According to the ancient Mayan calender, the world is supposedly going to end on December 21st, 2012. I don't know if the Maya people really predicted that date as the end of the world, but that's what a lot of people really seem to want to believe. I don't happen to be one of those people (although, I will turn 40 this year, so maybe the world will end for me, at least as I know it), but if it is all true, I wonder if the current streak of losing by Pittsburgh sports teams is a sign of the End Times.
If you're in-touch with the Pittsburgh sports scene like I am, you probably know that the home teams have been struggling big-time so far in 2012.
The Penguins haven't won a game since they defeated the Carolina Hurricanes on December 27th, 2011. During the losing streak, the team has only managed to score six goals. But who can blame them for not being able to score? Apparently, the injury bug that tore through the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2011 has been passed on to the Penguins, because, in addition to Sidney Crosby being out indefinitely with on-going concussion-like symptoms, Kris Letang and Jordan Staal are also out with injuries. The team is in shambles and is currently tied for the 8th and final playoff spot in the NHL Eastern Conference. I'm supposed to go to the Pens game with my girlfriend on Tuesday. It'll be interesting to see who gets hurt in that game.
The Pitt Panthers football team won their last regular season game against Syracuse in early December to become bowl eligible at 6-6 but lost their coach shortly thereafter when Fraud Sham, I mean, Todd Graham abruptly left the team in mid-December to go take his "dream job" as head coach of Arizona State. Evidently, Scram, I mean, Graham has like a 7th cousin in Arizona and really wanted to go live there so he could be closer to him/her. Anyway, since it is 2012, and since the Panthers were being coached by interim head coach Keith Patterson, the 5th guy to coach the team in the last 13 months, Pitt had no shot at defeating SMU in the BBVA Compass Bowl last Saturday and were blown-out, 28-6. I don't blame those kids one bit. At this point, the Pitt players need a "my coach hates me and/or is insane" hot line that they can call, and the way things have been going at Pitt--Paul Chryst officially became the sixth head coach shortly after the bowl game--they probably need to have people manning the phones 24/7.
Speaking of Pitt athletics, what the heck is going on with the Pitt Men's basketball team? Jamie Dixon's team hasn't won a game since December 20th, 2011, and has lost five games in a row. And that's not the worst of it. The Panthers have started out 0-4 in the Big East, and because the Big East is so unbelievably awesome, being 0-4 is like being 0-44 in any other conference. And THAT'S not the worst of it. Just the other night, the Panthers were blown-out at home by the Rutgers Scarlett Nights, 62-39. The 39 points were the lowest output by a Pitt team since another game against Rutgers in 1972, and that game was called at halftime because of a student protest! Now, Pitt is in serious danger of missing the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2001. Also, if Pitt goes to the NIT, Panthers fans will be put in the uncomfortable position of hoping for an NIT championship, this after mocking WVU and Penn State in years past for being NIT Champions. We're number 69!
And then there are, I mean, were, the 2011 Pittsburgh Steelers. Technically, they did win a game this calender year--they defeated the Browns, 13-9, on New Year's Day--but it sure felt like a loss. Especially after Rashard Mendenhall was lost with an ACL tear, and the Ravens defeated the Bengals to capture the AFC North and send Pittsburgh to Denver for Wild Card Weekend. I had planned on writing a blog about how miserable things were going for the local teams, but that we could always count on the Steelers to come through and give us hope when nobody else could. I figured Pittsburgh would take out the Broncos in short order, but I forgot that it was 2012, and Pittsburgh teams are now prohibited from winning. The Steelers were Tim Tebowed in overtime and sent limping into the offseason.
No Steelers playoff run. No Panthers in the NCAA tournament. No Sidney Crosby.
I haven't seen it this bad around here since the last time the Pirates played baseball.
At least let the Pirates win before it's all over.
Screw you, Mayans!
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