The Morning Cup of Black & Gold: Steelers News & Notes
I just really can’t help myself. It’s like driving by a really bad car accident – you know it’s going to be gruesome, but you slow down and look anyways. That’s pretty much the way I feel anytime I see Tiki Barber running his mouth about how he will either be a Steeler or a Buc next season. It seems like every other day Tiki is talking to someone about those two teams being on his ‘short list.’ And every time, I just shake my head and say, ‘Ohhhhh Tiki.’ It’s hard to take this guy seriously anymore. The confidence he exudes on getting back into the NFL is unfounded. I’m taking him as seriously as Rex Ryan predicting a Jets Super Bowl win at the beginning of the season – both are ugly and ridiculous. For Tiki’s sake, I hope his attempt to end up back in the NFL doesn’t end up like one of those bad car wrecks. Just so long as he’s not a Pittsburgh Steeler.
I feel that this NFL Top 100 list is bunk to begin with. There’s been doubt shed on the legitimacy of that list by some of the players – did the players really vote on this? And, any list that has someone like Donovan McNabb breaking into the top 100 and beating out someone like Hines Ward is a lame duck. But, the ‘experts’ made some predictions on 2012’s list and who will make big jumps up the list. One of those experts has LaMarr Woodley making the jump from 61st to being in the top 20. I agree. The Steelers linebacker core are some of the best players in the league. Period. Canfora’s reasoning is a little weak, however. Becoming a household name and having ‘flair and personality’ should really be factors in how you rank in the NFL as a player.
A deal is getting closer and closer. This roller coaster ride of optimistic to pessimistic and back is making me a little ill. It sounds like the revenue sharing is very close to getting done and free agency is the next biggest piece of the puzzle. RavensInsider from NFP gathers that a deal will get done by the way this ESPN article is written, but I don’t see it. I’m sticking with my prediction that the lockout will go closer to the 20’s of July. Until then, I expect more and more teams changing training camp sites to their regular practice facilities because they may not take the chance of having to move gear from one facility to the next mid-camp.