Eventually, all columnists occasionally find themselves without a topic when facing a deadline. In such cases, my father always relied on the old hodge-podge of interesting things that never seemed to fit a traditional column. This month I will be implementing one more life lesson from him.
For the sixth consecutive year, the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys were the most valuable franchise in professional sports. When Forbes released its 2021 list of the most valuable sports teams, they were at the top with a value of $5.7 billion. The rest of the top ten included: the New York Yankees: $5.25 billion, the New York Knicks: $5 billion, Barcelona: $4.76 billion, Real Madrid: $4.75 billion, the Golden State Warriors: $4.7 billion, Los Angeles Lakers: $4.6 billion, the New England Patriots: $4.4 billion, the New York Giants: $4.3 billion, and Bayern Munich: $4.21 billion.
The team’s value is determined by factors such as overall revenue and the stadium/arena/field deal. The list recognizes the Steelers as one of the most successful franchises in the world, and not just because of their six Lombardi Trophies. They are ranked number 32 despite playing in one of the smallest markets for professional teams. The Black and Gold is valued at $3 billion. The Pirates are somehow valued at $1.2 billion and the Penguins are worth $650 million.
To put the $3 billion Steeler value in historical context, Art Rooney paid just $2,500 for the NFL franchise fee when he founded the Pittsburgh Pirate Football Team in 1933. There is some dispute about the legend he won the licensing fee after hitting a long-shot parlay at the horse track. However, he definitely used his gambling winnings to fund operations after he signed college star and future U.S. Supreme Court Justice Byron “Wizard” White for the exorbitant sum of $15,000 in 1938. Rooney had won over $330,000 at the track during a hot streak in 1937.
In a completely unrelated topic, I love the color and pageantry of college football. What true college fan doesn’t look forward to the Disneyesque color clash of uniforms when the cardinal and gold of USC takes on the sky blue and California poppy gold of UCLA. However, I assume most local Penn State fans are happy the Nittany Lions switched to their traditional navy and white colors from their original pink and black uniforms. Although the school does embrace its roots with occasional pink and black throwback uniforms, it just wouldn’t be as intimidating to opponents having a pink-out. Apparently, the school changed the colors in 1890 when the baseball team started getting teased and heckled on the road for their sartorial choice. In addition, the pink faded quickly under the washing techniques of the day, leaving a boring black and white jersey.
Locally, Waynesburg College baseball teams wore Klondike Gold and purple in the first years of the school’s athletic program. However, by the turn of the 20th century the teams had switched to the current orange and black. According to a speech given by Prexie Stewart in the 1920s, the colors had been chosen because so many of the young men in the school’s earliest days went on to Princeton for their seminary work after graduation. The Princeton Tigers were obviously represented by orange and black colors. However, I’m unsure of how and why the seemingly incongruous Yellow Jacket nickname was chosen after the colors were already official.
Thank goodness the University has returned to its traditional orange hue. The ill-conceived experiment with the hideous Tennessee Orange in the 1990s is behind us. The foray into the Texas Burnt Orange of the early 2000s was less egregious, but it still wasn’t Waynesburg Orange. I hope the good old orange is here to stay, so as not to peel away our traditions. Sorry, I couldn’t resist.
