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The Epicenter of Steel City Sports

From Forbes Field to Pitt Stadium, Pittsburgh's Oakland neighborhood has been home to some of the most iconic moments in sports history. Including the Fitzgerald Field House and the Duquesne Gardens, Oakland has drawn in both professional and college sports fans alike.

Local authors and sports historians David Finoli, Tom Rooney, Robert Healy III, Douglas Cavanaugh and Chris Fletcher celebrate the glorious victories and heartbreaking losses throughout the history of Pittsburgh's Oakland section, the epicenter of Steel City Sports.

Ten years after a one-loss season and being ranked third in the nation, the University of Pittsburgh's historic football team had fallen on hard times. In 1973, the team hired former All-American Johnny Majors to right the ship, and he promptly recruited Tony Dorsett and Al Romano. Over the next four years, the new-look Panthers were brought back to prominence with stunning victories, culminating in the 1976 NCAA National Championship. Dorsett, a future Pro Football Hall of Famer, became the first college running back to eclipse two thousand yards in a season and was awarded the Heisman Trophy in the championship year. Author David Finoli tells the story of one of the most dramatic turnarounds in college football history.

Sports in the Steel City has never reached the highs and lows that fans in Pittsburgh experienced in the 1970s. Most remembered may be the multiple championships celebrated in city during the era, including two World Series titles, four Super Bowl victories and a NCAA football championship. Despite those successes, fans still recall major tragedies such as the deaths of Bob Moose, Roberto Clemente and others. Local authors present essays on the triumphs, tragedies and championships that defined the 1970s for the city of Pittsburgh and Steel City sports. 

This book charts the story of Navy football and steers readers through the reemergence of an iconic program representing our nation's finest.

Navy football holds a unique place in college athletics as one of the oldest and most prestigious programs the game has ever known. During the 1950s and 1960s, the Midshipmen were nationally recognized by the major bowl games they played and Heisman Trophy-winning players Joe Bellino and Roger Staubach. Although the program struggled mightily to maintain relevance in subsequent years, Athletic Director Chet Gladchuk kick-started the renaissance of Navy football by hiring Coach Paul Johnson in 2001. The team's current coach, Ken Niumatalolo, once fired by the academy in the dining room of a McDonald's in 1998, returned to become the winningest coach in school history. Cameron charts the story of Navy football and steers readers through the reemergence of an iconic program representing our nation's finest.

Steel City Sports as a Catalyst for Change Though Pittsburgh athletics had many of the same barriers to equality and racial discrimination as the rest of the nation for far too long, the city has celebrated some of the most important moments in the integration of sports in the country. Pittsburgh was the only city with two Negro League teams, fielding such future Hall of Famers as Josh Gibson, Cool Papa Bell, Oscar Charleston and Satchel Paige. Local high school basketball stars Chuck Cooper, Bill Nunn, Jr., Dick Ricketts, Maurice Stokes, and Jack Twyman held integrated pick-up games at local parks such as Mellon Park in Shadyside in the 1950s. In college football, Connellsville native Jimmy Joe Robinson became the first African American player on Pitt's football team in 1945 as the school continued to integrate its squad ahead of federal desegregation. The Association of Gentleman Pittsburgh Journalists present the compelling, heartbreaking and courageous history of how Pittsburgh's integration of sport helped lead the nation.