Monday, March 28, 2011

Recent posts on Behind the Steel Curtain

Come check out some of the recent stuff I've been writing for Behind The Steel Curtain. Last week, I wrote something about the Final Four just as the NCAA tournament was kicking off: Final Four. Too bad my Pitt Panthers failed to make it past the second round. My brackets are totally busted. How about yours?

Last weekend, I was sad to hear that NFL Film's president Steve Sabol was diagnosed with a brain tumor. I don't think I'd be as big a fan of the NFL, and maybe even football in-general, if it wasn't for the great work that NFL Films has done over the years and I wrote a little piece about it: NFL Films.

Just yesterday, I wrote another piece about that infamous 1988 Steelers season. This time, there was a happy ending: Steelers upset the Oilers in the House Of Pain.

That's some of the stuff I've been writing about lately. Check it out, and take a gander at Behind the Steel Curtain while you're at it. It's the best Steelers blog I've ever seen. Great stuff on there.

PS,

I think I finally have this hyperlink jazz figured out, but I thought that before so.............

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Bart Scott is trying to copyright "Can't Wait!"

I was driving to work this morning and heard that Bart Scott is trying to obtain the copyrights to his famous quote: "Can't Wait!"

"Can't Wait!" was Scott's emotional response to ESPN's Sal Paolantonio directly following the Jets upset victory over the Patriots in the divisional round of the playoffs back in January. Sal was trying to get Scott's thoughts on the team's upcoming trip to Pittsburgh to play the Steelers in the AFC Championship game.

Scott was playing the disrespect card in his postgame rant and his "Can't Wait!" was his way of telling the world that his Jets couldn't wait to get to Pittsburgh and take care of the Steelers on their way to the Super Bowl.

"Can't Wait!" quickly became a rallying cry for New York Jets fans as they eagerly anticipated New York's trip to Pittsburgh.

It's nice that "Can't Wait!" got so much publicity and hype after New York knocked off their fierce rivals, and it's nice that the fans were really inspired by Scott's emotional exclamation.

Unfortunately for Bart Scott, the Jets and their fans, it was the Steelers who were celebrating another trip to the Super Bowl after they defeated the Jets at Heinz Field.

So why is Scott trying to gain the rights to "Can't Wait!"? What value could it possibly have after Scott and his team lost the game they simply couldn't wait for?

Does Scott enjoy losing?

Maybe Bart Scott will try to market his phrase in an ironic manner from now on.

"Did your dentist give you some unfortunate bad news? Do you have to have a painful root canal next Tuesday? Commemorate the event with this awesome Bart Scott "Can't Wait!" t-shirt."

"Has your wife served you with divorce papers and is telling you that she's going to drag you to court and take you for everything you've got? Laugh in her face as you throw on your very own Bart Scott "Can't Wait!" fleece jacket. It comes in all sizes."

"Did your boss tell you that he expects you to work the entire weekend? Just smile and take a sip out of your Bart Scott "Can't Wait!" coffee mug.

Yes, the possibilities are endless.

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Casey Heynes takes a stand. My take on bullying

I know this is a sports blog, but occasionally I like to step away from sports and talk about other things.

I've seen a lot of youtube "sensations" in my time, but nothing that I've seen has inspired me and many others as much as the Casey Heynes story.

For those of you who don't know, Casey Heynes is the 15 year old Australian teenager who was being bullied by 12 year old Ritchard Gale. He was repeatedly punched in the face as other kids stood by and mocked Heynes, cheered on Gale, and oh yes, video-taped the incident for their own enjoyment.

Casey, considerably bigger than his bully, had decided he'd had enough of the punishment and grabbed a hold of Gale, lifted him up and slammed him down on the pavement with his legs taking most of the punishment. Afterwards, Heynes walked away.

Naturally, the video surfaced on youtube and soon, Heynes and Gale became public figures with Casey emerging as a hero to many people around the world.

Speaking for myself, I can certainly relate to being bullied in school. From about the sixth grade all-the-way through high school, I was mocked, teased, beaten up and had some of my property destroyed.

I was beat up at my bus stop in the sixth grade for no reason other than I was just standing there, I was spit on in the 7th grade, I had my belongings torn out of my gym locker and thrown all over the place for no apparent reason in the 10th grade, etc, etc, etc.

Why was I the subject of so much abuse? Easy, I grew up overweight. I wasn't morbidly obese, just overweight and in school, even being slightly overweight is enough to make you an easy target. Casey Heynes has said that he'd been bullied for a long time and the main reason was his weight.

I grew up a pretty outgoing kid. I wasn't shy by any stretch of the imagination, but once I started to become a target for so many kids because of the way I looked and the clothes I wore, I quickly retreated into a shell and remained there well into my 20's. When you're constantly being told that you're nothing, you start to believe it.

I hated every second of school. I didn't want to be there and my grades suffered because of it. There were classes that I just dreaded, not because the work was too hard, but because I knew "Johnny the Bully" would be in that class and would say or do something that would embarrass be in front of everyone else.

In 11th grade, I took geometry and wasn't doing that well initially, but after a few months, I started to understand it better and my grades picked up slightly. However, one day in class, this kid made a remark about my appearance, everyone in the classroom got a laugh at my expense and it was so embarrassing, that I didn't even want to be in that class anymore. From that moment on, anytime I had to go to geometry, I almost became physically ill. I eventually failed that class.

I'm not saying any of this because I want people to feel sorry for me. All kids get picked on from time-to-time but there are some things that children shouldn't have to go through and just because the people doing it to them also happen to be kids doesn't make it okay.

If Casey Heynes truly was the subject of ridicule and bullying for many years, he probably felt trapped. See, when you're a kid, you HAVE to go to school. It's the law. When you're an adult and there are guys at the local bar who like to act like idiots and give you a hard time, you can decide to go somewhere else for Happy Hour, but when you're a kid, school is your world; you have no choice and it's as big a part of you as anything.

There is nothing worse than sitting in a classroom worried about what's going to happen to you when you're at recess or walking home from school. I had to live with that fear a lot, especially in middle school where kids seem to act the craziest.

There was a time in the 8th grade when I was walking home from school and two kids started throwing rocks at me and smacking me in the head. Why? I don't know, but there wasn't anyone around to help me or any adults to stop it. What did I do? I picked up a much bigger rock and threatened to throw it at them. They started swearing and running away but they didn't throw anymore rocks at me. Had I unleashed that much bigger rock at those kids, who knows what would have happened, but I was only in the 8th grade and, at that moment, I wasn't thinking about the consequences. I was getting smacked in the head with rocks and was pretty scared.

That's what I mean when I say there are certain things that children shouldn't have to put up with, even from other children.

In high school, I didn't receive much physical abuse because, as I said, I was bigger (200 pounds) and a lot of kids assumed I was strong (I wasn't). However, I was the subject of much emotional and mental abuse, and that's certainly another form of bullying and often, to a developing teenager, even worse than physical abuse. Getting picked on by "Sally the Cheerleader"and her friends can be even more traumatizing to an insecure teenage boy than being punched in the face by "Johnny the Jackass."

In an interview, Heynes said that he even contemplated suicide because of everything that was happening to him. How many teens have committed suicide over the years because they were constantly being bullied and abused in school? If nothing else, maybe this little incident prevented Casey Heynes from becoming just another statistic.

Ever since the Casey Heynes video surfaced, there are so many people out there who act as if this kind of stuff just started happening and want to know what can be done to stop it. I don't know if there's anything that can be done to stop bullies, but some parents certainly don't help matters any with their "My little "Johnny" or "Jenny" would never do anything like that" attitude any time their kid gets into trouble for harassing another child. And I don't remember too many teachers or anyone with authority coming to my rescue when I was being bullied in school. Maybe the only way to stop it is what Casey Heynes did.

Bullying has been going on for years and there have certainly been countless people who have fought back like Casey Heynes did, but thanks to youtube, his story is out there for everyone to see, and hopefully, learn from.

Right now, Ritchard Gale is probably one of the biggest villains in the world, and that might sound mean because he is only 12 years old, but maybe it will teach him, and thousands of other kids like him, that we live in a different world now and with cameras everywhere, nobody is safe from ridicule and scrutiny, even schoolyard bullies.

I certainly don't condone violence in any way and am glad that Ritchard Gale didn't suffer any serious trauma, but I am proud of Casey Heynes for what he did. I wish I would have stood up for myself a little more when I was younger. I was never at the point of being suicidal, but I hated just about every second of school from sixth grade on and, let's face it, when you're not comfortable in your environment, you cannot thrive. I've long-since crawled out of that shell I was in and am now the person and personality I was meant to be all along, but even to this day, when I'm anywhere near a classroom, I get chills. I am not comfortable in that environment at all.

Perhaps Casey Heynes has enabled himself to live out the rest of his school years in a comfortable environment and thrive like I wish I had.

I'm proud of you, Casey Heynes!

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

My first Steelers game

In an earlier post, I talked about the 1988 draft and how devastated I was with the pick of Aaron Jones.

Well, the draft wasn't the only thing bad about the 1988 Pittsburgh Steelers. The team finished with its worst record since 1969 at 5-11.

However, there was a silver-lining for yours truly. Because the Steelers had such an awful year, I had a chance to attend my first ever Steelers game at Three Rivers Stadium. I was 16 years old and I don't remember how my family happened upon these tickets, but I'm sure it had something to do with that awful season. Maybe they came with a purchase of Tide. I'm not sure.

At this point in the season, November 13th, Pittsburgh was 2-8 and set to face their interstate rivals, the Philadelphia Eagles.

I went to the game with my uncle who is the same age as me and was attending his first game, as well. We didn't seem to mind the horrible year the Steelers were having. We were just happy to be at Three Rivers Stadium that day to see the game. Hey, I can think of a lot of things worse than taking in an NFL game for free even if the home-team is sporting a horrible record.

As it turned out, it was a pretty entertaining day, both on the field and in the stands. You see, our seats were on the visitors side and that meant that we were among many Eagles fans who made the trip to Pittsburgh to cheer on their guys despite Philadelphia's rather modest 5-5 mark.

My uncle and I didn't start any trouble, we knew better, but that didn't stop our Steelers brethren from mixing it up with the folks from the city of brotherly love.

In the first quarter, Pittsburgh jumped out to a 10-0 lead thanks to a Gary Anderson 52 yard field goal and a surprising Louis Lipps to Merril Hoge 13 yard touchdown pass.

Meanwhile, in the stands, the fighting never seemed to stop. My uncle and I had to stand up on our seats several times just so we could see because every time there was a fight below us, the fans stood up to get a better look at the action.

Back to the game. The Eagles responded in the second quarter and took a 14-13 lead into the locker room thanks to a Keith Byars 1 yard touchdown run and a Randall Cunningham 7 touchdown yard run sandwiched around another Gary Anderson field goal.

The fighting continued during halftime and into the 3rd quarter. It seemed like every time I looked up, another Steeler fan was getting out of his seat (yes, it was all men who were fighting that day) to go challenge a Philadelphia loud-mouth and the security guards in their long yellow coats would come by to break it up and usher the men out into the streets. It was like watching a Penguins/Flyers game, only it wasn't the players going to the penalty box, it was the fans.

The most memorable encounter was a Steeler fan tossing his beer in the face of an Eagles fan after the Philly guy punched the Pittsburgh guy in the mouth.

It was so bad that a woman from Philadelphia actually had the nerve to turn to my uncle and me and say, "Where is the security in this place? If we were at Veterans stadium this wouldn't be happening." Can you believe that? Talk about a hypocrite. I believe I said something like, "If we were at Veterans stadium, we'd be sitting in dirt right now." I know, pretty poor response, but that's all I could come up with at the time. Had I known that Eagles fans were so notorious for starting trouble that a jail-cell had to be installed at Veterans stadium, I may have come up with something better to say.

On the field, the second half was pretty exciting. The teams traded field goals but the Eagles still held a slight 17-16 advantage. Then the play that I will always remember from this game: The Steelers had the ball deep in their own territory when Bubby Brister went back to pass, scrambled around to avoid the Eagles' pass rush and found Louis Lipps down the sideline for an 89 yard touchdown pass. I can still picture that play in my mind. It was on our side of the field.

The Eagles answered in the 4th quarter with another Cunningham touchdown run. Pittsburgh regained the lead thanks to Gary Anderson's 4th field goal of the day. Luis Zendejas answered with a short field goal of his own to put Philadelphia ahead 27-26. The Steelers still had some life left and sent out Anderson, once again, to try a 57 yard field goal on the last play of the game. Unfortunately, it was blocked and the Steelers lost their 9th game to fall to 2-9 on the season. As soon as the game ended, my uncle and I made a run for it because we had to fight the crowd (not literally) and meet my grandparents at gate A.

So that's the story of my first trip to Three Rivers Stadium to witness a Steelers game. It was an exciting day despite the loss and certainly a baptism by fire thanks to the many Eagles fans in attendance.

The Eagles may have won the game, but the Steelers fans won the fights on a split decision.

Saturday, March 12, 2011

Vacation Review

Well, the end is near. Today is the last day of my 7-day vacation. I'm sad that it's over, but if it never ended, that would mean that I either became extremely wealthy or dropped dead. So, I knew this day would come (the end of my vacation, not dropping dead.)

As far as vacations go, it wasn't the most eventful one that I can remember. I spent a good deal of it with my girlfriend which is always a treat. Since our schedules are very hectic, any time spent together is tremendous even if it's not on the beach somewhere.

Speaking of that, this was another one of my staycations. People always wonder why I don't travel much. I think there's a misconception about me that I'm a homebody who'd much rather stay home and watch a marathon of Three's Company than go out, but that's not true. While is it true that I do enjoy my television marathons, the idea of traveling is quite intriguing to me. I wouldn't mind seeing Europe or even the West Coast, the problem is money. I don't make a lot of it and that, even more than my fear of flying, is a big reason I don't take two or three expensive trips a year. My money situation is why I take trips to the NFL Hall of Fame and not the Super Bowl. My money situation is is why I occasionally travel to California, Pa. with my girlfriend to see her father instead of the state of California to see her uncle. Money is why I will attend a few Pittsburgh Power games this season, but the chances of going to see my beloved Steelers only comes along once in a blue moon. Believe me, money is very liberating and if I had the means, I'd probably travel more than most.

I suppose I could be a little more irresponsible and run my credit cards up while I take one trip after another, but I just don't see the point of it. I'd rather live a modest lifestyle and have some money to play with than have lots of "fun" and wake up one day $20,000 in debt. So, anyway, that's why I don't mind taking a week and just doing ordinary things like watching DVDs, writing, and working out. So next time you want to know why I never go anywhere, money is a huge reason. And besides, sometimes taking trips is a pain in the butt. It's often more work than being at work.

Speaking of DVDs, I had been looking for Bruce Lee's "Way of The Dragon" for years and I finally found it the week before I went on vacation. Way of the Dragon was the one where Bruce Lee fought Chuck Norris in the Coliseum in Rome. I found it at FYE at the Mall at Robinson only it wasn't a single DVD but part of a five-set collection of the movies Lee did exclusively with his Hong Kong production company. I already had two of the movies, but since this DVD was marked down considerably and since I've been searching for the movie for a long time, I decided to buy it. So along with Way of the Dragon, Fists of Fury, and The Big Boss, I also now own The Game of Death and The Game of Death II. I've seen Game of Death before, but never Game of Death II and let me tell you, if you're into really bad movies that are so bad they're good, I would recommend both of those movies. While Way of the Dragon, Fists of Fury and The Big Boss provide entertainment not only with epic martial arts battles, their hilarious Cantonese-to-English re-dubs, the Game of Death movies are entertaining in a whole new way.

Game of Death was a movie Lee was working on before his death and he only shot 22 minutes of footage for it. Golden Harvest Productions, the studio that produced Lee's Hong Kong movies, took those 22 minutes and decided to build an entire movie out of it. The movie was a far cry from Lee's vision and it was a real stretch on the part of the producers.

To pull this off, they used two guys that kind of looked like Bruce Lee and filmed them either from behind or from far away and the actors almost always wore sunglasses. For the close ups, they used stock footage of Lee's old movies. There is actually a scene in Game of Death where the main character (the Bruce Lee look-alike) is sitting at a desk looking at one of the bad guys through a mirror, and they actually taped a picture of Bruce Lee on the mirror hiding the actor's face. It's Lee's face and the guy's torso. An early form of photo-shop, I guess. I know this was made in 1979, but you'd think even back then they'd give the audience a little more credit. Actually, the storyline for the movie isn't horrible, but it's more fun watching how the production team tried to pull this off. You really have to suspend your disbelief or be totally ignorant, or very stupid to watch this movie without laughing. It's just great stuff.

As for Game of Death II, I could only watch about 10 minutes of it before the absurdity of it forced me to hit the stop button. I don't know what they were trying to pull off in that movie, but they used more stock footage from Lee's older movies and spliced them together with some actor who they only shot from the side and from behind. It made no sense at all.

I also finally bought my own bowling ball shortly before my vacation. It's nothing special, just a marked down 12lb ball that I bought at Dicks. I think the holes are too big and now I know what people mean when they say you have to get a ball custome-drilled just for your fingers. But I did manage to bowl my first 200 game with it on Monday when I bowled a 213 at the Crafton-Ingram lanes. Pretty impressive considering the venue, but I didn't bowl too well other than that so I can't get too big an ego about it. This ball might be 12 pounds, but it feels heavier because of the size of the holes. Anyway, I didn't know what I thought would happen when I finally cracked the 200 ceiling. It was like playing a video game and finally making it to the next level. Nothing special happens, you just keep playing.

So that was my vacation. Nothing special, but it's always nice to have a week off.

Pitt lost in the first round of the Big East tournament. I guess that means they're done

The Pitt Panthers lost in their opening game of the Big East tournament on Thursday when UConn's Kemba Walker sank a 17-foot jumper as time expired to give Conneticut a 76-74 victory.

Pitt fans are worried that the defeat will knock the Panthers out of a number 1 seed in the NCAA tournament. Not that this matters, but Joe Lunardi, the ESPN bracketology guy, still projects the Panthers as a number 1 seed in the West region. I believe conference tournaments are nice when a team is either on the bubble or trying to enhance its seeding in the Big Dance, but for a team ranked as high as Pitt was during the regular season, the prospect of playing three games in three nights in the toughest and most physical conference in the country can't do anything but wear a team out.

I'm sure the loss hurt the pride of the players, who won the conference outright in the regular season, but I doubt there will be any carryover come tournament time.

The Panthers have no idea who they will be playing nor do they know when are where. I do know that the team should have a fairly easy time of it in the first round and all it could take is one impressive win to give the team momentum and erase the bad taste from the Big East tournament. When it comes to momentum, however, I don't believe in momentum carrying over from conference tournaments. Three years ago, the Panthers won four games in four days to win the Big East tournament and in doing so, improved their seeding from a projected 7th or 8th seed all the way up to the 4th seed. They were so hot, Bobby Knight even predicted they would win the National championship. As it turned out, "momentum" from winning the Big East tournament only carried them as far as the 2nd round of the NCAAs where they lost to Michigan State.

Two years ago, they lost in the first round of the Big East tournament but made it all the way to the regional finals in the NCAA tournament.

Granted, they had a number 1 seed in '09 when they made their run, but that's my point. Pitt will be no worse than a 2nd seed in the tournament.

Missing out on the coveted 1 seed might cause some fans to panic, but there are no absolutes in sports. Even if the Panthers get "only" a 2nd seed, that doesn't necessarily mean their second round opponent will be tougher than if they were a 1 seed. There isn't much difference in competition when you're talking about teams seeded 7th-10th.

If momentum was a huge factor, then I might be worried about the Panthers, but the biggest factor in the NCAA tournament is matchups and we'll just have to wait and see who Pitt plays before we start writing them off.

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

The 1988 NFL Draft: A day that will live in infamy (or somewhere less dramatic.)

I'm not a huge NFL draftnik these days, but there was a time, way back in the 80's and early 90's, when I couldn't get enough of it. Especially the 80's.

My favorite draft day was 1987. That was the last year the event was held on Tuesdays, before it became almost a national holiday. My mom surprisingly let me stay home from school and I got to witness the Steelers select a future Hall of Fame cornerback in one Rod Woodson out of Purdue. I won't lie, I didn't know who Rod Woodson was before that day but I was still pleased as punch because all the experts said he was great and a steal and nobody could believe he dropped to the Steelers with the 10th pick in the first round. When Pittsburgh saw that he was still available, they wisely didn't waste any time selecting him and the rest is history.

That day was nice and awesome in every way. However, the 1987 draft isn't the one I want to discuss today. It's the 1988 NFL draft that I want to talk about.

Back before the Internet, I relied on newspaper features and rankings in-order to get my draft information. It was the week before the 1988 draft when I read the article that left me obsessed and salivating over that year's draft.

There was a little blurb in the paper about the Steelers wants and needs and it said that the team was looking at two running backs: John Stephens, a late riser out of Northwestern St. and Lorenzo White out of Michigan St.

When I read that, I was hooked. I was especially excited about the prospect of drafting White out of MSU. You see, he was a known name and believe it or not, back when I was a youngster in the 80's, I had an inferiority complex about the Steelers and didn't think anyone outside of the city respected them. The fact that they were pretty mediocre during that decade didn't help matters any.

Besides, when I was growing up dreaming of someday playing in the NFL, I fantasized about being a running back. I idolized Eric Dickerson, who was my favorite player as a kid. I wanted to run just like him. Of course, I didn't have the speed or the moves that he did, I was more like John Riggins or Earl Campbell. Nobody wanted to see my big butt coming at them with the ball.

After Franco Harris retired, the Steelers didn't really have a featured back to be proud of. They had Frank Pollard, who was nice, and Walter Abercrombie, who really wasn't much, but they didn't have a horse, someone to build the ground game around.

"If they could get Lorenzo White," I thought, "Maybe he could be that guy." Of course, it never occurred to me that White was projected in the second half of the first round (where the Steelers were drafting at 18) and all-world running backs are usually projected a lot higher. What did I know? I wasn't even old enough to drive yet. All I knew was that White was a name guy and if he could just last long enough for the Steelers to grab him, it would be pretty awesome.

1988 was the first year the draft would be held on a Sunday and I couldn't wait all week for it to start. I could hardly concentrate on school or anything else. In fact, some 23 years later, I can admit that I faked illness for a couple of days because I just wanted to stay home and read the draft previews. It's a good thing they didn't have the Internet back then or I may have missed an entire week of school.

I've never anticipated a draft day as much as that one. Since it was on a Sunday, I knew pesky school wouldn't be in the way and when I woke up the morning of the draft, it was like Christmas. I just counted the hours until noon when the first round would officially kick-off.

The Atlanta Falcons, owners of the number 1 overall selection, were free to talk contract with potential draft picks even before draft day and it was announced that they had come to terms with linebacker Aundray Bruce out of Auburn and they would formally announce him as their pick when the draft officially started.

Bruce turned out to be the poster boy for the saying: "Every draft is a crap shoot." He would go on to have a rather unspectacular career for the Falcons and Raiders.

The '88 draft wasn't thought to be very rich in talent but it did produce Neil Smith, Paul Gruber, Tim Brown, Michael Irvin, Keith Jackson, Randall McDaniel, and Thurman Thomas just to name a few.

While watching that draft, I don't recall anyone being home except my mom who was busy doing laundry all day.

I was all alone and enjoying it. I had a piece of paper and a pen by my side that I used to write down each selection as it was announced by the commissioner. I suppose I would have been better off using the pen and the paper to do my homework, but I digress.

One-by-one, I saw each selection go off the board. Neil Smith was gone, so was Paul Gruber, Bennie Blades, Michael Irvin, Sterling Sharpe, etc, etc.

The New England Patriots were drafting 17th and Stephens and White were both still available. I knew that the Steelers would have a shot at at least one of those running backs. The Patriots announced their pick and it was John Stephens, running back out of Northwestern St. I jumped for joy. I was so happy! I went running around my house and even into the basement and I think I even had a towel in my hand. It wasn't a Terrible Towel, it was just a dish rag, but I was twirling it and screaming "We're gonna get Lorenzo! We're gonna get Lorenzo!" My mother must have thought I was nuts.

Finally, the Steelers would have that featured running back that I had been dreaming of. My whole week of anticipation was going to pay off. Lorenzo White was about to become the newest member of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Just like in '87, the Steelers wasted no time in making their selection. The commissioner was up at the podium about a minute into Pittsburgh's allotted time. "With the 18th pick in the 1st round of the 1988 NFL player draft, the Pittsburgh Steelers select.............Aaron Jones, defensive end from Eastern Kentucky."

Remember the 4th down play in the Super Bowl when Ben Roethlisberger's pass fell incomplete and you knew Pittsburgh wasn't going to win their 7th Super Bowl? Well, I don't know how you felt, but I was numb. I tried to go about my business, but everything was a blur.

That would describe how I was feeling that day when I heard the name Aaron Jones. I tried to go about my business and write the selection on my little piece of paper, but instead of spelling Jones' first name the male way: "Aaron," I used the female version: "Erin." This was not meant to disrespect Jones or females in any way. I was either just in a state of shock or just plain dumb. I'd like to think it was the former, but it was probably a little of both.

I was completely depressed after this and I don't remember if I continued to write down the rest of the selections. I do know that Randall Mcdaniel, the future Hall of Fame offensive lineman, went 19th to the the Vikings and White went 22nd to the Oilers.

PITT's Craig "Ironehead" Heyward was even still available when Pittsburgh selected and eventually went 24th to the Saints.

In rounds 2 and 3, the Steelers selected a couple of centers in Dermontti Dawson out of Kentucky and Chuck Lanza out of Notre Dame. "Two centers," I thought. "Why are they doing this to me? Where are the sexy picks? The running backs? The receivers? Come on, Emperor!"

Later that evening, I was going over the position rankings in the newspaper and I was pleasantly surprised to discover that Jones was ranked 2nd among defensive ends right behind Neil Smith. That gave me a little hope, but I was still pretty dejected. Maybe I wasn't paying attention to the local pundits (didn't really listen to sports talk radio back then) but I didn't hear anyone even mention the name Aaron Jones in the days leading up to the draft. But that ranking did sort of convince me that the Steelers really did make a great selection. I mean, the 2nd ranked defensive end in college. That's not bad.

"I'm in love with him," is what head coach Chuck Noll was quoted as saying about the selection of Jones. Noll apparently said the same thing a season before when he drafted Woodson so that had to be a good sign.

The draft concluded on Monday with the lower rounds and the Steelers did make a juicy selection (at least I thought so) when they picked running back Gordy Lockbaum from Holy Cross in the 9th round (the draft consisted of 12 rounds in those days.) Lockbaum finished 5th in the Heisman trophy voting in 1987 and I was happy that they got such a high-profile player. I was obviously too naive to know any better. Lockbaum didn't make the team in training camp and to my knowledge, didn't catch on anywhere else.

As I said, McDandiel went on to have an outstanding career that eventually led him to Canton. As for Lorenzo White? He had a fairly decent career in Houston and even made the pro bowl in 1992.

Unfortunately, Jones, despite making some bold sack predictions before his rookie year, never amounted to more than a journeyman defensive lineman throughout his career and was one of the last glaring examples of Noll's futile quest to duplicate the success of the 70's Steel Curtain.

No, the 1988 draft wasn't much to write home about for Pittsburgh in terms of sexy picks or even overall quality, but as I mentioned earlier, they did draft Dawson who would go on to have one of the best careers of any player taken that year and is widely regarded as the premiere center of his era and, more-than-likely, a future Hall-of-Famer. Also, the Steeler scouts did find a good player from Eastern Kentucky after all when they selected offensive tackle John Jackson in the 10th round.

Dawson and Jackson would go on to form the foundation of Pittsburgh's offensive line in the glory years that were the 1990's.

So, that 1988 draft taught me a lesson: Sometimes the sexy picks aren't always the best picks, and a draft class can still pay huge dividends even if it only produces a couple of productive players.

The Steelers didn't get Lorenzo, but they did get "Dirt" and as it turned out, they were much better off.

Still, though, in-spite of that valuable lesson, I will always look back on that 1988draft with the kind of disappointment that is normally reserved for postseason losses.

Saturday, March 5, 2011

How would you feel about a Super Bowl victory following an abbreviated season?

It appears that the on-going talks between NFL owners and players are going fairly well. The two sides agreed to extend the current CBA while they hammer out a new one and the league might avoid the work-stoppage that everyone is fearing.

But it is March and work-stoppage or not, there will not be football to watch until training camp starts in July so it's always fun to speculate.

What if the negotiations take a turn for the worse and we do have a lockout and things don't really get resolved until late into Fall, say October? There will still be time for a 2011 season, but it would obviously have to be a condensed version like the 1982 season following that year's player strike.

Let's just say the NFL decides on an 8-game season and a 16-team postseason tournament (8 from each conference) similar to the 1982 model.

Since I'm a diehard Steelers fan, I obviously have my team rolling through the 8-game schedule pretty impressively. In the playoffs, Big Ben, James Harrison, Troy, and the rest of the gang repeat as AFC Champions and go onto Indianapolis for Super Bowl XLVI and defeat the NFC Champion and bring a 7th Lombardi trophy to Steeler Nation.

I wonder how that Super Bowl victory would be treated.

I know the Redskins won two Super Bowls in the 80's following strike-compromised seasons, but I don't really remember the franchise facing much criticism for those Super Bowls. I didn't hear too many people calling their titles tainted or anything like that. However, that was a different time and place.

In today's day and age of the Internet and sports talk radio, I have no doubt that a Super Bowl victory following an abbreviated season would be the subject of much scrutiny and ridicule.

Whatever respect that existed between fans of rival teams went the way of blogs and message boards.

In-fact, I'll bet right now on some Redskins blog there is probably a Cowboys troll making fun of the Redskins and saying that the two Super Bowls that they won in the 80's didn't really count because they were accomplished with the help of abbreviated schedules and replacement players.

Fans are like that, you know. They aren't shy about belittling an opposing team even if that team accomplished more than their franchise did. Back when the Bills were losing 4-straight Super Bowls, they were the butt of jokes in places like New Orleans and Tampa.

If I went on a Browns' blog right now and announced that I was a Steeler fan, I would probably get made fun of immediately for my team losing the Super Bowl.

That's just how fans are and they would probably make light of any team that won a Super Bowl after a condensed season.

I can just imagine watching a telecast of a Steelers road game in Cincinnati and one of their fans holding up a sign that reads: "Pittsburgh Steelers: Part time Champions." Not very creative, but that's Bungals fans for you. Still, though, it would be a sign of disrespect to our Super Steelers.

I don't know what the sports talk scene was like in 1983 after the Redskins won Super Bowl XVII following a 9-game season, but I know sports pundits would have a field-day if a championship was won under the same circumstances today.

There would be much debate as to whether or not the Steelers were worthy Super Bowl champions and deserved the same recognition as past champions. The guys on PTI would probably argue about it and maybe interview players from the '82 Redskins, some of whom may even be too ashamed to wear their Super Bowl XVII rings to this very day.

Terry Bradshaw would probably pop-off and say something controversial like maybe if his 70's Steelers had won a Super Bowl following an 8-game season, they wouldn't even have accepted the trophy. They would have given it back.

Some people might even suggest putting an asterisk next to Pittsburgh's 7th Lombardi or even displaying the trophy away from the other 6 in a darkened corner.

I know how I would feel about a championship following a shortened season. I would cherish it like all the others. Super Bowls don't come along every day, condensed season or not. I would go to a game and hold up a sign up that reads: "Pittsburgh Steelers achieve more in half a season than some teams do in half a century."

So how would you feel about a championship following an abbreviated season? Would it be a source of pride or would you feel a little weird celebrating such a title?

Friday, March 4, 2011

A post about various subjects, mostly sports

*I'm going to the Pirates' home-opener next month with my girlfriend. She talked me into it. She always gets me to do the cool things. I'm actually kind of excited about it. I haven't been to a home-opener in 13 seasons. I had another girlfriend then and we made out in a parking garage afterwards. My current girlfriend and I are a little more established so I'll probably have a tougher time making out with her in a parking garage after the game. However, it usually does take a lot of time to get out of those garages after big games so we probably will have some time to kill.

*As usual, I'm allowing myself to be optimistic about the Pirates this season. And unlike recent seasons, the lineup is actually filled with some young players who might do something. Andrew McCutchen is heading into his 2nd full season and Neil Walker, Jose Tabata and Pedro Alvarez will each be heading into their first full season. I'm surprised there isn't more hype involving these guys. They look like legit major league everyday players with tons of upside. And on the pitching side of things, Evan Meek and Joel Hanrahan could make for a very tough back end of the bullpen. As for the rest of the pitching staff? Well, that's another story. Although, James Mcdonald, who was acquired late last year, did show some promise as a starter with the ability to make people swing and miss. Imagine that. Not to mention Brad Lincoln, who will almost surely win a spot in the starting rotation. And it will be hard for Paul Maholm and Ross Ohlendorf to pitch worse than they did last year, so maybe the starting pitching will finally look somewhat respectable. If there is ever a time for the team to show improvement from one season to the next, it's this year. Sure, that shouldn't be too hard to improve over last year because they lost over 100 games, but I would be very surprised if they don't improve by at least 15 games this season.

*I'm not as excited for March Madness as I normally am this time of year. I'm sure some of it has to do with a Super Bowl hangover. It might seem hard to believe to some, but it takes a lot of energy and emotion to follow a team on a championship run. And when the team comes up short in the end, it sort of takes the wind out of your sails. Yeah, it could be a Super Bowl hangover, but I think a more accurate reason is basic cable. I'm coming up on my one year anniversary of switching from expanded basic to just plain basic and it's made for a "lost" college basketball season for me. I just can't follow any of the games. There are games on on the weekends on the major networks, but I'm normally pretty busy then. Weeknights, when you can watch a college basketball game just about every night, is a much better way to follow the game and get a feel for not only PITT but the other teams around the country. I just can't get a feel for the Panthers this year. I know they are very deep, as in most years, but that's about all I know about them. I will be rooting for them like crazy come tournament time because the games will be on CBS, but I don't know if I'll be as emotionally invested in a group of players I don't know much about.

*Having only basic cable made for a "lost" college football season, too. It's amazing how much ESPN has taken over the sports landscape. Especially college athletics. I didn't get to see much PITT football last year, and save for the occasional Notre Dame game on NBC or a game on ABC, I didn't get to watch much college football at all in 2010. I remember being all excited on New Year's day because I thought there would be games on all over the tube, but the only game that I got to see was the Citrus Bowl. Everything else was on ESPN. Boy, times sure have changed. Even 10 years ago, the thought of a major bowl game being played on ESPN was pretty abstract. Now, it's the norm. For some reason, the Cotton Bowl Classic was on FOX and you better believe I watched the hell out of that game. Didn't miss a play.

*I must rethink my decision to switch to just basic cable because there just aren't very many channels to choose from. When I first got basic cable three years ago, I had TBS, the Golf Network (don't like golf, but at least it was something), BET, Trutv and a few other pretty decent channels. But then I switched over to expanded for a couple of years before deciding to switch back to basic a year ago. The landscape really has changed. No more TBS, no more Golf channel, no more BET or Trutv. Nothing. The closest thing to a premium channel would be WGN out of Chicago and it's probably a matter of time before I lose that one, too. And it's a nightmare during the day. I get to choose from "America's Funniest Videos," Jerry Springer and similar trashy shows, the many incarnations of "The People's Court" and, of course, infomercials. It's just crap. Basic cable is so bad that for a time last year, I found myself looking forward to finding the "Dean Martin Celebrity Roast" dvd infomercial on one of the channels at various times of the day and night. Primetime isn't so bad because of network television but I'm not that much into network tv. I'm more of an ESPN/Comedy Central/TVLand kind of guy. I can't believe the cable companies have never offered an ala carte sort of deal. You go from basic cable at about $12 a month, to expanded at about $65. Nothing in-between. I believe if you have basic cable, you should be able to pick three channels that you could add to your package for a few bucks per channel. For me, it would be ESPN, FSN, and TVLand. There are other channels I'd like, but I could live with basic if I had those three.
Like I said, the choices for basic cable have become more narrow in only a year's time. I'll bet that in about five years, a basic cable package will consist of the home shopping networks and infomercials, and maybe Jerry Springer.

*I'm obviously a huge NFL fan, one of the biggest you'll ever find, but I'm having a hard time being overly-concerned with the NFL's labor dispute. It's not because I don't care, I do, it's just that there are six months until the 2011 season starts. If the NFL owners locked out the players at this very moment, how would that really hurt your entertainment options? Heck, work-stoppage or not, there will even be an NFL draft next month. For me, the NFL draft is just about the only thing that I really care about between the end of the season and the start of training camp. I don't even pay that much attention to OTA's or mini-camp. I only start to get excited about the NFL again around mid-July. That's when I start dreaming of the pigskins flying in the air. If they haven't reached an agreement by then, maybe I'll start to worry. But an NFL work-stoppage in March is like a typhoon in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. It can't really harm anyone.

*Since I obviously haven't watched much television since the Super Bowl, the public library has become one of my frequent destinations and much to my delight, I've taken up reading as a hobby. What a relaxing hobby reading a book is. I've finished two books: Myron Cope's "Double Yo!" and Terry Bradshaw's "It's only a game." Both excellent reads with countless anecdotes from two very good storytellers. I'm currently reading "Here's Johnny!" by Ed Mcmahon. Another great book.

*That's about all I have for now regarding the day-to-day activities of yours truly. I haven't written one of these journal-type posts in a while. I don't even care if I spelled stuff right. Ah, freedom. Okay, I did go back and proof read, but only a little.