With all due respect to the “competition,” what a total crock of ***t this is.
The idea that the night “Pirates fans made Cueto drop the ball” in 2013 is the greatest occasion in Pittsburgh sports history could only be declared by a Bucco stooge or total nitwit.
The Steelers’ six Super Bowls, the Penguins’ five Stanley Cups and the Pirates’ five World Series rank above that by definition. There are many highlights within those championships that also rank above, like Ben Roethlisberger’s pass to Santonio Holmes to win Super Bowl XLIII and, obviously, Bill Mazeroski’s walk-off home run to win Game 7 of the 1960 World Series.
Mazeroski’s homer is arguably the biggest moment in MLB history. (If it had given a New York team victory instead of beating one, it would definitely be.)
But, no, Cueto dropping the ball in a mere wild-card game was bigger. FFS.
Other events independent of championships are bigger than Cueto’s butterfingers.
The night of Mario Lemieux’s comeback, for example. Or Mario scoring five goals, five ways. Or the Immaculate Reception.
You could make a better argument for Cueto’s faux pas if it had led to anything. But the Pirates lost to St. Louis is the divisional series that year, were vanquished in the wild-card game in each of the next two seasons, then dismantled a 98-win team to maximize profit margin.
The Pirates have since been crap, losing 101 games this season. Cueto dropping the ball led to nothing. Those fans who went wild that night have long since stopped showing up.
The Immaculate Reception, by contrast, kicked off an era of dominance for the Steelers.
Franco Harris trapped the ball in 1972. The Steelers won their first Super Bowl two seasons later and won three more by 1980.
The Immaculate Reception was a trigger. Cueto dropping the ball was a false alarm.
Speaking objectively, Cueto dropping the ball isn’t in the top 20 Pittsburgh sports events ever.
Speaking like a total dip***t, or like a Pirates mark, then yeah…it’s No. 1. (But even a Pirates mark shouldn’t be dense enough to rank it ahead of Mazeroski’s home run.)
It’s one thing to be a team’s affiliate. It’s another to make yourself look stupid by stooging.
Thumbnail via Getty Images.