Steelers to place silent 'P' in front of name?

Pittsburgh--The Steelers are facing a serious dilemma. In a city with three major professional sports teams, they are the odd organization out, quite glaringly, in one (trivial?) aspect.

The N.F.L.'s Steelers, the N.H.L.'s Penguins, and the M.L.B.'s Pirates share the same basic color scheme: black and yellow (or gold in Steeler land). It is the only city in the country where the professional sports clubs purposely color coordinate uniforms on the field or ice. Fashion-conscious sports fans around the nation, but mostly in San Francisco, have long been jealous. Meanwhile, two of these three Pittsburgh franchises have team names that begin with the letter "P". Getting the Steelers to also coordinate letter schemes has been a whole different matter.

"We never wanted the Steelers to change their name completely, but we did want them to add a silent 'P' at the beginning to match the Pirates and Penguins," said Pittsburgh city councilman Frank Dumbauer, who has aggressively lobbied the team to make the letter addition since 1987. "I'm not asking that the new "P" be pronounced, but it would really complete the team color and name scheme that all western Pennsylvanians so desperately desire. It would be fantastic."

In the past, the Steelers--by way of the Rooney family, the owners--have been very clear that they would not even entertain the idea, calling Dumbauer a "loon who should worry about the city's real problems." However, the city councilman's tenacity--he raises the subject every summer around training camp time--has paid off, as the Steelers will hold an online fan vote to decide if a silent "P" should be added to the historic franchise's name.