Kids hate the Pirates. And love the Penguins.
I can’t blame them. I’d pick Sid/Geno/MAF/Staal over Bay/ADD/Paulino/McLouth any day. The tots are just learning early on that winning makes you that much cooler.
Growing up, I was able to experience winning in both sports. Sure, the Buccos didn’t bring home the championship, but I was pumped to watch guys like Bonds/Bonilla/Van Slyke/Pena just as much as I loved watching Lemieux/Jagr/Francis/Stevens/Loney etc. And even though those Pirates weren’t bringing home the championship hardware like the Pens, I was still taught to love Clemente/Stargell/Maz and the rest.
I’m done with the forward slash for a bit.
Do you want local sports wisdom from the mouths of babes (kids AND moms)? Read that article. Here’s a conversation between a kid named Gunnar (?) and his mom after the kid came home from kindergarten. Don’t know why anyone would call their kid Gunnar, though:
Gunnar: “Mom, Josh said something mean today.”
Mom: “What did he say?”
Gunnar: “He said the Pirates stink.”
Mom: “Well, honey, they do.”
Gunnar: “They do?
Mom: “Yep.”
Gunnar: “Oh.”
And Gunnar now knows the plight of the Pittsburgh sports fan. Everything (Gunnar) needs to know (he) learned in kindergarten.
However, despite my love of all teams Black and Gold, I have to make like the kiddies for the current Pirates/Penguins outlook.
Go Pens!
