Houston Sports: Top 5 cities that must be conquered or bust

#4 Pittsburgh

The so-called “City of Champions” following the Steelers and Pirates championships in 1979 is another city we have yet to beat. In the 1978 and 1979 AFC Title games, our chances of reaching the Super Bowl ended when we ran into a brick wall. Actually, we ran into the Steel Curtain defense, arguably the best in NFL History. But the Oilers were also outplayed by a team that had nine Hall-of-Famers on the squad. With the Oilers out of action, the Texans are the only Houston team in football to take down the Steelers.

Meanwhile, the Pittsburgh Pirates decided to be kind to us and give us their ace in Gerrit Cole while we gave them a few good players including Joe Musgrove. But can you imagine a World Series between these two teams? The Pirates used to be a team on the rise back in 2013. The best case evidence for how a potential championship for a franchise that hadn’t won since 1979 comes from this moment. 

But did they improve Houston Sports fans? Hahahahaha! No! They were still a team that was least likely to win a World Series in the playoffs because they didn’t help Cole or MVP Andrew McCutchen.

What must happen?

In the NFL Playoffs, the Texans must beat the Steelers at home and trail 17-10. They must have a controversial touchdown pass go their way to make up for the Mike Renfro catch in 1979. The Steelers must complain about the call and Houston wins.

Meanwhile, the Astros must beat the Pirates in the World Series to show Pittsburgh what they lost or could’ve achieved had they helped out Cole by giving him some great players. I wish I could say it must be a four-game sweep, but sweeping a team isn’t easy. I’ll make it a five-game series. Oh, Houston Sports fans, but I do want to see us clinch a title at home. So we’ll make it a six-game series with two losses due to complacency.

How ironic Houston Sports fans!