Pittsburghers pay their respects to late mayor during funeral procession

That's nothing, poindexter.

O'Connor's youngest son started the pre-game Terrible Towel wave last night. He also sung the "Pittsburgh Steelers Polka" during the funeral mass, and placed a towel in his father's casket. Hell, there was even a cardboard cutout of the guy in his season-ticket seat at Heinz Field.

I believe the people with the cups were patrons at a coffee shop in nearby Squirrel Hill, a place O'Connor visited daily.

All in all, a great sendoff...RIP.

 

The reason owners are allowed to hold cities hostage is becoming clearer.


Nichol Mitchell vowed last night that she and some friends will maintain a vigil outside Mercy Hospital until Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is released.
Photo by Annie O'Neill / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (6/13/2006)

 

He was a Steelers season tix holder for over 25 years...
They did this where he sat last night:

 

Amazingly enough, this is a city that voted against money for new football and baseball stadiums. The city government basically ignored them and got it done anyway.

I thought the Terrible Towel waving was ridiculous in this case, too, but I think O'Connor would have appreciated it. That tells you a lot about Pittsburgh, good and bad.

 

I knew Bob for 10 years, and as much as I hate the cliche, '(insert name here) would have wanted it this way," I think Bob would have wanted it this way. Bob was a guy that genuinely loved the city, it's good and it's bad. He was a season ticket holder after the first Super Bowl win, so over 30 years. He was also in the forefront of all of the city's celebrating after Super Bowl this year.

What made me laugh were the morons quoted in the Post Gazette Friday morning saying "yeah, we tailgated for Bob." No, you tailgated because you wanted to get hammered.

 

Seemed like the appropriate way to honor the man, given that the season started so close to his death.

 

It was a weird week in Pittsburgh:

1.) The remnants of TS Ernesto rolled through.
2.) The mayor died.
3.) They replaced him with the city council president, a 26-year-old.
4.) The city's charter doesn't exactly say when the office can be up for election again.
5.) Ben Roethlisberger had his second emergency surgery in under three months, and this one was "minor."
6.) Evgeni Malkin signed with the Penguins after a month of sneaking away from the mob his team.
7.) The Pirates pulled out of last place.
8.) The mayor's funeral was just an amazing undertaking. It was reminiscent of Ronald Reagan's, except on a distinct local scale.
9). The city was lit up like it was hosting the Emmys or something for the NFL.
10.) The Steelers opener being on a Thursday night.

(EDIT) 11.) Najeh Davenport may now be the Steelers No. 2 back. :

 

Dude, concerning #4, sounds like they are just Ravenstahl makes it sound like he'll just let the courts decide instead of getting into a long protracted fight about it.

 

No. 3 makes me feel ancient for reasons I will not get into here. But that whole situation is pretty amazing.

And lighting up the whole city for the NFL is nothing new.

 

Maybe I'm just biased, but I have never, in the 40 years I've been alive, seen the city of Pittsburgh so energized as it was on Thursday night. Those spotlights that were attached to the bridges were amazing, as were the fireworks off the top of the USX Building and PPG. It may not have been anything new to you, but the swing of emotions that happened that day--starting with the Mayor's funeral (broadcast live on all networks for 4 hours) to the game and a win that evening, was something I'll never forget.

Oh, and waving the terrible towel along the procession.....perfect. The Mayor was buried with one in his casket as well. I didn't know nor did I ever meet Bob O'Connor; I don't even live in the City of Pittsburgh, but I was one of the thousands that stood in line at the City-County building to pay my respects.

 

A little FYI about Ravenstahl. The new commish (Goodell) and Ravenstahl attended Division III Washington and Jefferson, and both played football.

I don't have no objections about waving the Towel at O'Connor's funeral. He was a Steeler born and bred. What was intriguing was that there were hardly a mention of the funeral and what the city has been through over the past week leading up to Thursday's game from the national sports honks.