Buc to Good: The Trials, Tribulations, and Triumph of Being...and Staying...a Pittsburgh Pirates Fan Through the ’’90s and 2000’’s

Everyone knows the story on the surface. The Pittsburgh Pirates suffer a heartbreaking defeat in Game 7 of the 1992 National League Championship Series - the infamous Sid Bream game - and go on to plummet into what became the longest streak of consecutive losing seasons in major professional sports history before finally making it back to the playoffs in dramatic fashion in 2013. But for the segment of folks who continued to identify themselves as Pirates fans throughout the two-decade journey to redemption, seeing their belief that winning baseball would again be played in Pittsburgh one day come to fruition represents an entirely different story. It's a story of perpetual optimism, of loyalty, and of loving a team like family. Buc to Good: The Trials, Tribulations and Triumph of Being...and Staying...a Pittsburgh Pirates Fan Through the '90s and 2000's is the story of these fans, as told by one of them. From the low of the '92 NLCS loss, to the "didn't think it could get any worse" years that followed, to the euphoria of the '13 Wild Card Game, Buc to Good touches all the bases on each true Pirates fan's emotional ride to seeing their team return to prominence.

Jason Zemcik is a lifelong Pirates, Steelers, and Penguins fan who was born and raised in Somerset, PA. He saw his first Pirates game, a 5-2 win over the Cardinals at Three Rivers Stadium, in 1989 at age seven and was immediately hooked. His writing about the Pirates, rooted deeply the fan perspective, has been featured on the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette website, CityofChampionsSports.com, and MLBCenter.com.