Tom O'Malley Jr., left, with Steelers linebacker Greg Lloyd at a Steelers basketball game. O'Malley has been the team's manager since 1984.

By Steve Hecht, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Like The Terrible Towel and Steelers fight songs, the Pittsburgh Steelers' basketball team has long been a big part of the Steeler Nation. The team goes back to the mid 1960s. It was started by the late Baldy Regan. Tom O'Malley Jr., 51, owner of an insurance agency, became involved in 1970 and is entering his 36th year with the team. His late father, Tom O'Malley Sr., also was involved with the team. Tom Jr. has been the Steelers' basketball team's manager since 1984. He is in charge of coaching, scheduling, travel, washing uniforms, promotion and many other facets of the operation. He has played for the team on rare occasions. The Steelers' basketball team has played more than 2,000 games in a 40-year span, raising thousands of dollars for charities and organizations. They have competed against numerous high school and college faculties, fire departments, church groups and many others. Many of the Steelers stars, past and present, have been on the team. Post-Gazette sports writer Steve Hecht recently talked with Tom O'Malley Jr. about his many years with the team:

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Q. How does this year shape up and how many games will you play?

O'Malley: We'll probably draw big crowds. It will be exciting during introductions because for the first time in 26 years we'll be announcing ourselves as the Super Bowl champions. This year, we will play 65 games. We open Saturday at St. Mary of the Mount and will go until the middle of May. We'll be playing games in Sharon, Erie, Johnstown, Uniontown, at Mt. Lebanon, Bethel Park, Chartiers Valley and many other places. Sometimes, we advertise for games, but, this year we were completely booked before the Indianapolis playoff win. In the late 1960s, we were only playing a handful of games each year. In the early 1970s, it got up to about 40 or 45. When we started winning Super Bowls and had players on our basketball team like Lambert, Ham, Bradshaw, Franco and Stallworth we'd some times go with two teams and play at two different sites in one night. One year, we played 84 games.

Q. Is the basketball team separate from the Steelers' organization?

O'Malley: Yes. But we've always had the OK from Mr. Rooney. The Rooneys have always been helpful. Our games are usually fun nights. The fans love the players. They know the players. We have an autograph session at halftime. It's a fun night out for the players. It's a bunch of guys going out, playing hoops each night, having some fun.

Q. Who are some of the members of this year's team?

O'Malley: The guys we expect to play this year are Willie Parker, Antwaan Randle El, Hines Ward, Deshea Townsend, James Harrison, Ike Taylor, Lee Mays, Chris Hope, Chris Hoke, Brett Keisel, Ricardo Colclough, Max Starks and Charlie Batch.

Q. Is it tough getting enough players for each game?

O'Malley: We always have enough players, but we don't know who is going to show up each game. So, we promote the whole team, not a player. We sometimes have former players playing for us like Louis Lipps and Edmund Nelson.

Q. What are the biggest crowds the Steelers' basketball team has drawn?

O'Malley: After one of our Super Bowl wins over Dallas, we played the Cowboys at the Civic Arena in 1976 and drew more than 9,000 fans. The game was for charity and sponsored by McDonald's. When we went down to Dallas to play, though, the crowd was only about 400. By the way, the Cowboys had some very good basketball players and would sometimes clean our clocks. But their players didn't seem very friendly. I think they were angry at us because we beat them in those Super Bowls. Another big crowd we played in front of was in Evansville, Ind., in 1978. It was a charity event for the Evansville University men's basketball team, which lost all its players in a plane crash [Dec. 13, 1977]. We drew about 6,000 for that game. Over the years, we have played in front of many sellouts at high school gyms.

Q. In your years doing this, which players stick out as genuinely nice guys?

O'Malley: Franco Harris is just a gentleman. Hines Ward is just as nice as you see him on television. He's always smiling, never gets mad. Sam Davis was a terrific guy. Jack Ham's a great guy. Mel Blount, Larry Brown, Louis Lipps and Dwayne Woodruff also come to mind. We've been very lucky. I've been involved for 37 years. We've had maybe one or two bad guys. Most of the guys have been really good.

Q. Who would be your five-player all-time Steelers basketball team in terms of talent?

O'Malley: It's tough to name five. But, I'll go with Yancey Thigpen, Antwaan Randle El, John Stallworth, Dermontti Dawson and Neil O'Donnell. Five honorable mention picks would be Louis Lipps, Hank Poteat, Justin Strzelczyk, Cliff Stoudt and Preston Pearson.

Q. Anyone who has been a surprise in terms of basketball talent?

O'Malley: Orpheus Roye was this big, quiet guy -- I think he went about 6-4, 290. The first game he played for us he took a rebound early in the game, dribbled the length of the court and dunked. Then, he ran back down the court like it was nothing. The guys on the bench were amazed. Joey Porter is another big guy that can run the floor. He can play.

Q. How about your all-time worst five?

O'Malley: These guys will probably get mad, but I don't care. The five I'd name are all pals of mine, but really, they were not very good in basketball. Gary Dunn, he'd be at the bottom. Tim Lester, he was Jerome Bettis' first blocking back -- good guy, but not a very good basketball player. The other three would probably be Terry Long, Jerry Olsavsky and Ernie Holmes. I will say this about Ernie Holmes. There was a game once when we were playing the Dallas Cowboys' basketball team. Ernie wasn't getting the ball, and he was starting to get mad. And you could tell. All of a sudden, he gets the ball at midcourt and starts heading toward the basket. By the time he got to the foul line, everyone on both teams just cleared out.

Q. Any special moments stick out?

O'Malley: Yes, especially when you're doing benefits to raise medical expenses where sick kids are involved. One time, I remember, back in the 1970s, we were in West Virginia, and there was a little girl who was very sick. I don't remember what her ailment was, but you could tell she was very sick. We met with her. Then, they go to start the game, and the Steelers are being introduced to the crowd. When they announce Jack Lambert, he runs out holding the little girl. It was a pretty touching scene, especially since it was big, tough, miserable Lambert involved.

Q. Do the Steelers usually win?

O'Malley: I'm the winningest coach in basketball, and I don't know anything about basketball. I'd say we win about 95 percent of the time.

Q. Do other NFL teams have basketball teams?

O'Malley: Yes, but I don't know if any of the others are as active or as busy as we are. Through the years, we have played teams from the Bengals, Browns, Cowboys, Eagles, Buffalo Bills and Redskins. I don't know how many of them have teams today, though.

Q. Did any of them turn into rivalries on the court?

O'Malley: In the late 1970s, it got a little touchy sometimes when we played the Cleveland Browns. I remember Reggie Rucker and Randy Grossman once got into a tussle. Bill Cowher used to play for the Browns.