Rich's Sports Beat

It’s been 18 years, and counting, since the Pittsburgh Pirates last had a winning season. An entire generation of people (youth) has gone without seeing winning baseball in this region. Depending on your perspective and point of view, that could be seen as a travesty (tragedy?) and you would probably not be far off. Of course, we are talking about sports, which have their place in society, and not life and death. Then again, we are talking about Pittsburgh and the region and our story is told through the prism of sports. We are proud to boast six Super Bowl championships, three Stanley Cup titles, and five World Series championships, the last having come in 1979. Much has been written about the 1960 championship and how it still carries so much weight in this region even 51 years later. There is a statue of Bill Mazeroski proudly displayed at PNC Park commemorating that event and joyful moment. A hard scrabble, scrappy team that defeated the mighty, and evil, empire in the New ...

*To Steeler Nation, if you are still in mourning over what happened two weeks ago in Dallas at the Super Bowl, it’s time to move and get over it. They are not going to replay that game. You cannot give the ball up, give the opponent 21 points, and expect to win, even though the Steelers had ample chances to do just that. Despite how well the Packers played, and how deserving they are of the win, the mistakes the Steelers made are what hurt them. They beat themselves. It will be a long offseason, the pending lockout notwithstanding, for everyone on the roster after that debacle. It might serve as motivation for next season, if there is one. *I am a racing fan and have been for a long time. I am a huge NASCAR fan and racing gets me from football season to football season. I have loved cars and racing ever since I was a kid, when my parents got me Matchbox and Hot Wheels cars. My dad took me to the Daytona 500 in 1983, which was the 25th anniversary of that race, and it was an e...

*To Steeler Nation, if you are still in mourning over what happened two weeks ago in Dallas at the Super Bowl, it’s time to move and get over it. They are not going to replay that game. You cannot give the ball up, give the opponent 21 points, and expect to win, even though the Steelers had ample chances to do just that. Despite how well the Packers played, and how deserving they are of the win, the mistakes the Steelers made are what hurt them. They beat themselves. It will be a long offseason, the pending lockout notwithstanding, for everyone on the roster after that debacle. It might serve as motivation for next season, if there is one. *I am a racing fan and have been for a long time. I am a huge NASCAR fan and racing gets me from football season to football season. I have loved cars and racing ever since I was a kid, when my parents got me Matchbox and Hot Wheels cars. My dad took me to the Daytona 500 in 1983, which was the 25th anniversary of that race, and it was an e...

First, my sincere and hearty congratulations to Head Coach Mike McCarthy, Greenfield native, and the Green Bay Packers for winning Super Bowl XLV and winning Vince Lombardi’s trophy, in essence taking it back home where it all began. I have stated many times that Green Bay is my second favorite team, next to the Steelers, and there is nothing wrong with wishing the Packers graciousness for getting the job done last Sunday night. If the Steelers should lose to any team, it would be Green Bay, so the emptiness with this loss is somewhat filled with the fact the Packers are this year’s world champions. Turnovers kill – that is football 101, yet the Steelers still had a chance for a game winning drive, a al Super Bowl XLIII versus Arizona, but it was not meant to be. I had my doubts they could get it done this time because the Packer defense is very similar to the Steeler defense, and it was going to take everyone being on the same page and firing on all cylinders for that to happen. ...

Super Bowl XLV – Green Bay Packers vs. Pittsburgh Steelers Here we go. The ultimate game for football purists. This game will wreak of tradition. Curly Lambeau, Vince Lombardi, Lambeau Field, 12 NFL titles (and three Super Bowls). Art Rooney (The Chief), Dan Rooney, Art Rooney II, Chuck Noll, Bill Cowher, Mike Tomlin (three head coaches in 42 years). Each one has brought home Vince Lombardi’s trophy. You can throw all of the corporate baloney out the window (sorry, Jerry Jones – NOT!). These are two small market teams that play football the way it was meant to be played, even though both offenses know how to air the ball out, and both teams play defense. This is a game the way the football Gods intended it to be, so here we are. Just so all of the fashion conscious people are represented, the Green Bay Packers are the designated home team in this contest (NFC, odd years, AFC, even years) and that means they get to choose which uniform they are wearing. They will play in thei...