I know Big Ben has never been the most popular athlete in the city's history. There are the many stories of how he can be with people away from the field. We all know those stories. But yesterday, the Big Ben that every Steeler fan should love, the one who wears number 7, was back at Heinz Field.
He was the Ben of old, eluding tacklers and making things happen like only he can. He can be frustrating at times, like on his first drive when he over-threw Moore and was intercepted inside the red zone, but with Roethlisberger, for every bad play, there are usually three or four that make you realize that he truly is one of the best quarterbacks in the game and certainly the best at making things happen. Like his first touchdown pass to Mike Wallace where he got rid of the ball under tremendous pressure. Or how about the big 50-yard pass to Wallace in the third quarter when Roethlisberger unleashed the ball in his own endzone just before he got nailed. The pass was right on the money. And on the very next play, he hit Miller on a play-action pass inside the ten yard line. Just like that, on two plays, it was first and goal. If ever there was a sequence of events that emphasized just what Roethlisberger means to the franchise it was those two plays. You go from the shadow of your own goalline to first and goal in a matter of two plays. And on third and goal, he had the presence of mind to hit Hines Ward over the middle with at least two guys right in his face. Kudos to Hines, who made an even better play, fighting his way into the end zone, but how many quarterbacks could have been able to even get the ball to Ward in that particular situation?
Roethlisberger often gets criticized for his style, but it's who he is. It's what he does best, and why would anyone want to take that away from him? He seriously looks like an angry bear when defenders are trying to get him down. I wouldn't want to be one of those guys trying to wrestle him to the ground.
Asking Roethlisberger to stop trying to prolong plays is like telling him to throw left-handed (although, with his improvising style, that may have happened over the years.) He wouldn't be Ben if he stopped doing that. He would be just your average, everyday quarterback, and those types of quarterbacks don't usually get the job done, at least not on a regular basis. A Ravens defender was once quoted as saying that Roethlisberger almost wants the pass rusher to beat his man. And the way Roelthisberger seems to excel under those situations, he's probably right.
Anywho, I thought it was a good win for Pittsburgh. I know Cleveland was a 14-point underdog, down to a rookie quarterback, but Cleveland is a lot of more competitive than their record would indicate. They've been in every game this season and they were in yesterday's affair until about five minutes left. Speaking of that rookie quarterback, Colt McCoy was pretty impressive in his debut. He completed some tough passes and hung in their against the Steelers' pass rush. Sure, he made some mistakes, but he looks like someone Steeler Nation might have to contend with for years to come.
Back to the Steelers, for you Arians bashers out there, I thought he called a good game-plan and the pass-to-run ratio (27-35) was about as balanced as you can get. Mendenhall looked awesome and seems to be very close to becoming one of the elite backs in the league.
The defense looked as good as you'd expect going against a depleted Browns' team, made even more depleted by James Harrison's two jarring tackles in the second quarter that knocked out Joshua Cribbs and Massaquoi respectively. Cribbs and Massaquoi both suffered head injuries and never returned.
The secondary performed okay. Not great. McCoy had 280 passing yards, but the Browns were playing from behind most of the game, and Cleveland could do very little on the ground, and that formula usually makes it easier for teams to accumulate yards through the air.
I don't have any problem with how yesterday's game unfolded. I know some fans will find some things to criticize but that's the nature of the fans, especially in Pittsburgh where we act as if the other team isn't even trying to win. Like they're the Washington Generals and should let the Steelers come out on the field with a ladder and a bucket of confetti and score a touchdown.
And almost as sweet as the Steeler win was the 4th quarter collapse of the Ravens, who lost at New England in overtime.
Big Ben is back and the Steelers are back in first place. What could be sweeter?
Monday, October 18, 2010
Saturday, October 16, 2010
Mom was right, afterall
The Pittsburgh Post Gazette reprinted a copy of their paper from the day the Pittsburgh Pirates defeated the New York Yankees with the help of Bill Mazeroski's dramatic 9th inning homer.
The reprint was from Friday, October 14th, 1960. The Pirates clinched their World Series title on Thursday, October 13th, when Maz's home run cleared the fence at 3:36pm.
For years, my mom would tell me that she was in school when the dramatic event went down. I never believed her. You know how those mom-types are. They don't know much about sports.
Just the other day, we were talking and she referenced Bubby Brister, only she pronounced his last name, "Brewster."
And I, being the snobby sports guy that I am, always told her that it had to have been a Sunday because why would they play the 7th game of the World Series on a weekday afternoon? That's crazy talk. After all, the networks wanted to sell advertising, even back in 1960. How can you sell ads when people aren't home watching?
But, of course, the almighty television wasn't our god back in 1960. There weren't even that many tvs around. It didn't control society like it does now.
It certainly was a different world, that's for sure. I can't even remember the last time the 7th game of any major championship was played when the Sun was still out.
When was the last time any championship in any major sport was completed under the Sun? Maybe the softball championship of a beer league, but that's about it.
According to the many old tapes I have of the Super Bowls from the 70's, even those games were played in the daylight until at least the late 70's. How did people survive back then? What if they had to work?
Today, even the NFL playoff games are all slowly being moved to prime time. And there will be a time when the AFC championship game is played on one night and the NFC title game is played the next night, you mark my words. Chris Berman will host the "21 hour in-between games pre-game show."
It's practically happening now with the Bowl Championship Series in major college football. Not only are most of them played at night, but the really big ones are spread out so much, it's damn-near February by the time the BCS championship game is played and they hand out that silver football sponsored by Dr. Pepper.
Back to those seven game series. I can see a time, years from now, when World Series games are only played on Saturday and Sunday nights. They're practically doing that now in the NHL and NBA finals with two-day gaps in-between games. You can't have a dramatic event like an NBA final game played during the daylight. You have to have every single possible person available to sit in front of the tube so they can see it and see ads for Budweiser.
But they didn't care about stuff like that back in 1960.
I guess my mom knows what she's talking about. Maybe I should listen to her more.
The reprint was from Friday, October 14th, 1960. The Pirates clinched their World Series title on Thursday, October 13th, when Maz's home run cleared the fence at 3:36pm.
For years, my mom would tell me that she was in school when the dramatic event went down. I never believed her. You know how those mom-types are. They don't know much about sports.
Just the other day, we were talking and she referenced Bubby Brister, only she pronounced his last name, "Brewster."
And I, being the snobby sports guy that I am, always told her that it had to have been a Sunday because why would they play the 7th game of the World Series on a weekday afternoon? That's crazy talk. After all, the networks wanted to sell advertising, even back in 1960. How can you sell ads when people aren't home watching?
But, of course, the almighty television wasn't our god back in 1960. There weren't even that many tvs around. It didn't control society like it does now.
It certainly was a different world, that's for sure. I can't even remember the last time the 7th game of any major championship was played when the Sun was still out.
When was the last time any championship in any major sport was completed under the Sun? Maybe the softball championship of a beer league, but that's about it.
According to the many old tapes I have of the Super Bowls from the 70's, even those games were played in the daylight until at least the late 70's. How did people survive back then? What if they had to work?
Today, even the NFL playoff games are all slowly being moved to prime time. And there will be a time when the AFC championship game is played on one night and the NFC title game is played the next night, you mark my words. Chris Berman will host the "21 hour in-between games pre-game show."
It's practically happening now with the Bowl Championship Series in major college football. Not only are most of them played at night, but the really big ones are spread out so much, it's damn-near February by the time the BCS championship game is played and they hand out that silver football sponsored by Dr. Pepper.
Back to those seven game series. I can see a time, years from now, when World Series games are only played on Saturday and Sunday nights. They're practically doing that now in the NHL and NBA finals with two-day gaps in-between games. You can't have a dramatic event like an NBA final game played during the daylight. You have to have every single possible person available to sit in front of the tube so they can see it and see ads for Budweiser.
But they didn't care about stuff like that back in 1960.
I guess my mom knows what she's talking about. Maybe I should listen to her more.
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
The Road to Super Bowl XL. The Greatest Nine Weeks Ever! (PART FOUR)
Ok, from now on, it's going to be totally new material. I started writing this about two years ago and I never quite got around to finishing it.
Here goes nothing!
I can't tell you how stunned I was at the time that the Steelers went into Indianapolis and knocked off the Colts. In NFL history, most teams that had seasons like Indianapolis had in'05-flirting with perfection-usually went on to win the Lombardi trophy. I know I was pretty optimistic, but even I knew that I witnessed something special.
The next day on craigslist, the fans from Denver were coming onto the Pittsburgh board and thanking the Steelers for allowing the Broncos to host the AFC championship game. Much like the Colts and Pats fans from a week earlier, they were acting as if victory was all but certain and the AFC title game would be a mere coronation for the Broncos. And I can't really blame them. They were the number 2 seed in the AFC and they probably figured the upstart Steelers were out of miracles. After all, Denver had just knocked off the two-time champion Patriots and the Steelers took care of the number 1 seed. And no number six seed had ever made it to the Super Bowl. If the Steelers were in a similar situation, I would be feeling pretty good, too.
At work, everyone was talking about the near-disastrous ending of the Colts' game and the almost miscarriage of justice because of the blown-call on the Troy interception that wasn't.
But what had some of the female customers just gushing was when Troy kissed his wedding ring as a tribute to his wife after he made what should have been the game-sealing interception. At that moment, Troy endeared himself to millions of women and was probably the most perfect man in the universe.
I went to yet another television taping of the "Joey Porter Show" at the Firehouse Lounge in the Strip District, and at that point, Steeler-mania was in full-swing and the place was jumping. In previous weeks, I was able to sit right near the front, but on this night, I was back by the bar, trying to watch it as best I could. This was the only taping I attended by myself since my aunt couldn't make it that night.
I talked to some very interesting people, including a woman who had a home-made terrible towel that she made in the late 70's. That was neat to see.
Joey's Steeler-guests that night were Ben Roethlisberger and Chris Hoke. I'm assuming that Roethlisberger taped his interview earlier because he wasn't there when I arrived, but Hokey's interview was pretty insightful and funny. He commented on the playoff beards that all the "white guys" were growing. He seemed like a cool guy. Fun night, all the way around.
Of the three AFC playoff games the Steelers played, the AFC championship game in Denver was the one I was most confident about, but that didn't stop me from being nervous. I had a right to be, of course, as that round of the playoffs was a real source of frustration for many years. The Steelers played in the AFC title game five previous times under Bill Cowher, all at home, and lost all but one time. And here they were on the road in Denver, a place where they never played well, trying to get back to the Super Bowl for the first time in ten seasons.
For my money, losing in the round before the Super Bowl is even more frustrating than losing the Super Bowl. I know a lot of people will disagree with me, but that's how I've always felt. Losing in the Super Bowl is like going to Kennywood on a rainy day. Sure, it sucked, but at least you got to go to Kennywood. There is nothing worse than spending an entire week confident that your team will win and make it to the Super Bowl only to see the entire season hit a brick wall. I have a hard time watching the Super Bowl after the Steelers lose the AFC championship game. The game between the Patriots and Rams was one of the most exciting Super Bowls ever and I missed most of it because I just couldn't stand watching the Patriots play in a game I thought the Steelers were locks to make.
But I was confident because I thought the Steelers had the better team and the better quarterback. Denver's quarterback, Jake "the Snake" Plummer, was having an almost flawless season, rarely turning the ball over. But I knew, if he was pushed and confused by Dick Lebeau and the Steelers defense, he would be forced into turnovers. I commented to a friend of mine that Plummer would play like Kordell did in the 1997 AFC championship game against the Broncos.
The Steelers got a field goal on their first drive, but not before I almost had a heart attack when Champ Bailey nearly picked off Big Ben on a third down pass to Hines Ward, but Hines came to the rescue and caught the deflected pass before getting smacked by John Lynch. We had our first Nate Washington sighting on that drive as he made the first catch of his career, a key pick up on 3rd down, and a few plays later, Jeff Reed kicked a 48 yard field goal and the Steelers were in front, 3-0.
On the next Broncos' drive, Plummer was hit by Porter, who stripped him of the ball. Casey Hampton recovered and the Steelers were on their way.
Pittsburgh made it 10-0 when Roethlisberger pump-faked a slant pass to Cedric Wilson, who instead, turned it into an out and was wide open in the corner of the endzone. Champ Bailey bit hard on the play and seemed to be stunned at the turn of events.
After Denver made it, 10-3, Pittsburgh marched down field and went up, 17-3, on a Jerome Bettis tough, three yard touchdown run late in the half that turned out to be the last one of his career.
Instead of just running out the clock, Denver decided to try and move the ball and Ike Taylor, of all people, intercepted a lazy pass by Plummer and Pittsburgh was poised to take an even bigger lead into the half. And they did so when a scrambling Ben Roethlsiberger hit Hines Ward in the back of the endzone and put Pittsburgh ahead, 24-3.
We were going nuts at my uncle's house. Just a year earlier, the Steelers were down, 24-3, to New England at halftime of the AFC title game and here they were on the positive side of the exact same score.
Pittsburgh did a good job of moving the ball and burning some clock in the 3rd quarterback but they couldn't quite put Denver away. And the Broncos inched a little closer late in the quarter on a Jake Plummer touchdown pass to make it, 24-10.
But Pittsburgh came right back and kicked a field goal early in the 4th quarter to take a 17-point lead. And on the very first play of Denver's next drive, Larry Foote picked off Plummer and I think I about lost my mind. Pittsburgh had a 27-10 lead and the ball near mid-field. My confidence was at an all-time high. But Pittsburgh couldn't really capitalize and when Denver got the ball back, they scored their second touchdown of the second half on a penalty-riddled drive and were within ten points of Pittsburgh with still a half a quarter to go.
At that point, I was pacing the floors, and almost fainted when Ben was nearly intercepted by John Lynch. Denver eventually got the ball back and had all the momentum.
But I had no need to worry because on 4th and 10, Brett Keisel stripped Plummer of the ball and the Steelers all but had the game in the bag with only a few minutes remaining.
A few plays later, the Steelers had the ball inside the 10 yard line and during a break in the action, Cowher called over Bettis and had this smile and expression on his face and I couldn't read his lips, but I'm guessing what he was telling the Bus was something like, "We're riding you to the endzone, Bussy. Please don't torture us like you did last week."
After a couple of Bus rides, it was 3rd and goal inside the five yard line. And on 3rd down, instead of giving it to Bettis once again, it was a bootleg and Roethlisberger scored and Pittsburgh was on their way to Detroit with a 34-17 victory.
When Big Ben scored, I jumped up and said, "We're going to the Super Bowl!" It was one of the best moments of my life.
And despite the few nervous moments in the second half, it was one of my favorite games ever. It was nice to see the AFC championship game be sort of a blow out with very little suspense.
The feeling that I had the rest of the evening was euphoric. Something happens to you when your favorite team wins a game like that. You have this urge to get in your car and drive around so that's what I did. I found myself at my sister's house in Avalon, and my brother in law, a Broncos fan, was still talking trash and trying to remind me of the Broncos' back-to-back Super Bowl titles in '97 and '98. But he couldn't hurt me that day. I was in Heaven.
Ok, this concludes part four. I hope you all enjoyed it and I hope to write part five in the near future.
Here goes nothing!
I can't tell you how stunned I was at the time that the Steelers went into Indianapolis and knocked off the Colts. In NFL history, most teams that had seasons like Indianapolis had in'05-flirting with perfection-usually went on to win the Lombardi trophy. I know I was pretty optimistic, but even I knew that I witnessed something special.
The next day on craigslist, the fans from Denver were coming onto the Pittsburgh board and thanking the Steelers for allowing the Broncos to host the AFC championship game. Much like the Colts and Pats fans from a week earlier, they were acting as if victory was all but certain and the AFC title game would be a mere coronation for the Broncos. And I can't really blame them. They were the number 2 seed in the AFC and they probably figured the upstart Steelers were out of miracles. After all, Denver had just knocked off the two-time champion Patriots and the Steelers took care of the number 1 seed. And no number six seed had ever made it to the Super Bowl. If the Steelers were in a similar situation, I would be feeling pretty good, too.
At work, everyone was talking about the near-disastrous ending of the Colts' game and the almost miscarriage of justice because of the blown-call on the Troy interception that wasn't.
But what had some of the female customers just gushing was when Troy kissed his wedding ring as a tribute to his wife after he made what should have been the game-sealing interception. At that moment, Troy endeared himself to millions of women and was probably the most perfect man in the universe.
I went to yet another television taping of the "Joey Porter Show" at the Firehouse Lounge in the Strip District, and at that point, Steeler-mania was in full-swing and the place was jumping. In previous weeks, I was able to sit right near the front, but on this night, I was back by the bar, trying to watch it as best I could. This was the only taping I attended by myself since my aunt couldn't make it that night.
I talked to some very interesting people, including a woman who had a home-made terrible towel that she made in the late 70's. That was neat to see.
Joey's Steeler-guests that night were Ben Roethlisberger and Chris Hoke. I'm assuming that Roethlisberger taped his interview earlier because he wasn't there when I arrived, but Hokey's interview was pretty insightful and funny. He commented on the playoff beards that all the "white guys" were growing. He seemed like a cool guy. Fun night, all the way around.
Of the three AFC playoff games the Steelers played, the AFC championship game in Denver was the one I was most confident about, but that didn't stop me from being nervous. I had a right to be, of course, as that round of the playoffs was a real source of frustration for many years. The Steelers played in the AFC title game five previous times under Bill Cowher, all at home, and lost all but one time. And here they were on the road in Denver, a place where they never played well, trying to get back to the Super Bowl for the first time in ten seasons.
For my money, losing in the round before the Super Bowl is even more frustrating than losing the Super Bowl. I know a lot of people will disagree with me, but that's how I've always felt. Losing in the Super Bowl is like going to Kennywood on a rainy day. Sure, it sucked, but at least you got to go to Kennywood. There is nothing worse than spending an entire week confident that your team will win and make it to the Super Bowl only to see the entire season hit a brick wall. I have a hard time watching the Super Bowl after the Steelers lose the AFC championship game. The game between the Patriots and Rams was one of the most exciting Super Bowls ever and I missed most of it because I just couldn't stand watching the Patriots play in a game I thought the Steelers were locks to make.
But I was confident because I thought the Steelers had the better team and the better quarterback. Denver's quarterback, Jake "the Snake" Plummer, was having an almost flawless season, rarely turning the ball over. But I knew, if he was pushed and confused by Dick Lebeau and the Steelers defense, he would be forced into turnovers. I commented to a friend of mine that Plummer would play like Kordell did in the 1997 AFC championship game against the Broncos.
The Steelers got a field goal on their first drive, but not before I almost had a heart attack when Champ Bailey nearly picked off Big Ben on a third down pass to Hines Ward, but Hines came to the rescue and caught the deflected pass before getting smacked by John Lynch. We had our first Nate Washington sighting on that drive as he made the first catch of his career, a key pick up on 3rd down, and a few plays later, Jeff Reed kicked a 48 yard field goal and the Steelers were in front, 3-0.
On the next Broncos' drive, Plummer was hit by Porter, who stripped him of the ball. Casey Hampton recovered and the Steelers were on their way.
Pittsburgh made it 10-0 when Roethlisberger pump-faked a slant pass to Cedric Wilson, who instead, turned it into an out and was wide open in the corner of the endzone. Champ Bailey bit hard on the play and seemed to be stunned at the turn of events.
After Denver made it, 10-3, Pittsburgh marched down field and went up, 17-3, on a Jerome Bettis tough, three yard touchdown run late in the half that turned out to be the last one of his career.
Instead of just running out the clock, Denver decided to try and move the ball and Ike Taylor, of all people, intercepted a lazy pass by Plummer and Pittsburgh was poised to take an even bigger lead into the half. And they did so when a scrambling Ben Roethlsiberger hit Hines Ward in the back of the endzone and put Pittsburgh ahead, 24-3.
We were going nuts at my uncle's house. Just a year earlier, the Steelers were down, 24-3, to New England at halftime of the AFC title game and here they were on the positive side of the exact same score.
Pittsburgh did a good job of moving the ball and burning some clock in the 3rd quarterback but they couldn't quite put Denver away. And the Broncos inched a little closer late in the quarter on a Jake Plummer touchdown pass to make it, 24-10.
But Pittsburgh came right back and kicked a field goal early in the 4th quarter to take a 17-point lead. And on the very first play of Denver's next drive, Larry Foote picked off Plummer and I think I about lost my mind. Pittsburgh had a 27-10 lead and the ball near mid-field. My confidence was at an all-time high. But Pittsburgh couldn't really capitalize and when Denver got the ball back, they scored their second touchdown of the second half on a penalty-riddled drive and were within ten points of Pittsburgh with still a half a quarter to go.
At that point, I was pacing the floors, and almost fainted when Ben was nearly intercepted by John Lynch. Denver eventually got the ball back and had all the momentum.
But I had no need to worry because on 4th and 10, Brett Keisel stripped Plummer of the ball and the Steelers all but had the game in the bag with only a few minutes remaining.
A few plays later, the Steelers had the ball inside the 10 yard line and during a break in the action, Cowher called over Bettis and had this smile and expression on his face and I couldn't read his lips, but I'm guessing what he was telling the Bus was something like, "We're riding you to the endzone, Bussy. Please don't torture us like you did last week."
After a couple of Bus rides, it was 3rd and goal inside the five yard line. And on 3rd down, instead of giving it to Bettis once again, it was a bootleg and Roethlisberger scored and Pittsburgh was on their way to Detroit with a 34-17 victory.
When Big Ben scored, I jumped up and said, "We're going to the Super Bowl!" It was one of the best moments of my life.
And despite the few nervous moments in the second half, it was one of my favorite games ever. It was nice to see the AFC championship game be sort of a blow out with very little suspense.
The feeling that I had the rest of the evening was euphoric. Something happens to you when your favorite team wins a game like that. You have this urge to get in your car and drive around so that's what I did. I found myself at my sister's house in Avalon, and my brother in law, a Broncos fan, was still talking trash and trying to remind me of the Broncos' back-to-back Super Bowl titles in '97 and '98. But he couldn't hurt me that day. I was in Heaven.
Ok, this concludes part four. I hope you all enjoyed it and I hope to write part five in the near future.
There is an entire generation of young people who don't know what it's like to experience a good Pirate team. So what?
Today marks the 50th anniversary of the Pittsburgh Pirates thrilling game seven World Series victory over the heavily favored New York Yankees in 1960. The Pirates clinched the dramatic championship when Bill Mazeroski knocked a 1-0 pitch over the left field wall in the bottom of the 9th inning at Forbes field to break a 9-9 tie and give the team their first World Series victory in 35 years.
There will be festivities today in Oakland at the old Forbes Field site commemorating the event. I'm sure if you're old enough to remember that day, it had to be a magical moment.
Sadly, there haven't been many magical moments for the Pittsburgh Pirates lately as they've just completed their 18th straight losing season.
The last time they had a winning season was 1992, which was also the last time they were in the postseason when they lost the National League Championship Series to the Atlanta Braves in a heartbreaking 7th game. I believe the anniversary of that game is right around this time, as well.
If you're around my age, late 30's, and you weren't old enough to remember the 1979 World Series championship, the 1992 NLCS gut-wrenching loss is the anniversary you always point to as a night you'll never forget, only you'd really love to.
There is another generation out there that doesn't even know what it's like to experience a Pirates winning season because they either weren't alive or too young to remember the Pirates last era of winning baseball. They've been described by some as "The lost generation of Pirates fans." People feel sorry for them because there are some diehard kids out there who go to the games and cheer for their beloved Buccos win or, mostly lose, and would absolutely be in Heaven if the Pirates ever got their act together and contended for a pennant.
Well, I don't feel sorry for them because they're still young enough to maybe witness it someday. A kid around 18 years old can experience ten more five-year plans before it's too late.
Even someone like me in my late 30's still has hope that I might witness a good Pirates team again someday. Even if it's ten years from now, at least I'll still be young enough to really party it up.
No, the generation I feel bad for is the generation that was about 60 years old in 1992 and now are pushing 80. Back then, after Francisco Cabrera got that unlikely hit and Sid Bream scored the run that broke the collective hearts of an entire region, if you were about 60, you probably thought, "Well, the team might be heading for a town-turn but I'm sure in a few years, their young prospects will be ready to make a run at it, and, God-willing, I'll be around to see it."
And about ten seasons ago, when they opened PNC Park and there was hope that things would turn around with the help of young, talented players like Jason Kendall and Brian Giles, that generation probably thought, "Well, things are looking up. We have a new ballpark and a few good, young players. Why, I just pray that I'll still be around in a few years when they're contending."
But now, those people, the ones that are going on 80, should be furious. They're the ones that should be up-in-arms over this latest 100-loss season. If I was them, I wouldn't want to hear about any more five-year plans. Who wants to wait five years for something when you're that old? If they're lucky, they might have one five-year plan left in them.
If I was around 80 years old right now, I would be screaming at the tv every time the Pirates screwed up. "Come on! How hard is it to get a bunt down!" They should be the people on blogs and message boards showing their digust. "The Pirates have the lowest ERA in the league once again? Well, what do you know about that!"
That generation of fans should be the ones protesting and letting their voices be heard. Time is of the essence.
You 18 year olds. Shut up! Never witnessing the Pirates win is like being born deaf in one ear. You don't know what you're missing so just sit their patiently and watch the X-games.
Odds are, the Pirates will probably win again in yours and my life-time. That other generation I was talking about............?????????? We can only hope.
There will be festivities today in Oakland at the old Forbes Field site commemorating the event. I'm sure if you're old enough to remember that day, it had to be a magical moment.
Sadly, there haven't been many magical moments for the Pittsburgh Pirates lately as they've just completed their 18th straight losing season.
The last time they had a winning season was 1992, which was also the last time they were in the postseason when they lost the National League Championship Series to the Atlanta Braves in a heartbreaking 7th game. I believe the anniversary of that game is right around this time, as well.
If you're around my age, late 30's, and you weren't old enough to remember the 1979 World Series championship, the 1992 NLCS gut-wrenching loss is the anniversary you always point to as a night you'll never forget, only you'd really love to.
There is another generation out there that doesn't even know what it's like to experience a Pirates winning season because they either weren't alive or too young to remember the Pirates last era of winning baseball. They've been described by some as "The lost generation of Pirates fans." People feel sorry for them because there are some diehard kids out there who go to the games and cheer for their beloved Buccos win or, mostly lose, and would absolutely be in Heaven if the Pirates ever got their act together and contended for a pennant.
Well, I don't feel sorry for them because they're still young enough to maybe witness it someday. A kid around 18 years old can experience ten more five-year plans before it's too late.
Even someone like me in my late 30's still has hope that I might witness a good Pirates team again someday. Even if it's ten years from now, at least I'll still be young enough to really party it up.
No, the generation I feel bad for is the generation that was about 60 years old in 1992 and now are pushing 80. Back then, after Francisco Cabrera got that unlikely hit and Sid Bream scored the run that broke the collective hearts of an entire region, if you were about 60, you probably thought, "Well, the team might be heading for a town-turn but I'm sure in a few years, their young prospects will be ready to make a run at it, and, God-willing, I'll be around to see it."
And about ten seasons ago, when they opened PNC Park and there was hope that things would turn around with the help of young, talented players like Jason Kendall and Brian Giles, that generation probably thought, "Well, things are looking up. We have a new ballpark and a few good, young players. Why, I just pray that I'll still be around in a few years when they're contending."
But now, those people, the ones that are going on 80, should be furious. They're the ones that should be up-in-arms over this latest 100-loss season. If I was them, I wouldn't want to hear about any more five-year plans. Who wants to wait five years for something when you're that old? If they're lucky, they might have one five-year plan left in them.
If I was around 80 years old right now, I would be screaming at the tv every time the Pirates screwed up. "Come on! How hard is it to get a bunt down!" They should be the people on blogs and message boards showing their digust. "The Pirates have the lowest ERA in the league once again? Well, what do you know about that!"
That generation of fans should be the ones protesting and letting their voices be heard. Time is of the essence.
You 18 year olds. Shut up! Never witnessing the Pirates win is like being born deaf in one ear. You don't know what you're missing so just sit their patiently and watch the X-games.
Odds are, the Pirates will probably win again in yours and my life-time. That other generation I was talking about............?????????? We can only hope.
Ben Roethlisberger vs. Brett Favre
Brett Favre, the legendary Vikings' quarterback who's been in and out of retirement more than professional wrestler, Ric Flair, is in the midst of a sex scandal.
Favre, who has been married for 16 years, may or may not have left several voicemails and texted pictures of his penis to a former New York Jets' employee during Favre's time with New York back in 2008. Jen Sterger, a model/actress/writer/television personality, was a tv personality for the Jets at the time and was the alleged object of Brett's desire. You can find more detail on this stuff here: www.deadspin.com.
When I first heard about it, I wasn't necessarily stunned. I mean, a professional athlete cheating on his wife? Shocker. The fact that Favre is involved was a little surprising, but even though I've been a Favre fan for the most part over the years, I never quite bought into the whole good ol' boy image. Especially with some of the things that some of his former teammates have said about him. Things that would suggest he's more of a garden variety rich, spoiled athlete.
Nevertheless, sex scandals aren't new to sports. As you know, we've been through one or two of them pretty recently here with our franchise quarterback.
But is this latest Favre saga similar to the sex scandal/scandals involving Ben Roethlisberger?
At first, I didn't think so. I mean, after all, a player being accused of rape is a little more serious than infidelity. But I was listening to some sports talk radio last week and some of the callers were pretty angry and asking if NFL commissioner Roger Goodell was going to suspend Favre like he did Big Ben. Ben wasn't suspended because he was found guilty of sexual assault or anything at all. He wasn't even charged with a crime. He was suspended for his conduct away from the field.
If these voice mails and text pictures were from Favre, and of Favre's private parts, that could be considered sexual harassment by some, especially if they were unwanted, but it might be a little hard to prove, just like in the incident with Ben.
However, do you think Goodell will or should act on this? Like I said, an athlete cheating on his wife is nothing new, but the commissioner has come under fire lately for his pretty stiff penalties on some athletes while others seem to get away with nothing for doing similar things. For example, Vince Young wasn't suspended at all for his alleged involvement in a strip club assault earlier this season. Texting sexually explicit pictures could be considered poor conduct, right?
I think Goodell really painted himself in a corner when he suspended Roethlisberger. I know it's been said many times over the past few months, but the guy wasn't even arrested and he missed the first 4 games of the season?
Maybe I'm just viewing things with Black and Gold glasses.
It's going to be interesting to see how Goodell handles this newest NFL scandal or if he even gets involved at all.
Favre, who has been married for 16 years, may or may not have left several voicemails and texted pictures of his penis to a former New York Jets' employee during Favre's time with New York back in 2008. Jen Sterger, a model/actress/writer/television personality, was a tv personality for the Jets at the time and was the alleged object of Brett's desire. You can find more detail on this stuff here: www.deadspin.com.
When I first heard about it, I wasn't necessarily stunned. I mean, a professional athlete cheating on his wife? Shocker. The fact that Favre is involved was a little surprising, but even though I've been a Favre fan for the most part over the years, I never quite bought into the whole good ol' boy image. Especially with some of the things that some of his former teammates have said about him. Things that would suggest he's more of a garden variety rich, spoiled athlete.
Nevertheless, sex scandals aren't new to sports. As you know, we've been through one or two of them pretty recently here with our franchise quarterback.
But is this latest Favre saga similar to the sex scandal/scandals involving Ben Roethlisberger?
At first, I didn't think so. I mean, after all, a player being accused of rape is a little more serious than infidelity. But I was listening to some sports talk radio last week and some of the callers were pretty angry and asking if NFL commissioner Roger Goodell was going to suspend Favre like he did Big Ben. Ben wasn't suspended because he was found guilty of sexual assault or anything at all. He wasn't even charged with a crime. He was suspended for his conduct away from the field.
If these voice mails and text pictures were from Favre, and of Favre's private parts, that could be considered sexual harassment by some, especially if they were unwanted, but it might be a little hard to prove, just like in the incident with Ben.
However, do you think Goodell will or should act on this? Like I said, an athlete cheating on his wife is nothing new, but the commissioner has come under fire lately for his pretty stiff penalties on some athletes while others seem to get away with nothing for doing similar things. For example, Vince Young wasn't suspended at all for his alleged involvement in a strip club assault earlier this season. Texting sexually explicit pictures could be considered poor conduct, right?
I think Goodell really painted himself in a corner when he suspended Roethlisberger. I know it's been said many times over the past few months, but the guy wasn't even arrested and he missed the first 4 games of the season?
Maybe I'm just viewing things with Black and Gold glasses.
It's going to be interesting to see how Goodell handles this newest NFL scandal or if he even gets involved at all.
Monday, October 4, 2010
How my little Tea Party joke made me the rat/roach in the kitchen of the Behind the Steel Curtain blog
Last week, in an attempt to be funny, I contributed a satrical post to "Behind The Steel Curtain," a blog I've been frequenting since August. The premise of the post was what I thought the Tea Party's all-time NFL team would look like if members of the party got together and had a vote on it. The team consisted of all white guys and about 90% of them played before 1980. To give you an example of what I mean: Jerry Rice, a black man, is considered the greatest wide receiver of all time. But on my Tea Party list, I have Don Huston, a white man who played in the early years of the NFL, as one of their all-time receivers.
It might seem pretty stereotypical for me to write that, but hey, if you worried about stereotypes, there would be no jokes.
The Tea Party has gained popularity since President Barack Obama took office. The party is a movement of people who are mad as hell and aren't going to take it any more. They lean to the right, but claim to not be fans of the previous presidential regime, either. Funny how I didn't hear much from them when George W. Bush was running things for eight years. From all the rallies I've seen on tv, the party is made up of mostly middle age-to-elderly white people.
They really started to get vocal around the time the health care bill was passed. There was an incident where members of the party had shouted racial slurs at some African American congressmen just before the bill was passed and that's when I was inspired to write "The Tea Party's All-time NFL team as voted on by Tea Party members."
Originally, I posted it on craigslist because I thought that would be a way to get people to respond in an angry fashion. Nobody bit. Then, about a month later, I was reading about how some members of the Tea Party had paid to have billboards display propaganda comparing Obama to infamous political figures like Hitler. That's when I was inspired to post my satircal propaganda on my own blog. Again, nothing. I think the problem was that unless you knew a whole lot about football, you might not know that every single player on the list was white and mostly really old.
This past Summer, I discovered the blog "Behind The Steel Curtain" and I immediately fell in love. It is a place where Steelers fans from all around the world can get together and demonstrate their love for the Black and Gold.
And it really is love. There is so much love for the Steelers on this blog, it's quite remarkable. There is someone who contributes a weekly thread called: "Predict The Score" before the upcoming game, and about 99% of the scores are not only in favor of the Steelers, but blowouts.
Anyway, since my discovery of this blog, I've become a regular contributor, posting two or three things a week, because, much like everyone else on that site, I have a disturbing obsession with the Steelers. And the great thing about this site is if you post something, you get tremendous feedback. It's not always positive, it's often critical, but it's mostly quite respectful.
A couple of weeks ago, I was reading an article in the Tribune Review from an African American reporter. I can't remember her name, but she was following up on an article she had written previously on the ugly "N-word" and how she received some pretty nasty hate mail from people who, as it turned out, where members of the Tea Party.
And this inspired me to write something nasty about the Tea Party, but since I'm not overly political, what could I do? That's when it hit me to post my "The Tea Party's All-time NFL team" thread on BTSC and see what happened. I posted it last Tuesday evening and couldn't wait to get up on Wednesday and see how much feedback there was from it. When I logged onto the site Wednesday morning, I discovered that my post was disabled.
I posted a thread asking what happened to my post, and that's when I realized that "Behind The Steel Curtain" was no place for any political leanings whatsoever. Left, right, liberal, conservative, it didn't matter. "Take it outside, politics boy!" was the general response I got. Basically, they want the blog to be for the Steelers and about the Steelers and their fans. Even a satircal political post was not welcome there.
And even the thread I posted asking why my joke was was disabled was also, eventually taken down because the discussions were starting to get a little heated on the board.
And then someone else posted a thread on censorship and was saying stuff like we might not be interested in politics but politics is always interested in us, and that it's just a game and we should care about politics as much as we care about the Steelers. And that we should give more funding to the arts than we do to sports in this country. Ok, that last part was what Cliff Huxtable's daughter said in the "Sweet Feet" episode of the Cosby show, but I could see this person saying that.
And then that thread got pretty heated and eventually had to be taken down.
You know how, sometimes, a person will accidentally leave a shoebox on a bench in a crowded mall and people will panic and think it's a bomb and the whole place is shut down and the police and bomb squad are called in to blow up the shoes just in-case they were left there by terrorists?
Well, as I was reading all the mess that I started with my little joke post about the Tea Party, I felt like that person who accidentally left the shoe box at the mall.
I was even worried that I would be banned from the site even though I meant no harm. I was just trying to have some fun, although, the thought of getting vicious hate-mail from tea party members like that Trib reporter was kind of intriguing and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't hoping to get some hate mail from my post.
I guess I will stick to blogging about sports.
It might seem pretty stereotypical for me to write that, but hey, if you worried about stereotypes, there would be no jokes.
The Tea Party has gained popularity since President Barack Obama took office. The party is a movement of people who are mad as hell and aren't going to take it any more. They lean to the right, but claim to not be fans of the previous presidential regime, either. Funny how I didn't hear much from them when George W. Bush was running things for eight years. From all the rallies I've seen on tv, the party is made up of mostly middle age-to-elderly white people.
They really started to get vocal around the time the health care bill was passed. There was an incident where members of the party had shouted racial slurs at some African American congressmen just before the bill was passed and that's when I was inspired to write "The Tea Party's All-time NFL team as voted on by Tea Party members."
Originally, I posted it on craigslist because I thought that would be a way to get people to respond in an angry fashion. Nobody bit. Then, about a month later, I was reading about how some members of the Tea Party had paid to have billboards display propaganda comparing Obama to infamous political figures like Hitler. That's when I was inspired to post my satircal propaganda on my own blog. Again, nothing. I think the problem was that unless you knew a whole lot about football, you might not know that every single player on the list was white and mostly really old.
This past Summer, I discovered the blog "Behind The Steel Curtain" and I immediately fell in love. It is a place where Steelers fans from all around the world can get together and demonstrate their love for the Black and Gold.
And it really is love. There is so much love for the Steelers on this blog, it's quite remarkable. There is someone who contributes a weekly thread called: "Predict The Score" before the upcoming game, and about 99% of the scores are not only in favor of the Steelers, but blowouts.
Anyway, since my discovery of this blog, I've become a regular contributor, posting two or three things a week, because, much like everyone else on that site, I have a disturbing obsession with the Steelers. And the great thing about this site is if you post something, you get tremendous feedback. It's not always positive, it's often critical, but it's mostly quite respectful.
A couple of weeks ago, I was reading an article in the Tribune Review from an African American reporter. I can't remember her name, but she was following up on an article she had written previously on the ugly "N-word" and how she received some pretty nasty hate mail from people who, as it turned out, where members of the Tea Party.
And this inspired me to write something nasty about the Tea Party, but since I'm not overly political, what could I do? That's when it hit me to post my "The Tea Party's All-time NFL team" thread on BTSC and see what happened. I posted it last Tuesday evening and couldn't wait to get up on Wednesday and see how much feedback there was from it. When I logged onto the site Wednesday morning, I discovered that my post was disabled.
I posted a thread asking what happened to my post, and that's when I realized that "Behind The Steel Curtain" was no place for any political leanings whatsoever. Left, right, liberal, conservative, it didn't matter. "Take it outside, politics boy!" was the general response I got. Basically, they want the blog to be for the Steelers and about the Steelers and their fans. Even a satircal political post was not welcome there.
And even the thread I posted asking why my joke was was disabled was also, eventually taken down because the discussions were starting to get a little heated on the board.
And then someone else posted a thread on censorship and was saying stuff like we might not be interested in politics but politics is always interested in us, and that it's just a game and we should care about politics as much as we care about the Steelers. And that we should give more funding to the arts than we do to sports in this country. Ok, that last part was what Cliff Huxtable's daughter said in the "Sweet Feet" episode of the Cosby show, but I could see this person saying that.
And then that thread got pretty heated and eventually had to be taken down.
You know how, sometimes, a person will accidentally leave a shoebox on a bench in a crowded mall and people will panic and think it's a bomb and the whole place is shut down and the police and bomb squad are called in to blow up the shoes just in-case they were left there by terrorists?
Well, as I was reading all the mess that I started with my little joke post about the Tea Party, I felt like that person who accidentally left the shoe box at the mall.
I was even worried that I would be banned from the site even though I meant no harm. I was just trying to have some fun, although, the thought of getting vicious hate-mail from tea party members like that Trib reporter was kind of intriguing and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't hoping to get some hate mail from my post.
I guess I will stick to blogging about sports.
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Even though this loss really hurts, 3-1 without Ben is still pretty good
I sit here with a very sick feeling in my stomach. It's the kind of feeling one gets when their favorite football team loses a heartbreaking contest to their most bitter rival in the final moments of the game.
The Steelers lost today, 17-14, when Joe Flacco hit TJ Houshmandzadeh with an 18 yard touchdown pass with 32 seconds left. This all coming after an awesome goalline stand just moments earlier that looked like it would be good enough to give the team the win, but Baltimore got one last shot and took advantage of it.
The Steelers failed on a last-ditch effort to march down the field to tie the game when Charlie Batch was intercepted by Ray Lewis to preserve the game for Baltimore.
Baltimore and their fans will brag and thump their chests over this one, but the bottomline is Pittsburgh had many chances to control things but just couldn't do it. The defense caused two turnovers in Ravens' territory in the 3rd quarter (including a pick from Ike Taylor of all people) but came away with no points after Jeff Reed missed two field goals.
Pittsburgh had 11 penalties today, none more costly than the holding penalty on Fox during the Sepulveda punt that gave Baltimore the ball at the Steeler 40 yardline with 1:15 left. And from there, Flacco seemed to lead the offense down the field with ease before hitting Houshmandzadeh with the game-winner.
This game was very hard hitting and reminded me a lot of the Steelers/Giants game from two-seasons ago. The Steelers had a great goalline stand that day, too, and also had many chances to put New York away, but were their own worst enemies with many crucial mistakes and just couldn't do it.
I know this is going to sound like sour grapes, but I thought the Ravens got away with two or three false-start penalties by their left tackle in the 2nd half, and for the life of me, I can't figure out why they weren't called.
Nevertheless, the Steelers lost, but if you look at the big picture, you have to be happy with what Pittsburgh did in the 4 games without Ben. If I had my choice, I would have given up the overtime game against Atlanta, and taken today's game against Baltimore because of the divisional and conference implications, but the Steelers will have their best player coming back in two-weeks and I like their chances the rest of the way.
A Benless 3-1 start is not bad at all.
The Steelers lost today, 17-14, when Joe Flacco hit TJ Houshmandzadeh with an 18 yard touchdown pass with 32 seconds left. This all coming after an awesome goalline stand just moments earlier that looked like it would be good enough to give the team the win, but Baltimore got one last shot and took advantage of it.
The Steelers failed on a last-ditch effort to march down the field to tie the game when Charlie Batch was intercepted by Ray Lewis to preserve the game for Baltimore.
Baltimore and their fans will brag and thump their chests over this one, but the bottomline is Pittsburgh had many chances to control things but just couldn't do it. The defense caused two turnovers in Ravens' territory in the 3rd quarter (including a pick from Ike Taylor of all people) but came away with no points after Jeff Reed missed two field goals.
Pittsburgh had 11 penalties today, none more costly than the holding penalty on Fox during the Sepulveda punt that gave Baltimore the ball at the Steeler 40 yardline with 1:15 left. And from there, Flacco seemed to lead the offense down the field with ease before hitting Houshmandzadeh with the game-winner.
This game was very hard hitting and reminded me a lot of the Steelers/Giants game from two-seasons ago. The Steelers had a great goalline stand that day, too, and also had many chances to put New York away, but were their own worst enemies with many crucial mistakes and just couldn't do it.
I know this is going to sound like sour grapes, but I thought the Ravens got away with two or three false-start penalties by their left tackle in the 2nd half, and for the life of me, I can't figure out why they weren't called.
Nevertheless, the Steelers lost, but if you look at the big picture, you have to be happy with what Pittsburgh did in the 4 games without Ben. If I had my choice, I would have given up the overtime game against Atlanta, and taken today's game against Baltimore because of the divisional and conference implications, but the Steelers will have their best player coming back in two-weeks and I like their chances the rest of the way.
A Benless 3-1 start is not bad at all.
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