This coming Sunday at 1pm, I'll sit down to watch the Steelers play the kind of game they've only participated in once since December 31st, 2003: A regular season game without any playoff implications or strategy designed to keep the players healthy for a postseason game.
Pittsburgh was eliminated from playoff contention on Sunday after a 13-10 loss at Heinz Field to the Bengals--the team's third straight home loss--and the only thing at stake against the Browns this week is pride and to try and avoid the first losing season since that previously mentioned '03 campaign.
As a Steelers fan, it's sort of an empty feeling to not have the postseason to look forward to. In Pittsburgh, the playoffs have almost become synonymous with the holiday season.
Maybe this is a bit out-of-touch, but when the reality set in on Sunday that the Steelers wouldn't be making the playoffs, it actually made Christmas feel a lot less magical to me. That's weird, isn't it? After all, Christmas and New Year's are about spending time with friends and family, but that's the thing. So many magical memories throughout the years have centered around magical playoff moments.
It's almost as if a Steelers playoff game is like that uncle that comes to visit for Christmas each season. When he decides to stay home for the holidays, it's just not the same.
When the Steelers are in the playoffs, you can extend your holiday season at least another week or two. And if they make it all the way to the Super Bowl like they did two seasons ago, you're 'tissing the season until February.
Oh well, I guess I kind of saw this coming as recently as a year ago. I really didn't think Pittsburgh's 12-4 record reflected its actual play on the field in 2011, and I thought the team's performance was more reflective of a .500 football team that had the fortune of going up against quarterbacks named Kerry Collins, Curtis Painter, Tarvaris Jackson, Colt McCoy and Kellen Clemons, just to name a few.
I think the age of the team is more relevant than people want to admit, and that's to be expected. When you watch your favorite football team have so much championship success in such a short period of time, it's hard to let that go, and it's hard to face the reality.
I find it fitting that age might be catching up to the Steelers in this second Super Bowl era because that's what happened to the original Super Steelers of the 70s. Once the calender turned to the 80s, time hit those legendary players harder than any Jack Lambert forearm possibly could, and by the middle part of the decade, Pittsburgh was a mediocre football team with a roster full of underwhelming players.
The decade of the 90s brought us Bill Cowher and a resurgence to excellence for the Steelers. And as for the NFL as a whole, it also brought free agency and a salary cap, and instead of age taking its toll on Pittsburgh's Super Bowl chances, the free agency departures of guys like Leon Searcy, Kevin Greene, Chad Brown, Yancy Thigpen and John Jackson depleted the roster and forced a rebuilding phase that brought about more playoff teams in the early 2000's. And when safety Troy Polamalu and quarterback Ben Roethlisberger came on board in the middle of the decade, the Steelers were primed for their second true championship era.
Naturally, when a team goes on a run like Pittsburgh has with three Super Bowl appearances and two titles since 2005, an ownership group is going to be more inclined to ride that kind of success out and see how far it goes. And instead of allowing a player to leave a year too soon, the front office is going to keep guys like Casey Hampton, Hines Ward, Aaron Smith and James Farrior around maybe a year too long.
How many times this season did network analysts like Phil Simms quote opposing quarterbacks as being amazed at how the Steelers defenders they were preparing for in 2012 were essentially the same ones they were preparing for in '07 and '08?
Teams that play together may win together, but unfortunately, they also grow old together. Joe Greene said he wasn't the same player at 32 that he was at 27; don't kid yourselves into thinking Polamalu is the same athlete today that he was five years ago. It's simply not possible. Nobody's ever defeated time.
I often wonder if we're witnessing in today's Steelers what we witnessed in the early 80s--a decline into mediocrity.
Of course, I wondered the same thing following other non-playoff seasons, such as 2006 and 2009, but the team bounced back each time, with not only more playoff seasons, but Super Bowl success.
I have all the confidence in the world that the Steelers front office will find a way to keep the team relevant. The NFL of today isn't like it was years ago. Parity really is in full force.
You see it every year with teams making the playoffs a year after having a sub-par campaign like the Colts and Redskins, and if they can do it, I'm sure Pittsburgh will find its way back to January football before long.
I believe as fans, we're always paying it forward and then paying it back. In 1989 and 1993, the Steelers needed all the help in the world to get into the playoffs, and they somehow managed to do so. This season, Pittsburgh was in control of its own fate but still couldn't get the job done on the field.
Three seasons ago, when the Steelers missed out on the postseason, it kind of sucked. But the following year when they made it all the way to Super Bowl XLV, I appreciated it even more. And I especially cherished that Super Bowl when Pittsburgh was bounced out of the first round of the playoffs a season ago.
And now, today, I appreciate what it means just to see the Steelers make the playoffs because they now are absent from them.
There is simply nothing like an NFL playoff game. All the intensity and emotion from a best of seven series that sometimes lasts two weeks is condensed down into this white-hot three hour window of tension and emotions, and it's just a beautiful thing. There are no tomorrows in the NFL playoffs, and that's why I love them so much.
And forget about a Super Bowl run, just winning a playoff game provides fans with so much joy and excitement.
Sadly, it's a feeling that Steelers fans won't get to experience for at least another calender year.
That's too bad. It's going to be a lot colder this January without the Steelers in the playoffs.
Wednesday, December 26, 2012
Wednesday, December 19, 2012
Like the 2012 Steelers, my fantasy football team is pretty inept. However, my team is one win away from winning it all
The Pittsburgh Steelers are in a free-fall, and the only reason they're still alive for a postseason spot with a 7-7 record is because the AFC is pretty mediocre this year. Is Pittsburgh deserving of a playoff spot? It really doesn't matter, it's all about the math. Two victories to end the regular season will clinch a postseason berth and there is nothing anyone can do about it.
Of course, one has to wonder just how much damage the Steelers will be able to do if they make the dance. Right now, they're injured and struggling in the turnover department, with a minus-14 for the season. That's not championship football.
However, recent history tells us that a team can squeak into the playoffs and still go on a championship run. The previous two Super Bowl champions--the Green Bay Packers and New York Giants--needed to win on the final week of the regular season just to make the playoffs, yet, once they did, they went on a roll and never stopped until they hoisted the Lombardi.
In fact, New York woke up on Christmas Eve a year ago pretty much in a similar predicament to the Steelers this season. The Giants were 7-7 and losers of five out of six. Somehow, though, they were still in control of their own fate and took care of business in Weeks 16 and 17.
If the Steelers don't feel like looking back to recent NFL history to stay motivated down the stretch, maybe they can use my fantasy football team--Horrible Losses--as an example of what can happen if you get hot at the right time.
For those of you who know me, you're probably aware of just how "horrible" my fantasy football history has been. From 2003-2011, I played in at least one league a year but only made the playoffs one time.
I played in money leagues from 2003-2009 and never won a single dime--I would have been better off just flushing the $35 fee down the drain every year.
The past three seasons, I've been in a "fun" league (no money), and it's been mostly the same story: Injuries, bad luck, etc, etc.
This season started out much the same way with my usual 0-2 start. I rebounded and managed to win three straight games, and it was pretty much that same pattern the rest of the season. Weeks 3-14, I was never more than a game below .500 and never more than a game above.
And that, in and of itself, is pretty remarkable, considering I had the second lowest point total in the league. There's an interesting stat that breaks down what my record would be if I played every other team every week, and my record would be 39-57-2 .
Maybe my low point total had to do with my inept roster management. There is another stat in my league that breaks down the number of points a team leaves on the bench, and for the season, I finished at -381 in that category, or 27 points a week. The Steelers are struggling with trying to overcome a minus-14 in their turnover ratio, try winning fantasy football games when you start four players who are on byes like I did in Week 6--I scored 25 points!
You think injuries are demoralizing to a real NFL team, how do you think I felt when I left Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back Doug Martin and his 51 points on the bench in Week 9?
However, I managed to hang in there the entire year and actually clinched a playoff spot in Week 13 with only a 7-6 record. I lost in the final regular season game to finish the season at 7-7. Why'd I make the postseason with such a low point total? Simple, I had the third lowest points against. Much like the Steelers in the mediocre AFC, it sometimes just comes down to luck.
Did I deserve to be in the playoffs? Judged on my performance of managing my team, probably not. But just like in the NFL, it's all about the math (thank goodness, my league doesn't rank its teams by points).
Four teams make the playoffs in my league, and needless to say I entered the postseason as the fourth seed and faced the number one seed in the semi-finals, a 12-2 team that scored 117 points more than I did in the regular season.
However, I won because of three reasons.
First, I decided to start Matt Schaub instead of Matthew Stafford, who I started almost exclusively in the regular season, and Schaub put up 14 points to Stafford's three.
Secondly, I went with my gut and inserted Michael Crabtree into the starting lineup as one of my wide receivers, and he picked up 22 points.
And third, my opponent's quarterback, Tom Brady, did a QB slide right before the goal line instead of trying to dive for a touchdown in the Patriots Sunday night game against San Francisco.
Those three things all added up to a six point win, and my team, perhaps the worst performing unit in my fantasy league, is in the championship round and one game away from winning it all.
So, let this be a lesson to the 2012 Pittsburgh Steelers. As long as you make the dance and make all the right moves once you get there, anything is possible.
Of course, one has to wonder just how much damage the Steelers will be able to do if they make the dance. Right now, they're injured and struggling in the turnover department, with a minus-14 for the season. That's not championship football.
However, recent history tells us that a team can squeak into the playoffs and still go on a championship run. The previous two Super Bowl champions--the Green Bay Packers and New York Giants--needed to win on the final week of the regular season just to make the playoffs, yet, once they did, they went on a roll and never stopped until they hoisted the Lombardi.
In fact, New York woke up on Christmas Eve a year ago pretty much in a similar predicament to the Steelers this season. The Giants were 7-7 and losers of five out of six. Somehow, though, they were still in control of their own fate and took care of business in Weeks 16 and 17.
If the Steelers don't feel like looking back to recent NFL history to stay motivated down the stretch, maybe they can use my fantasy football team--Horrible Losses--as an example of what can happen if you get hot at the right time.
For those of you who know me, you're probably aware of just how "horrible" my fantasy football history has been. From 2003-2011, I played in at least one league a year but only made the playoffs one time.
I played in money leagues from 2003-2009 and never won a single dime--I would have been better off just flushing the $35 fee down the drain every year.
The past three seasons, I've been in a "fun" league (no money), and it's been mostly the same story: Injuries, bad luck, etc, etc.
This season started out much the same way with my usual 0-2 start. I rebounded and managed to win three straight games, and it was pretty much that same pattern the rest of the season. Weeks 3-14, I was never more than a game below .500 and never more than a game above.
And that, in and of itself, is pretty remarkable, considering I had the second lowest point total in the league. There's an interesting stat that breaks down what my record would be if I played every other team every week, and my record would be 39-57-2 .
Maybe my low point total had to do with my inept roster management. There is another stat in my league that breaks down the number of points a team leaves on the bench, and for the season, I finished at -381 in that category, or 27 points a week. The Steelers are struggling with trying to overcome a minus-14 in their turnover ratio, try winning fantasy football games when you start four players who are on byes like I did in Week 6--I scored 25 points!
You think injuries are demoralizing to a real NFL team, how do you think I felt when I left Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back Doug Martin and his 51 points on the bench in Week 9?
However, I managed to hang in there the entire year and actually clinched a playoff spot in Week 13 with only a 7-6 record. I lost in the final regular season game to finish the season at 7-7. Why'd I make the postseason with such a low point total? Simple, I had the third lowest points against. Much like the Steelers in the mediocre AFC, it sometimes just comes down to luck.
Did I deserve to be in the playoffs? Judged on my performance of managing my team, probably not. But just like in the NFL, it's all about the math (thank goodness, my league doesn't rank its teams by points).
Four teams make the playoffs in my league, and needless to say I entered the postseason as the fourth seed and faced the number one seed in the semi-finals, a 12-2 team that scored 117 points more than I did in the regular season.
However, I won because of three reasons.
First, I decided to start Matt Schaub instead of Matthew Stafford, who I started almost exclusively in the regular season, and Schaub put up 14 points to Stafford's three.
Secondly, I went with my gut and inserted Michael Crabtree into the starting lineup as one of my wide receivers, and he picked up 22 points.
And third, my opponent's quarterback, Tom Brady, did a QB slide right before the goal line instead of trying to dive for a touchdown in the Patriots Sunday night game against San Francisco.
Those three things all added up to a six point win, and my team, perhaps the worst performing unit in my fantasy league, is in the championship round and one game away from winning it all.
So, let this be a lesson to the 2012 Pittsburgh Steelers. As long as you make the dance and make all the right moves once you get there, anything is possible.
Sunday, December 9, 2012
Playing volleyball at the West Penn Rec Center Really Takes Me Back
After a year of only half paying attention to the Pittsburgh Dad phenomenon, I recently started to watch more of his videos, and I have to say, they really take me back to a simpler time. Curt Wootton, the co-creator and actor who portrays Dad, really has the speech pattern, mannerisms and accent of the typical "Pittsburgh Dad" down perfectly.
If I close my eyes, I can picture every adult authority figure of my youth (male and female) as they raised holy hell over everything I did.
Speaking of my youth, one of the neighborhoods that I grew up in was Polish Hill.
For the past seven years, I've been playing recreational volleyball in the West Penn Recreational Center, located in Polish Hill. It's always a fun time, but whenever I'm over that way, I can't help but feel a sense of home. I often forget that the playground located adjacent to the rec. center was the playground of my toddler years, and it's where my mom taught me how to swing.
I never went into the rec. center as a kid, but I did swim in the pool, and looking back on it, I probably shouldn't have, because it was an absolute disaster. The pool was so badly in need of restoration, pieces of cement would crumble into your hands as you got in and out, and if you had goggles on under water, you could see huge chunks of cement just sitting at the bottom.
If stuff like that went on at a local pool today, people would lose their minds.
Back to volleyball. Following one of my Thursday night matches, it's fairly common for my teammates and I to frequent Gooski's, a bar located on Brereton Avenue, about a block away from the rec. center.
In the late 70's, when I was about six years old, I lived in an apartment right next to that bar. It wasn't called Gooski's then, but it looked pretty much the same as it does now. There's a little walkway beside the bar that connects Brereton to Dopson St. and it's adjacent to the yard I used to play in. All day long, drunk grown ups would walk by and comment on whatever it is that I was doing, and it would scare the living crap out of me.
Back when Jimmy Carter was President of the United States, he, along with Vice President Walter Mondale, visited Pittsburgh, and one of their stops was Polish Hill. During their visit, one, or both, came over to pat me on the head. I couldn't have been any more than four or five at the time, and I would have none of it.
I don't know why I'm blogging about this stuff. I guess the Pittsburgh Dad has got me feeling a little nostalgic.
Too bad he's also got me ramblin' and writin' bad!
I BETTER SHUT THIS DAMN COMPUTER OFF! IT'S RUNNIN' UP MY LIGHT BILL!
If I close my eyes, I can picture every adult authority figure of my youth (male and female) as they raised holy hell over everything I did.
Speaking of my youth, one of the neighborhoods that I grew up in was Polish Hill.
For the past seven years, I've been playing recreational volleyball in the West Penn Recreational Center, located in Polish Hill. It's always a fun time, but whenever I'm over that way, I can't help but feel a sense of home. I often forget that the playground located adjacent to the rec. center was the playground of my toddler years, and it's where my mom taught me how to swing.
I never went into the rec. center as a kid, but I did swim in the pool, and looking back on it, I probably shouldn't have, because it was an absolute disaster. The pool was so badly in need of restoration, pieces of cement would crumble into your hands as you got in and out, and if you had goggles on under water, you could see huge chunks of cement just sitting at the bottom.
If stuff like that went on at a local pool today, people would lose their minds.
Back to volleyball. Following one of my Thursday night matches, it's fairly common for my teammates and I to frequent Gooski's, a bar located on Brereton Avenue, about a block away from the rec. center.
In the late 70's, when I was about six years old, I lived in an apartment right next to that bar. It wasn't called Gooski's then, but it looked pretty much the same as it does now. There's a little walkway beside the bar that connects Brereton to Dopson St. and it's adjacent to the yard I used to play in. All day long, drunk grown ups would walk by and comment on whatever it is that I was doing, and it would scare the living crap out of me.
Back when Jimmy Carter was President of the United States, he, along with Vice President Walter Mondale, visited Pittsburgh, and one of their stops was Polish Hill. During their visit, one, or both, came over to pat me on the head. I couldn't have been any more than four or five at the time, and I would have none of it.
I don't know why I'm blogging about this stuff. I guess the Pittsburgh Dad has got me feeling a little nostalgic.
Too bad he's also got me ramblin' and writin' bad!
I BETTER SHUT THIS DAMN COMPUTER OFF! IT'S RUNNIN' UP MY LIGHT BILL!
Sunday, December 2, 2012
Notre Dame vs. Alabama for the BCS National championship: Let the ratings begin!
Alabama came back to defeat Georgia in the SEC Championship game Saturday night to secure the program's second straight appearance in the BCS Title game. The Crimson Tide, the defending National champions, will meet top ranked Notre Dame January 7th.
It's the first appearance in the BCS title game for the Fighting Irish, who are seeking their first national title since 1988.
Alabama also won the National title following the 2009 season, so a victory over Notre Dame would not only mark the first time a team has won back-to-back BCS Championships, it would be the Tide's third title in four seasons.
It will also be the seventh straight season in-which at least one school from the powerful SEC will appear in the championship game.
As far as television ratings are concerned, this has to be a dream matchup for ESPN, the network that holds the rights to broadcast the BCS.
The Crimson Tide aren't just the most important thing in the state of Alabama, they're also a national brand, complete with eight national championships.
As for Notre Dame, the program has been a bit down in recent years (at least for them), but make no mistake, the Irish still generate the ratings, and much like Frank Sinatra, who was still filling up Las Vegas venues back in the 70's despite being over the hill and past his prime, Notre Dame fans go to see their team play regardless of its record, and regardless of what bowl it's in--to say Fighting Irish fans travel well would be the understatement of understatements.
With a perennial national powerhouse in Alabama and a Notre Dame program that finally has the on-the-field credentials to match its long-time national cache--the Irish also have eight national titles--the 2013 BCS title game could be the most hyped college football game in the past two-decades. And if the over-the-top rabid fan bases of both programs have anything to say about it (which, make no mistake, they will), it could be the most talked about football game of 2013, period.
It's the first appearance in the BCS title game for the Fighting Irish, who are seeking their first national title since 1988.
Alabama also won the National title following the 2009 season, so a victory over Notre Dame would not only mark the first time a team has won back-to-back BCS Championships, it would be the Tide's third title in four seasons.
It will also be the seventh straight season in-which at least one school from the powerful SEC will appear in the championship game.
As far as television ratings are concerned, this has to be a dream matchup for ESPN, the network that holds the rights to broadcast the BCS.
The Crimson Tide aren't just the most important thing in the state of Alabama, they're also a national brand, complete with eight national championships.
As for Notre Dame, the program has been a bit down in recent years (at least for them), but make no mistake, the Irish still generate the ratings, and much like Frank Sinatra, who was still filling up Las Vegas venues back in the 70's despite being over the hill and past his prime, Notre Dame fans go to see their team play regardless of its record, and regardless of what bowl it's in--to say Fighting Irish fans travel well would be the understatement of understatements.
With a perennial national powerhouse in Alabama and a Notre Dame program that finally has the on-the-field credentials to match its long-time national cache--the Irish also have eight national titles--the 2013 BCS title game could be the most hyped college football game in the past two-decades. And if the over-the-top rabid fan bases of both programs have anything to say about it (which, make no mistake, they will), it could be the most talked about football game of 2013, period.
The 2012 Pitt Panthers are bowl-eligible after their 27-3 thrashing of South Florida
What to make of the 2012 Pittsburgh Panthers under first year coach Paul Chryst? Sure, they're a 6-6 football team that will probably get an invitation to some 3rd world bowl somewhere. However, it's a team that could have been a lot better or even a lot worse. I'm sure you could say that about any football team--the whole "fine line" philosophy--but the Panthers were just totally unpredictable in 2012.
Pitt started out the year by losing to the division II (or whatever the college football sub-divisions are called today) Youngstown St. Penguins in Week 1, followed by a beatdown in Cincinnati in Week 2.
However, just when you thought the season was lost, the Panthers went out and handed it to 13th ranked Virginia Tech in Week 3. Maybe the Hokies weren't worthy of their early-season credentials, but Pitt may have pulled off an even bigger feat weeks later when the team came within an inch (almost literally) of knocking off Notre Dame in South Bend when Panthers' placekicker Kevin Harper barely missed a 33 yard field goal in double-overtime that would have won the game. Now the Fighting Irish' are ranked number one in the nation and are set to play Alabama in the National title game in January.
You lose to Youngstown St. and then almost totally alter the National title picture? Crazy Panthers. Of course, who can blame them for being a bit uneven during a season in-which they had to play under their fourth head coach and third coaching regime since December of 2010. If I was a 20 year old in that situation, I'd act out, too, on the football field.
The roller coaster 2012 Panthers then lost to an underwhelming Connecticut team following the heartbreaking Notre Dame defeat and followed that up with another unexpected impressive 27-6 win over a ranked Rutgers team a week ago at Heinz Field.
The regular season wrapped up Saturday night with a 27-3 victory over the South Florida Bulls at Raymond James Stadium.
Pitt finished fifth in the Big East and now is slated to play in any number of third-tier bowl games. The latest bowl projections place the Panthers in the Pinstripe Bowl against West Virginia on December 29th. I don't know how excited any Pitt fan could possibly be with yet another appearance in the BBVA Compass Bowl or the Beef O'Brady Bowl, but a matchup against the program's most heated football rival would probably be more rewarding for the fan base than even a trip to a higher-level non-BCS bowl against a more formidable opponent.
Pitt started out the year by losing to the division II (or whatever the college football sub-divisions are called today) Youngstown St. Penguins in Week 1, followed by a beatdown in Cincinnati in Week 2.
However, just when you thought the season was lost, the Panthers went out and handed it to 13th ranked Virginia Tech in Week 3. Maybe the Hokies weren't worthy of their early-season credentials, but Pitt may have pulled off an even bigger feat weeks later when the team came within an inch (almost literally) of knocking off Notre Dame in South Bend when Panthers' placekicker Kevin Harper barely missed a 33 yard field goal in double-overtime that would have won the game. Now the Fighting Irish' are ranked number one in the nation and are set to play Alabama in the National title game in January.
You lose to Youngstown St. and then almost totally alter the National title picture? Crazy Panthers. Of course, who can blame them for being a bit uneven during a season in-which they had to play under their fourth head coach and third coaching regime since December of 2010. If I was a 20 year old in that situation, I'd act out, too, on the football field.
The roller coaster 2012 Panthers then lost to an underwhelming Connecticut team following the heartbreaking Notre Dame defeat and followed that up with another unexpected impressive 27-6 win over a ranked Rutgers team a week ago at Heinz Field.
The regular season wrapped up Saturday night with a 27-3 victory over the South Florida Bulls at Raymond James Stadium.
Pitt finished fifth in the Big East and now is slated to play in any number of third-tier bowl games. The latest bowl projections place the Panthers in the Pinstripe Bowl against West Virginia on December 29th. I don't know how excited any Pitt fan could possibly be with yet another appearance in the BBVA Compass Bowl or the Beef O'Brady Bowl, but a matchup against the program's most heated football rival would probably be more rewarding for the fan base than even a trip to a higher-level non-BCS bowl against a more formidable opponent.
Saturday, November 24, 2012
After playing flag football with a bad back, maybe I won't be so hard on injured athletes anymore?
Two weekends ago, my bowling team was thrust into action as an alternate playoff team because another team backed out. My team just missed "earning" its playoff spot by four points so we were the next in line.
I bowled one game that evening, watched my teammate compete in the seasonal "Queen Pin" tournament and then went home. I didn't notice any discomfort that night or the next morning, but shortly after I arrived at work, the lower-left side of my back started to really bother me, and the pain and stiffness never did subside the entire day or the rest of the week. Thankfully, I had my monthly chiropractic visit that Wednesday, and even though I left the office in great pain, I did a yoga workout and went for a walk, and it seemed to loosen things up a bit.
The next day was my volleyball team's last regular season game, and I dreaded it all day. However, thanks to some stretching and some ibuprofen, I made it through my match even though every step hurt. Surprisingly, by the end of the third game of my match, I jumped up and hit a pretty vicious spike (at least for me).
After enduring some volleyball induced pain the next day, my back gradually started to feel better over the course of the next week or so.
I was feeling a bit froggy, so I decided to participate in a couple of Thanksgiving Day pick-up flag football games this past Thursday. Not sure if that was the greatest idea in the world, but I hadn't played a flag football game in exactly three years, and I was simply bursting with the desire to do so again.. I had a heck of a time getting my back loose before we started playing, and it never did loosen up the entire two hours that I played. Somehow, I managed to make it through both games despite not being 100% physically.
The first game, I didn't do much of anything; I made a couple of "tackles," meaning, I pulled a flag or three, but I got beat for a couple of touchdowns, and the only pass thrown to me was knocked down at the last second. The flag I was wearing kept falling off or almost falling off, and I kept trying to hold it on like one would try to hold up a pair of pants that were too loose or just didn't fit very well. During one play, I was chasing down the quarterback and reached for my flag because it felt like it was about to fall off. When you're on defense, it doesn't really matter if your flag falls off. You're still allowed to chase the person with the football, you just wouldn't be allowed to run if you were to get an interception, for example. Tim Benz, a local radio/tv sports personality who is a fellow PSL (the league where I play most of my sports) participant, was on my team in the first game and reminded me that it didn't matter if my flag fell off while playing defense. I already knew that, of course, but it's like scratching your crotch in public; you know you probably shouldn't do it, but sometimes it happens almost involuntarily.
The second game went a lot better for me. On defense, I was told to cover a guy who was about my height and not very fast--my kind of receiver. I did quite well covering him and I may have even had the best pass defensed of my life. It was a long pass, located the football in the air, reached over the guy's shoulder and knocked it out of his hands. It was text-book. The only pass the guy caught on me was when I got "schooled" on a pick play. I felt like an ass, but stuff happens.
To save the best for last, I managed to score a touchdown near the end of the game. Unlike the first game, the quarterbacks targeted me a few times, and I caught three passes. My third and final reception of the day resulted in a touchdown when I gathered in the football, made a guy miss, which surprised me because it never happens, and then started to run for my life. Another guy reached for my flag as I neared the end zone, and I was convinced he would grab it, and I don't know if I consciously eluded him or it was just luck, but I'm dead-serious when I say I was completely shocked to make it into the end zone and see my flag still around my waist. It was maybe the single-most gratifying sports moment of the year for me. I've had a couple 200 games in official PSL bowling matches and a couple of epic-blocks in a PSL volleyball game (you'd have to know me to know how rare it is for me to block anyone in volleyball), but the touchdown I scored the other day probably tops everything else.
As I said, I hadn't played flag football in years, and that combined with my back made most of the day not so pleasant as I was injured and rusty as all hell. However, that touchdown made up for everything. And it was maybe the first flag football touchdown where I had to actually avoid people on the way to the end zone. I'm what they call a "possession" receiver, meaning I'm super-slow, so most of my touchdowns have involved me already being in the end zone when I caught the pass. Don't get me wrong, I've had a few where I had to find my way into the end zone, but they were usually plays where the quarterback hit me in stride and it was just a matter of me racing to pay-dirt. This one was different. Like most passes from flag football quarterbacks, this one was floated to me, and I had to stop whatever momentum I had, gather the pass in, and then try to get around people on my way to the end zone. Not an easy task for someone like me--I'm fast enough to be a decent tackle football player, but I'm not nearly fast enough to keep people off my flag.
Anyway, the main point of this post is to illustrate just how hard it is to play a game, even a pick-up flag football game, with an injury. Maybe I'll think a little longer before I yell for Troy Polamalu to play with his torn calf muscle. Maybe I'll think a little harder before I complain about Antonio Brown missing another game with a high-angle sprain.
If I had a tough time playing flag football with a bad back, imagine how hard it must be to play a game of tackle football at its highest level when you're not 100% physically?
After Thursday, I have a new-found respect for professional athletes.
I bowled one game that evening, watched my teammate compete in the seasonal "Queen Pin" tournament and then went home. I didn't notice any discomfort that night or the next morning, but shortly after I arrived at work, the lower-left side of my back started to really bother me, and the pain and stiffness never did subside the entire day or the rest of the week. Thankfully, I had my monthly chiropractic visit that Wednesday, and even though I left the office in great pain, I did a yoga workout and went for a walk, and it seemed to loosen things up a bit.
The next day was my volleyball team's last regular season game, and I dreaded it all day. However, thanks to some stretching and some ibuprofen, I made it through my match even though every step hurt. Surprisingly, by the end of the third game of my match, I jumped up and hit a pretty vicious spike (at least for me).
After enduring some volleyball induced pain the next day, my back gradually started to feel better over the course of the next week or so.
I was feeling a bit froggy, so I decided to participate in a couple of Thanksgiving Day pick-up flag football games this past Thursday. Not sure if that was the greatest idea in the world, but I hadn't played a flag football game in exactly three years, and I was simply bursting with the desire to do so again.. I had a heck of a time getting my back loose before we started playing, and it never did loosen up the entire two hours that I played. Somehow, I managed to make it through both games despite not being 100% physically.
The first game, I didn't do much of anything; I made a couple of "tackles," meaning, I pulled a flag or three, but I got beat for a couple of touchdowns, and the only pass thrown to me was knocked down at the last second. The flag I was wearing kept falling off or almost falling off, and I kept trying to hold it on like one would try to hold up a pair of pants that were too loose or just didn't fit very well. During one play, I was chasing down the quarterback and reached for my flag because it felt like it was about to fall off. When you're on defense, it doesn't really matter if your flag falls off. You're still allowed to chase the person with the football, you just wouldn't be allowed to run if you were to get an interception, for example. Tim Benz, a local radio/tv sports personality who is a fellow PSL (the league where I play most of my sports) participant, was on my team in the first game and reminded me that it didn't matter if my flag fell off while playing defense. I already knew that, of course, but it's like scratching your crotch in public; you know you probably shouldn't do it, but sometimes it happens almost involuntarily.
The second game went a lot better for me. On defense, I was told to cover a guy who was about my height and not very fast--my kind of receiver. I did quite well covering him and I may have even had the best pass defensed of my life. It was a long pass, located the football in the air, reached over the guy's shoulder and knocked it out of his hands. It was text-book. The only pass the guy caught on me was when I got "schooled" on a pick play. I felt like an ass, but stuff happens.
To save the best for last, I managed to score a touchdown near the end of the game. Unlike the first game, the quarterbacks targeted me a few times, and I caught three passes. My third and final reception of the day resulted in a touchdown when I gathered in the football, made a guy miss, which surprised me because it never happens, and then started to run for my life. Another guy reached for my flag as I neared the end zone, and I was convinced he would grab it, and I don't know if I consciously eluded him or it was just luck, but I'm dead-serious when I say I was completely shocked to make it into the end zone and see my flag still around my waist. It was maybe the single-most gratifying sports moment of the year for me. I've had a couple 200 games in official PSL bowling matches and a couple of epic-blocks in a PSL volleyball game (you'd have to know me to know how rare it is for me to block anyone in volleyball), but the touchdown I scored the other day probably tops everything else.
As I said, I hadn't played flag football in years, and that combined with my back made most of the day not so pleasant as I was injured and rusty as all hell. However, that touchdown made up for everything. And it was maybe the first flag football touchdown where I had to actually avoid people on the way to the end zone. I'm what they call a "possession" receiver, meaning I'm super-slow, so most of my touchdowns have involved me already being in the end zone when I caught the pass. Don't get me wrong, I've had a few where I had to find my way into the end zone, but they were usually plays where the quarterback hit me in stride and it was just a matter of me racing to pay-dirt. This one was different. Like most passes from flag football quarterbacks, this one was floated to me, and I had to stop whatever momentum I had, gather the pass in, and then try to get around people on my way to the end zone. Not an easy task for someone like me--I'm fast enough to be a decent tackle football player, but I'm not nearly fast enough to keep people off my flag.
Anyway, the main point of this post is to illustrate just how hard it is to play a game, even a pick-up flag football game, with an injury. Maybe I'll think a little longer before I yell for Troy Polamalu to play with his torn calf muscle. Maybe I'll think a little harder before I complain about Antonio Brown missing another game with a high-angle sprain.
If I had a tough time playing flag football with a bad back, imagine how hard it must be to play a game of tackle football at its highest level when you're not 100% physically?
After Thursday, I have a new-found respect for professional athletes.
Sunday, November 11, 2012
My favorite part of the Pirates 2012 season
Despite the fact the Pittsburgh Pirates suffered the worst collapse in MLB history, 2012 was mostly an enjoyable campaign, and certainly the most memorable season since maybe 1997. Every season, even the ones with memorable slides, have a favorite part for fans. Everyone's is different, of course, but my favorite part of the season occurred on August 19th.
After achieving their apex earlier in the month with a 60-44 record and a healthy lead in the National League wild card standings, the Pirates were in a bit of a tailspin. The team had just lost nine of its previous 14 games. On a Thursday afternoon, Pittsburgh rallied to knock off the Dodgers at PNC Park to salvage the final game of a four-game swing, and the final game of an 11-game homestand in which the Buccos went 4-7.
Next up was a trip to St. Louis to play the only team the Pirates seemed to do well against down the stretch, the World Champion Cardinals.
After splitting the first two games of the weekend series, the rubber match saw the two teams battle it out for 19 grueling innings on Sunday, August 19th. About a year earlier, on July, 26th, 2011, the Buccos lost to the Braves in a 19 inning game in Atlanta, in which Pittsburgh seemed to be screwed by home plate umpire Jerry Meals.
I had a bad feeling the Cardinals game would end the same way. However, thanks to a heroic job by a bullpen that held St. Louis to one run over the last 15 innings, Pittsburgh was able to finally win it on a Pedro Alvarez home run in the top of the 19th.
The Pirates won, 6-3, and when they flashed the score at Heinz Field during the Steelers' preseason game against the Colts, the entire stadium erupted. It was certainly a memorable night, and just a couple days later, I was inspired to write this satirical piece about following the antics and frustrations of the fans on the Bucsdugout game thread.
That's my favorite part of 2012, what about you?
After achieving their apex earlier in the month with a 60-44 record and a healthy lead in the National League wild card standings, the Pirates were in a bit of a tailspin. The team had just lost nine of its previous 14 games. On a Thursday afternoon, Pittsburgh rallied to knock off the Dodgers at PNC Park to salvage the final game of a four-game swing, and the final game of an 11-game homestand in which the Buccos went 4-7.
Next up was a trip to St. Louis to play the only team the Pirates seemed to do well against down the stretch, the World Champion Cardinals.
After splitting the first two games of the weekend series, the rubber match saw the two teams battle it out for 19 grueling innings on Sunday, August 19th. About a year earlier, on July, 26th, 2011, the Buccos lost to the Braves in a 19 inning game in Atlanta, in which Pittsburgh seemed to be screwed by home plate umpire Jerry Meals.
I had a bad feeling the Cardinals game would end the same way. However, thanks to a heroic job by a bullpen that held St. Louis to one run over the last 15 innings, Pittsburgh was able to finally win it on a Pedro Alvarez home run in the top of the 19th.
The Pirates won, 6-3, and when they flashed the score at Heinz Field during the Steelers' preseason game against the Colts, the entire stadium erupted. It was certainly a memorable night, and just a couple days later, I was inspired to write this satirical piece about following the antics and frustrations of the fans on the Bucsdugout game thread.
That's my favorite part of 2012, what about you?
Monday, November 5, 2012
Unfortunately, Pitt's Heartbreaking Overtime Loss to Notre Dame Was Just Another Case of Pitt Being Pitt
The Pittsburgh Panthers have had a lot of success in South Bend, Indiana in recent years, mostly as a result of exciting overtime victories over the Fightin' Irish in front of Touchdown Jesus.
It looked like Pitt would have that same exciting result Saturday night when, after blowing a 20-6 second half lead, they had a chance to win the game in the second overtime with a 33 yard field goal by Kevin Harper. Unfortunately, despite making a field goal from 41 yards out in the first overtime, Harper's kick sailed just wide-right, and the Irish survived and would go on to win, 29-26, on a touchdown in the third OT.
Because Notre Dame was ranked third at game-time, you might say Pitt's loss was a character builder for a team playing under its fourth head coach and in its third different system since December of 2010. However, we Pitt fans know better. Paul Chryst might bring an impressive resume and an understated determination to the job, but he's in for the fight of his life if he's going to try to overcome the stigma that this football program has spent the past three decades cementing.
The concrete has been drying for years, and it's reinforced with each close, devastating loss like the one on Saturday, just like it was in '09, when Brian Kelly's Cincinnati Bearcats came to Heinz Field and walked away with the Big East title and a BCS berth after the Panthers held a three touchdown lead.
It was reinforced a season ago, when the Panthers blew a 17-point second half lead at Iowa.
It's no coincidence that Pitt has lost three games or more each season since 1981, and I doubt things will change anytime soon.
To quote a tired cliche: "It is what it is."
To paraphrase basketball coach, Rick Pitino: "Dan Marino isn't coming through that door; Tony Dorsett isn't coming through that door; Hugh Green isn't coming through that door.
Larry Fitzgerald and Shady McCoy might, but as has been proven in the past, they probably won't be able to help much.
I hope Chryst is finally the man to bring it all together, but I'm not holding my breath.
Character builder in South Bend? Nah, just Pitt being Pitt.
It looked like Pitt would have that same exciting result Saturday night when, after blowing a 20-6 second half lead, they had a chance to win the game in the second overtime with a 33 yard field goal by Kevin Harper. Unfortunately, despite making a field goal from 41 yards out in the first overtime, Harper's kick sailed just wide-right, and the Irish survived and would go on to win, 29-26, on a touchdown in the third OT.
Because Notre Dame was ranked third at game-time, you might say Pitt's loss was a character builder for a team playing under its fourth head coach and in its third different system since December of 2010. However, we Pitt fans know better. Paul Chryst might bring an impressive resume and an understated determination to the job, but he's in for the fight of his life if he's going to try to overcome the stigma that this football program has spent the past three decades cementing.
The concrete has been drying for years, and it's reinforced with each close, devastating loss like the one on Saturday, just like it was in '09, when Brian Kelly's Cincinnati Bearcats came to Heinz Field and walked away with the Big East title and a BCS berth after the Panthers held a three touchdown lead.
It was reinforced a season ago, when the Panthers blew a 17-point second half lead at Iowa.
It's no coincidence that Pitt has lost three games or more each season since 1981, and I doubt things will change anytime soon.
To quote a tired cliche: "It is what it is."
To paraphrase basketball coach, Rick Pitino: "Dan Marino isn't coming through that door; Tony Dorsett isn't coming through that door; Hugh Green isn't coming through that door.
Larry Fitzgerald and Shady McCoy might, but as has been proven in the past, they probably won't be able to help much.
I hope Chryst is finally the man to bring it all together, but I'm not holding my breath.
Character builder in South Bend? Nah, just Pitt being Pitt.
Friday, November 2, 2012
The NHL is Still Locking its Players Out, I Could Care Less, and That's Really Where the NHL is in Trouble
It was announced on Friday that the NHL has canceled its annual New Year's Day outdoor game, formally known as the Winter Classic. The main reason, of course, is due to Friday being the 48th day of the lockout of the players by the owners.
This is sad news to a lot of my friends who are huge hockey fans and have been posting on facebook about how disappointed they really are about this whole mess. I feel for them because I know when you're a die-hard fan of something, even if nobody else shares in your excitement, you don't care. You just know you love it, and you look forward to enjoying it each and every time you get the opportunity.
Unfortunately for hockey fans, they may not get to enjoy their favorite sport anytime soon. Last I heard, 18 of the 30 NHL franchises are losing money. Normally, I would be on the players' side in this whole mess, but if your bosses aren't making any money, you need to concede more than your share, or you're probably not going to have a job in the future, anyway. I won't get into the particulars, but the main point of contention, just like with the NFL work-stoppage a year ago, is the owners' desire to decrease the overall piece of the pie for the players.
Regardless of what happens, or who is the blame in this lockout, the real sad reality for the NHL is that nobody cares that much, at least not the majority of the country. I'm sure it's headline news everyday in Canada, where hockey is a religion akin to what football has become in America. But in places like Nashville and Tampa, I'm thinking college football is probably the main topic this time of year. Heck, that's generally the case anyway, work-stoppage or no work-stoppage.
As for someone like me, the casual hockey fan, this work-stoppage has been a litmus test of my true level of hockey fandom. And I obviously do not pass. I often find myself forgetting there even is a lockout. For a league that has had a niche following forever in America, I'm sure I'm the rule and not the exception.
The 2004 lockout is what probably saved the league and made it healthier. And it damn sure saved a team like the Penguins, who were dangerously close to either folding up shop or moving elsewhere. The 2004 lockout created a salary cap and made it easier for teams like the Penguins to compete on equal footing.
Shortly after the '04 lockout, Sidney Crosby came to town, and as they say, the rest is history. The Penguins had a huge influx of young and exciting players, and I even upped my fandom of the sport and really got into the team's playoff runs from '07-'11. Remember game five of the 2008 Stanley Cup Finals in Detroit between the Red Wings and Penguins, where Sergei Gonchar scored the game-winning goal in the third overtime to stave off elimination and force a game six? I actually celebrated like the Steelers just scored the game-winning touchdown in an NFL playoff game.
The next season, when the Pens finally reached the top of the mountain and brought home their first Stanley Cup in 17 seasons, I enjoyed the ride very much. In fact, many months later, my ex girlfriend and I waited in line for hours at the Heinz History Center just so we could get our picture taken with the Cup. It was a tremendous amount of fun and something I'll never forget.
Did it make me a die-hard fan? No, but I'm the kind of fan the NHL needs, and a work-stoppage, regardless of who's to blame, is the worst way to keep people like me even a little invested.
Sorry, NHL. There's a reason the Steelers never have giveaways at home games and the Penguins have the Student Rush program. The NHL needs to smooch a little more to get the fans to love it.
Out of sight, out of mind.
Where's my Terrible Towel?
This is sad news to a lot of my friends who are huge hockey fans and have been posting on facebook about how disappointed they really are about this whole mess. I feel for them because I know when you're a die-hard fan of something, even if nobody else shares in your excitement, you don't care. You just know you love it, and you look forward to enjoying it each and every time you get the opportunity.
Unfortunately for hockey fans, they may not get to enjoy their favorite sport anytime soon. Last I heard, 18 of the 30 NHL franchises are losing money. Normally, I would be on the players' side in this whole mess, but if your bosses aren't making any money, you need to concede more than your share, or you're probably not going to have a job in the future, anyway. I won't get into the particulars, but the main point of contention, just like with the NFL work-stoppage a year ago, is the owners' desire to decrease the overall piece of the pie for the players.
Regardless of what happens, or who is the blame in this lockout, the real sad reality for the NHL is that nobody cares that much, at least not the majority of the country. I'm sure it's headline news everyday in Canada, where hockey is a religion akin to what football has become in America. But in places like Nashville and Tampa, I'm thinking college football is probably the main topic this time of year. Heck, that's generally the case anyway, work-stoppage or no work-stoppage.
As for someone like me, the casual hockey fan, this work-stoppage has been a litmus test of my true level of hockey fandom. And I obviously do not pass. I often find myself forgetting there even is a lockout. For a league that has had a niche following forever in America, I'm sure I'm the rule and not the exception.
The 2004 lockout is what probably saved the league and made it healthier. And it damn sure saved a team like the Penguins, who were dangerously close to either folding up shop or moving elsewhere. The 2004 lockout created a salary cap and made it easier for teams like the Penguins to compete on equal footing.
Shortly after the '04 lockout, Sidney Crosby came to town, and as they say, the rest is history. The Penguins had a huge influx of young and exciting players, and I even upped my fandom of the sport and really got into the team's playoff runs from '07-'11. Remember game five of the 2008 Stanley Cup Finals in Detroit between the Red Wings and Penguins, where Sergei Gonchar scored the game-winning goal in the third overtime to stave off elimination and force a game six? I actually celebrated like the Steelers just scored the game-winning touchdown in an NFL playoff game.
The next season, when the Pens finally reached the top of the mountain and brought home their first Stanley Cup in 17 seasons, I enjoyed the ride very much. In fact, many months later, my ex girlfriend and I waited in line for hours at the Heinz History Center just so we could get our picture taken with the Cup. It was a tremendous amount of fun and something I'll never forget.
Did it make me a die-hard fan? No, but I'm the kind of fan the NHL needs, and a work-stoppage, regardless of who's to blame, is the worst way to keep people like me even a little invested.
Sorry, NHL. There's a reason the Steelers never have giveaways at home games and the Penguins have the Student Rush program. The NHL needs to smooch a little more to get the fans to love it.
Out of sight, out of mind.
Where's my Terrible Towel?
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Volleyball, Bowling, Women and Writing
I haven't done one of these "reflection/journal" entries in a while. However, it's a slow day in the sports world, and since I'm not getting paid to write about sports on this blog, I can pretty much write about whatever I want.
Join me as I get you caught up on all things Tony-related:
*Working as a manager of a small-business, I really am on the front-line whenever things like Hurricane Sandy bear down on the Pittsburgh region. Sandy was a super-storm that mainly wreaked havoc in the New York/New Jersey area on Monday and Tuesday, but that didn't mean we didn't have to prepare for some dangerous weather here in Pittsburgh. On Monday, as the preparations were taking place, I was smack-dab in the middle of a storm of panicked customers who bought water, toilet paper and milk. Cliched? Yes, but with the potential of six inches of rain in the forecast, folks certainly had to prepare for the worst. Fortunately, the storm didn't hurt this region like it really could have, and I'm certainly grateful for that. As much as Pittsburghers seem to freak out about the weather, I don't think they truly realize just how lucky we are as a region to not have to deal with very many natural disasters.
*Speaking of bearing down, I wish I would have done a better job of that during my bowling team's last match this past Sunday. We won two of three games to finish out the season, which was nice. However, we missed out on making the playoffs on our team average by a mere four points, and I can't help but feel responsible for that. I entered the night with a 145 average, which is pretty decent for me, but I "crapped the bed," as they say and only averaged a 108 over the course of the three games. Had I even bowled anywhere near my average, my team would have made the playoffs. Oh well.
*Bowling is one of those sports that you pretty much have to practice on a consistent basis in order to, well, stay consistent or hopefully improve. There are so many variables to take into consideration when you bowl, from your ball, the approach, the release and the conditions of the lanes. However, if you can find a way to master your approach and release, you should be able to do well enough even with a house ball. After I started using a heavier ball in February of 2011, I immediately started to bowl much better. I maintained a 150 average for over a year. That might not sound great, but for the first two-plus years that I bowled, I could barely maintain a 130 average. Unfortunately, starting in the spring, my consistency began to wane and I just couldn't find the answers. The struggles continued early on during this past season, but I figured things out early enough and rolled my all-time high of 219. That proved to be a catalyst for me as I stayed pretty consistent for a few weeks after that and raised my season average from 121 all the way up to 147. However, after I bowled a 192 in a game in week six, I lost my touch and never bowled higher than a 154 the rest of the season and my average dropped seven point. Why the struggles? Who knows, but as I said, there are so many variables involved in rolling a good ball and staying consistent from frame-to-frame, game-to-game, and week-to-week. This must be why they have coaches for actual bowling teams.
*My indoor volleyball season is underway after a one-month delay, and things have gotten off to a weird start. My first week, I was horsing around and was unaware of how close I was to the net. I smacked into that sucker and landed on my back-side. Fortunately, I wasn't hurt, but I sure was embarrassed. Oh well, I grew up idolizing the late John Ritter, and that was an unintentional tribute to him, I suppose. Speaking of physical comics, I don't know how they do it. I had a huge bruise on my right shoulder from my little prat-fall, and now I can certainly understand why some people get hooked on pain-killers. Don't misunderstand, I didn't take any of those, but I can sure see how it would be tempting if you have to intentionally take falls like that night after night.
*Speaking of accidents, last week during my team's match, I went up to the net to punch a ball over, and a player on the other team had it in mind to punch it back my way. He did so, but he wound up hurting himself in the process. I'm not sure if he landed on my foot or was just knocked off balance, but he suffered what looked to be a pretty serious ankle injury and had to be taken to the emergency room. I know it was just an accident, but I still felt bad about it. Nobody should have to suffer a serious injury while playing recreational volleyball.
*I'm really enjoying my time writing for Behind the Steel Curtain. I feel as if I'm getting better every few months or so, and a huge part of me really wants to take this writing thing full-time. I feel no passion as great as the passion I feel for writing (at least in things that don't involve family and friends), and I feel as if I have a real aptitude for writing about most anything, but especially sports. Who knows, maybe it will happen if I keep working at it. Two years ago at this time, even the thought of being one of the main writers for a blog as well-respected as BTSC was just a pipe-dream.
*Along those lines, a week ago, I was "approached" via email to write an article for some betting site. I was skeptical, but I went ahead and wrote a preview for the Steelers/Redskins game. When I submitted the article, I was led to believe I would be getting paid $40 for the gig. As of right now, it doesn't look like that's going to happen. It's OK. I didn't invest much time in the article, but I've been conned into linking websites to my blog before (that was the main request of the person who emailed me), and next time, I'll know better.
*As most who know me are well-aware of, my three-year relationship ended in April, and it was the kind of thing that I wasn't sure I'd ever be able to get over. In fact, as recently as August, I was still in a bit of a rut about it. But then, just like that, I was OK. I started dating again in the summer, and I haven't really stopped. I forgot how much fun dating can be. I believe I'm having more fun dating women now than I ever had before, and it's probably because I'm not putting as much pressure on myself and just having fun with it. Oh, I certainly want to have a relationship and settle down, but that's the kind of thing that happens when you least expect it. If you're always worried about the destination, you're never going to enjoy the journey. Too many people put too much pressure on themselves when they date. Dating is meant to be fun. Can it be nerve-wracking? You bet it can be, but that's all part of it. Dating is just a means to find out if you're compatible with someone else. You'll never know that unless you try. If you're afraid of rejection and failure, stay home. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
*Speaking of April, I weighed damn-near 200lbs back then. I'm happy to say I weigh under 190 as of my last weigh-in about a week and a half ago. It's not exactly a ton of weight to lose, but I'm not obese, either. I'm not going to pretend that it was my master plan to lose weight at a slower pace, but I believe it will be more beneficial in the end. It's actually quite easy to lose 15 or 20 pounds over the course of a half a year or so. There are 3500 calories in a pound, so if you eat like you normally eat, and just cut out a sandwich or so every day, you'd be amazed at your results over time.
That's all I have for now. I suppose I could write more, but I'm out. Later!
Join me as I get you caught up on all things Tony-related:
*Working as a manager of a small-business, I really am on the front-line whenever things like Hurricane Sandy bear down on the Pittsburgh region. Sandy was a super-storm that mainly wreaked havoc in the New York/New Jersey area on Monday and Tuesday, but that didn't mean we didn't have to prepare for some dangerous weather here in Pittsburgh. On Monday, as the preparations were taking place, I was smack-dab in the middle of a storm of panicked customers who bought water, toilet paper and milk. Cliched? Yes, but with the potential of six inches of rain in the forecast, folks certainly had to prepare for the worst. Fortunately, the storm didn't hurt this region like it really could have, and I'm certainly grateful for that. As much as Pittsburghers seem to freak out about the weather, I don't think they truly realize just how lucky we are as a region to not have to deal with very many natural disasters.
*Speaking of bearing down, I wish I would have done a better job of that during my bowling team's last match this past Sunday. We won two of three games to finish out the season, which was nice. However, we missed out on making the playoffs on our team average by a mere four points, and I can't help but feel responsible for that. I entered the night with a 145 average, which is pretty decent for me, but I "crapped the bed," as they say and only averaged a 108 over the course of the three games. Had I even bowled anywhere near my average, my team would have made the playoffs. Oh well.
*Bowling is one of those sports that you pretty much have to practice on a consistent basis in order to, well, stay consistent or hopefully improve. There are so many variables to take into consideration when you bowl, from your ball, the approach, the release and the conditions of the lanes. However, if you can find a way to master your approach and release, you should be able to do well enough even with a house ball. After I started using a heavier ball in February of 2011, I immediately started to bowl much better. I maintained a 150 average for over a year. That might not sound great, but for the first two-plus years that I bowled, I could barely maintain a 130 average. Unfortunately, starting in the spring, my consistency began to wane and I just couldn't find the answers. The struggles continued early on during this past season, but I figured things out early enough and rolled my all-time high of 219. That proved to be a catalyst for me as I stayed pretty consistent for a few weeks after that and raised my season average from 121 all the way up to 147. However, after I bowled a 192 in a game in week six, I lost my touch and never bowled higher than a 154 the rest of the season and my average dropped seven point. Why the struggles? Who knows, but as I said, there are so many variables involved in rolling a good ball and staying consistent from frame-to-frame, game-to-game, and week-to-week. This must be why they have coaches for actual bowling teams.
*My indoor volleyball season is underway after a one-month delay, and things have gotten off to a weird start. My first week, I was horsing around and was unaware of how close I was to the net. I smacked into that sucker and landed on my back-side. Fortunately, I wasn't hurt, but I sure was embarrassed. Oh well, I grew up idolizing the late John Ritter, and that was an unintentional tribute to him, I suppose. Speaking of physical comics, I don't know how they do it. I had a huge bruise on my right shoulder from my little prat-fall, and now I can certainly understand why some people get hooked on pain-killers. Don't misunderstand, I didn't take any of those, but I can sure see how it would be tempting if you have to intentionally take falls like that night after night.
*Speaking of accidents, last week during my team's match, I went up to the net to punch a ball over, and a player on the other team had it in mind to punch it back my way. He did so, but he wound up hurting himself in the process. I'm not sure if he landed on my foot or was just knocked off balance, but he suffered what looked to be a pretty serious ankle injury and had to be taken to the emergency room. I know it was just an accident, but I still felt bad about it. Nobody should have to suffer a serious injury while playing recreational volleyball.
*I'm really enjoying my time writing for Behind the Steel Curtain. I feel as if I'm getting better every few months or so, and a huge part of me really wants to take this writing thing full-time. I feel no passion as great as the passion I feel for writing (at least in things that don't involve family and friends), and I feel as if I have a real aptitude for writing about most anything, but especially sports. Who knows, maybe it will happen if I keep working at it. Two years ago at this time, even the thought of being one of the main writers for a blog as well-respected as BTSC was just a pipe-dream.
*Along those lines, a week ago, I was "approached" via email to write an article for some betting site. I was skeptical, but I went ahead and wrote a preview for the Steelers/Redskins game. When I submitted the article, I was led to believe I would be getting paid $40 for the gig. As of right now, it doesn't look like that's going to happen. It's OK. I didn't invest much time in the article, but I've been conned into linking websites to my blog before (that was the main request of the person who emailed me), and next time, I'll know better.
*As most who know me are well-aware of, my three-year relationship ended in April, and it was the kind of thing that I wasn't sure I'd ever be able to get over. In fact, as recently as August, I was still in a bit of a rut about it. But then, just like that, I was OK. I started dating again in the summer, and I haven't really stopped. I forgot how much fun dating can be. I believe I'm having more fun dating women now than I ever had before, and it's probably because I'm not putting as much pressure on myself and just having fun with it. Oh, I certainly want to have a relationship and settle down, but that's the kind of thing that happens when you least expect it. If you're always worried about the destination, you're never going to enjoy the journey. Too many people put too much pressure on themselves when they date. Dating is meant to be fun. Can it be nerve-wracking? You bet it can be, but that's all part of it. Dating is just a means to find out if you're compatible with someone else. You'll never know that unless you try. If you're afraid of rejection and failure, stay home. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
*Speaking of April, I weighed damn-near 200lbs back then. I'm happy to say I weigh under 190 as of my last weigh-in about a week and a half ago. It's not exactly a ton of weight to lose, but I'm not obese, either. I'm not going to pretend that it was my master plan to lose weight at a slower pace, but I believe it will be more beneficial in the end. It's actually quite easy to lose 15 or 20 pounds over the course of a half a year or so. There are 3500 calories in a pound, so if you eat like you normally eat, and just cut out a sandwich or so every day, you'd be amazed at your results over time.
That's all I have for now. I suppose I could write more, but I'm out. Later!
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
I've Seen a Lot of Things in My Life, but the Pirates in the World Series Isn't One of Them
I wanted to win that pennant worse than I wanted any goddamned thing in my life. You'd think I could just this once, wouldn't you? I didn't care nothing about the Series. Win or lose, I would have been satisfied.
That quote is from Wilford Brimley's character, New York Knights' manager Pop Fisher, in the 1984 baseball movie, the Natural. Robert Redford starred as extraordinarily gifted baseball player, Roy Hobbs, who came out of nowhere to set the baseball world on its ear years after his once-promising career was derailed by a tragedy in his youth.
Tonight the 110 World Series kicks off in San Francisco between the Giants and Detroit Tigers. Being a 40 year old man, I've witnessed my fair share of things in life, including dozens of "Fall Classics," but as a huge fan of the Pittsburgh Pirates, I'm sad to say I've never witnessed them play in the Series. Life is all about timing, and I began paying serious attention to the sports world mere months after the Buccos defeated the Baltimore Orioles in seven games to win the World Series in October of 1979.
--The first sports moment that I truly remember and treasure was witnessing my beloved Pittsburgh Steelers capture their fourth Super Bowl title in six years when they defeated the Los Angeles Rams in Super Bowl XIV in January of 1980. Since then, I've been lucky enough to witness Pittsburgh play in another four Super Bowls and capture two more Lombardi trophies.
--Thanks to Mario Lemieux's arrival in 1984, I've seen the Penguins go from one of the laughstocks of the NHL, to one of the flag-bearers of the league, complete with four Stanley Cup appearances and three titles. I've also been fortunate enough to watch the likes of Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin turn the City of Pittsburgh into a bona fide hockey town after many years of it being just a niche sport with pockets of fans scattered about the city.
--I've seen 18 Olympic games--both winter and summer--and the end of the Cold War.
--Unfortunately, I've also seen our country declare war three different times, and I remember where I was when the 911 tragedy occurred.
--I've seen a black man get elected President of the United States just months after a female gave him the fight of his life in the primaries.
Back to sports:
--I've witnessed the Pitt Panthers football program (yes the very same one that has gone through four coaches since December of 2010) get voted the preseason number 1 back in 1982. I've also seen Pitt play in two Fiesta Bowls, a Sugar Bowl, and even a Cotton Bowl.
--I've witnessed in action, all-time Pirates greats such as Willie Stargell, Dave Parker, Kent Tekulve and Barry Bonds.
--I was fortunate enough to see both Chuck Tanner and Jim Leyland manage the team.
--I've seen Doug Drabek win the Cy Young and Bonds win two MVPs. I've seen Freddy Sanchez win the NL batting title.
--I've witnessed the Pirates throw a 10-inning combined no-hitter.
--I've seen the Pirates capture three-straight NL East titles and play in two straight Game 7's in the NLCS.
--I remember where I was when Three Rivers Stadium was razed in February of 2001, and I was in attendance a few months later when PNC Park opened for the first time.
--I've seen the entire run of awesome shows such as Newhart, Seinfeld and Friends, and I remember where I was in 1983 for MASH's final episode.
I've seen a lot in my 40 years and during my 30plus years of REALLY paying attention to things. But to echo Pop Fisher's sentiments from that famous movie, I really want to witness the Pirates play in the World Series in my lifetime. Thanks to Hobbs, Fisher got to ride off into the sunset after finally capturing the pennant.
Maybe one of these days, a real life Roy Hobbs will make my dreams come true.
That quote is from Wilford Brimley's character, New York Knights' manager Pop Fisher, in the 1984 baseball movie, the Natural. Robert Redford starred as extraordinarily gifted baseball player, Roy Hobbs, who came out of nowhere to set the baseball world on its ear years after his once-promising career was derailed by a tragedy in his youth.
Tonight the 110 World Series kicks off in San Francisco between the Giants and Detroit Tigers. Being a 40 year old man, I've witnessed my fair share of things in life, including dozens of "Fall Classics," but as a huge fan of the Pittsburgh Pirates, I'm sad to say I've never witnessed them play in the Series. Life is all about timing, and I began paying serious attention to the sports world mere months after the Buccos defeated the Baltimore Orioles in seven games to win the World Series in October of 1979.
--The first sports moment that I truly remember and treasure was witnessing my beloved Pittsburgh Steelers capture their fourth Super Bowl title in six years when they defeated the Los Angeles Rams in Super Bowl XIV in January of 1980. Since then, I've been lucky enough to witness Pittsburgh play in another four Super Bowls and capture two more Lombardi trophies.
--Thanks to Mario Lemieux's arrival in 1984, I've seen the Penguins go from one of the laughstocks of the NHL, to one of the flag-bearers of the league, complete with four Stanley Cup appearances and three titles. I've also been fortunate enough to watch the likes of Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin turn the City of Pittsburgh into a bona fide hockey town after many years of it being just a niche sport with pockets of fans scattered about the city.
--I've seen 18 Olympic games--both winter and summer--and the end of the Cold War.
--Unfortunately, I've also seen our country declare war three different times, and I remember where I was when the 911 tragedy occurred.
--I've seen a black man get elected President of the United States just months after a female gave him the fight of his life in the primaries.
Back to sports:
--I've witnessed the Pitt Panthers football program (yes the very same one that has gone through four coaches since December of 2010) get voted the preseason number 1 back in 1982. I've also seen Pitt play in two Fiesta Bowls, a Sugar Bowl, and even a Cotton Bowl.
--I've witnessed in action, all-time Pirates greats such as Willie Stargell, Dave Parker, Kent Tekulve and Barry Bonds.
--I was fortunate enough to see both Chuck Tanner and Jim Leyland manage the team.
--I've seen Doug Drabek win the Cy Young and Bonds win two MVPs. I've seen Freddy Sanchez win the NL batting title.
--I've witnessed the Pirates throw a 10-inning combined no-hitter.
--I've seen the Pirates capture three-straight NL East titles and play in two straight Game 7's in the NLCS.
--I remember where I was when Three Rivers Stadium was razed in February of 2001, and I was in attendance a few months later when PNC Park opened for the first time.
--I've seen the entire run of awesome shows such as Newhart, Seinfeld and Friends, and I remember where I was in 1983 for MASH's final episode.
I've seen a lot in my 40 years and during my 30plus years of REALLY paying attention to things. But to echo Pop Fisher's sentiments from that famous movie, I really want to witness the Pirates play in the World Series in my lifetime. Thanks to Hobbs, Fisher got to ride off into the sunset after finally capturing the pennant.
Maybe one of these days, a real life Roy Hobbs will make my dreams come true.
Steelers Take on Redskins at Heinz Field this Sunday Afternoon
Rookie quarterback Robert Griffin III, better known as RG3, brings his exciting show to Pittsburgh this week, as the Redskins take on the Steelers in a inter-conference clash at Heinz Field.
View odds here: sportsbetting.ag
Coming off a much-needed 24-17 victory at Paul Brown Stadium over the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday night, the Steelers (3-3) look to build on their momentum and improve to one game over .500. The Redskins (3-4), still reeling from a tough, last-second loss to the defending champion New York Giants last Sunday, will look to rebound behind the electric Griffin, who is averaging 228 a game through the air and has thrown seven touchdown passes to only three interceptions so far in his debut season. RG3 has also contributed on the ground with six rushing touchdowns.
The Steelers are undefeated at home this season and haven't lost a game at Heinz Field to an NFC team since October 26th, 2008, when they fell to the Giants, 21-14.
Pittsburgh is currently 1 1/2 games behind the Baltimore Ravens (5-2) in the AFC North Division. The Redskins are 2-2 in road games this year and sit in last place in the NFC East Division, two games behind the Giants.
After struggling on the ground over the course of the first five weeks under new offensive coordinator Todd Haley, the Steelers rebounded in a big way on Sunday night in Cincinnati when they rushed for 167 yard on 29 attempts. Third year back Jonathan Dwyer, starting thanks to injuries to Rashard Mendenhall and Isaac Redman, led the attack with 112 yards on 17 carries.
Even if the ground game sputters again this Sunday, Pittsburgh also has one of the NFL's premier quarterbacks at its disposal. Ben Roethlisberger, in his ninth pro season, is perhaps having his best season at age 30.
Through six weeks, Roethlisberger has averaged 294 yards a game through the air and has thrown 11 touchdowns to only three interceptions.
With seven starters over the age of 30, the Steelers have the oldest defense in the NFL, and they will have a difficult task in keeping the young and elusive Griffin in-check. However, in the team's 16-14 victory over the Eagles in Week 5, Pittsburgh was able to shut-down Michael Vick, who is older but has a similar, elusive style to RG3.
It should be a fun and interesting match-up at Heinz Field this Sunday, one that could go a long way in shaping the reminder of the season for both teams.
View odds here: sportsbetting.ag
Coming off a much-needed 24-17 victory at Paul Brown Stadium over the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday night, the Steelers (3-3) look to build on their momentum and improve to one game over .500. The Redskins (3-4), still reeling from a tough, last-second loss to the defending champion New York Giants last Sunday, will look to rebound behind the electric Griffin, who is averaging 228 a game through the air and has thrown seven touchdown passes to only three interceptions so far in his debut season. RG3 has also contributed on the ground with six rushing touchdowns.
The Steelers are undefeated at home this season and haven't lost a game at Heinz Field to an NFC team since October 26th, 2008, when they fell to the Giants, 21-14.
Pittsburgh is currently 1 1/2 games behind the Baltimore Ravens (5-2) in the AFC North Division. The Redskins are 2-2 in road games this year and sit in last place in the NFC East Division, two games behind the Giants.
After struggling on the ground over the course of the first five weeks under new offensive coordinator Todd Haley, the Steelers rebounded in a big way on Sunday night in Cincinnati when they rushed for 167 yard on 29 attempts. Third year back Jonathan Dwyer, starting thanks to injuries to Rashard Mendenhall and Isaac Redman, led the attack with 112 yards on 17 carries.
Even if the ground game sputters again this Sunday, Pittsburgh also has one of the NFL's premier quarterbacks at its disposal. Ben Roethlisberger, in his ninth pro season, is perhaps having his best season at age 30.
Through six weeks, Roethlisberger has averaged 294 yards a game through the air and has thrown 11 touchdowns to only three interceptions.
With seven starters over the age of 30, the Steelers have the oldest defense in the NFL, and they will have a difficult task in keeping the young and elusive Griffin in-check. However, in the team's 16-14 victory over the Eagles in Week 5, Pittsburgh was able to shut-down Michael Vick, who is older but has a similar, elusive style to RG3.
It should be a fun and interesting match-up at Heinz Field this Sunday, one that could go a long way in shaping the reminder of the season for both teams.
Sunday, October 21, 2012
Watching the Steelers Game with My Brother
The Steelers have a pretty critical game this evening in prime-time against their division rivals, the Cincinnati Bengals, and even though I think it's going to be a pretty mediocre year for the Black and Gold (as of right now, anyway), things could change with a resounding (or dramatic) victory this evening at Paul Brown Stadium.
I will be going to pick up my brother and bring him back to my apartment so we can watch the game together. It will be the first time we've watched a Steelers game together since Super Bowl XLV, when he, my ex girlfriend and I witnessed Pittsburgh's loss to the Green Bay Packers.
I think it will be a fun night because one of the reasons I love watching sports so much is it brings back memories of times you spent watching a game with your friends and family. Solitude is nice every once in a while, but we weren't put on this planet to enjoy the finer things by ourselves, at least not all the time.
The Steelers played the Ravens in the AFC Championship game a few years ago, and even though I had many invites to watch the game with others (including from my then new girlfriend), I opted to watch it by myself. It was a memorable night as the Steelers conquered Baltimore and advanced to Super !Bowl XLIII, but compared to how much fun it was a couple of weeks later when I watched the Super Bowl with my girlfriend and family, and it wasn't even close.
Just like anything else, sporting events are better when they're supplemented with the company of others.
PS,
my brother better not annoy me or cause the Steelers to lose. If either happens, he's walking home!
I will be going to pick up my brother and bring him back to my apartment so we can watch the game together. It will be the first time we've watched a Steelers game together since Super Bowl XLV, when he, my ex girlfriend and I witnessed Pittsburgh's loss to the Green Bay Packers.
I think it will be a fun night because one of the reasons I love watching sports so much is it brings back memories of times you spent watching a game with your friends and family. Solitude is nice every once in a while, but we weren't put on this planet to enjoy the finer things by ourselves, at least not all the time.
The Steelers played the Ravens in the AFC Championship game a few years ago, and even though I had many invites to watch the game with others (including from my then new girlfriend), I opted to watch it by myself. It was a memorable night as the Steelers conquered Baltimore and advanced to Super !Bowl XLIII, but compared to how much fun it was a couple of weeks later when I watched the Super Bowl with my girlfriend and family, and it wasn't even close.
Just like anything else, sporting events are better when they're supplemented with the company of others.
PS,
my brother better not annoy me or cause the Steelers to lose. If either happens, he's walking home!
Friday, October 12, 2012
Recent Stuff I've Done for Behind the Steel Curtain
Ever have one of those weeks where you feel like you're really good at some of the things you're passionate about? As someone who bowls and plays volleyball quite regularly, I've had many moments over the years when I felt that I really "got it" when it came to those two hobbies of mine. However, much like life, I also have my low moments with those two sports, and I often wonder if I'll ever get any better at them.
I shared those thoughts with you as a way to introduce these thoughts: I think I kicked ass in blogging this week. The editor of Behind the Steel Curtain asked all the main writers to help him out a bit more because of the short week before the Steelers Thursday night game against the Titans. I hadn't planned on writing so much for the site this week, but I managed to publish a post three days in a row. Maybe it was just a sub-conscious thing derived from his asking for some help, maybe it was just because I was in a high-energy mode all week, or maybe it was just because I had a lot of ideas to share about the Steelers, and this was the perfect week to do it.
I can't answer that question.
But I can state that I feel like I'm in a writing groove this week, and it's just coming to me so easily. That's actually quite a welcome feeling because there are few things that bring me more joy than writing. It's also a welcome feeling because it's not always so easy to translate thoughts and ideas into words on a screen. There have been plenty of times where I've sat in front of my laptop and literally spent hours writing what I thought was crap. Was it crap? I don't know, but it sure felt like it because of how long and difficult it was for me. This feeling could return in an hour, or it could never return again. However, much like volleyball and bowling, I get the feeling I'll be experiencing my share of "writer's block" in the near-future, so I better enjoy this while I still can.
With that in mind, here are some of my recent postings on Behind the Steel Curtain.
This season, the New Orleans Saints are the host team for the Super Bowl, and they're currently 1-4. If you're surprised by that, don't be. It's actually quite freakishly common for the Super Bowl host teams to do poorly during the regular season and have absolutely no chance at earning the greatest homefield advantage in Super Bowl history. I wrote something about it on BTSC a few weeks ago, and it didn't get much of a response, but I think it's very fascinating. Check it out.
Steelers linebacker Lawrence Timmons wasn't stepping it up for a very long time, and many Steelers fans thought he needed to in order to keep the defense playing at the high level we're all accustomed to. Well, I wrote a little something about it. It got a nice reaction, including 75 "likes," and I was damn proud of myself. Oh yeah, and Timmons stepped it up like crazy in the Steelers victory over the Eagles.
Running back Rashard Mendenhall returned to action last week after recovering from an ACL tear in January, and he proved just how valuable he is to the team's ground attack.
Steelers kicker Shaun Suisham struggled a great deal in 2011, but this season, he picked up his game to the point where he was 8 for 8 through four games--including the game-winner against Philadelphia last Sunday.
The Steelers have been a sloppy football team on the road both this season and last. I wrote this with the anticipation that the Steelers would get their first "clean" road victory in quite sometime. As it turned out, they didn't get a clean or "dirty" victory and lost, 26-23, to the Titans. I guess it was the thought that counts.
Enjoy!
I shared those thoughts with you as a way to introduce these thoughts: I think I kicked ass in blogging this week. The editor of Behind the Steel Curtain asked all the main writers to help him out a bit more because of the short week before the Steelers Thursday night game against the Titans. I hadn't planned on writing so much for the site this week, but I managed to publish a post three days in a row. Maybe it was just a sub-conscious thing derived from his asking for some help, maybe it was just because I was in a high-energy mode all week, or maybe it was just because I had a lot of ideas to share about the Steelers, and this was the perfect week to do it.
I can't answer that question.
But I can state that I feel like I'm in a writing groove this week, and it's just coming to me so easily. That's actually quite a welcome feeling because there are few things that bring me more joy than writing. It's also a welcome feeling because it's not always so easy to translate thoughts and ideas into words on a screen. There have been plenty of times where I've sat in front of my laptop and literally spent hours writing what I thought was crap. Was it crap? I don't know, but it sure felt like it because of how long and difficult it was for me. This feeling could return in an hour, or it could never return again. However, much like volleyball and bowling, I get the feeling I'll be experiencing my share of "writer's block" in the near-future, so I better enjoy this while I still can.
With that in mind, here are some of my recent postings on Behind the Steel Curtain.
This season, the New Orleans Saints are the host team for the Super Bowl, and they're currently 1-4. If you're surprised by that, don't be. It's actually quite freakishly common for the Super Bowl host teams to do poorly during the regular season and have absolutely no chance at earning the greatest homefield advantage in Super Bowl history. I wrote something about it on BTSC a few weeks ago, and it didn't get much of a response, but I think it's very fascinating. Check it out.
Steelers linebacker Lawrence Timmons wasn't stepping it up for a very long time, and many Steelers fans thought he needed to in order to keep the defense playing at the high level we're all accustomed to. Well, I wrote a little something about it. It got a nice reaction, including 75 "likes," and I was damn proud of myself. Oh yeah, and Timmons stepped it up like crazy in the Steelers victory over the Eagles.
Running back Rashard Mendenhall returned to action last week after recovering from an ACL tear in January, and he proved just how valuable he is to the team's ground attack.
Steelers kicker Shaun Suisham struggled a great deal in 2011, but this season, he picked up his game to the point where he was 8 for 8 through four games--including the game-winner against Philadelphia last Sunday.
The Steelers have been a sloppy football team on the road both this season and last. I wrote this with the anticipation that the Steelers would get their first "clean" road victory in quite sometime. As it turned out, they didn't get a clean or "dirty" victory and lost, 26-23, to the Titans. I guess it was the thought that counts.
Enjoy!
Sunday, October 7, 2012
Timmons Dominates in Steelers 16-14 Victory over the Eagles
Apparently, Steelers inside linebacker Lawrence Timmons read my blog post on Behind the Steel Curtain last week. Well, probably not, just wishful thinking on my part. In any event, number 94 had a break-out game when the Steelers defense needed it the most. Both Lamarr Woodley and Troy Polamalu left today's game against Philadelphia with injuries, and when you add that to the just returning James Harrison, who missed all of training camp and the first three games due to a knee injury, it could have been a long day against Michael Vick and Co.
In this awesome post from BTSC's Neal Coolong, Neal sums up Timmons' dominant day pretty nicely: "Heading into week 5, Timmons had 12 total tackles. At the final buzzer, he had nine tackles - eight solo - in Week 5 alone. This doesn't speak of the slew of pressure he generated. There was a stretch in the first half where he had a forced fumble and recovery, a tackle for loss and a pressure. All of those plays came on second down, and of the two where the Eagles retained the ball, it set up 3rd-and-long situations."
Running back Rashard Mendenhall also returned to action today for the first time since tearing his ACL in week 17 of last season, and he revitalized the Steelers rushing attack with 81 yards on 14 carries, including the Steelers only touchdown of the day.
Pittsburgh was in serious danger of falling to 1-3 after the Eagles took a 14-13 lead with about six minutes remaining. But after failing to bring his team from behind in the fourth quarter twice this season, quarterback Ben Roethlisberger orchestrated the game winning drive that culminated in a Shaun Suisham 33 yard field goal as time expired.
The Steelers are now 2-2 and will travel to Tennessee to take on the Titans this Thursday night.
Running back Rashard Mendenhall also returned to action today for the first time since tearing his ACL in week 17 of last season, and he revitalized the Steelers rushing attack with 81 yards on 14 carries, including the Steelers only touchdown of the day.
Pittsburgh was in serious danger of falling to 1-3 after the Eagles took a 14-13 lead with about six minutes remaining. But after failing to bring his team from behind in the fourth quarter twice this season, quarterback Ben Roethlisberger orchestrated the game winning drive that culminated in a Shaun Suisham 33 yard field goal as time expired.
The Steelers are now 2-2 and will travel to Tennessee to take on the Titans this Thursday night.
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
Is It Really a Good Idea for Teams that Clinch a Wild Card Spot to "Celebrate Good Times, Come on!"?
When I first learned that MLB would be adding an extra wild card team to each league starting this season, at first, I couldn't get my head around how that would be done. After all, postseason baseball usually involves "best of" series. Would they be playing the World Series on Thanksgiving? However, once it looked like the Pirates would have an actual shot at one of these spots, I decided to really research it, and I was amazed to discover that the wild card teams would have a one game "playoff" a couple of days after the regular season, and the winner of that game would advance to the LDS. Essentially, it just added a little more incentive for a team to win its division and created a "bye" for the ones who do--unlike in previous years when the wild card winner would already be in the LDS, the new system would require wild card teams to work just a bit harder to get to where they ultimately wanted to be.
I then fell in love with the concept. I love the idea of more teams having a shot at the postseason. It adds excitement to the final weeks, as more teams and fans can dream of a shot at the World Series. Of course, if you're a Pirates fan, you know how agonizing the last couple of months were and how the new playoff format kept you tuning in even though the Pirates were on life support starting around the end of August. Teams like the Cardinals and Dodgers were practically begging the Pirates to jump up and grab the second NL wild card spot, but the Buccos were like, "no, you go ahead. You can have it."
Even though the Pirates were mercifully eliminated from this dance, I was still intrigued to see how a team would celebrate clinching a spot in the wild card playoff game. I actually envisioned a mild celebration, as players and fans knew they still had extra work to do in order to advance to the LDS, but I never in my wildest dreams thought that teams would break out the champagne and have wild clubhouse celebrations. If you click on that link, you'll see in the picture that MLB even handed out "Playoffs!" hats and shirts for the special occasion--talk about your shameless marketing.
The Texas Rangers and Oakland A's are in a heated race for the AL West division and are currently in the throes of a very dramatic end of season series. Monday night, the then second place A's officially clinched at least a wild card spot with a 4-3 victory over Texas, and they celebrated like they had just won the World Series. It might have been the first time in the history of baseball that the second place team got to have a raucous celebration before the first place team. As of this writing, the A's and Rangers are in a tie for first place on the last day of the season. If the A's win today, are they going to have another wild celebration? And since the Rangers are obviously already guaranteed at least a wild card spot, are they going to celebrate even if they lose today's game?
Don't these wild card teams realize that they're only a couple of days and about 9 innings away from possibly being in the same boat as all the other teams who didn't clinch a wild card spot? The wild card playoff games in each league will be played this Friday, and they will have all the drama and tension of a 7th game. If it were up to me, I'd save my wild celebrations for after that game. If you win, you'll be in the LDS and guaranteed at least three more games. But what if you lose?................ Are teams going to wonder why they went through all that trouble of celebrating? Are they going to burn those "Playoffs!" t-shirts and drink sour milk? To me, clinching a berth in the wild card game is only half the battle. It's like a football team going nuts after a touchdown even though it was down by eight points before the score and still needs to go for a two-point conversion in-order to tie the game. If you fail to make the two-point conversion, well, you celebrated for nothing.
The winners of this Friday's wild card games are going to have another wild celebration, no doubt, but the division winners who they will be facing next will have long-ago folded up their "Division!" t-shirts and will be well-rested.
Last night, the St. Louis Cardinals lost to the Reds, but they still clinched the second NL wild card spot after the Dodgers lost to the Giants.
Now that's how you clinch a wild card spot.
I then fell in love with the concept. I love the idea of more teams having a shot at the postseason. It adds excitement to the final weeks, as more teams and fans can dream of a shot at the World Series. Of course, if you're a Pirates fan, you know how agonizing the last couple of months were and how the new playoff format kept you tuning in even though the Pirates were on life support starting around the end of August. Teams like the Cardinals and Dodgers were practically begging the Pirates to jump up and grab the second NL wild card spot, but the Buccos were like, "no, you go ahead. You can have it."
Even though the Pirates were mercifully eliminated from this dance, I was still intrigued to see how a team would celebrate clinching a spot in the wild card playoff game. I actually envisioned a mild celebration, as players and fans knew they still had extra work to do in order to advance to the LDS, but I never in my wildest dreams thought that teams would break out the champagne and have wild clubhouse celebrations. If you click on that link, you'll see in the picture that MLB even handed out "Playoffs!" hats and shirts for the special occasion--talk about your shameless marketing.
The Texas Rangers and Oakland A's are in a heated race for the AL West division and are currently in the throes of a very dramatic end of season series. Monday night, the then second place A's officially clinched at least a wild card spot with a 4-3 victory over Texas, and they celebrated like they had just won the World Series. It might have been the first time in the history of baseball that the second place team got to have a raucous celebration before the first place team. As of this writing, the A's and Rangers are in a tie for first place on the last day of the season. If the A's win today, are they going to have another wild celebration? And since the Rangers are obviously already guaranteed at least a wild card spot, are they going to celebrate even if they lose today's game?
Don't these wild card teams realize that they're only a couple of days and about 9 innings away from possibly being in the same boat as all the other teams who didn't clinch a wild card spot? The wild card playoff games in each league will be played this Friday, and they will have all the drama and tension of a 7th game. If it were up to me, I'd save my wild celebrations for after that game. If you win, you'll be in the LDS and guaranteed at least three more games. But what if you lose?................ Are teams going to wonder why they went through all that trouble of celebrating? Are they going to burn those "Playoffs!" t-shirts and drink sour milk? To me, clinching a berth in the wild card game is only half the battle. It's like a football team going nuts after a touchdown even though it was down by eight points before the score and still needs to go for a two-point conversion in-order to tie the game. If you fail to make the two-point conversion, well, you celebrated for nothing.
The winners of this Friday's wild card games are going to have another wild celebration, no doubt, but the division winners who they will be facing next will have long-ago folded up their "Division!" t-shirts and will be well-rested.
Last night, the St. Louis Cardinals lost to the Reds, but they still clinched the second NL wild card spot after the Dodgers lost to the Giants.
Now that's how you clinch a wild card spot.
Saturday, September 29, 2012
I've Seen the Pirates Become the Victims of a No-hitter for the First Time in My Life, and it Wasn't So Bad
I've always been petrified of bees or any sort of stinging insects. For the first twenty years of my life, I managed to avoid getting stung, but the day before my 21st birthday, my late grandmother asked me to go out in the shed and pull out a patio chair. As soon as I opened the door, a wasp came flying out and went down my shirt. It stung me right in the chest and stayed in my shirt for a few seconds while I jumped around and swore loud enough for the entire neighborhood to hear. As it turned out, it wasn't the end of the world. Despite all the movies about "killer bees" that I watched as a very young boy in the 70's, I didn't actually die from my wasp attack.
I introduced this piece with that little anecdote because, for all of the 40 years that I've been on this planet, my favorite baseball team, the Pittsburgh Pirates, had avoided being no-hit in a baseball game. They came close numerous times throughout the years, but something or someone (Josh Harrison) prevented the dubious moment from taking place.
Last night, as I kept checking the online box score of the Pirates/Reds game, I noticed the it was getting pretty late and the Pirates hadn't had a hit against the Reds' Homer Bailey. I just shrugged my shoulders and said, "Someone (Josh Harrison) will come through with a hit.
However, at approximately 9:35pm, what I had feared all of my baseball fan life had finally happened: Homer Bailey had thrown a no-hitter against the Pittsburgh Pirates in a 1-0 victory at PNC Park.
After Alex Presley popped out to end it, Bailey's Reds' teammates converged on him for the "cliched but ever so wonderful when it's your team doing it" celebration in the middle of PNC's beautiful diamond. It was a historic moment to see even if it sucked for Pirates fans. And you know what? I survived.
I always thought that being on the losing end of a no-hitter/perfect game was a sign of weakness, but that's not the case at all (although there are plenty of other signs of weakness for these 2012 Pirates).
Even good teams are the victims of no-hitters every once in a while. The Reds' Tom Browning threw a perfect game against the Los Angeles Dodgers about a month before they won the 1988 World Series. Heck, the Tampa Rays have been on the receiving end of like 14,000 no-hitters/perfect games since 2009, and they've been a pretty competitive baseball team for the past few years. The last time the Pirates were the victims of a no-hitter, it was in 1971 against Bob Gibson at Three Rivers Stadium, and Pittsburgh would go on to win the World Series later that year.
The Pirates have been around for 125 years, and they've only been no-hit eight times. That's pretty amazing. I guess after 40plus years, the team was due, and with Pedro, Clint, Alex and Rod flailing away night-after-so many nights, it was just a matter of time before it happened in this era.
So, much like that wasp, Bailey's no-hitter stung a little as it was something I was trying to avoid witnessing, but I'm still alive today, and the Pirates actually have a couple of hits.
I will now concentrate on my fear of never seeing the Pirates in the World Series again in my lifetime.
I introduced this piece with that little anecdote because, for all of the 40 years that I've been on this planet, my favorite baseball team, the Pittsburgh Pirates, had avoided being no-hit in a baseball game. They came close numerous times throughout the years, but something or someone (Josh Harrison) prevented the dubious moment from taking place.
Last night, as I kept checking the online box score of the Pirates/Reds game, I noticed the it was getting pretty late and the Pirates hadn't had a hit against the Reds' Homer Bailey. I just shrugged my shoulders and said, "Someone (Josh Harrison) will come through with a hit.
However, at approximately 9:35pm, what I had feared all of my baseball fan life had finally happened: Homer Bailey had thrown a no-hitter against the Pittsburgh Pirates in a 1-0 victory at PNC Park.
After Alex Presley popped out to end it, Bailey's Reds' teammates converged on him for the "cliched but ever so wonderful when it's your team doing it" celebration in the middle of PNC's beautiful diamond. It was a historic moment to see even if it sucked for Pirates fans. And you know what? I survived.
I always thought that being on the losing end of a no-hitter/perfect game was a sign of weakness, but that's not the case at all (although there are plenty of other signs of weakness for these 2012 Pirates).
Even good teams are the victims of no-hitters every once in a while. The Reds' Tom Browning threw a perfect game against the Los Angeles Dodgers about a month before they won the 1988 World Series. Heck, the Tampa Rays have been on the receiving end of like 14,000 no-hitters/perfect games since 2009, and they've been a pretty competitive baseball team for the past few years. The last time the Pirates were the victims of a no-hitter, it was in 1971 against Bob Gibson at Three Rivers Stadium, and Pittsburgh would go on to win the World Series later that year.
The Pirates have been around for 125 years, and they've only been no-hit eight times. That's pretty amazing. I guess after 40plus years, the team was due, and with Pedro, Clint, Alex and Rod flailing away night-after-so many nights, it was just a matter of time before it happened in this era.
So, much like that wasp, Bailey's no-hitter stung a little as it was something I was trying to avoid witnessing, but I'm still alive today, and the Pirates actually have a couple of hits.
I will now concentrate on my fear of never seeing the Pirates in the World Series again in my lifetime.
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
Pirates Lose to the Mets, 6-0: Officially Eliminated from Postseason
Ever go back to an old neighborhood that you grew up in and find yourself disappointed because a place that was once so vibrant and full of life now is so empty and quiet?
Not to sound too dramatic, but that's how the 2012 Pittsburgh Pirates baseball season has been for me and thousands of other Pirates fans out there. Two months ago, there was very real hope and excitement for a winning season and a postseason berth.
Well, we can officially forget about the postseason berth, and the hopes for the winning season should be dashed any day now. It's OK, though, because the Pirates aren't deserving of a spot in the playoffs or a winning season. Winners don't go into 16-35 "slumps," and that's the Bucco record since August 1st.
Now, at 76-79, we can only hope that they make it to maybe 80 wins, which would represent a high-mark for the squad since their last winning season in 1992. However, that would require a 4-3 "hot-streak," and I'm not so sure the Pirates are even capable of that anymore. They can't even win two-games in a row these days, let alone four games in a week.
I hate to question a team's heart, because it's impossible to determine, but how else can you explain such a lifeless team after such an energetic start to the season? I can't explain it. But then again, I've never been able to figure these guys out.
Oh well, we'll always have the memories of the once vibrant neighborhood.
Not to sound too dramatic, but that's how the 2012 Pittsburgh Pirates baseball season has been for me and thousands of other Pirates fans out there. Two months ago, there was very real hope and excitement for a winning season and a postseason berth.
Well, we can officially forget about the postseason berth, and the hopes for the winning season should be dashed any day now. It's OK, though, because the Pirates aren't deserving of a spot in the playoffs or a winning season. Winners don't go into 16-35 "slumps," and that's the Bucco record since August 1st.
Now, at 76-79, we can only hope that they make it to maybe 80 wins, which would represent a high-mark for the squad since their last winning season in 1992. However, that would require a 4-3 "hot-streak," and I'm not so sure the Pirates are even capable of that anymore. They can't even win two-games in a row these days, let alone four games in a week.
I hate to question a team's heart, because it's impossible to determine, but how else can you explain such a lifeless team after such an energetic start to the season? I can't explain it. But then again, I've never been able to figure these guys out.
Oh well, we'll always have the memories of the once vibrant neighborhood.
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
The Packers Were Robbed on Monday Night Football, and Seahawks Fans Should Never, Ever Complain About Super Bowl XL Again
Seattle Seahawks fans always talk about Super Bowl XL with contempt because they maintain to this very day that their team was robbed of a championship. Things on their hit-list from that day: The offensive pass interference call on Darrell Jackson for pushing off during a touchdown pass from Matt Hasselbeck; the Ben Roethlisberger touchdown that was called, but should have been reversed, even though there wasn't any conclusive evidence to do so; and of course, the holding penalty early in the 4th quarter that shouldn't have been called because it wiped out a 1st and goal situation for Seattle. Seahawks fans have always been pretty adamant that all three of these calls should have gone in their team's favor even though you can make a case for all three going in the Steelers' favor, which of course, they did.
Well, I don't know if it'll make up for Super Bowl XL, but last night, on Monday Night Football, the Seattle Seahawks were the benefactors of maybe the most obvious blown off in the history of the NFL, when Golden Tate was credited with a last-second, game-winning touchdown catch on a Hail Mary pass from Seattle qb Russell Wilson in a 14-12 victory over the Green Bay Packers.
Tate was credited with the touchdown for having simultaneous possession of the football with Packers defensive back M.D. Jennings, but it clearly looks as if Jennings has full control of the football and an interception, while Tate just appears to reach over and grab the ball after Jennings had already established possession.
One official signals a touchdown, while the other appears to be getting ready to signal a touchback. It is finally ruled a touchdown on the field. The play is reviewed, as all scoring plays are these days, and even though the replay officials cannot make the call for the referee, it's pretty obvious on tape, and it's just a matter of the ref simply correcting the mistake and the Packers win the game.
Not so fast.
For reasons only known to him, the referee concludes that the "simultaneous possession goes to the offensive receiver rule" is in play and doesn't change the call.
Wow!
It's fair to point out that these were replacement officials, and that's an element that you cannot ignore. But replacement officials or not, everyone has eyes, and it clearly wasn't simultaneous possession.
These might be replacement officials, but these games still count in the standings, and this could forever alter Green Bay's season.
Last week, in this article on Behind the Steel Curtain, I predicted that the replacement officials would screw up the end of a game with one of their blown calls. I just didn't think that it would happen in such an obvious way, and that the Seattle Seahawks would so greatly benefit.
Seahawks fans need to be very quiet now.
One official signals a touchdown, while the other appears to be getting ready to signal a touchback. It is finally ruled a touchdown on the field. The play is reviewed, as all scoring plays are these days, and even though the replay officials cannot make the call for the referee, it's pretty obvious on tape, and it's just a matter of the ref simply correcting the mistake and the Packers win the game.
Not so fast.
For reasons only known to him, the referee concludes that the "simultaneous possession goes to the offensive receiver rule" is in play and doesn't change the call.
Wow!
It's fair to point out that these were replacement officials, and that's an element that you cannot ignore. But replacement officials or not, everyone has eyes, and it clearly wasn't simultaneous possession.
These might be replacement officials, but these games still count in the standings, and this could forever alter Green Bay's season.
Last week, in this article on Behind the Steel Curtain, I predicted that the replacement officials would screw up the end of a game with one of their blown calls. I just didn't think that it would happen in such an obvious way, and that the Seattle Seahawks would so greatly benefit.
Seahawks fans need to be very quiet now.
Steelers Start off 1-2 After Loss to Oakland. I Blame the Defense
Remember back to the 2009 season, when the Steelers seemed to lose in one annoying way after another? Well, that's kind of how I felt around 8pm on Sunday, when Raiders kicker Sebastian Janikowski kicked a 40 yard field goal as time expired to give Oakland a 34-31 victory.
That '09 team was never out of a game, and often, they led in the fourth quarter, but if it wasn't an ill-timed turnover that did the team in, it was a kickoff return for a touchdown. And if Pittsburgh was able to overcome those two things, the defense picked the fourth quarter to do its impression of swiss cheese.
The 2009 Steelers season was maybe the most frustrating for me as a fan, and the end result of all of those break-downs I described above was a 9-7 record and a seat in the peanut gallery for the playoffs.
The 2010 campaign was obviously pretty awesome, as the team made its 8th Super Bowl and came within a drive of winning its 7th Lombardi. And last season's 12-4 record was an acceptable follow-up to a Super Bowl season, despite the depressing loss in the playoffs.
But now at 1-2, things look like they've come full-circle to what we were seeing three years ago. But unlike the '09 team, I don't really blame the offense, or even the special teams for their mistakes on Sunday. I blame the defense, because it's just not getting the job done in terms of pressuring the quarterback and taking the football away.
When Bruce Arians was Pittsburgh's offensive coordinator for five seasons, people said they wanted an offense that possessed the football and scored points, and they often blamed Arians for his shortcomings in those departments--Pittsburgh led the league in time of possession last season, btw. Well, under new offensive coordinator Todd Haley, the Steelers have scored 77 points in three games, and they've possessed the football for just under 36 minutes a game. Yet, they're 1-2.
I know Harrison and Polamalu have been hurt this season, but there is still enough pedigree on this defense to make a better accounting of itself, even without two former Defensive Players of the Year.
I know it's early, but it already has the makings for another annoyingly frustrating Steelers season.
That '09 team was never out of a game, and often, they led in the fourth quarter, but if it wasn't an ill-timed turnover that did the team in, it was a kickoff return for a touchdown. And if Pittsburgh was able to overcome those two things, the defense picked the fourth quarter to do its impression of swiss cheese.
The 2009 Steelers season was maybe the most frustrating for me as a fan, and the end result of all of those break-downs I described above was a 9-7 record and a seat in the peanut gallery for the playoffs.
The 2010 campaign was obviously pretty awesome, as the team made its 8th Super Bowl and came within a drive of winning its 7th Lombardi. And last season's 12-4 record was an acceptable follow-up to a Super Bowl season, despite the depressing loss in the playoffs.
But now at 1-2, things look like they've come full-circle to what we were seeing three years ago. But unlike the '09 team, I don't really blame the offense, or even the special teams for their mistakes on Sunday. I blame the defense, because it's just not getting the job done in terms of pressuring the quarterback and taking the football away.
When Bruce Arians was Pittsburgh's offensive coordinator for five seasons, people said they wanted an offense that possessed the football and scored points, and they often blamed Arians for his shortcomings in those departments--Pittsburgh led the league in time of possession last season, btw. Well, under new offensive coordinator Todd Haley, the Steelers have scored 77 points in three games, and they've possessed the football for just under 36 minutes a game. Yet, they're 1-2.
I know Harrison and Polamalu have been hurt this season, but there is still enough pedigree on this defense to make a better accounting of itself, even without two former Defensive Players of the Year.
I know it's early, but it already has the makings for another annoyingly frustrating Steelers season.
Thursday, September 20, 2012
Stick a Fork in 'em, They're Done--Pirates Blow 7-4 Lead, Get Swept at Home by the Brewers
What more can be said about the second-straight, second-half collapse by the Pittsburgh Pirates? It's getting to the point that even talking about them is an exhausting endeavor. I didn't want to believe that the slow slide of the team in August was the beginnings of a collapse, but here we are with just 13 games left in the season, and the Pirates are one game below .500 for the first time since June, losers of 31 of their last 45 games. If that's not a collapse, I'd really hate to see one.
A lot of Pirates fans will tell you that even approaching 80 victories is a show of improvement. I agree to an extent, but it's all relative, and I think the fans were expecting a little more down the stretch after such a promising first 104 games.
Everytime you think things couldn't get any worse, and the hole can't get any deeper, the Pirates seem to dig a new low. Take today's game for example. After falling behind, 4-0, to the Milwaukee Brewers this afternoon at PNC Park, I didn't have much hope that the team would salvage the final game of the three-game series. However, thanks to Andrew McCutchen and, yes, Clint Barmes, the Pirates actually stormed back to take a 7-4 lead. I've all but lost any hope in a postseason berth, but a nice Thursday afternoon victory similar to the one against the Dodgers on a Thursday afternoon at PNC last month that salvaged the final game of a four-game series would have at least been something. And it would have inched them a little closer to that 81 win mark (I don't even care about 82 wins at this point).
But at the same time, I also had that sense of dread that the Brewers were just waiting for the once dominant Pirates bullpen to collapse, and their patience paid off. The Pirates relievers, led by Chad Qualls and Chris Resop, gave up four runs in the 8th inning and another in the 9th as the Pirates fell, 9-7.
Where do the Pirates go from here? Who knows? I do know that for the 20th straight season, there won't be anything for Pirates fans to feel proud of--even if they manage to finish with a winning record. An 82 win season would still mean a 22-36 finish.
Doesn't feel like a winner to me.
A lot of Pirates fans will tell you that even approaching 80 victories is a show of improvement. I agree to an extent, but it's all relative, and I think the fans were expecting a little more down the stretch after such a promising first 104 games.
Everytime you think things couldn't get any worse, and the hole can't get any deeper, the Pirates seem to dig a new low. Take today's game for example. After falling behind, 4-0, to the Milwaukee Brewers this afternoon at PNC Park, I didn't have much hope that the team would salvage the final game of the three-game series. However, thanks to Andrew McCutchen and, yes, Clint Barmes, the Pirates actually stormed back to take a 7-4 lead. I've all but lost any hope in a postseason berth, but a nice Thursday afternoon victory similar to the one against the Dodgers on a Thursday afternoon at PNC last month that salvaged the final game of a four-game series would have at least been something. And it would have inched them a little closer to that 81 win mark (I don't even care about 82 wins at this point).
But at the same time, I also had that sense of dread that the Brewers were just waiting for the once dominant Pirates bullpen to collapse, and their patience paid off. The Pirates relievers, led by Chad Qualls and Chris Resop, gave up four runs in the 8th inning and another in the 9th as the Pirates fell, 9-7.
Where do the Pirates go from here? Who knows? I do know that for the 20th straight season, there won't be anything for Pirates fans to feel proud of--even if they manage to finish with a winning record. An 82 win season would still mean a 22-36 finish.
Doesn't feel like a winner to me.
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
The 1983 Pittsburgh Pirates: A Team that May Have been Even More Schizophrenic than the 2012 Edition
There is no doubt that the post-100 games portion of the Pittsburgh Pirates 2012 season has been a huge disappointment. After going on a 40-20 run to achieve a 60-44 mark and a four-game lead in the National League wild card standings, the Pirates have since gone 14-29 and are only still in "contention" for a wild card spot because MLB decided to add a second spot, and because the teams that they are battling are also kind of mediocre.
As high as the highs were in June and July, that's how low the lows have been in August and September. One might say it's a tale of two teams, and one would be right. Nobody seems to be able to put a finger on the 2012 squad, and perhaps even more frightening, regardless of how the reminder of the schedule plays out, nobody knows quite what to expect in 2013.
However, as schizophrenic as the 2012 Pittsburgh Pirates have been, they may not even come close to the emotional ebbs and flows that fans of the 1983 Pirates must have been feeling.
I've followed the Pirates quite closely since 1984, and in that entire time, I've witnessed four, count'em, four winning seasons (hopefully, it'll be five after this season, but I'm not holding my breath). The 1983 Pirates have always fascinated me a bit because, even though Willie Stargell had retired by that point, guys like Dave Parker were still around, as were other '79 World Series heroes, such as Bill Madlock and Kent Tekulve. Even though the roster wasn't quite the same as those late-70s squads, I'm sure the standards were still pretty high for the Pirates at that time. The '83 edition finished in second place in the NL East with an 84-78 record. But like this year's team, they were kind of contenders but not really, and how they got to that 84-78 mark was quite the roller coaster ride of ups and downs all throughout the year. Pedro Alvarez would have loved playing for the '83 Pirates because even though the end result was a pretty decent record, consistency wasn't their trademark.
Below is a recap:
I wasn't following baseball then, so why the Pirates opened up the season with a one game "series" in St. Louis to face the World Champion Cardinals is beyond me. However, they won that game, 7-1, and then went to Houston and swept the Astros in a four-game series. 5-0 is a start to the season that any fan would take, and even though I realize that the Pirates weren't exactly the number one team in town in the early 80's, the Bucco faithful had to be pretty excited. How did the team reward this excitement? By losing 14 of their next 18 games to fall to fourth place in the National League East, and 5.5 games out of first place.
After starting out 9-14, things sort of settled down a bit, as the Pirates went 9-9 over the next 18 games and were 18-23. They were still in fourth place, and 6.5 games out of first. Pittsburgh then lost six games in a row, and then seven out of 12 to fall to a pretty crappy 23-36 and were now in fifth place, 8.5 games out of first.
Were there calls for Chuck Tanner, still manager at that time, to be fired? Who knows, but if there were, the team answered the bell by going on a nine-game winning streak, including a four-game sweep in St. Louis. At 32-36, the Pirates were back in fourth place and had made up three games in the standings. Not bad.
The Pirates then lost four-games in a row, including a three-game sweep to the Cubs at Wrigley Field, and had slipped to eight games under .500 at 32-40. After going 4-3 over a seven game stretch, the Pirates went on an eight-game winning splurge, including a three-game sweep in San Francisco and a four-game sweep in San Diego--if only the 2012 Pirates could have played the '83 Padres.
The Pirates were now 44-43, in second place in the division and only one game out of first place. I'll bet pennant fever had gripped the city of Pittsburgh by that point. If there was a fever, the Pirates kept things warm by winning 10 of their next 14 games to move to 54-47 and 1.5 games up in the NL East standings.
Unfortunately, the fever subsided, as the Pirates lost seven out of nine games, including a three-game sweep at Three Rivers by the Montreal Expos, to fall to 56-54 and had slipped to third place in the standings.
Fear not, fans of the '83 Pirates, because after losing two of three in Philadelphia to the eventual NL Champion Phillies, the Pirates went on a five game winning-streak, including a sweep of the Expos in Montreal, and were in second place with a 62-55 record. The Pirates were only one game back in the standings, and things were only going to get better from there, right?
Wrong! The Pirates proceeded to lose six of seven games at home to fall to 63-61. However, you 2012 Pirates fans will appreciate this: The Pirates managed to actually gain a .5 game in the standings because the first place Phillies were even more awful during that stretch.
Pittsburgh then won five of their next six games to improve to 68-62. More importantly, they had moved into first place and had a two-game lead. It was time to leave the rest of the field in the dust!
Not so fast. The Pirates then lost eight of their next 12 games, including two of three at home to the Phillies, to drop to fourth place at 72-70. That record looks a little familiar, doesn't it, 2012 Pittsburgh Pirates?
All hope was lost, right? Wrong again! The Pirates won their next six games to improve to 78-70 and found themselves in a tie for first place with those Phillies. It sure was going to be an exciting finish, right?
I think you know where this is going. The Pirates went 6-8 down the stretch, and that may have been all right if the Phillies had stuck to their '83 script of being sort of mediocre up to that point. Instead of that, however, the Phillies finished out the year by winning 13 of their last 15 games and won the NL East by six games over Pittsburgh.
So there you have it. I don't know what was going through the minds of Pirates fans during the team's '83 campaign, but it may have been even more frustrating than what this year's team has done to our collective psyche.
As most fans probably know, the Pirates '83 run was the end of a great era of winning baseball, and the team soon sank to lows it hadn't seen in decades; lows that threatened the very existence of the franchise in Pittsburgh.
One might say that the schizophrenic nature of the 1983 Pirates was that of a veteran team on its last leg. Let's hope the schizophrenic nature of the 2012 Pittsburgh Pirates is that of a young team that just needs stronger legs to stand on.
As high as the highs were in June and July, that's how low the lows have been in August and September. One might say it's a tale of two teams, and one would be right. Nobody seems to be able to put a finger on the 2012 squad, and perhaps even more frightening, regardless of how the reminder of the schedule plays out, nobody knows quite what to expect in 2013.
However, as schizophrenic as the 2012 Pittsburgh Pirates have been, they may not even come close to the emotional ebbs and flows that fans of the 1983 Pirates must have been feeling.
I've followed the Pirates quite closely since 1984, and in that entire time, I've witnessed four, count'em, four winning seasons (hopefully, it'll be five after this season, but I'm not holding my breath). The 1983 Pirates have always fascinated me a bit because, even though Willie Stargell had retired by that point, guys like Dave Parker were still around, as were other '79 World Series heroes, such as Bill Madlock and Kent Tekulve. Even though the roster wasn't quite the same as those late-70s squads, I'm sure the standards were still pretty high for the Pirates at that time. The '83 edition finished in second place in the NL East with an 84-78 record. But like this year's team, they were kind of contenders but not really, and how they got to that 84-78 mark was quite the roller coaster ride of ups and downs all throughout the year. Pedro Alvarez would have loved playing for the '83 Pirates because even though the end result was a pretty decent record, consistency wasn't their trademark.
Below is a recap:
I wasn't following baseball then, so why the Pirates opened up the season with a one game "series" in St. Louis to face the World Champion Cardinals is beyond me. However, they won that game, 7-1, and then went to Houston and swept the Astros in a four-game series. 5-0 is a start to the season that any fan would take, and even though I realize that the Pirates weren't exactly the number one team in town in the early 80's, the Bucco faithful had to be pretty excited. How did the team reward this excitement? By losing 14 of their next 18 games to fall to fourth place in the National League East, and 5.5 games out of first place.
After starting out 9-14, things sort of settled down a bit, as the Pirates went 9-9 over the next 18 games and were 18-23. They were still in fourth place, and 6.5 games out of first. Pittsburgh then lost six games in a row, and then seven out of 12 to fall to a pretty crappy 23-36 and were now in fifth place, 8.5 games out of first.
Were there calls for Chuck Tanner, still manager at that time, to be fired? Who knows, but if there were, the team answered the bell by going on a nine-game winning streak, including a four-game sweep in St. Louis. At 32-36, the Pirates were back in fourth place and had made up three games in the standings. Not bad.
The Pirates then lost four-games in a row, including a three-game sweep to the Cubs at Wrigley Field, and had slipped to eight games under .500 at 32-40. After going 4-3 over a seven game stretch, the Pirates went on an eight-game winning splurge, including a three-game sweep in San Francisco and a four-game sweep in San Diego--if only the 2012 Pirates could have played the '83 Padres.
The Pirates were now 44-43, in second place in the division and only one game out of first place. I'll bet pennant fever had gripped the city of Pittsburgh by that point. If there was a fever, the Pirates kept things warm by winning 10 of their next 14 games to move to 54-47 and 1.5 games up in the NL East standings.
Unfortunately, the fever subsided, as the Pirates lost seven out of nine games, including a three-game sweep at Three Rivers by the Montreal Expos, to fall to 56-54 and had slipped to third place in the standings.
Fear not, fans of the '83 Pirates, because after losing two of three in Philadelphia to the eventual NL Champion Phillies, the Pirates went on a five game winning-streak, including a sweep of the Expos in Montreal, and were in second place with a 62-55 record. The Pirates were only one game back in the standings, and things were only going to get better from there, right?
Wrong! The Pirates proceeded to lose six of seven games at home to fall to 63-61. However, you 2012 Pirates fans will appreciate this: The Pirates managed to actually gain a .5 game in the standings because the first place Phillies were even more awful during that stretch.
Pittsburgh then won five of their next six games to improve to 68-62. More importantly, they had moved into first place and had a two-game lead. It was time to leave the rest of the field in the dust!
Not so fast. The Pirates then lost eight of their next 12 games, including two of three at home to the Phillies, to drop to fourth place at 72-70. That record looks a little familiar, doesn't it, 2012 Pittsburgh Pirates?
All hope was lost, right? Wrong again! The Pirates won their next six games to improve to 78-70 and found themselves in a tie for first place with those Phillies. It sure was going to be an exciting finish, right?
I think you know where this is going. The Pirates went 6-8 down the stretch, and that may have been all right if the Phillies had stuck to their '83 script of being sort of mediocre up to that point. Instead of that, however, the Phillies finished out the year by winning 13 of their last 15 games and won the NL East by six games over Pittsburgh.
So there you have it. I don't know what was going through the minds of Pirates fans during the team's '83 campaign, but it may have been even more frustrating than what this year's team has done to our collective psyche.
As most fans probably know, the Pirates '83 run was the end of a great era of winning baseball, and the team soon sank to lows it hadn't seen in decades; lows that threatened the very existence of the franchise in Pittsburgh.
One might say that the schizophrenic nature of the 1983 Pirates was that of a veteran team on its last leg. Let's hope the schizophrenic nature of the 2012 Pittsburgh Pirates is that of a young team that just needs stronger legs to stand on.
Steve Sabol of NFL Films: 1942-2012
Since I was born in 1972, I was way too young to know or worry about the National Football League or those legendary Steelers Super Bowl teams from the 70s. However, thanks to Ed Sabol, the founder of NFL Films, and his son, Steve, I was able to learn about the great game of football and those Steelers teams by watching the countless shows that NFL Films has been producing for the better part of five decades. Steve Sabol, the president of NFL Films who died yesterday of brain cancer, was the driving force and the vision of the company for many years. It was fitting that Ed Sabol founded a company that produced football footage, because once he handed the football off to his son, Steve, he never stopped running with it until he was finally tackled by the ravages of time.
No blog entry I write about the man will do Sabol as much justice as what Homer J of Behind the Steel Curtain wrote in this wonderful tribute piece.
I never realized that Sabol was an art major in college, but that may explain so much, because, above everything, an NFL Films production is artistic in style. It captures the game of football with a sense of cinematic flair, and that was all Steve Sabol. NFL Films innovated such things as the close-up on a football as it spiraled through the air as well as fitting players and coaches with microphones to help capture the drama on the sidelines and on the field.
Did you know that the late Bill Saul, a Steelers middle linebacker in the 60s, was the first player NFL Films fitted with a wireless microphone during a game?
NFL Films is also known for its great narrators, and there was none more legendary than the late John Facenda. He was called "the Voice of God" for his ability to bring features to life with his deep voice and slow and deliberate style. That link is titled "The Autumn Wind," and it was written by Steve Sabol, and it may be the most popular narrative in the company's storied history.
And did you hear the musical score? Oh, those musical scores that NFL Films produces. I still get goosebumps when I watch an NFL Films piece from the 70s, accompanied by one of those classical scores.
I consider myself a bit of an NFL historian these days, and a great deal of the history that I learned can be attributed to the many NFL Films productions that I've watched all throughout my life. I grew up watching NFL Films productions like NFL Yearbook, a highlight package show about each team's previous season; NFL Films Football Follies; the NFL Game of the Week; and, my favorite, the Super Bowl highlight shows.
I think what makes NFL Films so great is that it captures the game of football on, well, film. As I said, I was too young to watch any of those 70s Steelers teams, but the great thing about Youtube and DVDs is I get a chance to watch the occasional network broadcasts of those old games today. However, no offense to network footage that is produced on video tape, but it just doesn't seem as dramatic to me. Here's footage from NBC's broadcast of the Immaculate Reception, circa 1972. Not bad. Now here's an NFL Films production that chronicled the event that forever changed the fortunes of the Steelers franchise.
Which one gives you goosebumps? Yeah, I like the second one, too. It captures the drama that led up to the event, the controversy surrounding the play, and oh, that music. That glorious music.
NFL Films had a way of making players, coaches and teams from bygone eras seem almost mythical to me by the time I learned about them as a kid, and that is something to truly treasure.
Not too many people get to realize their vision, but Steve Sabol did, and millions of football fans around the world are forever grateful.
RIP, Steve.
No blog entry I write about the man will do Sabol as much justice as what Homer J of Behind the Steel Curtain wrote in this wonderful tribute piece.
I never realized that Sabol was an art major in college, but that may explain so much, because, above everything, an NFL Films production is artistic in style. It captures the game of football with a sense of cinematic flair, and that was all Steve Sabol. NFL Films innovated such things as the close-up on a football as it spiraled through the air as well as fitting players and coaches with microphones to help capture the drama on the sidelines and on the field.
Did you know that the late Bill Saul, a Steelers middle linebacker in the 60s, was the first player NFL Films fitted with a wireless microphone during a game?
NFL Films is also known for its great narrators, and there was none more legendary than the late John Facenda. He was called "the Voice of God" for his ability to bring features to life with his deep voice and slow and deliberate style. That link is titled "The Autumn Wind," and it was written by Steve Sabol, and it may be the most popular narrative in the company's storied history.
And did you hear the musical score? Oh, those musical scores that NFL Films produces. I still get goosebumps when I watch an NFL Films piece from the 70s, accompanied by one of those classical scores.
I consider myself a bit of an NFL historian these days, and a great deal of the history that I learned can be attributed to the many NFL Films productions that I've watched all throughout my life. I grew up watching NFL Films productions like NFL Yearbook, a highlight package show about each team's previous season; NFL Films Football Follies; the NFL Game of the Week; and, my favorite, the Super Bowl highlight shows.
I think what makes NFL Films so great is that it captures the game of football on, well, film. As I said, I was too young to watch any of those 70s Steelers teams, but the great thing about Youtube and DVDs is I get a chance to watch the occasional network broadcasts of those old games today. However, no offense to network footage that is produced on video tape, but it just doesn't seem as dramatic to me. Here's footage from NBC's broadcast of the Immaculate Reception, circa 1972. Not bad. Now here's an NFL Films production that chronicled the event that forever changed the fortunes of the Steelers franchise.
Which one gives you goosebumps? Yeah, I like the second one, too. It captures the drama that led up to the event, the controversy surrounding the play, and oh, that music. That glorious music.
NFL Films had a way of making players, coaches and teams from bygone eras seem almost mythical to me by the time I learned about them as a kid, and that is something to truly treasure.
Not too many people get to realize their vision, but Steve Sabol did, and millions of football fans around the world are forever grateful.
RIP, Steve.
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
The Panthers Defeated Virginia Tech on Saturday? That Really Happened?
When you work all weekend like I sometimes do, you don't always get to blog about everything all at once. Well, I worked all weekend, and I didn't get a chance to blog about the Pitt Panthers' surprising 35-17 win over 13th ranked Virginia Tech on Saturday at Heinz Field. So, therefore, I'd like to start off by saying, WOW! I totally did not see that coming.
I glanced at the local newspaper on Saturday morning, and I saw the article referencing the Panthers' 2001 victory over the Hokies that catapulted Pitt from a poor start to a bowl berth. Actually, the Panthers had the Hokies number in the early 00's. In 2000, the Panthers traveled to highly ranked Virginia Tech and nearly walked away with a victory. In 2002, the Panthers actually did defeat the 2nd ranked Hokies. And Pitt won another exciting clash in 2003 to end the series for the time-being and send the Hokies packing to the ACC.
But that was nearly 10 years ago. Just because one school had another school's number a decade earlier does not mean that it will continue on to today. Not after the way the Panthers were manhandled by both Cincinnati AND Division I-AA Youngstown State to start the season. Pitt would be lucky to defeat Gardner Webb, let alone Virginia Tech, right?
Well, I'll be damned. PITT still has Virginia Tech's number.
Good job, PITT.
I glanced at the local newspaper on Saturday morning, and I saw the article referencing the Panthers' 2001 victory over the Hokies that catapulted Pitt from a poor start to a bowl berth. Actually, the Panthers had the Hokies number in the early 00's. In 2000, the Panthers traveled to highly ranked Virginia Tech and nearly walked away with a victory. In 2002, the Panthers actually did defeat the 2nd ranked Hokies. And Pitt won another exciting clash in 2003 to end the series for the time-being and send the Hokies packing to the ACC.
But that was nearly 10 years ago. Just because one school had another school's number a decade earlier does not mean that it will continue on to today. Not after the way the Panthers were manhandled by both Cincinnati AND Division I-AA Youngstown State to start the season. Pitt would be lucky to defeat Gardner Webb, let alone Virginia Tech, right?
Well, I'll be damned. PITT still has Virginia Tech's number.
Good job, PITT.
Pirates Defeat Cubs, 3-0, After Long Rain Delay
These days, even when the Pittsburgh Pirates win, they do it when nobody is watching. The Pirates defeated the Chicago Cubs last night (or early this morning), 3-0, in a game that started at 11:40 EST due to a rain-delay that lasted three hour and 35 minutes. I guess since we're heading down the final stretch of the season, MLB REALLY wanted to get this game in. And I guess since there were playoff "implications," it was paramount that last night's game was played. The Cubs fans in attendance, and the Pirates fans who stayed up late to watch this game on TV can thank MLB for that second wild card that was added to the mix for this season, because that's the only reason that this game was even played. The Atlanta Braves are well ahead of the rest of the pack in the wild card standings and will surely wrap up that first spot any day now. To give you some perspective, right now, the Pirates find themselves 2.5 games out for the second wild card spot in the NL, but they're 11 games back of the Braves for the first spot. So, a season ago, last night's game may have been called and everyone sent home, beings that it would have been damn-near impossible for the Pirates to catch Atlanta for the one and only wild card spot.
If the tone of this blog seems pessimistic, that's because I'm very much in a negative state about the Pirates. To say that I had Bucco Fever for the better part of the summer would be an understatement. I was IN LOVE with this team, and I was actually interested in baseball again. After starting out 20-24 with virtually no offense, the Pirates went on a 40-20 tear and led MLB in home runs and runs scored at one point. It was awesome. It was magical.
They found themselves 16 games over .500 in early August and had a four game lead in the wild card standings. Since that time, they've gone 14-28, and have fallen into a crowded race for that second wild card spot. The fact that Pittsburgh is only 2.5 games back of the St. Louis Cardinals should tell you all you need to know about the golden opportunity that this team has squandered. Had the Pirates simply gone 21-21 over the past 42 games--which shouldn't be too much to ask for a contender--they would not only be at the 81 win mark, they'd be 4.5 games up in the wild card standings, and instead of the local papers printing "magic number countdowns" to break the losing streak, we'd have a very tangible magic number to clinch a playoff berth.
The Cardinals have been pretty atrocious lately, and the Pirates have actually had their way with St. Louis, winning six of the last nine games played between the two teams. However, the Pirates simply can't defeat anyone else, and they're getting embarrassed by teams like the Cubs.
I suppose I should be happy that the Pirates took two of the last three games in Chicago, but after finally breaking their seven game losing streak on Saturday, the Pirates were up 6-1 and then 9-5 to Chicago on Sunday before giving up eight straight runs from the 5th inning on and lost, 13-9. To me, that's where I lost all hope that this team actually has what it takes to get on any kind of roll down the stretch.
Tonight, the Milwaukee Brewers come to town, and if you can believe it, they have caught the Pirates in the standings and have the same 74-72 record. Milwaukee was a joke not even a month ago, but thanks to our Buccos, who dropped five out of six to them in recent weeks, the Brewers were able to get healthy, and they're now doing some wild card dreaming of their own.
I'm not very hopeful. Just give me seven more wins, Pirates. At least that way, you won't be losers for a 20th straight season.
If the tone of this blog seems pessimistic, that's because I'm very much in a negative state about the Pirates. To say that I had Bucco Fever for the better part of the summer would be an understatement. I was IN LOVE with this team, and I was actually interested in baseball again. After starting out 20-24 with virtually no offense, the Pirates went on a 40-20 tear and led MLB in home runs and runs scored at one point. It was awesome. It was magical.
They found themselves 16 games over .500 in early August and had a four game lead in the wild card standings. Since that time, they've gone 14-28, and have fallen into a crowded race for that second wild card spot. The fact that Pittsburgh is only 2.5 games back of the St. Louis Cardinals should tell you all you need to know about the golden opportunity that this team has squandered. Had the Pirates simply gone 21-21 over the past 42 games--which shouldn't be too much to ask for a contender--they would not only be at the 81 win mark, they'd be 4.5 games up in the wild card standings, and instead of the local papers printing "magic number countdowns" to break the losing streak, we'd have a very tangible magic number to clinch a playoff berth.
The Cardinals have been pretty atrocious lately, and the Pirates have actually had their way with St. Louis, winning six of the last nine games played between the two teams. However, the Pirates simply can't defeat anyone else, and they're getting embarrassed by teams like the Cubs.
I suppose I should be happy that the Pirates took two of the last three games in Chicago, but after finally breaking their seven game losing streak on Saturday, the Pirates were up 6-1 and then 9-5 to Chicago on Sunday before giving up eight straight runs from the 5th inning on and lost, 13-9. To me, that's where I lost all hope that this team actually has what it takes to get on any kind of roll down the stretch.
Tonight, the Milwaukee Brewers come to town, and if you can believe it, they have caught the Pirates in the standings and have the same 74-72 record. Milwaukee was a joke not even a month ago, but thanks to our Buccos, who dropped five out of six to them in recent weeks, the Brewers were able to get healthy, and they're now doing some wild card dreaming of their own.
I'm not very hopeful. Just give me seven more wins, Pirates. At least that way, you won't be losers for a 20th straight season.
Sunday, September 16, 2012
Steelers Answer Week One Loss with Impressive 27-10 Thumping of Jets
For the second straight season, the Steelers answered a road loss in week one with a very impressive home-opening win in week two. Last year, after getting blown out by the Ravens in week one, the Steelers came home to Heinz Field and thumped the Seahawks, 24-0. This season, after a disappointing road loss to Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos last Sunday night, the Steelers opened up the home portion of their schedule with an impressive 27-10 victory over the New York Jets.
Ben Roethlisberger led an efficient-to-spectacular passing attack, going 24/31 for 275 yards, and two touchdowns, including a remarkable 37 yard score to Mike Wallace, who made an acrobatic catch in the end zone, barely getting both feet in-bounds. The running attack, led by Isaac Redman, only accumulated 66 yards, but the offense did possess the football for over 36 minutes.
After looking shaky on the Jets first two possessions, the Steelers defense looked sharp the rest of the way, limiting Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez to 138 yards and only one touchdown. New York's ground game was slightly more impressive than Pittsburgh's, but only slightly as Shonn Greene and company racked up just 90 yards.
The Steelers head out west next week to take on the 0-2 Oakland Raiders.
Ben Roethlisberger led an efficient-to-spectacular passing attack, going 24/31 for 275 yards, and two touchdowns, including a remarkable 37 yard score to Mike Wallace, who made an acrobatic catch in the end zone, barely getting both feet in-bounds. The running attack, led by Isaac Redman, only accumulated 66 yards, but the offense did possess the football for over 36 minutes.
After looking shaky on the Jets first two possessions, the Steelers defense looked sharp the rest of the way, limiting Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez to 138 yards and only one touchdown. New York's ground game was slightly more impressive than Pittsburgh's, but only slightly as Shonn Greene and company racked up just 90 yards.
The Steelers head out west next week to take on the 0-2 Oakland Raiders.
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Notre Dame to the ACC..........Except in Football
In a move that makes me kind of yawn, Notre Dame has agreed to join the ACC in all sports except the one sport that every conference would love it to join: college football.
You can read all the particulars by clicking the link provided, but it's not really earth-shattering news. It's essentially the same deal that the Irish have had with the Big East for years. What would be earth-shattering is the Irish actually becoming a football member.
I know the Notre Dame brand brings prestige even in other sports because of the school's huge national recognition. But really, if the football program was eliminated tomorrow, would anyone care about any other Notre Dame sport? Would the pockets of fans that stretch across the entire country travel very far to see the men's basketball program, or the women's volleyball team? I'm having a hard time believing that they would.
To me, any agreement that the Fightin' Irish makes with a conference that includes every sport except football is heavily one-sided in favor of the folks at South Bend. If Notre Dame was forced to be independent in all sports, the non-football sports would most-likely die a quick death, and they know that. However, if Notre Dame were to actually join a conference in football, that conference could ask for the moon with regards to their television contract, and they would probably get it with some stars thrown in just because.
But, just like the Big East, the ACC doesn't have the (foot)balls to tell Notre Dame, "Either you're in all the way, or you're out in the cold."
Maybe one of these days, the Fightin' Irish will be relevant again in division I college football, and all the fuss that schools make about having their name attached to their conference will actually be justified.
Until then.......Yawn!
You can read all the particulars by clicking the link provided, but it's not really earth-shattering news. It's essentially the same deal that the Irish have had with the Big East for years. What would be earth-shattering is the Irish actually becoming a football member.
I know the Notre Dame brand brings prestige even in other sports because of the school's huge national recognition. But really, if the football program was eliminated tomorrow, would anyone care about any other Notre Dame sport? Would the pockets of fans that stretch across the entire country travel very far to see the men's basketball program, or the women's volleyball team? I'm having a hard time believing that they would.
To me, any agreement that the Fightin' Irish makes with a conference that includes every sport except football is heavily one-sided in favor of the folks at South Bend. If Notre Dame was forced to be independent in all sports, the non-football sports would most-likely die a quick death, and they know that. However, if Notre Dame were to actually join a conference in football, that conference could ask for the moon with regards to their television contract, and they would probably get it with some stars thrown in just because.
But, just like the Big East, the ACC doesn't have the (foot)balls to tell Notre Dame, "Either you're in all the way, or you're out in the cold."
Maybe one of these days, the Fightin' Irish will be relevant again in division I college football, and all the fuss that schools make about having their name attached to their conference will actually be justified.
Until then.......Yawn!
The Pittsburgh Sports Scene is in a Major Slump
The Pirates haven't won a game since last Wednesday, and their season is quickly imploding.
The Steelers lost their season opener to the Denver Broncos Sunday night, and this might be over-dramatic, but they haven't won a game since January 1st.
And don't get me started on the local college football scene. The Pitt Panthers have looked absolutely pathetic during their 0-2 start, including an embarrassing 31-17 loss at Heinz Field to the division I-AA Youngstown St. Penguins in their season debut under new head coach Paul Chryst.
And even though I hate Penn State, if you cross-reference a lot of sports fans in Western, Pa., you'll find that there are probably almost as many Nittany Lions supporters as there are Panther faithful, and since PSU's off to an 0-2 start of their own-- including a heartbreaking 17-16 loss at Virginia this past Saturday--let's just say there aren't very many satisfied sports fans in the region at this very moment.
Ever have one of those days where one bad thing leads to another trying event? That's what it feels like to be a Pittsburgh area sports fan right now.
We need a fix. Who will give us that much needed boost? The Pirates aren't looking like a team that is going to give us anything to cheer about anytime soon. In fact, I have a very bad feeling they're going to go in the exact opposite direction, and we'll be talking about a 20th straight losing-season when all is said and done. I hate to say that, but it's so darn true.
As for Penn State, they play Navy on Saturday, and that might be a recipe for victory. However, the program is so depleted and compromised from the sanctions that were imposed following the Jerry Sandussky scandal, I wouldn't be surprised if they lost 10 games this season.
And Pitt seems like a lost-cause. It doesn't get any easier this week with Virginia Tech coming to town. It'll be a preview of a future ACC match-up, but I get the feeling Panthers fans will begin to dread the future move after what I fear will be a third-straight beat-down at the hands of the Hokies. They might get their first (and maybe only) win against Gardner Webb the following week. I doubt anyone will get any satisfaction out of it, and it certainly wouldn't do much to lift the region out of its sports slump.
And you can't count on the Penguins to provide fans with any hope, not with a potential lockout looming on the horizon.
So, who do we turn to to rescue us from these doldrums? I'm thinking it's the Pittsburgh Steelers. They may have lost to the Broncos on Sunday, but they didn't look too horrible doing it, and I saw nothing to suggest that they're going to have an awful year. Maybe this week, the Steelers will vanquish the New York Jets and boost our morale.
When all else fails, you can always count on the Steelers.
The Steelers lost their season opener to the Denver Broncos Sunday night, and this might be over-dramatic, but they haven't won a game since January 1st.
And don't get me started on the local college football scene. The Pitt Panthers have looked absolutely pathetic during their 0-2 start, including an embarrassing 31-17 loss at Heinz Field to the division I-AA Youngstown St. Penguins in their season debut under new head coach Paul Chryst.
And even though I hate Penn State, if you cross-reference a lot of sports fans in Western, Pa., you'll find that there are probably almost as many Nittany Lions supporters as there are Panther faithful, and since PSU's off to an 0-2 start of their own-- including a heartbreaking 17-16 loss at Virginia this past Saturday--let's just say there aren't very many satisfied sports fans in the region at this very moment.
Ever have one of those days where one bad thing leads to another trying event? That's what it feels like to be a Pittsburgh area sports fan right now.
We need a fix. Who will give us that much needed boost? The Pirates aren't looking like a team that is going to give us anything to cheer about anytime soon. In fact, I have a very bad feeling they're going to go in the exact opposite direction, and we'll be talking about a 20th straight losing-season when all is said and done. I hate to say that, but it's so darn true.
As for Penn State, they play Navy on Saturday, and that might be a recipe for victory. However, the program is so depleted and compromised from the sanctions that were imposed following the Jerry Sandussky scandal, I wouldn't be surprised if they lost 10 games this season.
And Pitt seems like a lost-cause. It doesn't get any easier this week with Virginia Tech coming to town. It'll be a preview of a future ACC match-up, but I get the feeling Panthers fans will begin to dread the future move after what I fear will be a third-straight beat-down at the hands of the Hokies. They might get their first (and maybe only) win against Gardner Webb the following week. I doubt anyone will get any satisfaction out of it, and it certainly wouldn't do much to lift the region out of its sports slump.
And you can't count on the Penguins to provide fans with any hope, not with a potential lockout looming on the horizon.
So, who do we turn to to rescue us from these doldrums? I'm thinking it's the Pittsburgh Steelers. They may have lost to the Broncos on Sunday, but they didn't look too horrible doing it, and I saw nothing to suggest that they're going to have an awful year. Maybe this week, the Steelers will vanquish the New York Jets and boost our morale.
When all else fails, you can always count on the Steelers.
Monday, September 10, 2012
Steelers Lose Opener in Denver to Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos
"Sometimes, you get the bear. Sometimes, the bear gets you." I don't know who that quote was originally attached to, but I've heard Steelers defensive coordinator Dick Lebeau use it several times over the years. It was certainly a fitting saying last evening, after the Steelers went down to the Broncos, 31-19, in Peyton Manning's debut in Denver.
Manning played like Manning, and the Steelers defense struggled to contain him for most of the night. For his part, Ben Roethlisberger looked like an elite quarterback for most of the evening before throwing a pick-six to Tracy Porter with the game still in the balance.
I'm not saying I'm happy with the loss, and I'm not saying that the Steelers don't have a lot to work on--if they played a perfect game, they wouldn't have lost--but, for my money, season opening wins and losses are so overblown, I can't stand it.
There is way too much importance placed on the first game, and I realize that each regular season game is a precious commodity with only 16 of them to shape your season, but all you need to know about the NFL these days is that your defending Super Bowl Champions, the New York football Giants, were 7-7 after 14 games in 2011. It's all about how a team is playing in December, and not how it's playing in September. And, for the most part, I thought the Steelers made a pretty decent accounting of themselves in the face of a pretty feisty bear.
As I said last week in this article that I wrote for Behind the Steel Curtain, sometimes a team's reputation is its own worst enemy when it comes to scheduling. The Steelers are one of the marquee teams in the NFL, and that gives us Steelers fans some pretty awesome bragging rights. But when it comes to scheduling, it sure doesn't always bode well for the team. Opening up on the road in prime-time in Denver with it's rarefied air is one thing. But when you add to that the media circus surrounding Manning's Broncos' debut, it's akin to a top 5 college football team opening up on the road against an opponent ranked in the top 10. Fortunately, unlike college football, NFL teams are allowed to lose a few games and still compete for a championship.
And this year's season opener beat last season's hands down. If you remember 2011's curtain-raiser, the Steelers were manhandled, 35-7, by their bitter division rivals, the Baltimore Ravens. However, Pittsburgh managed to bounce back and make the playoffs with a 12-4 record.
Not to sound like a cliche, but it's not the end of the world. However, if we're looking at an 0-2 start after a loss to the Jets at Heinz Field this coming Sunday, the sky could indeed start to fall.......at least in Pittsburgh.
Manning played like Manning, and the Steelers defense struggled to contain him for most of the night. For his part, Ben Roethlisberger looked like an elite quarterback for most of the evening before throwing a pick-six to Tracy Porter with the game still in the balance.
I'm not saying I'm happy with the loss, and I'm not saying that the Steelers don't have a lot to work on--if they played a perfect game, they wouldn't have lost--but, for my money, season opening wins and losses are so overblown, I can't stand it.
There is way too much importance placed on the first game, and I realize that each regular season game is a precious commodity with only 16 of them to shape your season, but all you need to know about the NFL these days is that your defending Super Bowl Champions, the New York football Giants, were 7-7 after 14 games in 2011. It's all about how a team is playing in December, and not how it's playing in September. And, for the most part, I thought the Steelers made a pretty decent accounting of themselves in the face of a pretty feisty bear.
As I said last week in this article that I wrote for Behind the Steel Curtain, sometimes a team's reputation is its own worst enemy when it comes to scheduling. The Steelers are one of the marquee teams in the NFL, and that gives us Steelers fans some pretty awesome bragging rights. But when it comes to scheduling, it sure doesn't always bode well for the team. Opening up on the road in prime-time in Denver with it's rarefied air is one thing. But when you add to that the media circus surrounding Manning's Broncos' debut, it's akin to a top 5 college football team opening up on the road against an opponent ranked in the top 10. Fortunately, unlike college football, NFL teams are allowed to lose a few games and still compete for a championship.
And this year's season opener beat last season's hands down. If you remember 2011's curtain-raiser, the Steelers were manhandled, 35-7, by their bitter division rivals, the Baltimore Ravens. However, Pittsburgh managed to bounce back and make the playoffs with a 12-4 record.
Not to sound like a cliche, but it's not the end of the world. However, if we're looking at an 0-2 start after a loss to the Jets at Heinz Field this coming Sunday, the sky could indeed start to fall.......at least in Pittsburgh.
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