The city that reigns supreme

I may have been exactly 1,001 miles away from home on Sunday, but around 10 p.m. that night, a familiar, "home-like" feeling lingered in my living room like stale cigarette smoke in a college bar.


That feeling? Supremacy, my friends.


While I have made my disliking of the Pittsburgh Steelers well-known throughout my life to those who know me best, I couldn't help but have a great sense of pride for the city I've called home for 22 years as the Steelers began celebrating their 23-14 win over the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC Championship Game, advancing the Steelers to their seventh Super Bowl in franchise history.


When you never truly get attached to something like a professional sports team growing up, it's difficult to join the crowd, especially as you get older. That's the best I can sum up my relationship with the Steelers.


If you look at the logistics, it really doesn't make a whole lot of sense as to why I've disliked the franchise for so long. I guess you could say a lot of it has to do with my dad, who, for a reason I still am not certain of today, has had a deep hatred for the Steelers for as long as I've been alive.


His hatred clearly was passed on to myself and my brother as we were growing up. Both my brother and I spent countless Sundays as youngsters with my dad in front of the television watching the Steelers year after year. And year after year, it was my dad continuously venting over Steeler players, coaches and fans. Your early years are obviously the most impressionable times of your life, and I feel that passion was passed down to me from my dad and not chosen out of my own free will.


Think about it. What is there not to like about the Steelers? They really are the definition of a football organization, with extra emphasis on the word organization.


Art Rooney, after having a big day at the horse track back in 1933, purchased the Steelers for $2,500. As it turned out, that may have been the most well spent $2,500 in sports history.


If you wanted to buy the Steelers today, you'd have to dig between 800 million and 1.2 billion dollars deep into your pockets, putting the Steelers in the upper eschelon of American sports franchises.


A pricetag like that doesn't come without credibility, and the Steelers have plenty of it:


- 5 Super Bowl championships
- 7 AFC championships
- 19 division championships
- 22 Hall of Famers


Need anyone say more? And if Pittsburgh wins Super Bowl XLIII and earns their sixth Super Bowl victory, that will give them more than any franchise in the NFL.


The most impressive aspect of the Steelers has been their ability to sustain success over long periods of time. Since 1969, no NFL franchise has posted a better record than Pittsburgh (382-257-2, a .596 winning percentage), and the Steelers have accomplished all of that under the guidance of only three head coaches.


Chuck Noll was at the helm from 1969-1992, winning four Super Bowls before being relieved by Bill Cowher, who led the Steelers to five AFC title game appearances and their fifth Super Bowl title in 2005.


Now it's Mike Tomlin's show, where the 36-year old will look become the youngest coach to win a Super Bowl in two weeks at Raymond James Stadium in just his second year as an NFL head coach.


They may not have the star power or the glamour of other professional sports teams, but when the chips are on the table, nobody is a safer pick to have success year in and year out than the Steelers.


Those previous paragraphs got me a little off track from where I initially wanted to go with this post, and that was the Steelers' win further proved why it's tough to find a better city to call home than Pittsburgh.


I wasn't big on hometown pride growing up around Pittsburgh, but when I decided to branch out and come to Florida State upon graduating high school and traveling to a number of different towns and cities on road trips throughout my four years of college, it has really dawned on me just how great it is to be from Pittsburgh.


From a sports fan's perspective, it's hard to imagine a city with more buzz and pride surrounding its athletics than the Steel City.


The aforementioned Steelers are on the verge of winning their sixth Super Bowl.


The Arizona Cardinals, who the Steelers will be playing in the Super Bowl, are coached by Ken Whisenhunt, who served as the Steelers' tight ends coach and offensive coordinator from 2001-2006.


Whisenhunt's top assistant, Russ Grimm, was a 1981 graduate of Pittsburgh, a 3-time Super Bowl champion as a lineman for the Washington Redskins and was the Steelers' offensive line coach from 2000-2006.


Two key players for the Cardinals (wide receiver Steve Breaston and guard Reggie Wells) started their respective roads to Super Bowl XLIII as standouts on the gridiron at Pittsburgh area high schools. Breaston was a 2003 graduate of Woodland Hills High School, while Wells won a state football championship at South Park High School in the fall of 1997.


Larry Fitzgerald splashed onto the scene during his two years at Pittsburgh and has never looked back. With still the Super Bowl to be played, Fitzgerald's 419 receiving yards are already the most in a single postseason, breaking Jerry Rice's record of 409 yards set in the 1988 playoffs.


Terrelle Pryor, Ohio State's starting quarterback, is a Pittsburgh product (Jeannette HS) that led the Buckeyes to 10 wins and a BCS bowl birth as a true freshman and will have serious Heisman Trophy consideration in the coming years.


The Pittsburgh Penguins advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals this past hockey season, have two of the brightest young stars in the game today (Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin) and have a beautiful state-of-the-art arena coming their way this fall.


The University of Pittsburgh was the only college this sports year to have the football team and the men's and women's basketball teams all ranked in the top 25 at the same time, while the men's basketball team earned the program's first ever No. 1 ranking this season and looks primed to make a run in the NCAA Tournament.


I've barely scratched the surface when it comes to the athletic success and tradition that oozes from every inch of the city that's surrounded by three rivers and has more bridges than any other city in the world. In all, Pittsburgh has 12 professional world championships and has produced a legendary list of athletes that includes, but not limited to, Joe Montana, Joe Namath, Mike Ditka, Johnny Unitas, Dan Marino, Stan Musial, Jim Kelly, Arnold Palmer, "Pistol" Pete Maravich and Ty Law.


Not too shabby for a city that is ranked 60th on the 100 Biggest U.S. Cities list (http://www.city-data.com/top1.html).


The auora of Pittsburgh doesn't stop with its athletics. Overall, the city flies under the radar - much like its professional and college sports teams.


Back in 2007, Places Rated Almanac rated Pittsburgh as "America's most livable city" (http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07116/781162-53.stm). Many people were shocked to hear news of that magnitude, considering Pittsburgh for years was a smoggy, blue-collar city that used the steel industry as its meal ticket for the greater part of the 20th century.


To outsiders, Pittsburgh still has that stigma attached to it to a certain degree (I hear it from time to time from friends at school), but natives are aware just how fast the city is growing and how big of a player it will be in both the national and global markets in the very near future.


Pittsburgh is also a provider of one of the more underrated night lifes in the country. It's hard to believe when people hear me tell them Pittsburgh is such a great city for a young adult to have a good time in. Frankly, I was shocked to hear that until I turned 21 myself, which opened up a whole new world to me in the city: the world of the south side.


The south side of Pittsburgh isn't your sterotypical big city bar scene with overpriced drinks, cover charges and dress codes. Sure, there are a couple places with those features, but anyone can find their niche in the south side with over 80 bars and pubs that welcome people of all shapes, sizes and colors as long as they're willing to have an exciting night out. Most of those watering holes can be found on East Carson Street, or as I like to call it, North Bourbon Street due to its seemingly never-ending row of bars, clubs and restaurants.


Most people are familiar with phrases along the lines of "Live for the moment" and "Cherish the moment, because you never know when it will come again." If the past, present and future are any indication, Pittsburghers are an exception to words such as those. Pittsburgh has proven to be such a dependable city for its residents over the years, and because of that, my pride for the city is stronger than it's ever been.


Here's to you, Pittsburgh. Thanks for always being there for us.