The Pens are in the Stanley Cup Finals. The Steelers are 2 years removed from winning their fifth Super Bowl title. The Pirates? Well, they last won a title in 1979. But a lot of cities are proud of their sports franchises, and few cities can boast of the same success as Pittsburgh in the past twenty-five years (except, ahem, New York and their damned Yankees!)

The Pirates were born in the 1800s, and played their first World Series in 1903, losing to the Red Sox. They won their first title in 1909, defeating Ty Cobb and the Detroit Tigers. They won again in 1925, 1960, 1971 and 1979. The 1960 is probably the most famous of all, considering that it was Bill Mazeroski's ninth inning homer off of Ralph Terry to win an improbable title. The Yankees were simply astounding that year, and yet the Pirates managed somehow to win that title. We all know what the Yanks did in 1961. Of recent note, the Pirates had three years in a row from 1990 through 1992 where they were in the NLCS, but lost each, and each one in more heartbreaking fashion than the last. The 1992 series was the worst, losing in game 7 of the NLCS when slow-footed Sid Bream came around and beat Barry Bonds throw to the plate.

The Steelers became a franchise in 1933, and were nothing short of a laughingstock franchise for much of their first forty years. Then the Steelers hired Chuck Noll, and his drafts founded a dynasty that is considered one of the best, if not the best, dynasty in all of football. The names are legendary - Mean Joe Green, Terry Bradshaw, Jack Lambert and Jack Ham. The four titles in six years may never be equaled again, not unless today's news of the owners opting out of the CBA royally screw things up. The Steelers were in the Super Bowl in 1995, led by Neil O'Donnell and coach Bill Cowher, and O'Donnell's two perfect passes to Dallas sealed that loss. The won a rather controversial title in Super Bowl XL (marred by officiating questions) to get their fabled "One for the Thumb." Twenty years late...but there.

The Pens were, like the Steelers, bad for years before drafting Mario and reaching hockey glory in the 1990-91, and 91-92 seasons, winning two Cups in those two years. Mario is considered by many to be at least on a par with Gretzky when it comes to pure hockey talent. Hockey people have argued for years over who was better, and while I won't rehash any of that argument, both sides have points that earn merit. The Pens were a top-flight team in the 90s before running into huge money trouble in the early 2000s, and nearly folded in bankruptcy. Now that the Pens are once again in the Cup Finals, the city is energized behind them.

Pittsburgh's Five Worst Sports Moments

5. Billy Volek's OT game 7 crusher. Barrasso was out of the net, and I will forever blame him for allowing a soft goal in that game. The Pens lost that series when they earned their only President's Trophy. A horrible moment and one that perhaps set the stage for the future problems of the franchise.

4. 1994 AFC Championship Game. The one that started it all - the first loss at home under Bill Cowher - the one that got people wondering whether Cowher and his teams could win the big ones, when it mattered most. The Chargers weren't supposed to win, not in Three Rivers, not in the cold, not in January, and yet they did. A tremendous upset, and the beginning of a rather dubious legacy for Cowher's Steelers.

3. 1995 Super Bowl XXX. The Steelers were huge underdogs to the talented Cowboys. Yet they were right in the game - a game no one expected them to be in. Rod Woodson came from from his game 1 ACL injury to cover Michael Irvin. And yet, it didn't matter in the end, as QB O'Donnell excelled at passing to Cowboy Larry Brown, and those two picks sealed the loss for the Steelers.

2. 2001 AFC Championship Game - at home, in Heinz Field, in front of a tremendous home crowd, the Steelers gave up two heart-wrenching special teams TDs to the New England Patriots. This was the game in which some guy named Tom Brady was knocked out of the game, and replaced by New England's previous starting QB - Drew Bledsoe (who had been out since the 2nd week suffering a collapsed lung injury) and the Pats went on to win 24-17. It was probably the worst home AFCCG loss ever, especially since the Steelers usually solid special teams totally blew the game, allowing a punt return for a TD and a blocked FG for a TD.

1. 1992 NLCS, game 7. The Pirates and Braves were in game seven, and playing against one another for the 2nd time in two years. The Braves had squandered a 3-1 series lead, and came into the ninth inning at home, down 2-0. Doug Drabek had been stellar all game, not allowing a single run to cross the plate. For Pirates fans everywhere, it was the normally reliable Jose (Chico) Lind's error of a routine David Justice ground ball that set the stage. Instead of one out, and a man on second, the Braves had a rally going with men on the corners. Stan Belinda came in to save the game. Ron Gant soared a fly ball to get a sacrifie, and the score was 2-1. Belinda got Brian Hunter to pop out to short, and set the stage. Two outs, two men on, the Braves down by one run. The tomahawks were going and the war chant echoed through the stadium. Francisco Cabrera lined a shot to left field, right to some guy named Barry Bonds. The slow footed Sid Bream (ex-Pirate Sid Bream) rounded third and headed to the plate. Where he beat the throw, was called safe, and the Braves won the pennant. The last image of this series is the sight of Andy Van Slyke sitting in center field, his head between his legs, as the disbelief of a series that had been on the cusp of taking, was suddenly snatched from defeat. After that year, the Pirates money troubles hit the front page, and Bonds left town. The Pirates haven't had a winning series since.

Pittsburgh's Five Best Sports Moments

5. Super Bowl XIII - one of the all-time best Super Bowls, this one had it all. Drama. Big plays. Incredible mistakes. A barn-burner game between the NFL's two best, elite franchises - meeting for the second time in four years in the title game. The one that probably sealed a whole host of Hall of Famers including Lynn Swann and John Stallworth. A great, great, great Super Bowl game.

4. Game 6 8-0 drubbing of the Minnesota North Stars. The Pens and Mario Lemiuex hoisted Lord Stanley's Cup for the first time, having secured the franchise's first Stanley Cup Title. The North Stars were game, but in the end the Pens vast offensive talents iced the series, and Lemieux's legendary status was cemented.

3. Super Bowl IX - the Steelers won a dirty, nasty game over the Minnesota Vikings for their first Super Bowl title. The Vikings got nothing on the ground as the Steel Curtain Defense put the clamps on them, and kept them that way all game long. For a franchise mired in losing for forty-some years, it was a coronation of a team, city and coach that was a long time in coming.

2. Game 1, 1992 Stanley Cup Playoffs. After being down earlier in the game, the Pens roared back to tie the game against the Chicago Blackhawks, knotting the score at 4-4. The 'Hawks had come into the game setting an NHL record winning 11 straight playoff games. The Pens were on an equal roll, coming into the series winning 6 in a row. With 17 seconds left, the scene was set as the Pens had a faceoff in the Hawks zone. Ron Francis won the draw cleanly back to Larry Murphy, who skated forward a bit and unleashed a laser wrist shot. Goalie Ed Belfour kicked it away, but didn't realize that Mario had drifted off to the left, right where the rebound went. Mario easily corralled it and zipped it past Belfour, sealing the game 1 win. It set the tone for the series, as the Pens went on to sweep the Blackhawks for their second straight Stanley Cup Title.

1. Game 7, 1960 World Series. The Yankees, when winning their 3 games, did so in totally lopsided fashion. The Pirates, when winning their three games, did so in squeaker, nail-biting fashion. The Pirates carried a lead into the late innings, when the Yankees tied it up. Which led to game 7, in Forbes Field, where Ralph Terry served one up and Bill Mazeroski drilled it over the left field wall to win the World Series title with the first-ever walk off home run. No team in Pirates history is more celebrated, and Bill Mazeroski to this day remains one of the all-time favorite Pirates.

Pittsburgh's Five Most Celebrated Sports Stars

5. Jack Lambert. All you had to see was his menacing sneer, the lost teeth, and his ability to deliver the huge hit. No city falls in love with mean linebackers quite like Pittsburgh, and Lambert is still celebrated in the city as one of the best. Ever.

4. Terry Bradshaw - the Blond Bomber is adored here, and well he should be. As the leader and QB for four Super Bowl winning teams, Bradshaw still enjoys tremendous popularity.

3. Chuck Noll - as a coach, he was the legend. Dubbed the Emperor Chaz by late (great) sports announcer Myron Cope, Noll was the mastermind behind the drafts and teams that ripped off football's greatest dynasty.

2. Roberto Clemente - as a player, he redefined how to play right field. No one ran on him - no one. Shots of his laser beam arm from deep right throwing a man out trying to stretch a double into a triple are legendary. His World Series heroics are legendary. But most of all, he achieved one of baseball's fabled numbers, getting his 3,000th hit in the last game of the 1972 season. And that year, on New Year's Day, on a relief effort trip to South America, his plane crashed, killing all aboard including him. No player is as fondly remembered in Pittsburgh, and many believe that he should be recognized as one of the first leading Hispanic players in the Majors.

1. Mario Lemiuex. Only one of the greatest hockey players to ever skate on ice, Lemiuex's feats are legend. Until he returned after his first retirement, he was the only player to average more than two points a game. Two Hart Trophies as Stanley Cup MVP. Scoring titles, NHL MVP awards. Beating cancer and dealing with his wonky back. And saving the Pens franchise three separate times. Kind of hard to beat that, don't you think?