It wasn't our team playing yesterday in the Super Bowl, and it hurts. But all the armchair experts say that the men who gave us this year's unexpected thrills will be even more formidable next year.

If so, the eyes of the nation -- and not just the Steeler Nation -- will turn again to Pittsburgh. What will they see? A city of great beauty? No. Chances are, most of Pittsburgh's visual delights will once again be hidden under a blanket of snow and ice.

A city frozen, not in ice, but in time? That's how a New York Times article characterized us. Copies of "A Big Happy Company Town," published Jan. 12, sped through many indignant Pittsburghers' e-mail inboxes -- often with all-capitalized, much-punctuated headings like "Did you see this??!!" The article offended some local readers with its depiction of a city living on the memory of long-gone glory days, a city of rubes who think Terrible Towels qualify as ladies' lingerie.

Although I sensed affection tempering the condescension in the article's tone, a phrase used in the introduction sounded a warning that our city's visionaries should heed: The writer described Pittsburgh as "an appealing but frayed city of immigrants."

Frayed? That depends on where you look, and the Times reporter spent a lot of time exploring neighborhoods shattered by the steel industry's demise.

Pittsburgh's leading families and foundations, however, have lavished much energy and money on resuscitating what was frayed by economic devastation.

With their leadership, we've improved our riverfronts, public services and cultural offerings.

We have some of the best "green" architecture in the world.

Most national coverage, however, focuses on our economic crisis and poor political leadership -- our "fraying." If we're going to attract new business and tourist dollars, we need a shot at dramatically changing this image. Why don't we manufacture one? Besides a political convention, it's hard to think of any event that would focus more attention here than another round of playoff games, but they're played in winter, at night. Pittsburgh needs to make a grand gesture that not only further enhances its nighttime beauty but attracts off-season, sun-washed media interest as well.

I'll argue to anyone who'll listen that Pittsburgh's own invention -- the Ferris wheel -- belongs atop Monument Hill, grandly lit, overlooking the stadiums and the Point. Huge Ferris wheels built in Paris and London for the new millennium continue to garner public attention. We should reclaim our heritage.

Another opportunity stands unused along our rivers in the form of the Wabash Bridge piers. These massive stone supports, unneeded now for transportation, would be perfect pedestals for enormous sculptures.

The whole process could create an invaluable buzz -- an international artists' competition, the transport and assembly of a latter-day Statue of Liberty or Colossus of Rhodes, visual celebrations of Pittsburgh's past and future.

The city's situation is still dire, but enough of us think like our beloved football team plays -- scrappy, hard-working, willing to grind out a victory a few yards at a time -- and believe we will turn our fortunes around. Pittsburgh's private sector leaders once again need to lead the way. I'd love to see them do it with a grand, confident gesture.

We're almost ready for our close-up. Now we need to get the cameras to turn our way.