"The List"

Well, I haven't posted for awhile, and this is because I have been out of topics to discuss, kind of. I don't want to discuss the election in every post, so I'm trying to space it out.

So, I decided that my love of lists, and my rekindled Steeler love, mandated that it was time for me to post "The List". This is the most important list you will ever see. "The List" is the listing of my favorite sports teams, in order that I love them. The criteria for this is quite simple: they are ranked in order that you want them to win a championship. In other words, if you could only have teams that you root for win one championship for the rest of your life, which team would it be and why, and then in what order? Without further ado, my favorite teams (all Pittsburgh teams - other teams I don't care enough about to win):

5. Penguins - I will freely admit that I am a bandwagon Pens fan. When they are good, I like to watch on TV or even go. When they aren't good, I don't think twice about it. However, since I work downtown now, it would be cool to see the enthusiam of the town if they were to win.

4. Steelers - I know this will seem like sacrilege to many of you, but despite my rekindled joy of watching Steeler football, they have won a championship recently and won 5 in the last 30+ years. It would be exciting, to be sure, but it's only 4th on my list.

3. Pitt football - I have suffered through a lot of bad football as a Pitt fan. Remember the 72-0 loss to Ohio $tate in 1996? I do. I remember all of the heartache. We haven't won 10 games in a year since 1981, the year of Danny Marino, 48-14, and my birth. Now we have pieces in place to start the rebirth of Pitt football, but Wannstedt isn't a great game coach. Anyway, the future looks OK for Pitt football, but it will be tough to get to the place where we are competitive with the USCs, O$U's, and SEC teams of the world.

2. Pitt basketball - this is almost 1b. I have been a Pitt hoops fan as long as I can remember. I remember watching Big East games with mom and dad and running down the stairs as a kid, having dad introduce me as the point guard for the Panthers. Now, with our run of the last 7 years, it has been spectacular as a fan: 3 Big East regular season championships, 2 Big East tournament titles, numerous high seeds in the NCAAs, and 4 Sweet Sixteens. Now it is time for the next step. Our recruiting is getting better as our profile gets higher. Our expectations for this year are huge. This could happen relatively soon, and it would be a joyful day for me, because Pitt hoops mean so much to me and to my family.

1. Pirates - I am one of the few remaining Bucco fans in Pittsburgh, and it breaks my heart to say that. I just genuinely love the game of baseball. The strategy, the history, the statistics, the ballparks...it's a magical game that hasn't been tainted very much for me with the stench of 16 years of losing. I have so many fond memories of the Pirates that it isn't even funny. When I was 5, my grandpa, dad, and I went to a Bucs-Phillies game at Three Rivers. We left early because I was a kid, and we missed Mike Schmidt's 500th career homer. I remember going to the NLCS in 1992 and Jim Leyland receiving a standing ovation. I remember the day that Barry Bonds signed with the Giants; I was home sick from school and watching "The Price Is Right" and it went right into KDKA News, where it was the top story. I remember various other moments in the 16 years of losing, although they run together quite a bit. The last time the Bucs were anywhere near .500 was 1997, which is recalled with glory by the diehards. We went 79-83 that year but were in the division race until the last weekend of the season. That year, September baseball mattered in Pittsburgh. It's been 11 years since that was the case. And that's a shame, because fall baseball is one of the greatest parts about the fall. I can only imagine what our beautiful PNC Park would look like with 38,000 rabid fans hanging on every pitch in the NLDS. It's probably the one thing in life that I want the most, which might: (a) seem sad to many of you but I promise it's not, and (b) explain why I am still single. I'm buying season tickets to the Bucs next year, because I don't want to be left out when fall baseball returns. I want to have my ticket when the Bucs make the playoffs. It isn't going to be next year, but at some point in the near future, it will come. When it does, I'll be the happiest guy on Mt. Washington.

So, that's my list. What does yours look like?