Having a Ball in Pittsburgh

You know the New Year's Eve celebration at New York City's Times Square? The one with the giant crystal ball that falls as everyone counts down? I've never understood that. Either wanting to go to Times Square for New Year's Eve or the meaning of the crystal ball.

I've never wanted to go to Downtown Pittsburgh to celebrate New Year's Eve, either. And that's not going to change, even though Pittsburgh is - are you ready for this - going to get a New Year's Eve ball of its own. That's right - Pittsburgh's First Night celebration this year will feature a giant, glowing blue ball. And it's going to rise, not fall.

1. The ball has a name. "The Future of Pittsburgh," to be exact. Blue balls should remain nameless.
2. The ball is going to rise to the top of a 74-foot flagpole. That's symbolic of 1974, the last year before Pittsburgh's population began to plummet.
3. The ball is blue, the official color of Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield, the "not for profit" health care giant that made $341.6 million in 2005. Appropriately, blue is what most people feel when they see how much they'll have to pay for next year's Highmark coverage.
4. The 1000 pound ball is more than 6¹/₂ feet in diameter and is festooned with 48 surface strobe lights, 72 internal halogen bulbs and 1,100 light emitting diodes, which require more than 6,000 watts to illuminate. Festooned? I had to look that up!

First Night Pittsburgh Got a Big Ball
The Powers decreed that it rise and not fall
All of Luke's efforts to move it ahead
Still couldn't bring Pittsburgh back from the dead.