Obviously this is and always will be a Steelers town first regardless. However, I was curious as to how popular the Pens are in Pittsburgh currently? Do they get some air time on the radio or is all the attention toward the Steelers? Oh yes, who will be renewing their season tickets and when do you think the sellout streak stops? Hard to believe 7 years ago they were close to leaving. Maybe that has brought fans closer together..
ColePens
RIP Fugu Buffaloed & parabola
If I'm not mistaken... didn't the Pens recently finish higher in a certain age group? I feel like children to people 30 years old are huge Pens fans over Steeler fans. There is more of a connection with hockey players over the Divas in football. I think the majority of 30+ are Steeler fans. That's just how I feel, but then again - I'm from a hockey family so I surround myself by hockey people almost everywhere.
Ziggyjoe21
Registered User
If Steelers and Pens had a game at the same time, I think Steelers would get a higher TV audience 100 times out of a 100. Even though Pittsburgh is one of the best american hockey markets, football is still king everywhere.
IMO, when/if the Pirates ever become good they'll catch up/overtake the Pirates.
IMO, when/if the Pirates ever become good they'll catch up/overtake the Pirates.
plaidchuck
Registered User
sovietsanta87
Registered User
gordie
5x
When? If?? the Pirates ever become good (NEVER GONNA HAPPEN) they'll never catch up/overtake the Pens because baseball is 19th century game being played in the 21st century & beyond and in fact I believe baseball and its slowness make it a doomed sport.
With some of the immature punks on the Steelers team and an owner in Art Rooney II that is meddlesome and clings to outdated philosophies, it's getting hard to like the Steelers. I think some of the younger people in Pittsburgh feel the same as I do. Obviously, football is king in most cities. But can you really say the Steelers are a more likeable team than the Penguins? Hockey players in general are better human beings than football players.
Ugene Magic
EVIL LAUGH
I'm in my 40's and while the Steelers only play 16 games if I had to miss a game I wouldn't even care. The sport is too punk-ish in terms of players in how they act on and off the field. The Pens play 82 game seasons and I can't/won't miss a game for anything. That's anything, funerals, weddings, ect...
Now I do miss a period here, or having to listen to a period on my way home (very few), but I can't stand to miss a game.
Baseball is dead to me. Sad since it was my favorite growing up and my #2 until I said enough is enough. I watched 162 games a season win or lose for almost 30 years.
So if the Steelers and Pens were on at the same time = Pens with 100% of my attention, excluding Steelers playoff games and Superbowls. Those would take priority over Pens games, but I'd just watch both at the same time.
Now I do miss a period here, or having to listen to a period on my way home (very few), but I can't stand to miss a game.
Baseball is dead to me. Sad since it was my favorite growing up and my #2 until I said enough is enough. I watched 162 games a season win or lose for almost 30 years.
So if the Steelers and Pens were on at the same time = Pens with 100% of my attention, excluding Steelers playoff games and Superbowls. Those would take priority over Pens games, but I'd just watch both at the same time.
Jaded-Fan
Registered User
I remember reading that as well. About Pens beating the Steelers in the under 30 crowd.
The Pens growth has been among the older crowd since 2005, they have had the 20 somethings and younger for a lot longer. Women especially are huge hockey fans in numbers you do not see as often for other sports. Though to be fair I think that the Steelers have the largest percentage of female followers of any team in the NFL. Byt that growth among the over 30's has made the Pens within spitting distance of the Steelers in popularity.
Big McLargehuge
Fragile Traveler
The Pirates have essentially skipped a generation, while the Penguins have coddled them.
It would take something enormous for the Pirates to overtake the Penguins. I won't say it'll never happen, but it's certainly hard to see it happening when the younger demographics are so heavily tilted to the Penguins.
Hobodrifter
Registered User
It will happen the very day Lemeuix/Burkle buy the Pirates. Hockey may overtake or at least pull even to the Steelers soon enough. The Steelers are loaded with rather unlikable men and they don't project to be very good next season with players leaving and lack of any real activity to improve the team via FA. Thats not a recipe for fan approval even in Pittsburgh when you compete with a very talented and class organization.
Steve Durbano
Registered User
I'm 51 and I feel incredibly lucky to have seen 8 Super Bowls, three Stanley Cups and two World Series titles.
I'm a fan of all of them. I hope I live long enough to see the Pirates return to a championship.
I'm a fan of all of them. I hope I live long enough to see the Pirates return to a championship.
Ziggyjoe21
Registered User
I hate baseball as much as anyone but let's be realistic, as soon as the Pirates became a mediocre .500 team 2 summers ago PNC parked consistently sold out all of its 24,000 seats. Americans just like baseball for some reason.
It took the Pens 40 years, 4 generational players, and 3 championships to attract that kind of following.
This will inevitably turn into a Pens vs Pirates vs Steelers bash thread, but if all 3 teams are playoff caliber teams, and all 3 just so happen to play on Sunday in early October, IMO the Pirates get 2nd page of the Pittsburgh Post gazette.
Dying Alive
Phil = 2x Champ
The Pens leaving was much less about a lack of popularity and much more about hemorrhaging money due to the outdated arena and bad lease deal. Not to say they've always been as popular as they are now, but they've always done well in tv ratings even when attendance was down.
I've been a Pens STH for almost 10 years now & I can't foresee giving up my tickets. I don't go to every game every season anymore but I still get to 25-30 during a normal season. I will never pay to see another Steelers game. In fact, I don't know if I'd take Steelers tickets for free. Way too many boorish yinzer drunks to the point where the games aren't even fun IMO. Ironically I think the Pens games were a lot more fun back when they stunk as well. Now that they're the hot ticket in town the hardcore yinzers are gravitating toward Pens games and bringing some of the same atmosphere with them.
I've been a Pens STH for almost 10 years now & I can't foresee giving up my tickets. I don't go to every game every season anymore but I still get to 25-30 during a normal season. I will never pay to see another Steelers game. In fact, I don't know if I'd take Steelers tickets for free. Way too many boorish yinzer drunks to the point where the games aren't even fun IMO. Ironically I think the Pens games were a lot more fun back when they stunk as well. Now that they're the hot ticket in town the hardcore yinzers are gravitating toward Pens games and bringing some of the same atmosphere with them.
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Mr. T
Registered User
- Feb 15, 2003
- 3,774
- 1,301
Dying Alive
Phil = 2x Champ
I think there are a lot of people who are really bitter about the Pirates' total lack of doing anything over the last two decades. Doesn't mean they won't sell out on bobblehead nights or whatever like they always have but I think they're going to have to do a lot of outreach to repair the relationship with the fans in this city. I only go to about 3 games a summer and people consistently give me grief for putting money in the Nuttings' pockets.
HandshakeLine
A real jerk thing
Mr. T
Registered User
- Feb 15, 2003
- 3,774
- 1,301
I like the Steelers, it's their fans that I can't stand sometimes.
Handshake Line - 100% unrelated: If one was to delve into Nick Cave's oeuvre, where should they start?
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HandshakeLine
A real jerk thing
Depends-- how into atonal squalling are you?
I like his early stuff with the Bad Seeds- Tender Prey, Kicking Against the ******, Your Funeral/My Trial, The Firstborn is Dead, etc.. as well as the Birthday Party's stuff. It's tough to get into though.
But, that being said, I think Murder Ballads is a great place to start, as well as his later ballady stuff. No More Shall We Part has some gorgeous songs on it, and Let Love In is pretty good too. I haven't heard the new album, but it's supposed to be pretty good as well.
Ugene Magic
EVIL LAUGH
I feel we're spoiled in that sense compared to other cities. I was only looking for being competitive out of the Pirates every so many years for that very reason we've watched so many championships. Pirates ownership couldn't even commit to that and it's a shame how they ruined a once thriving team.
SuburbanRhythm
WorldClassJagoff
I like the Steelers, it's their fans that I can't stand sometimes.
This is pretty much where I am.
I watch every Steeler game. But I am not as passionate as I was say, 10 years ago. Part of that is maturing (at least I think I have). Part of that is, at age 37, I miss the old NFL (yes, I sound like a crotchety old man!). Comebacks are no longer thrilling, because they happen 3-4 times a week now.
But a big part is the idiocy of other "fans". I've been saying for probably 10 years, nothing bothers me more than watching a SNF or MNF game involving the Steelers, and one of the announcers says, as they pan the crowd while returning from commercial, what a "knowledgeable fan base the Steelers have." It's a lie. They have a huge fan base. And ridiculously passionate. But they aren't knowledgeable. Most of them have no clue what they're actually watching, just know as long as the B&G have a higher score at the end, it's good.
Unfortunately, with the Pens success, a lot of these people are bleeding over.
Whenever I feel down, I like clicking on a Pens/Steelers Facebook update to read the comments, and realize I'm smarter than 95% of the population.
Dying Alive
Phil = 2x Champ
Depends-- how into atonal squalling are you?
I like his early stuff with the Bad Seeds- Tender Prey, Kicking Against the ******, Your Funeral/My Trial, The Firstborn is Dead, etc.. as well as the Birthday Party's stuff. It's tough to get into though.
But, that being said, I think Murder Ballads is a great place to start, as well as his later ballady stuff. No More Shall We Part has some gorgeous songs on it, and Let Love In is pretty good too. I haven't heard the new album, but it's supposed to be pretty good as well.
I'm far from a Nick Cave expert but my two favorite songs of his are The Curse of Millhaven and Breathless.
/OT
plaidchuck
Registered User
I like the Steelers, the history and up till now class of the franchise, but I really don't care too much for football in general. In the end a bit boring for me. I like the idea of a last ditch wing and prayer play winning a game but that's about it.
Hockey is better for me because it combines a little bit of every sport, the sheer violence of football, the skill and beauty you see in soccer, yet it's not boring as soccer and usually higher scoring. At the same time it's definitely a team sport where every player has to contribute defensively for the team to win, unlike basketball where you have one guy dominating the whole game.
Hockey is better for me because it combines a little bit of every sport, the sheer violence of football, the skill and beauty you see in soccer, yet it's not boring as soccer and usually higher scoring. At the same time it's definitely a team sport where every player has to contribute defensively for the team to win, unlike basketball where you have one guy dominating the whole game.
I like the Steelers, grew up in Pittsburgh and everything, but the entire diva thug culture in that sport, as well as in basketball/baseball, is so ****ing awful. It is so refreshing to see how things are done in hockey, and that is why I value the Pens more than the Steelers.
As a sports fan, I really enjoy seeing Big Ben play football. He's insane, an amazing athlete/player. But he, and so many others, have seriously questionable personalities and I just don't see that on the Pens or in the NHL in general. It just seems like a much more down-to-earth sport in terms of both the players and the overall culture.
As a sports fan, I really enjoy seeing Big Ben play football. He's insane, an amazing athlete/player. But he, and so many others, have seriously questionable personalities and I just don't see that on the Pens or in the NHL in general. It just seems like a much more down-to-earth sport in terms of both the players and the overall culture.
Steve Durbano
Registered User
Yeah, as much as a Steelers fan as I am, I can't see Sid getting caught in a college bar fondling co-eds.
