As the Pirates stagger toward a 16th consecutive losing season -- the fourth in succession with 90 or more defeats -- and as attendance plunges more than it has at any time since the 100-loss season of 2001, here are some questions that were being tossed around PNC Park the other night.

How do the Pirates market themselves in 2009? How do you sell tickets for a team that appears to be on a treadmill of defeat with no end in sight?

Although it's true the Pirates might finish with a better record than they did in 2007, there would be no progress to be found in such numbers. They have been abysmal since the late July trades of Xavier Nady and Jason Bay, two of their best offensive players. Since the first of those trades, the Pirates are 17-36, which is a 110-loss pace.

The high stress the new management team placed on accountability appears to have been relaxed. Basic fundamentals are being massacred. The malaise seems to have spread to the dugout, where manager John Russell gives new meaning to being laid-back.

Tuesday, for example, he failed to come out of the dugout in support of his players when a call went against them. On the play, routine in nature, pitcher Jeff Karstens made a poor one-hop throw to first base. Second baseman Freddy Sanchez, covering on the play, could not scoop up the ball on first try but then picked it up off the ground and stepped on the base before the runner touched it. The umpire called the runner safe.

Replays clearly showed the runner was out. Sanchez knew it, too, but why should he argue when Russell never left the bench? Asked about it after the game, Russell casually stated what he seemed to believe was a baseball axiom, but one no one else had heard:

"You hate to argue a routine play."

Considering the quality of players on the team, a 17th and record-setting consecutive losing season is virtually assured in 2009. By the time the final home game is played this afternoon, attendance will have declined close to 10 percent from last year.

This doesn't mean the franchise is in peril or anything close to it. With MLB revenue sharing in place, the Pirates will continue to operate at a profit even if attendance declines as much or more next season. But what is in danger here is of PNC Park, the best baseball facility in the country, becoming the reincarnation of the final years of Three Rivers Stadium -- a one-third-full ballpark with all the joy that should be part of such a facility drained out of it by an unparalleled losing tradition.

The Pirates' quest to become the first major professional sports team to have 17 consecutive losing seasons might capture some fleeting national attention, but it won't do anything to bring a new stream of fans to the North Shore.

Not since "Let's Go To Work," a campaign that emphasized the so-called blue-collar work ethic of the Pirates, has a marketing campaign done much to draw positive attention to the team.

Toward that end, here are some slogans the Pirates might want to use to encourage fans to buy tickets in 2009.

• Come Watch History!

• We've Got Depth

• 2012 Or Bust

• Two Beers: Just $15.50

• We Will -- II

Of course, it will take more than slogans. If the Pirates persist in conducting business as usual in terms of payroll, the losing is almost guaranteed to continue. As long as the Pirates disdain one of the most crucial streams of player acquisition -- the free-agent market -- there might be no end to this. This is not to suggest they get in the bidding for the likes of CC Sabathia, but there will be free agents out there available -- even some who might be willing to come to Pittsburgh.

Unless significantly better players are brought in for 2009, the Pirates will set the record for consecutive losing seasons because the talent on hand isn't good enough, and no one knows that better than the talent on hand.

The Pirates need to take the kind of gamble the St. Louis Cardinals took when they signed Kyle Lohse to a $4.25 million contract. Lohse was 9-12 in 2007 and hadn't had a winning season since 2003. This season, he is 14-6 with a 3.76 earned run average.

The fact he didn't sign with St. Louis until March 14 indicates he might have been available to the Pirates -- had they not been content with their starting rotation of Tom Gorzelanny, Ian Snell, Paul Maholm, Zach Duke and Matt Morris.

The fact the first four of those names likely will be in contention for starting roles next season, although only Maholm has pitched well, says it all about the Pirates.

Presidential candidates often ask voters if they are better off today than they were four years ago. Pirates fans could ask themselves a similar question: Are we better off today that we were a year ago?

The answer is obvious.