Sunday, August 29, 2010

I Saw The Entire Season Flash Before My Eyes This Weekend (Twice) By The Spread of False Information

I was logged onto Behind The Steel Curtain Friday night surfing the most recent posts when I read one about a rumor that Rashard Mendenhall had suffered a broken arm. Well, I don't have to tell you that I had visions of the team's new focus on the running game going up in smoke. I don't know where this rumor started, but fortunately, it was found to be false.

And yesterday, I had an even bigger scare when my boss told me that it was announced during the Chargers/Saints preseason game on Friday that Ben Roethlisberger was going to serve all six games of his suspension.

Well, if you have read some of my recent postings, you know how much I admire Big Ben and think he's the most important cog in the Steeler machine. I've even been accused of owning Ben Roesthlisberger pajamas. Whether I really do or not is none of your business.

But I digress.

Naturally, I was quite stunned and saw any hopes of a successful season come crumbling down right before my very eyes. The team could tread water and survive without Roesthlisberger for four games, but six? That's really pushing it.

After I studied the Steelers' schedule and discovered who their opponent is in week 7, my stunned disbelief turned to fury. I was angry. The Steelers play the World Champion New Orleans Saints in week 7 on Halloween. And it's also NBC's Sunday Night Game of the Week. "This is just Goodell pandering to the networks and the sponsors," I shouted. "It's just a ratings ploy!" I mean, seriously. Roethlisberger returning to the lineup against Drew Brees and the Saints in a nationally televised game? It would draw huge ratings. "Roethlisberger supposedly has complied with every stipulation of his conditional suspension," I pleaded. "The man wasn't even arrested OR charged with a crime. This is just Goodell setting an example and trying to show everyone that he is the judge, jury, and executioner!"

I turned on ESPN radio and waited and waited for opinions on this miscarriage of justice. There was nothing about it. People were talking about PITT football and even the Pirates. Surely, this news warranted headline-type coverage. I mean, everyone and their mother assumed that Ben would only get the minimum four games. This would be bigtime fodder for the talk shows.

I came home and logged onto BTSC, and expected the readers to be ripping Goodell and the NFL for this, but there was nothing.

Did anyone else watch the football telecast on Friday? Was my boss just hearing things. Did he misunderstand?

Friday, August 27, 2010

Looks Like I Might Not Have A Fantasy Team This Year, But With My History, That Might Be A Good Thing

I was in the same fantasy football league since 2003 and was looking forward to playing again this year. But it appears that nobody wants to step up and be commissioner.

I can't say that I blame them. I was commissioner for a year and it stunk. It was like pulling teeth to get some people to pay the fee, and a lot of players would just stop participating altogether and leave half their team on a bye, giving their opponent that week a huge advantage.

But I still had fun playing in the league. The smack talk, the good laughs, the memories. Speaking of memories, it's a good thing I didn't let winning be the barometer for good memories or I would have very little. In the seven years that I played in this particular league, I made the playoffs once. That's crazy. You'd think I would have made it more than that just by accident. I mean, after all, we're talking about random players that nobody really has control over. There is some strategy involved, sure, but mostly, it's just freak luck.

I must have some pretty bad freak luck, though, because I'm like the Detroit Lions of my league.



A review of my fantasy history:

2003. "The Bubby Bristers." I was a fantasy virgin that year. When I was ranking the players for the automatic draft in my brother in law's Yahoo league, I didn't realize that runnng backs were so important. I had quarterbacks, kickers and defense ranked pretty high. As a result, I had Baltmore AND Tampa's defense. I also had Adam Vinatieri. My first round pick was Terrell Owens and I thought that was a pretty sound and smart draft pick. After all, TO was coming into his own. The only problem was 2003 was a very bad year for him. Go figure. Eventually, I traded him for Ricky Williams. It didn't help me much. I started off the year 0-6. I was initially given credit for a win in week 6 because Tampa Bay's defense was credited with a touchdown on a weird play during a Monday night game between them and Indianapolis. The Colts intercepted a pass, but the player fumbled the ball and a Tampa reciever picked it up and took it in for six. For some reason, it was considered a defensive touchdown. After a day or two, Yahoo took away those points and that was enough for another loss. It was so bad for me that year that my quarterback, Peyton Manning, threw six touchdowns passes against the Saints and I still lost that week. I finished in last place in the league. The one good thing to come out of that year was beating my brother in the first round of the consolation playoffs. My brother, who barely missed the "real" playoffs, figured that playing my pathetic butt would be equal to a bye and he'd go on and win the consolation bracket and reclaim his league fee. He was shocked when I had my best game of the year. Yep, that's me, always coming through in crunch time. Unfortunately, I lost in the "championship" round of the consolation bracket.

2004. "The Edmund Nelsons." That year wasn't much better despite educating myself on the ways of fantasy football and having the luck of getting the number 2 pick in the auto draft and selecting LT. Unfortunately, LT had his least productive year of any of the years in-which he was considered a top fantasy player. My brother had Peyton Manning, who would go on to break the record for touchdowns in a season, and cruised to his first League Thompson title. To show you how bad my luck is, my brother not only had Peyton Manning, but he also had another player that I had in '03: Curtis Martin. Martin did jack-squat in 2003, but rebounded for a huge year in '04. Whatever.

2005. "The Juiced Up All-pros." We actually had a live draft that year at Primanti brothers on route 60. That was a lot of fun and something I wish I could do every year. I was drafting near the bottom of the first round and most of the good running backs were gone by then. Therefore, I took Randy Moss, newly of the Oakland Raiders, in the first round. I think you remember how bad Moss was in Oakland. Anyway, I actually started off great. I was 3-0. In addition to Moss, I also had Chad Johnson and Reggie Wayne. And I thought I was a genius for picking rookie Cadillac Williams for one of my running backs. He started out like gangbusters but got hurt and my team slowly faded. I missed the playoffs by one game.

2006. "Tenacious T." I had the usual bad start of the first two years, opening at 1-3. The same weird luck that happened to me in previous seasons was happening to me again, like losing because my opponent's kicker put up 21 points or because Tom Brady scorched the Vikings for 50 plus on a Monday night. However, 2006 was my banner year. I recovered from all that bs and was rolling by the end of the season. Many were picking Tenacious T to win it all. I made the playoffs as a wildcard and actually felt like pouring a bottle of spring water over my head. I had a little fight song that I sung to myself every time I checked my fantasy scores. It was great. And remember how I defeated my brother in the consolation round in '03? Well, I went to 2-0 against him in postseason play as I whipped his butt in the wildcard round with a 164 point performance. A record for me. I'm telling you, I was flying high. It was like the end of the first Rocky movie when the bell rang just as Balboa had Creed staggering on the ropes. Unfortunately for me, I followed up my best ever peformance with one of my worst. I scored 58 points in the second round. But at least I had something to build on..........or so I thought.

2007."The Jack Trippers." Now this was a frustrating year. I had a really good team with some solid players. I don't remember them, but I do know that I scored the second most points in the league and STILL missed the playoffs because everyone had their big week against me.

2008. Can't remember name. Doesn't matter. I started off really strong, but couldn't keep up the pace. I was fading and asked my brother for a trade involving a good running back. He all but agreed to it. I can't remember the back's name. That's not important. What is important is I didn't go with my gut and pick up Thomas Jones from the waiver wire because of this agreed upon trade. My brother changed his mind and I missed out on Thomas Jones who went on to have a great week and rest of the year. I missed the playoffs because of it.

2009. Again, can't remember my team name, but I believe T was in there somewhere. Same old story. I started off really strong, but my season mirrored that of the Steelers. Never really beat anyone by a huge margin, and I never lost by a big number either. Unfortunately, I lost way too many games to players that I should have defeated, like people who never bothered to replace someone that was on a bye. No excuse for that. It always came down to the Monday night contest, and I lost too many close ones to get in.

So, there you go. A history of my lack of success in fantasy football. Why am I disappointed that I won't get to play this year?

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Thoughts On The Steelers........Mostly Ben

*Was anyone really surprised that Ben didn't play in the first preseason game at Heinz field but did play at New York last week? I wasn't. In-fact, I'm going to predict that he will play a little in Denver this week and we won't see Big Ben again until his suspension is over. No way will he see the field on September 2nd against the Panthers. Why would the Steelers waste such a big story on a preseason game? I know the team is all about winning, but the build up of "how will the fans react to Ben" the week leading up to Roethlisberger's projected first game back against the Browns at Heinz field is just way too good to pass up. You put him in there for a few plays in the preseason and it won't have the same impact when it officially happens on October 17th. Think about it. The local people will all want their interviews. I can see Sally Wiggin getting another compelling exclusive with number 7. All the national types like Clayton and Boomer will want to have a sit-down with him. It will be great theater. And I think it's a pretty safe bet to save Ben for the regular season. He seems to have built up enough good will since April that they pretty much know how people will react. I'm sure there will be some boos, but it will mostly be positive.

*It's a real shame that Ben will miss so much time because, boy, does he look sharp. I heard people rave about how well he looked in camp, and if his play against the Giants was any indication, he's already in mid-season form. I know he threw that interception, but overall, he looked like the elite quarterback that he is.

*Speaking of quarterbacks, has there ever been a fan-base that has devalued the quarterback position as much as Steeler fans? Ever since I was a young kid, fans have always wanted the back up. I know this is the case in most towns, but Pittsburghers seem to go out of their way to heap a ton of praise on running backs and defense, and not give enough credit to the most important position in sports. When we had guys like Cliff Stoudt and Mark Malone under center, I could see this, but the fans even do it with Roethlisberger. I know so many people that were salivating at the prospect of getting rid of Ben for a 1st round draft pick or two. They couldn't wait to get him out of town. And even today, there is at least a small minority of people out there who would rather see Dennis Dixon lead this team. You know where Dixon would lead this team? Head on into the same playoff ceiling that every other Steelers quarterback not named Bradshaw or Roethlisberger ran into.
Some fans don't even want to give him credit for Super Bowl XL because he didn't play very well. Well, guess what, Bradshaw did very little in Super Bowl IX. You might say that Terry made that big touchdown throw to seal the game, and you'd be correct, but Ben converted on 3rd and 28 to jump start the team and they never really looked back. Anyway, we waited over twenty years between Bradshaw and Ben, and whether you want to believe it or not, after Ben retires, we'll have to wait another generation or two to find someone else that special. He's an elite quarterback who deserves to be in the same class as Manning and Brady. So please, let's appreciate him while we can.

*That brings me to the running game. Steelers fans might devalue the quarterback slot, but they put WAY too much importance on the running game. I'm not saying running the ball isn't important. Yes, the Steelers really need to improve on their short yardage running game. Their failure to convert on 3rd or 4th and short has come back to bite them way too many times over the last few years. However, the way teams win in today's NFL isn't with ball-control offenses and grinding down the clock. It's by passing. The running game is important, but not like it was 20 years ago. You don't win championships with powerful running games and strong defenses anymore. You win by having a better quarterback than the other team. Plain and simple. Some teams have committed to the run and did it well enough to win and even get into the postseason, but in recent years, those teams eventually ran into opponents with better passing attacks and they fell short. That's what happened with the Ravens and Jets last year and that's what's been happening to teams since 2000 when the Ravens were essentially the last team to win a championship the "old fashioned" way. This is Ben's team and if we're going to see more parades around here in the near future, it's going to be, mainly, on his right arm.

*If the team is to improve its running attack, the degree of success will rest solely on how well the offensive line plays. This is no mystery, I know, but you'd be surprised how many people think the fullback is the answer. A fullback can help, but it's hard to even find a good one any more because the position is slowly being phased out. No, there haven't been many huge running lanes the last few years but that's because the offensive linemen aren't beating the people across from them. Is it any real coincidence that the running game started to suffer after guys like Faneca, Smith and Hartings left the team? It's all about talent and the Steelers haven't had a stud lineman since Faneca. I was watching a replay of Super Bowl XLIII recently and I was surprised at how much the Cardinals front 7 dominated the Steelers linemen. I mean, we're not talking about the '76 Steelers defense, it was the Arizona Cardinals. There weren't many running lanes and Ben was under siege way too much, that is, until the last 2 minutes of the game. You know why? Because the 2-minute drill is so hard to stop no matter how good any defense is, and it's almost impossible when it's led by an elite quarterback.

*Maybe Maurkice Pouncey can be that stud lineman the team has been missing. I've concentrated on watching his performances the first two games and, from what I could gather, he seems to not only be holding his own, but in a lot of cases, dominating his opponent. I've always said that every unit needs a stud and if Pouncey is that stud the team can plug into their line, it will make the entire unit better.

*Another thing I've noticed about my fellow Steelers fans is their willingness to excuse the defense way too much. If the unit blows a lead, often times, people cite poor field position after a crucial turnover or big returns on special teams as reasons why. I've even heard people blame the team's new emphasis on passing the ball as a reason why the defense struggled in '09. They were on the field too much and over-exposed because the offense wasn't taking enough time off the clock. Now, I'll grant you, the offense made way too many CRITICAL turnovers at key moments last year that really crippled the team, and the special teams play was just awful, but they blew 4th quarter leads in 5 of their 7 losses last year and that falls on the defense. An elite defense makes plays in critical moments. If you want to use key injuries to Troy and Aaron Smith as reasons, well, I'll give you that. But to blame the offense for the failures of a defense that was legendary in '08 is just ridiculous.

Ok, that's enough ranting for one day. I'm just glad that football is back!

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

It's Really Easy To Take Shots At The Pirates Right Now

So, a mysterious leak revealed to the world that the Pirates' ownership has made a tidy little profit over the last few years. I believe the estimated amount since Bob Nutting took over as face of the team is something like $35,000,000. People are angry as heck that the owners have the nerve to make any money at all with the way the team has been losing over the years. I don't know what the big deal is about the Pirates net profits over the last few years. I know everyone is suspicious of them pocketing all of their revenues, but even if they spent every single dime of their profits over the last few years it would have made little difference. The Pirates are a business and businesses need to make money in order to survive.

If the team was hemorrhaging money left and right, they would go bankrupt and the Nuttings would be forced to sell. I know a lot of people would love that because they think some owner with huge pockets would just come in here and spend, spend, spend and the Pirates would have a $100,000,000 payroll. Think again. If they're only making roughly $12,000,000 a year with a very low payroll, how would they possibly make any money with a payroll over twice as high?

Baseball's financial model is a joke, but I don't want to get into the whole salary cap issue because I've beaten it to death. Most people who know me are aware of how I feel about MLB and the haves and have nots. I think it's unfair and something should be done about it, but we might see a playoff tournament in division 1 college football before we see a cap in MLB.

There are many reasons why the Pirates have been so bad for the last 18 seasons, but incompetence is right there at the top of the list.

Why have they been incompetent? I don't know, but they obviously have been. However, I think this ownership group is doing the only thing that can be done for a team like the Pirates to someday be competitive.

This group is finally trying to totally rebuild the organization from top to bottom.

I know they've hit rock bottom this year, but it can only get better. When a drug addict goes through withdraw, it's ugly, but once they get over that hump, they're better for it. The Pirates might be bad now, but they're repairing the franchise from the ground up and that's going to take time. This total rebuilding process should have been done at least ten years ago and the fact that it wasn't and the organization was left with such a barren farm system is quite baffling

They are basically purging their system of that incompetence and it's manifesting itself on the field with arguably the worst season in the team's history.

The Pirates aren't the only local team that has gone through this process. When the Steelers hired Chuck Noll, the man who basically changed the course of the entire franchise, the team finished 1-13 in his first year as head coach. And the the Penguins suffered through many rough patches even after drafting their savior: Mario Lemuiex.

Sometimes, detoxing a system can be a very ugly thing.

The Penguins and Steelers are considered class organizations, each with a tradition of winning and excellence, but there were periods in both teams' histories when they were also pretty incompetent.

A lot of Steelers fans think the NFL was invented in the early 70's and the team was always the picture of excellence, but the Steelers didn't win a playoff game for the first forty years of their existence and during that stretch, they cut players like Len Dawson and Johnny Unitas and held their training camp at a horse stable in South Park. The organization wasn't considered the class of the league. It wasn't until they hired Chuck Noll as coach that the franchise started to turn a corner and become what it is today.

And a lot of Penguins fans think the NHL was created in 1984, but before Mario Lemuiex, the franchise had very little to be proud, often playing before very sparse crowds at the then Civic Arena. And even when they did have success, they would do things like blow a 3-0 lead in a best of seven series against the Islanders in 1975. And even after Mario saved the Pens the first time and helped build a winning tradition, the organization was still run with such incompetence that Mario had to come in and save them one more time. And if it wasn't for a new CBA that provided a salary cap along with the fortune of drafting Sidney Crosby, the Penguins might be in Kansas City right now.

I'm not trying to sound like a Pirates apologist, but sometimes all an organization needs is to make one or two competent decisions, along with some luck, and the whole thing can turn around. Maybe the Pirates are in the midst of the one or two sound decisions that will turn things around and make them a class organization, once again.

Monday, August 23, 2010

I Know Who Should Be The Quarterback of the Pittsburgh Power

The Pittsburgh Power will be the city's first arena football team since the Gladiators left town many years ago and I know they're going to want to give the fans a reason to care.

Sure, we all love our football here in the Pittsburgh region, but it's going to be hard to convince a lot of folks to take the Power seriously because, let's face it, the AFL might be a pro league, but it's not a MAJOR league. And Pittsburghers are all about major pro sports.

People have been saying for years that the city would never support an NBA team and they cite examples of past failures in the ABA and CBA. Well, they were minor leagues, the NBA is quite different. I'd bet money that if the city was awarded an NBA team, the people would support it. Especially if it became successful.

Now, that brings me back to the Power. The franchise is going to need a name or two to get people excited about the product. They already have one with former Steeler legend and co-owner, Lynn Swann. But an owner might not be enough. A big name coach might do it, but I can't think of anyone that would get the masses excited enough. Well, Cowher, of course. But I don't think he's about to do that. Walt Harris could be a possibility since the league is all passing, but we don't want to alienate the fan-base.

So that brings us to players. Maybe local favorite, ex Steeler Mike Logan, will come out of retirement and become "Mckeesport Mike" again. But he was a safety. I'm not sure if a former backup safety would be enough to do it.

The Bus could be a possibility. I don't know if he's physically capable anymore, but just imagine Bussy wearing out arena teams in the 4th quarter. The Power would be the first and only team in arena ball history to have a ball control offense. The over and under for Power games would only be in the 60's. However, I'd hate to see Jerome tarnish his legacy like that. Don't get me wrong, the AFL is a cool league, but the Bus was an NFL legend. He's a sure-fire future Hall-of-Famer. It would be like that time Meadowlark Lemon left the Globetrotters and formed that other fake basketball team.

Those names are all great and would certainly spark interest, but the name I'm thinking of might be a little more tangible:

Tyler Palko.

I think it would be great. When Palko was the starting quarterback for PITT, he was the unquestioned heart and soul of the team. He was their leader.

Remember the time he steamrolled a BC defender? And who could forget the moment when he said the F-word on national television after the team's emotional victory over Notre Dame in South Bend?

I think Palko would get the people excited. He's still very popular locally.

And it could benefit him, too. He's been floating around on the fringes of the NFL for four years now. But he's still young enough to make a name for himself.

Exposure in the AFL could help him tremendously. Just ask Tommy Maddox what it did for his career. All he needs is for one or two NFL-types to stand up and take notice and he could get more of a chance to make it in the NFL than he's had thus far.

And I think Tyler would take the opportunity and run with it. He would take things seriously and lend a little credibility to the team.

So, you see, it's a win-win situation.

Right now, he's fighting to be the 3rd string quarterback for the Kansas City Chiefs, but if that doesn't work out between now and early next year, I say give him a call and see if he's receptive.

Friday, August 20, 2010

We Have the Power. But Not As Much As Lynn Swann

I'm excited that Pittsburgh will be getting an Arena Football League team next season and I'm even more excited that the team name isn't the rumored River Wizards. Instead, they'll be called the Pittsburgh Power. Not the most creative name, it sort of sounds like something I'd name my fantasy football team, but it will do.

I was a fan of Pittsburgh's original AFL team, the Pittsburgh Gladiators, and was a little disappointed that they relocated to wherever.

I even had a substitute teacher in high school who was one of the Gladiator's cheerleaders. I didn't find out about this from her, directly. I just happened to see her one night while watching a game. Needless to say, I prayed for my fulltime teachers to get sick the rest of the year.

I actually had an opportunity to go to the very first Arena Bowl between the Gladiators and whoever they were playing back in 1987. For some reason, I turned down the chance. Maybe if I would have known then what I know now (that it would be my only chance to attend a postseason game of any kind) I would have jumped at the chance and relished every second.

Sadly, there was never another Arena Bowl here in Pittsburgh and the team left town around '91 or so.

But we'll have our chance to see arena football again with the addition of the Power.

Steeler legend Lynn Swann is even a part owner of the team. I wonder if this irks the Steelers' organization at all. I mean, the AFL isn't really much of a threat to the NFL, but in theory, it is a competitor.

Do you think the Steelers will take a page out of the WWE playbook and not even acknowledge that Swanny was ever a member of the franchise? Will future dvds of the Steelers have Swann's Super Bowl heroics edited out?

Perhaps they'll take a page out of the old Soviet Union's playbook and totally eradicate his legacy altogether. I can just picture it: When they show future highlights of Super Bowl X and you see Bradshaw dropping back to pass near his own end zone, instead of seeing Swanny's acrobatic catch against the Cowboys' defenders, they'll cut to Andre Hasting's clutch reception on 4th and 3 in the 1995 AFC championship game against the Colts.

But maybe I'm overreacting.

WE'VE GOT THE POWER!!!!!!!!!!

Monday, August 16, 2010

People With Preseason Tickets and NFL Players On The Bubble Are A Lot Alike

Thanks to a woman I work with, I was able to catch the Steelers' first preseason game against the Lions Saturday night at Heinz field.

It was your typical preseason game. The starting offense didn't look really good, but when was the last time the offense performed fluidly in the preseason? I don't worry about stuff like that because there is no game planning at all in the very first preseason game especially and those guys are just out there trying to get their reps in and call it a night.

I am a little concerned about their offensive line, but when haven't we been a little put off by those guys? Flozell Adams didn't look very good, and all of them had trouble with blitz pick-ups. From what I could see of Maurkice Pouncey, he seemed to perform well, and he split his time between center and right guard.

As for the number one defensive unit, same story. They weren't in there long enough to get a true evaluation, but they did cause a turnover and didn't seem to give up too much yardage.

I'm excited for the new season. I've been waiting since January for the Steelers to get back in action.

I need to see my guys back into the swing of things and make the playoffs again. There is nothing quite like the excitement surrounding an NFL playoff game. Best of 7series are nice and they have their supporters, but for my money, I'll take the build-up and anticipation of postseason football any day.

Anyway, it was nice being at the game. It's a rare treat for me since I don't have season tickets and only get to go to a game once every other year or so. My unbelievable girlfriend bought me tickets to the regular season opener last year and that was awesome.

And it was a far different atmosphere than Saturday night's preseason crowd. Saturday's fans were much more laid back and really just happy to be there. I hadn't been to a preseason game in about fifteen years and didn't realize that, like me, most people at preseason games rarely get to go. I invited my uncle to go with me and he was pretty excited too. It was really cool and the best seats I ever had for a Steeler game. Even the rain delay didn't hinder our enthusiasm too much.

The more I think about it, preseason fans and guys that are on the bubble to make the team have a lot in common.

Season ticket holders usually just give up their preseason tickets because it's not as important to them. They probably don't want to fight the traffic and pay $8 for a beer. But their friends that they give their tickets to think it's the greatest treat ever. They'll go online and map out their route, and they don't care about paying $3.25 for a big pretzel. They're just happy to be going and they know it might be their only chance to see a game for a while.

And NFL veterans don't care that much about preseason games. Guys like Big Hamp and Hines just want to make a token appearance and get out of there because an injury during the preseason is just devastating. But guys who are trying to make the team out of training camp consider it the greatest opportunity in the world and know it might be their only chance to shine and show the coaches what they can do.

Who knows, maybe one of those young players did something Saturday night to impress the coaches. And maybe they'll continue to impress so much that they make the team and help lead them to some POSTSEASON games at Heinz field.

And maybe I'll get to go to that.

That would be a REAL treat.

Sunday, August 15, 2010

Youtube Is The Greatest Invention Since Sliced Bread. My Thoughts on the 1979 AFC Championship Game

Thanks to Youtube,I just watched the entire 1979 AFC championship game between the Steelers and Oilers.

It was really great to watch this old footage from NBC and old channel 11 WIIC (remember them?) Well, I don't specifically, but I do remember the commercials announcing the switch to WPXI. I don't know what the big deal is about call-letters, and what could be gained by changing them, but I guess it was pretty big news 30 years ago.

Whoever uploaded this video even left in the original commercials which were tremendous. OJ Simpson was a big spokesperson back then. Little did we know what his future would hold.

Anyway, back to the big game. It was a fantastic battle and the second-straight year the two teams would meet with a trip to the Super Bowl on the line (Pittsburgh won 34-5 in 1978.) It was very hard-hitting and reminded me a lot of the Steelers/Ravens AFC title game from two seasons ago.

Some things from this game:

-Terry Bradshaw was a machine in this era. I know he had his share of turnovers, but after the rule changes in '77 or '78, the Steelers passing game was a thing of beauty. The running game and the defense were still strong, but the passing attack was the most dominant part of the team during that time. I own the dvd of the 70's Super Bowls and there is a huge difference in Bradshaw from the first two Super Bowls to the last two. Heck, even those teams of the early 80's may have won another title or two if the defense hadn't aged so quickly. The offense was almost automatic at that point. But that happens in sports.

-Speaking of that Steelers running attack, it wasn't dominant in this game, necessarily, but they got some big yards when they needed it by Franco Harris and Rocky Bleier. Bradshaw routinely called running plays on 3rd and 5 or 6 in this game and a good deal of the time, the plays actually worked. Like Bleier's game-sealing touchdown run on 3rd and goal from the 3 or 4 yardline. A different place and time, for sure.

-I thought it was interesting that Bleier wasn't listed as a starter at halfback, but he played the majority of the time and made some critical plays throughout. I guess when it came to crunch time, Noll was more comfortable with The Rock.

-Of course, we can't talk about the 1979 AFC championship game without mentioning the controversial play that everyone who knows anything about this old rivarly often brings up. With the Oilers trailing, 17-10, late in the 3rd quarter, Houston had the ball 1st and goal when quarterback Dan Pastorini appeared to hit receiver Mike Renfro for a touchdown pass in the back-corner of the endzone. Renfro looked to have both feet in bounds with possession of the ball. The official closest to the play was shielded and didn't make a call. After a short discussion, they ruled it incomplete. The NBC announcers, Dick Enberg and Merlin Olsen, couldn't believe it. The Oilers REALLY couldn't believe it. They showed the play from every possible angle and it really did look like a good catch. I remember reading a pictorial book by Pat Livingston where he stated that he thought Renfro was bobbling the ball, but I didn't see that at all. It was a good catch and a touchdown. This play is often cited as one of the reasons why instant replay was eventually instituted in the league. In fact, the announcers talked a great deal about the possibility of someday having instant replay. Unfortunately for Houston, they were screwed out of a touchdown in this instance. It's ok, though, because the game would only have been tied and the Steelers would have gone on to win 27-17 instead of 27-13.

-The Steelers' defense was the reason for that. Other than an interception return for a touchdown, the Oilers could only muster two field goals the entire day. The defense completely shut down running back Earl Campbell. I don't remember how many yards he had, but for the longest time, it was negative yardage.

-During a break in the game, they showed Willie Stargell sitting in the stands. And the funny part was that he was sitting in peanut heaven, back behind the enzdone! Pops sitting in the nose-bleed section at Three Rivers? Wasn't he the toast of the town that year after leading the Pirates to a World Series title? Surely, he could have had a nice, cushy seat in a luxury box.

-And what was with the parked cars inside Three Rivers Stadium during that time period? I remember seeing those cars all throughout the 80's and could never figure out why they were there. Can anyone shed any light on this for me?

-Three Rivers was rocking for this game! Those fans were magnificent. That place was loud. For as bad as TRS might have been for baseball, it was perfect for the Steelers. I can just picture what it must have been like for opposing players to arrive there knowing they'd have to face the likes of Mean Joe, Lambert and Blount. And not to mention the crazy fans who never missed an opportunity to let the enemy know that they were in their house.

-When the game was over, the fans just rushed the field. Why were fans allowed to run on the field during the 70's? People would just converge on the field after every big win and it wasn't a big deal. It wasn't just in Pittsburgh, it was everywhere in sports during the 70's. Today, if even one person runs onto the field, he gets choke-slammed by James Harrison. I sometimes wish I was 10 or 15 years older so I could have been out there rushing the field with my fellow Steeler Nation brethren. Three Rivers was the place to be back then.

-My only criticism of this youtube footage was the lack of post-game coverage. It had the players coming into the locker room hugging and high-fiving, and even throwing some of their equipment into shopping carts which I thought was hysterical. Can you imagine using shopping carts in NFL locker rooms today? Gotta love the past.

-I don't recall seeing the game footage ever, other than on NFL films clips, but for some reason, I remembered Bradshaw coming into the locker room and taking off his shoulder pads. Super Bowl XIV against the Rams was my first recollection of watching sports, but I had to have been watching this game. I just don't remember anything about it.

Anyway, it was nice to see this old footage, really for the first time. As I said, I own the Super Bowls from the 70's, but there are games like this one that I always wanted to watch. Someday, I hope to find video footage of the playoff game against Denver in '84 and the Wildcard game against Houston in '89. Hopefully, there are even bigger nerds than me out there who will upload them onto Youtube. Cleveland doesn't rock, but Youtube does!

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Enjoy That Trophy, But Be Prepared to Taste Some Whine Along With It

Bill Leavy's admission that he made a mistake or two in Super Bowl XL has given the Seahawks fans a new lease on life.

From now on, their fans, and even their players, will have something tangible to point to whenever someone brings up the Steelers' 5th Lombardi trophy.

But this kind of whining and crying isn't exclusive to Seahawks' fans. It happens everywhere in sports and for every fan that waves their finger and screams, "We're number 1," there is a fan flipping them the bird and crying, "foul!"

That's the nature of sports fans, especially in this day and age of Internet message boards and blogs such as this one.

Case-in-point, I was doing some research online and I uncovered a site dedicated to tarnishing the Jets' miracle Super Bowl III victory over the Baltimore Colts: http://www.superbowl3.net

Check it out, it's quite the read and the author goes to great lengths to tell us that the Jets not only had no business being on the same field with the Colts, but they also had plenty of help from the officials (sound familiar?)

It doesn't matter that the Jets' triumph was arguably the most important event in the history of professional football, giving the AFL legitimacy and forever cementing the merger that has given us the most popular sport in the country. Nope, he just thinks that the Jets got lucky and the Colts should have won that day. And that was over forty years ago!

See, the 2005 Steelers aren't the only "tainted" champions. Oh no, there are plenty of them out there:

The Redskins have won three Super Bowls, but two of them followed strike-shortened seasons. Most people remember Super Bowl XVII for John (The Diesel) Riggin's 40 yard touchdown run on 4th and 1 that put the Skins' ahead for good. But there are fans of opposing teams who say that the Redskins weren't worthy to hoist the Lombardi trophy because they only played 9 regular season games that year. Clearly a tainted title.

And their second title in 1987 was won with the help of scabs; replacement players who came in during the '87 season to play three games during the strike. Another tainted trophy.

And what about another Steelers Super Bowl championship, Super Bowl XIII? If Jackie Smith didn't drop that touchdown pass late in the 3rd quarter, the game would have been tied at 21. And if Benny Barnes wasn't called for pass interference while trying to cover Lynn Swann, the Steelers wouldn't have been put in position to score their 4th touchdown. And if the umpire didn't get in the way of Charlie Waters on Franco's touchdown run, Waters would have surely stopped it and Pittsburgh would have been forced to settle for three. And if Randy White didn't have a cast on his left hand, he never would have fumbled the ball on the ensuing kickoff and Dallas would have only been down, 24-21. And the Cowboys would have then scored their two late touchdowns (apparently, they would have still gone for that onside kick despite having a 4-point lead) and won, 35-24. So, you see, clearly the Steelers 3rd trophy was also tainted.

But the Steelers have been on the other side of that coin, too. Did you know that the '76 Steelers were the greatest team in the history of the franchise? Everyone says so, and they only lost the AFC Championship game to the Raiders because of so many critical injuries. So, therefore, the Raiders Super Bowl XI win was tainted.

Back to the Steelers '76 team being the best. I've noticed a little phenomenon in Pittsburgh sports of teams losing and still being considered better than their previous championship teams. For example, the '72 Pittsburgh Pirates were considered a better team than the one that won the World Series in '71 even though that '72 team lost in the NLCS to the Reds. And the Penguins '93 team that lost in the 2nd round to the New York Islanders was a better team than their back-to-back Stanley Cup champions of '91 and '92.

Cool, that means that the Steelers have 7 Lombardi trophies, the Pirates have 6 World Series titles and the Penguins have 4 Stanley Cup victories.

Hey, wait a minute. What about Super Bowl XXX? We all know the Steelers would have won that game if Neil O'Donnell wasn't paid off by the bookies and didn't toss those two awful interceptions. I know this because my boss told me so the other day.

Therefore, the Steelers have 8 Lombardi crowns. Yes!

And they would have had 10 if it wasn't for Bill Belicheat and his tainted Patriots coming into Heinz Field and stealing two AFC titles from us.

And even before Spy-gate became public knowledge, the Patriots little dynasty was known as "The Field Goal Dynasty." Three very tainted titles.

In all seriousness, the more I think about things, the less I worry about fans calling any of our Super Bowls "tainted" because if you really sit down and dissect things, you can find reasons why a lot of teams didn't deserve titles and yours did.

It's good clean fun.

Forty years from now, I'm sure some Seahawks' fans will have Internet sites dedicated to Super Bowl XL and how the Steelers were lucky to win. But that's ok, because I'll have great stories to tell my grandchildren about how awesome it was seeing the Steelers win that "One for the Thumb!"

Oh yes, and there will be a trophy displayed at the Steelers' headquarters to prove it.

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Part Six of the Ten Greatest Super Bowls of All-time

1. Super Bowl III
Date: January 12th, 1969
Location: Orange Bowl, Miami, Florida

"WE'RE GONNA WIN THE GAME, I GUARANTEE IT!"
The New York Jets upset the Baltimore Colts, 16-7.

Super Bowl III was hardly a great game, but the reason it's number one on my list is because of its historical significance. At the time of the game, the AFL and the NFL were separate entities with their agreed upon merger still two seasons away. The NFL was viewed as the superior league, and very few could make a case for the AFL being on par. The first two Super Bowls were lopsided affairs in favor of the NFL's Green Bay Packers. The Colts only loss in the 1968 season was to the Cleveland Browns and they avenged that loss by pounding the Browns, 34-0, in Cleveland for the NFL championship. The Jets were 11-3 in '68 and they narrowly defeated the Oakland Raiders for the AFL crown. The Colts were installed as 18-point favorites and it wasn't expected to be much of a contest. But led by charismatic quarterback Joe Namath, the Jets used an effective ball-control offense to build an early 7-0 lead on running back Matt Snell's 4-yard touchdown run. Baltimore still had plenty of chances to control this game but turned the ball over 5 times, including 4 interceptions deep in Jets' territory. The most damaging of those interceptions was at the end of the first half. The Colts tried a flea-flicker play that completely fooled New York and left Baltimore receiver, Jimmy Orr, wide open near the end zone. Colts' quarterback, Earl Morrall, didn't see Orr and tried to complete the pass to a different receiver only to be intercepted as time expired. The Jets continued to control things in the second half, using three Jim Turner field goals to take a 16-0 lead into the 4th quarter. Colts' head coach Don Shula decided to replace the struggling Morrall with legendary quarterback, Johnny Unitas. Unitas didn't have much better luck, although he did lead Baltimore to a late touchdown, but all that did was make the score look more respectable. The Jets had pulled off the miracle upset and Joe Namath was named mvp. Namath's famous quote, "We're gonna win the game, I guarantee it!" is arguably the most famous pre-game quote in sports history and, even more than the dramatic upset, is what Super Bowl III is remembered for. The win by the Jets did so much for the AFL and showed everyone that the league was finally on the same ground as the NFL. I believe Super Bowl III is the reason why the event has become so popular. It became the spectacle it is today when Joe Namath issued that famous guarantee and followed through with the upset win.

Oh well, this concludes my list of the Ten Greatest Super Bowls of All-time. I hope you enjoyed it.

Monday, August 9, 2010

My Day At Steelers Training Camp

My girlfriend and I decided to head to Latrobe for Steelers training camp yesterday and it was a pretty good day.

It was family day for the players which made it harder to find parking. I didn't know it was a special day until afterwards but that probably explains all the people standing right there on the sidelines.

Last year, we went on a Tuesday and it wasn't too crowded and we sat in the bleachers, but yesterday, wow. It was a little tougher finding a good place to sit. Eventually, we found a decent, shady spot in the grass. We were in the end zone area between the 2nd and 3rd practice fields to the left of the dorms.

It was hard to really see a lot of stuff because most everything occurred on the opposite end of the fields, but I did see some things that stood out.

Daniel Sepulveda was consistently punting the ball 50plus yards and he looked to be only taking one-step instead of the traditional two. I don't know if that's the norm for him, but he looked to be in mid-season form. Of course, I guess it's easy to be in good form when nobody is trying to block your punt.

Rashard Mendenhall looked tremendous. The only pad-cracking hit that I heard was Rashard's collision with an unidentified defender. Rashard won that battle.

Mewelde Moore looked pretty good and he had a couple of plays that had the crowd cheering. I don't know if my opinion is a reaction to the crowd's reaction, but I do know that Moore was a key contributor to the team's Super Bowl season of '08. I've heard a lot of concern about the back-up running back slot, and for the life of me I can't figure out why Moore isn't the shoe-in for the role. He couldn't have lost that much in a two-year span. He has come up big for them a lot since he signed here. My bet is he'll do it again this season.

I was watching some one-on-one drills between the offensive and defensive linemen and Flozell Adams looked solid. Maybe I'm just saying that because I was paying special attention, but I didn't see him get beat once.

There was a defensive end named Ra'shon Harris who was very dynamic and impressed me a little bit in that drill. Keep an eye out for number 77 on the defensive side in the upcoming preseason games. I wouldn't be surprised if he turned some heads.

I was VERY impressed with Emmanuel Sanders yesterday. It's hard to judge receivers in practice, but he made a defensive back or two look silly.

Antonio Brown wasn't bad, either. Maybe the Steelers have found another receiving gem or two in this year's draft.

And my MVP for yesterday's practice was running back Justin Vincent. No, not because of anything he did on the field, but for what he did afterwards. There weren't a ton of people in the area where we were standing, but Vincent came over and signed a lot of autographs and posed for pictures. Nobody really knew who he was so he could have very easily walked back to the dorms and nobody would have noticed. My girlfriend was talking to a couple who said that Vincent was on the same plane as them a few weeks ago. He was flying up from Texas for training camp and he talked to their young son the entire flight. He told them that if they saw him to just yell out his name and he'd be glad to come over and talk to them.

I don't know if he'll make the team, but he really seems like a class-act.

Anyway, that's about all I can remember from our time at camp. A fun little day and a great way to end our vacation.

Can't wait to go back next year.

For The First Time in a Long Time, I Was Proud to be a Pirates Fan

A couple of weeks ago, when the Pirates were in the middle of an actual offensive explosion that saw them score 48 runs in a 5 or 6 game period, I felt good about being a Pirates fan. I remember walking from my apartment to the laundry room in my building and I was wearing a Pirates hat that my girlfriend bought me for my birthday last year. It was the day after they defeated those hated Milwaukee Brewers, 11-9. Pirates hitting phenom, Pedro Alvaraz, hit two home runs in that game and he looked to be coming into his own a little.

Well, the next game, the Pirates were absolutely killing the Brewers. This time, they scored 15 runs and Alvaraz had two more home runs. I was at Applebees with my girlfriend and I witnessed Pedro's second dinger. It hit off the foul poll. It was at that moment, that I knew the Pirates had a legitimate major league player. The guy has a sweet home run swing. It's the kind of hitter they haven't had here since Barry Bonds moved to San Fransisco. People were so eager to see young Pedro come up this season and when he finally did, he was kind of underwhelming. He struck out often (he still does, actually,) but that's ok because most power-hitters strike out a lot, especially the young guys. Bo Jackson struck out his first 21 or 23 times at bat, and he turned out to be a pretty good player.

I'm starting to really like this young lineup the Pirates have been putting out there since the last of the prospects were called up in June:

Andrew Mccutchen, Jose Tabata, Neil Walker, Garrett Jones, Pedro Alvaraz, Lastings Milledge, Rony Cedeno, and newly acquired catcher, Chris Snyder.

That looks like a pretty good crew. Cutch and Pedro look like they can develop into perennial all-stars. Guys Tabata and Walker could make an allstar game or two in their day. And Milledge might not be a thing of beauty and he can frustrate you from time-to-time, but he gets the job done; there's something to be said about a player who hits as well as he does with runners in scoring position.

Of course, there is the matter of the pitching staff. Paul Maholm has been solid and Jeff Karstens has been a pleasant surprise, but the rest of the staff has been a major disappointment. Ross Ohlendorf has only one win this year, and Zach Duke can't seem to go two games without being smacked around.

Brad Lincoln's short time in the big leagues was less than impressive. Charlie Morton doesn't seem to be improving any in the minors.

After all these years of focusing on acquiring young pitching, the Pirates don't have a legitimate horse to throw out there every 5 days. It doesn't look like it's going to come from the minors anytime soon, either. Tim Alderson, who they received in the Freddy Sanchez trade, was actually demoted from AAA to AA. And Brian Morris is still a ways away.

Hopefully, they'll be able to sign the two young high school pitchers they drafted in June, but even if they do, they're high school pitchers and won't be ready for at least a few years.

James Mcdonald, who they acquired last week as part of the Octavio Dotel trade, had a very impressive debut against the Rockies on Thursday. He struck out 6 of the first 7 batters he faced. He actually had life on his fastball and had good offspeed pitches. Maybe he is a diamond in the rough. We'll see.

Speaking of Dotel, Huntington dealt three of their best relievers, leaving them with only Hanrahan and Meek to carry the load. I don't have a problem with that. Quality middle relievers can be picked up every year, and Dotel had to be traded. He was really the only veteran of value that Huntington had to deal. And if this Mcdonald kid is at least solid, it'll be worth it.

It looks like Hanrahan has assumed the closing duties initially, but that doesn't mean that Meek won't get a shot, too.

That brings me to Saturday night. The Pirates were leading the Rockies, 5-2 in the 9th inning and since I don't have FSN anymore, I was following the action on the Internet with the frequent box score updates.

I turned on the CW so I could watch the "Nightly Sports" whatever call-in show that they have and the host said that the Rockies had tied the score at 5. Damn. Joel Hanrahan blew a save.

Then in the 10th inning, Todd Helton hit a two-run shot and the Pirates were down, 7-5.

The host and the callers were tearing the Pirates a new one.

I fell asleep under the impression that they lost. I checked the Yahoo box score yesterday morning just for the hell of it, and I was surprised that they came back and won.

That in and of itself wasn't that big a deal. After all, they are 30something games under .500. But when I read the recap and saw that Pedro Alvaraz was the hero with a two-out, three-run shot, I was excited.

I found some video footage recapping the game and it was pretty electric. It was a sell-out crowd and when Pedro took his home run cut, Pirates color-commentator Steve Blass started screaming, "Oh my God!" I've never heard him get so excited about something. And the crowd was going nuts, too.

A nice little preview of what it might be like if the Pirates ever give us something to really get excited about.

For a brief moment, I was proud to be a Pirates fan.

Sunday, August 8, 2010

Bill Leavy Admits to Mistakes in Super Bowl XL

Yesterday, veteran NFL official, Bill Leavy, admitted to making a couple of mistakes in the 4th quarterback of Super Bowl XL between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Seattle Seahawks.

He didn't specify what the two blown calls were, but I'm guessing one of them was the crucial holding penalty called on tackle Sean Locklear early in the 4th quarter after it looked like the Seahawks would have 1st and goal from the 1 yard-line.

Seattle was pushed back, instead, and a few plays later, Ike Taylor intercepted Hasselback and Pittsburgh put the game away on the famous Antwaan Randle El option pass to Hines Ward.

That call on Locklear wasn't an obvious bad call. Maybe I'm just looking at things with black and gold colored glasses, but I could see Locklear being penalized for holding on the play. Clark Haggans appeared to have him beaten for a potential sack and it looked like Locklear had a hold of the jersey up around the shoulder pad. I mean, it's not like Leavy knew that Seattle was going to complete a pass down to the one on the play. He thought he saw holding and decided to throw the flag.

Nevertheless, the two "kicked" calls will give the Seattle whiners even more fuel for their 5-year old fire.

The Seattle Seahawks, and their fans, are the biggest whiners in the history of sports. Before Super Bowl XL, I didn't even know they had any fans at all, but ever since that day, they've been the "Shoulda been champions."

And even though Leavy said his mistakes occurred in the 4th quarter, I know fans will point out the offensive pass-interference call on Darrell Jackson early in the game that took away a Seahawks' touchdown pass. Well, before you do that, just remember that the head of officials said that if Jackson wasn't called for pushing off of Chris Hope on that play, the official in-question would have been reprimanded.

Another play the "Shoulda been champions" like to cry about is Ben Roethlisberger's touchdown dive in the second quarter. They say the ball never crossed the plain and it "shoulda" been 4th down. Well, the play was called a touchdown on the field and there wasn't enough evidence to overturn the call. It's not like it was blatantly obvious that it "shoulda" been overturned. And aren't there photographs out there that support the officials call that the ball did cross the plain? I believe I've heard that.

A forgotten mistake by the officials that nobody ever talks about was the obvious fumble by Seahawks' tight end Jerramy Stevens in the 2nd quarter. Even Al Michaels commented that it looked like Stevens fumbled on the play but the officials blew the whistle just as the Steelers were about to recover the ball. Seahawks fans don't like to mention that because it doesn't fit well with their theory that the officials handed the Steelers the game.

The bottomline is there were no glaring mistakes by the officials that day.

If you want to talk about glaring mistakes by the officials, what about that Colts game just a few weeks prior? The reversal on the Troy Polamalu interception was one of the biggest officiating mistakes in the history of the league. And how about Randle El getting mugged on a deep pass earlier in the game and no penalty being called?

Great teams overcome stuff like that.

The Seahawks, and their fans, can whine and cry about the calls that went against them, but there are three reasons why they didn't win that day:

1) 3rd and 28. Their defense didn't do the job on that play and allowed Roethlisberger to keep the drive alive. Had they stopped them there, there would be no disputed Roethlisberger touchdown to cry about. Are the officials to blame for 3rd and 28, too? Just wondering.

2) Willie Parker's 75 yard touchdown run early in the second half. The hole was big enough to drive a truck through. Parker wasn't even touched on the play. Were the officials to blame there? I would like to know.

3) Antwaan Randle El's touchdown pass that put the game away. Everyone could see the wide receiver option pass developing from a mile a way. Everyone, that is, except the Seattle secondary. Were the officials supposed to cover Hines Ward on that play? Just wondering.

Seahawks fans, nothing any referee can say 4plus years later is going to change the fact that your team wasn't worthy of that title.

You can keep on crying, but I'm having a hard time hearing you over the Super Bowl parades. Maybe you can post a message about it, but the glare on my screen from all that Super Bowl silver will prevent me from seeing it.

Try as you might, you'll never be able to take Super Bowl XL away from Steeler Nation.

Always and forever, Super Bowl XL champions!

The End.

Friday, August 6, 2010

My Trip To The Pro Football Hall of Fame

Even though I'm a huge football geek and follow the sport religiously, I had never been to the mecca of professional football: The Pro Football Hall Of Fame in Canton, Ohio.

That all changed on Tuesday when my girlfriend and I took the 90-mile drive from Pittsburgh to Canton to visit the historic site.

The drive was rather pleasant as we took US-30 West most of the way. The only problem I had was getting around the actual city of Canton. It took us about an hour to find the hotel and every other stop along the way was an adventure. That's not Canton's fault. It happens when you're new to a city. Besides, I have the worst sense of direction known to man.

But you don't want to hear about my driving adventures. Onto the Hall of Fame. It was pretty sweet. I could definitely feel a sense of history the moment I walked in the door. After we got done checking out some exhibits and some pretty cool pictures, we found the actual Hall of Fame with the busts. It was kind of surreal seeing the likeness of guys like Joe Greene and Terry Bradshaw. They didn't seem like busts of football players. They looked like gladiators from the days of the Roman Empire.

Another highlight was the Imax theater where they presented a 25 minute film from the 2009 season followed by Super Bowl XLIV highlights. They put the Super Bowl portion on a bigger screen but not before scaring everyone by moving the seats around. Nobody knew what was happening.

Two things from that day stood out for me:

One was the exhibit that displayed the non-NFL leagues like the AFL, USFL and the World Football League. I've heard of the WFL and knew that it was a rival league of the NFL back in the 70's, but it was neat seeing pictures of NFL legends like Larry Czonka playing in the league.

And the other thing that stood out for me and the highlight of the day was seeing the Super Bowl rings on display. Really awesome. The guy who was supervising the exhibit had quite a lot of little tidbits. Like for example, Dan Rooney's favorite ring to wear is the one from Super Bowl XIV because it's the most comfortable on his hand. And the Green Bay Packers ring from Super Bowl II actually has three stones in it because they won an NFL championship the year before the Super Bowl started and considered themselves 3-time World Champions. Pretty informative.

Back to the Steelers rings. The Steelers Super Bowl XLIII ring is the most gaudy piece of jewelry I have ever seen. They could use it to cover Heinz Field the night before a game. Funny story, there was a Cowboys fan there looking at the rings and he was going on and on about how awesome the Cowboys rings were and my girlfriend turned to him and said, "You're missing one." Ah, I love her!

Anyway, we had a great time, and if you've never been there, I really recommend making the trip.

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

My Favorite Moments as a Sports Fan That Didn't Ultimately End in Championships

As most people who know me will attest, I'm a huge sports fan. I live and die for my teams.

Sports have been such a huge part of my life since I was a little boy. Being a diehard fan has made me do many things: Jump for joy. Scream at the top of my lungs. Swear with little kids around. And, of course, cry.

It has given me memories that will last a lifetime. I'll never forget where I was when my Steelers hoisted the Lombardi Trophy after Super Bowl XL and finally got that "One for the Thumb!" Or how awesome it was to see Ben Roethlisberger march the Steelers to a last-second Super Bowl victory and a record 6th title.

I also can look back and recall many times where I just wanted to throw my television out the window because I was just so disgusted and devastated after a heartbreaking loss. Those memories, too, will last a lifetime.

There have been moments that I will never look back on with fondness because the final chapter of the season was just so frustrating and bitter.

For example, anytime I look back on the 1992 NLCS and think about Sid Bream scoring the winning run in game 7 and destroying the Pittsburgh Pirates, I cringe; I wince as if it happened yesterday. Without a doubt, the most depressed I have ever been after a loss.

And I still think back in horror to the Steelers AFC championship game loss to the San Diego Chargers in '94. You want to talk about a kick in the gut? Every expert and fan had the Steelers going to the Super Bowl that year, but they famously came up three yards short.

And let's not forget Barry Goheen, Joe Nedney, Scottie Reynolds, etc, etc. All authors of some of the most disappointing and devastating sports moments for yours truly.

The ultimate dream of any die hard fan is to see their team win it all, and when they don't, it's usually very disappointing. But, if you can only enjoy sports years that end with championships, in my opinion, you won't enjoy the ride as much. Just because the destination wasn't quite what you wanted doesn't make the journey any less enjoyable. Sometimes sports fans need that trophy to validate the memories. But it doesn't have to be that way. The memories are still there even if the ending wasn't the best.

You really can have great memories from seasons that don't involve parades. For example, the Immaculate Reception, arguably the most famous play in the history of Pittsburgh sports, was followed by a loss the following week.

Some of the greatest sports moments of my life didn't end with the ultimate prize but I still look back on them with fondness.

Anyway, since I love lists, I've decided to make one about the most awesome times I've had following Pittsburgh sports that may have been forgotten because the dream was cut just a bit short.

I hope you enjoy.

The Steelers Upset the Denver Broncos in the 1984 AFC Divisional Playoffs

After the glory years of the 1970's, the inevitable mediocrity was starting to set in by 1984 as most of the players from the Super Bowl teams had retired. The 1984 Steelers were an average team playing in a very poor AFC Central division. They still had legendary guys like Mike Webster, Donnie Shell, and John Stallworth performing at high levels. In fact, Stallworth was named NFL Comeback Player of the Year after being slowed in '83 with injuries. The Steelers also had Louis Lipps, their rookie wide receiver, who captured the hearts of Steeler Nation with his deep threat ability and punt return skills. Lipps was named NFL rookie of the Year in '84. But the team was up and down all year, finishing at 9-7 and barely winning the division. They did seem to have a flair for the dramatic. They upset the 49ers in Candlestick Park, handing San Fransisco their only loss of the entire year. And they won the division on the last day of the regular season with a clutch victory in Los Angeles over the defending Super Bowl champion Raiders. Still, nobody gave them much of a shot going into Mile High Stadium to play John Elway and the 13-3 Denver Broncos. Somehow, some way, with guys like Mark Malone, Walter Abercrombie, Brian Hinkle and Frank Pollard, the Steelers pulled off a dramatic upset. With the game tied at 17 late in the 4th quarter, Steelers defensive back Eric Williams intercepted an Elway pass and returned it to the 2-yard line. Pollard punched it in and the Steelers won the game, 24-17. Even at 12 years old, I knew what a huge upset that was. No way should the Steelers have gone into Denver and won that game, but they did. I was mildly optimistic that they would defeat the Dolphins the following week in the AFC championship game and make it to the Super Bowl even though the odds were against them. They actually had the lead in the first half, but Miami was just way too explosive for them and they lost, 45-28. I was disappointed, but I knew the Steelers had done all they could that season. It was a very memorable year.

The Steelers 1989 Wildcard Win in the House of Pain

Fast forward to five seasons later, and the Steelers mediocrity had turned into downright bad. They finished the 1988 season at 5-11 and Chuck Noll was in danger of losing his job. The 1989 season didn't start out any better as the Black and Gold lost their first two games by a combined score of 92-10. My uncle and I actually had tickets to the third game of the year against the Minnesota Vikings, who were considered strong Super Bowl contenders that year. The Steelers won that game, 27-14, and it seemed to jumpstart their season. Other highlights included a late-season, blow out win in Miami during a huge rainstorm and a 17-7 win in Cleveland to the same team that defeated them, 51-0, in the first game of the year. Despite those highlights, Pittsburgh didn't appear to be much of a playoff team. They were 6-7 with only three games left. They managed to win those three games, but their hopes for the postseason still seemed pretty dim. They were 9-7, but only 1-5 in their own division. They didn't hold many tiebreakers. Call it divine intervention, but every scenario that needed to unfold, did. Pittsburgh was in the playoffs for the first time in 5 years. They were the 5th seed, and headed to Houston to play Jerry Glanville and those hated Oilers. I was in 11th grade at the time and on Christmas break. I was super-excited for this game all week and couldn't wait for it to start. The Steelers lost to the Oilers twice in the regular season and were double-digit underdogs for the wildcard game. It turned out to be a great contest as the Steelers controlled the game for three quarters before Houston fought back to take a 23-16 lead late in the game. Pittsburgh managed to tie the score in the last minute on a Merril Hoge touchdown. In overtime, Steelers all-world cornerback, Rod Woodson, caused and recovered a fumble near mid-field. A few plays later, Gary Anderson kicked a 50 yard field goal for the dramatic 26-23 win. I think that was the first time I ever had a euphoric feeling following a game. I was literally on Cloud 9 the rest of the night and the remainder of the week. The Steelers lost a tough game the following week to those Broncos, and at the time, I was really disappointed, but, thankfully, unlike other losing moments, time has lessened the blow. That Gary Anderson field goal is one of my alltime favorite moments watching sports.

The Pittsburgh Pirates Win the 1990 National League East

The Pirates were pretty awful when I started watching them as a 12 year old. Starting in 1984, they finished in last place for three straight seasons. There was very little talent to speak of and not much interest. There was even the infamous drug scandal that rocked Major League Baseball and ground zero was right here in Pittsburgh. The team also nearly relocated to Denver. It was just a horrible time to be a Pirates fan. Even worse than now, in my opinion. Fortunately, the Pirates hired General Manager Syd Thrift and Manager Jim Leyland in 1986 and started to turn a corner. They promoted highly touted prospect, Barry Bonds, and acquired young, talented players like Bobby Bonilla, Andy Van Slyke, Doug Drabek, John Smiley, RJ Reynolds, Sid Bream, and Mike Lavaliere. By 1988, the nucleus was in place and they finished 2nd in the NL East behind the New York Mets. After an injury-riddled 1989season, the team was ready to take another run at the NL East in 1990. Spurred on by an early season 10-3 road trip, the team came of age. They stayed ahead of the New York Mets for most of the year before briefly slipping into 2nd place late in the season. But after a three-game sweep of the Mets at Three Rivers Stadium, the Buccos took control of the division for good. Their magic number was three heading into the last week. The Mets really didn't back off that last week, but the Pirates never faltered. Finally, on September 30th, 1990, in St. Louis, the Pirates clinched their first division title in 11 years with a 2-0 shutout of the Cardinals. It was so awesome watching them celebrate at Busch stadium. I watched a lot of baseball growing up and often wondered what it would be like if my Pirates got a chance to celebrate. Well, it was truly a great feeling and something I'll never forget. I used the word euphoric before and it applies even more so in this case. I was so happy that day and that week heading into the NLCS against the Reds. The Pirates lost a tough series in six games to the eventual World Champions, but that season was one I'll never forget.

The 2001 PITT Panthers Very Unexpected Run in the Big East Tournament

The Panthers basketball program was very strong in the mid-to-late 80's. With guys like Charles Smith, Jerome Lane, Demetrius Gore, Sean Miller, and Brian Shorter, the program held its own in the very tough Big East conference. But despite all that talent, the team could never truly get over the hump, often losing early in both the Big East and NCAA tournaments. After years of coming up short, coach Paul Evans departed and was replaced by Ralph Willard in 1994. The program started to really decline during that period, only making the NIT once under Willard. Ben Howland was brought in to replace Willard in 1999 and by the 2000/2001 season, the team was at least somewhat respectable with a 15-12 mark. They had a low seed in the Big East tournament, and with their history up until that point, I wasn't expecting much. However, much to my surprise, the team went on a fantastic run, defeating Miami in the first round, Notre Dame in the second round, and Syracuse in overtime in the third round to make it all the way to the Big East championship game for the first time. Back to that Syracuse game, I was sick as a dog with a stomach virus that day and I was stuck in my apartment, in a huge ball on the couch wanting to die. I didn't have cable at the time, so I had to listen to it on the radio. When they finally knocked off Syracuse in overtime, that was the tonic I needed. The Panthers lost in the championship round to Boston College the next night, but it didn't take away from their magical run. And in my opinion, that run was the catalyst for their recent 9-year run of success.

The Steelers Come-From-Behind Victory Over the Browns in the 2002 AFC Wild Card Game

The 2002 Pittsburgh Steelers season was one I will never forget. It was quite the roller-coaster ride. Much was expected from the Black and Gold following their magical 2001 campaign which saw Kordell Stewart come of age (or so we thought.) The '01 Steelers finished the year 13-3 and made it all the way to the AFC championship game before being upset by the New England Patriots. They were considered favorites to take it at least one step further in 2002, but started out 0-2. Stewart looked horrible and was replaced by back up quarterback Tommy Maddox in the middle of the third game against Cleveland. Tommy Gunn led the Steelers to an overtime victory that day and went on to capture the imagination of Steelers fans everywhere. Despite the team's early struggles, they were able to tread water and take control of a very weak AFC North division. Stewart even came back and helped the Steelers win two very important late-season games after Maddox suffered a scary injury in Tennessee. Pittsburgh went on to win the division and was the 3rd seed in the AFC playoffs. Their opponent in the wildcard round was none other than the surprising Cleveland Browns. Nobody expected Pittsburgh to struggle at all against the Browns, but the team found themselves down, 14-0, pretty quickly as Kelly Holcomb shredded the Steelers defense. In-fact, Pittsburgh was down 24-7 in the second half and I had very little hope that they would come back. Fast-forward to very late in the game, and the Steelere were still trailing, 33-21, with only a few minutes left. Tommy Maddox hit Hines Ward with a touchdown pass, but I don't even remember much celebrating as there was only about 3 minutes left and the way the Browns offense was playing, I didn't expect the defense to stop them. They really didn't stop them here, either, as Browns' receiver Dennis Northcutt dropped a key third down pass that would have all but closed the curtains on the Steelers' season. Fortunately, the Steelers got the ball back and Maddox marched them down the field again before Chris Fuamatu-mafala' (close enough) scored on a delayed hand-off with less than a minute left. The Steelers were ahead, 34-33, and also converted the two-point conversion to go ahead, 36-33. I couldn't believe they actually had the lead. True to form for the 2002 Steelers defense, they didn't really stop Cleveland's offense on their last-ditch effort to kick a field goal. Fortunately, time ran out on Cleveland and Heinz Field was never louder. I collapsed in a heap on my uncle's living room floor. I was exhausted and I didn't even play! The following week, the Steelers once again found themselves down, 14-0, in Tennessee and even though they battled back to take the lead, their defense just couldn't put the Titans away and they eventually lost in over-time. It was a very bitter loss for me, mainly because of the running into the kicker call on Dwayne Washington which awarded Joe Nedney another shot at an overtime field goal after missing the first one. But with the help of the two recent Super Bowl victories, I was able to put that loss away and appreciate that Browns' game a lot more.

The PITT Panthers Destroy West Virginia's Hopes at the 2007 National Title

The 2007 Pitt Panthers were struggling much like they did the previous two seasons under Dave Wannstedt. They were 4-7 heading into the season-ending "Backyard Brawl" in Morgantown. Wannstedt took over for Walt Harris following the 2004 season. Harris left PITT (or was forced out as some have speculated) after taking the Panthers to a BCS game in 2004 and having a fairly successful run as head coach of the program. Wannstedt took over and immediately changed the philosophy from a pass-oriented attack to a more run-oriented attack and a solid defense. It took awhile for Wannstedt to recruit the players he needed for this philosophy and the team suffered through 3-straight non-winning seasons. The team came out on the short end of a lot of close games in 2007 and it looked like they might be turning a corner. But nobody gave them a chance against the Mountaineers, who were 2nd in the BCS and needed only to defeat the 4-touchdown underdog Panthers to earn a berth in the BCS Championship game. But it's games like this that make rivalries so sweet. Led by their front-seven, the Panthers totally shut down the Moutaineers potent spread-offense and even knocked quarterback Pat White out of the game. The defense only allowed one touchdown the entire game and PITT really should have won going away. Unfortunately, it looked like the Big East officials were trying everything in their power to hand WVU the game. Two very questionable holding calls kept the game close, but it was to no avail as the Panthers held on for a 13-9 victory that left Morgantown stunned. I remember remarking at the time that no bowl victory could have been sweeter than what the Panthers did that night. The victory seemed to be a turning point for the program as they've made two straight bowl appearances and are favorites to win the Big East this season.

The Penguins Stay Alive in the 2008 Stanley Cup Finals

No, you're not seeing things. Believe it or not, the Penguins actually made this list. I know I'm not a diehard fan, but they have given me a thrill or two in my day. Back in 2008, I was pretty excited that the Penguins made it all the way to the Stanley Cup Finals even though they looked pretty overmatched by the Detriot Red Wings. They were in Detroit down 3 games to 1 and facing elimination. The Penguins didn't even score a goal the first two games in Detroit and the Wings were looking to close them out and capture another Cup. I was watching the game with my uncle at some private club in Mt. Washington and the Penguins were actually up early-on. It didn't last, however, as the Red Wings came all the way back to take a one-goal lead late in the 3rd period. The Penguins removed their goalie and were on a man-advantage with less than a minute left. The people in this bar were preparing for the worst. It looked like the season was going to come to an end, but out of nowhere, the superstar himself, Max Talbot, scored to tie the game. I've seen youtube videos of Detroit fans doing the "na na na na" stuff before being put in their place after that goal. It took three overtimes but the Penguins finally won on Petr Sykora's power-play goal. I actually celebrated as if the Steelers won a playoff game. The first and only time I've reacted to a Penguins game in that fashion. Truly a memorable night. Unfortunately, the Pens would lose a heartbreaker at home in Mellon Arena in game six, but would turn the tables on the Wings the following year and capture their third Stanley Cup.

And, finally, my alltime favorite sports moment that didn't involve a championship:

The Steelers Defeat the Colts in the 1995 AFC Championship Game

I know this is out of chronological order, but I wanted to save my favorite for last. It was a bitter/sweet time being a sports fan in the early 90's. It wasn't horrible. There were a lot of fun times, but it seemed like my teams never really got over the hump. The Pirates won three straight division titles but lost in the NLCS every time, each one being more heartbreaking than the last. The Steelers were pretty average in the 80's and their run in the 70's seemed almost mythical to me as I was too young to really appreciate those years. By the early 90's, Chuck Noll was in his last days as coach. The Steelers were actually 3rd in relevance to the Penguins and Pirates. The Penguins had won back-to-back Stanley Cups but I didn't care about hockey at that time. In fact, I was very jealous of their success because my Pirates, who I followed with great passion, always came up short. By 1992, the Pirates were in their last days of being a great baseball team (little did we know how long their futility would last) and Bill Cowher succeeded Chuck Noll as head coach of the Steelers. They were huge shoes to fill, no doubt, but Cowher brought a new energy to the team and to the city. Surprisingly, the team went 11-5 in Cowher's first season and were actually the number 1 seed in the playoffs. Unfortunately, they were no match for the Buffalo Bills in the divisional playoffs, as they fell, 24-3. The next season, they started slowly, but rebounded to clinch the last wildcard spot in the AFC before losing a heartbreaker to Kansas City in overtime. The 1994 Steelers looked to be the team to get over the hump and bring glory to the Steel City once again. They finished the year 12-4 and nosed-out the Cleveland Browns for the AFC Central Division crown and the number 1 seed. The Steelers easily defeated the Browns for the 3rd straight time in the divisional playoffs and the only thing that stood between them and their first trip to the Super Bowl since the 70's was an underdog Chargers team that nobody thought highly of. It was a foregone conclusion that the Steelers would roll over the Chargers in the AFC Championship game. The guys even made a Super Bowl rap video the week prior to this game. The Steelers controlled things early but could never put San Diego away. They only led 13-3 late in the 3rd quarter before the Chargers scored two late touchdowns to take a 17-13 lead. Quarterback Neil O'Donnell led them on a furious march down the field but came up short on 4th and goal from the 3. I was devasted. I was almost in tears. Nobody could believe that they had lost. It wasn't quite as bad as the NLCS, but it was pretty darn close. I knew one thing: Once again, one of MY teams came up short in a big game.

The '95 Steelers were still considered the favorites in the AFC, but they seemed to be sleep-walking through the first half of the year. They even lost to the expansion Jacksonville Jaguars. The final nail in the apparent coffin was a Thursday night beatdown by the Cincinnati Bengals at Three Rivers Stadium. They were 3-4 and there was very little hope. Surprisingly, Pittsburgh got on a roll. They won a very big overtime game in Chicago to improve to 5-4 and then a few weeks later, they came back from being down, 31-13, to those same Bengals and won going away, 49-31. They would go on to win 8-straight games and capture the AFC Central division and number 2seed in the AFC. Their road to the Super Bowl wasn't initially as clear as the previous year. But in their first game, they had their way with Buffalo. And the Chiefs, who had the number 1 seed, were stunned by the upstart Indianapolis Colts. I couldn't believe it. It's as if there was divine intervention and God was fixing what happened the previous season. Once again, the Steelers were going to be home for the AFC championship game and this time, their opponent was an even bigger underdog. Surely, the Black and Gold wouldn't stumble again with the entire city watching, or would they? Well, I'll be damned if they didn't struggle. O'Donnell was intercepted early and the Colts had a 3-0 lead. Down 6-3 late in the first half, O'Donnell rebounded and hit rookie phenom, Kordell "Slash" Stewart with a touchdown pass in the back of the endzone and Pittsburgh led, 10-6 at the break. I figured that the team would step on the throats of the Colts, who were only 9-7 in the regular season, and dispose of them pretty early in the second half. I was wrong. The Steelers were only ahead, 13-9, late in the game when Colts' quarterback Jim Harbaugh connected with Floyd Turner on a 47 yard touchdown midway through the 4th quarter. The Colts were up, 16-13, and I couldn't believe it. My sister needed a headlight replaced on her car, and I was going to help my uncle fix it after the game. After the touchdown, he was disgusted and said something like, "Let's just go out and fix that light. They're done." And I was beginning to think they were done. They couldn't move the ball at all on Indianapolis when they needed to the most. The Colts actually had possession with only a few minutes left and it was 3rd and 1. Colts' running back Lamont Warren appeared to have clear sailing over the left side. It looked like he not only had an easy first down, but he could have gone all the way. Out of nowhere, Steelers cornerback Willie Williams came flying from behind and grabbed Warren by the ankle and stopped him short of the first down. The Steelers had one last shot to either tie the score or take the lead. Very early in the drive, Colts linebacker, Quentin Coryott nearly put the Steelers away with an interception, only to have it broken-up by Steelers receiver, Ernie Mills. Later in the drive, O'Donnell hit receiver Andre Hastings on a 4 and 3 to stay alive. The very next play, O'Donnell hit Mills for a 37 yard pass down to the Colts' 1-yard line. To this day, I can remember my two uncles jumping up and down and embracing one another after the play. Two plays later, Steelers running back Bam Morris punched it in and the Steelers were ahead, 20-16, with just 1:34 remaining. I thought it was in the bag. In-fact, tears started welling up, but I kept my compusure. And, it's a good thing I did because Harbaugh led the Colts down the field and despite a near-interception that would have sealed the game, the Colts were at the Steelers 30 yard-line with just 5-seconds left. There was time for one play. Harbaugh let loose on a hail-mary pass. The Colts receivers and Steelers defenders converged on the ball in the right corner of the endzone. The Steelers tried to bat the ball down, but Colts receiver Aaron Bailey had the ball on his chest as he fell to the turf, and all he needed to do was close his arms. Thankfully, he didn't and it fell to the ground. In the confusion of that last play, NBC's television crew wasn't sure what happened and Phil Simms screamed, "He caught the ball!" For a split second, I saw another heartreaking loss flash before my eyes, but then I saw the officials signal incomplete and I jumped up and ran into the kitchen and slid across the floor. My uncle Tony, who for some reason was cooking on the stove during this climactic moment, looked down at me and said, "Grow up." It was a tremendous feeling and a great relief. My Steelers had finally gotten over the hump. One of MY teams had finally made it to the last game. The Steelers were onto Super Bowl XXX. For the first time in my life, I had a reason to go out and honk a car horn. And conveniently enough, I had just gotten my license a couple of months prior so I got in a car and drove around honking my horn at complete strangers. The Steelers were to face the Dallas Cowboys in the Super Bowl. For someone like me, who grew up watching highlights of the epic Steelers/Cowboys Super Bowls from the 70's, it couldn't get any better. I knew Pittsburgh would be the underdog and even though I was extremely optimistic, I was prepared for a loss. The Cowboys had just won two Super Bowls earlier in the decade and they were the team of the 90's. The two weeks leading up to the game were tremendous. I watched every Super Bowl special I could find on tv. I read every newspaper article I could find. I bought Super Bowl XXX memorabilia. I did it all. Truly one of the greatest times of my life. And the game was actually pretty exciting. The Cowboys dominated early, but Pittsburgh came back and actually outplayed them in the second half. We all remember the two infamous interceptions thrown by Neil O'Donnell that led to the Steelers downfall. To this day, people are bitter about that game and I don't know why. Well, I do know, it was the Super Bowl, but you would think the two recent Super Bowl victories would allow those feelings of anger and disappointment to dissipate, but they're still there. Anytime people talk about the worst losses in the history of Pittsburgh sports, Super Bowl XXX is up there at the top of the list.

The Steelers have been to the Super Bowl 7 times and that was their only loss. I think most sports fans would take that. Just ask the Bills or Vikings fans if they'd like to have just one championship, and I'll bet they'd say yes.

Don't get me wrong, I was disappointed. I even wrote "What Could have Been" on the vhs tape that I used to record the game.

But after so many near-misses, it was nice to see one of my teams at least play for a championship. I don't look back on Super Bowl XXX and cry. In-fact, I'm proud of that team.

I'll never forget that AFC championship game or any of the moments I have listed on here.

Sunday, August 1, 2010

Flacco being elite.

Another Example of the National Media Heaping Undue Praise on the Ravens

I was reading the Bob Smizik blog yesterday and one of his posts was about Joe Flacco and how ESPN football insider John Clayton called him an elite quarterback.

From the article, it appeared that Clayton formed this opinion based almost solely on observing him at Raven's camp. He's bigger, is better at the play-action pass and apparently has a new "swagger."

That's quite an opinion to form on a few days of Raven's training camp. But why am I surprised? I mean, it's the Ravens. Naturally, the national media is going to go out of their way to use any shred of evidence possible to convince themselves and the general public that Baltimore is one of the teams to beat.

Clayton also said that Flacco knows how to win because he's performed well in the playoffs the last two years. Oh really? Here are Flacco's stats in 5 AFC playoff games: 120 attempts and 57 completions. 1 touchdown and 6 interceptions. His quarterback rating in those 5 games is something like 45.

Ok, if that's elite, I'd hate to see what totally mediocre is.

Ben Roethlisberger led his team to a Super Bowl title in his second year and people like Clayton, and that idiot, Trent Dilfer, were unwilling to call him an elite quarterback. So far, Flacco has been the epitome of a game-manager and suddenly he's elite.

Maybe he will be elite someday, but right now, there is no evidence to suggest so.

I just don't understand why the national media falls all over themselves to praise Baltimore. They're the sexy pick every season. I could see if it was the Cowboys or Raiders or some team with a national following. But the Ravens? Just don't get it.

Ray Lewis must have something pretty incriminating on the national guys.