Thirty-four days. That’s the number of days where every sports fan has to feel the pain. The pain of scrolling through your TV channels on a Saturday in the middle of February, and there is not a single sport on. Now what? You might have to resort to the animal channel or watch a Disney movie.
After Super Bowl LVIII ended, the sports world has simmered down quite a bit. Selection Sunday for March Madness isn’t until March 17th, MLB opening day is March 28th, the NFL Draft begins April 25th, and April 28th begins playoff hockey.
Junior Dom Wentzel says, “Watching sports right now just isn’t as exciting because the sports that are on now just don’t have the same feel as they used to.”
For almost a month, sports fans in Hempfield Area are in dire need of some sports entertainment. Although, there are some sports that they can watch in this time of need, but it may come with some difficulty.
The Pittsburgh Penguins in the NHL are still on; however, the team is struggling and has been for the past couple years. The team is on pace to miss the playoffs for the second year in a row, after previously making the playoffs for twenty straight years. The “Big Three”, including Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Kris Letang aren’t getting any younger, and it looks like their time of competing for a Stanley Cup is starting to come to an end. In year nineteen, Sidney Crosby is still the best part of the team, and one of the best in the league, but he’s now thirty-six and is coming near the end of his contract. The Pens might be looking at rebuilding in the near future, as the team just traded away Jake Guentzel, a controversial mood that many Penguin fans were saddened to hear the news. Time is running out for the Pittsburgh Penguins, and fans in western Pennsylvania don’t want to watch a struggling team.
Although Duquesne men’s basketball made the NCAA tournament, Pitt and Penn State basketball failed to make the beloved March Madness Tournament. After both the teams had a successful season last year placing near the top of their conference, both were around the middle of the pack this year. Pitt qualified for the NIT tournament, but declined the offer to play. The Panthers were considered by many to be “snubbed” out of the NCAA tournament, as they were the “Last Four Out” of the tournament.
Struggling teams equals low viewership. No sports fan will waste two and a half hours or more of their day to watch a team lose all the time. Teams in our area are becoming mediocre right now. They’re not too good, but also not that horrible. The Pittsburgh area has always had the winning mentality. Fans in the Pittsburgh area have the expectation of competing for a title every year, especially in football and hockey. We expect the best because we deserve the best. The Pirates haven’t been to a World Series in forty-five years, and Pitt has been mediocre in football and basketball in what seems like forever now. The team has brought in some young talent; however, with rookie pitcher Paul Skenes and short-stop Oneil Cruz smashing home runs in spring training, there could be a bright future in the Pirate organization.
Even though the NFL offseason is not nationally televised all over the country, the Pittsburgh Steelers might be the most exciting part of this time-period. General manager Omar Khan has been making some major moves that could help the team out in a big way. Adding players like Russel Wilson, Justin Fields, Patrick Queen, and more, brings much anticipation for the next season. But even the Steelers have been struggling the past couple of seasons. Yes, Mike Tomlin has never had a losing season, and the Steelers have been sneaking their way into the playoffs, but the team hasn’t won a playoff game since 2016. Hopefully the new additions can help the team get over that playoff hump.
Fans are looking for a spark to get out of this mediocrity and to go back to becoming world champions once again. After all, we are nicknamed “The City of Champions.”
