The Decade in Pittsburgh sports

By Joe Starkey, TRIBUNE-REVIEW
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/
Sunday, December 27, 2009

Members of Tribune-Review sports staff voted on most of following categories in the best and the worst the decade in sports ...

BEST ATHLETE

Sidney Crosby, Penguins — Other candidates included Ben Roethlisberger, Evgeni Malkin and Larry Fitzgerald. Crosby's individual dominance as a scoring champion, league MVP and playoff goal leader, plus his distinction as youngest captain to win the Stanley Cup, tipped the scales in his favor.

BEST GAME

Super Bowl XLIII — Steelers 27, Cardinals 23

BEST PLAY

Steelers linebacker James Harrison returns an interception 100 yards for a touchdown in Super Bowl XLIII, on the last play of the first half — Big Ben's tackle came up, as did Santonio's catch (and Ben's throw) in Super Bowl XLIII and a couple of Marc-Andre Fleury saves (Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Lidstrom could tell you about those).

BEST COACH

Bill Cowher, Steelers — This choice ought to generate some debate. The majority felt that getting his team to three conference championship games and winning a Super Bowl as a wild-card team should earn Cowher the nod.
BEST TEAM

2008-09 Penguins — Close call. The 2005 Steelers won three straight road games to get to the Super Bowl, but last year's Penguins were the only team to twice come back from two-games-to-none deficits to win the Stanley Cup. And one of those comebacks was against the mighty Red Wings.

BEST EXECUTIVE

Kevin Colbert, Steelers director of football operations — Aside from Plaxico Burress at No. 8 in 2000, the Steelers did not choose in the top 10, yet they drafted two potential Hall of Famers (Ben Roethlisberger, Troy Polamalu), a Super Bowl MVP (Santonio Holmes) and several other star-quality players. Throw in Colbert's quiet free-agent signings (James Farrior, Jeff Hartings, Ryan Clark, etc.), and it's a solid case.

BEST RIVALRY

Steelers-Ravens — True, Penguins-Flyers and Penguins-Red Wings were plenty heated. So was Pitt-West Virginia and Steelers-Patriots. But the Steelers and Ravens consistently waged titanic battles, complete with knockouts (Hines Ward on Ed Reed; Bart Scott on Ben Roethlisberger) and bounties and maybe the most violent football game ever played (2008 AFC Championship).

BEST UPSET

Pitt 13, West Virginia 9

BEST DUO

Crosby-Malkin

BEST INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCE

Max Talbot scores twice in Game 7 of Stanley Cup Final — Yes, we remembered Santonio Holmes' multiple plays on the Super Bowl-winning drive. We also remembered DeJuan Blair recording 22 points, 23 rebounds and a takedown of Hasheem Thabeet in a victory over No. 1 UConn. Talbot, however, scored his team's only goals against a battled-tested championship team, making the Penguins the first team to win a championship Game 7 on the road since the '79 Pirates.

BEST HAIR

Troy Polamalu. Who else?

BEST MELTDOWN

Pirates manager Lloyd McClendon rips first base out of the ground while arguing a call.

BEST TACKLE

Ben Roethlisberger (quarterback) tackles Nick Harper (cornerback) in 2005 AFC Divisional Playoff Game.

BEST NEAR-MISS

Greensburg native Rocco Mediate goes to a playoff with Tiger Woods at the 2008 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines. Woods doesn't put him away until the 91st hole.

BEST SHIFT

Penguins defenseman Brooks Orpik delivers four bone-crunching hits in 15 seconds in Game 3 of 2008 Cup Final vs. Red Wings

BEST HOMECOMING

Jerome Bettis, who had pondered retirement after the previous season, wins Super Bowl XL in his native Detroit.

BEST SONG

The Polamalu Song, by Mr. Devious.

BEST ROOKIE

Ben Roethlisberger, Steelers — This was a toughie, because Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Jason Bay all were outstanding, Crosby historically so. Roethlisberger prevailed because he went 13-0 and broke Dan Marino's NFL rookie records for completion percentage (.664) and passer rating (98.1).

BEST COMEBACK

Penguins postpone Detroit's big bash — The Stanley Cup was out of its crate, the champagne was on ice and the Joe Louis Arena crowd was going wild as the seconds ticked away in Game 5 of the '08 Stanley Cup Final. That's when the Penguins, trailing 3-2, pulled goalie Marc-Andre Fleury. Coach Michel Therrien sent Max Talbot out as his sixth attacker — "I was like, 'I'm sorry. Me?' " Talbot later said — and Talbot scored with 34.3 seconds left. The Penguins went on to win in three overtimes.

BEST SURPRISE

Mario Lemieux comes out of retirement after 3.5 years.

BEST YEAR

2009, return of the City of Champions — Steelers win the Super Bowl, Penguins win the Cup, Pitt nearly makes Final Four ... and Pirates set all-time record of 17 consecutive losing seasons!

WORST TEAM

2001 Pirates — Nothing like 100 losses to christen a new ballpark

WORST MOMENT

Villanova's Scottie Reynolds makes a last-second shot to prevent Pitt from going to the 2009 Final Four — This generated a ton of debate, mostly from Penguins writer Rob Rossi, who argued that the Steelers losing at home to the Patriots in the 2004 AFC title game, after going 15-1 in the regular season, was more crushing. Seeing the Red Wings raise the Stanley Cup at Mellon Arena wasn't exactly a feel-good moment for Pittsburgh sports fans, either, nor was the Steelers' 2001 AFC title-game loss to the underdog Patriots. But Reynolds' drive and shot had a certain shocking finality to it.

WORST YEAR

2003, the year the City of Champions became the City of Chumps — The Steelers go 6-10, the Pirates post their 11th consecutive losing season and the Penguins — in the 2003-04 season — finish with an NHL-worst 58 points. And how's this for some salt in the wound? The Penguins can't even win the draft lottery, losing out to the Washington Capitals.

WORST WEEKEND

Dec. 5-6, 2009 — On Saturday, Pitt blows a three-touchdown lead and a berth in the Sugar Bowl by losing to Cincinnati, 45-44. On Sunday, the Steelers' playoff hopes sustain a major blow when the sad-sack Oakland Raiders come from behind three times in the fourth quarter to win, 27-24.

WORST WHINER

Detroit Red Wings forward Kris Draper complains to Sports Illustrated that Sidney Crosby did not shake hands with enough Detroit players, including captain Nicklas Lidstrom, after Game 7 of '09 Stanley Cup Final.

WORST BLUNDERS

· Rochester's Lauryn Williams drops the baton in the 4x100 meter relay at the 2004 Olympics in Beijing, four years after she and Marion Jones had a bad exchange in the relay final at the Athens Olympics

· Pitt holder Andrew Janocko fumbles an extra-point snap in a 45-44 loss to Cincinnati.

· Steelers cornerback Dwayne Washington runs into Titans kicker Joe Nedney, who'd just missed a 31-yard field goal in overtime. Given a second chance from five yards closer, Nedney makes the winning kick to eliminate Steelers from 2002 playoffs.

· Steelers Limas Sweed drops a touchdown pass against Baltimore in last year's AFC Championship Game, then fakes an injury in the end zone.

· Steelers receiver Plaxico Burress spikes the ball in celebration against Jacksonville (Oct. 1, 2000) before he is tackled. Jacksonville's Danny Clark returns it 44 yards.

WORST TRADE (TIE)

· Penguins GM Craig Patrick trades five-time scoring champ Jaromir Jagr to the Washington Capitals for Ross Lupaschuk, Michal Sivek, Kris Beech and cash.

· Pirates GM Dave Littlefield trades homegrown slugger Aramis Ramirez and center fielder Kenny Lofton to the Chicago Cubs for Matt Bruback, Jose Hernandez and a player to be named later (Bobby Hill).

WORST DAYS

· Legendary Steelers broadcaster Myron Cope dies at age 79 (Feb. 27, 2008).

· Army women's basketball coach Maggie Dixon, younger sister of Pitt basketball coach Jamie Dixon, dies of a heart arrhythmia (April 6, 2006).

· Five Duquesne men's basketball players are shot outside of an on-campus school dance (Sept. 17, 2006).

· Pirates icon Willie Stargell dies of complications from a stroke at age 61, on the day the Pirates open PNC Park (April 9, 2001).

· Pall cast over city after Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is seriously injured in a motorcycle accident (June 12, 2006).

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