bracket, uh, we have the still the top-seeded 1979 family Pirates versus the 1931 Pitt Football, who won the national championship with one loss.
54:04
SPEAKER_00: I'm going with the Pirate family over that over that.
54:07
SPEAKER_00: The National Championship ones is a voted, it's you know, it's just voted on, and they did have one loss.
54:13
SPEAKER_00: And the Pirates did come back from three games to one.
54:16
SPEAKER_00: Baltimore was still pretty good in 79.
54:18
SPEAKER_00: I'm sure Baltimore doesn't ever want to see us in a World Series again.
54:22
SPEAKER_01: But I had the uh They won't have to worry about that, I don't think, anytime soon.
54:26
SPEAKER_00: Well, I don't think either team has to worry.
54:29
SPEAKER_00: You never know.
54:31
SPEAKER_00: But uh yeah, the the Pirates are moving on to the Sweet 16.
54:36
SPEAKER_00: Uh I had the 2009 Pitt Football, the next matchup versus the 95 Steelers who lost Super Bowl 30.
54:44
SPEAKER_00: That was the 10-3 Pitt football team that lost to Cincinnati.
54:48
SPEAKER_00: I have the 95 Steelers losing to uh the Cowboys in Super Bowl 30 moving on out of this matchup.
54:54
SPEAKER_00: Just uh achieved a lot more than that Pitt football team did and probably, you know, even though I mean how good were the Colts, but still how good was the University of Cincinnati and Tony Pike.
55:06
SPEAKER_00: I mean, really.
55:07
SPEAKER_00: He went on to have like what, a arena football career.
55:11
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
55:12
SPEAKER_01: Tough call here.
55:12
SPEAKER_01: Do you want to give it to the Pitt football team that blew the Big East Championship game on a box boxed extra point?
55:18
SPEAKER_01: Or do you want to give it to the Steelers team that blew the Super Bowl because Neil threw it to a guy covering grass?
55:24
SPEAKER_01: So we'll go with the covering grass.
55:26
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, good call.
55:27
SPEAKER_01: It was a memorable season, like we said.
55:29
SPEAKER_00: Uh okay, moving on to the next matchup.
55:32
SPEAKER_00: Uh, 72 Steelers that lost in the championship game, that's the Mackinac Session team, and the 92 Penguins who won the Stanley Cup with all those Hall of Famers.
55:41
SPEAKER_00: I think there's another pretty easy one, even though the Penguins are the lower seed here.
55:45
SPEAKER_00: The Penguins winning the cup and with that team's really outside of the 93 team, this is probably their second best team, but this team achieved a cup, and the 93 team never did.
55:56
SPEAKER_01: This was also the year that Mario um Adam Graves broke his wrist.
56:00
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
56:00
SPEAKER_01: And they had to overcome that.
56:01
SPEAKER_00: And then Badger Bob had passed away.
56:04
SPEAKER_00: That's right.
56:04
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
56:04
SPEAKER_01: So that yeah, I that that's a really memorable team.
56:08
SPEAKER_00: Um next up is the 2016, and and uh they played uh well, we'll do that next round.
56:15
SPEAKER_00: We'll talk about who the penguins played in their in their team, because they they played a pretty good Blackhawks team.
56:20
SPEAKER_00: They did.
56:20
SPEAKER_00: Um, the 2016 Penguins with the HBK line versus the 1974 Steelers, they won Super Bowl nine.
56:27
SPEAKER_00: I put the Penguins Cup win with the HBK over the Steelers Super Bowl win.
56:33
SPEAKER_00: It got kind of tough, but I just think that Penguins team had a smoother run, and like it was just kind of like all defense and Franco up the left, Franco to the right, and let's throw him a bone and run up the middle.
56:46
SPEAKER_00: Ooh, you know.
56:47
SPEAKER_00: I mean, it was 2-0 at halftime, right?
56:50
SPEAKER_00: I do believe.
56:51
SPEAKER_00: Right.
56:51
SPEAKER_00: So I I'm I'm putting definitely the Penguins HBK Cup over the Steelers for Super Bowl win.
56:59
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I'm with you on that.
57:00
SPEAKER_01: The this the again of the four Super Bowl wins, if you had to rank them, I think you've got to put the two against the Cowboys above the other two, um, just because of the competition and because just they were better seasons, they were better all-around teams.
57:14
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, the 1974 team was probably a little fortunate to win that.
57:17
SPEAKER_00: They really didn't have any offense.
57:19
SPEAKER_01: They started that year with Joe Gilliam at quarterback.
57:22
SPEAKER_01: I wasn't even the starter at the beginning of the season that year.
57:25
SPEAKER_01: Uh, and like you said, it was really Franco, it was just it was a very power-running, power defense team, and that's how they won.
57:32
SPEAKER_00: Uh, we're in the bottom half of the bracket.
57:34
SPEAKER_00: So still the 2005 Steelers win Super Bowl 40.
57:39
SPEAKER_00: Um, the versus the 1937 Pitt Football National Championship team.
57:44
SPEAKER_00: Um, there's another tough one, but uh, I just Super Bowl 40, it's a little more recent, uh probably a little more sentimental favorite for me.
57:52
SPEAKER_00: Uh I put them over the Pitt Football National Championship of 1937.
57:56
SPEAKER_00: Although, you know, that's still a pretty memorable accomplishment.
57:59
SPEAKER_00: They didn't lose any games, though they did tie one.
58:01
SPEAKER_00: But um moving on to the 1982 Pitt Panthers win Sioux Sugar Bowl.
58:11
SPEAKER_00: That's the first team in our matchup.
58:13
SPEAKER_00: And the 1936 is the Battle of the Pitt teams.
58:16
SPEAKER_00: 1936 Pitt Football.
58:18
SPEAKER_00: That was the first time they won the Rose Bowl.
58:21
SPEAKER_00: Um I ranked uh the Rose Bowl over the Sugar Bowl, like I said, even though it was 1936.
58:27
SPEAKER_00: I think the Rose Bowl is the top dog when it comes to bowl games, so I don't know.
58:34
SPEAKER_00: Figure on that one.
58:36
SPEAKER_00: And uh in 2008, the next matchup was the 2008 Penguins who lost to the Red Wings in that memorable cup final versus the 91 Penguins that won their first Stanley Cup.
58:48
SPEAKER_00: Uh, another battle of Penguins teams.
58:50
SPEAKER_00: Uh they won the the Pens won the Stanley Cup, so first criteria met, they definitely take over a team that was pretty good and made it to the final, but didn't quite get over the hump that yeah.
59:02
SPEAKER_00: In the bottom half of our bracket, we have the 1976 Pitt Football National Championship with against the 1975 Steelers win Super Bowl over Dallas.
59:15
SPEAKER_00: Um that's a that's a tough one.
59:17
SPEAKER_00: I I just I don't know.
59:19
SPEAKER_00: I mean I I kind of went with the the 76 Pitt football team.
59:23
SPEAKER_00: They just they they blew out Georgia and they they I think they they went undefeated.
59:30
SPEAKER_00: They didn't lose any games.
59:31
SPEAKER_00: Right.
59:32
SPEAKER_00: So and I mean that Steelers team was pretty good.
59:34
SPEAKER_00: Like you said, that's that's a pretty good Steelers team, but just maybe Pitt football just had a little better.
59:41
SPEAKER_00: I mean that was a pretty close one.
59:42
SPEAKER_00: That was a little little better.
59:44
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's that's that was a 2-3 matchup, and two three matchups are are usually you know two of the three best teams.
59:51
SPEAKER_01: So that's a tough one, and I don't think there's a right answer to that.
59:56
SPEAKER_01: So you're right.
59:57
SPEAKER_01: 76 Pitt was 12-0.
59:59
SPEAKER_01: You can't you can't take that away from them.
1:00:01
SPEAKER_01: Both teams won championships.
1:00:04
SPEAKER_01: Uh so 1976 Pitt moves on.
1:00:06
SPEAKER_00: Yep.
1:00:07
SPEAKER_00: Uh moving back, we're into the Sweet 16 now.
1:00:12
SPEAKER_00: All teams we've talked about a lot.
1:00:14
SPEAKER_00: Uh the 78 Steelers Super Bowl 13 against Dallas versus the 2001 Steelers 13-3 team that lost to the Patriots.
1:00:23
SPEAKER_00: Uh that's an easy one.
1:00:24
SPEAKER_00: The 78 Steelers moving on.
1:00:26
SPEAKER_00: Yes.
1:00:27
SPEAKER_00: Cordell can't get it done against the 1978 defense.
1:00:31
SPEAKER_01: Probably not.
1:00:34
SPEAKER_00: Uh the 93 Penguins team is still in it.
1:00:37
SPEAKER_00: They made the Sweet 16, even though they didn't win a championship.
1:00:40
SPEAKER_00: Probably a little controversial, but uh, I guess a lot of Hall of Famers, very good team, only team that won the President's Cup.
1:00:46
SPEAKER_00: But they went against their other Penguins team that won the back-to-back, the second of the back-to-back team games over Nashville.
1:00:54
SPEAKER_00: Um I put the once again the national champ, the Stanley Cup winning, champion winning team over that 93 team, although they're very talented, very good, very successful regular season.
1:01:04
SPEAKER_00: They didn't get it done in the uh postseason.
1:01:07
SPEAKER_00: Makes sense.
1:01:08
SPEAKER_00: So they're moving on to Elite Eight.
1:01:11
SPEAKER_00: Uh the 71 Pirates versus the 1955 Duquesne NIT team.
1:01:17
SPEAKER_00: I put the 71 Pirates over this.
1:01:19
SPEAKER_00: That's a World Series win.
1:01:20
SPEAKER_00: That's a very good team.
1:01:21
SPEAKER_00: Over was that the Baltimore team with 20 game winners, like three or four 20 game winners?
1:01:26
SPEAKER_00: I can't remember.
1:01:29
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I mean, that was a pretty good Baltimore team.
1:01:31
SPEAKER_00: And Duquesne winning.
1:01:32
SPEAKER_00: I think Duquesne making the six Sweet 16 is pretty impressive for Duquesne.
1:01:36
SPEAKER_01: And and Duquesne made it that far.
1:01:38
SPEAKER_00: But like I said before, like I really think that NIT win was worth a lot more than it is now.
1:01:42
SPEAKER_01: Yep.
1:01:44
SPEAKER_00: Um, in uh the bottom half of our bracket, we have the 1925 Pirates versus the 60 Pirates.
1:01:51
SPEAKER_00: I have the 60 Pirates moving on to the Elite Eight.
1:01:58
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, again, our iconic team.
1:02:01
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
1:02:02
SPEAKER_01: Uh no offense to the 25 team.
1:02:04
SPEAKER_01: Uh kind of funny that that 25 team's kind of forgotten.
1:02:08
SPEAKER_01: It might be interesting to do an episode about that.
1:02:10
SPEAKER_00: We'd have to do yeah, that would take me, yeah, I'd have to like go back to the library and look at the microfilm again.
1:02:14
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
1:02:15
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you'd have to dig up some research, but that's not because I think I think the 09 team, even though that was also more than 100 years ago, uh that was the Hannes Wagner Ty Cop.
1:02:25
SPEAKER_01: I don't know, you just hear more about that.
1:02:27
SPEAKER_01: The 25 team, you just it's it's a little forgotten.
1:02:30
SPEAKER_00: So out of all the championships in Pittsburgh sports, like may at least the major ones, like you know, I mean between I mean, peep more people probably know the Pittsburgh Passion won a championship than the 25 Pirates.
1:02:42
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's a good point.
1:02:43
SPEAKER_01: That's kind of forgotten.
1:02:45
SPEAKER_00: Uh I have the Pirates 79 family win versus the 92 Penguins.
1:02:50
SPEAKER_00: This is we're in the Elite Eight now, yeah.
1:02:51
SPEAKER_01: No, you're still in the Sweet 16.
1:02:53
SPEAKER_00: Oh, we're still in the Sweet 16?
1:02:54
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
1:02:54
SPEAKER_01: 79 Pirates.
1:02:55
SPEAKER_00: Pirates versus Steelers Super Bowl 30.
1:02:57
SPEAKER_00: I keep losing my place.
1:02:59
SPEAKER_00: But uh in a preview of Elite Eight, obviously the Pirates.
1:03:02
SPEAKER_00: The Pirates won.
1:03:03
SPEAKER_00: Uh moving on from Super Bowl 30, the you know, Pirates winning a World Series over Steelers losing, throwing the grass.
1:03:12
SPEAKER_00: You know, Neil couldn't beat Willie Starjall.
1:03:17
SPEAKER_00: Uh the 92 Penguins, uh, they won their second cup versus the 2016 Penguins who win the cup.
1:03:25
SPEAKER_00: Uh tough call, but I really like that 92 Penguins team.
1:03:29
SPEAKER_00: I think they weren't quite as good as the 93 Penguins team, but they achieved a lot more than the 93 Penguins team, so I have them moving on.
1:03:36
SPEAKER_00: Even though the HBK line was pretty devastating, I just think that 92 team, I mean, was Yager your third line?
1:03:43
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, I mean or third line, or no, well, he was a wing.
1:03:47
SPEAKER_01: Well he was yeah, he was only in his second season and he was a pretty key player, but they had so many other it was just stacked.
1:03:53
SPEAKER_01: It was a really good team.
1:03:55
SPEAKER_00: Um Super Bowl 40 Steelers versus 1936 Pit Football.
1:04:03
SPEAKER_00: I have uh Super Bowl 40 over 1936 Pit football team.
1:04:11
SPEAKER_00: And uh they're moving on to the Elite Eight.
1:04:14
SPEAKER_00: The 91 Penguins that win their first Stanley Cup versus the 1976 Pitt Football National Championship.
1:04:22
SPEAKER_00: Uh just because it's an undefeated season and it's so rare in college football, I I kind of put them put that reason I put that over the first Stanley Cup.
1:04:31
SPEAKER_00: So 1976 Pitt Football moving on to the Elite Eight over the Penn's first Stanley Cup.
1:04:37
SPEAKER_00: They both won championships.
1:04:38
SPEAKER_00: It's a pretty, like you said, a pretty close matchup, but I just think the undefeated maybe puts Pitt over the edge on that one.
1:04:44
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, again, that's another one I think with no right or wrong answer.
1:04:47
SPEAKER_01: So that's fair.
1:04:49
SPEAKER_00: Nice.
1:04:50
SPEAKER_00: So now we're in the Elite Eight.
1:04:51
SPEAKER_00: Now we're in the Elite Eight, right?
1:04:53
SPEAKER_00: Yes, yes.
1:04:55
SPEAKER_00: So it would be the 78 Steelers, or is that the final now?
1:04:58
SPEAKER_00: That's the final four.
1:05:00
SPEAKER_00: 78 Steelers versus the 2017 Penguins who won back-to-back cups.
1:05:05
SPEAKER_00: Um, I guess I had the Steelers team was really good.
1:05:08
SPEAKER_00: So I had them going over the back-to-back cup teams of Nashville.
1:05:12
SPEAKER_00: Like you said, they maybe weren't the talented, but they're definitely a plucky team.
1:05:16
SPEAKER_00: But I think that you know, the Steelers, that's definitely their, you know, their one of their strongest Super Bowl teams.
1:05:23
SPEAKER_00: We'll talk about them more later.
1:05:25
SPEAKER_00: Uh the 71 Pirates versus the 1960 Pirates, this is another tough one, but once again, I just think the 1960 Pirates, they played the Yankees, who were probably better than the Oiler or the Oil Orioles, the bottom of Orioles.
1:05:41
SPEAKER_00: So I had the 60 Pirates moving on to the next round.
1:05:52
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
1:05:54
SPEAKER_00: What are we in the League 8, right?
1:05:55
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
1:05:56
SPEAKER_01: So we have 79 pirates and 92 penguins.
1:05:59
SPEAKER_00: Or no, we Did we do that one yet?
1:06:01
SPEAKER_00: No.
1:06:01
SPEAKER_00: No.
1:06:02
SPEAKER_00: Okay, yeah, the Pirates versus the Penguins.
1:06:05
SPEAKER_00: Um I have the uh Penguins winning their second cup over the Pirates World Series once again.
1:06:12
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I just think that's that that's a that's a strong team.
1:06:15
SPEAKER_00: And uh the Pirates World Series is good, but they had to come back from three games to one.
1:06:20
SPEAKER_00: The Penguins.
1:06:21
SPEAKER_00: Although the Penguins had to do that early in the did they did they do that?
1:06:25
SPEAKER_01: They they in the first round, but by the time they got to the finals, they won uh what was it, eleven games in a row, I think, to win the Stanley Cup.
1:06:33
SPEAKER_01: So they they were just a powerhouse.
1:06:35
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you gotta give it to them.
1:06:37
SPEAKER_00: Uh Super Bowl 40 winners, 2005 Steelers versus the 76 national champions of Pitt.
1:06:44
SPEAKER_00: I'm going with Super Bowl 40.
1:06:46
SPEAKER_00: I think the competition, they maybe like they beat they beat a Colts team that was the top seed, and then uh they beat Denver, who was the second seed, who had beaten the Patriots whenever they said the Steelers never beat the Patriots.
1:06:59
SPEAKER_00: Well, I can't help it, like the Patriots couldn't beat Denver and Denver, and the Steelers did, you know.
1:07:04
SPEAKER_00: So I think that makes the Steelers better.
1:07:06
SPEAKER_00: And the Patriots got blown out in that game in Denver.
1:07:10
SPEAKER_00: So, you know, whatever.
1:07:12
SPEAKER_00: And that was the Jake, Jake Plummer is like, you know, come on, blown up by Jake Plummer, okay, defensive genius.
1:07:18
SPEAKER_00: So so the defensive genius couldn't figure out how to stop Jake Plummer, so the 2005 Steelers move on over the Pitt Football National Championship.
1:07:26
SPEAKER_00: But it's still, you know, that's another probably closer than it probably should have been.
1:07:31
SPEAKER_01: So Steve, who who are your final four?
1:07:33
SPEAKER_01: Let's list them out.
1:07:34
SPEAKER_00: Okay, the final four is the Penguins win the second cup, the 2005 Steelers winning their Super Bowl 40, the 1960 Pirates winning the World Series, and the 1978 Steelers winning Super Bowl 30.
1:07:50
SPEAKER_01: So all four of these are championship teams, and arguably.
1:07:54
SPEAKER_00: They're all iconic, and they're all like it was tough.
1:07:59
SPEAKER_00: It was tough.
1:08:00
SPEAKER_00: But I went with, I think that 1978 Steelers team was the best team outside, like best regular season and postseason team the Steelers have ever had.
1:08:10
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
1:08:10
SPEAKER_00: So I put them over to 1960 Pirates because quite honestly, it is iconic and they beat a very good Yankees team.
1:08:17
SPEAKER_00: But look at the scores from that World Series.
1:08:20
SPEAKER_00: It's insanity.
1:08:22
SPEAKER_00: Like when they lost, they lost like 10 to 3.
1:08:25
SPEAKER_00: Like the games weren't even close.
1:08:27
SPEAKER_00: And then like the I don't know who the Pittsburghs were, the Yankees exactly, but they must have only had like one or two good ones because like the Pirates, like whenever they had those other games, they would be slugfest and they won them.
1:08:39
SPEAKER_00: To their credit, they won them.
1:08:40
SPEAKER_00: And you know, it just goes to show, you know, just because you lose every game by a big margin doesn't mean you lose the World Series.
1:08:47
SPEAKER_00: But I had the 1978 Steelers moving on to the championship game over the 1960 Pirates.
1:08:56
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I I think that makes sense.
1:08:58
SPEAKER_01: And and that theme of you know who was really more dominant, I think you kind of use that on the other side of the bracket, too.
1:09:06
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
1:09:07
SPEAKER_00: And then uh we have the 92 Penguins win the second cup versus the 2005 Steelers win Super Bowl 40.
1:09:16
SPEAKER_00: Both teams played tough competition.
1:09:18
SPEAKER_00: Like, I'd like to talk about the Chicago Blackhawks for a minute.
1:09:21
SPEAKER_00: Uh yeah, their two goalies were Eddie Belfort and some guy named Dominic Hawkick.
1:09:26
SPEAKER_00: I just watched a replay of Game 4.
1:09:28
SPEAKER_00: Like, that game four in the Blackhawks series really should have been like 10 to nothing.
1:09:36
SPEAKER_00: Like, Hawksick stoned Mario three times on a breakaway.
1:09:41
SPEAKER_00: So, I mean, I the Blackhawks were really good that year, and it just the shows how good the Penguins were.
1:09:49
SPEAKER_00: They could play it any way you wanted, and the Blackhawks tried to shut it down, they tried to, you know, skate with them, and they just, you know, no matter what they did, and they put out like a really good goalie Hossick.
1:09:59
SPEAKER_00: Quine hadn't come into his own by then, but he still had a pretty good performance in that game.
1:10:05
SPEAKER_00: So I really ranked that that 92 Penguins team highly.
1:10:08
SPEAKER_00: I think that's the best of the Penguins Cup teams.
1:10:11
SPEAKER_00: And the 2005 Steelers just they were good.
1:10:17
SPEAKER_00: I mean, would you say they're the third best Steelers Super Bowl winning team?
1:10:22
SPEAKER_00: I mean, I don't know, behind that other team that beat Dallas.
1:10:25
SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
1:10:26
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's hard to say.
1:10:27
SPEAKER_01: I mean, they they were so when you talk about competition, the 05 Steelers had to beat the top three seeds in the AFC playoffs, and they beat the Seahawks, yeah.
1:10:34
SPEAKER_01: The number one seed from the NFC.
1:10:36
SPEAKER_01: So so they have that.
1:10:38
SPEAKER_00: Um They didn't play a great Super Bowl, but they did win.
1:10:41
SPEAKER_01: No, they didn't.
1:10:42
SPEAKER_01: And in terms of, again, if you're looking at dominance, that team was uh was seven and four, had to win its final four games just to make the playoffs.
1:10:50
SPEAKER_01: It was a great run, and it's a memorable team, but the 92 Penguins, again, after that second round against the Rangers, they just steamrolled everybody.
1:10:59
SPEAKER_01: And uh, and so yeah, I I think I'd give it to the 92 Penguins here also.
1:11:04
SPEAKER_00: So that led to our championship game of the 78 Steelers versus the 92 Penguins.
1:11:09
SPEAKER_00: And uh, and uh it's another so this is for like what I think who had the best season of all time, and it had two championship-winning teams, two teams that played tough competition.
1:11:20
SPEAKER_00: You know, two teams that are iconic.
1:11:22
SPEAKER_00: I mean, lots of players on these teams in the Hall of Fame.
1:11:26
SPEAKER_00: I mean, I and I just I gave it to the 78 Steelers.
1:11:30
SPEAKER_00: I think they're the you know, just they're the best, you know.
1:11:33
SPEAKER_00: I mean just by maybe a a nose over the Penguins Cup, that Penguins Cup team.
1:11:39
SPEAKER_00: And maybe just too because football's a little more popular sport.
1:11:42
SPEAKER_00: I I don't know, but maybe that played into it a little too.
1:11:45
SPEAKER_00: But that Penguins Cup team was no slouch than 92.
1:11:49
SPEAKER_00: They were really good.
1:11:50
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I think that's a good pick.
1:11:52
SPEAKER_01: I mean that's that's generally remembered as not only the greatest Steeler team ever, but one of the greatest NFL teams ever.
1:11:59
SPEAKER_01: And um and the 92 Penguins, probably one of the best hockey teams ever, but I I think the I think the 78 Steelers in terms of if you if you're thinking outside of just Pittsburgh teams, more people would recognize that as an all-time great team than the 92 Penns.
1:12:15
SPEAKER_01: So I think for that reason too, that's a good that's a good pick to to make pick the 78 Steelers as the winner of your your overall bracket.
1:12:23
SPEAKER_00: Well, there you have it.
1:12:24
SPEAKER_00: Uh feel free to leave comments, but we have a Twitter page, you know, Pittsburgh Sports Memories.
1:12:29
SPEAKER_00: You know, you can tell me how I was wrong, uh, the how the Pittsburgh Triangles really got jobbed in that matchup.
1:12:35
unknown: Yeah.
1:12:36
SPEAKER_01: I'm sure you're gonna have a lot of angry Pittsburgh Triangles, man.
1:12:42
SPEAKER_00: Um but uh yeah, I I had a lot of fun making this.
1:12:45
SPEAKER_00: Um it's like great sports debate.
1:12:47
SPEAKER_00: You know, it's I'm surprised you agreed with me as much as you did.
1:12:51
SPEAKER_00: I thought I thought you would disagree with me more, especially when I fits the fit for Pittsburgh triangles.
1:12:55
SPEAKER_01: Were there any teams that you left off altogether that you thought could have been on here?
1:13:01
SPEAKER_00: Not that I can think of.
1:13:02
SPEAKER_00: I mean, not off the top of my head.
1:13:05
SPEAKER_01: The only team I could even think of that I might have put on here was the 7060 oars.
1:13:09
SPEAKER_00: So that was Yeah, you know what I did I did kind of leave them off and they made the championship game against Oakland.
1:13:15
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and that was the year that they had like five shutouts.
1:13:18
SPEAKER_01: They didn't have a very good offense, and Brass I was hurt, but they had they had like five shutouts that year, which is unheard of.
1:13:28
SPEAKER_00: Like you know, it come to like a fifteen or sixteen seat.
1:13:30
SPEAKER_00: I was kinda putting in like, you know, maybe other sports that people don't really think about.
1:13:36
SPEAKER_01: No, that's fair.
1:13:37
SPEAKER_01: That that makes sense.
1:13:37
SPEAKER_00: Especially if a team won a championship, you know, you I like to at least recognize that.
1:13:42
SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
1:13:42
SPEAKER_00: I mean, I'm sure not many people remember that tennis championship, but it happened.
1:13:47
SPEAKER_01: Well, and same with the the ABA championship.
1:13:49
SPEAKER_01: I mean, and and I like that.
1:13:51
SPEAKER_01: I like that you did that.
1:13:52
SPEAKER_01: You had teams in here that maybe not everybody remembers, and sometimes that's better than like, oh, remember that one year that the Steelers lost in the first round of the playoffs, but they were really good.
1:14:01
SPEAKER_01: Well, okay, but were they, you know, so I yeah, that was that was good putting some other getting a little diverse with this.
1:14:09
SPEAKER_00: Uh well, thanks for uh tuning in.
1:14:11
SPEAKER_00: Uh like I said, feel f feel free to share comments on our uh webpage, which is again uh Pittsburgh Sports Memories.weebly.com.
1:14:19
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and uh we're on Twitter and um Facebook also.
1:14:22
SPEAKER_00: So uh feel free to uh vent your frustrations with my picks there, and uh thanks for listening in.
1:14:28
SPEAKER_01: Thanks everybody.