He was indeed in Pittsburgh. Still is. So if you run into him, be nice, because we are a forgiving people. I refer to Bill Johnson, the columnist for the Rocky Mountain News who, in a ham-handed attempt to capture the essence of Pittsburgh for his Denver readers, set off an explosion of civic indignation.

Rocky Mountain News columnist Bill Johnson

But that can happen when you call a city "butt-ugly" -- not the best ice-breaker when you're new in town. Still, Bill's follow-up column yesterday had the seeds of contrition. Several Pittsburghers actually came to the man's defense. Here's a sampling of opinion:

Mr. Johnson: You had to go the low road: "Pittsburgh is one butt-ugly town." I have traveled and lived all around the world, and Pittsburgh is lovely. Denver, however . . . I visited a few years ago and thought, "That's it?" Yes, the view of the mountains is nice, but I found the city bland and boring. Does everyone have to wear hiking and camping outfits all the time? I did like your airport, though.

Selin Hur, Arlington, Va.

Mr. Johnson: I suspect you have not spent enough time in Pittsburgh to see the beautiful side. Indeed, you have not even been here long enough to get it right: "old mills, long stilled" do not dot the town. Weeds may well sprout from vacant lots, but I don't see many growing out of old smokestacks. If you'd looked around, you'd have noticed that the vast majority of the mills and smokestacks have been demolished and replaced with new mixed-use developments. It is exceptionally bad form for you to insult your opponents' city. You are an embarrassment to the city of Denver.

Rob Henning, Pittsburgh

Mr. Johnson: I'm sure most cities wished they had even half of the dramatic entrance or skyline that Pittsburgh boasts of. I've been to Denver. Beautiful city. But have you ever tried to find two people in a row that are actually from Denver? It seemed very difficult. As a result, your city lacks the true, heart-felt, hometown pride that makes Pittsburgh a special place.

Drew Craft

Dear Peter Leo: You and your readers need to get out and about the U.S. a little bit. The center of the universe ain't quite The Burgh. I escaped to Denver a few years ago without any regrets -- and did so as a lifelong Pittsburgher discouraged by people living in the past (the Stillers last won something 26 years ago, not last year!), politicians more eager to battle each other than serve a dying area, a ghost town of a downtown and continuous grey skies/crappy weather. Perhaps the columnist from Denver went a bit extreme but he's right on the money.

Ron Katz, Denver

		More on the fuss about "butt ugly" Rocky Mountain News columnist Bill Johnson: Shot-and-beer Pittsburgh froths at mouth, Jan. 18, 2006 Morning File by Peter Leo: Denver columnist calls Pittsburgh "one butt-ugly town", Jan. 19, 2006 Read comments about the column on Rocky Talk Live on the Rocky Mountain News Web site, Jan. 19, 2006 Night Light by Dan Majors: Yo, Denver columnist Bill Johnson: You're going Downtown, Jan. 19, 2006 Rocky Mountain News columnist Bill Johnson: Yinz might like Steeler Nation, after all, Jan. 19, 2006

The gentleman, if I may call him that, who described our beautiful and diverse city needs to have his eyes examined. First, he visited on a dreary day, and this weather makes any city look drab. But to call it "butt-ugly" is ignorant. How he described our "skyline as dark and forbidding as you will ever see" is unbelievable. Pittsburgh is listed among the top five skylines in America.

Bridget Bonenberger

Peter: Maybe your guy from Denver meant that Pittsburgh was "J-Lo butt-ugly."

Larry Brooks

Mr. Johnson: I grew up and lived most of my life in Pittsburgh, and the difference between it and Denver is the character, passion, heart and soul of the city. It is not your typical commercialized, strip mall, chain restaurant American city (i.e ., Denver.) It has a realness in its neighborhoods, taverns and locally owned shops and restaurants. It is a city where one can fully appreciate the seasons -- yes, the gray days of winter but also the explosion of color in spring and of green in summer. I enjoy what Denver has to offer, but my "home" will always be Pittsburgh, the most beautiful city in the world.

Dana Moretti, Littleton, Colo.

Mr. Johnson: You may want to suggest to your editors that they could save on travel costs by using the Web for future columns. It is certainly cheaper than paying for a trip that results in inaccurate reporting.

Matt Mehalik

The Steelers are my second favorite team. They have always been a class act, and I have been to Pittsburgh and found it to be a real city with interesting architecture and character. I hope Pittsburgh fans have a nice time in Colorado. I want the Broncos to win, but if the Steelers win, that will be OK, too.

Richard Garb, Denver

Mr. Johnson: Since the devastating economic loss of the Pittsburgh steel industry, this city has spent the better part of two and a half decades trying to shed its image as a smoky, industrial backwater. Articles such as yours serve no purpose other than to reinforce that tarnished and outdated image. I welcome you to return and harbor no lasting ill will.

Kerri Lee Cappella

Mr. Johnson: As a native of Ohio and Cleveland Browns fan living in Pittsburgh, I love to hate the Steelers and their fans. They are rude, obnoxious and breathe just to see the next Steelers game. However, those fans (usually the drunk ones) are few. Unlike most big cities, including Denver, Pittsburgh has character and tradition. Most try to copy our traditions, but it doesn't work. See the "towels" in Indy last week? If I ever stop in Denver for a pee break, I will go to the biggest dive bar and ask the local drunk what he thinks of the city. Then, based off that one conversation, as yours was, I will write an article about Denver and send it to the Post-Gazette.

Jim Welsh

What is this Denver guy looking at? I've been a lot of places. Pittsburgh is one of the prettier cities I've seen. Sure, the women here can bench press more than I can, but you can't have everything.

Tom Purcell

Mr. Johnson: Although I am a Pittsburgher, I agree with you. While I think "butt-ugly" might be harsh, it is true. Pittsburgh is stuck in the '70s with mullets and old steel mills. We are meat and potatoes, not cheese and wine. Our weather is horrible, and the play of the Steelers affects at least 60 percent of the population's mood. People are trying to leave our city, not come to it. Denver is set in the beautiful Rocky Mountains where their population is booming.

Daniel Fauth

Peter: I live in Denver, and the writer in question likes to stir the pot and is not the voice of Denver. I've lived in both cities, and Denver has nothing over Pittsburgh in beauty. Ignorance is bliss.

Jason Labash

Peter: Mr. Johnson must have made too many stops at the bars, because his perception of Pittsburgh could only be the result of an alcohol-induced "fog." To not get out and meet people and go to the nooks and crannies that make Pittsburgh a wonderful city is a disservice to readers of the Rocky Mountain News.

Mary Mason

Peter: When I lived in Pittsburgh, I thought a bar on every corner added to the city's luster! I'll take the 'Burgh over my native Miami any day.

Eve Modzelewski Samples

Sorry, Peter, but in the dead of winter, with no snow, heavily overcast skies and drizzle, this is one butt-ugly town. But, under those conditions, so is every city ever built.

Michael Hoff

Dear Mr. Johnson: We welcome strangers, whether they have good or bad things to say. We will take you in, feed you and treat you like one of our own. I am proud to say I am from Pittsburgh. We do bleed black and gold, and we are damn proud of it.

Cindy McElheny, Valencia

It never ceases to amaze me how, when sports challenges are involved, people lose their heads. It is like the whole world stops, and that is all anyone in the two cities think about. I know we have an eccentric writer for The Rocky Mountain News who targeted your city. Not everyone here has lost his mind. The Broncs have not yet bucked me to the ground so many times that I lost my senses. GO BRONCOS! (OK, maybe I got bucked off once or twice!)

M. Jones, Denver

Peter: Bill Johnson is accurate in his assessment. It is what it is, but that's what makes us who we are and the butt-ugly town we live in. As a lifelong Pittsburgher who has traveled to most major cities, I feel Pittsburgh is about 10 years behind everyone else. However, there is much more good than bad, and that will always be our secret. Instead of trying to defend the city from people who rip it, I agree with them (because there is some truth to their observations) and smile. That always shuts them up. Go Steelers.

Dan Molinaro

After the nice articles in the Post-Gazette about how Pittsburgh and Denver are similar towns with similar people, now we get this? What hotel was he staying at "across the Ohio River from where Pittsburgh rises." He probably couldn't spell Monongahela. If there are 100 to 200 bars on the South Side, I better get cracking 'cause I missed a few.

Lee Foltyn

Mr. Johnson: You should consider a career as a fiction writer. If you had done more than hang out in our bars you would realize that Pittsburgh is much more than you described. It may never match the picturesque beauty of Denver, but most cities would not. If you want to talk smack about football then talk football, but don't write some half-ed story about Pittsburgh just to sell a few papers.

Mickey L. Johnson

Perhaps Mr. Johnson's opinion of Pittsburgh resulted from not getting enough oxygen in Denver's high altitude.

Paul Abram, Johnstown

Mr. Johnson: This town is, as you describe it, "butt-ugly." Having spent 20 of my 50 years away from Pittsburgh in the military, I'm one of the few who returned. And I've regretted it. I cannot defend this region after witnessing the neglect and nearsightedness that have been the calling card of politicos since the decline of steel three decades ago. That said, the Steelers will kick *** on the Broncos.

Peter Hamilton, Pittsburgh

We try to teach our children good sportsmanship, and then the "professionals" act in such a way to convince them that poor sportsmanship is the norm. It would be a better world if people were not rude, bigoted, misinformed idiots. I will continue to teach my children how to behave and perhaps someday the "adults" will learn how to treat people.

Ruth Cobb Elkins, W. Va.

My nephew says the reason so many Steelers fans attend games and hold parties all over the country may be that they couldn't find jobs in Pittsburgh. Sad but maybe true.

Dick Kraft, Bethel Park

I had no problem with what Mr. Johnson said. How has Pittsburgh changed from a shot-and-beer town? As far as Steeler fans go -- would you take a child to a Steelers game? And how can you say we don't have decaying buildings and mills? The leaders in this town lack vision. If I could take my family to another city, I would do it in a heartbeat.

J.J., Homestead

Peter: It is one thing to trash-talk when it comes to your favorite team. But he crossed the line when he trashed the city. This is where people live and call home. This only promotes hostility at a game. I'm glad you called on Pittsburgh fans to have self-control. I have never been to Denver, but it seems like a nice enough place.

Patty Welsh

Mr. Leo: Pittsburgh has remade itself into a lovely, livable city. Expatriate Pittsburghers I know speak fondly of their former town. I wouldn't put much stock in what Mr. Johnson writes. What concerns me more is that we're still only talking about a football game. Whatever the outcome, a glum-faced team of military officials will not come to your door, a military honor guard will not present your family with a tri-folded flag, no one will lose sight or limb. IT'S A FOOTBALL GAME -- G-A-M-E! And, regardless of who wins Sunday, I will still live in Denver, and believe that Pittsburgh is one of the country's loveliest cities. Good luck to your Steelers. Good luck to the Broncos.

Ernest Gurule, Denver