The Pittsburgh Sports Scene is in a Major Slump

The Pirates haven't won a game since last Wednesday, and their season is quickly imploding.

The Steelers lost their season opener to the Denver Broncos Sunday night, and this might be over-dramatic, but they haven't won a game since January 1st.

And don't get me started on the local college football scene. The Pitt Panthers have looked absolutely pathetic during their 0-2 start, including an embarrassing 31-17 loss at Heinz Field to the division I-AA Youngstown St. Penguins in their season debut under new head coach Paul Chryst.

And even though I hate Penn State, if you cross-reference a lot of sports fans in Western, Pa., you'll find that there are probably almost as many Nittany Lions supporters as there are Panther faithful, and since PSU's off to an 0-2 start of their own-- including a heartbreaking 17-16 loss at Virginia this past Saturday--let's just say there aren't very many satisfied sports fans in the region at this very moment.

Ever have one of those days where one bad thing leads to another trying event? That's what it feels like to be a Pittsburgh area sports fan right now.

We need a fix. Who will give us that much needed boost? The Pirates aren't looking like a team that is going to give us anything to cheer about anytime soon. In fact, I have a very bad feeling they're going to go in the exact opposite direction, and we'll be talking about a 20th straight losing-season when all is said and done. I hate to say that, but it's so darn true.

As for Penn State, they play Navy on Saturday, and that might be a recipe for victory. However, the program is so depleted and compromised from the sanctions that were imposed following the Jerry Sandussky scandal, I wouldn't be surprised if they lost 10 games this season.

And Pitt seems like a lost-cause. It doesn't get any easier this week with Virginia Tech coming to town. It'll be a preview of a future ACC match-up, but I get the feeling Panthers fans will begin to dread the future move after what I fear will be a third-straight beat-down at the hands of the Hokies. They might get their first (and maybe only) win against Gardner Webb the following week. I doubt anyone will get any satisfaction out of it, and it certainly wouldn't do much to lift the region out of its sports slump.

And you can't count on the Penguins to provide fans with any hope, not with a potential lockout looming on the horizon.

So, who do we turn to to rescue us from these doldrums? I'm thinking it's the Pittsburgh Steelers. They may have lost to the Broncos on Sunday, but they didn't look too horrible doing it, and I saw nothing to suggest that they're going to have an awful year. Maybe this week, the Steelers will vanquish the New York Jets and boost our morale.

When all else fails, you can always count on the Steelers.