Pirates Summer Romance Turns Cold...Again

"Summer lovin, had me a blast.
Summer lovin, happened so fast.
I met a fan, crazy for me.
Met a team, they're as great as can be."

The 2012 Pittsburgh Pirates season was a true summer romance. The team represented that special someone you met at summer camp. You hung out with them and found yourself falling in love with them. You never thought it would end. Well, summer turns slowly to fall and you both leave to go back to school, and the Pirates went back to being, well...the Pirates.

It seemed to follow a pattern like last year. The only difference this season was it lasted longer. Perhaps the Pirates learned to take it slow and weren't trying too hard to get to first base (cue the rimshot drum sound), but still found a way to mess things up before the romance fizzled into the cooler nights of early September. The Pirates kept you entertained by teaching you the "Zoltan," telling the you the story of the legend of Drew Sutton and Brock Holt, and giving you the notion that they were going all the way this year (rimshot drum sound).

It was the second straight year that you got back together with the Pirates at Camp PNC. You found them appealing and intriguing during the summer. All those summer nights of raising the jolly roger, flashing the Zoltan and always believing that the sun would shine everyday. But in the end, it was just a summer romance that went on a little longer than usual. Usually in the past, you decided to stay friends as early as late July. Perhaps there will come a time when you and the Pirates will hit it off and get it right. Until then, the Steelers, your other crush, is waiting across the street at Camp Heinz.

The best thing you can do is look back at the good times you've had with the Pirates this year. You two will meet again next summer. Maybe they'll get it right in 2013.