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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

RIP: 2012 Pittsburgh Pirates

There's been a running joke in Pittsburgh for years that once Steelers training camp starts, the Pirates season is officially over. Well, this year, when the Steelers reported to Latrobe on July 25th, the Pirates were still pretty relevant and were doing quite well for themselves. They were 60-44 at their apex, four games up on the rest of the field in the National League wild card standings, and in very close proximity to the Cincinnati Reds in the Central Division.

However, since that point in the season, the Pirates have fallen on hard times and so far out of the NL Central race, if it were a Presidential election, they would have conceded a long time ago. At 72-67, I don't know if the Pirates have reached rock-bottom just yet, but they sure have reached a new low by getting swept by the lowly Chicago Cubs this weekend at PNC Park.

The Pirates are now 12-23 in their last 35 games, and only a totally blind and eternal optimist would even suggest that this team is even close to being a playoff contender.

The Pirates have already reached their win total of a season ago, so I guess no matter what happens, one might consider it a step up. However, this will mark the second straight August/September collapse for the team. The fall hasn't been as swift as last season, but it sure feels just as bad. And because MLB added an extra wild card team to each league, the Pirates still only find themselves 2.5 games back in the standings.

However, instead of being a hopeful sign, it's more of a torturous reminder of where this team could be right now had it won even a few more games over the last month or so.

What has transipred over the past 35 games is quite a shame, really, and it has nothing to do with the playoffs, either. Oh, sure I wanted a postseason berth as much as anyone back in June and July when the Pirates were rolling. But more than anything, I was just happy to watch a wonderful baseball team day in and day out.

I was pumped about Andrew McCutchen's MVP-like numbers, and the 1-2 pitching punch of A.J. Burnett and James McDonald. I watched in delight as Pedro Alvarez was hitting monster home runs and reminded us all why the Pirates risked a lot to draft and sign him back in 2008. I enjoyed the heck out of the absolutely dominant performance by the bullpen as well as the absolutely delightful Zoltan phenomenon.

The rest of the fan base was enjoying it, too, and they started to come out to the games for a tangible baseball reason.

Now, that all seems so long ago. The Pirates are on life-support, and whatever excitement that remained before this just completed six-game home-stand, is probably dead and gone after Pittsburgh went 2-4 against two of the worst teams in baseball.

Even if the Pirates manage to get their act together long enough to win another nine or 10 games and end the streak of consecutive losing-seasons, many fans, including yours truly, will still be left with a sense of emptiness.

Well, at least the Pirates waited until the start of the Steelers regular season to finally fold it in and call it a day.

Get'em next year, Pirates.

For Whatever Reason, I'm Currently Having a Hard Time Getting Excited about Pitt Football or College Football, in General

I can always get a pretty decent idea of how the Pitt football season will go. If I turn on the radio, say, mid-way through the 3rd quarter of the season opener and I hear play-by-play man Billy Hillgrove getting all excited about a score that put the Panthers up by two scores over (insert cream puff here), I know that it's probably going to be a long year for Pitt football fans. Last season, it was a 35-16 win over Buffalo in week one. That might seem like the appropriate victory over a respectable cream puff, but I recall the Panthers having to pull away at the end just to achieve that margin of victory. It was even worse a week later, when Pitt barely squeaked by Maine, 35-29. As it turned out, the underwhelming first two weeks were an accurate barometer, as the Panthers eventually finished the year with a 6-6 record and a second straight trip to the BBVA Compass Bowl.

Before that game even took place, Todd "High Octane" Graham decided to high-tail it out of town after one year and took the head coaching job in Arizona St.

Paul Chryst was subsequently hired, and that marked the fourth head coaching change in a matter of a year.

New coach or not, Pitt was picked to finish fifth in the never too impressive Big East Conference, and if Saturday's season opening game against Division I-AA Youngstown St. that saw the Panthers get absolutely dominated in a 31-17 loss is any indication, I think that fifth place predication might be shooting a bit too high.

I realize that six Panther players were suspended before the game, but that shouldn't have been enough for a team like the Penguins to so thoroughly thrash a Division I school on its home turf.

I wouldn't be surprised if Pitt loses nine or 10 games at this point. And could you blame the Pitt players for not knowing what's up and what direction they're headed in? After building a bit of a recruiting base under Dave Wannstedt, they fire him near the end of the 2010 season and bring in Mike Haywood, who subsequently gets arrested for a domestic dispute. Haywood is quickly gone, and Todd Graham, and all his talk of commitment and higher standards is brought in. He lasts one year before leaving for "greener pastures," and Chryst is left to clean up the huge mess.

When you're asking a team full of teenagers and early 20somethings to be accountable, you damn well better give them a decent foundation to stand on. The Pitt administration hasn't done that in a very long time.

Anyway, as my title suggests, I'm not that into the Panthers yet this year. Maybe I just knew it wasn't going to be a great year. Or maybe it's because I still have Bucco fever, even though the fever might have broken with the team's 10-20 slide over the past 30 games.

Maybe it's because I have basic cable, and it's pretty damn hard to find a college football game on anything other than the World Wide Leader these days.

Maybe it's just because.

Anyway, I hope to get back into college football soon enough. It's too awesome for me to stay away for long.

29 Games is Certainly a Big Enough Sample Size to Determine that These Pittsburgh Pirates Aren't Very Good

"Sample Size" is one of those phrases that's growing in popularity in the sports world. It's often used to describe a player or a team. For example: "I'm not sure if 11 at-bats is a big enough sample size to know if player A has finally found his stroke." I'm not really big on the phrase, and I think it's rather annoying. However, when it comes to the Pittsburgh Pirates these days, it can certainly be put to good use. The Pirates are 10-19 over the past 29 games abd only 2-6-1 in their last nine series, dating back to August 3rd. They went into a little mini slide right around the time of the Reds series in early August where they went 5-9 over a two week stretch. It happens, right? No need to panic, especially after it looked like Pittsburgh righted the ship by taking two of three against the Cardinals in St. Louis two weekends ago, including an epic 19-inning affair that was almost too awesome for words. I know I was excited and pumped up after the win. After the way the Pirates fortunes took a nose-dive following the 19 inning loss against the Braves in July of last season, I thought maybe the victory over the Cardinals would trumpet in a new direction.

Nope. Instead, Pittsburgh went into San Diego and got swept right out of Petco Park by the Padres, and then came home to PNC Park and lost another two games to the Milwaukee Brewers last weekend.

I was pretty much set to throw in the towel, but when the Pirates took two of three from the Cardinals at PNC last week--including two straight shut-outs--I was twirling that towel instead.

The Pirates went into Miller Park on Friday only .5 game back of the Cardinals in the race for the second wild card. However, instead of taking advantage of a scuffling St. Louis ball club--the Cardinals lost two games to the Nationals over the weekend--the Pirates were swept by the Brewers and actually lost ground in the standings.

What we've learned about the Pittsburgh Pirates during this 29 game sample size is that they somehow have a way of looking quite dominant against the Cardinals--they probably should have won the last nine games against St. Louis dating back to a series at the end of June--but they can't defeat anyone else. You take away the four of six that they've won over the Cardinals during this stretch, and the Pirates are 6-17 against everyone else. If that isn't an indicator that this team has just about had it, I don't know what is.

Instead of 6-17, had the Pirates gone 9-14 or 10-13, they'd be in much better shape. They'd be maybe 2.5 games up for the second wild card, and closing in on the Braves for the top spot. When you're playing lesser teams like the Padres and Brewers, and you've just made a statement by looking superior vs. the World Series Champions, you're supposed to parlay that into something special.

I know what a lot of people are going to say: The Pirates have a lot of winnable games coming up against the likes of the Astros and Cubs during the next 29 game sample size. That's a little encouraging, but I think this just completed 29 game entree is much more indicative of what these guys are right now, and I'm not so sure if even sampling a team as historically bad as the 2012 Houston Astros will be enough to take the 2012 Pittsburgh Pirates to where we'd like to see them go.