My apologies for the later entry today—to be perfectly honest, I completely forgot that it was Monday until I remembered I have to go to work tomorrow. 

Much like how I will feel tomorrow morning when I wake up, the state of Pittsburgh sports has been absolutely miserable of late. That is not an exaggeration. You could put every team’s name in a hat, draw at random, and pick a loser. 

It is quite sad—the city of champions is quickly becoming the city of has-beens (or, is it have-been?). Some of those states of “being” are far more recent than others, as you surely know, but that does not change the fact that, with the exception of the Pirates (and possibly Pitt football), we generally find ourselves entering the season with loftier expectations than are met.

Pittsburgh Steelers

Let us start with the talk of the town. Per usual, the Steelers were underestimated by the national media. While Vegas set their win total over/under at 8.5, most pundits projected them to be the AFC North’s basement-dwellers, a spot that has been historically occupied by the Cleveland Browns. It did not seem to be an unfair estimate from the sportsbooks’ perspectives: the Steelers would play a brutal schedule, at least as far as preseason projections would have one expect. 

You all know what happened. 4-2, benched Fields, 10-3, yada, yada, yada, 10-7 and a first round exit. As we sit here, nine days after that defeat at the hands of the Ravens (who have since been eliminated by the Buffalo Bills), not a single change has been made within the infrastructure of the Steelers’ organization. Our fearless leader, Art Rooney II, retained Mike Tomlin as head coach—which was to be expected, regardless of protestations. However, Tomlin’s coordinators Arthur Smith and Teryl Austin—Tweedledee and Tweedledum—still have jobs. Pat Meyer, the offensive line coach who could be on the FBI’s terror watchlist for crimes against humanity, has not been let go.

I ask Mr. Rooney this: it has been nine years since your organization has won a playoff game. There have been 28 different NFL head coaches since then that have won a postseason contest. How can you LOOK your loyal fanbase IN THE EYES and not change a DAMN THING? Do you have any idea how much you have ruined the organization that your father and grandpa spent their lives making the NFL’s gold standard? How can you sit idly by while other teams make coordinator, position coach, and head coach changes and do NOTHING? Maybe you do not care. Maybe you just see it as a business. Maybe you are not the football guy that your predecessors were. If that is the case, please sell the team to someone that cares. We, as fans, deserve better.

Pittsburgh Penguins

I did not have high hopes for the Penguins, especially after narrowly missing the playoffs each of the past two seasons and not making much of an effort to improve at the most important position: goaltender. In 2023, new general manager Kyle Dubas had a decision to make. He could either let Tristan Jarry walk after a season during which he accumulated a 2.90 goals against average and a .909 save percentage in 47 games, or he could sign him to an extension. In the interest of full disclosure, Jarry was atrocious in the postseason, giving the series away to the Islanders with a pass right to a New York forward who would shoot the series-winning goal into an empty net.

Dubas signed Jarry to a 5 year, $26.7 million contract in June of 2023. He was placed on waivers five days ago and is now earning over $5 million to play for Wilkes-Barre in the minor leagues. 

The Penguins are 19-21-8 this season and are six games out of a wild card spot. In fact, there are only two worse teams in the eastern conference. One of those teams is the Islanders, who are three points back, but have played three fewer games. The other? Perennial doormat Buffalo Sabres.

Pitt Panthers Men’s Basketball

I actually had high hopes for Jeff Capel’s group this season. Two years ago, Pitt made the NCAA tournament and upset six-seed Iowa State en route to a round of 32 appearance. Last year, they got absolutely screwed out of a tourney bid. With a lot of returning players and two good transfers in Cameron Corhen and Damian Dunn, a weak ACC could lead to a second tourney bid win three years.

The season started quite well. Pitt started 12-2 with dominant wins against West Virginia and LSU, an overtime buzzer beater to triumph over Ohio State, three ACC wins against Virginia Tech, Cal, and Stanford, and their only two losses being a close, neutral site game against Wisconsin and a drubbing in Starkville against Mississippi State. With conference play in full effect, we were going to learn a lot about this team.

And, unfortunately, we did. Pitt lost four straight. They were blown out on the road against Duke, failing to score in the final eight minutes of the game. They lost by four at home against Louisville, largely due to poor rebounding (Louisville grabbed 14 offensive rebounds to Pitt’s 5). They lost by 12 in Tallahassee against Florida State, as they only scored 23 points and turned the ball over 10 times in the first half alone. They lost at home against Clemson by three in overtime, as Pitt allowed the Tigers to shoot 14/27 from beyond the arc.

Four straight losses. Four different manners of losing. They went from 12-2 and looking great to being in danger of missing the NCAA tournament entirely in the span of 12 days. Way to go, Pitt. Way…to…go.

The Bottom Line

I may come off as bitter (I am). I may come off as angry (I am). But, I also am a realist. The broader the overview of these teams’ seasons, the easier it is to tell just how far away they are from competing. It is immensely frustrating. The only thing more frustrating is that I have to watch the Pirates soon, and Bob Nutting still has not figured out that wallets are meant to be opened.