Bill Cowher got his Gatorade dunking at 10:02 last night, and then Steeler Nation exploded.

	John Beale, Post-Gazette
	Penny Folino, center, and the kitchen staff at Folino's Ristorante on Pittsburgh's South Side watch the touchdown run by Steeler Willie Parker in the Super Bowl. The kitchen was a hub of activity as they sold out of many items on the menu.
	Martha Rial. Post-Gazette
	At Chief's Cafe in Oakland, , owner Pete Provenzano, left, high-fivesMike Nichols of the Hill District, when Ben Roethlisberger scores in the second quarter. Mr.Provenzano's father, Ben, purchased the Oakland landmark 21 years ago.
	Martha Rial, Post-Gazette
	A police officer tries to get students away from a car that was overturned by crowds on Bigelow Bouelvard, Oakland, after the Super Bowl.

Car horns blared, ale-fueled fans poured out of bars into the streets , private homes erupted in cheers and high-fives.

The Steelers had won one for the thumb, 21-10 over the Seattle Seahawks at Super Bowl XL in Detroit -- 26 long years after winning one for the pinkie.

The city will hold a parade for the Steelers at 11 a.m. tomorrow, starting at Mellon Arena and ending at Point State Park with a rally.

But many fans just couldn't wait that long to celebrate.

Thousands jammed Carson Street on the South Side and Forbes Avenue in Oakland.

Police had planned for the moment, announcing last week that major streets on the South Side, in Oakland and in the Strip District would be closed so celebrants and traffic wouldn't butt heads.

The strategy seemed to work, at least for a while. Early on, there were reports of small fires on the South Side and in Oakland, and some people shot off the obligatory firecrackers and bottle rockets.

Fans, dressed in everything from bulky layers to nothing above the waist, slipped and slid on the icy streets, but no one seemed to be bothered by the cold and blowing snow.

The revelry turned a little ugly in Oakland and on the South Side before the clock neared midnight, and police reported this afternoon that they had made 34 arrests during the celebrations.

In Oakland, crowds of young people waved Terrible Towels, threw toilet paper and set off fireworks once the Steelers secured the win. About 10:30 p.m., a large group on Bigelow between the Cathedral and the William Pitt Union tipped over a lonely Dodge Neon, the only car on the street, and bashed out its windows.

People danced atop the car for 20 minutes, until police officers moved in, circled the vehicle and ordered everyone to leave. One brave man jumped back atop the Neon, but the police hauled him down and let him go after a lecture.

Young people who had originally congregated on Bigelow Boulevard quickly tired of bashing the overturned car and headed back down Forbes Avenue toward the center of campus.

They tore down store awnings, smashed a few windows, and flipped city trash cans and newspaper boxes. Another overturned car was reported on Forbes Avenue near Stephen Foster Memorial.

Near Forbes and Bouquet Street, one large group pulled down street signs and even broke apart several parking meters, scattering change in all directions.

One person climbed onto a walkway over Forbes Avenue and exhorted the crowd to do more damage.

About 11:30, groups of riot police wielding shields and batons moved in.

The police, augmented by K-9 units and officers on horseback, began splitting the large crowd into two parts, pushing one section toward Atwood Street and another group toward Oakland Avenue.

The mounted police began moving toward a crowd of several hundred who had remained behind near the Cathedral of Learning.

While police began dispersing the throng, some in the crowd taunted the police, laying down in the snow to make snow angels and snapping pictures of themselves in front of the riot-gear-clad police.

Some people stood atop buildings, hurling down toilet paper and other junk.

By 12:15 a.m., police, aided by the cold weather, had begun to thin out the crowds, leaving a few hundred people milling about on the sidewalks.

About 11 p.m., at 12th and East Carson streets on the South Side, a large fight erupted and several arrests were made, said Deputy Police Chief William Mullen. Another person was arrested near 18th and Carson after trying to punch a police officer.

"We're trying to move everybody out," Chief Mullen said.

He also said two trash bins near Carson were set on fire, and around midnight, police in riot gear began advancing east on Carson toward 18th, clearing fans from the streets. Some officers reported that they were being pelted with bottles near 21st Street.

For the entire game, Oakland and the South Side had looked like ghost towns -- no traffic, no pedestrians, nothing. But as the final seconds wound down, the bars in both neighborhoods emptied.

Fans were mostly orderly, with young people savoring a moment that their parents had enjoyed four times in the ancient days of the 1970s.

"The crowd is really big," a police officer radioed from the South Side.

In swirling snow, members of a huge crowd at 18th and Carson embraced, waved Terrible Towels and shouted for joy. Many used cell-phone cameras and video cameras to save the memories.

Ryan Dedlin, 25, of the South Side, knelt in the middle of the street, a fist raised in triumph. "This is the greatest day," he said.

"You gotta have faith!" bare-chested Chuck Peterson, 22, of Mount Washington, screamed into the night.

Like many others, Peterson had expressed confidence earlier, sitting in Folino's Ristorante, the old Young's Tavern, that the Steelers were going to win.

	This story was reported by Staff Writers Joe Fahy, Moustafa Ayad, Jim McKinnon and Nikki Schwab.

At Casey's Draft House in the 1800 block of East Carson, Lora LaRue, 40, of South Versailles, spent most of the second half turned away from the TV, her hands folded, asking a higher power for a hometown win.

"I am sooo praying," she said, noting that she hadn't washed her Hines Ward No. 86 jersey since the first of the year. "I grew up with football. I love football and I love the Steelers."

Then she, too, rushed into the street.

Bill Holland, 47, came from Washington, D.C., just to watch the game in Pittsburgh. He said he'd never been here before.

"I knew Pittsburgh would win. Winning the Super Bowl validates your town," he said.

On the North Side, police officers began filtering into the Federal Street-General Robinson Street area about 9 p.m., after closing the Roberto Clemente Bridge to traffic.

Police broke up a minor altercation outside HiTops bar after the game, but that was the only hint of trouble.

The city scheduled 500 to 550 officers to be on duty last night.

For an hour after the game officers for the most part let the revelers enjoy themselves. Some were chuckling at the spectacle, no doubt glad themselves that the Steelers were bringing a fifth world-championship trophy back to Pittsburgh.

Earlier in the evening, the mood was decidedly upbeat at Peter's Pub in Oakland following a trick play by the Steelers in the fourth quarter that resulted in a touchdown.

Meaghan McGuirk of Johnstown, celebrating her 22nd birthday, was nearly out of breath, screaming "This is the greatest day ever! This is the greatest day of my life. I don't know what to do."