Archive for May, 2009

Dear Bill Cowher: Well, you went ahead and did it. I didn’t think you actually would but you did. At last night’s Penguins-Hurricanes game, you stood there in your bright red shirt and flashed those pearly white Chiclets while proudly going about your organ grinder monkey routine. Good for you, Bill. Way to fire up that crowd of 25,000 bandwagon jumpers. I could almost live with this bit of mutiny against the ‘Burgh. Almost.  I mean, you did bring your usual Coach Cowher Touch of losing every Championship Game at home to your new favorite team as the Pens obliterated [...]

President Barack Obama met with our World Champion Pittsburgh Steelers on Thursday. He immediately displayed his folksy charm by reading some lame prepared remarks, then continued to push his populist agenda by putting the Steelers to work preparing USO care packages. Not that I have anything but the deepest respect for our troops serving overseas but isn’t it kind of tacky to invite the Super Bowl champions over to salute their accomplishments then turn that platform into a lecture on civic duty? This isn’t elementary school for crying out loud. Conspicuous by his absence was 2008 NFL Defensive Player of [...]

I can admit when I’m wrong. Three months ago, the Pittsburgh Penguins were floundering. They were in danger of missing the playoffs in a league where more than half the teams make the post season. They had terrible coaching, a terrible power play, and terrible goaltending. Things looked bleak at the Igloo and I jumped ship. Then a miraculous turnaround happened. They made several smart trades, bringing in scoring help and veteran leadership. The got their top goalie back and healthy. And most importantly, they fired their inept idiot of a head coach and replaced him with a smart young [...]

Sports Illustrated released their semi-annual list of the best owners in sports. To no surprise, the Rooney family were named the best owners in the NFL. When you helm the most successful franchise in football history, you deserve all the accolades which come your way.  Just think, if not for some horse at some race track back in 1933, the late great Art Rooney doesn’t win the $2,500 he used to buy the team that would some day be known as the Pittsburgh Steelers.

After a long boring off-season where their only move was to re-sign the clumsy leadfooted offensive linemen who almost get Ben Roethlisberger killed every time he goes back to pass, the Pittsburgh Steelers have finally reached beyond their borders to bring in a couple free agents. The biggest name of the group is WR Shaun McDonald, formerly of the Detroit Lions.  Evidently somebody in the front office finally mentioned to Kevin Colbert that our current depth chart reads Hines Ward, Santonio Holmes, Limas Sweed, and bupkiss.  Yes, we’re one tweaked knee away from Martin Freakin’ Nance being our slot guy.  [...]

The inevitable came to pass on Monday when the Pittsburgh Steelers announced the release of longtime starter Larry Foote. The circumstances over his departure are a bit murky to say the least. The Steelers are painting this as a salary cap move but if that were the case, why wait until now? If they released him months ago, they could have used some of his $2.89 million salary to try and woo free agents. Also, with the recent release of Gary Russell and the restructuring of Hines Ward‘s contract, the Steelers are well under the cap. There was no pressing [...]

Anybody play video games? If you’re like me, you enjoy a Red Bull and several hours of video gaming on your Xbox or Playstation. And occasionally, when you’re not a super secret government agent or a sword wielding knight, you put in a sports game and take control of your favorite team. Of course, one of the annoying aspects of the sports game industry is their habit of coming out with a new version each and every year. While that may seem to be a blatant money grab (which it is), it is also made necessary by the amount of [...]