Sports Question.

Penguins

Now that the Penguins are going to stay in Pittsburgh, I have a question:

How long does a franchise have to exist in a city before it gets to be a part of the tradition of that city and the sport it represents?

Ten years? Twenty years? One generation? Until they win a championship? Until a former star for that team dies of old age? When someone names their child after the coach? The first time the mascot gets arrested? When?

I think about that question a lot. It's not just the Original Six teams that have a long and varied history in their cities anymore. You can say the same for the four former WHA teams in their current homes, as well as St. Louis, Vancouver, Calgary, Long Island, Washington, Los Angeles, hell, even Minneapolis. (Has Tampa built up that much equity yet? I think they're certainly on their way. Same for Dallas and (I think, I hope) Ottawa.)

To have lost a pillar of the league, a vital piece of the NHL's history, over something as needlessly small-time as the replacing of a decrepit stadium, especially in a city that, while not the richest town ever, certainly had enough corporate clients and interested wealth to fix this a long time ago, would have been an extreme tragedy. No knock on KC or Hamilton or Winnipeg or Hartford or anywhere else, but the Penguins belong in Pittsburgh, and the league is better for this deal having been reached. Yay them.