Really? You're seriously going to argue that the Pittsburgh Steelers are the greatest franchise in the history of team sports? REALLY? Wow!
Here's the part where he tries to discount the 17-time world champions and their accomplishments throughout the decades:
Are the Steelers the best sports franchise ever?Anyone else find it odd that Fleming seems to go out of his way to avoid referring to the Celtics by name?
Purchased by Art Rooney Sr. in 1933, with $2,500 he supposedly won at the track (love that), the Steelers initially struggled for decades. But since the AFL-NFL merger in 1970 (something Art Sr. helped orchestrate), no one's been better. No one. And now, after seven Super Bowls, 30 postseason wins, seven championship games in the past 14 years, 19 Hall of Famers and the dynasty of the 1970s that includes probably the greatest, baddest football team ever assembled ... if you factor in the popularity of the NFL and the quaint but sturdy Midwestern soul of this franchise, it's hard to argue against what the Steelers have built.
Yes, of course, I know the Montreal Canadiens have won 24 Stanley Cups. But if we're talking about the best-run, most successful franchise in our lifetime, the Habs are disqualified for winning only two Cups in the past 30 years. There are the defending NBA champs in Boston, of course, who have collected 17 titles, but they too were largely a non-factor for the past two decades. The Cowboys? America's Team? Please. They haven't won a playoff game in a dozen years.
Anyway, it would appear that ESPN's readership is not buying into his argument, as an online poll at the site currently has the Steelers ranked third in a four-team race (sports.espn.go.com) ... For the record, the Celts are in second place, right behind the - ugh - Yankees.
You'll notice that all of the New England states know what the correct answer is ;)EDIT: Total votes have now passed 25,000 (25,327 as of January 26th), and the Celts are - sadly - still a distant second ...
New York Yankees - 47%
Boston Celtics - 26%
Montreal Canadiens - 13%
Pittsburgh Steelers - 14%
No comments:
Post a Comment