Which is better? Philly or the Burgh?

Last fall, most Mondays following football Sundays found this campus looking like a sea of… Last fall, most Mondays following football Sundays found this campus looking like a sea of green.

The Philadelphia Eagles enjoyed their third straight successful season that ended with the National Football Conference championship game, one step short of the Super Bowl. Die-hard black-and-gold fans suffered through a dismal season for their beloved Steelers. Eagles chants and McNabb jerseys found their way into each one of my classes and constantly forced me to leave class early before I ran my big mouth, knowing that, in a fight, I couldn’t really back it up.

So now that I have gotten through the fluff of that opening paragraph, let’s get to the point of this column. The idea behind this masterpiece is a question, a question that I pose to you sports fans from each end of the Turnpike: Is it better to be a Philadelphia fan or a Pittsburgh fan?

For Philly fans, heartbreak is something that, lately, they have had to experience too many times. The most beloved team from the City of Brotherly Love, the Eagles, have caused their fans more pain recently than any other sports team since the Buffalo Bills of the early ’90s that lost four straight Super Bowls.

Three straight NFC championships, two of them at home, and the Eagles were outplayed in all three. Philly is suffering from the longest drought without a championship amongst cities that have four major sports teams. The Eagles have never won a Super Bowl, the Flyers haven’t raised the cup since ’75, and the Phillies won their last World Series in ’80. It has been 21 years and counting since the Sixers, led by Dr. J, brought a title back to Philadelphia.

That means that not one undergraduate on this campus can remember the last time the city of Philadelphia called itself World Champion.

In 2001, the Sixers gave fans hope as they made the NBA finals, only to fall short. The Flyers, consistently one of the best teams in hockey, went to the finals in 1997, but were dominated by the Detroit Red Wings in four straight losses.

This year, the Flyers lead their division, but it is unclear whether they have the reliable goalie needed for a full playoff run. For the past few years, three out of four hasn’t been bad for Philadelphia fans, but from now on, four out of four could be the expectation.

After having had their best season in years in 2003, the Phillies have made more off-season moves this year to make themselves the front runner in the National League East.

So to sum it up, Philly fans have four quality teams that, each year, will be among the best in their sport, and come playoff time, will have them thinking this could be the year. A great possibility of triumph but an even greater possibility of pain.

For fans from the Steel City, going to the conference championship game and losing isn’t a new thing. Steelers’ fans are even one step ahead of Eagles fans, thanks to the Steelers’ loss in Super Bowl XXX. If you are from Pittsburgh, you’ve always hated Kordell Stewart, for one game, you hated Neil O’Donnell, and the only thing you can remember about Jim Harbaugh is that his receiver dropped that Hail Mary in the end zone on the last play of the game in the ’96 AFC Championship.

The Pirates are remarkably similar to the Phillies in their recent history. In the last decade, neither team has made the playoffs, but in the early ’90s the Phils made the World Series, and the Buccoes came close before Sid slid.

After winning two straight Stanley Cups with a roster that featured a healthy Mario Lemieux and a productive Jaromir Jagr, the Penguins are in financial despair and are facing the possibility of folding. If the Pens are forced to move, it would leave Pittsburgh with just two major sports teams and would easily make Philadelphia the most powerful sports town in the Keystone State.

If the average Pitt student was born in 1983 and is a Philly fan, he or she has barely experienced one world championship. They have also witnessed at least one championship series loss from the Sixers, Flyers and Phillies. To top it off, they have watched the Eagles lose three straight NFC championships. If the average Pitt student is a Pittsburgh fan, they have enjoyed two Stanley Cups, one Super Bowl, five AFC Championships and three National League Championship Series.

So what is the verdict? To me, it’s easy. If I had to choose a city to root for my whole life, I would choose Pittsburgh, but if I had to choose a city to root for currently, I would have to choose, well, Pittsburgh.

Why? Because Pittsburgh fans know the feeling of winning a championship, and following the pattern that Philly teams have exhibited, Pittsburgh fans will enjoy that feeling again before Philly fans enjoy it for the first time.Matt Sortino is a staff writer for The Pitt News and understands he will be branded as just another writer who is jealous of Philadelphia and he doesn’t mind that. You can tell him how jealous he is by e-mailing him at mbs3@pitt.edu, while he remembers being alive for the Penguins’ two Stanley Cups.