PITTSBURGH -- Two huge Pittsburgh Penguins banners that could have been displayed downtown before the start of the Stanley Cup Finals will not be hung after all -- and city political leaders are squabbling over the blame.

Video: Watch Bob Mayo's Full Report

Last week, the Pens asked the city if they could drape Reebok-sponsored banners of team captain Sidney Crosby and goalie Marc-Andre Fleury on Fifth Avenue Place.

The temporary promotion would require City Council's approval, but no one has yet proposed the required legislation.

E-mails between various city officials shed light on the timeline of the situation. They show bureaucrats, not City Council, raising red flags. (Scroll down this page to read the e-mails.)

"Enough with this," Pens spokesman Tom McMillan told WTAE Channel 4's Bob Mayo by phone on Thursday. "We're done with this. Beyond that, no comment."

Mayor Luke Ravenstahl is pointing at the City Council, saying opposition there is to blame for the plan falling through.

"Either it was something that they were going to approve or they weren't," he said. "To me, it was that cut and dry because of the time associated with it. And we couldn't build that consensus, so it wasn't submitted."

Recently, there have been legal issues between some council members and Lamar Advertising over a large billboard at the Grant Street Transportation Center downtown. That situation prompted council to pass a moratorium on putting up new billboards in the city without proper authorization.

Ravenstahl said that because of the moratorium, he didn't want to put up the banners unless he had a sense that the council would allow it. When he got the sense that some members would not allow it, he withdrew or did not submit legislation to authorize the signs.

"It's unfortunate," said Ravenstahl. "The last thing I want to do is hang a banner in front of the City-County building and have one or two members of council -- which, by the way, I think this is one or two members of council -- making this a political issue. I think that's unfortunate, and I think we're all worse off because of it."

Two council members -- President Doug Shields and Bill Peduto -- said they were not opposed to the concept, but they want it to be done legally.

"Mr. Peduto and I gave them, like, three different ways that they would probably get passage of it and that we would support. We made that clear," said Shields.

"We tried to find a way," said Peduto. "It was not -- I heard the term 'political' being used, and that's just a bold-faced lie. We wanted to see, and to work on a way to make this happen."

"I don't know of any members who had a big problem with it, other than the problem was dealing with this by law," said Shields.

McMillan said that the Pens told the city on Saturday that they were dropping the banner idea.

"It was never a big issue with us," McMillan told Mayo. "It was one of many ideas."

Ravenstahl said that he spoke with Pens president David Morehouse on Sunday and continued working on it as late as Tuesday. He says he'd still like the banners to become a reality.

"The Penguins found out that they didn't have Reebok's support in order to produce the banners, so blaming this on council is suspicious at best," Peduto said on Thursday.

The Pens will face the Detroit Red Wings in the best-of-seven Stanley Cup Finals starting this weekend in Detroit. Pittsburgh will host Games 3 and 4 of the series at Mellon Arena next week.

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Here are notes from e-mails that were obtained by Bob Mayo:

5:27 p.m. Friday - Zoning Administrator Susan Tymoczko:
"Given the amount of advertising copy included, I cannot say that these are approvable."

5:40 p.m. Friday - Mayor chief of staff Yarone Zober:
"I have spoken with president Shields about this and he seemed to be in general support..."

6:35 p.m. Friday - Penguins President David Morehouse:
"Just heard from Reebok and they said they are pulling out and the substantial investment from them is not worth it without their copy and that the short window, they can't afford bureaucratic processes."
"This is a shame and I can't believe we can't make this work."
"I am very frustrated with this process"

7:22 p.m. Friday - Shields:
"We give permits for all sorts of banners ... We can amend to allow for our sports teams."

7:29 p.m. Friday - Planning director Noor Ismail:
"This has advertising on it and (new) advertising signs are prohibited downtown."

8:47 p.m. Friday - Morehouse:
"Any confirmation yet? Printer is on hold and Reebok is waiting."

10 p.m. Friday - Zober:
"It's a go from council prez shields. He will confirm by email in the next ten minutes. Good work, everyone."

Shields:
"To confirm, Mr. Zober. Yes, we will find a way."

9:13 a.m. Tuesday, after news media began asking questions...
Zober e-mail to Penguins:
"We're going to pull the plug on the banner efforts. Even talking to council has caused ... Stories."

Zober then e-mailed Council:
"This could have been fun, but not worth it on a fast track with a sensitive issue."

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Previous Stories:

• May 13, 2008: Pittsburgh City Councilmen Walk Out Of Vote On Billboard Fight
• April 17, 2008: Controversial Downtown Billboard On Hold; Mayor Wants Housing Authority Audit
• April 14, 2008: URA Head Speaks Out About Pittsburgh Billboard Controversy
• April 11, 2008: Downtown Pittsburgh Billboard Controversy Hits Courtroom
• April 10, 2008: Mayor Issues Stop Work Order Over Pittsburgh Billboard
• April 10, 2008: Ravenstahl Press Secretary Quits, URA Head Takes Leave Amid Pittsburgh Billboard Controversy
• April 1, 2008: Pittsburgh Issues Moratorium On New LED Billboards
• February 20, 2008: Grant Street Digital Billboard Hot Topic In City Council

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