PITTSBURGH - The Pirates finally had their first rookie of the year, but the Steelers did them one better: They may have had the rookie of any year.

And what a year 2004 was in Western Pennsylvania sports, especially for first-year players and coaches, after 2003 proved to be one of the worst in memory.

The Steelers were the turnaround story of the year, going from a dismal 6-10 record in 2003 to an AFC North championship that stamped them as one of the three Super Bowl favorites at year's end, along with the Patriots and Eagles. The surprise was their rapid transformation took place with mostly the same team as in 2003, except for the addition of super rookie Ben Roethlisberger and running back Duce Staley.

The University of Pittsburgh had a bonanza sports year, though not without some turmoil. The Panthers were 31-5 in basketball before a late-season shooting slump led to a third successive loss in the NCAA round of 16. The football team put together a late-season stretch of six victories in seven games that, coupled with some upsets, unexpectedly sent the No. 19 Panthers to the Jan. 1 Fiesta Bowl against Utah.

Pitt's first New Year's Day or later bowl game in 21 years will be coach Walt Harris' last as the school allowed him to take the Stanford job without making a counteroffer. The Panthers then hired former Dolphins coach Dave Wannstedt - a Pitt grad who once blocked for Tony Dorsett - to replace Harris.

The Pirates and Penguins again had losing seasons - a club-record 12th in a row for the Pirates and the third straight for the Penguins, their longest run since an eight-season steak from 1979-87. But each showed enough promise to suggest their losing cycles won't last much longer.

That is, if the Penguins ever return to the ice. At year's end, they were waiting to see if an ongoing labor impasse would cause the first season-long shutdown of any major American pro sports league.

For Penguins owner-player Mario Lemieux, it was yet another prolonged layoff in a career filled with them. If hockey doesn't start up again until the fall of 2005, he will have gone nearly two full years without playing an NHL game after missing all but 10 games of the 2003-04 season with a hip injury.

A sport-by-sport look at 2004:

STEELERS:

The Steelers considered 2003 to be an injury-filled anomaly following playoff runs in 2001 and 2002. But even they didn't expect what followed: one of the best regular seasons, if not the best, in franchise history.

The defense was greatly improved after defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau returned, along with his Blitzburgh pass-rush schemes of the mid-1990s. Adding Staley gave them another power back who, rather than ending longtime star Jerome Bettis' career, prolonged it.

But the big difference was a change made not by design, but out of necessity. With veteran quarterbacks Tommy Maddox and Charlie Batch hurt, the Steelers had no choice but to start Roethlisberger, the only QB they've drafted on the first round since 1980, in Week 3 at Miami.

Roethlisberger's poise, confidence, strong throwing arm and unmistakable presence quickly rallied his teammates during the longest winning streak ever by a rookie QB, even as eight starters went down at various stages with injuries.

When the Steelers beat the NFL's only two remaining unbeaten teams, the Patriots and the Eagles, in successive weeks barely a month after Roethlisberger became the starter, Pittsburgh caught Super Bowl fever again.

"It's Ben that has made a big difference," linebacker Joey Porter said. "Nobody knew he could play at this level this early."

BASEBALL:

The Pirates' 72-89 record was worse than their 75-87 of 2003, but it certainly felt better by season's end. Jason Bay was their first NL Rookie of the Year since the award originated in 1947 and left-hander Oliver Perez developed into the NL's best left-handed power starter this side of Randy Johnson, offering promise for the future.

There was more. All-Star shortstop Jack Wilson was the first Pirates player with 200 or more hits in 27 years and second baseman Jose Castillo also had a solid rookie season.

To free up more money for the Pirates' rebuilding effort, they traded three-time All-Star catcher Jason Kendall and the $34 million left on his contract to the Athletics in December for left-handed starter Mark Redman and reliever Arthur Rhodes. They then traded Rhodes to Cleveland for outfielder Matt Lawton, who will replace Kendall atop their batting order.

HOCKEY:

For three-quarters of the season, the Penguins couldn't have been much worse, losing 18 in a row while going 11-42-5-4. After that, the NHL's youngest team finished 12-5-3 - easily the best turnaround by an NHL team in any season that included a winless streak of 15 games or longer.

First-year Eddie Olczyk - yes, another rookie - earned a standing ovation after the final game - perhaps a first for the coach of a last-place team.

"We definitely learned how to win," said Ryan Malone, who had 22 goals and 21 assists as, yes, a rookie. Even if they didn't know when they would play again.

COLLEGE BASKETBALL:

First-year basketball coach Jamie Dixon's Panthers started 18-0, won a school record 31 games and might have advanced deeper in the NCAAs if their outside shooting hadn't disappeared in March. They were in the Top 10 again at year's end, with a 2004-05 team led by holdover starters Chevon Troutman, Chris Taft and Carl Krauser.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL:

After a disappointing 8-5 season in 2003 that sent Heisman Trophy runner-up Larry Fitzgerald scurrying to the NFL, Pitt got off to an even worse start in 2004 with losses to Nebraska and Connecticut and near misses against Furman and Temple.

Once sophomore quarterback Tyler Palko settled in during his first season as a starter, the youthful Panthers took advantage of a Miami- and Virginia Tech-less Big East to go 8-3, beating Notre Dame and West Virginia in the same season for the first time since 1987. Palko threw five touchdown passes each against Notre Dame and South Florida and looked to be a national star in the making.