WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA Lemieux, Cowher top 2002

Two familiar faces headlined the Western Pennsylvania sporting scene.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
During an eventful year in which there was so much new to watch and to wait for, the world of Western Pennsylvania sports still revolved around two very familiar faces.
Pitt opened a new basketball arena, a sold-out palace for its Top 5 team and coach of the year. The PGA announced it would stop annually in the Pittsburgh region for the first time. The Pirates brought in many new players amid a slow climb back to what they hope will be respectability.
But, in Pittsburgh, it's a rare day when Mario Lemieux or Bill Cowher doesn't make news, and they made plenty in 2002.
Lemieux ended one NHL season with an Olympic gold medal but not much else to show for it, then began another with a scoring flurry -- but without the new arena every other major sports team in town now has.
Steelers' success
The new year began with the Steelers, who missed the playoffs the previous three seasons, celebrating a totally unexpected 13-3 season and Kordell Stewart enjoying a revival year at quarterback.
It ended with them celebrating another division title and their eighth trip to the playoffs in 11 seasons under coach Bill Cowher, but with a totally unexpected development: Tommy Maddox, not Stewart, was the quarterback.
The Steelers' first season in Heinz Field had a familiar and forgettable ending.
Motivated by the news Cowher advised his players to firm up their Super Bowl plans before the AFC title was decided, the New England Patriots returned a blocked field goal and a punt for touchdowns in a 24-17 upset in the conference championship game.
Despite the come-up-short ending in January, the Steelers began the new season in September as AFC favorites, only to be blown out by New England (30-14) and Oakland (30-17). Then, trailing Cleveland late in the fourth quarter of what would have been a third straight loss, Cowher benched Stewart for Maddox, a journeyman who had played only a few snaps in the NFL since 1995.
Led by Maddox and a revived defense, the Steelers clinched the AFC North with a 17-7 pre-Christmas upset of Tampa Bay that left them awaiting the playoffs at year's end.
Penguins faltered
On the ice, the Penguins endured their worst season since Lemieux first arrived in 1984. Without their owner-captain-star for three-quarters of the season because of his hip injury, the Penguins didn't have the depth or the talent to compete, winning only 28 games and missing the playoffs for the first time since 1990.
Lemieux returned briefly to captain Canada's first Olympic hockey gold medal team in 50 years, but played only one more Penguins game before shutting it down for the season. The Penguins soon did, too, going winless in their final 10.
But there was an unexpected wintertime winner in town: Pitt basketball.
Picked to finish next-to-last in their Big East Conference division, the Panthers enjoyed one of the best and most surprising seasons in school history by going 29-6 and leaping into the Top 10.
One step away from the NCAA round of eight for the first time in 28 years, the Brandin Knight-led Panthers lost in overtime to Kent State. Knight, a dazzling play-making guard and on-court motivator, made third-team All-American and Ben Howland was the AP's coach of the year.
In November, the Panthers began the new season in the Top 5 for the first time in 15 years and in a sold-out new home.
The $100 million Petersen Events Center, the vision of athletic director Steve Pederson and chancellor Mark A. Nordenberg, opened on the site of the former Pitt Stadium. Almost before he had time to celebrate his accomplishment, though, Pederson left in late December to become Nebraska's athletic director.
Won nine games
In football, the Panthers (9-4) won nine games for the first time in 20 years and secured a Top 25 finish with a 38-13 rout of Oregon State in the Insight Bowl.
For the Pirates, their new ballpark has yet to pay off in more on-field success. They improved in manager Lloyd McClendon's second season, going from 62-100 in 2001 to 72-89 as general manager Dave Littlefield's trades paid off in a much-improved pitching staff.
Looking to the new year, the Pittsburgh area will play host to an annual PGA tournament for the first time when the 84 Lumber Pennsylvania Classic is staged in September at Nemacolin Woodlands in Fayette County. Until now, Tour players appeared in Pittsburgh only in an occasional event or once-every-decade U.S. Open stops at Oakmont.