Western Pennsylvania Sports Quiz: 1) Name six quarterbacks from Western Pennsylvania that went on to have Hall of Fame NFL careers. 2) Who was the first college running back to rush for 1,000 yards in each of his four seasons? 3) What Pitt male student won gold medals in the 110-meter hurdles at the 1984 and ’88 Olympics? 4) Who is the only NBA Hall of Famer to play for a Pittsburgh franchise? Answers below.
Two Losses…and Extending the Record
Yes, as I noted before it was in July, the Pirates had surged to 51-44, had a half-game lead over Milwaukee and certainly appeared to be on the verge of breaking their North American professional sports record of 18 consecutive losing seasons. That day I had the brilliant idea of getting tickets to two Pirates-Cards games in mid-September. Heck, even if Pittsburgh wasn’t in the pennant race by then, at least I’d possibly see them clinch a winning record and thus break the streak.
Talk about jinxing a franchise. You all know what has happened since. I was in attendance for the games on Tuesday night and Wednesday afternoon, 6-4 and 3-2 losses, and I didn’t even realize sitting there Wednesday that I had just witnessed the Bucs clinch the 19th-straight losing season with a loss that took them to 67-82. So they are 16-38 since peaking out and talk about the same old, same old. It was in July, as the Pirates surged, that attendance came back, especially for a Cardinals series that drew an average 35,000. The two games I went to, however, had announced crowds of 16,500 (Tues.) and 12,500, but they were less than that.
And one of the sad parts was Wednesday was Roberto Clemente Day, so his wife and son and lots of members of the 1971 World Series Champs were there but during the pre-game ceremony, I’m guessing about 4,000 were in their seats. Pathetic.
But let me tell you about the positives of the experience. I stayed at a Hyatt Place (love this relatively new chain…stripped down version of a Hyatt Regency that is much more comfortable) that was exactly in between Heinz Field and PNC Park. I’m tellin’ ya…from my seat in the left-center field bleachers to my hotel was just a 5-minute walk. Can you beat that? Nope. What a dream 4- or 5-day trip if you could combine a Pitt Panthers game on a Saturday, Steelers Sunday, and a Pirate game or two Monday thru Wednesday. Two cab rides to and from Pitt and the rest you just roll out of bed and start partying!
You also have Jerome Bettis’ sports bar/restaurant (Grille 36), McFadden’s, and two other joints all within a 3- or 4- minute walk of the hotel. I went to Bettis’ place when I arrived Monday night, thoroughly enjoyed myself, watching tennis and then Monday Night Football, had a decent meal, bunch of domestic; I mean life is good. Tuesday night was the game and afterwards met some delightful Canadian lads at the little bar in the hotel and the four of us stayed up until 12:30 talking about everything from the 1985 Kansas City Royals (Willie Wilson’s name came up…and these guys knew their sports) to why I think there will be a coup in Russia, to everything in between.
But now I’m beat so just a beer or two at McFadden’s later as I put a dent in this column Wednesday afternoon. Thursday I’m heading to Shanksville to pay my respects and then I’m camping out somewhere in Pa. to bang out that other column I do before going home. But gotta still stop in Shartlesville to stock up on Shoofly pie (Pennsylvania Dutch molasses treat). Ya freeze ‘em and they last forever.
Helluva Region
As part of the Heinz History complex here in Pittsburgh, they have a sports museum dedicated to the Western Pennsylvania region. If I just threw that at you, you might think ‘is there really enough there for a big museum?’ Of course it would take you all of 15 seconds before you’d realize…heck yeah! What a cool place. I love the baseball-football card collection, for example, just focusing on the Pirates and Steelers.
So herewith are some haphazard, random notes I took down.
KDKA in Pittsburgh did the first radio broadcast of a game, 8/5/21. Harold Arlin was behind the mike.
Bob “The Gunner” Prince’s career broadcasting Pirates games spanned 1947-75 before he was fired. Self-promoter Prince gave us “The Green Weenie” and “Babushka Power” among other things.
Great section on high school football, including old letterman jackets from each program. I’d say Western Pennsylvania high school football is the equal of Ohio and Texas in terms of fanaticism. Obviously Florida and California have the athletes but not nearly the intensity.
The last Pitt-Penn State football game was 2000. Very stupid to get rid of this rivalry.
Joe Paterno has been coaching Penn State since 1966. Back then, Robert E. Lee had eased into academia after the Civil War…or so it seems Paterno has been around that long.
Forbes Field was built in mere months from March 1-June 30, 1909. It opened in mid-season and was home for the Pirates and many a Negro League team until June 28, 1970, when Three Rivers was introduced.
There were a total of sixteen baseballs hit clear out of Forbes Field and Willie Stargell was responsible for seven of them. On May 25, 1935, Babe Ruth hit the last three home runs of his career here, including the first shot to clear the right-field grandstand while with the Boston Braves. He actually went 4-for-4 with six RBI that day, though Pittsburgh won the game 11-7 and Ruth would hang it up shortly thereafter.
Near the end of his career, Hall of Famer Lloyd “Little Poison” Waner played in 77 games one year and in 219 at-bats he didn’t strike out once! Waner never struck out more than 23 times in a season. For example, in 1928 he fanned just 13 times in 659 ABs. In 1927, fellow Hall of Famer and brother, Paul, “Big Poison,” struck out only 14 times in 623 at-bats while hitting .380.
I noticed in a photo of the locker room celebration following the Pirates’ 1960 World Series triumph that they were drinking Great Western champagne. Oh man…the headaches they must have had the next morning.
Pittsburgh was the center of the Negro Leagues with franchises like the Pittsburgh Crawfords and Homestead Grays. Almost all of the players who would later be selected for the Hall of Fame played in Pittsburgh…greats such as Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson, Cool Papa Bell, Oscar Charleston, Judy Johnson and Buck Leonard. In a game in Yankee Stadium, it is said Gibson hit a home run an estimated 580 feet! The museum had a signed Buck Leonard baseball. That would be way cool to have.
And Franco’s Italian Army…some great photos of Frank Sinatra being presented his official helmet designating him a member of the club. Harris donated his Super Bowl IX ring to the museum, a classy touch by a totally classy guy. Don’t come better than Franco. Some would say he was too nice, which is why he liked to sprint to the sidelines, but that’s why he lasted so long.
Great photos of a young Arnold Palmer. His father, Deacon, gave 3-year-old Arnie a cut-down golf club with the following advice.
“Get the right grip. Hit the ball hard. Go find the ball…and hit it hard again.”
Doug Opperman of Western PA was the national marble king in 1940. Funny display on this one. You younger folks out there have no idea how popular marbles once were. Even I had my little leather bag to hold mine. Too bad kids today don’t play more marbles in the dirt instead of wasting their lives playing video games.
Just seeing a picture of Jack Lambert brings a smile to your face.
And you can imagine there are a few video screens with the “Immaculate Reception” playing; Dec. 23, 1972…22 seconds left, Steelers down 7-6 to Oakland, ball on their own 40. Bradshaw goes back to pass, eludes a tackler, fires a strike down field to Frenchy Fuqua, who is actually wearing football cleats, rather than those platform shoes he had with gold fish in the heels (remember those?), Oakland safety Jack Tatum delivers a typical vicious hit on Fuqua as the ball arrives, it careens backwards…into the hands of Franco Harris! May children 300 years from now be told this story.
Steel Curtain…Joe Greene and L.C. Greenwood were first, followed by Dwight White and Ernie Holmes.
1st round…Lyn Swann
2nd round…Jack Lambert
4th round…John Stallworth and Jimmy Allen
5th round…Mike Webster
Let’s see…only four Hall of Famers and a very serviceable d-back, Allen, who played four seasons for Pittsburgh.
Andy Warhol
I forgot when talking about my hotel location that a museum celebrating Pittsburgh native Warhol’s life is also just a five-minute walk so I checked that out Wednesday morning before the Bucs game. [There is also a big Carnegie Science Museum five minutes the other way that I did not get to this time.]
I can’t say I was a Warhol fan, but talk about an impact on pop culture, let alone being the man to come up with the iconic phrase that everyone has their fifteen minutes of fame. Not a week or two goes by without it being used relative to a national news story.
I mean talk about an American success story. Born on Aug. 6, 1928, at 73 Orr Street in Pittsburgh, the son of immigrants (he was born Andy Warhola) who were Byzantine Catholics, Andy’s father saved up enough money before he died to make sure the kid, who exhibited major artistic talent, including in photography early on, went to Schenley High School and then Carnegie Tech (now Carnegie Mellon University) where he got a degree in Pictorial Design.
Warhol’s goal was to become a commercial illustrator and by 1961 he started doing Pop paintings, debuting the Campbell’s Soup Cans series in 1962.
He was obsessed with celebrity and at first did portraits of the likes of Elizabeth Taylor, Marilyn Monroe and Elvis, in his own distinctive way; though later he made a fortune when celebrities sought him out to do their portraits on commission.
Of course Andy was a strange guy, partied way too hard, he being a fixture at the infamous Studio 54, and was surrounded by some wackos, including one, Valerie Solanas, who in 1968 walked into his Union Square (New York) studio and shot him in the abdomen. At first it was reported he had been killed, but he survived, though not before many operations. For her part, Solanas said she did it because “I am a flower girl and he had too much control over me.”
Warhol’s health was always an issue, going back to when he was a kid, and in 1987 he had gall bladder surgery, which supposedly went well, but then he experienced more pain and died of cardiac arrest.
He had one interesting ride, even as I find his work incredibly depressing, especially his films, of which the museum is loaded with them (though one of a woman eating a banana in seemingly super-slow motion is too funny), yet his place in art history and pop culture is secure, forever. So good for him. More than most of us can say.
–I did see the third and fourth sets of the U.S. Open Men’s final between Djokovic and Nadal and it really is amazing that Novak dominated so this year, winning three of the four majors, while playing in the same era as two of the top three players in the history of the game in Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer. I mean what if Djokovic repeats the same success next year? Then he’d probably be considered the greatest, even if lacking in total grand slam titles, now four. The guy is 64-2 this season!
But then there was Serena Williams. Why do some continue to give this [rhymes with witch] a free pass?
As described by Douglas Robson of USA TODAY, as Serena was playing Sam Stosur in the women’s final…
“Facing break point in the first game of the second set, Williams crushed a forehand but screamed ‘C’mon!’ before Stosur finished making a play on the ball – though it appeared unreturnable.
“Chair umpire Eva Asderaki awarded the point to Stosur under tennis’ hindrance rule whereby a player cannot deliberately hinder play. If deemed unintentional – such as a hat falling off a player’s head – the point can be replayed.
“Williams lost her temper and approached Asderaki, saying ‘I’m not giving her that game.’”
“Over the next few minutes, Williams glared, brandished her racket at the chair and continued to launch verbal attacks on changeovers – a scene reminiscent of her ugly exit from the 2009 U.S. Open semifinal loss to Kim Clijsters after a foot-fault call late in the contest.”
“Aren’t you the one who screwed me over last time? Yeah you are,” Serena said, perhaps mixing up Asderaki with Louise Engzell of foot-fault fame.
“You’re out of control,” she then said on a changeover. “You’re a hater, and you’re just unattractive inside. And I never complain. Wow.”
Oh, and Serena didn’t apologize afterward. She waited a few days before issuing a meek one.
–Mark R. reminded me that one sports tragedy was omitted from the list I supplied the other day; that being the crash of one of two planes carrying the Wichita State University football team on Oct. 2, 1970, near Loveland, Colorado. 31 in all were killed.
–The aforementioned Mark R. also took care of me while I was in town, directing me to Tambellini Ristorante for their specialty, fried zucchini. Fried zucchini? you’re probably musing. What’s so special about that?
Ah, but you haven’t had fried zucchini until you’ve tried it at Tambellini. Mark, Joe the bartender also took care of me with the Penn Pilsner; quite tasty in its own right.
–Is there anything more ridiculous than the NBA lockout that is definitely threatening the upcoming season? These guys are total idiots, not that you didn’t already know this. I mean you can count on one hand the number of NBA players that you’d probably enjoy having a beer with, assuming actual conversation was part of the deal.
The NBA claims losses of nearly $640 million the last two seasons, and who knows if that is anywhere close to the truth, but you’d have to be a real dolt not to understand the league is not doing well with the incredibly stupid salary structure it allowed to take hold.
So the NBA wants a hard salary cap, which would still mean some very questionable talent would make $millions, but the players are balking.
Good. We all could use a year off from the NBA. Honestly, with the exception of one or two cities, would you really care?
–Congratulations to Tim Wakefield for finally winning his 200th game the other night, it taking the 87-year-old Wakefield seemingly forever to do it.
–Did you know that at PNC Park you are allowed to drink beer from a can in your seat? In New York you have to drink it from a cup because they are afraid of missiles being launched. Not in civilized Pittsburgh, by god.
–So I had front row seats for my two Pirates games in the left-center bleachers and you’re down low in that part of the park, really on top of the outfield action (though no homers were hit my way…drat). I have never had this kind of seat and spent the entire 18 innings over the two days observing the left fielders…as in they are incredibly bored, something you just don’t get a true feel of if, say, you’re behind home plate or somewhere in the mezzanine. You really have to challenge yourself mentally to stay awake if you’re an outfielder.
–Tuesday evening was bring the dog night at PNC and the crowd is so quiet, because their team sucks, that it was hilarious at times when suddenly all this barking broke out. Wednesday afternoon was a different story. The crowd was equally silent, save for one little girl near me who couldn’t stop screaming “Let’s Go Bucs! Let’s Go Bucs!” It was so damn irritating I just wanted to scream, “Where the hell are the parents of that girl?!” [Or something like that.] It’s like at Mets games…there is some jerk who has insisted for years on banging on a cow bell incessantly. NYPD really needs to make up some charges and put the guy away for the rest of my life because I can’t take it anymore. [Mets television viewers certainly know of whom I speak. The Mets announcers want to say something, but unlike me they can’t call him a raving idiot.]
–Congratulations to Mariano Rivera for his 600th save, one shy of Trevor Hoffman’s all-time mark.
–Yes, I saw Tom Brady throw for 517 yards, an amazing feat, thanks in no small part to that 99-yard hookup with Wes Welker. So Brady fell just short of the NFL mark held by Norm Van Brocklin, 554, set way back in 1951. The Patriots and Dolphins combined for an NFL record 906 net passing yards.
–I’m still depressed about all this movement among the college conferences…because I hate change! Oklahoma (and Oklahoma State) seem destined for the Pac-12 as the Big 12 goes up in flames. I just guarantee these guys are all shooting themselves in the foot. The ACC, for example, has sucked since its last expansion (and reduced rivalry games in basketball, for one). You’re just throwing away 100 years of tradition. It’s so freakin’ stupid, but we live in a culture of greed…greed that has taken us down a few times, going back to the tech bubble, and we never learn. With the super conferences it’s about the new television networks that are springing up but this is like a real estate bubble. No way the schools and conferences get the same rights fees from the networks going forward and they’ll be left with a highly diluted product.
Norman Chad of the Washington Post had the following thoughts on the topic.
“It all started on Nov. 6, 1869: On an inglorious Saturday afternoon in New Brunswick, N.J., Rutgers defeated Princeton, 6-4, in America’s first college football game. On the following Monday, the NCAA placed both schools on probation.
“(Okay, you know I’m kidding – sure, Rutgers is capable of anything, but Princeton doesn’t cheat.)
“Now, 142 years later, we’re told that college football is broken and needs to be fixed. It’s not broken; Social Security is broken and the tax code is broken and Washington is broken, and all need to be fixed. College football needs to be rocketed into outer space, shattered into a billion unrecognizable pieces.
“Reggie Bush did some bad stuff, stripping him of his Heisman Trophy and Southern Cal of its 2004 national title.
“Jim Tressel and his players did some bad stuff, forcing him to resign at Ohio State.
“Cam Newton’s father did some bad stuff, and someone somewhere likely will pay a price.
“In addition, Alabama, Auburn, Boise State, Georgia Tech, Miami, Michigan, North Carolina, Oregon and Tennessee – among others – all have done some bad stuff.
“(If you took all the schools being punished or investigated by the NCAA, you could form a new super-league that would land the biggest TV contract in history. Speaking of which, what was originally the Pacific Coast Conference morphed into the Pacific-8, then the Pac-10, now the Pac-12, soon-to-be the Pac-16 en route, I believe, to eventually becoming Pac-NATO, with member schools in 28 nations.)
“Things got so bad, NCAA President Mark Emmert last month got together 50 or so NCAA leaders in Indianapolis for a summit meeting, a.k.a. ‘Mardi Gras for Escort Services.’
“Heck, the University of Miami alone reminds me of a drug-and-arms dealer running a storefront operation on the middle of Main Street from 9 to 5 while local law enforcement cruises the block looking for parking-meter violators.”
–Finally, we note the passing of actor Andy Whitfield, 39, who starred in the television series “Spartacus: Blood and Sand.” The cause was non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
Top 3 songs for the week of 9/14/85: #1 “St. Elmo’s Fire” (John Parr…whatever) #2 “We Don’t Need Another Hero” (Tina Turner…her music doesn’t age real well) #3 “Money For Nothing” (Dire Straits…career was shortly in dire straits)…and…#4 “Cherish” (Kool & The Gang…not bad for this kind of tune) #5 “The Power Of Love” (Huey Lewis and The News…so-so for this incredibly crappy era) #6 “Don’t Love My Number” (Phil Collins…guy’s a real jerk, so they say) #7 “Freeway Of Love” (Aretha Franklin…dreadful) #8 “Freedom” (Wham!) #9 “Pop Life” (Prince & The Revolution) #10 “Invincible” (Pat Benatar…as you can see I’m plainly losing interest…I’m goin’ back to the 60s next time)
Western Pennsylvania Sports Quiz Answers: 1) Six HOF QBs from Western Pa. – George Blanda, Joe Montana, Johnny Unitas, Joe Namath, Dan Marino, Jim Kelly. Another decent QB, Babe Parilli, also hailed from the region, as well as countless others who don’t warrant a mention. 2) Pitt’s Tony Dorsett was the first college back to rush for 1,000 yards in each of his four years, as well as being the first to rush for 6,000 in his career. And of course I can’t help but note for new readers that I witnessed Dorsett’s 303 yards rushing against Notre Dame in 1975, at a time when no back had ever had 200 yards rushing against the then Fighting Irish, today better known as the Wee Irish. 3) Pitt student Roger Kingdom was the great hurdler who won gold in both Los Angeles and Seoul, 1984 and ’88, in the 110-meter event. 4) Connie Hawkins played for the Pittsburgh Pipers in 1967-68 and helped lead them to the first ABA championship. Hawkins then went to the NBA where he completed his Hall of Fame career.
