Friday, September 30, 2011

Jose Reyes is a selfish jerk, right? Nope, he's the 2011 NL batting champ, and he won it fair and square

Boy, do we like to overreact as sports fans in this day and age, or what? I mean, seriously. The Mets' Jose Reyes beat out the Brewers' Ryan Braun for the 2011 National League batting title, and that's an accomplishment that any baseball player would probably be proud of for the rest of his life. Maybe Reyes will always cherish his feat, but maybe, because of the often illogically critical eye of the media and fans, he might forever look back on his accomplishment with a bit of shame.

Why? Well, because Jose Reyes had the nerve to take himself out of the last game of the season Wednesday against the Reds after leading off the first inning with a bunt single. By doing so, Reyes made Ryan Braun's job a bit more difficult, and it really didn't matter, as it turned out, because Braun went hitless against the Pittsburgh Pirates Wednesday evening.

People have called Reyes selfish and say that he cheated the fans and the game of baseball by not playing until the very last at-bat. Am I missing something? Were Reyes and Braun battling it out for the 2011 NL batting title or the Wednesday, September 28th batting title?

I mean, Reyes had the number of at-bats required to qualify for the title, right? He didn't get the majority of his base-hits off of pitchers lobbing the ball underhand, did he? Braun wasn't forced to bat blind-folded with one arm tied behind his back for most of the season, was he?

It's not like Wednesday was the only game that Reyes missed during the year. He played in 126 games, so that means there were other games and plenty of at-bats that he didn't get. Did he "cheat" the fans and the spirit of competition by missing a game or two in May or July?

I didn't know the last game of the regular season was more important in regards to the batting title than the other 161. I thought MLB just took the number of hits and divided them by the number of at-bats over the course of an entire season, and whoever finished with the highest average was declared the batting champion for his league.

Why do we ridicule people? I mean, wasn't there enough to talk about Wednesday, what with the exciting and dramatic finishes to both wild card races? What about the Tampa Rays coming back from a 7-0 deficit late and clinching the American League wild card spot on a dramatic 12th inning home run against the New York Yankees? What about the Boston Red Sox blowing a huge late-season lead in the wild card standings and then blowing a chance for a one-game playoff by blowing a late lead to the Orioles? And how about the Yankees not trotting Mariano Rivera out there to try and close out the Rays in the 9th inning? I mean, didn't the Yankees cheat the fans there? I'll bet the Rays fans don't think so.

What about the Atlanta Braves also blowing their huge September wild card lead and getting surpassed by the hard-charging St. Louis Cardinals on the final day of the season?

Aren't those stories more compelling than whether or not Jose Reyes cheated the fans, Ryan Braun and all of baseball by not taking a couple of more at-bats in a meaningless 162nd regular season game?

Would an asterisk really make you feel better? Well, guess what? Years from now, nobody is going to remember how Reyes won the batting title.

Jose Reyes is the 2011 National League batting champion.

Live with it.

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

The "defenseless" receiver penalty in the Patriots/Bills game on Sunday that really irked me

I'm not one of those people that thinks football should be all about violence and knock outs. I'm glad the NFL has taken measures to deal with the concussions caused by hits to the head.

There is nothing wrong with a nice form tackle that merely stops an offensive player from advancing the ball, and I certainly don't see what can be gained by simply hitting a player as hard as you can if he still holds on to the football or scores a touchdown.

Some of the most famous hits by the late Raiders safety "The Assassin" Jack Tatum were actual positive plays for the opposing team. Like for example his hit on Sammy White in Super Bowl XI that knocked White's helmet off. Despite the vicious-hit, White still held-onto the football, yet, Tatum stood over him in intimidating-fashion like he actually accomplished something. Or what about Tatum's brutal hit on Earl Campbell in the Astrodome. It was a pretty nasty smack on Campbell, and the bruising running back was knocked off-balance, yet, he managed to stay on his feet long-enough to score a touchdown.

A lot of defensive players will tell you that they like to soften-up their opponent and they'll sacrifice a huge gain if it pays off later. Okay, what if you give up three touchdowns while trying to soften your guy up? I guess if you don't give up a fourth, it's a win?

And I love it when a defensive back or linebacker talks smack after they nail a receiver who was concentrating on trying to catch a football. Big deal. It's easy to be tough in that regard. Maybe that's why Hines Ward is so hated and despised around the NFL. He simply won't take a defensive back's crap, and he gives just as much as he gets. A defender can't always handle that. Like Jerome Bettis used to say, "It aint no fun when the rabbit gets the gun."

Anyway, as I said, I have no problem with the league going to great lengths to reduce helmet-to-helmet hits and flagrant shots on defenseless receivers.

But, after watching Sunday's game between New England and Buffalo, I kind of understand what some NFL defenders mean when they say the new rules on safety are not easy to understand, and there are just way too many variables involved.

Late in the second quarter, New England receiver Wes Welker caught a pass underneath (what else is new?), and the Bills' defensive back came up to meet him. It looked like he was going to hit Welker shoulder-to-shoulder or shoulder-to-chest, but just as the defender lowered his shoulder, Welker ducked his head and the two players hit helmet-to-helmet.

The Buffalo player was penalized 15-yards for a helmet-to-helmet hit on a defenseless receiver, and it gave New England great field position. Fortunately, if you're a Bills fan (or Patriots hater), New England turned the ball over on the next play.

Had the Patriots scored on that drive, that penalty could have meant the difference in a very close game that Buffalo ultimately won at the end.

I believe in player-safety, but I also believe in proper judgement by officials, and anyone watching that game had to know that the helmet-to-helmet hit wasn't intentional, and it may have even been initiated by Welker.

You're going to be seeing a lot of these types of calls this year. Hopefully, it won't be the difference between a win and a loss.

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

The continuous struggles of the Steelers offensive line

What is it with the Pittsburgh Steelers and their offensive line? If they're not getting beaten along the line of scrimmage, they're getting beaten-up by countless injuries.

The latest rash of injuries occurred in Sunday Night's game in Indianapolis. Left tackle Jonathon Scott, right guard Doug Legursky, and rookie right tackle Marcus Gilbert all suffered injuries during the contest with Scott's ailment appearing to be the most serious. It remains to be seen who will play where on the offensive line this coming Sunday in Houston against the Texans, but you can almost count on the Steelers having their fourth-straight offensive line combination in as many games.

After week one in Baltimore, right tackle Willie Colon was lost for the season with a torn triceps and replaced by Gilbert. Starting left guard Chris Kemoeatu missed the week two game against Seattle and was replaced by Ramon Foster. Kemoeatu was back in the lineup this past Sunday night but was only one of two members of the unit that managed to survive the entire game.

The Steelers offensive line has come under much scrutiny since probably around 2008--the team's first year without all-pro left guard Alan Faneca, who left the team as a free agent following the 2007 season.

Since 2008, the Steelers have tried to patch-together an offensive line with mostly lower-round picks and undrafted free agents. The organization's success in that regard has been a mixed bag, to say the least. Getting beaten along the line of scrimmage like they were on Sunday Night by Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis has been a common theme for the unit in recent years.

For three-straight NFL Drafts starting in 2007, I had a stud offensive lineman at the top of my fan wish-list, but there just never seemed to be a first round worthy player available when the Steelers were on the clock.

Besides, the team needed to address other areas than just the offensive line, and a team can't address all the positions at once. It's hard to argue with the selections of Lawrence Timmons, Lamarr Woodley, Rashard Mendenhall, Ziggy Hood, and Mike Wallace. But, sooner or later, the offensive line problem had to be addressed. I mean, if you have a franchise quarterback like Ben Roethlisberger being chased around by elite pass-rushers like Terrell Suggs, Haloti Ngata, Dwight Freeney, and Robert Mathis, you can't entrust fringe starters with the responsibility of keeping him upright and healthy, at least not for the long-haul. And if you have as many offensive weapons as the Pittsburgh Steelers seem to possess, eventually, you're going to want to fire those weapons and get as much bang for your buck.

That's hard to do when chemistry and talent is consistently a problem with the guys up front.

And no coach has come under more criticism in recent years than Steelers' offensive coordinator Bruce Arians. But is play-calling to blame, or is it just near-impossible to get any kind of rhythm going on offense when you're losing more battles than you win along the line of scrimmage?

Fortunately, the Steelers have used the past two drafts to try and go about upgrading the talent along the offensive line. In 2010, the team selected center Maurkice Pouncey with their first round selection, and almost immediately, the rookie emerged as the unit's top talent. Pouncey became a pro-bowl player and a leader in his very first season.

And this year, the Steelers used their second-round selection to draft Pouncey's teammate at Florida, offensive tackle Marcus Gilbert.

It remains to be seen if Pouncey and Gilbert have what it takes to consistently deal with the likes of Ngata and Suggs, but at least they possess the kind of high-end talent that has been missing from the Steelers offensive line for many years.

Sunday, September 25, 2011

Pitt loses another frustrating game, this time to Notre Dame--the Elvis Presley of big time college football

I had an opportunity to watch the Pitt Panthers take on the Notre Dame Fighting Irish yesterday. Beings that I work most Saturdays, it's rare for me to be able to watch a college football game these days, but my boss was feeling generous and allowed me to view it.

In hindsight, I kind of wish I only heard about the details, afterwards, because it was another in a long line of recent frustrating losses by the Pitt football program.

After last week's heart breaker in Iowa, a win over the tradition-rich and popular Fighting Irish Saturday afternoon at Heinz Field would have been a nice feather in the cap for Todd Graham and the (aspiring to be) high octane Pittsburgh Panthers.

The Panthers certainly had their chances to not only win yesterday's game, but do so in impressive fashion.

Unfortunately for Pitt fans, their team let the Irish off the hook by committing too many costly mistakes at key moments that, in the end, were the difference between a two or three score victory and the eventual three-point loss.

One key moment occurred in the second quarter with the Panthers trailing, 7-3. Pitt had the ball inside the five yard line, facing 3rd and 1. Instead of trying a quarterback sneak or just pounding it up the middle with stellar tail back Ray Graham, they tried a sweep to the right and Graham lost about three yards. Instead of a fresh set of downs inside the one-yard line, the Panthers were forced to settle for a field goal.

Another critical error (in my opinion) was the false start penalty on a Pitt offensive lineman one play after Graham's forty-yard run out to near mid-field shortly after an interception deep in Pitt territory thwarted a potential Notre Dame scoring-drive.

But, for my money, the most devastating blow for Pitt was the dropped pass by receiver Devin Street on a perfectly thrown ball by quarterback Tino Sunseri late in the 3rd quarter. Pitt was already up, 12-7, and would have had the ball deep in Irish-territory, and who knows? I know the Pitt defense has come under great scrutiny early this season--particularly after last week's meltdown in Iowa--but the way the unit was playing yesterday, I think a 19-7 lead would have been a pretty safe one.

Sadly, we'll never know. Instead, Notre Dame eventually took the lead on a touchdown pass and two-point conversion mid-way through the 4th quarter and held-on for the 15-12 victory.

Maybe in a close-game like yesterday's, the difference in talent was ultimately the key, but I don't know if that had much to do with it. The Irish certainly have more talent than the Panthers, but the difference isn't as great as people may think, at least not these days.

I think the difference in yesterday's game was the players' continued difficultly with trying to learn a totally new system under a new head coach.

For years, under former coach Dave Wannstedt, the Panthers were a conservative program that tried to play things close-to-the-vest and, perhaps, the players that Wannstedt recruited reflected that style. Under Graham, they're now being asked to do things in a totally new way, and it's going to lead to some frustrating results.

Remember the first year or two of Wannstedt's time as coach when he transitioned the football program away from Walt Harris' finesse passing-style offense into the pro-style attack? It was like trying to pound the cliched square-peg into the cliched round-hole.

It wasn't until Wannstedt started bringing in his own recruits that his philosophy started to pay dividends.

I know it's frustrating to hear if you're a fan of Pitt like I am, but it's probably going to be the same way under Graham. I don't know if he has the players that he needs for his high octane approach on both offense and defense, at least not yet.

Of course, the worst part about yesterday wasn't the fact that the Panthers lost another close game, it was the fact that they lost to Notre Dame.

Notre Dame fans are everywhere and they're generally insufferable.

The Irish clearly aren't what they once were to college football. They rarely ever sniff the top 5 these days and haven't been a major factor in the National title picture for many years. Yet, their ratings are still huge, their fan base is still rabid and entitled, and the program gets the royal treatment everywhere it goes.

It sorts of reminds me of how Elvis Presley and Michael Jackson were still adored years after the prime of their careers, or how Frank Sinatra was still selling out Las Vegas casinos when he was in his 60's. None of them were really relevant in the main-stream anymore, but they were still treated like superstars and had an inflated sense of self-worth. That's Notre Dame football these days.

Unfortunately, in the college football world, Pitt is to Notre Dame what Steve and Eydie were to old "Blue Eyes" back in the day. They're a football program trying to hang on and, for now, must come to terms with being a second banana.

Let's hope Todd Graham and the ACC are the tonic the Pitt football program needs to some day break out of the shadows of the likes of Notre Dame and be the star of their own show.

Friday, September 23, 2011

A pretty awesome Super Bowl story

Anyone who knows me is aware of how much I love the Super Bowl. For my money, it's the greatest sporting spectacle each and every year, and I have always dreamed about someday going to a game.

Well, the next best thing to going to a Super Bowl is hearing an awesome story from someone who actually went to one.

I was talking to a guy at work on Monday, and he was telling me about how he went to a few Super Bowls in a row in the early-80's when he was able to get tickets from one of his business-associates.

I asked him if he went to Super Bowl XVI in Detroit at the Pontiac Silverdome in January of 1982 since it was such an easy drive from Pittsburgh, and he did, indeed go to that one.

He said the tickets for that game were only $35 a piece and were located on the 45 yard line! It's hard to imagine that, even in 1982, tickets for the Super Bowl were that cheap.

The guy went to the game with his wife, and they left early that Sunday morning to make the six-hour drive to Pontiac, Michigan. The guy's father wanted him to call when he got there to let him know that they made it safely. When the guy and his wife arrived, they decided to go to this bar near the Silverdome to stay warm, have a few drinks, and call his dad. This was back in the days before cell phones, and he said the lines were 12 people deep waiting to use the pay phones so they could place bets for the game. While he was waiting to call his dad, he was talking to a woman sitting at the bar looking very depressed. She said, "this is the worst day of my life!" The guy asked her what was wrong, and she said that someone reached into her purse when she wasn't paying attention and stole her two Super Bowl tickets. She said she was just going to have a couple of drinks and drive back home.

Being Michigan in the middle of January, naturally, the conditions outside the Silverdome were rather treacherous. The guy told me that it was brutally cold and the ice in some of the parking lots was about 7-inches thick. He said people were slipping and sliding all over the place (if you've ever seen the NFL Films highlights show of Super Bowl XVI then you probably remember people slipping on the ice as they were heading into the Silverdome).

He didn't have much to say about the actual contest between the San Fransisco 49ers and the Cincinnati Bengals but said it was a pretty good game (the 49ers won, 26-21).

When the game was over, for whatever reason, they decided to re-route the pedestrian-traffic on the way out of the Silverdome. This totally messed up the guy's sense of direction, and since he was used to going to see games in 50,000 seat stadiums and not 80,000, he and his wife literally spent hours walking around the parking lots looking for their car.

Finally, they were so cold and frustrated, the guy jumped into the back of a police car and said, "You can arrest me on any charge. I have been walking around for hours looking for my car, and I'm so cold, I don't care if I spend the night in jail." The officer said, "Don't worry, I'm done with my game traffic duties, I'll just drive you around to look for your car." While driving around, they hit some wicked bump and the police car's axle was damaged so badly, it had to be taken to the shop immediately.

Once they found their car, the guy discovered that he had left his lights on the entire time and it wouldn't start. Fortunately, there were many people suffering from the same battery problems, and there was a man in the parking lot charging people $15 a pop to jump their batteries.

On the drive home, the guy was so tired, he told his wife they had to pull-over somewhere near the halfway point because he needed to take a nap. When they tried to get back on the road, they discovered that the transmission went and there was no reverse on the car. They were head-first in whatever spot they were sitting in, so the guy and his wife had to push the car out of the spot and line it up in a certain way because the only thing that worked now was drive.

Well, there it is. That's some story, and I just had to share it. Anyone else go to that same game?

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

No SEC or ACC for WVU

After much speculation as to where they would land after Pitt and Syracuse both bolted the Big East for the ACC, it is being reported that WVU will not be extended an offer to join either the ACC or SEC.

As with everything else in today's world of big-time college athletics, West Virginia's small television market is being cited as one of the main reasons the school isn't seen as an attractive commodity to either the ACC or SEC.

Academics could be another reason (at least as far as the ACC is concerned), but I find that hard to believe. If academics really are a significant factor in this recent conference-hopping, how did Nebraska get into the Big Ten?

As a Pitt fan, I just assumed that West Virginia would be an ideal candidate to become the 15th or 16th member for the ACC. WVU is obviously Pitt's top rival and their addition would ensure that the "Backyard Brawl" would continue-on indefinitely. Also, in-terms of competition, the Mountainneers are on-par with just about every team in the ACC. And, geographically....oh, nevermind. Geography is a non-starter in all of this mess.

Anyway, with the ACC and the SEC both telling WVU "thanks, but no thanks!", there aren't many options left for the folks in Morgantown. I suppose they could really try hard to get into the Big Ten. And, of course, there's the possibility that the remainder of the Big East and what's eventually left of the Big 12 could merge into a fairly decent conference.

This stuff is just so fascinating.

Stay-tuned!

Monday, September 19, 2011

My favorite moment from the Pirates 2011 season

The Pittsburgh Pirates have really fallen on hard-times the last two-months of the season. They've dropped 41 of their last past 58 games, and the Cinderella story that was the first four-months of the Buccos campaign has turned into another giant pumpkin and a 19th-consecutive losing-season.

But before Jerry Meals and that 10-game slide in late-July pulled down the curtain on the "feel-goodness" of 2011, there were a couple of moments that brought back the past for me as a fan.

Moments that made me realize that, even though it's been tough for me as a fan over the last 19 years, deep-down in my heart-of-hearts, I'll always love the Pirates.

The first runner-up moment was a rather innocent one, but I feel like sharing. I only have basic cable and don't get to watch much ESPN these days, so when I want to catch highlights of the Pirates games, I wait until they're posted on the team's official website.

In late-June, the Boston Red Sox and their elitist fans, visited PNC Park for a weekend inter league series.

The Pirates took the Friday night game, and in game-two, after trailing, 2-0, early, went-on to win, 6-4.

My favorite moment occurred while watching the highlights on the Internet that Saturday evening.

As I said, the Pirates were down, 2-0, and, believe it or not, Lyle Overbay hit a three-run home run to put Pittsburgh ahead. The very next batter, Ronny Cedeno, immediately followed with a double, and when the cameras cut to a shot of the crowd, there was a group of Pirates fans standing and chanting, "Let's Go Bucs! Let's Go Bucs!" I don't know, for some reason, that just did it for me. It was nice to see Pirates fans having such a good time watching their team and not just sitting there quietly while the Boston fans took over their park. It just made me feel good for some reason.

My favorite moment from 2011 happened on a Friday night in early-July. My girlfriend and I were on our way home from seeing the movie "Horrible Bosses" (great movie, by the way), and I was curious to hear the score of the Pirates game against the Cubs. I turned on the post-game show and heard David Todd discussing Michael Mckenry's three-run shot in the bottom of the 8th-inning off of closer Carlos Marmol that gave Pittsburgh a thrilling 7-4 victory.

I was excited, naturally, but it wasn't until I got home and checked out the highlights online that I really appreciated what Mckrenry did and really embraced the 2011 season. When Mckenry hit that bomb, Greg Brown went crazy in the booth and the entire stadium erupted as The Fort rounded the bases. The play-by-play guy was was getting emotional, the fans, obviously, were going insane, and the players in the dugout were jumping up-and-down.

I tell you, it just doesn't get much better than that in baseball.

That, right there, was my favorite Pirate moment since the combined no-hitter on July 12th, 1997.

Let's hope it was just the beginning of many more fun moments in the near-future.

Sunday, September 18, 2011

The Steelers have scored 52 unanswered points against the Seahawks since the 3rd quarter of Super Bowl XL

Remember when Big Ben made each and every Steelers fan grab their heads and scream "oh no!" in unison after he threw that horrible pass that was picked off in the end zone and returned deep into Steelers territory? The Steelers were set to put the game away, but the interception set-up a Matt Hasselbeck to Jerramy Stevens touchdown pass that got Seattle back in the game and made the score 14-10 late in the 3rd quarter.

Since then the Steelers have scored 52-straight points against Seattle.

There was that Antwaan Randle El to Hines Ward option pass in the 4th quarter of Super Bowl XL that helped clinch the championship for Pittsburgh.

Of course, immediately after that game, the Seahawks organization and their fans started complaining about all the unjust calls that went against Seattle.

The whining hasn't stopped, and Seahawks fans still insist that their team should have won that game.

Since February 5th, 2006, the Seahawks have had two cracks at Pittsburgh to try and gain a measure of "revenge" for what they considered a Super Miscarriage of Justice.

In the Fall of 2007, the Seahawks could have really endeared themselves to their "fans" by coming to Heinz Field and knocking off the Steelers in-front of their Terrible Towel waving Nation. A lot of players from Super Bowl XL were still on Seattle's roster. It could have really proved a point.

How did they respond? The Steelers shut them out, 21-0.

Only two Super Bowl XL participants still remained on Seattle's roster as they entered Heinz Field today for another showdown in Pittsburgh. The Seahawks have a new coaching regime, and in all honesty, are just trying to make themselves respectable. However, since Pittsburgh's week one game was such a train wreck, and Steelers fans were ready to pound the panic button repeatedly, the Seahawks could have been the team to really send us over the edge with an upset victory in week two.
How did Seattle respond? They lost, 24-0.

Heck, Bill Leavy was the head-official for today's game. All the Seahawks had to do was keep it close, and Leavy may have been guilt-tripped into calling a close-play in their favor. They never even gave him a chance.

Speaking of Leavy making calls, my favorite moment of today's game occurred when Mike Tomlin mysteriously challenged the play where the Seahawks stuffed Rashard Mendenhall on 4th and goal from the one yard-line early in the 1st quarter.

Why would Tomlin challenge such an obvious goal line stand? My theory is he was hoping Mike Holmgren was watching somewhere and wanted to show him what an obvious goal line stop looked like as opposed to Ben Roethlisberger's dive in the first half of Super Bowl XL that was called a touchdown on the field and couldn't have been overturned because there was no evidence to support such a decision.

Mike Tomlin wasn't even with the Steelers' organization back then and even he's sick of hearing the Seahawks whine about the calls.

The Seahawks have been stuck on February 5th, 2006, for so long, they're paralyzed. No points against the Steelers in over five years. That, folks, is what I call living in the past.

Pitt to the ACC. Wow!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Saturday, September 17, 2011

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

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

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

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

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

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

I hope nobody asks me to do the macarena tonight.

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Willie Colon out for the year

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

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

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

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

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

Saturday, September 10, 2011

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Horrible Losses.

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

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

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

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

Friday, September 9, 2011

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Thursday, September 8, 2011

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

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

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

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

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

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

I agree with him 100%.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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