Who Would You Rather Be?

Almost 20 years ago, an inconsolable city of Pittsburgh watched their Super Bowl dreams disintegrate on the Three Rivers Stadium turf.  The visiting San Diego Chargers, with little momentum from the previous week's defeat of the Dolphins, tip-toed through 59 minutes of well-played football and punctuated their efforts with a goal-line stand, stamping their ticket to Super Bowl twenty-nine.  The San Diego Chargers with Natrone Means, Stan Humphies and the mighty Alfred Pupunu.

One year earlier, the underdog Steelers played a classic Wild Card match-up against Joe Montana and the Kansas City Chiefs.  Playing as well as they had all season, Pittsburgh was doomed by a fourth quarter blocked punt and failing to capitalize on their defense holding the Chiefs to a three-and-out in their first OT possession.  The Chiefs would move-on to beat the Oilers the next week before falling to the Bills in the AFC Title game.

Those memories are still very fresh for me.  I can remember going to my friend Joe's house for the Charger loss.  Our whole eighth grade class of guys (all 10 of us) packed into his living room with our Terrible Towels and the feeling the Super Bowl trip was ours, something we had never experienced in our lifetime.   For the entirety of the game, we were all waiting for the Steelers to do something on offense.  They listlessly stalled time and time again, wracking-up yards but eventually punting.  The offense never came and neither did the sunshine for about two weeks.

I remember going to Nanny and Grand's the previous year for the Chiefs loss.  If entitlement reigned while watching the Charger game, the opposite was on display for the Chiefs game that Saturday afternoon...a feeling more of a hope that we could fight the favored home team and capitalize at the end.  As fate would have, we had that chance but lost at the end in painful fashion.

That was 20 years ago and a lot has happened to these three cities since those NFL playoff games.  Since those losses, Pittsburgh has hoisted two Super Bowl trophies, a Stanley Cup, been to the finals of those respective league on three other occasions and seen a revival of our beloved Pirates.  I feel very fortunate to be a Pittsburgh fan in all facets, even though I still live-and-die with every win and loss and haven't experienced a title since all the way back on June 9, 2009.  (Click the link, see Rule #12.)

But San Diego and Kansas City?  As a sports culture, Buffalo, Detroit, Minneapolis and, of course, Cleveland, are often referred as the cities starving most for pro sports success.  Sometimes you can throw-in Cincinnati or the occasional Philadelphia, but San Diego and Kansas City are pretty much tied at the hip regarding expectations, results and perception from most fans outside of those metropolises.  Two cities with a football and baseball team, occasionally knocking at the door for relevance but, inevitable, leaving our sports conscience in due time.

Nationally, a picture is painted that Kansas City has "midwest values" and having "hometown support" and claiming their sports are "all we have."  For that standpoint, I can relate.  Along with many baseball fans, I was excited for the Royals when they dominated the postseason on their way to the World Series.  Those seven games were terrific.  Come football season, I'm behind my team 100%.  Same with baseball.  Looks like KC is the same way, right?  I mean, how many times do we hear the Pirates and Royals mentioned in the same breath?  Sometimes the Steelers and Chiefs are mentioned together with their running attacks, loud crowds and iconic ownerships.  Heck, the Penguins were going to move to Kansas City if Lemieux didn't save the day for the third time.  There's a lot to relate to.

San Diego, I'm told, has beautiful weather, a world-class zoo and surfing.  This can also be described as "not Pittsburgh."  In recent memory (and I'm talking about these last eight months,) the Padres have made a ton of free agent moves, honored the passing of Tony Gwynn, and fallen in and out of memory from even their own fan base with their on-field play.  The Chargers, to me, are like a firefly.  When they come around, you think, "that's nice...look at that ... isn't that neat."  Philip Rivers might throw for 500 yards, or they might get a big win when they weren't supposed to.  In due time, though, there isn't a relevance to their glow and they fade into night.  Last season, the Chargers snuck-in the back door to the playoffs and manhandled the Bengals in Cincinnati before falling to the Broncos seven days later.  That's nice... look at that ... oh, I guess they've left ... moving on...

Fast forward to this week; the Chargers and Chiefs face-off this Sunday in Kansas City.  If the Chargers win, they go to the playoffs, probably as the sixth seed.  If the Chiefs win, they need help but could also enter the playoffs as the sixth seed.  Should either of these scenarios happen, will it register with their fan bases ... or nationally ... or in Vegas?  They could make a Cinderella run to the title and be the talk of the town forever.  Or they can retread a similar chorus they've sung for these last two decades.  A hurdle ... a welcomed threat ... a nice story for the preseason to discuss.

I mean this in a very objective, inquisitive manner: what's the best sports memory for these cities in the last twenty years?  The Padres ('98) and Royals ('14) making the World Series? The Chargers coming 8 points from beating the undefeated Patriots?  The Chiefs Dante Hall returning every punt for a touchdown?  And while I don't know any San Diego or Kansas City fans, I feel like one group gets over losses quicker (SD) than the other (KC.)  The question is, if given the choice, who would I rather be?