I always say I'm going to keep all of you, my mysterious readers, up-to-date on my most recent posts on Behind the Steel Curtain, but because I'm often so busy churning out new material, I often forget.
I'd like to take this time right now to at least link my most recent, recent posts from over on BTSC.
But before I do that, I was pleasantly surprised to log on to BTSC this morning to discover that today, July 8th, is the 79th birthday of the Steelers.
Yes, I know, this is the 80th anniversary season for the Steelers, and that confused me a little. But in sports, they do seasons differently than they do birthdays. In people years, the Steelers are 79 today, but in seasons, they will be 80 starting in September.
Whether it's 79 or 80, it's a tremendous milestone. Congratulations to the Pittsburgh Steelers and their thousands of fans across the country.
Now onto my recent BTSC posts:
-To mark the 79th birthday of the team, I thought it would be fitting to write something acknowledging, not only the first "Golden Age" of the 70's that saw the franchise establish itself as maybe the greatest football dynasty of all-time, but to celebrate the current (hopefully it stays current) second "Golden Age" of Super Bowl excellence. I grew up fascinated by the Steelers teams of the 70's, and I always wanted to know what it would be like to have another era of championship teams. Well, starting in Super Bowl XL, I have been able to witness such an era.
-Former Steelers receiver Santonio Holmes was certainly a controversial figure during his time in Pittsburgh. But as his contributions down the stretch of the team's march to a record 6th Lombardi trophy in 2008 point out, he was also a clutch performer.
-A couple of weeks ago, Penguins star center Sidney Crosby inked a new deal with the team that will pay him $104.4 million over 12 years and keep him in Pittsburgh until at least the year 2025. Crosby elected to take a hometown discount and keep his salary at "only" $8.7 million annually. This was looked at as a sacrifice by many fans and media members, and it reminded me of how out-of-touch so many athletes are when they express such things as pain and anguish when talking about their contract status. I'm not saying Crosby was doing that, but a lot of athletes sure have over the years. It's always been a huge turn-off for me.
-The Steelers sure made a splash in this year's NFL Draft by landing guard David DeCastro out of Stanford and tackle Mike Adams from The Ohio State. When you add those two draft choices to third year center Maurkice Pouncey, 2nd year tackle Marcus Gilbert and Willie Colon, who will be making a transition from tackle to guard, suddenly, the opinion of the once maligned offensive line seemed to change over night. I'm cautiously optimistic about the unit, but I don't think we should assume too much too soon about a group of guys who haven't played together yet.
Well, that's it for my most recent links. I have some older recent links that I will post at a later date.
As always, I encourage you to visit Behind the Steel Curtain if you're a Steelers fan or just a football fan in general. It's a pretty knowledgeable crew, and they do a great job with the site.
Ciao!
No comments:
Post a Comment