The Week That Was

Toad’s “What a Year” post yesterday was spot on and got me to thinking about the dominance we as Pittsburgh sports fans have enjoyed over the previous twelve months. While nothing short of a repeat performance could top the euphoria of 1979’s City of Champions run, 2008-09 is certainly running a strong second and this spring could be the most prolific in the long history of Pittsburgh sports. And we may look back on the past week as the pinnacle.

I’m hard pressed to recall a week quite as dominant as the last seven days. With our six time World Champion Steelers already setting the bar high, the remaining teams have answered the bell. You can read in greater detail the individual exploits elsewhere on this site, I just want to tie them all together in an abstract look at Pittsburgh greatness.

-Pitt came out of the DeJuan Blair-described “Celebrity Death Match” with Connecticut looking like a runaway freight train. The Panthers are ranked second in both polls and lead the nation in RPI after a week which saw them crush 21st ranked Marquette and then top-ranked UConn for the second time this season. The Huskies came into the Peterson Events Center with a score to settle after Pitt knocked the Huskies from the top of the polls last month on their home court. However, backed by an electric crowd that seemed more appropriate for a Steelers-Ravens tilt, Pitt emerged victorious in a game whose atmosphere resembled a heavyweight fight. Most importantly for Pitt is that they are peaking at the right time and have avoided any major injuries (so far). With the Big East Tournament starting later this week, the Panthers are poised for quite possibly the most successful postseason run in school history.

-After being left for dead, the listless Penguins flipped a switch and suddenly have come alive, looking more like the team that was two victories from the Stanley Cup last season. Ray Shero took a big gamble in firing Michael Therrien on February 15th but at least in the short term interim coach Dan Bylsma has made the embattled GM look like a genius. The Pens are 8-2 since the change and put an exclamation point on their comeback with a thrilling shootout victory over Washington on Sunday to extend their winning streak to six. Shero once again looks like the shrewd dealer he was last spring after going through a downright Littlefieldian phase over his free agent signings. While his playoff numbers are quite pedestrian (28 goals, 22 assists in 105 games), Bill Guerin has already shown how valuable a scoring winger is for Sidney Crosby, netting four points in two games on Sid’s line. Despite the winning streak, the road to the playoffs are still an uphill climb for the Penguins, however we all remember how it ended the last time a Pittsburgh team had to make a late season run just to make it to the postseason:


Just sayin’!