OT: Pittsburgh sports hierarchy

[Ziggyjoe21]

This is a perennial question and it's hard to really track, because the nature of each regular season is very different in each sport. I'm not going to deny the obvious preeminence of the Steelers in terms of quantity, but they also pretty much play their games on Sunday afternoons, and once a week makes it a lot easier for even casual fans to watch most of the games.

Whereas in the other sports, casual fans aren't going to tune in every single day or every Tues/Thurs/Sat for hockey. During the playoffs, however, the intensity around the teams has always felt similar to me.

In the end I really have no informed opinion here because I have stopped following hockey, and basically stopped following football except for kind of following the Eagles out of amusement (I've lived in Philly for three years). I'd guess it goes Steelers, Pirates, Pens, in part for the overall likeability of the Pirates right now, but the Pens could quickly redeem themselves if they actually play to their potential consistently, and from a libeability standpoint they'll have a boost from being a kind of underdog team this season (I think...).

Yea, it all comes down to who's winning.

PS: You don't follow hockey yet you read and post on a hockey forum?

 

[Winger for Hire]

Oh it most certainly is. I wasn't insinuating anything, it was just interesting to me.

I wasn't trying to call you out on faulty data, sorry if it came off that way.

I was truly curious about how much DK writes about each team. I've never been to his site, and probably never will go to it, so I was wondering if someone had a quick guesstimate on the representation on the three on the site. From what I've heard from this board, social media, other broadcasters, it seems like he writes about the Pens a ton, the Steelers a lot and the Pirates enough to seem like he cares a little.

 

[HandshakeLine]

I only watch and root for the Penguins.

Baseball is basically a bunch of adults role-playing a spreadsheet without the charm of dungeons and dragons and severely overpriced beer. Football is a masterclass in irreversible head trauma, medical malpractice, and ******** military analogies.

So, given that, I'd rank them as such:

Penguins

WB/S Penguins

Wheeling Nailers



Your local rollerderby team




Mike Tyson reading James Joyce out loud


Mike Tyson fighting the corpse of James Joyce


Stillers/Pirates

 

[Shwag33]

Kinda off topic: obviously I'm biased but am I the only one who feels a little bitter that the Pirates, who have been the joke of pro sports for 20 years, became the darling of Pittsburgh sports seemingly over night due to a mere above .500 season? It took the Penguins decades, multiple generational legendary talents, and multiple Stanley Cups to even be on the sports radar here.

I agree, but it goes back to the fact that hockey is a more difficult sport to play growing up. It's more difficult to follow. Baseball is a social game, tons of friends go tailgate; go to the game and barely even watch whats going on. Its just a fun night out.

 

[cajal]

One thing I can say with certainty from the time I was in Pittsburgh:

If all three franchises won a championship in any given year (equal success among all three), the Stanley Cup would be the least lauded. The Stiiilllers would overshadow everything, and the Pirates would garner more scraps than the Pens.

Pittsburgh is a great hockey town because it has a large number of hard-core fans. The success the Pens have helps increase popularity every so often, but that core fan group has been there for as long as I can remember.

Even back in the late 70s my dad took me to Pens games where a small (loyal) fanbase always attended. Some of them had bags on their heads, but they were still there.

I hope the Pirates are successful for several years, it's almost as if a generation or two completely missed watching baseball. I'm not a baseball fan at all, but I do remember listening to "We are Family" in '79 and having neighborhood parties during the games.

I've been a hockey fan first forever, but I root for the other teams because of where they're from... and I'm from. That said, I don't mind that the Steelers run the town or that the Pirates are easily #2 when they're successful. As long as the Pens stay in town, it's all good.

 

[Asuna]

I wasn't trying to call you out on faulty data, sorry if it came off that way.

I was truly curious about how much DK writes about each team. I've never been to his site, and probably never will go to it, so I was wondering if someone had a quick guesstimate on the representation on the three on the site. From what I've heard from this board, social media, other broadcasters, it seems like he writes about the Pens a ton, the Steelers a lot and the Pirates enough to seem like he cares a little.

That's generally about right, but they're working on expanding the Pirates coverage. A month ago they hired a Pirates beat writer, so they now have one for each team.

 

[plaidchuck]

Steelers Pirates Penguins in that order when the bandwagoners.start to jump off. Hell I think most older fans were more Lemieux fans than anything else.

You can tell people were starved for.baseball, the second the pirates started winning they leapfrogged the penguins.

Most of your rank.and.file yinzers have already written the pens off as a disappointment while.forgiving the steelers march of mediocrity the last few seasons.

 

[Waffle Fries]

I really think it depends on the generation.

 

[plaidchuck]

Yeah I'll be the first to admit, as a kid I was a huuuge baseball fan until sid bream single handedly crushed that.

He's pretty much the reason I follow hockey the most now.

I hate you sid.bream.

 

[PensPlz]

Whatever team is winning is always momentarily at the top of the hierarchy, or rather, whatever team(s) is losing is at the bottom. Plain and simple. But hypothetically assuming each team is winning and bound for their own respected championships... Pirates > Steelers > Penguins.

Pittsburgh has been and is a baseball city. IMO, the sheer nationwide-popularity of the NFL gives the Steelers a false narrative of them being tops in this town. That's not to say the Steelers or Pens aren't insanely popular and aren't trending upward in this town with a new generation, but right now I'd put my money on the Pirates being top team in the hierarchy.

 

[mpp9]

Steelers are clearly number 1, i'd give the Pirates a small edge right now for number 2.

But pretty soon i think the Pirates will be well ahead of the Pens.

Pirates are set up for long term success, while the pens have the worst prospects in hockey and there best players are around 27.

Pens window for winning is much smaller then the pirates right now.

Pirates need to actually do something in the postseason though. Pens lose in the 2nd round and they fire their coach and GM. Pirates could lose for the third straight year in the wild card and they'll still be looked at as having great potential.

The Pens won a Cup in their third postseason appearance with their core.

 

[Ziggyjoe21]

Whatever team is winning is always momentarily at the top of the hierarchy, or rather, whatever team(s) is losing is at the bottom. Plain and simple. But hypothetically assuming each team is winning and bound for their own respected championships... Pirates > Steelers > Penguins.

Pittsburgh has been and is a baseball city. IMO, the sheer nationwide-popularity of the NFL gives the Steelers a false narrative of them being tops in this town. That's not to say the Steelers or Pens aren't insanely popular and aren't trending upward in this town with a new generation, but right now I'd put my money on the Pirates being top team in the hierarchy.

What makes you say this? Are you basing this on a Pirates game in July when baseball is the only game in town? A Steelers pre-season game with 3rd stringers gets higher TV ratings than a Pirates reg season game vs a division rival.

Pittsburgh is and always will be a football town. And honestly it's not even close.

 

[BrunoPuntzJones]

Football is a masterclass in irreversible head trauma, medical malpractice, and ******** military analogies

Fair enough, but hockey isn't?

 

[td_ice]

Yea, it all comes down to who's winning.

PS: You don't follow hockey yet you read and post on a hockey forum?

Before he quit following hockey, he was one of the best hockey posters on this board. Guesing he comes here to talk hardball now.

 

[PensPlz]

Tough to compare baseball ratings versus NFL ratings. 162 Pirates game, most of which are in that prime time viewing hour, versus 16 Steelers games in basically its own timeslot on Sundays. Even the most casual of sports fan is capable of watching every Steelers game, but takes a die hard Pirates fan to even come close to watching every game.

And I base it off of the hypothetical I stated, every team playing and winning at the same time... Just a gut feeling in this town the Pirates would be at the top.

 

[plaidchuck]

The penguins pissed away years of having top players in their prime, while.the pirates have a shoestring budget in a non cap league and still compete. Big difference there.

 

[madinsomniac]

If you offered me theoretic playoff tickets to all three on the same day at the same time, I would take the Steelers first, the Pens next and the Pirates third. I still prefer watching all on TV than going to the game though. I still attend multiple steeler and Pens games per year, but that is more for others than me...

Regular season games it would depend on who they were playing and who I was going with. I would take My folks to a Pirate game before either of the other two... there are friends I would take to a pens game before either of the others... they are all pretty close though...

The Pirates Owner is still a big ****** in my book and it is hard to support him, but the team itself is likeable and the park is great... The Steelers have a great O but a very questionable D so its a bit weird right now, however the crowd can be fun and tailgating is awesome. The Pens have more starpower than the others, but CEC is by far the least enticing venue to watch a game at of the three.

 

[ColePens]

If you offered me theoretic playoff tickets to all three on the same day at the same time, I would take the Steelers first, the Pens next and the Pirates third. I still prefer watching all on TV than going to the game though. I still attend multiple steeler and Pens games per year, but that is more for others than me...

Regular season games it would depend on who they were playing and who I was going with. I would take My folks to a Pirate game before either of the other two... there are friends I would take to a pens game before either of the others... they are all pretty close though...

The Pirates Owner is still a big ****** in my book and it is hard to support him, but the team itself is likeable and the park is great... The Steelers have a great O but a very questionable D so its a bit weird right now, however the crowd can be fun and tailgating is awesome. The Pens have more starpower than the others, but CEC is by far the least enticing venue to watch a game at of the three.

1) Penguins
2) Pirates
3) Steelers

That's just my personal one. I obviously love hockey so much more than anything and would love to go to a Pirates playoff game deep in the postseason. I like the Steelers and follow hard, but NFL is such a turn off to me at this point, i'd go with Pirates over them.

 

[Fordy]

I only watch and root for the Penguins.

Baseball is basically a bunch of adults role-playing a spreadsheet without the charm of dungeons and dragons and severely overpriced beer. Football is a masterclass in irreversible head trauma, medical malpractice, and ******** military analogies.

So, given that, I'd rank them as such:

Penguins

WB/S Penguins

Wheeling Nailers



Your local rollerderby team




Mike Tyson reading James Joyce out loud


Mike Tyson fighting the corpse of James Joyce


Stillers/Pirates

nailed it. the football and baseball sports are not entertaining and idk just seem like a chore to be involved in watching. not that the pens often aren't but at least that's not a function of the game itself

 

[Mike Lange Version 2]

As someone who no longer lives in PIT, I'm curious to see this as well. Obviously the steelers are #1.


Just something to consider, the majority of Pirates fans live in PIT, however there are many bandwagoners from outside PIT who root for the pens because of Crosby/Malkin/insert other player here. Another graduate student here is from nova scotia, and roots for the pens because of Crosby. A few toronto fans will also be keeping up with the pens because of Kessel.

Within Pittsburgh, it has to be really close. But if we are talking about overall, I think the Pens get the nod over the buccos.

Still love them all though

 

[HandshakeLine]

Fair enough, but hockey isn't?

The entire game of football is essentially based on hitting poor people in the head over and over and over from high school through the pros, and then lying about how well they're dealing with concussions. Besides, love it or hate it, the NHL has at least been concerned enough about the legal ramifications of head trauma to institute more robust concussion protocols and to change the rules to discourage the more dangerous hits to the head. The NFL lied repeatedly about head trauma and has tried to wiggle out of its own responsibility for creating a new neurological disease, and that's not even taking into consideration the exploitation circus that is college football.

Football is never gonna change, as long as the NFL is in business. Changing tackling rules and instituting better injury protocol would deprive the average fan of his big hits and viewership will decrease. That's bad for business. And the NFL is nothing but a corrupt-ass bidnes with absolutely no regard for the health and well-being of its employees.

In summary, **** football and **** the entire football industry. It's a mug's game and I refuse to be a part of it.

 

[chethejet]

Steelers Pens and Pirates. But the caveat to me is Crosby. He alone is such a draw that if he retires, injured something that has an immediate effect on the Pens, then the Pirates assuming they stay a playoff caliber team, can over take the Pens. The Crosby effect is very real and he may have 8 more years to go.

 

[Shrimper]

Personally for me it is Penguins, Steelers and Pirates.

Don't forget the Riverhounds guys!

 

[Winger for Hire]

Personally for me it is Penguins, Steelers and Pirates.

Don't forget the Riverhounds guys!

^This guy gets it^

 

[Ziggyjoe21]

The penguins pissed away years of having top players in their prime, while.the pirates have a shoestring budget in a non cap league and still compete. Big difference there.

If you're going to compare the success of the 2 teams.... the Pens's "failed" years accomplished far more than the Pirates current run of success.
Past 3 seasons Pens: 2 division winners. 3 playoff series wins
Past 3 season Bucs: 0 division winners, 0 playoff series wins.

The expectations for the 2 teams are wildly different.