Justice B. Hill
To outsiders, Pittsburgh might not be a city they understand well. All they can see is blue-collar city tied to a dying industry like “Big Steel” and with an affinity for the Steelers.
The outsiders might misunderstand the deeply-rooted pride and unflagging loyalty that the locals here cling to, but the outsiders would understand if they lived in the city for a year or two.
For all the things Pittsburgh might not be, it has plenty that points to what it is. The locals tend to dwell on the latter while ignoring the former. Because to fret about not being, oh, as urbane or as sophisticated as its bigger brother Philadelphia is to waste a worry.
Hell, the locals can also say their city ain’t Cleveland, and they would be right, too.
For Pittsburgh, a city with an intellectual underpinning that seems to get ignored, can boast that it has plenty in common with Philadelphia, which includes a low-tolerance for mediocrity.
The city’s residents showed that to the Penguins, the defending Stanley Cup champs, when the hockey team was the laughingstock of the NHL, and they’re displaying that same intolerance now toward the Pirates, whose 17 seasons of ineptitude have stretched the city’s tolerance to the breaking point.
How deep that city’s frustration runs played out Thursday in an open letter The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the city’s largest daily, wrote to Pirates owner Bob Nutting.
