Another Story Book Written for Pittsburgh

It was February 6, 2006 and the Pittsburgh Steelers made an impossible journey to play the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl XL (that's 40 for all of you who voted for Obama), by winning every single playoff game on the road. This was to be Jerome Bettis' last year playing football and it took everything he had to make it through the playoffs. He played through the pain, contributed just about everytime he touched the ball - with one exception... In the AFC Divisional game against the Indianapolis Colts, Pittsburgh seemingly had the game wrapped up. After sacking quarterback Peyton Manning on fourth down at about the 2 yard line, all Pittsburgh had to do was run the ball into the end zone. Putting the ball in the capable hands of Bettis, they were sure to score. But Murphy's Law was enacted in the RCA Dome that day and Bettis had the ball knocked out of his arms. Colts cornerback Nick Harper picked up the ball and headed for the Steelers' end zone. But the chapter to this story doesn't end there. Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was about to make a miraculous tackle on Mr. Harper. In fact, such a miraculous tackle - that it will forever be dubbed "The Tackle" (aka The Immaculate Redemption). That tackle led the Steelers to a victory and subsequently, after then defeating the Denver Broncos in the AFC Championship game, on to Super Bowl XL. Now, what makes this a fairy tale story is that, not only did the Steelers defy the odds of making it to the Super Bowl, not only was this Jerome Bettis' last year and his last chance for that ring, but they were playing in Bettis' home town of Detroit Michigan. What are the odds for that? To end this story, the Steelers went on to win that game, 21 to 10 and won their first Super Bowl in 26 years. Bettis retired with a Ring and a clear path the Canton, OH in the NFL Hall of Fame.

As Paul Harvey use to say... And now, the rest of the story.
It's June 12, 2009 and the Pittsburgh Penguins are about to play in the toughest game of their young lives. Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals - in Detroit (gee, an omen?), where the Red Wings have an unbelievable winning percentage in the playoffs. Thus far, the Penguins have not been able to win in Detroit, making this trip that much tougher. Let's back up to 2008 for a moment here. After the Penguins get badly beaten in the Stanley Cup Finals by the Red Wings in 5 games, Penguins winger Marian Hossa decides to not take the offer from the Pens to stay on board and takes a lesser offer from the Red Wings because he claims it's his best chance to win The Cup. He was banking on the Red Wings going back to back (which is very difficult to do). Just getting back to the dance is tough enough, let alone win it. Well, I don't know what the odds are exactly on the same two teams meeting in the Stanley Cup Finals, but that's exactly what happened. In fact, I think it has only been done about 6 times and Detroit has been involved in most of them (so they club has a little experience with winning back to back against the same team). With Detroit having home ice advantage, this was truly going to be an uphill battle for the Penguins. They did what they were suppose to do and won all of their home games, forcing an epic 7th game at Detroit. One chapter of this story has already been written: Hossa, has been shut out by the Pens in 6 games. He had 0 goals and only 3 assists. Could game 7 be the break out game that Hossa needed to bring the cup back to Detroit, so he can finally get his ring? The Penguins had the answer to that as they clipped the wings off of Detroit and beat them in that final game, 2 to 1, making the Pittsburgh Penguins the Stanley Cup Champs for the first time in 17 years. Hossa wasn't even a factor in the game. And if he would have only stayed with the Pens, he would have had more money in his bank account from a bigger salary and a Championship Ring for his finger. And as the Steelers won the Super Bowl again in 2009, Pittsburgh once again became the City of Champions, and the first city to ever win both the Super Bowl and Stanley Cup in the same year. No folks, you just can't write a story like this. Well you could, but who would believe it?