Black and Goldman Sachs: $elling A Pittsburgh Legacy

After this season Yankee Stadium in New York will disappear. Closer to my home base, after 75 years of Pittsburgh Steelers ownership, the Rooneys' days of running the family business are over. Sorry Chief.

It seems we don't value things much any more. There was a time when owners and players got into professional sports for the love of the game. Now it multi-million dollar contracts, endorsements, scandals, cheating, drugs and higher costs of doing business. Fans endure rising ticket prices and player strikes. It big business instead of a game and it's not fun. We are losing much more here.

When the gentlemen of the game exit and the investors take over, a bit of our culture is lost. Owners fight internal battles over revenue-sharing and the human side of it all gets lost. Dan Rooney has been a respected leader among NFL owners. That position is now fading and it's sad to see it go.

NFL teams are now required to interview at least one minority candidate for head coach openings, and that is known as ``the Rooney Rule.'' Dan Rooney was born the same year as the Steelers, in 1933, and grew up around such early NFL legends as Curly Lambeau of the Green Bay Packers and George Halas of the Chicago Bears. Those were the guys that brought football and the NFL to life.

``In some ways I think of myself as the Last Steeler, the last of the founding generation of the NFL,'' Rooney wrote. He's right. His family is trading in their piece of the team for gambling and fainacail interests. It's seem like a classic deal with the devil.

Dan Rooney only owns 16 percent of the team. His four brothers -- Timothy, Patrick, John and Art Jr. -- also each own 16 percent. That totals 80 percent of the Steelers, with the other 20 percent owned by the McGinley family.

This is no family handshake deal. The four Rooney brothers hired Goldman Sachs as an adviser. That firm values the Steelers at $800 million to $1.2 billion.

As far as Dan Rooney's role in the team once all the checks are cashed. That remains to be seen. Could we be bidding farewell to the "Last Steeler".....?