We're gathered here: To select and celebrate the Steel City 500,
the greatest athletes in Western Pennsylvania history. A few notes
of explanation as you're getting your beer and preparing to argue
with the choices. First, in the case of team sports, we're limiting
our picks to those who competed here at either the collegiate or
professional level. That same rule doesn't hold true for individual
sports (more on that in a minute). Therefore, of our great legacy
of NFL quarterbacks like Johnny Unitas, Joe Namath, Joe Montana and
Dan Marino, only Marino qualifies for inclusion on the Steel City
500 list (No. 20), based upon his exploits at the University of
Pittsburgh. Likewise, Donora's Stan "The Man" Musial doesn't crack
the list, despite being one of the 20 greatest baseball players of
all time, because he unfortunately never played for the Pittsburgh
Pirates. For us, high-school athletics paled in comparison, so we
chose to identify those who competed at a higher level. (However,
we'e not nuts, so we included a separate listing of great athletes
who hailed from but never played here.) How did we choose the 500,
you may ask, and was there beer involved? Carefully and yes. We
cast a wide net in determining what athletes and indeed what sports
to include. Among the 500 you'l find the expected football,
baseball, hockey and basketball players. But you'll also find
boxers, swimmers, jockeys, wrestlers, sprinters, long jumpers,
golfers and tennis players' and a whole host of others who competed
in individual sports. We have a number of Hall of Famers. Some from
Cooperstown and Canton, but also others from Danai Beach, Florida,
home of the Fishing Hall of Fame as well as the Basketball, Hockey,
College Football, Track, Soccer, Bowling and Tennis halls of fame
just to name a few. We don't have any figure skaters because we
don't consider it a sport but rather an activity. But who in their
right mind can come up with rankings when you're comparing and
contrasting across different sports? How do you determine that a
great running back ranks higher than a power-hitting first baseman?
Good question. There were a number of factors weighed: Records held
and other awards/achievements, longevity/number of great seasons in
Pittsburgh, championships, inclusion into halls of fame and impact.
That's why Louise Fulton comes in at No. 194. As the first
African-American woman to win a title on the Women's Professional
Bowlers Association Tour in the midst of the Civil Rights movement,
she had impact at a turbulent time. And yes, we'll probably hear it
for ranking a horse, Adios, at No. 32. But before you say nay (or
is it neigh?), take a look at our reasoning. Chances are you might
not agree with where some of our competitors fall in the list.
Barry Bonds outside the top 20? You'll see why. That's the beauty
of this project, the discussions that are sure to ensue. The other
highlight for us is to be able to showcase many of the top athletes
you may not have heard of or have been overlooked. Western
Pennsylvania has a great sporting heritage. Join us in celebrating
it.
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