Pitt to the ACC. Wow!

What's a good way to make Pitt fans forget about blowing a 17-point fourth quarter lead? Immediately announce that the school is leaving the Big East and moving to the ACC.

When I first heard the rumors yesterday that Pitt, along with Syracuse, would be making an official inquiry to apply for admission to the Atlantic Coast Conference, I didn't think anything would happen for a very long time.

And then when the Panthers squandered away yesterday's game, I wondered if the conference would have second-thoughts about Pitt joining their ranks.

Well, this morning, I was floored when it was announced that the move by Pitt and Syracuse was a done-deal. It's still up-in-the-air as to when the two schools will officially become part of the ACC since the Big East requires a 27-month notice for teams looking to move; although that stipulation could be waived.

When Pitt officially moves to the Atlantic Coast Conference, it will be the only university located in a land-locked state.

And I wonder if Syracuse fans will feel like they're part of the ACC when they're getting pounded by two-feet of snow in the middle of January.

Of course, all the recent realignment in big-time college athletics has nothing to do with geographical accuracy. It's all about survival and money.

And in all fairness, in terms of travel for teams and fans, there really is very little difference between schools in the Big East and the ACC.

Pitt moving to the ACC is at least a slight upgrade in the football department. And with Florida State, Virginia Tech, Miami (depending on the severity of their inevitable sanctions), and Clemson, one might call it a significant upgrade. In basketball, at least in terms of prestige, moving to the ACC is a lateral move. It remains to be seen if it will effect Jamie Dixon's New York recruiting pipeline. Although, playing in the same conference as Duke and North Carolina has to be at least a little enticing to even kids in the New York area.

I've always been a Big East fan and wanted them to succeed as a football conference, but it just became increasingly obvious that the Big East was always going to be a target for other conferences looking to expand.

Pitt had to be proactive. It had to think of its own welfare first and foremost.

I don't know what this will mean for Pitt's longtime rival, WVU. But I'm fairly certain that this conference shifting is far from over. From what I understand, Pitt and Syracuse were only two of several schools targeted by the ACC. The additions of Pitt and Syracuse gives the ACC 14 members. If they want to expand to 16 schools, West Virginia would be an ideal candidate.

With the defections of Miami, Virginia Tech, and Boston College in 2003, and now with Pitt and Syracuse leaving, it appears that the Big East may be done, at least as a football conference.

I thought Walt Harris/Dave Wannstedt were the coaches who couldn't win the big games: Pitt blows 27-10 lead and loses a heartbreaker in Iowa, 31-27

I'm in between a wedding ceremony and the reception right now, but I'm not so sure how much fun I'm going to have tonight. Instead, I'll probably be thinking about Pitt blowing a 17-point lead to the Iowa Hawkeyes this afternoon.

I actually had a rare opportunity to watch the Panthers play the first half of their game today in Iowa and was rather impressed with what I saw.

I don't know the particulars of how Pitt managed to give up 21 points in the final period because I just don't feel like researching it, but man, when will this ever end for the Pitt Panthers football program?

Somewhere, sometime, this team, this university, has to stand up and make a statement. Granted, today's game wasn't exactly on par with Pitt's recent Big East heartbreakers, but it could have been a chance for Todd Graham to really establish the high octane philosophy on both offense and defense that we've been hearing about since the program hired him in January.

Instead of that, unfortunately, it's just the latest in a long line of devastating losses and raises more questions about the football program.

I hope nobody asks me to do the macarena tonight.

Willie Colon out for the year

Well, whatever troubles the Steelers offensive line had just got worse as it was confirmed that starting right tackle Willie Colon tore his triceps muscle in the week one loss to the Ravens on Sunday. Colon will have surgery today and will be out for the season.

This is obviously a blow since Colon is one of the Steelers' top offensive linemen. However, if they can convince Flozell Adams or Max Starks to come back and fill the void, I don't think it will be a huge drop-off. Colon missed the entire 2010 season with an Achilles Heel injury and with the addition of Adams, the team never missed a beat.

However, if the Steelers have to promote from within to fill the role with back-up Chris Scott, rookie Marcus Gilbert, or even utility lineman Trai Essex, it could prove to be a problem.

In the span of about 36 hours, the Steelers went from having this air of invincibility after a fairly dominant preseason to getting destroyed by their biggest rival in week one and losing their starting right tackle for the entire 2011 season.

It's going to be interesting to see how the Steelers deal with a little early-season turmoil. It's still not time to panic just yet. As I said in my most recent post on Behind the Steel Curtain, it's not unsual for a team to take the kind of beating that the Steelers did in week one and go on to have a very successful season. Injuries are another matter. The Steelers overcame them last year. Let's see if they can do it again in 2011.

When it comes to fantasy football, for me, it's all about the team name

Despite only making the playoffs one time in my previous eight seasons participating in fantasy football, I've decided to try again this year. Just like last season, I will be playing in a "free" league on NFL.com that an old high school buddy runs.

I don't know why I've never been successful in fantasy football. I've always had a love for the sport of football and possess a great deal of knowledge about it, but just like those real football players who possess great skill but lack dedication, maybe I have never quite taken fantasy seriously enough. I don't necessarily sit around and research the fourth-string running back on team X. It hardly ever occurs to me to snatch-up the back-up tight end from team Z in the hopes that the starter gets hurt, and I can swoop-in with my guy and collect those points. I don't spend weeks preparing for the draft.

The draft in my new league is automated, and it's happening on September 4th. I haven't even looked at the rankings. Should I adjust them? Maybe I'll leave them be. What can it hurt? What's going to happen? I'm going to miss the playoffs again? I'm immuned to that.

This attitude is probably why I'm no longer in any "pay" leagues. Like those NFL players with unfullilled promise, I'm in the fantasy football version of the UFL. I'm playing in a league with an automated draft against people I don't even know.

When it comes to fantasy football, I guess my priorities have always been out of alignment. I worry about the wrong things, like talking trash to the other teams in the "comments" section, and of course, picking my team name.

Like an NFL receiver who can't leave the locker room unless his uniform looks pristine, for me, my team name has always been the most important thing to me.

I thought I had some good ones in season's past, but this season? Man, I think I have the best one in the history of the industry:

Horrible Losses.

You've heard of the movie, Horrible Bosses, haven't you? Well, I went to see that movie with my girlfriend earlier this summer, and while sitting in the theater enjoying the film, the name for my 2011 fantasy team hit me like a James Harrison tackle. I knew I had to be in some league just so I could unveil the name Horrible Losses to the world.

My team names from the past--The Bubby Bristers, The Edmund Nelsons, Juiced-up All-pros, Tenacious T, Tony Desire (my heel name if I'm ever a wrestler), and TJ And The Bear--you guys served me well in the past, but I think I've found my true team name this season.

Yes sir. I'll probably miss the playoffs this season (what else is new?), but I'm already declaring myself FANTASY FOOTBALL TEAM NAME CHAMPION!

ALL HAIL HORRIBLE LOSSES!!!!!!!!

Wednesday night was a rare fun evening at PNC Park for Yours Truly

I haven't had much luck going to Pirates games lately. The last time I truly enjoyed myself at the old ballpark was way back in September of '07 when I took in a game with my uncle. He won the seats at work, and they were right behind home plate. The food was free, and the Pirates beat-up on the Milwaukee Brewers; it doesn't get much better than that.

I didn't go to any games in 2008 because I made a promise to myself not to go to any more baseball games until MLB corrected the economics of their sport.

I had started dating my current girlfriend before the start of the '09 season and my self-imposed ban at MLB games only lasted that one season. When you have a girlfriend, she expects you to do stuff, and that even includes attending Pirates games.

I don't know if breaking my promise caused me bad karma or what, but I just couldn't have a good time at Pirates games with my girlfriend.

Our first game was "Buck Night" in April of '09. Ross Ohlendorf was pitching, and I came up with a clever "Dorf on Pitching" Tim Conway rip-off slogan for the occasion. I didn't make a sign or anything, but I did keep yelling it out. Dorf didn't pitch that well, it started to rain midway through, and we left by the 5th inning.

About a month later, my girlfriend surprised me by taking me to the park for my birthday. The Pirates managed to win this game, but it rained so much that we left well-before it was over.

Last season, we attended maybe the most boring game of the season on a Monday night in early August against the Reds. My memory is a bit fuzzy, but I'm pretty sure they only had one hit and were shut out by Cincinnati. On the way home from the game, I wound up in a lane I wasn't supposed to be in and somehow managed to find myself in the Rivers casino indoor parking garage (I wasn't drinking, by the way). I was pretty angry by the time we got home.

Needless to say, it was the only game we attended in 2010; pretty fitting for a 57-105 season.

Being an optimist, I decided to purchase tickets for the 2011 home-opener. Ah yes, the home-opener. A sure sign of spring. Hope was in the air. The Pirates lost, 7-1. On the way home, I was so angry about the traffic-jam I was in, I started pounding on my own car-door. I'm pretty sure I scared the crap out of my girlfriend.

At the end of May, I went to a Wednesday afternoon game with my girlfriend and my brother. The Pirates were playing the Braves, and even though they got off to their usual "Tony Defeo must be attending this game with his girlfriend" horrible start, the Pirates rebounded to tie the game and had the winning run on 3rd base in the bottom of the 9th inning. Steve Pearce was up--I believe the Braves intentionally walked the bases full in-order to get to Pearce--and I was feeling pretty good about the situation. My brother and I were standing up, waiting to raise the Jolly Roger. But just as we were about to raise it, Pearce grounded into a double-play, and the Braves went on to win, 4-2, in 11 innings. So in 29-innings dating back to '10, my girlfriend and I had witnessed the Pittsburgh Pirates score a grand-total of three runs.

On the way out of the stadium, the vocal Braves fans were annoying me, and on the drive home, traffic kicked my ass again. It was at that time that I vowed never to go to another game again.

But I still had a girlfriend and knew that I would break my promise, once again. Well, that time came this past Wednesday night. I was expecting the worst. I thought we were cursed.

I figured we would have a hard time finding a parking spot, but we found one just a few blocks away.

I figured we'd be late because my girlfriend was running behind, but we got to our seats in section 316 before the first pitch was thrown.

I figured the view wouldn't be great in section 316 and that we'd be cramped in our seats like the home-opener, but the view is great in section 316 ($16 tickets), and since football season has officially arrived, the park was pretty empty.

I figured the concession-lines would still be crowded, but they weren't and we walked right up and bought our hot dogs and popcorn with ease (you have to buy food when you go with your girlfriend. It's like the law or something).

I figured the game would suck after the Pirates fell-behind, 3-0, to the Astros in the top of the first inning thanks to back-to-back home runs, but Andrew Mccutchen answered with a home run of his own in the bottom of the first inning to make it 3-1.

I figured the Pirates would get blown-out when the Astros hit another homer to make it 4-1, but after a long-talk between the Astros pitcher and pitching coach in the bottom of the 5th inning (probably one of those "be careful with this guy" meetings)Andrew hit the first pitch he saw right down the left-field line for a three-run shot to make it 4-4.

I was kind of figuring (hoping) Cutch would hit his third home run later in the game and repeat what he did in 2009 against the Washington Nationals (right after that home run, I jumped off my couch because I couldn't beleive it, and when I sat back down, my girlfriend tickled me and I accidentally kneed her in the head and she hated me), but Cutch would not repeat his '09 performance on this night, even if my girlfriend did tickle me again (this time I was in-control of my reflexes and didn't knee her in the head).

I figured it was just a matter of time before the Pirates gave this game away, but I was pleasantly surprised when Jason Jaromillo drove in the go-ahead run in the bottom of the 8th-inning, even if he did get caught in a run-down that eventually resulted in a double-play when both he and Doumit were tagged out (I certainly wasn't surprise when two-Pirates catchers managed to get caught in a run-down at the same time).

I figured Joel Hanrahan would make me sweat-out the top of the 9th-inning, but jumped up and down when he sent the Astros home, 1-2-3.

All-in-all, one of the most pleasant nights out at the ballpark in many years, and I'm really glad I didn't go tonight.

Maybe Sidney Crosby's health-scare will force the NHL to join the 21st century, but don't count on it

Penguins superstar center Sidney Crosby had a news conference on Wednesday regarding his recent bout with concussions and, hopefully, put to rest most of the rumors that he was never going to play again. When will Sid return? That's still very much up-in-the-air, but everyone at the press conference--including Sid's doctor--seemed to believe that Crosby is at about 90%. I don't know how one can put a percentage on concussion-recovery, but that's why I'm not a doctor.

If I were the Penguins, I would allow Crosby to take as much time as he needs. I know fans are chomping at the bit for Crosby to return, but he's such an important piece to their entire franchise. Why risk, perhaps, permanent damage by coming back too soon?

Besides, the Pittsburgh Penguins have the luxury of using Evgeni Malkin in Crosby's place while he recuperates. If Crosby is the top player in all of hockey, Geno isn't too far behind, at least in-terms of pure-talent.

The Penguins suffered a double-whammy last season when both Crosby and Malkin were lost for the season with injuries. By all indications, Malkin's knee injury is fully-healed, and if he can regain the form he had a couple of seasons ago, the Penguins should be able to not only stay-afloat in Crosby's absence, but thrive. With the keys in Malkin's hands, the Penguins will still have a pretty talented driver at the wheel to start the 2011/2012NHL season.

Now onto the matter of cheap-shots in the league. Another item tossed around at Sid's press conference yesterday was what the NHL should do about shots to the head. Crosby came out against head shots, basically saying the sport of hockey could function just fine without them.

I agree with him 100%.

I don't understand why it's even an issue. There just is no need to intentionally deliver a blow to someone's head in the sport of hockey.

I've said this before, but it's worth repeating: A number of years ago, I was watching the show Sports Science, and on this particular episode, they were examining which sports had the most impactful hits. Naturally, a football tackle ranked pretty high, but surprisingly, a legal check in hockey didn't register that high on the radar.

In other words, a clean hockey check shouldn't do that much damage. Yeah, sure, it would hurt, but I doubt it would cause very many concussions.

A clean tackle in football, on the other hand, still may cause a concussion simply because of the force alone.

This tells me that it's mainly cheap shots that cause injuries in the sport of hockey. If that's the case, like I said, I don't see where banning them should even be an issue.

However, I doubt this will ever happen because of the "old guard" in the NHL. And when I say "old guard" I'm talking about that Canadian mentality that accepts this kind of garbage.

This is the sort of mentality that thinks it's okay for the sport to employ talentless players who offer nothing of value other than the ability to cheap shot the opponent, and of course, pick fights. The NHL may call these guys "enforcers", but they're really nothing but "goons", plain and simple.

And speaking of fighting, how can the sport of hockey even begin to think about banning head-shots if they're going to continue to allow fighting?

The "old guard" will tell you that a good old-fashioned fight is necessary once in a while. Really? Why?

The old-school hockey fans will tell you that fighting is a deterrent. If it is, please tell me what it's a deterrent too? If it's a deterrent to cheap-shots, why wouldn't a zero tolerance policy on cheap shots be an even better deterrent?

Face it, the NHL doesn't want to eliminate the cheap shots and the fighting because they want their sport to remain "pure." This kind of "purity" is what's stopping the sport from becoming more popular with the casual fan.

If you asked a truly die hard hockey fan, they would tell you that it's perfectly alright with them if casual fans just stayed away from their beloved sport. Yet, these are the same people that get defensive anytime you bring up WAY more popular sports like football and basketball.

Just try talking about the Steelers in a room full of diehard Penguins fans. They'll probably tell you to go to HEdoublehockeysticks.

Well, you can't have it both way, hockey fans. You can't complain when other sports get more attention than yours does if you insist that fighting and cheap shots remain a part of the game.

The NHL is the only league that really doesn't try to protect it's top stars. I mean, think about it. Can you imagine the backlash in the NFL if Tom Brady or Peyton Manning was injured and unable to play because of a cheap-shot by some talentless thug?

When Terrell Owens was injured years ago after a horse-collar tackle, the league outlawed that kind of tackling. When Tom Brady was lost for the year in week one of the 2008 season with a knee-injury, the NFL banned diving at a quarterback's knees.

It appears that the NHL has dodged a bullet with Crosby's concussion, but all it could take is another shot to the head to end his career for good.

Do you think the "old guard" would even notice or care?

If it wasn't for that 10-game losing-streak............

I was listening to KDKA this morning (don't ask me why), and during each half-hour sports report, stuff about the Steelers, the Panthers, and Crosby's health-concerns were covered fairly-well. It wasn't until the very end of each sports segment that the Pirates, 4-1, loss to the Houston Astros last night at PNC Park was mentioned. And it was almost mentioned as an after-thought.

Now, I don't really have much of a problem with that. The Pittsburgh Pirates have been so irrelevant for so long this time of year, I can't blame sports departments for making the team "last page" material once the pigskins start flying, and the pucks start dropping.

However, I wonder how much different things would be today if the Pirates would have avoided that horrendous 10-game losing-streak from late-July into early-August.

Right before that historic, controversial 19-inning game in Atlanta, I said that if the team could just win a few games on their seven-game trip through Atlanta and Philadelphia, the Buccos would be in great-shape heading-home to face the lowly-Cubs and Padres in a seven-game homestand. Well, despite that disappointing extra-inning loss to the Braves, the Pirates managed to split with Atlanta and were sitting at 54-49 heading-into Philly. All I wanted out of the Philadelphia series was one lousy victory. But they didn't get it.

It was okay, I thought. They would take care of the Cubs and Padres, right? What transpired was truly heart-breaking. The Pirates failed to win a single-game on the homestand and lost 10-games in a row overall.

They went from being 54-49 and fighting for first-place, to 54-59 and totally shell-shocked.

I can't help but wonder what the coverage would be like for the team today if they could have somehow managed to win four for five games instead of losing 10-straight.

What if the bullpen would have held-up in the late-innings of that final game in Philadelphia instead of blowing the lead and losing in extra-innings?

What if they could have split the series with the Cubs instead of being swept by a team they've dominated the last two seasons?

What if they would have actually shown-up for one of the games against San Diego instead of being pounded by one of the most underwhelming offenses in baseball?

Had the team managed to play .500-ball during that infamous week-and-a half, today, instead of being 65-77, they would be 70-72. Not bad.

I'm not delusional. At 70-72, the team would still be helplessly out playoff contention, but at least they'd have 82-wins and ending the years of losing as legitimate goals for everyone from the players to the fans to latch-onto down-the-stretch.

That would mean something, and I'll bet the media would give it coverage. There would probably be a song written about it and everything.

I'm not stupid. I know it wasn't just that 10-game losing streak that did-in the Buccos. Truth is, since their high-water mark of 51-44, the team has gone 14-33. Even if you add five more wins to that total, that's still a stretch of 19-28. But at 70-72, would anyone really notice the slide?

You might point to the team's 11-18 record since the end of the streak as proof that the Pirates slide was inevitable. But we all know how much of sports is mental. If the Pirates would have been able to just snag a few victories and end that 10-game slide before it even began, maybe they'd have the momentum and the right frame of mind to continue their magical, improbable 2011 run and win a few more games than they actually have the past month.

It's just a shame that that one stretch of baseball has kind of taken the luster off such a great season. I mean, the 2011 Pittsburgh Pirates were more than just a team that lost 10-games in a row and started to wilt in the heat of August. They were a team that was predicted by many to be the worst in baseball, once again, yet, they somehow managed to dance with the top dogs in the division and went 33-21 at one-point during the summer. That's magical. That's impressive.

Of course, the 10-game losing streak was just as much a part of the 2011 Pittsburgh Pirates as their occupation of first place and that 33-21 stretch was.

You can't erase it. It's like when people say that games in April don't really matter. Well, of course they do. They're just as important as the games in September. If the Red Sox lose-out to the Yankees in the AL East by a game or two, I'm sure they'll look back on their pretty horrible start to the season and realize that games in April matter.

Still though, I'm going to the game tonight with my girlfriend. I'm sure we'll have a fun time, but man, it sure would have been nice to be a part of history and witness them try and put an end to those 18-straight years of losing.

If it wasn't for that 10-game losing-streak..........