They talk about the Battle of PA as if the Philly and Pittsburgh teams are always mixing it up in one sport of another.

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But consider:

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The Eagles have never faced the Steelers in a playoff game.

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In more than 50 years, the Philadelphia Athletics never once squared off against the Pittsburgh Pirates in the World Series.

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The closest thing the Phillies and Pirates ever had to a rivalry were a few competitive NL East races in the mid- to late 1970s.

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And except for the NBA's opening season (when it was still known as the BAA), Pittsburgh has never even had a big league basketball team.

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Folks, the Battle of Pennsylvania means one thing and one thing only - Flyers vs. Penguins.

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The Flyers were the first great 1967 expansion team, but they did not face the Penguins in the playoffs at all in their first 20 seasons. Shortly after the arrival of Mario Lemieux, the Penguins became the PA team in the limelight - 5 Stanley Cups. And it's not like Cowboys fans bragging about their 5 ancient Super Bowls. Three of those Penguin Cups happened fairly recently.

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We hate the Pens, and we hate their fans even more. We've been chanting "Crosby sucks!" forever, but all the while it was the Flyers, not Crosby, who sucked.

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Finally it seems the winds have changed. Foerster is healthy, Martone is here, and the Flyers (the NHL's youngest team) seem poised to oust the Penguins (the NHL's oldest team).  Bidding farewell to Crosby and Malkin and all their filthy feathered friends will be sweeter than a king-size package of Goldenberg's Peanut Chews.

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The truth is, the Flyers have been fairly successful against the Pens in the playoffs, winning 4 of 7 series, often in grand style. In 1989, coming off a 10-7 defeat in Game 5, the Flyers rallied to win Game 6 at home and Game 7 in Pittsburgh. And in 2000, after losing the first 2 games at home, the Flyers rallied to win 4 straight, propelled by back-to-back OT wins in Pittsburgh (including Primeau's legendary goal in the 5th period of overtime).

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Betcha didn't know that prior to Super Bowl XXX in 1996, Pittsburgh's teams had not lost a major league championship in any sport going back to 1927 - nearly 69 years! They had gone 9-0 with the title on the line - 4 Super Bowls for the Steelers, 3 World Series for the Pirates, and 2 Stanley Cups for the Penguins.

 

Ah, but those days are gone, and the Penguins' glory era is flickering out.  The Pens are yesterday, and the Flyers are tomorrow.