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They drove nearly four hours, paid $475 each for the worst seats in the joint and watched their beloved Penguins lose crucial Game Four of the National Hockey League's Stanley Cup final 2-1.

And the Mease brothers loved every second of it, except for Detroit's Jiri Hudler's game-winning backhanded shot at 2:26 in the third period. That put the Red Wings up 3-1 in the best of seven series and pushed the Penguins to the brink of elimination.

"The drive home, it's going to be miserable. Four hours of commiserating and analysis. We'll have to break down some game film," said Moon native and former Robert Morris golf player Bart Mease, 31, of Gaithersburg, Md.

"But just being here was great."

To his left in the gloomy O-18 section of a sold-out Mellon Arena, in scalped seats where a fourth of the rink can't even be seen and concrete bulwarks hem spectators into cramped aisles and shadow, sat brothers Kert, 34, and Blake, 24. They felt at home in the traditional roost of the most dedicated fans, especially during Stanley Cup runs when mostly blue collar boosters and public servants blow their paychecks just to bask in legendary Mellon Arena, hoping for the magic of happy endings.

"What can I say? We're diehard Penguins fans. That's what you do," said Kert, a high school teacher and soccer coach.

In defeat, at least the Mease brothers could squint down a stairway to grab part of the action. To their right squatted Sterling Hills, Mich., lawyer Jeff Melton, 27. Bedecked in Red Wings crimson and white, in victory he was nevertheless squeezed behind a dreaded black concrete pillar.

"They've been pretty good about letting me crane my neck around it," said Melton, smiling at the Mease brothers.

But he still couldn't catch all of the 5-on-3 Penguins third period power play squashed by Detroit, despite a peppering of Pittsburgh shots at Red Wings' goaltender Chris Osgood, precious seconds ticking away as the last, best chance for Pittsburgh to salvage the series was beginning to look as dead as the sacrificial octopus Michiganders toss onto the ice for good luck.

Melton left a sold-out Mellon elated, hoping that Detroit will end the series in their rink, but ready to return to the Iron City if they don't.

"If there's a game six, I'm back," Melton said.

Pittsburgh police won't mind. Authorities had been out in force all evening, with double the typical manpower for non-playoff games. They stood poised to respond to any emergencies and their patrols fanned out across the Uptown and Hill District neighborhoods to rid the streets of drunks, pickpockets and flim-flam artists.

Zone 2 officers reported one arrest of an unnamed scalper vending bogus tickets, but otherwise they said the night was "very calm," partly because Melton and the other Michigan fans proved such good guests.

"Detroit fans have been some of the most well-balanced, nicest people we ever see here. I wish all visiting fans were like Detroit's," said Sgt. James Vogel of Pittsburgh's Zone 2 station.

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