In 1990, James Belushi and Michael Caine starred in a movie called Mr. Destiny. It’s one of those “what would have happened had you done X instead of Y” fantasy stories where the once-bitter guy eventually realizes that he actually had a pretty good life. It wasn’t a very good film and it was a complete ripoff of It’s a Wonderful Life and about twelve other movies. That being said, there is an interesting scene in which Caine’s character (an angel) maps out a diagram of lighted points in the middle of the air and tells Belushi’s character, “Destiny is a very complicated thing – every incident in a person’s life affects everything else that follows it.” The point is that there are certain events that we deem insignificant at the time, but ultimately end up being life-changing because they led to something else bigger. In sports as in life, those moments happen, and it’s only later – sometimes years later – that anyone realizes how vital the moment was. This week’s America Loves Countdowns® series looks at ten of those moments in Pittsburgh sports history.

JoePa Scares Off Larry Legend
In 2000, high school star Larry Fitzgerald decided that he really wanted to play for Penn State. The university flew out to see him play and they invited him back to State College for an unofficial visit. However, after that visit, Fitzgerald cooled to PSU. He did not say why, but it no doubt had a lot to do with Joe Paterno’s boring offense. Star receivers rarely flourish under Paterno, and Fitzgerald probably realized that. Meanwhile across the state at Pitt, Walt Harris had his offense playing vertically. Antonio Bryant and the Pitt offense excited Fitzgerald. He changed his mind and came to Pittsburgh instead. Larry Legend became one of the best college players this town has ever seen, and he parlayed that success into an NFL career which has recently seen him become the league’s most dynamic and talented player. It was all thanks to a crazy old man who probably doesn’t even know who Larry Fitzgerald is.

Dave Littlefield Turns Down Ryan Howard
In late 2004, the Pirates were conducting their annual fire sale. Their top trade bait was pitcher Kris Benson. The Philadelphia Phillies reportedly offered a minor league prospect by the name of Ryan Howard. No one knew who Howard was at the time, but the Phillies built him as a future star who would benefit the Pirates if they were willing to deal Benson. So what did GM Dave Littlefield do? He turned down the offer – apparently because they felt that they had a “similar player” in the legendary Brad Eldred – and instead shipped Benson to the Mets for Ty Wigginton. In 115 games for the Succos, Wigginton hit a whopping .239 with 12 homeruns and was gone after the following season. Conversely, Howard became the fastest player in the history of baseball to reach 100 home runs, won the NL Rookie of the Year and MVP awards, and of course, won a World Series for Philly. All while the Pirates continued to suck.

Uwe Krupp Scores OT Goal
The 1989-90 season started out with so much promise for the Penguins. Fresh off of a rare deep playoff run the year before, Mario Lemieux went on an electrifying 46-game scoring streak and won the MVP award at the All-Star Game which was played at the Civic Arena. However, things quickly crumbled for the Pens. Head coach Gene Ubriaco and GM Tony Esposito were both fired, and Lemieux’s streak and season ended with the first of many back injuries. As the Pens stumbled into the final game of the season against Buffalo, they needed only one point to beat out the Islanders for the final playoff spot in the Patrick Division. When the game went into overtime, all the Pens had to do was literally try to skate around for five more minutes to get the tie. But defenseman Uwe Krupp fired a slapshot from the blueline past Tom Barrasso, and that was the end of Pittsburgh’s season. However, the shot would have future significance. By not qualifying for the post-season during a Mario-less year where they would never have gotten very far anyway, the Pens were awarded the #5 overall pick in the 1990 draft. They used that pick to select Jaromir Jagr, who would become a cornerstone of their franchise for the next decade.

Clark Haggans Breaks Fingers
On July 21, 2004, Steelers linebacker Clark Haggans was lifting weights with teammate Kendrell Bell at a gym in Georgia. When Haggans put one of the heavy dumbbells back into its holster, it bounced and smashed into two of the fingers on his right hand, breaking them. It was likely a painful injury but not a very significant one. Haggans would be able to play again in less than a month, and he would be ready to start by opening day of that season. However, the Steelers needed a linebacker to fill the gap in training camp while Haggans was out, so they picked up a guy named James Harrison who had recently been cut by Baltimore and who had spent a couple of seasons before that playing sparingly with the Steelers. While only meant to be a temporary stop-gap, Harrison instead impressed the coaches. A few years later, Harrison would supplant all-pro Joey Porter as a starter, win the team’s most valuable player award twice, become the NFL’s best defensive player, and set a Super Bowl record with a brilliant 100 yard interception return. Perhaps it was fate that the dumbbell bounced up and hit Haggans’ fingers, because had that never happened, James Harrison would not even be playing football today.

Dan Rooney Gives Credit Where Its Due
Prior to the 1983 draft, Chuck Noll and the Steelers scouts were all in agreement that DE Gabe Rivera was their man should he drop to them at the #21 spot of the first round. Dan Rooney then suggested that, instead of drafting Rivera in the first round, the team should draft Pitt QB Dan Marino and shop QB Cliff Stoudt for a high second round pick, where Rivera would probably still be available. According to Rooney, Noll and the scouts all thought it was a great idea and were prepared to move on it. Until Rooney told Noll that it was not his idea, that is. The proposition actually came from John Clayton, the Pittsburgh Press beat writer who now moonlights on ESPN. When Noll and the others found out that they were about to take advice from a sportswriter, they quickly reversed course. Had Rooney just taken credit for the idea himself, Marino may have ended up playing his Hall of Fame career here at home.

Bill Cowher Injures His Knee
When a special teams standout for the Philadelphia Eagles injured his knee in 1984, it meant the end of his playing career, but to fans in Pittsburgh, it meant nothing at the time. Bill Cowher was forced to retire, and because of fortunate timing, he was able to land a coaching job. Marty Schottenheimer had recently taken over as head coach in Cleveland, where Cowher had played in 1982. Schottenheimer had been an assistant on the 1982 team and realized that Cowher had coaching potential, so he hired him in Cleveland and later took him to Kansas City. Thanks to his success as an assistant, the Steelers hired Cowher in 1992 to succeed Chuck Noll as their head coach. In the 15 years that followed, the Steelers would rack up 10 playoff berths, 8 division titles, 6 AFC Championship Game appearances, 2 AFC titles, and 1 very big Super Bowl win. It all was made possible by the fact that Cowher hurt his knee in 1984 and went into coaching instead.

Honus Wagner Stops Production on Card
In 1909, the American Tobacco Company issued a set of baseball cards called the T206 series that they put in packs of cigarettes in order to boost sales. One of the cards depicted Hall of Fame Pirates shortstop Honus Wagner, who was arguably the best player in baseball at the time. Wagner was upset when he found out that his card was being included in the set. It was either because he did not want kids to be encouraged to smoke in order to collect his card, or because the American Tobacco Company wasn’t paying him for the use of his likeness, depending on which version of the story you believe. This much we know for sure: Wagner threatened to sue, so the American Tobacco Company immediately stopped production on that particular card. It probably bothered the company at the time not being able to include Wagner in the series, but it certainly seemed insignificant in terms of people remembering it years later. However, because a handful of the cards had already been made, a few people were able to get their hands on one, and years later the card became perhaps the most famous collectible in the world. Only about 50 cards are known to exist today, and they are all worth a fortune. One of the cards fetched $2.8 million at a 2007 auction! Who would have ever thought that a piece of cardboard would end up becoming so valuable?

Pirates Dump Sid Bream
One day after school when I was in 8th grade, I went out into the school parking lot to meet my mom, who was there to pick me up. As I walked to her car, I saw her talking with Sid Bream, a popular first baseman for the Pirates whose son went to our school. They were both crying, so I waited until they were done to come over. When I finally made it to the car, I asked my mom why they were crying. She told me that Mr. Bream had just signed with the Atlanta Braves. It was a huge surprise. Pirates management claimed that re-signing Bream was their “#1 priority” in the 1990 offseason, but then they only offered Bream a fraction of fair market price. Even with the bad offer, Bream was willing to stay if the team gave him a no-trade clause in the contract. The Pirates wouldn’t even do that for him, which made it obvious that they only wanted to bring him back if they could pay him nothing and then use him as a bargaining chip for a trade. Realizing that he was no longer wanted in Pittsburgh, Bream signed with Atlanta instead, and I know personally that it broke his heart. While that certainly was a significant event for Bream and his family, it was fairly inconsequential to the Pirates. After all, Bream was on the back-end of his career and his knees were shot. Getting rid of him barely even made a dent in the team’s plans as they had Gary Redus ready to take over Bream’s position. But two years later, it would be Bream who would hobble around third base to beat Barry Bonds’ throw in game 7 of the NLCS. It was the moment that single-handedly ruined baseball in Pittsburgh, all because the Pirates unceremoniously crapped on a good guy.

Gary Baxter hits Tommy Maddox
The 2004 Steelers were coming off of a miserable 6-10 season. They still had a decent group of players, and the best that most fans hoped for was that veteran QB Tommy Maddox could maybe carry them back to a more respectable record. When Ravens DB Gary Baxter nailed Maddox in the shoulder during a week 2 loss in Baltimore, those modest hopes quickly faded. Maddox would be out for at least six weeks, and the offense would be turned over to a rookie named Ben Roethlisberger. So what happened? The Steelers proceeded not to lose again until late January. The next year they won the Super Bowl. Three years later, they won another Super Bowl, this time with Roethlisberger mounting a legendary last-second 88-yard drive! Had Baxter never hit Maddox, the course of Steelers history would have been very different. With a fairly solid group of players around him, Maddox would have likely carried the team to a decent record, and maybe even a wild card berth. Ben would have sat the bench for his entire rookie season, and if Maddox played decently enough, maybe into the 2005 season as well. The Steelers would have kept up the same “close but no cigar” theme that they had plodded along with during the entire Bill Cowher era. By the time Ben would have started, who knows if the circumstances that allowed him to succeed in 2004 would have still been in place? Thanks to Baxter and the entire Ravens organization for enabling the two championships and for officially turning the Steelers into the greatest franchise in NFL history!

Penguins Lose to the Rangers on March 29, 1984
In the second-to-last game of the 1983-84 season, the Penguins traveled to Madison Square Garden to take on the Rangers. New York won the game 6-4, handing Pittsburgh its 57th loss of the season. The Rangers were heading towards the playoffs while the Pens were heading towards an early summer vacation, so no one thought much of this game. However, it was significant because it clinched the worst record in the NHL for Pittsburgh, ensuring they would get the #1 pick in the following draft. It wasn’t all coincidence of course. The Penguins and Devils literally battled it out for the worst record, with Pittsburgh GM Eddie Johnston running an operation which saw good players get benched and minor leaguers being inserted into the starting lineup. The goal of all of this was to use that #1 pick to take a kid named Mario Lemieux. This was the single most significant move in the history of any Pittsburgh sports franchise because of one undeniable fact: had that draft pick never happened, there would be no Pittsburgh Penguins franchise today. As a player, Lemieux made hockey relevant in Pittsburgh in the 1980’s and 1990’s, which prevented the team from moving or simply folding. Before his arrival, Pittsburgh Spirit games at the Civic Arena used to outdraw Penguins games. There was no long-term hope for hockey to succeed until he came. But Mario wasn’t done yet. In 1999, the franchise was ruined by years of horrid decisions by owners Howard Baldwin and Roger Marino, and they declared bankruptcy. Lemieux bought the team and turned it into a massive success yet again. Mario saved the same franchise twice in the span of 20 years! Who else in the history of sports can make a claim like that? And it would have never happened had the Pens not lost that seemingly insignificant game in the spring of 1984.

Honorable Mentions:

• Quel Jeu Wins Race: In August of 1936, a horse named Quel Jeu won a race at the Empire Race Track in New York. Why does that mean anything to Pittsburgh? Because the man who bet on 8-1 longshot Quel Jeu won thousands of dollars on the race and before the day was over, he ended up making what many would call the biggest killing in racing history. The man’s name was Art Rooney, and when he went home to Pittsburgh, he used the winnings to sustain his struggling NFL franchise, the Pittsburgh Steelers. Had Rooney not been so lucky at the track, there may not have been a football team in Pittsburgh for very long.
• UC Irvine Turns Down Ben Howland: In the late 1990′s, a college basketball coach named Ben Howland was making a name for himself at Northern Arizona University. He seemed destined for bigger things, and during that time he interviewed for the top job at the University of California, Irvine. It was actually the second time he interviewed for the job, having been spurned several years earlier, and this time he was shutout yet again. But UC Irvine’s decision not to hire Howland led to Pitt scooping him up instead. While it is true that Howland cowardly bolted on Pitt in 2003, it is undeniable that he almost single-handedly resurrected a program that had been a downright embarrassment for years.
• Earthquake Hits Managua: Managua, the capital city of Nicaragua, was hit by a massive earthquake right before Christmas 1972. Pirates Hall of Famer Roberto Clemente wanted to help. He generously arranged for aid to be sent to the city, but he soon learned that corrupt officials in the Nicaragua government were stealing the supplies that were being sent. So Clemente decided that the only way to make sure help got to the people who needed it most was to get on a plane and take it down there himself. The plane crashed and Clemente died. Pittsburgh not only lost one its greatest athletes, but also one of its best ever human beings.