With 2010 winding down and my urge to create an archive of it in high gear, I combined both into this post, a blow-by-blow account of the past 12 months in Pittsburgh sports. It's way too long, and there's a lot of stuff I felt was worth mentioning that probably wasn't, but brevity has never been one of my strong suits. It took me hours upon hours to compose, so I hope it serves some purpose, if nothing else than to bring back a lot of great (and some not-so-great) memories from the year that was.
JANUARY:
Ben Roethlisberger
put up $17,000 in airfare, hotels and other transportation costs to send the Thomas Jefferson Youth Football League's Little Jaguars to the Big Dog Bowl, a championship tournament in Los Angeles organized by Snoop Dogg.
Pitt
upset #5 Syracuse, 82-72, at the Carrier Dome, getting 24 points from Ashton Gibbs.
The Steelers wrapped up the 2010 campaign with a
30-24 win against Miami behind 3 TD passes from Big Ben.
ST coach Bob Ligashesky was
relieved of his duties by the Steelers, as was
O-line coach Larry Zierlein.
The 5-12-3 Robert Morris hockey team
swept #1 Miami (OH) two times in the course of one weekend.
The Pirates
signed 38-year-old P Brendan Donnelly to a one-year deal, and also picked up P DJ Carrasco, P Octavio Dotel, and
OF Ryan Church.
Randy Fitchner was
named as the Steelers' new QB coach, replacing Ken Anderson. They also hired
Al Everest as the new special teams coach and
Sean Kugler for the O-line.
New York Islanders defenseman Andy Sutton
sat two games and forfeited more than $31K in salary for a hit on Pascal Dupuis.
Bobby Bragan, manager of the Pirates in 1956-57,
passed away in Fort Worth, Texas, at the age of 92.
Matt Cooke scored on a power-play goal with 1:47 left in the third period to
lead the Penguins past the Flyers, 2-1, in front of a national NBC audience.
The
Bill Mazeroski statue was announced, to be unveiled later in 2010.
Talk of Mario Lemieux
buying the Pirates burned up the internet
Total attendance for PirateFest was 15,398, up 271 from last year, with a 1,200-person boost over last year's final day.
57-year-old Wayne Persang, formerly of Pittsburgh, rolled a perfect 300 game while bowling in a league at Countryside Lanes in Clearwater, Florida on January 11. On January 13th at Highland Lakes Golf Course in Palm Harbor, Persang
aced the fifth hole.
The Penguins overcame a 46-save performance from Jimmy Howard and
outlasted the Detroit Red Wings by a 2-1 count in OT in front of a national NBC audience.
Three Steelers were
named to the NFL's Team of the Decade
FEBRUARY:
Paul Zeise and Bob Pompeani
officially lost it with bloggers
DL Aaron Donald, QB Anthony Gonzalez, WR Kevin Weatherspoon, DL T.J. Clemmings, and prep school athlete Todd Thomas were among the
24 LOIs received by the Pitt Panthers.
The basketball Backyard Brawl in Morgantown was ugly for Pitt on the court and ugly for WVU in the stands, resulting in
Bob Huggins grabbing the mic to scold his own crowd.
"Bullet" Bill Dudley, a former Steeler and 1966 inductee into the Hall of Fame, passed away after a short illness at the age of 88 in Lynchburg, Virginia.
Pitt beat WVU 98-95 in the Brawl rematch..
.in TRIPLE OT.
93.7 The Fan made its debut on the FM dial, with an opening lineup featuring Paul Alexander, Jim Colony, Jon Burton, Ron Cook, Vinnie Richichi, John Seibel, Joe Starkey, Gregg Giannotti, Andrew Fillipponi, and Chris Mueller.
Former Pirate Jim Bibby
passed away at age 65.
Mayor Steelerstahl lost it with the media over
whispers that he was at Mardi Gras, coming on the heels of his being snowed in at Seven Springs during the first Pittsburgh Snowpocalypse two weekends before.
Pitt's Elijah Fields
posted some crazy pictures on his Twitter account
Pitt
beat #3 Villanova, 70-65, before more than 13,000 at the Pete and a CBS national audience.
A signed pair of Joe Paterno's glasses
sold for $9,000 in an online auction.
Frank Coonelly managed to
complicate a bad situation with his "dynasty" comments.
Casey Hampton
reached a three-year deal to stay a Pittsburgh Steeler.
Mixed feelings swept Pittsburgh as
Sidney Crosby broke America's hearts in the Olympic Gold Medal Game.
Sid's Olympic heroics were even worthy of an SI cover:
MARCH:
The Pens
picked up Alexei Ponikarovsky from Toronto in exchange for Luca Caputi and Martin Skoula. Pittsburgh also
dealt for Calgary's Jordan Leopold.
With Pitt trailing by one and 3.5 seconds left in the game against Providence, Ashton Gibbs
hit a three-pointer at the buzzer, giving the Panthers the 73-71 win and locking up a double-bye in the Big East tournament to boot
Ben Roethlisberger was
accused of sexual assault in Milledgeville, Georgia. Hands down the biggest Pittsburgh sports story of 2010.
Matt Cooke
delivered his famous knockout to Boston's Marc Savard.
Antwaan Randle-El left the Washington Redskins to
re-join the Steelers in free agency.
Ryan Clark shocked the football world and
re-signed with the Steelers.
WPXI's Rick Earle creeped everyone out when he
dropped in on Ben Roethlisberger's Georgia neighborhood.
Dallas Green hit
two free throws with seven seconds left to give Robert Morris a 52-50 win over Quinnpiac in the NEC Championship, sending the Colonials to the NCAA Tournament.
She's Out of My League, the movie shot in Pittsburgh starring Jay Baruchel and Alice Eve, opened in theaters. It would finish with a worldwide gross of $48 million on a $20 million budget.
Former Pirate OF
Brian Giles retired, finishing with a .291 career average, 287 home runs and 1,078 RBI in 1,847 games.
John Steigerwald
ripped Ben Roethlisberger on his new website, Just Watch the Game.
Pitt
lost to Notre Dame, 50-45, in the Big East Tournament at MSG.
I
took on a role with 93.7 The Fan, writing weekly articles and appearing on-air at various times and on various programs throughout their lineup.
Larry Foote
signed a three-year, $9.3 million deal to return to the Steelers after a year in Detroit exile.
Mike Tomlin
checked out Tim Tebow at Florida's pro day
The Pens fell to 0-6 against the New Jersey Devils on the season with a depressing
5-2 loss on the road.
Ben Roethlisberger got the
South Park treatment.
Robert Morris took Villanova to OT in the NCAA Tournament,
eventually falling 73-70 in a game with very controversial officiating.
Xavier
knocked Pitt out of the NCAA Tournament by a final of 71-68.
'Mad Mike' Jones, a 2001 X Games gold medalist from Export, was held at a detention center on allegations he
attacked a repairman and a police officer at Miami International Airport.
Santonio Holmes was
accused of attacking a woman with a glass and slicing her face open at Rain Nightclub in Orlando, Florida.
John Russell announced his bright idea to
bat the pitcher eighth.
Dave Wannstedt and Kris Letang
both got contract extensions. At least it worked out for one of them.
Santonio Holmes
was on quite the Twitter roll
APRIL:
Steeler Super Bowl XL hero Willie Parker
joined the Washington Redskins.
The Pirates
opened the 2010 regular season with an 11-5 win over the LA Dodgers in front of 39,000+ at PNC Park.
Pittsburgh's Marc Bulger was
released after a long stint with the St. Louis Rams.
Former Penguin Dan Quinn became
a caddy for pro golf star Ernie Els.
The Pens dropped to 0-4 on the season against the Washington Capitals with a
6-3 loss.
Former Pitt head coach Walt Harris
took an offensive coordinator job at Cal U.
The last regular-season game at Mellon Arena
was pretty awesome.
I had the chance to take a tour of the yet-to-be-completed Consol Energy Center, and put together a
photo essay of the day.
Pitt basketball assistant coach Tom Herrion was
hired as the new head man at Marshall.
The Pens ended the regular season with a
6-5 overtime win at the New York Islanders on a late goal by Jordan Leopold.
Santonio Holmes was
traded to the Jets for a fifth-round pick.
Big Ben spoke. His hair spoke even more.
Big Ben Beef Jerky
officially bit the dust.
The Pens opened the Stanley Cup playoffs with a
5-4 loss to Ottawa at the Igloo.
Brewers 20, Pirates 0: The worst loss in Pirate history.
Maurkice Pouncey of Florida was the Steelers'
first-round pick in the 2010 NFL Draft.
The Senators beat the Penguins 4-3...
in Triple OT.
Jason Worilds of Virginia Tech
was the Steelers' second-round pick in the NFL Draft.
Emmanuel Sanders, who had 98 receptions for 1,339 yards and seven touchdowns in 2009 at SMU, was the Steelers'
third-round pick in the NFL Draft.
On Day 3 of the NFL Draft,
the Steelers grabbed Antonio Brown, Chris Scott, Crezdon Butler, Doug Worthington, Jonathan Dwyer, Stevenson Sylvester, Thaddeus Gibson, and traded for Bryant McFadden.
Pirate starting pitcher Chris Jakubauskas
was hit in the head by a Lance Berkman line drive in the bottom of the first inning of a 5-2 loss to Houston.
A Pascal Dupuis OT goal
advanced the Pens past the Ottawa Senators in the playoffs.
Former Steeler QB Mike Tomczak was
arrested in connection with a domestic dispute, but the charges were later dropped.
Brewers 17, Pirates 3.
Former Steeler Alan Faneca
signed with the Pittsburgh-West Arizona Cardinals.
Ben Roethlisberger was
mentioned in an Eminem song.
MAY:
Coach Mike Rice left Robert Morris to
take the helm at Rutgers
Penn State was ranked 14 and Pitt 16 in
SI's Top 25 football poll.
Ben Roethlisberger covered Sports Illustrated, but it was one he'd rather forget.
The Montreal Canadiens
knocked the Penguins out of the playoffs and closed Mellon Arena in disappointing fashion.
The Duquesne Dukes
played their last home baseball game ever, an 8-3 loss to Temple.
A Penguin-bashing story was
removed from the Nutting-owned Piratesreport.com website.
Ryan Doumit
hit a two-out, 10th-inning home run off of Takashi Saito, giving the Pirates a 3-2 win over the Atlanta Braves at PNC Park.
The 2011
Winter Classic-to-Pittsburgh announcement was made official.
JUNE:
“Dana Eveland is a 26-year-old left-hander who has shown the ability to be an effective major-league starting pitcher. He has an interesting four-pitch mix, and we feel this acquisition is a potential upgrade for our current rotation with the
upside of years of control and improved production.” --
Neil Huntington
The Sporting News
called Dion Lewis "The Game's Most Complete Runner".
P Jameson Taillon of The Woodlands, TX, was
drafted second overall by the Pirates.
Stephen Strasburg made his MLB debut,
shutting down the Pirates in Washington.
DVDs were made public from the Ben Roethlisberger case.
Brad Lincoln
made his MLB debut in a 7-5 loss to the Washington Nationals.
The NY Times iPhone app somehow
mixed up Ben Roethlisberger with noted lady murderer Joran Van Der Sloot.
Former Penguin assistant Mike Yeo
took a job as head coach of the Houston Aeros AHL team.
In Pedro Alvarez's first game at PNC Park, the Pirates had
six errors and five hits in a 5-2 loss to the Chicago White Sox, the team's 10th loss in a row.
John Russell and Neil Huntington get contract extensions...
months earlier, it was revealed.
The Pirates' PR nightmare continued with the
firing of an outspoken pierogi.
The Penguins
signed Matt Cooke to a new three-year deal.
Paul Maholm pitched so bad in a 13-3 loss to Texas that he
apologized on Twitter.
After "his legs just went to Jell-O," the Pirates
rid themselves of Dana Eveland.
Mondesi's House
turned four years old.
Beau Bennett
became the newest member of the Pittsburgh Penguins when he was chosen with their first-round draft pick.
OT Willie Colon
tore his Achilles and went on IR, costing him the 2010 season.
A c
elebrity dove hunt experience with Bubby Brister and Bill Romanowski went up for bid, and someone plunked down $2500 for the opportunity.
JULY:
D Sergei Gonchar signed with Ottawa, and the Pens
filled that void with free agent Zbynek Michalek.
D Paul Martin then
signed with the Penguins for five years, $25 million.
The Amazing Kreskin offered to
pull the Pirates out of their funk, for an undisclosed fee.
Former Penguin Mark Eaton
joined the New York Islanders.
Evan Meek was
named as the Pirates' representative for the 2010 All-Star Game.
Chad Ochocinco famously
compared the Steelers to girls.
Mike Tomlin scored a
three-year extension through 2014.
Ben Roethlisberger was
named in a public urination complaint.
It was announced that the Frozen Four is
coming to Pittsburgh's Consol Energy Center in April, 2013.
Aleksey Lukashevich became the latest
international experiment undertaken by the Pittsburgh Pirates, as he is the first-ever player from Belarus to sign a Major-League contract.
Darnell Stapleton, a starting lineman for the Steelers in Super Bowl 43,
signed with the UFL's Florida Tuskers.
Pitt D-lineman Jabaal Sheard
threw a guy through a glass door window on the South Side.
The University of Florida and the NCAA investigated a
possible rules violation involving Maurkice Pouncey.
The Mario Lemieux statue talk started to pick up steam.
Andrew Stockey's slip of the tongue
landed the WTAE newsman on Jay Leno.
LaMarr Woodley said
his treatment by the team has been "jacked up".
Kaye Cowher
passed away at 54 due to skin cancer.
DeJuan Blair...
rapping.
Penguin PA announcer John Barbero
passed away after a lengthy illness at 65.
Jack Tatum, one of the key players involved in The Immaculate Reception,
passed away at 61.
Mondesi's House
got a makeover.
Greg Romeus and Dion Lewis
went to Bristol, CT, to appear on ESPN in advance of the 2010 season.
Mario Lemieux and Sidney Crosby became the
first people to hit the Consol Energy Center ice.
The Steelers
signed OT Flozell "The Hotel" Adams to replace injured Willie Colon.
Neal Huntington
pulled the trigger on a five-player deal with Arizona, dealing P D.J. Carrasco, OF Ryan Church, and IF Bobby Crosby for C Chris Snyder and minor-league SS Pedro Ciriaco.
AUGUST:
Jeff Reed
accused the Steelers of lying to him in the matter of his contract.
Chan Ho Park joined the Pirates to little fanfare.
Pitt and Penn State
were ranked back-to-back in the first coaches poll of the season.
93.7 The Fan
moved Gregg Giannotti to their Morning Show alongside Jim Colony and Paul Alexander.
Super Bowl XL referee Bill Leavy
re-opened the can of worms that was the officiating in that game.
Ed Rendell
wiped out at the opening ceremonies of the Consol Energy Center
On the same Saturday night, Dick LeBeau, Russ Grimm, and Rickey Jackson got inducted into the Hall of Fame, the Pirates won 8-7 on a walkoff home run, and the Bucs fired pitching coach Joe Kerrigan and bench coach Gary Varsho after the game.
The
two greatest Pedro Alvarez clips in internet history were featured.
Longtime Pirate GM Joe L. Brown
passed away at 91.
The Pirates
signed both Jameson Taillon and Stetson Allie to big-money contracts.
Hines Ward
said Dennis Dixon was the new Kordell Stewart. The internet was left to wonder whether or not that was a good thing.
Paul McCartney
had the honors of opening the Consol Energy Center
The Pirates
gave $2.6 million to 16-year-old Mexican pitcher Luis Heredia.
The Pittsburgh Power
revealed their ownership details, logo, and website.
Bottom of the fourth inning. Your team is down 7-2. Two outs. Runners at second and third.
And who does John Russell send to the plate? Reliever Sean Gallagher.
Deadspin
opened up the Pirates' books for the general public's review.
Malcolm Gilbert, the 16th-ranked center in the recruiting Class of 2011,
committed to the Pitt Panthers.
Pens President
David Morehouse was booed at a meeting concerning the future of Mellon Arena.
Dan Rooney was
kicked out of the press box at Giants Stadium during a Steeler preseason game there.
Troy Polamalu's hair was insured for $1 million, no doubt connected to his role as spokesperson for Head and Shoulders shampoo.
The Pirates were
walloped by the Cubs 14-2, and the game featured a home run from Chicago pitcher Carlos Zambrano.
SEPTEMBER:
Pitt's Nike Pro Combat uniforms for the Backyard Brawl were
revealed to the public.
Pitt was sloppy yet still had a shot to win in an
opening-game defeat at Utah.
The Penguins
signed Mr. Hilary Duff, Mike Comrie.
Former Steelers Kraig Urbik, Stefan Logan, and Patrick Bailey
landed with new teams.
Sidney Crosby
took batting practice with the Pirates and opened some eyes after going deep.
Ray Graham and Tino Sunseri led Pitt in a
38-16 win against New Hampshire, their first W of the 2010 season.
Terry Bradshaw said on Fox that he
would've gotten rid of Ben Roethlisberger if he owned the Steelers.
The Steelers opened the 2010 regular season with a
15-9 OT win against the Atlanta Falcons at Heinz Field.
The Pirates
released their 2011 schedule, including games against the Boston Red Sox, Baltimore Orioles, and Detroit Tigers.
Chris Siegfried was named as the
first coach in Pittsburgh Power history.
Hines Ward was named by President Obama
to the President's Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.
The Steelers beat Tennessee, 19-11, and James Harrison
bodyslammed Vince Young to the tune of a $5,000 fine.
The Pens' first preseason game at the Consol Energy Center was a
5-1 victory over the Detroit Red Wings.
The HBO
24/7 reality series following the Pens and Capitals
was formally announced.
Pitt was blown out at home in a disappointing
31-3 loss to the Miami Hurricanes.
Rashard Mendenhall ran for 143 yards in a
38-13 Steeler win at Tampa Bay.
Former Raiders QB George Blanda of Youngwood
passed away at age 83.
The Pittsburgh Power signed their first player, f
ormer Marshall QB Bernard Morris.
Khem Birch, the #1 PF in the Class of 2012,
committed to becoming a Pitt Panther for coach Jamie Dixon.
OCTOBER:
The Steelers ended their four-game stretch sans Big Ben with a
17-14 loss to Baltimore at Heinz Field.
John Russell was
fired as manager of the Pirates, leaving with a final record of 186-299, with three last place finishes.
The Pens christened the Consol Energy Center with an opener against the Philadelphia Flyers, and I was on hand with a
live blog of the happenings.
After two losses, the Pens got their first victory of the '10-'11 season with a
3-1 win at New Jersey on October 11 with Brent Johnson between the pipes.
Deryk Engelland electrified the CEC crowd when he
threw down with heavyweight Colton Orr in an early-season matchup with Toronto.
DeJuan Blair came back to Pittsburgh as a member of the San Antonio Spurs in an
exhibition game against the Cleveland Cavaliers at The Pete.
Ben Roethlisberger's suspension ended as he
led the Steelers to a 28-10 victory over the Browns at Heinz Field.
James Harrison
held his breath and threatened retirement but eventually backed off and
returned to work.
The Steelers
eeked out a one-point win in Miami on a highly controversial call.
Melted Mellon Arena ice went on sale for the low, low price of $40 a bottle.
The Penguins
got an unusual endorsement from the undead on an episode of the Travel Channel's
Ghost Adventures.
A Pittsburgh fan made a
faux movie trailer for beloved icon "Cotton Candy Man".
James Harrison
landed on the cover of Sports Illustrated as the poster boy for big hits.
The Steelers ended the month
losing 20-10 to the Saints in New Orleans on Sunday Night Football, featuring a memorable encounter between Troy Polamalu and Julius Jones.
DECEMBER:
Former PG sports editor Bruce Keidan
passed away at 67 due to complications caused by diabetes.
Dana Holgorsen, reportedly a top candidate for the Pitt job, instead got
hired by Oliver Luck and West Virginia in a bizarre arrangement where he'll serve as Bill Stewart's offensive coordinator for a year before taking over in 2012.
The Pens took down the Capitals in a shootout, while the Steelers stayed home to thump the Carolina Panthers on Thursday Night Football. I commemorated the occasion by
combining both wins into one recap.
