Need a professional sports fix? Pittsburgh has playoffs aplenty

Twelve World Championships; 62 Hall of Famers; Three Teams: Steelers, Pirates, Penguins…. Twelve World Championships; 62 Hall of Famers; Three Teams: Steelers, Pirates, Penguins.

As Pittsburgh-based professional sports teams, the Steelers, Pirates and Penguins all have extensive histories as well as up-and-coming current teams.

The members of the triumvirate also have another thing in common. At one point in each of the teams’ pasts they all bore the nickname the “Pirates.”

But each now holding unique nicknames and identities, the Pirates, Penguins and Steelers are still bound together. Each team’s colors are black and gold, making Pittsburgh the only city with multiple professional sports teams that wear the same colors.

And it’s not by mistake. Pittsburgh is a loyal professional sports town behind each of its franchises, making for spectacular game-day atmospheres at each respective event.

While it may cost a semester’s tuition or a body part to get a Steelers ticket, the Pirates and Penguins both offer ticket discounts and promotions for college students.

With these three teams and their long-lasting legacy, Pittsburgh fans can enjoy watching some exciting professional sports action.

Pittsburgh Pirates

Originally known as the Pittsburgh Alleghenies, the Major League Baseball team earned its nickname, “the Pirates,” after stealing a player away from the rival Philadelphia Athletics.

They won their first World Championship in 1909 and then again in 1925. After a championship hiatus, the team won again in 1960. The 1970s brought back the family as the Pirates introduced the phrase, “We Are Family,” named after the popular Sister Sledge song, and won two world titles in 1971 and 1979.

The Buccos, as they are also known, entered the 1990s with newfound hope as they went to the 1992 National League Championship Series and lost to the Atlanta Braves.

That was the last taste of victory for the Pirates, coming off 14 consecutive losing seasons entering the 2007 campaign, where they look to right the Pirate ship with younger faces.

Second-year manager Jim Tracy leads a cast of youth and experience behind the play of All Star Jason Bay, 2006 National League Batting Champion Freddy Sanchez and a host of young pitchers led by Ian Snell, Zach Duke and Tom Gorzelanny.

While the Pirates boast a roster of 18 players in their 20s, they reach out to the youth of their fan base.

The Pirates offer “college nights” every Friday night home game during the regular season.

For $20, students receive a ticket in the College Cove, a section of seats in the left-field corner, complimentary food and beverage vouchers and a free Pirates T-shirt.

Pittsburgh Steelers

The Steelers, the most recent world champion out of the group, have won five Super Bowl titles, the last one at Super Bowl XL in January 2006.

Art Rooney Sr., the original owner of the team, brought it into the league in 1933 as the Pittsburgh Pirates. But in 1940, the team held a contest in which fans picked the name the Steelers based on the city’s rich history with the steel-making industry.

With their new name and the hiring of head coach Chuck Noll in 1969, Pittsburgh would win four world titles in six years during the 1970s, becoming the only team to ever accomplish the feat.

A few decades passed and a new head coach, Bill Cowher, took over. Cowher built a powerhouse based on solid defense and a running offense that led the team to its most recent title.

Cowher retired following the 2006-2007 season, and 35-year-old Mike Tomlin took over. Tomlin enters his first season as a head coach next year, following successful years as the Minnesota Vikings and Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive coordinator.

The Steelers do not offer any ticket promotions for students, primarily because they don’t need to. The Steelers’ waiting list for season tickets is backed up so far that you might want to consider signing your kids up soon.

So if you want a Steelers ticket, you’re going to have to scalp one for a lot more than face value.

Pittsburgh Penguins

Back in the 1920s, the fledgling National Hockey League was a 10-team hockey league based in both the United States and Canada. One of the first franchises was the Pittsburgh Pirates, joining in 1924.

The team played its games in the Duquesne Gardens Ice Arena, which was located in Oakland. But that wouldn’t last long as they folded in 1930 along with five others as a result of the Great Depression.

When 1967 came along, the league expanded back into the Pittsburgh market. This time the team would take the name “Penguins” because of the shape of its then-arena, the Civic Arena, which resembled an igloo.

The team went through some hard times through the 1970s and ’80s, but come the ’90s, the team reigned dominant. The Penguins won the Stanley Cup as league champs in 1991 and 1992 and had the best regular-season record in the NHL in 1993.

Some claim that that 1993 team was the best ever in franchise history, but one can argue championships against regular-season records.

The Pens continually had the league’s leading scorer, hockey legend Mario Lemieux, for much of the decade, but failed to win another championship.

The Pens then had five consecutive losing seasons in which they drafted high in those years’ amateur drafts. But the bright side of those down years was that the Penguins were able to draft Sidney Crosby, an 18-year-old phenom.

Crosby, one of the league’s most dynamic players, helped the Penguins and their fans “Experience the Evolution,” as the team slogan said.

Those fans, young and old alike, witnessed the team transform from last place to a playoff contender. And those young fans did it by only paying $20.

The team-sponsored student rush program allows any fan with a high school, college or technical school ID card to receive the best available tickets for a minuscule cost of $20 each.