The Pittsburgh Steelers lost a football game Sunday, an unusual event in a season that many fans still believe will culminate in another Super Bowl appearance. While it wasn't a fatal loss against the Tennessee Titans, it was stinging for the legion of fans here and across the country who make up Steeler Nation.

That's because the Steelers for many people have come to epitomize all the pride, values and sentiment of the region. When the team wins, Pittsburghers -- home-grown, transplanted or adopted -- rejoice. When it loses, a civic funk descends.

Let there be rejoicing. The big event for the Steelers in recent days did not play out in Nashville but in Irving, Texas, where the National Football League owners voted 31-0 Wednesday to approve the new ownership change. The NFL had pressed for those Rooney family members with gambling interests (a league no-no) to be bought out,

The result leaves the Steelers in the hands of the familiar and respected local Rooneys, Dan and his son Art II, who will be borrowing about $250 million to buy out all or part of the stake of the younger sons of the late Art Rooney, the team founder. Some new investors will join the Rooney and McGinley families -- James A. Haslam III, the family of Robert A. Paul and Thomas Tull.

But the essential good news is that the relationship between Pittsburgh and its favorite team should be secured for years by this deal. It will be first down and the future.