The year 2009 will mark the 50th anniversary of Bruno Sammartino's debut in professional wrestling, and this milestone deserves to be recognized suitably in his adopted home of Western Pennsylvania.

Just as Bill Mazeroski, Willie Stargell, Roberto Clemente, Honus Wagner and others are recognized at PNC Park, I am appealing to the Sports and Exhibition Authority and the Pittsburgh Penguins to honor Sammartino at the new Consol Energy Center.

While it is easy to turn up one's nose at professional wrestling or scoff at what possible impact Sammartino could have had as an athlete, his place in history merits revisiting. I might even go so far as to suggest, as others have, that Bruno was to wrestling what Muhammad Ali was to boxing. Both had a charisma that drew the large crowds others could not.

Sammartino still holds the record for the most sell-outs as an event headliner at Madison Square Garden -- more than 180. He might hold this same record at the former Civic (now Mellon) Arena.

Sammartino's New York City fans were so devoted that a closed-circuit TV sometimes was installed next door to the Garden at Felt Forum to accommodate those who could not get tickets. Three times, Sammartino packed the recently retired Shea Stadium with crowds that exceeded 30,000.

Prior to becoming a wrestler, Sammartino was recognized as the world's strongest man, based on his power lifting records. He was recruited into wrestling at the age of 23 and became the World Wide Wrestling Federation champion approximately four years later. He held the title for seven years, eight months, and later enjoyed a second reign of three years, four months.

Sammartino always displayed strong values. Bruno encouraged children to choose right over wrong. He brought families of all races and classes together in front of their black-and-white television sets each week and always entertained. He brought incalculable attention, nationally and internationally, to Pittsburgh. In the 1960s, not even perennial baseball all-star Roberto Clemente was as internationally associated with Pittsburgh as was Sammartino.

Sammartino's well-known love of opera encouraged many adults and children to sample this type of music, which they otherwise might never have considered.

The Pittsburgh City Council and Allegheny County Council did recognize Bruno Sammartino by proclamation in 2004 in a small ceremony that reflected his characteristic humbleness. But I believe the 50th anniversary of his entrance into sports entertainment merits permanent recognition at our new arena.

A symbolic renaming of a city block. A statue outside the arena. Designation of a walkway (e.g. Sammartino Way). At the least, there should be a bust inside the Consol Energy Center with a plaque that recounts his achievements.

Another adopted son of Pittsburgh, Mario Lemieux, came to Pittsburgh from Montreal, Canada. Montreal was one of the many international cities where Bruno's name on a marquee guaranteed a sell-out. Since he is 43, I suspect that Mario might have watched Bruno a time or two with his father Jean-Guy, a construction worker, and his older brothers Alain and Richard.

One half-century ago next year Bruno Sammartino debuted. When the Consol Energy Center debuts in the fall of 2010, let's make sure that the achievements of this historic figure from Pittsburgh are either remembered by or discovered by those who walk its perimeter or pass through its turnstiles.