Ah, T.O, what would we do without your predictable buffoonery?  Clearly he hasn’t seen too many hockey games.  Yes, hockey players get into fights and are back on the ice five minutes later.  Except they are manly enough to square off face-to-face before any punches are thrown.  They don’t sucker-punch the other guy when he’s not looking.  Well, Sean Avery does but he’s an even a bigger bitch than Richard Seymour.

Speaking of which, Mario Lemieux recently paid Ben Roethlisberger the ultimate compliment by saying his rearranged schnozz made him “look like a hockey player.”  I kid Big Ben about being a Drama Queen but I would never call him soft.  Just because he plays up his injuries to sound more heroic doesn’t mean they don’t exist.  Besides, anybody who has his nose knocked sideways like a defective Mr. Potatohead and doesn’t miss a snap is pretty tough in my book.

Soft is a word best used to describe a headcase prima donna wide receiver who hasn’t thrown a block or made a catch in traffic his entire career.

Ben’s nose job has inspired one of the best product tie-ins in recent memory.   I haven’t done a “Pittsburgh Steelers Holiday Gift Guide” in a couple years but if I were to bring it back, this t-shirt would definitely be on it. It’s pretty much the ultimate gift for the female Steeler fan in your life.  Seriously, any guy with a wife or girlfriend cool enough to wear one of these should consider himself lucky for finding a keeper.

The Pittsburgh Steelers have had all they can stand and they can’t stands no more…

A day after James Harrison was slapped with yet another ludicrous fine, his teammates are firing back.  And they’re not just speaking in the bland sound bites you typically hear from athletes. Nope, they’re taking aim directly at the corrupt dictator doing everything in his power (and many things which aren’t) to bring them down: Roger Goodell.

Hines Ward is one of the most intelligent, well-spoken players in football. That’s why President Obama named him to his Advisory Commission on Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders. Hines sees the big picture and isn’t afraid to speak his mind.  I have no doubt Hines will be a Senator or Congressman some day.  But in the meantime, he’s reserving his verbal beatdowns for the idiots running the NFL.

Quoth Hines:

The league doesn’t care about us anyway.  They don’t care about the safety of the game.  If the league was so concerned about the safety, why are you adding two more games on?  You talk about you don’t want players to drink … and all you see is beer commercials.  You don’t want us to gamble, but then there are [NFL-endorsed lottery scratch-off games].

Ouch.  Hines just gave the Ginger Dictator the ass-beating his momma should have gave him.  I wonder if any of his bought-and-paid-for minions in the media will dare call him on any of these things.  My guess is they won’t because heaven forbid anybody question the precious NFL.

Oh and make no mistake, Hines reference to not wanting players to drink is a direct shot at Ben Roethlisberger‘s unwarranted suspension.  To enlighten the uninformed, Ben wasn’t suspended for banging some skank in a bathroom stall.  Ginger’s official statement when announcing the suspension didn’t mention that at all.  The league’s ruling was Ben was being punished for “being in the presence of and facilitating the ability of minors consuming alcohol.”  As if it’s Ben’s fault some dopey sorority chick decided to get bombed and the local hick bartender can’t stop staring at her boobs long enough to card her.

I used to think the NHL and MLB were run by two of the biggest fools in sports history but Ginger has them beat by a long shot.  Everything Hines said was true.  Even more, the NFL sells sex (stripper poles in Cowboys Stadium?) and violence (seen those DVD compilations of vicious hits?  They sell ‘em on NFL.com) in addition to the booze and gambling.  Yet if their players engage in any of those actions, they earn a letter from the Ginger Dictator.

Does anybody realize that if dogging a groupie while drinking a beer and then going out the next day and laying out a QB was frowned upon in the 70s, half of the Steel Curtain would’ve been suspended EVERY WEEK?

Hines isn’t the only one fed up.  LaMarr Woodley, on his fantastic Facebook page, is posting pro-Silverback photoshops in his album.  The human ATM one is my personal fave.  Everybody hates their boss but how many times have you seen a player openly goof on their assclown commissioner like that?  Mad props to Mr. Woodley for also standing up for what is right.

Oh and for the one or two mouthbreathing Raven fans who’ve decided to visit this blog before your annual gut-punch courtesy of Big Ben, even your boys are standing up for James Harrison.  Terrell Suggs, who has made his dislike of the Steelers well-known, had this to say yesterday:

Your guy over there, No. 92 [Harrison], I think he is red-flagged.  The referees are kind of looking for him.  Even if he breathes on a quarterback wrong, he might get a flag. …  I think they are looking at him more closely than they are everybody else in the league.

Suggs even stood up for Ben, who was roughed up while on the ground by dirty Bills players on at least two occasions a week after the league turned a blind eye to the criminal assault perpetuated by Richard Seymour.  Suggs noted:

The league has their favorites.  One being in Indy [Manning] and one being with that team up north [Brady].  Besides those two, everybody is fair game.  Like I always said, Carson Palmer got his knee hurt in 2005, but there was no rule made.  Then Tom Brady got hit in the knee and all of a sudden there is rule and possible suspensions, excessive fines.  It’s just getting ridiculous.

It’s pretty sad when I’m not only quoting Ratbirds on my blog but AGREEING with them.  At least for once they’re whining over a worthy cause.  See, you can use your powers for good.  When even those thugs can see the league has it out for the Steelers, you know something is terribly wrong.

So what about the man at the eye of the storm?  What has James Harrison have to say about the controversy surrounding him?

It’s starting to look like it’s OK to cheat, it’s OK to fight, but if you hit somebody too hard, we’re going to fine you a whole bunch. Maybe it’s because I play for the Steelers, who knows?

We know, James, we know.  It is because you play for the Black and Gold.  The Steelers players know it, the Steelers opponents know it, Steeler Nation knows it, even the media is beginning to recognize it.  It’s funny, there used to be a time when the Raiders were the rebels of the NFL.  But they earned that reputation through all sorts of underhanded and borderline criminal actions.  It looks like the Steelers are the new rebels, although just like in Star Wars, they’re on the side of good fighting against an evil Empire hellbent on bringing them to their knees.  And we all know how that story ends.

Roger Goodell's idea of a clean hit

And the feeling is mutual, I would imagine.

On Monday, Pittsburgh Steelers All-Pro linebacker James Harrison received some bad news.  His appeal of the ridiculous fines levied against him was denied.  Shocking.  I, for one, totally see the fairness in fining James a cool $75,000 for laying out Mohamed Massaquoi with a clean hit but not fining Kurt Coleman (for stretchering out Austin Collie) or James Sanders (for cheapshotting Hines Ward) a single penny for their filthy actions.

According to NFL justice, James would be 67% less dirty (and richer) if he just just pulled up and sucker-punched his opponent like a cowardly little bitch…

Yesterday, the NFL slapped the Silverback with another $25,000 deduction from his paycheck.  Who didn’t see this coming?  He somehow escaped last week’s uncalled for personal foul for “landing with full body weight” on Oakland’s Jason Campbell.   The Ginger Dictator must’ve been distracted with planning his Thanksgiving feast.

But breaks are short-lived when it comes to the NFL’s persecution of the Black and Gold.  This week’s laughable personal foul for hitting Ryan Fitzpatrick square in the chest with a form perfect tackle did not escape their notice.  In fact, when the flag was thrown, I immediately pictured Goodell and his lackey in charge of punishments pumping their fists and high-fiving each other because they got another chance to stick it to the Steelers.

And stick it they did.  Right up the back door.  Without lube.  For those keeping score at home, James Harrison’s badassery has now set him back $125,000.  No other player, not even lowlife thugs who get into UFC-style brawls, have been fined even half that amount.

Instead of pointless meetings with Ginger or appealing unfair fines, James should just write a check for $180,000 and ask the league if a brother can get a discount for early payment.

Sweet iPad, Stink.

The firestorm over the unwarranted fine levied against Pittsburgh Steelers star linebacker James Harrison reached a new level yesterday.   Silverback didn’t show up for practice and, through his agent, announced he was seriously considering retirement.   Why would this man who struggled for years and years to make it to the NFL give up his dream?   More importantly, why would he forfeit a $50 million dollar contract?

Because he’s standing up for what is right.

The game of football is a violent sport.  It’s been that way since the first game was played in Latrobe in 1895.  Yet the dictators who run the game have decided that we can’t have injuries and we can’t have violence and they’ve decided to levy outrageous penalties against those who play the game the way it’s supposed to be played.  It’s an insult to those of use who grew up watching football and it’s an insult to the players who CHOOSE to compete in the sport knowing the risks.

I don’t blame James for feeling hurt and betrayed by the entire process.  Harrison is a man of principle.   He signed up to play PROFESSIONAL football, not flag football or powder puff.  If he can’t play the way he’s used to playing, why should he continue?   If the league is going to impose ridiculous fines and possibly suspend him for doing what he’s supposed to do, why play?

I didn’t cover his absence yesterday because, unlike the hysterical media, I knew he would be back.   And, indeed, Harrison returned to the team this afternoon.  He couldn’t have practiced yesterday anyway.   It would be impossible to run plays on the wobbly legs he no doubt had after that epic screwing he received from the league.

Some talking heads have been critical of Silverback’s walkout, from Bozo the Columnist’s usual imbecilic rantings to fellow FanSided blog PhinPhantic’s completely nonsensical trolling.  Meanwhile, the players have been overwhelmingly upset about the new rules being put into effect.  Ryan Clark had this to say on Twitter.   You can see the anger flowing from Mark Schlereth in the above clip.  What’s happening to the NFL is nothing short of a travesty.

But no travesty is bigger than the $75,000 fine handed out to Harrison.   Luckily, Steeler Nation sprang into action.   One clever individual started a Facebook page protesting the league’s treatment of our Pro Bowl linebacker.  You can join the protest by clicking here.

For the record, let’s take one last look at some plays from Sunday and examine how hypocritical the NFL and the defenders of the shield are on this issue.   Since this is a really long post, you’ll have to click continue to read on:
(more…)