A lot of the animus comes from the fact the cities are so similar and carry the same kind of well-developed inferiority complex.
There's hostility, and almost all of it comes from the annual home-and-home series between the Steelers and Browns. When the Steelers agreed to move to the AFC in 1970 -- a big move at the time -- they wouldn't make the switch without the Browns.
Storied though it may be, the Steelers-Browns rivalry hasn't always been all that great. Cleveland had championship contending teams in the 1960s; the Steelers had Kent Nix at quarterback.
When the Steelers were winning Super Bowls in the 1970s, their hot rivalries were with Oakland and Houston. Cleveland wasn't a big obstacle.
Since the Browns came back as an expansion team after the original Browns became the Ravens, Cleveland has mostly been a pushover for the Steelers.
There's still passion and drunken parking lot showdowns, but the Steelers have mostly been gunning for the playoffs while the Browns have been auditioning a succession of awful quarterbacks.
Baseball doesn't matter because the Pirates and Indians rarely meet. MLB has decided the Tigers are the Pirates' "natural" rival.
Cleveland plays in the NBA, while Pittsburgh is in the NHL.
But some of the rivalry has apparently spilled over to the Cavaliers' NBA Finals series against Golden State. Reports say the Cavs have a gimmick where the scoreboard displays images designed to make people boo vociferously.
Apparently nothing gets a reaction like showing the Steelers logo and a photo of Ben Roethlisberger (a loyal son of Ohio, by the way).
The guy in charge of the Cavaliers is Len Komoroski, a Pittsburgh native and Duquesne graduate who got his start working for the now-defunct Spirit indoor soccer team.
It's probably all in good fun, but it seems cheap and serves as a reminder that overbearing "in-game entertainment" departments are probably one of the most loathsome sports trends of the last 20 years.
Could Pittsburgh reciprocate? Why bother?
Scoreboard images of the Browns logo and Johnny Manziel would just draw laughter, not boos.
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--HAIR TODAY....
There was a tempest in a shaving mug last week when an executive from NBC suggested that playoff beards interfere with the marketing of NHL players.
His position was widely decried, but the point was legitimate. Players are already bundled in unflattering Michelin Man armor, and they all wear helmets that often have visors attached. You get a better look at some bank robbers.
Having a six-week growth of facial hair only adds to the inadvertent camouflage effect.
Fighting the beards is a losing battle, though. Hockey players have changed in a lot of ways -- today's players are bigger, stronger, better conditioned and smarter than their predecessors. The thing that hasn't changed is their devotion to superstition.
Another constant is the denial of superstition. So putting fresh tape on a stick every period, chewing two pieces of gum and tapping a certain teammate three times on the shin pads is a "routine," not superstition.
Has anyone noticed the playoff beard thing hasn't worked so well for the Penguins over the last six seasons?
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--NICE TOUCH
Root Sports does so many dumb things on game coverage, it's a relief to mention something well done.
On the 30th anniversary of Bob Prince's death, Wednesday's game was dotted with reminiscences of his 28 years as The Voice of the Pirates. Greg Brown and Steve Blass both knew Prince, and could speak of their experiences with him.
When a replay of Pedro Alvarez's towering home run was shown, it was accompanied by a tape of Prince's classic, "Kiss It Goodbye" call. It was a perfect fit in the context of the evening.
By the way, colleges that offer sports marketing classes should make a case study of the monumental mistake the Pirates made in 1975 when they signed off on KDKA's decision to fire Prince and Nellie King.
The station didn't suffer, but the Pirates did. It was a huge blunder at a time when the Steelers were taking over the town anyway.
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--START HIM UP
The Rolling Stones play Heinz Field on Saturday night.
It's expected to be a wild time. There are even rumors that Art Rooney II might leave the top button of his shirt open.
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