Thursday Night Football features the season’s second match-up between the Cleveland Browns and the Pittsburgh Steelers. Cleveland is easily the worst team of 2009. First year coach Eric Mangini was fleeced in two trades with the Jets, which led to his puppet G.M. getting canned mid-season. Their defense is on pace to surrender more yardage than any team this decade. The starting QB spot has ping-ponged from Brady Quinn to Derek Anderson back to Quinn with neither player getting the job done.  In fact, if you subtract Quinn’s four TD outburst against the equally sad Detroit Lions, the Browns have scored less than a dozen touchdowns ALL SEASON.

What I’m trying to say is the Browns are the type of team the Steelers should pound into a fine paste.   Which is exactly what I said when we played Kansas City and Oakland.  Yet, we all know how those games turned out.  No game is a gimme for the Steelers because the Steelers refuse to let it be.  That’s why the enemy this week isn’t really the Cleveland Browns.

The Steelers enemy is themselves.

Here’s a perfect example.  Hines Ward tweaked his hamstring on the second to last play of last week’s loss.  Working on an extremely short week, it appears that Hines will not play.  Hines practiced a little but the signing of an extra WR off the practice squad indicates the team isn’t optimistic.  Now, anybody with a brain in their head knows Ward is one of the toughest Steelers EVER.  He was Super Bowl MVP despite playing with a separated shoulder while in last year’s game he attempted to play on a partially torn MCL.  The man is a warrior who will do anything to help his team win.

So what does Ben Roethlisberger say when asked about the possibility of Hines not playing this week?

“Hines will do what’s best for Hines, I’m sure.”

This was the perfect opportunity to take the high road and work toward unifying the locker room.  Especially now that the team’s backs are up against the wall. Instead, Ben decided it was better to get a little payback by making a petty self-serving comment.  Way to show your “leadership” skills, Ben.   No wonder 50% of the locker room thinks you’re a dick.

This sort of nonsense is exactly what I’m talking about.  Bill Cowher took fifteen years to win a championship but his teams ALWAYS put forth maximum effort.  I don’t see that this year.   The players don’t seem to care.  Veteran leadership is totally lacking.  And the coaches, particularly Mike Tomlin, like to talk a big game but seem incapable of motivating anybody while repeatedly putting players in position to fail.

The irony in the whole Team Hines vs. Team Ben debate is they both need each other.  Hines lives to win and Ben is most definitely a winner.  Without him, he wouldn’t have those two shiny rings on his fingers.  Likewise, Ben is a mediocre passer who relies on his receivers to make big plays for him.  He’ll learn to appreciate Hines when he hits Limas Sweed (our #3 WR this week) in the hands only to watch the ball slip through his greasy mitts.

Of course, the big news this week was Tomlin calling out his secondary, particularly CBs Ike Taylor and Will.i.am Gay.  I’ve stated many times I think Ike is an extremely talented cover corner but he does have a tendency to get lazy.  Which is why Cowher had to bench him for five games back in 2006 after he did a fantastic job in the playoff run of 2005.  No word on whether Tomlin is going to go that far although I’d like to see a message sent.

Gay has sucked all season which Tomlin is evidently just getting around to noticing.  It appeared the Steelers had an easy out this week with Gay suffering a concussion at the hands of Ryan Mundy last week.   However, William practiced normally all week which means he’d have to be benched as well.  My medical expertise is limited to playing doctor with Tina DiCapula in the fourth grade but I can almost guarantee he knows if somebody starts in his place and plays better than him (impossible not to), his starting spot is gone.  It’s amazing how minor side affects like excercise induced headaches don’t matter when you’re not in a position to be a whiny primadonna.

Regardless of who starts, expect rookie corners Keenan Lewis and Joe Burnett to get long looks.  With the playoffs a long shot, the rest of this season should be about the future.   And nothing is more important than figuring out our secondary mess for next year.  Lewis is a tall, rangy athlete with excellent leaping ability.  The concern on him is his speed, which led some to think his best position would be to put on weight and move to safety.  I was very impressed with Burnett during the preseason.  He’s small but fast and has a nose for the ball.   We saw a little of that last week when he had the game sealing INT all but handed to him.  In college he was a ballhawk so I’m hoping it was rookie jitters because I think he could be a keeper.

There may be other players seeing more action than usual.  Ryan Clark has totally degenerated to the point I think the coaching staff wants to take a look at Mundy.   I have no idea why since all he seems to know how to do is cheapshot people.  Also, Keyaron Fox, who has played fantastic when given the opportunity (maybe because he’s HUNGRY?), may split time with Lawrence Timmons.  To be honest, James Farrior is the weaksauce of the LB corps but he can’t be taken out because he’s the captain in charge of setting the defense and calling all the signals/audibles.

Oh, and of course, Troy Polamalu is out.

Which probably means Brady Quinn will throw three TD passes then go home and celebrate by being a human pommel horse for his girlfriend, Alicia Sacramone.  Not that I want that to happen, mind you.   At this point, I’d rather adjust my expectations downward so I’m not so crushingly disappointed.  Yes, the 2009 season has come to that.

And the Steelers have nobody to blame but themselves.

It’s 1979 all over again.

On Friday night, the Pittsburgh Penguins won a heart-stopping Game 7 victory over the Detroit Red Wings to earn the prestigious Stanley Cup.

The route taken by the young Pens was somewhat reminiscent of the march the 2005 Pittsburgh Steelers made to a championship. Both teams suffered through disappointing regular seasons. Both had to put together spectacular late season runs to even make the playoffs (In the Pens case, they won 18 of their final 26 games). They then had to battle the best their conference had to offer to even make the finals. And in the end, they both had to survive a close hard-fought finale.

This victory isn’t only special for the Pens and their legion of fans, a certain whistle-cranking ex-yinzer down in Carolina not included. This victory also marks the first time in professional sports history that one city has won the Lombardi Trophy and Lord Stanley’s Cup in the same year. This harkens back to 1979 when Pittsburgh double dipped with the Steelers and Pirates both winning titles in their respective sports.

I was five when that happened so my memories are hazy at best. I’ve heard the stories and remember the moniker but never thought I would see a double championship by my teams again. The odds against it are just too great. Then again, I live in Pittsburgh, the greatest sports city on earth, so maybe I should’ve had faith.

In my lifetime our teams have won 6 Super Bowls, 3 Stanley Cups, 2 World Series, had a #1 ranked NCAA Basketball team, and earned 1 National College Football Championship. Think about poor pitiful cities like Cleveland, who never win anything, or Philadelphia, whose four combined teams win one title approximately every 30 years. I’m almost tempted to feel sorry for them but then I realize they chose to live in those hellholes so they get what they deserve.

And speaking of deserving, does any team deserve this title more than the Pens? For Sidney Crosby it’s a culmination of a life’s dream. For Evgeni Malkin it’s a reward for a guy who literally had to run away from home in order to play in the NHL. And it’s sweet justice for Mario Lemieux, who saved hockey in this town not once, not twice, but THREE times.  First by coming here as an 18-year-old superstar, then by buying the team when it was mired in bankruptcy, and just recently when backwater cities like Kansas City and Hamilton tried to poach our team.  A heartfelt thanks goes out to them and the rest of the team that provided such excitement in the time between glorious Steeler seasons.

Let it be said, Pittsburgh is once again the City of Champions.

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 the sadly overmatched Hurricanes to earn another trip to the Stanley Cup finals.  But when MILFtastic Chris Simpson gave you a chance to explain your actions, that was one more insult than I could bear.

So you talked to Mario Lemeiux before the game, huh? I’m sure Mario was thinking what we’ve all been thinking, “Myself and my franchise has done nothing but support this clown and his team for 15 years. And he can’t stay neutral for one playoff series?  Whatta dick.”

Newsflash, Bill:  you were born and raised in Pittsburgh.  Nobody would’ve asked you to crank their stupid little siren if it weren’t for the fact you coached in this city. How about trying to remember that on your way home to that multi-million dollar mansion in the middle of nowhere (which I guess is redundant when talking about Raleigh)?

So, you’re from North Carolina now? Really?  Perhaps you weren’t aware of this, Bill, but that sea of Black and Gold you saw whenever your Pittsburgh Steelers played on the road? They didn’t travel there, the live there. You see, Pittsburghers may leave their city but they never leave their loyalties.  That’s what separates the greatest sports city in the United States from everywhere else.  I wonder what happened to you.

The final insult was your answer to whether you’d support the Pens in the finals. “I’m an Eastern Conference guy.” Wow, could you be any more apathetic? This was your home most of your adult life and that’s all the enthusiasm you can muster for your hometown team? Next time just keep your pathetic support to yourself. We don’t need it.

In summation, Bill, you’re nothing to me now. You’re not a brother, you’re not a friend. I don’t want to know you or what you do. I don’t want to see you at the hotels, I don’t want you near my house. When you return to Crafton to see your mother, I want to know a day in advance, so I won’t be anywhere near there.  You’re dead to me.  Understand?

Signed,

Steeler Nation