PDA

View Full Version : Pens and Steelers Make History



Flasteel
06-13-2009, 11:58 AM
Some interesting tidbits from PFT:

Steelers, Pens Make History
Posted by Mike Florio on June 13, 2009, 11:07 a.m.
In early 1980, as the Pittsburgh Steelers won their second-straight Super Bowl (for the second time) and the Pittsburgh Pirates were the reigning kings of Major League Baseball, the Steel City’s long-suffering hockey team tried to muscle in on the “City of Champions” vibe by changing their colors to black and gold.

It didn’t work until they got their hands on a certain French Canadian teenager who ultimately saved the team. More than once.

Nearly 30 years later, the Steelers have won their second Lombardi Trophy in four seasons, and the Penguins capped their second-straight appearance in the Stanley Cup Finals with the best skate around the ice this side of Rocky and Adrian’s first date.

And as NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy points out on his Twitter page, no NFL champion and NHL champion were crowned in the same calendar year.

Here’s another nugget to file away in the Trivial Pursuit corner of your brain. (Unless there’s a misprint on the card.) The last team to win a Game Seven on the road before the Pens’ victory at Joe Louis Arena was the 1979 Pittsburgh Pirates, who dug out of a 3-1 hole to overcome the Orioles.

Here’s the last thing I’ll say about any of this. Talking about events that I vividly recall and then realizing that they occurred 30 years ago makes me feel older than the Oldest Man On Earth, who actually looks surprisingly young. (Maybe he does P90X.)

SteelTorch
06-13-2009, 08:03 PM
I HATE Mike Florio.

But...I enjoyed the article. :P

stlrz d
06-13-2009, 09:03 PM
According to this site, the Detroit Lions and Detroit Redwings accomplished this feat in 1952. Not sure how that may or may not jive with the "calendar year" thing, but I'm assuming since both are listed as having won in 1952 that it was the same calendar year.

http://www.nuttyaboutsports.com/north-a ... amps.shtml (http://www.nuttyaboutsports.com/north-american-cities-with-multiple-champs.shtml)

Lebsteel
06-14-2009, 06:03 PM
Here’s the last thing I’ll say about any of this. Talking about events that I vividly recall and then realizing that they occurred 30 years ago makes me feel older than the Oldest Man On Earth, who actually looks surprisingly young. (Maybe he does P90X.)

Flasteel, I totally understand.

ikestops85
06-15-2009, 12:30 PM
According to this site, the Detroit Lions and Detroit Redwings accomplished this feat in 1952. Not sure how that may or may not jive with the "calendar year" thing, but I'm assuming since both are listed as having won in 1952 that it was the same calendar year.

http://www.nuttyaboutsports.com/north-a ... amps.shtml (http://www.nuttyaboutsports.com/north-american-cities-with-multiple-champs.shtml)

The NFL had a 12 game season in 1952 and Detroit won the title game on December 28, 1952 and the Red Wings had won the title for the 1951-1952 season on April 15th of 1952.

100$handshake
06-15-2009, 02:44 PM
Actually the Red Wings and Lions both held the title in 1954 as well. The Lions won the NFL title for the 1953 season and the Wings won the cup in the spring of '54.

ikestops85
06-15-2009, 03:07 PM
Actually the Red Wings and Lions both held the title in 1954 as well. The Lions won the NFL title for the 1953 season and the Wings won the cup in the spring of '54.

The championship game for the lions was held in December of 1953 so they weren't in the same year.

stlrz d
06-15-2009, 07:52 PM
According to this site, the Detroit Lions and Detroit Redwings accomplished this feat in 1952. Not sure how that may or may not jive with the "calendar year" thing, but I'm assuming since both are listed as having won in 1952 that it was the same calendar year.

http://www.nuttyaboutsports.com/north-a ... amps.shtml (http://www.nuttyaboutsports.com/north-american-cities-with-multiple-champs.shtml)

The NFL had a 12 game season in 1952 and Detroit won the title game on December 28, 1952 and the Red Wings had won the title for the 1951-1952 season on April 15th of 1952.

So it was the same calendar year then.

RussBII
06-16-2009, 09:14 AM
More importantly, that was pre-Lombardi trophy...

Both trophies, in the same town... yeah baby!

ikestops85
06-16-2009, 09:38 AM
[quote="stlrz d":26cqfhlg]According to this site, the Detroit Lions and Detroit Redwings accomplished this feat in 1952. Not sure how that may or may not jive with the "calendar year" thing, but I'm assuming since both are listed as having won in 1952 that it was the same calendar year.

http://www.nuttyaboutsports.com/north-a ... amps.shtml (http://www.nuttyaboutsports.com/north-american-cities-with-multiple-champs.shtml)

The NFL had a 12 game season in 1952 and Detroit won the title game on December 28, 1952 and the Red Wings had won the title for the 1951-1952 season on April 15th of 1952.

So it was the same calendar year then.[/quote:26cqfhlg]

Yes

stlrz d
06-16-2009, 07:22 PM
[quote="stlrz d":3mytfm01]According to this site, the Detroit Lions and Detroit Redwings accomplished this feat in 1952. Not sure how that may or may not jive with the "calendar year" thing, but I'm assuming since both are listed as having won in 1952 that it was the same calendar year.

http://www.nuttyaboutsports.com/north-a ... amps.shtml (http://www.nuttyaboutsports.com/north-american-cities-with-multiple-champs.shtml)

The NFL had a 12 game season in 1952 and Detroit won the title game on December 28, 1952 and the Red Wings had won the title for the 1951-1952 season on April 15th of 1952.

So it was the same calendar year then.

Yes[/quote:3mytfm01]

So it's embarrassing that an NFL spokesman didn't know this, right?

I'd think so anyway.

If he had said Super Bowl for the NFL portion then he'd be correct.

RuthlessBurgher
06-18-2009, 01:32 PM
Great year in Pittsburgh sports
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
By Ron Cook, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Do we know how to do a victory parade or what?

Heaven knows we've had enough practice. The celebration yesterday in honor of the Penguins was our second in 132 days, dating to the February party for the Steelers after Super Bowl XLIII. It was the third in 40-plus months, counting the parade for the Steelers after Super Bowl XL in February 2006.

Cleveland hasn't had three in 40 years.

Actually, that's factually incorrect.

Cleveland hasn't had even one in 45 years for any of its major professional sports teams.

My gosh, how many have we had during that same period? Nine? 10? 11?

That's right, there have been 11.

Not to be snooty.

I probably don't have to tell you how fortunate you are to be living in Pittsburgh instead of Cleveland when it comes to sports. I just hope you realize how truly lucky you are, period. You're living through a sports year that very likely won't be matched the rest of your life.

The Steelers beat the Arizona Cardinals to win the Super Bowl.

The Pitt men's basketball team came within one terrific, length-of-the-court drive by Villanova's Scottie Reynolds of going to the Final Four.

The Penguins beat the Detroit Red Wings -- on the road in Game 7, no less -- to win the Stanley Cup.

Amazing, absolutely amazing.

And here's the most surreal part:

If you're old enough -- probably 40 or over -- this isn't even the best sports year of your life.

That was 1979.

The Steelers won their fourth Super Bowl in six years, a dynastic run that transcended sports. It didn't just show the rest of the country and the world that Pittsburgh no longer was the dirty, sooty steel city that so many had looked down their noses on for so long. It gave Pittsburghers a proud identity that endures and thrives to this day. Steelers Nation -- millions and millions strong -- overcomes all, from the painful closings of the mines and the mills to the all-too-slow transformation of the city to an academic and medical hub to these horrendous economic times.

The Pirates won the World Series in '79. It's almost impossible to imagine now, but they were once much bigger and more loved than the Penguins. Their championship completed a remarkable decade in which they won six division titles and also the '71 series.

We Are Family!

And don't forget the Pitt football team in '79. It went 11-1, the first of three consecutive 11-1 seasons and part of a phenomenal 62-9-1 run over six seasons that began with the '76 national championship orchestrated by coach Johnny Majors and driven by Heisman Trophy winner Tony Dorsett.

For me, '79 will never be topped.

Not that '09 is bad. And it's not even half over. How cool is that? Training camp starts in Latrobe in 45 days. Some will tell you that's when the real sports year begins around here.

It's easy to think this core group of Steelers will win another Super Bowl or two or three. Big Ben Roethlisberger is signed through the 2015 season. Two championships in four years do not seem like nearly enough for him. Wouldn't it be something if he matched the four that Hall of Famer Terry Bradshaw produced in the '70s? Or topped them?

It's just as easy to think the Penguins will hoist the Stanley Cup again soon. Star players Sidney Crosby, 21, Evgeni Malkin, 22, Marc-Andre Fleury, 24, and Jordan Staal, 20, still are mere babies in their sport. Can you believe Staal couldn't drink champagne out of the Cup in Detroit the other night? Not legally, anyway.

LOL!

Crosby and Staal are signed through the 2013 season, Malkin through '14 and Fleury through '15. Together, they might just win more Cup titles than the two won by the most legendary Penguins player of all -- Mario Lemieux -- in the early '90s. That, of course, would delight Lemieux the team owner to no end.

You really are lucky -- almost beyond belief -- to be living here.

As for Cleveland fans, well ...

Their time finally might be coming after those 45 long years.

They do have LeBron, right?

At least for one more season, anyway.

It would be a real shame if he left the Cavaliers as a free agent in 2010.

Yep, a real shame.

We've had ELEVEN championship teams since Cleveland had their last one? Wow...

I don't think I've ever seen a professional newspaper writer use "LOL!" in an actual article. :wft