Sorry, Pittsburgh, but other cities do occasionally win sports championships, and tonight one… Sorry, Pittsburgh, but other cities do occasionally win sports championships, and tonight one team will get closer when the first game of the World Series between the Philadelphia Phillies and New York Yankees takes place.

Now, as 2009 comes to a close, so does your reign as the City of Champions. Of course, the Steelers and Penguins could both repeat, giving you the title again next year. But why start planning so far in advance?

This is your year, Pittsburgh, and the World Series is the last major sports title up for grabs. You need to get in on it and pick a team to pull for.

The two teams’ strengths and weaknesses have been analyzed every possible way over the past few days. But you don’t want to pick your de facto team for the next two weeks by their rosters. In fact, the two teams are pretty evenly matched. It should be a competitive series that could go seven games.

So then how do you pick which team to back?

Now, you don’t want to go by fan bases, since Philadelphians and New Yorkers are two of the most obnoxious, annoying sports fans. It’s going to hurt to join either side. There are other ways, though.

To start, the Phillies are the defending champs, and Pittsburgh certainly likes its winners. The Phillies have loveable players like Ryan Howard and Pedro Martinez, which might be reason enough to jump toward the red and white. Plus, who doesn’t love “Rocky” or the Liberty Bell?

You could also go with the Phillies because, if they win, that keeps the title in-state, and you could start calling Pennsylvania the State of Champions. Of course, there is a bit of a rivalry between the two cities. In fact, this very publication suggested Pittsburgh’s new nickname should be the “City of not-Philadelphia” just earlier this week.

So perhaps that’s not the way to go. That leaves us with the Yankees.

Let’s just get everything blatantly negative out of the way: The Yankees spend the most money, have won the most championships, spend the most money, have Alex Rodriguez, shove their illustrious history down everyone’s throats, you met a Yankee fan a few years ago that was really loud and insufferable, and they spend the most money.

Yes, the Yankees are very easy to hate. In 2002, Red Sox president and born Pittsburgher Larry Lucchino referred to the Yankees as the “Evil Empire” to The New York Times, and the nickname has stuck ever since.

But isn’t that a positive? Yes, Pittsburgh, you can join forces with a team whose rival compared it to the Galactic Empire in “Star Wars.” Clearly, George Steinbrenner is Emperor Palpatine, Joe Girardi is Darth Vader, Yankee Stadium is the Death Star, Pedro Martinez is Luke Skywalker and Cole Hamels is Princess Leia. Come on, Pittsburghers, the Phillies could be your Alderaan.

Even more than all that, do you know about the current epidemic with today’s youth? There are 9-year-old children all over the country who have not seen the Yankees win a World Series. Think about the children, Pittsburgh. Don’t all kids deserve to watch the Yankees buy a championship at an early age? If the Yankees don’t win one soon, we could get teenagers who haven’t see a Yankee title and therefore have very little reason to hate the Yankees. For the future of Yankee hate, you must pull for the Yanks this year.

And while the Yankees have a reputation for buying championships, they actually have the second-most players on their major league roster that came up through their minor league system. At 56 percent homegrown, only the Rockies have a higher total at 64 percent, according to MLB.com. The scrappy, underdog Phillies roster contains 32 percent homegrown players.

On top of all that, Pittsburgh, isn’t New York just a wonderful state? With illustrious places like Revolutionary War battle sites, the Edward Hopper House Art Center and Clarkstown High School North, with notable alumni like current Tennessee Titans star linebacker Keith Bulluck and “Everybody Loves Raymond” creator Philip Rosenthal.

There you have it, Pittsburgh. Those reasons should be more than enough for you team up with New York to battle your state rivals. Plus, you’re already Steelers fans, so it’s not like you’ve never been a part of a largely disliked fan base, anyway.

So then, allow me to be the first to welcome you to the dark side.