Monday, October 31, 2011

It's now official, WVU is headed for the Big 12

The other day, I expressed my concerns about the West Virginia Mountaineers finding a home. The ACC and the SEC both told them "thanks, but no thanks" recently, and just when it looked like WVU would wind up in the Big 12, a Kentucky US Senator tried to get in the way.

Well, I need not express my concerns any longer. The West Virginia Mountaineers will be joining the Big 12 in July of next year.

Now I can go back to hating their guts.

Saturday, October 29, 2011

The St. Louis Cardinals: Your 2011 World Series Champions

Well, the remarkable run of the 2011 St. Louis Cardinals finally culminated with their 11th World Series championship after outlasting the Texas Rangers in an emotional and gut-wrenching seven-games.

Obviously, the most emotional and gut-wrenching of all the games was the dramatic game six on Thursday night at Busch Stadium. The Cardinals entered the night trailing in the Series, 3-2. The Rangers went into the bottom of the 9th inning leading 7-5 and ultimately were within one strike of clinching their first World Series title in team history. However, hometown hero, David Freese, drove in the tying-runs with a two-out, two-run triple off the right field wall.

The Rangers managed to get up by two runs again in the top of the 10th inning and were, once again, one strike away from winning the Series only to see Lance Berkman tie the game with a two-run single.

The Cardinals eventually won on Freese' lead-off home run in the bottom of the 11th inning.

I figured after Thursday night's dramatics, the Rangers wouldn't have a chance last night. Those of you who remember the 1986 World Series, the Boston Red Sox went into game six against the New York Mets at Shea Stadium up 3-2 in the series. They took a two-run lead in extra innings and were one out away from winning their first World Series since Lord knows when. Well, we all know what happened there.

After taking an early 2-0 lead, the Rangers faded, and the Cardinals ran away with game seven and won fairly easily, 6-2.

Beings that I'm a Pirates fan, I'm not really a Cardinals' enthusiast, but my aunt is from the St. Louis area, so I was rooting for them to win. Besides, I almost always cheer for the National League in the World Series.

The Cardinals were dead-to-rights at the end of August, 10 1/2 games back of the Atlanta Braves in the National League Wild Card race but went on an historic roll that eventually saw them sneak by Atlanta on the last day of the regular season.

The Cardinals weren't given much of a chance to defeat the Philadelphia Phillies in the NLDS, but they managed to out-last Philadelphia in five-games.

I think most people figured the Brewers would take care of the Cardinals in the NLCS, but St. Louis won in six-games and advanced to their third World Series since 2004.

Another interesting note: The Cardinals were the seventh-straight home team to win a game seven in the World Series. The last road team to win a game seven? You guessed it, the We Are Family Pittsburgh Pirates in 1979.

Of course, if it wasn't for that silly All-Star game rule, the Rangers would have been at home for game seven.

As you probably know, Bud Selig reacted to fan outrage after the 2002 All-Star game ended in a tie and decided to give the representative from the winning-team home-field advantage in the World Series; maybe the dumbest rule in all of sports.

Anyway, the Rangers won 96 regular season games and the AL West. The Cardinals won 90regular season games and the National League Wild Card spot. Who do you think should have had home-field advantage in the World Series?

I'm not saying the Rangers would have definitely won if things were reversed, but I am saying that a stupid rule by a commissioner that acted in a knee-jerk manner after the outcome of an exhibition game may have cost a team a World Series title.

But, ultimately, home or away, the games are won on the field. However, I do feel sorry for the Rangers. Making it to the World Series two-years in a row is a pretty epic accomplishment. To out-last the likes of the Yankees, Rays and Red Sox in consecutive seasons is a pretty awesome feat.

But the sports world being what it is, people won't focus on the great accomplishment. Instead, the Rangers will probably be labeled "losers" if they don't eventually find a way to win the World Series.

Just ask the 90-93 Buffalo Bills about how society views teams that fail on the biggest stage in multiple seasons.

Oh well, as a Pirates fan, I'd give anything to see my Buccos lose in the World Series two-years in a row. It would be a nice problem to have.

It's all relative.

Nothing Wrong With Feeling Confident that the Steelers Can Beat the Patriots Tomorrow

.The Steelers have a very big game coming up tomorrow with the New England Patriots. No, it's not do or die, and it wouldn't necessarily be the end of the world if Pittsburgh lost.

New England's offense is pretty potent, Tom Brady has owned the Steelers in his fine career (6-1 all-time), and Bill Belichick is a genius and has had two weeks to prepare for this game.

Yes, the Patriots have a lot going for them, and they probably have a bit of a psychological edge as they march into Heinz Field. About a year ago at this time, Brady never looked better than he did in a Sunday night match-up at Heinz, almost effortlessly passing the Patriots to a 39-26 victory that wasn't nearly as close as the score indicated.

But last I checked, the Steelers are the defending AFC Champions, Troy Polamalu is the reigning Defensive Player of the Year, Ben Roethlisberger is a pretty elite quarterback in his own right, and Mike Tomlin isn't exactly chopped-liver in the coaching department.

After a shaky start, the Steelers have righted the ship and now sit at 5-2. A win tomorrow would surely set the team up for a very exciting second-half of the season.

However, I don't get the sense that many fans feel very confident about the Steelers' chances vs. the Pats.

As some of you may know, I listen to my share of talk radio, and the general sentiment I'm hearing from most Steelers fans this week is that they'd be satisfied if Pittsburgh can just hang in there with the Patriots and not get embarrassed too much.

It's no secret that the Steelers simply do not match up well with the Patriots. Tom Brady's quick-release and precision passing has always been the Achilles heel of Dick Lebeau and the vaunted Steelers' defense.

Okay, so the Patriots are good, and the Steelers are going to have their hands full on Sunday. The same holds true for every team that faces the Patriots, or any elite team in the NFL.

Sunday is going to be a challenge, but a victory over a Tom Brady-led Patriots team wouldn't be unprecedented.

On Halloween of 2004, the Patriots came into Heinz Field on a record 21-game winning streak and were winners of two of the previous three Super Bowls. In Pittsburgh's previous two meetings with the Patriots, New England knocked off the Steelers at Heinz Field in the 2001 AFC Championship game, and then opened the 2002 season by laying another beatdown on Pittsburgh in Foxboro. You talk about a psychological edge?

How did Pittsburgh respond to the challenge of the Patriots' recent dominance and apparent psychological advantage over them? They jumped out to a 21-3 first quarter lead and went on to win, 34-20.

"But that was seven seasons ago, Tony. What does that matter now?" Well, because the match up problems that exist today, existed back then. Heck, this game was played smack-dab in the middle of the Spygate era and everything.

And who were the Pittsburgh Steelers at that point in 2004? Sure, they were 5-1 going into that game, but they were coming off of a 6-10 season, and Ben Roethlisberger was a rookie starting quarterback.

The Patriots were the unchallenged class of the NFL, and Pittsburgh certainly wasn't the team they are today. This was before Super Bowls XL and XLIII. This was before the three Super Bowl appearances in six seasons.

Yet, the Steelers found a way to stand toe-to-toe with Tom Brady and the New England Patriots and dominate them for 60 minutes.

If that Steelers' team could do it, these Pittsburgh Steelers can do it tomorrow. Like one of BTSC's fine contributors said in his fabulous piece the other day,Steelers' games are like Super Bowls to a lot of their opponents. And I know for the Steelers and us fans, the actual Super Bowl is our Super Bowl. It's the most important thing. It's the standard of excellence by which we judge most seasons.

However, if there was ever a time that our Pittsburgh Steelers had a right to treat a regular season game like their Super Bowl, it's tomorrow's showdown with the Patriots.

The Steelers have been a bona fide juggernaut in recent seasons. They've been right up there with the Patriots in terms of consistency and accomplishments, and they're every bit as elite.

The Pittsburgh Steelers don't have to bow-down to anyone.

I know a lot of fans and media are in awe of the Patriots' mystique, but to sort of steal a quote from Rex Ryan: the Steelers aren't going to kiss Bill Belichick's rings tomorrow, and neither should we.

Let's not forget, the Patriots haven't won a Super Bowl in almost a decade. They're a very good football team, but they're not unbeatable.

We have a pretty damn good football team in Pittsburgh, and there's no reason why we shouldn't be confident that our Steelers will get the job done against the New England Patriots.

Go Steelers!!!!!!!

Thursday, October 27, 2011

It's seems like the West Virginia Mountaineers can't find a home no matter how hard they try

Well, the "WVU to the Big 12" move that appeared to be all but a done deal just Tuesday night is now very much up in the air, and politicians are even getting involved.

In fact, it seems that a politician from Kentucky, US Senator Mitch McConnell, helped to stall West Virginia's move to the Big 12 by convincing some school presidents in the conference that they should consider Louisville as a possible candidate. And I guess it worked because the Big 12 is now rather undecided between West Virginia and Louisville, and it could go either way.

According to a quote I read today, someone said something to the effect that, "why wouldn't McConnell fight for the Cardinals? He's just trying to better a school from his state." Okay, I'll give you that.

However, my question to the Big 12 presidents is "what's so attractive about Louisville that suddenly made you guys stop in your tracks and strongly consider them after all but agreeing to invite West Virginia?"

Louisville certainly has a decent enough basketball tradition, but everyone knows that all this conference-shifting is about football, not basketball. And when it comes to football, Louisville is far from a powerhouse. They had a good season or two a few years ago shortly after joining the Big East, but it's pretty obvious that the Louisville Cardinals aren't a strong enough football program to make any conference better in that area. The slow implosion of the Big East conference as a football entity is proof enough of that.

WVU, on the other hand, has been the only consistent football program in the Big East since the likes of Miami and Virginia Tech defected years ago. The Mountaineers have been to BCS games, and they've even managed to win one or two. Imagine that?

The Mountaineers have also built a pretty decent men's basketball program, complete with two Elite Eight appearances and a Final Four appearance just two seasons ago.

So, it's pretty obvious that West Virginia offers more to any conference than Louisville does.

I know television markets are a big consideration in all of this, and Morgantown certainly isn't a very attractive tv market, but I can't imagine school presidents falling all over themselves to land the Louisville, Kentucky market, either.

So, what's the deal?

Another question to the Big 12 presidents: Why not take both West Virginia AND Louisville?

I mean, let's face it, the Big 12 isnt exactly a stable conference. Nebraska and Colorado defected just last year, Texas A&M is headed for the SEC, and Missouri is also all but gone.

I'd say the Big 12 needs all the schools it can grab while the grabbing is good.

Being a Pitt fan, you're probably wondering why I'm so concerned about WVU's fate in all of this, but I believe rivalries are the most important thing in college athletics.

Pitt and WVU have been great rivals over the years, and after losing the annual clash with Penn State, I'd hate to see Pitt/WVU downgraded because the Mountaineers are weakened by not being able to land in a viable conference.

I hope that West Virginia eventually finds a decent home, and Pitt and WVU somehow manage to continue their great rivalry.

A college football world with West Virginia as an annual cream puff wouldn't be as much fun.

Sunday, October 23, 2011

We better hope Heinz Field never hosts a Super Bowl. If so, the Steelers are probably going to really suck that year

In the movie Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, the Miami Dolphins play the Philadelphia Eagles in the Super Bowl at Joe Robbie Stadium in Miami, Florida.

Of course, in the real world, the idea of an NFL team playing the Super Bowl in its home venue is a scenario that can only be imagined in Hollywood.

There have been 38 Super Bowls played at venues with host NFL franchises, but no host team has ever actually had a season good enough to even make it to a conference championship.

If there was ever a year for this trend to finally stop, it would have been this season. Super Bowl XLVI is being held at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis on February 5th, 2012. The Indianapolis Colts have been perennial Super Bowl contenders for years, and they have arguably the game's best quarterback in Peyton Manning. However, Manning is out for the year with a neck injury, and the Colts have stumbled to an 0-6 start. I think it's pretty safe to say that the Colts will not be representing the AFC in the Super Bowl this year.

The Peytonless and winless Indianapolis Colts are just the latest example of a team crapping out with a chance to maybe have the ultimate home-field advantage on the sport's biggest stage.

Just last year, the Cowboys were hosting the Super Bowl in the billion dollar Jerry-Dome, but Dallas started out the year 1-7, Tony Romo suffered a season-ending injury and was replaced by Jon Kitna, Wade Phillips was fired, and the Cowboys finished the year at 6-10.

All-time, in 572 regular season games, the Super Bowl host team is a combined 239-329-4. And if it wasn't for the Miami Dolphins (75-62-1), the record would be much, much worse.

The City of Miami has hosted the Super Bowl nine times, but even though the Miami Dolphins have had some pretty legendary and talented teams throughout the years, the closest they ever came to playing the Super Bowl in their home venue was in 1994, when they lost in the Divisional round to the Chargers, 22-21.

The Dolphins of the 1970's seemed to really hit their peak in the years in-between the City of Miami hosting Super Bowls. The City hosted its first Super Bowl following the 1968 season, when the Dolphins were a lowly expansion team that finished 5-8-1. Miami hosted its second Super Bowl following the 1970 season, and even though the Dolphins finished the year 10-4, they weren't quite ready for prime-time and lost to the Raiders in the playoffs. The young team then came of age in 1971 and played in Super Bowl VI (Tulane Stadium in New Orleans), Super Bowl VII (Los Angeles Coliseum), and Super Bowl VIII (Rice Stadium in Houston). In 1975, the season after Larry Czonka and Co. departed for the World Football League, the Dolphins missed the playoffs with a 10-4 record, and it was the Pittsburgh Steelers who represented the AFC at Super Bowl X in Miami's Orange Bowl.

And other than those Dolphins teams from the 70's and 90's, only two other host teams have ever even made the playoffs. The 1967 Los Angeles Rams finished the year with an 11-1-2 mark but lost to a juggernaut Green Bay Packers team in the playoffs. And the 2000 Tampa Bay Buccaneers went 10-6 but lost in the NFC Wildcard round.

Some Super Bowl host teams have done horribly even after having recent success. Super Bowl XXXII was played at San Diego's Qualcomm Stadium, and despite making the Super Bowl just three seaons prior, the Chargers finished with a 4-12 record in 1997. The Atlanta Falcons played in Super Bowl XXXIII in Miami. The following year, Super Bowl XXXIV was played in the Falcon's backyard, the Georgia Dome, but the team went a miserable 5-11.

Of course, as you may have guessed, the New Orleans Saints are the worst Super Bowl host team, with a 42-92-2 record. Maybe that's why the NFL has held nine Super Bowls in New Orleans. The chances of the Saints taking advantage of the situation are pretty-slim.

I don't know why most teams play so poorly in years when the Super Bowl is played at their home stadium, but the numbers speak for themselves.

I know Ambassador/owner Dan Rooney has a lot of clout in the NFL, but let's just hope he never wins a bid to host the Super Bowl at Heinz Field.

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

My one trip to Fenway park

Prior to the 2005 season, I had never attended a baseball game outside of Pittsburgh other than in 1999, when my brother, uncle, and I went to see a Pirates/Reds game in Cincinnati at the old Riverfront Stadium.

And, before that year, I had also never bought a ticket to see a baseball game that didn't involve the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Well, that all changed in late-August of '05, when my uncle Eugene and I traveled to Fenway Park to watch a game between the Detroit Tigers and the Boston Red Sox.

For whatever reason, my uncle is a huge Red Sox fan. He doesn't like them as much as the Pirates, but he likes them, nonetheless. Hey, when you're a Pirates fan, sometimes you just have to do whatever you can to fill the void of winning. I personally cannot stand the Red Sox, but I am a huge sports fan and never thought I'd actually have a chance or reason to watch a baseball game in one of the sport's most famous venues, so when the opportunity was presented to me, I could not resist.

The reason why my uncle and I had the chance to see a game at Fenway park was because my uncle's wife, my aunt Laura, has relatives in Massachusetts, about two hours outside of Boston.

My aunt and her relatives all grew-up in Missouri and are Cardinals fans, but for whatever reason, my aunt's relatives decided to become Red Sox fans once they moved to the New England area. The Cardinals are perennial championship contenders (see this year), so unlike my uncle, my aunt's relatives don't have an excuse. Maybe it's mandatory to cheer for the Sox if you live in the state of Massachusetts.

Anyway, my aunt's brother-in-law bought three tickets online and invited my uncle and aunt up to watch the game. My aunt couldn't make it, so my uncle asked me if I wanted to take the drive up with him.

The game was on a Friday, and I thought we were going to leave Thursday evening after work for the nine-hour drive from Pittsburgh to their home in Mass. I think that would have made sense. You leave work early, get on the road around 5 o'clock or so, and then get to their house around 2 in the morning. But, for whatever reason, my uncle had this thing about not wanting to arrive at their house in the middle of the night. He thought it was rude or something. My opinion was, "hey, they invited us. I'm sure they wouldn't mind." Long-story, short, my uncle decided it would be a good idea to leave around midnight so we could arrive at their house around 9am or so.

Well, I don't know if you've ever tried to get your body to sleep during a time when it's not accustomed to sleeping, but it isn't easy. I left work early so I could pack and maybe try to force myself to sleep, but predictably, I could not sleep for even a second.

We left around midnight, and my uncle and I took turns driving. When I wasn't driving, I would try to sleep, but I could only doze-off for a few minutes at a time.

We arrived at the relatives house around 9am to basically check-in and say our "hellos." We then stopped off to have breakfast before heading back to the guy's house to meet the rest of the family. My uncle and I then joined the dude and his two little girls for some pitch and putt golf. It was a fun time, but man, I was starting to really feel exhausted. And since it was so hot outside, that made it even worse. We then went back to their house and decided to try and catch a few winks before making the two-hour drive into Boston for the 7:05 game. I think I slept about an hour or so, and thankfully, that allowed me to catch a bit of a second-wind.

Once we arrived in Boston and were outside of Fenway Park, I had to pinch myself. Partly because I was sleepy and partly because I couldn't believe I was standing outside of one of the most famous baseball parks in the entire world.

We did the usual touristy things like take pictures and buy souvenirs. I bought a mini-Red Sox bat at some place right outside the park. It was my first time in Boston, and I always wondered if the accents were a bit of a myth and exaggerated on television, but nope, listening to everyone talk as they milled around, the R's were being dropped like crazy.

When we finally went inside the park, well, it looked just like it always did on television. My uncle and I decided that it would be cool to make our way over to the Green Monster just to see what it was like up there. Unfortunately, we weren't allowed access. You have to have a ticket just to get in there. Oh well, we took some pictures just outside the Monster.

We met back up with the relative, Ray, and headed for our bleacher seats in section 41. By the way, looking at the old stub, I'm amazed that the tickets were only $23. However, I'm pretty sure I paid at least three-times that much since they were purchased online.

Anyway, the first thing I noticed when I sat down was how cramped the seats were. This did not surprise me, however, since I heard Fenway was more than a little "cozy."

The second thing that I noticed was how much I really didn't want to be there. Not because the park sucked or anything, but because I was so damn-tired. I felt like a walking zombie. I got up for work at 6am the day before, and I was working on an hour's sleep by game-time some 37 hours later. That's not a very good recipe for enjoyment. As I was sitting there in this historic ballpark, the only thing running through my mind was "man, I wish I was back in Pittsburgh sleeping in my bed right now."

However, I did manage to stay awake and watch the game. I didn't tell my uncle or Ray this, but I was secretly rooting for the Tigers. Tim Wakefield, a blast from the Buccos' past, was pitching for the Sox that night. I thought that was kind of neat.

As I was taking in the game, something that really impressed me was how into the game the Red Sox fans were the entire time. I mean, this was a Friday night at the end of August the season after the Red Sox finally ended their World Series curse, yet, the fans hung on every pitch and were vocal the entire time. If there was a big hit, they went nuts. If there was a bad call, they let the umpire know about it. It was amazing.If I ever had any doubt about how dedicated Red Sox Nation was to its team, the fans in attendance that night made a believer out of me.

When it was time for the "7th inning stretch," the entire park stood up and sang "Sweet Caroline" in unison. Now, that's what I call a love-affair with a team. A love-affair that is passed-down from generation to generation. It reminded me of the love-affair that Pittsburgh has with the Steelers.

Towards the end of the game, I overheard a guy in the row in-front of us arguing with his wife or girlfriend over the phone: "Look, I don't want to hear this right now! What I'm going to do is watch the rest of this fu**in game, and then we will discuss this when I get home. Do you understand me!" Wow, I guess he had his priorities in-order.

It was a close game, but the Sox won, 9-8.

Everyone was standing and cheering at the end of the game, and that same guy who was arguing over the phone, decided it was a good time to light-up a cigarette. Well, as you probably know, it's against the law to smoke at most sporting venues, and my uncle decided he was going to take it upon himself to enforce the ordinance. He said, "excuse me, can you please put that out?" And the guy would have none of it. He put it out, and then lit up another one. He was a real jerk. My uncle then said, "why do you have to be an asshole?" And the guy retorted, "I'm not being an asshole. You told me to put that cigarette out, so I did." I thought there was about to be a fight. I remember thinking to myself, "please let it go. My legs are like jello right now. The last thing in the world I want to do is get into a rumble." Thankfully, it didn't go beyond just some words, and everyone exited the stadium peacefully. Whoever the guy was, he certainly didn't represent the City of Boston very well.

Anyway, on the way out of the park, Ray and my uncle were discussing going out for a few beers, but all I wanted to do was just sleep. Fortunately, we didn't stop at any night-spots and just headed back to the house. I finally got into my little bed around 1am, and after getting virtually no sleep in almost two-days, I couldn't wait to close my eyes and drift off. The family's cat decided to pay a visit and came in bed to snuggle with me. I let the cat snuggle for a bit, but since I was a stranger, I had visions of the cat clawing my eyes out as I slept and eventually put the cat in the next room and shut the door (I am not a cat person, and I don't know if they really claw people's eyes out, but I didn't want to take any chances).

I woke up around 9am the next day feeling somewhat refreshed. I was more than ready to hop in the car and go home. Thankfully, my uncle was feeling the same.

We made it home around 6pm, but not before encountering a bear on route 22 just outside of State College. I was driving at the time, and my uncle said, "you were acting like you didn't see the bear." And I said, "I saw it, but didn't think it was that big of a deal." See, when you're exhausted, even bears crossing a road don't impress you very much. I was never so happy to be back in Pittsburgh. It took me days to finally build my strength back up. Today, my uncle concedes that it was probably a mistake to leave for Mass when we did. Oh well, live and learn.

It was still a fun time, and in the end, I was glad I had the experience.

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Jim Schwartz vs. Jim Harbaugh

I never thought we'd be talking so much about the aftermath of a Lions/49ers game, but thanks to another offensive act by one of the Harbaugh brothers, we're doing just that.

After hist 49ers beat the Lions in an exciting 25-19 victory this past Sunday, an elated Jim Harbaugh ran across the field, jumping around, pumping his fists and screaming "fuck yeah!" When he got to Lions' coach Jim Schwartz for the obligatory handshake, he slapped the coach's hand and patted him on the back really hard. Well, Schwartz took exception to this and confronted Harbaugh as the two were exiting the field. The coaches had to be separated, and soon after a scrum ensued between several players from both teams.

Maybe Harbaugh wasn't trying to be offensive. I mean, it looked like he was just caught-up in the moment of a big win for his team, but come on. The way Harbaugh greeted Schwartz, it looked like he was celebrating with one of his players or assistant coaches. Everyone knows when the opposing coaches meet at midfield for the postgame handshake, no matter how exciting the finish just was, it's proper decorum for the victorious coach to act in a calm manner as he wishes his colleague well.

I don't think I celebrated that much when I used to beat my brother in Nintendo. If I did, he probably would have smacked me in the face.

Of course, Schwartz may not exactly be an innocent victim in this whole deal. Very early in the game, Harbaugh tried to challenge a touchdown for the Lions, but since every touchdown is automatically reviewed this season, San Fransisco was penalized 15-yards for unsportsmanlike conduct. After the penalty was called, Schwartz was seen taunting the 49ers' bench and screaming "know the rules, Harbaugh!"

Both teams are 5-1, and you just know they're going to meet again in the playoffs. It will probably be the most hyped postgame handshake in the history of football.

Handshake II: Death grip!

Saturday, October 15, 2011

So much for that huge victory over South Florida. Pitt loses to Utah, 26-14

Even though Pitt showed frustrating growing-pains in their first four games of the 2011 season under new head coach Todd Graham, I was more than convinced that the program was heading in the right direction after their very convincing 44-17 demolition of the then 16th ranked South Florida Bulldogs on national television just two Thursdays ago. I even dared myself to dream about a Big East title and BCS bowl game after such an awesome debut in conference play.

Well, I no longer am convinced that the program is heading in the right direction. I mean, it could be, but even if it is, the journey is going to be a long one.

Last week, the Panthers went to Rutgers to play a team I thought they were superior to and got absolutely crushed, 34-10.

Today, I thought they could have a week to work on and refine every aspect of their high octane approach in a non-conference match-up against Utah, especially with the Utes coming to Heinz Field with an inexperienced quarterback.

But, Pitt has its own set of inexperienced quarterbacks in Tino Sunseri and Trey Anderson, and the two combined to throw for 50 yards the entire game. That is not a typo, that is a fact.

Ray Graham, one of the most exciting and dynamic running backs in the country, only had 12 carries for 46 yards.

Pitt jumped out to an early 14-3 thanks to two special teams touchdowns but couldn't overcome that horrible offense and fell to the Utes, 26-14. The Panthers offense looked so bad, an ESPN anchorwoman supposedly apologized to the television audience for what they had just witnessed.

Graham did simplify things on both offense and defense leading-up to the South Florida game.

Could it be that he's gone back to making things a little more complicated for his charges?

I don't know what to make of anything right now. All I know is Pitt has lost two-straight games by a combined score of 60-24 and now sits at 3-4.

A second-straight trip to the BBVA Compass Bowl never seemed so inviting.

The Steelers are about to make history (at least for them) with their fourth straight game against an AFC South opponent

I don't know how the NFL figures out its schedules every year. I know a computer is involved. I know that teams in the same division must play each other twice a year. I know each team must play four opponents from the other conference every season. I'm pretty sure I know that schedules are based on how well (or poorly) a team did the year before.

Beyond that, I haven't a clue.

But I do know that it's pretty rare for the Steelers to play a fourth-straight opponent from a different division in the AFC like they're about to do tomorrow afternoon at 1pm when they face their fourth-straight AFC South opponent, the Jacksonville Jaguars.

How rare is this? Well, I did some research (thank you, wikipedia), and since 1978(the year the league switched to the current 16-game format), the Steelers have only played four-straight teams from a division other than their own one time before--in 2003, the Steelers took on four-straight opponents from the NFC West. Beings that each team must face four opponents from the opposite conference each year, I guess that was bound to happen sooner or later. But four-straight teams from a different division in the same conference? Well, the Steelers have had 34 different 16-game schedules since 1978, and tomorrow will be the first time that has occurred.

That's our Steelers. Always making history.

Go Steelers!

Thursday, October 13, 2011

It's like coach Tomlin was William Shatner and the Jacksonville reporters were Trekkies and they were doing that SNL skit from the 80's

For those of you who don't know, Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin hung up on a group of Jacksonville reporters during a conference call after they, apparently, were trying to bait him into discussing the Jaguars' exciting, 31-29, victory over the Steelers in an AFC wildcard game at Heinz Field back in January of 2008.

One of the deciding plays in the final moments was a very blatant hold by the Jaguars on a pivotal 4th down play that wasn't called. The non-call set the Jags up for the game-winning field goal in the closing seconds.

Tomlin was asked about the controversial play more than once and politely warned the reporters to ask him questions relevant to this coming week's game. When they couldn't come up with anything in-time, Coach T abruptly hung up.

I thought it was funny because it must really be slim-pickings for pro football talk in Jacksonville for the town to be clinging to a postseason win from a few seasons ago. I mean, it's not like the victory was a foundation that the organization has since built upon.

And I don't even think it's the most important victory in the history of the Jags' franchise. They had a much bigger playoff win in Denver back in '96 which advanced them to the AFC Championship game in only their second season.

What Tomlin did kind of reminds me of how former child actors sometimes react when they make public appearances decades later and fans of their old tv show still insist on making them act-out their old character and ask countless questions about every aspect of the their classic show.

Or better yet, remember the old SNL skit where William Shatner made fun of the many Trekkies who traveled the universe attending Star Trek conventions?

Come on, Jacksonville reporters. Get a life! It's just a wildcard victory from a few years ago. I mean, what has your team done with itself since then?

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Maybe Pitt really does stink

I wasn't around much over the weekend and can't really comment on Pitt's embarrassing 34-10 loss at Rutgers on Saturday. Therefore, I'll just let John Steigerwald of the blog Just Watch the Game do the talking for me.

Yeah, what he said.

What does a combined $528,000,000 in payroll get you? Not the playoffs. Not the World Series. Not this year, anyway

I was super busy the past four or five days and didn't get to pay much attention to the baseball playoffs, but I was extremely happy to see that the three-highest spending baseball organizations will be watching the remainder of the playoffs on tv with the rest of us.

The team that spent $160,000,000 on salary, the Boston Red Sox, blew their huge lead in the wild card standings and didn't even make the postseason.

The team that paid their players $172,000,000 in 2011, the Philadelphia Phillies, lost the NLDS in five-games to the St. Louis Cardinals.

And, of course, every season's payroll champions, the $200,000,000 New York Yankees, lost the ALDS to the Detroit Tigers in five-games.

This brought me joy and gave me a good laugh. I mean, you spend all that money and can't even make the playoffs, Boston? The backlash was so severe in Red Sox Nation that Terry Francona, the man who helped lead the long-suffering Red Sox fans out of World Series hell with two World Championships, was fired as manager.

And, of course, the Phillies fans are probably beside themselves. After winning the World Series in 2008 and at least making it there in 2009, this will make two-straight years that their team failed to make it to the Fall Classic. Those poor babies. Well, at least they have the Dream Team Eagles.....oh right, sorry.

And, I'm glad that I'm not a radio talk show host in the Big Apple right now. There may not be a more arrogant fanbase in all of sports than New York Yankees fans. And that's saying something coming from me, I mean, I'm a Steelers fan. Anyway, Yankees fans don't care that the main reason their team has been able to sustain success for so long is because they can out-spend most of the competition. They could care less about any of that. To them, their team always wins because God said so. Or is that Cowboys fans? But the Cowboys haven't been winning, and the fans down there must have committed a huge sin because He gave them Tony Romo. But I digress.

Maybe the fanbases of the Yankees, Red Sox and Phillies can form an online support group and console one another as they watch the remaining playoff teams battle it out for a title that they don't deserve because none of those teams are from New York, Boston or Philadelphia.

Man, what about the Fox network? They're in serious danger of broadcasting a World Series involving the cities of Detroit and Milwaukee. What will they do if that happens? Can they cancel it?

Do you think Fox will just try to arrange a Yankees/Red Sox seven-game series, anyway? I know the Yankees and Red Sox can never officially play in the World Series, but as everyone knows, any time those two teams get together for anything, it's the biggest thing ever and the whole world will pay attention.

Well, the sad part in all of this is I've been happy about this kind of thing before, and I'll probably have many more years to be thrilled about the BIG BOYS missing-out on a chance to win the World Series because the Yankees, Red Sox, Phillies (and all the major market teams) will always have a chance to win. It's not about winning the World Series, it's about having a chance to compete every year.

And when the fans of the Yankees, Red Sox and Phillies get together and console each other in that support group, they should be comforted in knowing that their teams will be back next year with another chance to win.

As for me, I'm just a Pirates fan who doesn't have a warm place to sleep at night, and I just get the occasional thrill from watching the rich boys stumble every now and then.

It might be an empty thrill, but it's all I've got.

Monday, October 10, 2011

Al Davis: The baddest Raider of them all

As with most Steelers fans, I grew up hating the Oakland Raiders and their owner, Al Davis. With Davis' passing this past weekend, I can't help but find it ironic that I actually gained a measure of respect for him right before he died.

Back in August, I went to the local library and found a book written by Peter Richmond entitled: BADASSES: The Legend of Snake, Foo, Dr. Death, And John Madden's Oakland Raiders.

The book is a tribute to the Raiders of the 70's and their unique cast of characters and the years of struggles they went through chasing that elusive World Championship before finally defeating the Minnesota Vikings in Super Bowl XI.

I don't remember every little detail about the book, but I do know that Davis personified being a Raider more than any player or coach who ever worked for him.

He was the classic outsider, seemingly always at odds with other owners, their teams on the field, and the commissioner's office.

If he felt his franchise was on the wrong end of an injustice, he never let it go. I remember seeing a special in the mid-90's about the Immaculate Reception play that his Raiders were the victims of. This was obviously over two-decades after the controversial play that occurred at Three Rivers Stadium on December 23rd, 1972, but even after the tremendous success that his teams had in the 70's and 80's, you could tell Davis was still pretty bitter when he discussed the play.

I heard a lot of stories about Davis being intimidating, vindictive and very hard to deal with if you weren't on his side. After reading the book, there is probably some level of truth to all of those character traits.

But I did come away impressed with how much he lived and breathed football and how dedicated he was to winning. Former Raider coach John Madden said about Davis: "If you cut him open, he's total football."

As much as he loved to "Just Win, Baby," Davis probably hated to lose even more.

The last decade of his life had to be pretty difficult for him as his Raiders were one of the worst teams in the NFL over that period, but he never got away from his core philosophies and remained true to who he was and what he wanted his organization to be.

No owner ever set the tone for his entire franchise and molded it in his image the way Al Davis did with his Oakland Raiders.

Whether you loved him or hated him, you must admit, there was nobody like him.

Al Davis, the baddest Raider who ever lived.

Friday, October 7, 2011

Monday Night Football Will No Longer Be Rowdy (At Least Not The Intro). Hank Williams Jr. Officially Axed by ESPN

Well, just the other day, I sort of hinted at the possibility of Hank Williams Jr. being permanently let go by ESPN after his controversial remarks comparing President Obama to Hitler, and after temporarily removing Williams' intro from this past Monday's Tampa/Indy contest, the network has made it official. ABC/ESPN has decided to part ways with the country legend, who began doing the intro to their Monday Night package in 1989.

If you click on the second link in this post, you'll see that Williams tried to put a "you can't fire me, I quit!" spin on the whole situation on his website and cited ESPN's infringement on his first amendment rights as one of the reasons. Well, I thought Joe Bendel of ESPN 970am brought up a good point yesterday about the freedom of speech. It works both ways. If a person is going to say something inflammatory, they better expect harsh reactions in return. And in the case of Williams, the harsh reactions came from his employer.

It's really not smart business to mix entertainment and politics, especially when you're entertaining a mainstream football audience that has varied political views.

Oh well, at any rate, thanks for helping us get rowdy all these years, Hank.

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Are you ready for some football? Well, you may no longer have Hank Williams Jr. to help you get ready

In football, one of the lasting traditions over the past two-decades has been seeing country music legend Hank William's Jr. do his tailored rendition of "All My Rowdy Friends" for the Monday Night Football intro. I mean, who doesn't get pumped up when they hear Hank scream "Are you Ready For Some Football!"?

It's always kind of funny hearing Hank update the words to include the two teams that are playing that week.

Now, sadly, Hank may not get to do that any longer. His intro was pulled from the Tampa Bay/Indianapolis game last night for some comments he made comparing President Obama to Hitler.

It remains to be seen whether or not the decision by Disney/ABC/ESPN will be permanent, but I wouldn't be surprised if it is. Network execs like to keep things as mainstream and vanilla as possible. And you just know the last thing the folks at Disney need is a controversial political figure leading the intro to their Monday Night Football package.

It's funny calling Hank Williams' Jr. a political figure, but it's 2011, and the way people overreact these days, I wouldn't be shocked if we had someone else doing the intro for Monday Night Football in the future, maybe even Justin Bieber.

Oh my God, Hank! What did you do?

Come on, Hank! Leave the political opinions to the folks on CNN and Fox and stick with what you do best, getting rowdy with some cheerleaders, and getting us ready for some football!

Monday, October 3, 2011

Sometimes fantasy football can be very bittersweet. Horrible Losses puts up 131 points, but at what cost?

If you know anything about me, you know that I have always had poor luck in fantasy football. For instance, this season, I landed Reggie Wayne as one of my receivers, but I'll be damned if Peyton Manning picked this year to get injured. With Kerry Collins and Curtis Painter throwing Wayne the football, I might as well have Terrell Owens as one of my starters.

And, just like in past years, I got off to my usual 0-2 start this season. But I won last week, and this week, I actually crushed my opponent, 131-97.

Normally, I would be pretty estatic about this, but sadly, I am left with the same feelings that Geena Davis' character in "A League of Their Own" must have felt when she beat her sister in the big game at the end.

The draft for my league was autopick, and I don't know what my draft position was, but I landed Texans' running back Arian Foster with the first pick.

Since I have the worst luck in fantasy football, Foster was pretty much non-existent in the first three games of the season because of a hamstring injury. I didn't even start him for a couple of games because his status was always a "game-time decision", and you just can't take a chance that the coach will decide to sit a guy right before kick-off. As a fantasy owner, you're pretty much screwed when that happens.

However, Foster was cleared to play in yesterday's game against my beloved Pittsburgh Steelers.

I normally don't have any problems starting a fantasy player against the Steelers. A lot of fans won't, and it's funny, because they act like not starting one of their guys will actually help the Steelers win. I don't know if they know this or not, but whether they start them in their league or not, the player will still play in the actual game.

However, starting a running back against the Steelers defense is another matter. It's not usually wise to do that, but Foster was my number one pick. I had to start him, right?

Even though the Steelers defense has been struggling against the run (at least by their standards), I didn't think Foster would earn me many points yesterday. Well, he rushed for 155 yards and one touchdown. In my league, that amounted to 22 points.

That wouldn't be too bad if it wasn't for the fact that the Texans defeated the Steelers, and Foster's touchdown was the difference in the game.

Now, if that wasn't bittersweet enough, I also have the Ravens' defense. I despise the Ravens, but since I wound up with their defense in the draft, I have to start them every week. I don't know the details of Baltimore's game against the Jets last night, but I do know that Baltimore's defense did enough to give me 32 points for my fantasy team.

Since I won by 34 points, one could say that Foster and Baltimore's defense were the difference.

I don't think I'll cry like Dottie Hinson did when she beat her sister, but I sure do feel bad.

So, even when I win, I can't really enjoy it. Congratulations, fantasy football universe. You win!

Sunday, October 2, 2011

Pitt looks impressive in its high octane coming out party with win over South Florida

I'd say 523 total yards and 44 points is a pretty good demonstration of the high octane approach new Pitt head coach Todd Graham has been preaching since the day he was hired back in January.

The Pitt Panthers, coming off of frustrating and heartbreaking losses to Iowa and Notre Dame in back-to-back weeks, opened their Big East schedule Thursday evening with a very impressive 44-17 victory over 16th ranked South Florida at Heinz Field.

The game was back and forth in the first half, with Pitt leading, 20-17, at halftime, but then the Panthers scored 24 unanswered points in the second-half and won going away.

Running back Ray Graham was the star of the evening, rushing for 226 yards and two touchdowns. With 734 yards through five games, Graham is off to the best start by a running back in school history.

As for quarterback Tino Sunseri, he wasn't spectacular, but he was pretty efficient, going 22/33 for 216 yards and a touchdown pass to go along with a rushing touchdown of his own.

On defense, the Panthers did give-up 425 yards, but they held South Florida scoreless in the second half, and after giving away fourth quarter leads in the last two games, that was certainly a welcome sight.

With the victory over the 16th ranked Bulls, the Panthers defeated their first ranked opponent since knocking off South Florida in 2008.

So, just like last season, the Panthers stumble through a frustrating non-conference debut but look extremely dominant in their first Big East game. If you remember last season, Pitt, ranked 15th in the preseason poll, lost in overtime at Utah, were crushed by Miami at Heinz Field, and lost a close game to the Irish in South Bend. The Panthers were 2-3 heading into the Big East portion of their schedule but throttled their first three conference opponents by a combined score of 106-38.

I don't know if the Panthers dominant performance is an indication that they're a serious threat in the Big East, and I certainly won't be getting my hopes up for a BCS bid (we Panthers fans know how that can go), but it was an awesome way to open-up conference play. Maybe there's something to this high octane philosophy, after all.

Hail to Pitt!