Vastly Different Expectations for Pens-Pirates

It has been a great week of sports, especially here in Pittsburgh, with the NCAA Final Four, the opening of baseball season, the Pirates home opener, the final few regular season Penguins’ games at Mellon Arena and the start of the Masters featuring the return of Tiger Woods. There’s not much more you can ask for as a sports lover outside of football season. I had the pleasure of attending the Pirates home opener on Monday and the Pens-Caps game at Mellon Arena Tuesday night. Both games were highly enjoyable and featured enthusiastic sold-out crowds, but that is where the similarities end.

The Pirates are fresh off their 17th consecutive losing season and very little is expected of them this year. Walking into the game on Monday there was almost a party-like atmosphere in the crowd. I think this had much more to do with the weather, many people having the day off for the Easter holiday, and the general return of the baseball season (not to mention the copious amounts of alcohol in the parking lots). Walking into the stadium there were still whispers of how bad this team was and how many games they were going to lose. When the Buccos got down in the top of the first inning, there was certainly a “here we go again” buzz throughout the crowd.

This all changed, however, with Garrett Jones’ two run home-run in the bottom of the first. The crowd started to get into the game, cheering the Pirates on after every good play. After all, this is a new season and Pirate fans are entitled to a little hope, right? When Ryan Church’s bases clearing double broke the game open in the bottom of the fifth, the crowd went into a frenzy cheering the Pirates on the rest of the way like it was the World Series. Believe me when I tell you it was fun to cheer on a Pirates’ win before they are eliminated from contention, which usually occurs around Memorial Day. The reaction of the crowd was overwhelming and many of the Pirates players spoke of it after the game. It just goes to show how people would latch on to the Buccos and go crazy again for baseball if this team can ever become competitive. It also goes to show you how excited fans can get when expectations are so low…

Meanwhile, the atmosphere Tuesday night was just the opposite. The feel walking into the Penguins’ game was very business-like. The game was an important one not only in the standings as the Penguins’ fight for the division title and the number two seed, but because it was against their biggest rival the Washington Capitals and Alexander Ovechkin. Penguins’ fans, unlike their cousins the Pirate fans, have grown to expect a whole bunch from their team. The Penguins are the defending Stanley Cup champions and have reached the Finals in back to back years. Penguins’ fans have grown to expect their team to win, especially in big games against big rivals.

Like the Pirates game, the game got off to a lousy start when Washington scored first. Unlike the Pirates, the Penguins were never able to fully bounce back despite a great effort from their leader Sidney Crosby. The crowd became restless when Marc-Andre Fleury gave up a soft goal on the Capitals’ second goal of the night. They became downright mad when another softie went in on Fleury after the Penguins had scored to make a game of it. When Coach Dan Bylsma pulled Fleury for backup Brent Johnson, the crowd actually cheered. This is the same goaltender that was fantastic last year in the playoffs, has won a Stanley Cup, reached another Final and is still only 25 years-old. This is what happens when expectations are raised to an unfair level. The Penguins tried their hardest to battle back but it was not enough on this night, eventually falling to the Capitals 6-3.

As the Pirates wrapped up their series with the Dodgers winning two out of three and the Penguins close their regular season history at Mellon Arena tonight, each will get ready to begin a long journey. The Pirates will continue through their 162 game trek of the MLB season while the Penguins will embark on the grueling grind of another Stanley Cup playoff run as they try to repeat as champions. Each begins their journey with vastly different expectations from their fans. Anything less than another Stanley Cup parade will leave Pens’ fans disappointed. On the baseball side, anything approaching a .500 season would have Pirates fans dancing in the streets. The best thing about being a sports fan is that we simply don’t know whether the Penguins will meet their great expectations or whether the Pirates can outperform their very low ones. What we do know, however, is that we will be there rooting away for our teams while hopefully getting the chance to experience a part of history, for good or for bad.