In Mellon Arena, where the Pittsburgh Penguins play ice hockey, Dan Rooney, chairman of the Pittsburgh Steelers, gave the Democratic candidate for president a black and gold football jersey emblazoned with the name Obama and the number 08.
The crowd of 17,000 Barack Obama and Pittsburgh Steelers fans roared with approval Monday evening, as loud as any hockey fans.
Obama delivered what his advisors are calling his "closing" stump speech, returning to his original inspiring theme of hope that won the primary for him, telling the crowd, "I ask you to believe, not just in my ability to bring about change, but in your ability to bring about change."
After stops in Ohio Monday, Obama went to Pittsburgh, which some pundits describe as the key to winning Pennsylvania.
The Southeast corner, around Philadelphia, almost assuredly is Obama's. The rural middle of the state, that political advisor James Carville once described as Alabama, belongs to McCain. And that leaves Pittsburgh and Allegheny County as the swing.
When Rooney, who has been barnstorming for Obama across Western Pennsylvania on a tour organized by the United Steelworkers, appeared on the stage Monday night, the crowd broke into a spontaneous chorus of "Here we go, Steelers, here we go!"
Rooney laughed and said, "I am here for another purpose today."
He said he was no economic expert, but his father, Art Rooney, had taught him that not everything is about money. It is also about working hard and treating people with respect, he said.
"If Wall Street felt this way, maybe we would not be in the trouble we are in," he told the crowd to applause.
Obama picked up on that theme in his speech. He said government should not solve all of the country's problems, but it should do those things people cannot do for themselves, including defend the country, educate its citizens and encourage entrepreneurship. But, Obama added, as Dan Rooney said, corporations must live up to their responsibilities too, and invest in America and create jobs in America.
He said Ronald Reagan's question, "Are you better off now that you were four years ago," is not appropriate in this election because we all know the answer. The proper question in this campaign is: "Will you be better off four years from now."
Obama noted that McCain has stood with Bush on every important economic issue - including tax cuts for the wealthy. That drew boos, and he responded with: "You don't need to boo. Just vote!"
He began his speech by saying, "I've got one word for you: one week!" The crowd roared approval.
After eight years of the failed George Bush policies, he said to yells of boo, "we are one week away from bringing change to America." That elicited chants of "Yes we can!"
He told the crowd that in a week, they could turn the page on policies that put the greed and irresponsibility of Wall Street before the hard work of Main Street. In one week, he said, they could end the politics that would divide a nation to win an election. In one week, Obama said, "You can give the country the change we need. You can do that."
Not taking anything for granted, he urged them not to stop working, not to stop striving for a win: "Don't let up. Don't sit back for one minute." And later, he implored, "Don't believe this election is over. Don't believe power concedes anything."
To the tune of Stevie Wonder's "Signed, Sealed and Delivered," he left the stage pointing one finger up and saying, "One more week."
Although Obama has appeared in Pittsburgh numerous times since January, many in the crowd had never seen him before. They included Karen Barbati of Harmony, who wore a button with her picture and a llama that said, "Kiss a Llama for Obama." She'd gotten it at an Obama fund raiser held at a llama farm in Allegheny County in August.
Also, there was Mark Nowak, a lawyer with Thorp Reed & Armstrong, who arrived in a pinstriped suit. He keeps an Obama sign in his yard, despite living in very Republican Pine Township, in northern Allegheny County.
And there was Joe Grabarz, of New York City, who'd arrived in Pittsburgh a week earlier to volunteer for the Obama campaign through Nov. 5. He said he appreciated Obama's tone. There was no finger pointing or name calling, he said, adding, "It made me feel better about myself and what we all could do."