Carved in stone
I was sitting on the Liberty Bridge, waiting at the traffic signal just before entering the outbound Liberty Tunnels, when a thought occurred to me: Maybe we should do something about the rather bland portal that frames the twin tubes as they enter (or leave) Mt. Washington.
I believe this occurred in 1980, when Pittsburgh began calling itself the “City of Champions.” The appellation came about because the Pirates in October 1979 had won the World Series, and the Steelers had won Super Bowl XIV in January 1980. The Penguins had been eliminated from the Stanley Cup playoffs in both 1979 and 1980. I guess it would have been in poor taste to call Pittsburgh the “City of 2 Champions and 1 Also-Ran.”
So, I was stuck in traffic when I envisioned the stone face of Mt. Washington above the portal with something carved into it, a la Mt. Rushmore, with its quartet of presidents. Or even Stone Mountain, Ga., where Confederate bigwigs are staring sideways, I guess into the future because the South lost the Civil War. But who should grace Mt. Washington?
My first thought was that it should be full-body images of Pirates star Willie Stargell and Steelers QB Terry Bradshaw. Stargell would be depicted in sweeping mid-swing, launching the home run that clinched the 1979 Series win over Baltimore. Bradshaw would be shown throwing the touchdown pass to wide receiver John Stallworth that was the turning point in Super Bowl XIV in January 1980. Their figures would be at least 90 feet tall. Yeah! That was it!
Then I thought that maybe Stallworth should be included, making the scene at least 73 yards wide because that was the length of the play. And if we made the scene that wide, under the arcing pigskin we might as well include Bill Mazeroski, romping around second base after hitting his famous homer in the 1960 World Series. And Roberto Clemente, MVP of the 1971 World Series, again against Baltimore. Then the traffic light changed.
By the time I made it to the south portal, my vision had grown to include Billy Harris, who scored the winning goal to win the 1967 Calder Cup for the Pittsburgh Hornets in the American Hockey League. And Josh Gibson Jr., of the Homestead Grays, the team that won the Negro League World Series in 1950 before disbanding. It would be a veritable cornucopia of Pittsburgh sports talent! Alas, then-Pittsburgh Mayor Richard Caliguiri never returned my calls. So the north portal remains boring.
Now, with both hindsight and foresight, I think a Triumphal Arch might be more appropriate. Let’s build it at the beginning of the Liberty Bridge, where you exit the tunnels toward Downtown. Perhaps you’ve heard of the Triumphal Arch proposed by President Trump for Washington, D.C.? (By the way, there is absolutely no truth to the rumor that in early designs, that monument was called the “Trumpful Arch,” which Trump blamed on Secretary of Education Linda McMahon, who had fired all the proofreaders working there. But the D.C. arch as proposed would be 250 feet tall, in honor of America’s 250th birthday. Ha! How minuscule! Pittsburgh was founded in 1768, so my proposed Pittsburgh Triumphal Arch would be 268 feet tall!
All the aforementioned Pittsburgh sports heroes could stand atop it. And let’s add Honus Wagner, Mario Lemieux and Sidney Crosby, Tony Dorsett, Mean Joe Greene and Ben Roethlisberger.
I wanted to include Jack Lambert, but he said he would agree only if we put a dress on Bradshaw.