Little known fact:  NFL referees have training camp, too.  Often you’ll see different crews officiating scrimmages to get back into the swing of things.  One thing every team receives is a presentation by a crew chief where he explains to the players what refs are looking for when it comes to holding or interference and also any new rules which were put into place over the off-season.

Bill Leavy recently gave this talk to the Seattle Seahawks.   While there, Leavy took the opportunity to unburden his soul concerning his officiating in Super Bowl XL.   Quoth the zebra:

It was a tough thing for me. I kicked two calls in the fourth quarter and I impacted the game, and as an official you never want to do that,” said the veteran of 15 NFL seasons and two Super Bowls.

Of course, this statement has reignited another bout of insipid crying from the five Seahawks fans still paying attention to that rag tag bunch of losers.   Steeler Nation has had to listen to the whining emanating from Seahawk Township for four years now.  Since their team has fallen into disgrace, I had hoped those latte sipping emo bastards would eventually shut up, get over it, and move on to more interesting pursuits such as cutting themselves while listening to Sonic Youth.

But noooooo….    Bill Leavy is tortured.  He “punted” two calls in the Super Bowl!   He’ll never be able to live with himself if he doesn’t confess his sins to a bunch of players who weren’t even on that team.  I get that Seattle hasn’t had anything remotely interesting going on since Nirvana hit it big in 1992.   And I completely understand the Seahawks franchise has to dwell on their one moment in the sun because they’ve been utterly forgettable the other 34 years of their existence.

But enough is enough.

Even Mike Pereira, the NFL’s former Head of Officiating and Leavy’s boss in 2006, has also had enough.  He penned a column for Fox Sports where he wrote, “Did Leavy’s calls determine the winner of Super Bowl XL?  Absolutely not!  In truth, there were missed calls that went against both teams.”

Well said, Mr. Pereira.  Honestly, I didn’t think this needed stated because I thought anybody with a brain in their head already knew the Steelers won Super Bowl XL fair and square.   The “two calls” Leavy claims to have punted were a holding penalty on Seattle which wiped out a play that put them at the Steelers 1 and a personal foul penalty on Matt Hasslebeck after Ike Taylor picked him off at the Steelers 5.

Yes, the holding penalty was ticky-tacky.   NEWSFLASH:  Most holding penalties are ticky-tacky.  The holding call on Justin Hartwig in Super Bowl XLIII that not only cost the Steelers a first down but resulted in a safety was ticky-tacky.   And for the record, Clark Haggans WAS being held.  Perhaps if Seattle’s line wasn’t so badly overmatched that they had to resort to cheating, the ref wouldn’t have had to penalize them.

The Hasselbeck personal foul occurred AFTER he threw an absolutely horrendous INT.  Sure it kept the Steelers from being backed up in their own end but we all know they would’ve marched down the field anyway.  Besides, worrying about the personal foul is like being mad about a cold when you have the Bubonic Plague.  Instead of crying about the 15 yards tacked on after the play, Seahawk Township should direct their ire at the Neil O’Donnell-esque pick their inept QB threw moments earlier.

Every game has some good calls and some bad calls.  Champions find a way to overcome adversity.   Against Indy earlier in the ’05 playoffs, the Steelers were robbed of a clear Troy Polamalu INT that almost cost them a victory.   They overcame the injustice to win.   In Super Bowl XLIII, no less than three ridiculous calls went against them, yet they still pulled it out.  To the credit of Arizona fans, at least they had the class and dignity to admit we were the better team and not carry on like five year old children who just lost at Hungry Hungry Hippos.

Seattle has nobody but themselves to blame for getting demolished in Super Bowl XL.  Ben Roethlisberger was utterly useless, finishing with a QB rating lower than his age.   The defense seemed nervous and tentative in the first half.  Seahawks kicker Josh Brown missed two easy field goals.   Jerramy Stevens played like he dipped his hands in butter before the game.   And Mike Holmgren‘s inept coaching led to some of the poorest clock management this side of Norv Turner.

The bottom line is this:  the refs didn’t allow Willie Parker to blast off a 75 yard touchdown run.   The refs didn’t force Hasselbeck into misfiring on one out of every two passes he attempted.  And the refs didn’t force the Seahawks to stand around like neon green traffic cones while the Steelers pulled the brilliant razzle dazzle of Antwaan Randle-El firing to a wide open Hines Ward for the back-breaking score.

If an NFL player or coach gets screwed by a bad call, the league fines them heavily if they so much as hint that the referee messed up (even if he obviously did).   Yet now we have a ref kissing a bunch of patchouli-smelling ass by stirring up a bunch of stuff with no basis in reality.   Do something useful for a change, Goodell.   Instead of suspending innocent quarterbacks who did nothing except have a little bit of fun with a ho in a bathroom, how about shutting this imbecile up?

Nobody wants to hear it anymore.

Pittsburgh has a long history of athlete-endorsed food products. There were Louis Lipps‘ uber-delicious Lippsmacker cookies. Bubby Brister had the Bubby Bar. Not to be outdone, Mario Lemieux countered with his unfortunately named Mario Bun. I even remember Terry Bradshaw Peanut Butter. My mother claims it was the only PB I’d accept with my J back when I was a wee lad.

I’ve been a diehard Steelers fan a loooooong time.

City of Champions Cereal is the newest entry on that list. The box, featuring Hines Ward and Max Talbot on alternate sides, will be available exclusively at local Giant Eagle stores in mid November.  For the out-of-towners, you can also order this fine product directly from the PLB Sports website beginning November 9th.  Heck, order some Big Ben Beef Jerky while you’re at it.  You can never have enough beef jerky.

Now, let’s get down to the reason I’m giving PLB Sports this free publicity.  First, they’re a well-respected company probably most famous for producing Flutie Flakes.  And more importantly, they’re having a contest.  Everybody knows I love a contest.

Anyway, PLB Sports will be having a press conference on November 24th to promote City of Champions Cereal.  The are giving YOU a chance to attend this press conference.  Why is that a prize?

How about because both box boys, Hines and Max, will be at this press conference. Live and in person. And you are guaranteed to receive a box of cereal autographed by both of them!  In addition, Hines and Max have a reputation of being two of Pittsburgh’s nicest athletes so, time permitting of course, you’ll get a chance to have a few moments of face time with them after the press conference is over.

Unfortunately, there will be no guessing of a score to win this awesome opportunity.  PLB Sports is running the contest themselves, I am merely a humble messenger. If you’d like to enter, first make sure you’re either in Pittsburgh or able to get to the ‘Burgh on November 24th.  Mooch off your relatives if you have to, that’s what they’re here for.

All the official rules and legal mumbo jumbo can found here. Once you know you can make it, there are two ways to enter the contest.  You may enter both ways, but only ONCE each.

1. Send an email to info@plbsports.com with the headline (City of Champions Cereal). The entrant should write their name, age, telephone number, and how you found out about the Contest.

2. Follow PLB Sports on Twitter (@plbsports) and send them a reply which states “enter me in the contest #cityofchampions”

The contest will run from today until November 19th so get those entries in!  PLB has generously extended me the chance to cover the press conference so, work permitting, I may be there to fulfill my bloggy duties.  In fact, I feel a cold coming on as we speak.  Hope to see you there!

The Pittsburgh Steelers continued their dominance over the hapless Cleveland Browns on Sunday, handing them a 27-14 defeat. The ever-generous Steelers tried to hand the Browns a lot more than a loss, committing four turnovers and playing awful special teams. Our Black and Gold have developed a nasty habit of playing to the level of their opposition. These brief fits of stupidity hurt what was otherwise an outstanding effort on both sides of the ball.

Let’s start with the record-setting day by Ben Roethlisberger. Big Ben passed for 417 yards, only the fourth time in Steelers history a QB has surpassed four bills through the air.  He already had one of the other 400 yard games so he’s the first to do it twice.  Ben finished the day with two TD passes, which should’ve been three if Hines Ward hadn’t dropped a ball while doing a Stop-Drop-and-Roll demonstration in the end zone.  I wonder if the fan in the #86 jersey he gave the ball to gets an IOU since their souvenir is kinda worthless.

Hines did have a great game, amassing 159 yards, including a fantastic 52 yard deep catch and run for a TD. Not to be outdone, Santonio Holmes chipped in with 104 yards on only 5 catches. His day was highlighted by a 41 yard play where he caught a deep pass down near the sideline, then cut all the way across the field, leaving a pile of white jerseys in his wake. The offense ended up with an astounding 540 yards of output yesterday, the majority of which came from Bruce Arians‘ Flying Circus.

The running game, however, had some issues. Rashard Mendenhall got the majority of carries, finishing with 76 yards and a TD. Fast Willie Parker returned to action and it may have been a little too soon. FWP looked awful, running tentatively and having a lot of problems making his cuts. The announcers seemed to think his spiffy new Titanium Reinforced Twinkle Toe Shoes might be too cumbersome for him. I’ve seen Buster Browns cause some tragic wipe outs in the church parking lot so there may be something to that. However, the image of Parker bumbling and stumbling to the ground after catching a screen pass in the flat with nothing but 15 yards of green grass ahead of him is going to be hard to forget.

Equally hard to forget will be the miscues by our offense. Ben Roethlisberger, despite his virtuoso passing performance, had some turnover issues. He mishandled a snap, leading to a turnover. He also threw a terrible interception into TRIPLE coverage. But his sins were nothing compared to those committed by our Dynamic Duo. Late in the third quarter, Arians tried to kill the clock with some running plays. Give the man credit for learning from past mistakes. Unfortunately, his faith was rewarded with Willie Parker fumbling the ball away like it was coated with AstroGlide. On the next possession, they handed the rock to Mendy, who proceeded to carry it looser than a sorority girl after a Jager bomb, leading to another fumble.

This lead to the humorous situation at the end of the game when the Steelers took the ball on their 1 yard line following a Ryan Clark pick. Who did Mike Tomlin call on to close the game out?  Who had the unwavering faith of our Super Bowl winning coach?  Was it FWP, our highly paid superstar? Was it Mendenhall, our highly paid first round draft pick?

Of course not! It was third down back Mewelde Moore!

Speaking of turnovers, the Steelers D also caused a smorgasbord of miscues by Browns. Troy Polamalu got a “Welcome Back” pick thrown right to him. Troy’s return shored up the secondary a bit, although he seemed to be noticeably slower than usual. The Steelers linebackers, lead by Lawrence Timmons, harassed poor Anderson all day. Timmons, it should be noted, had a dominant performance, recording 2 sacks and causing 2 fumbles. When QB Derek Anderson did manage to get a pass off, it didn’t matter since the entire Browns receiving corps seemed to be infected with Sweeditis.

There was much debate in the comments section over what to do about replacing injured DE Aaron Smith. The Steelers answer appears to be a heavy dose of Travis Kirschke with a sprinkle of Nick Eason. Those of you pining for some Ziggy Hood will be disappointed to know his crust hasn’t risen or something because he didn’t take the field at all. The plan seems to be Kirschke plays in the base defense while Eason comes in on obvious passing downs. They looked decent enough although next week will be the real test.

The defense limited the Browns to a little less than 200 yards of total offense. Two turnovers, two sacks, and numerous pressures all amounted to a pretty good effort on that side of the ball. They only gave up 7 points so it’s nice to see the stinginess coming back to Blitzburgh. If not for Joshua Cribbs‘ 98 yard kickoff return TD, this game would’ve been the blowout we all hoped for.  Speaking of which, it was sad to see the Steelers run up the White Flag on special teams after that fiasco, squib kicking the rest of the game.

So what did we learn this week? Not much, I’m afraid. The Browns are a wretched awful team that would be lucky to win the Arena Bowl.  Next week, we face Brett Favre and his undefeated Fighting Wranglers Minnesota Vikings. If you wanted a measuring stick to gauge exactly where this team is at this year, that will be it. If they can find a way to clean up this week’s sloppiness while managing to keep the explosiveness on both sides of the ball, the sun may be coming out in Steeler Nation.

On the surface, one wouldn’t think Detroit and Pittsburgh have much in common. After all, Pittsburgh was recently named America’s #1 sports city. Detroit came in 10th. Let’s be honest, SportingNews is just confirming what we’ve known all along.

As football fans, comparing our two cities is like comparing Star Wars to BioDome. In 2008, the Detroit Lions had the worst season in NFL history. They went oh-for the entire year, losing every game. Meanwhile, the Pittsburgh Steelers had about as good a season as there’s ever been. They survived the toughest regular season schedule any team faced in the last 30 years, then went on to win Super Bowl XLIII for their unprecedented sixth championship.

Now, I’m sure you expect me to belittle the Lions. To mock them for being such a pitiful franchise. To shake my head in disgust at their lousy ownership and inept management. I’m sure you’re even wondering why a proud city would even bother to support such a lowly team.

And that’s when I say the magic words: Pittsburgh Pirates.

Despite our many successes, the Pittsburgh sports fan knows the stench of failure all too well. While our two other professional teams set the bar for being world class, we have the Pirates to keep us humble. Pittsburgh baseball fans know what it’s like for a once great franchise to suffer the slings and arrows of lousy ownership and inept management. And we know that despite the embarrassment, we stay loyal.

Coming into this season, the Lions were mired in a 19-game losing streak. The team has won just a single playoff game in 51 seasons.  To think Pittsburghers still mourn losing that Wild Card game to the Jaguars. Despite their level of futility, Detroit sold out its opener at Ford Field, capacity 65,000.

Not long ago, the Pirates clinched their 17th straight losing season. That’s longer than any other franchise in any major sport in North American history. Think about how utterly incompetent you have to be to go 17 years without winning one more game than you lost. It boggles the mind. Toward the end of the season, the Bucs were mired in a slump where they would win only 3 times during a 20 game stretch. And yet, on a seasonable Saturday night during the final homestand of the year, 38,000 fans crammed into PNC Park.

Okay, they were probably there for the Foreigner concert but just go with it.

The point is that no matter how rotten your team is, and believe me both these teams are rotten, you can’t change who you root for. Well, you can, but those people are fair-weather asshats. The people of Detroit grew up Lions fans and continue to support their team even in the face of certain doom. Pittsburghers, even though we’re the City of Champions, still have room in their hearts for those bumbling idiots of the diamond.

After all, we still have our other teams to root for. Pittsburgh has their Penguins and Steelers. Detroit has their Red Wings and Tigers. Which reminds me, even though the Tigers were in the World Series as recently as three years ago, we even share some baseball-related pain. Both cities know what it feels like to watch a Jim Leyland managed team completely self-destruct in a do-or-die playoff game.

Watching this video sends a shiver down my spine.  It makes Al Pacino’s “one more inch” speech from Any Given Sunday seem lame by comparison.

That fiery orator is Cincinnati Bengals owner Mike Brown.  He’s a member of the Lucky Genes Club as his father was legendary NFL coach Paul Brown.  Hopes were high that some of his father’s genius was passed down to his son when Mike assumed control of the team in 1991.  Unfortunately, despite Mike’s charismatic leadership, the Bungles have only managed to accumulate 102 wins against 188 losses.

The Bengals were featured on HBO’s documentary/reality series Hard Knocks.  We were given the chance to witness the inner workings of an NFL franchise from the first day of training camp up through the start of the regular season.  This gave us the opportunity to witness behind-the-scenes moments like Mike Brown addressing his players.  I don’t know about you but his words sure inspired me.

My favorite part was when he said their terrible season, “Left us open to criticism from the media, who mocked us.“   What criticism?   Oh, he probably means things like, “Mike Brown drafts worse than Al Davis.”   Or “Trojan provides more protection for Carson Palmer than Mike Brown.”

No doubt thanks to Mike’s inspirational pep talks, the Bengals seem to have an air of confidence about them.  Chad Johnson Dick Ochocinco has vowed to make our cornerbacks kiss his baby or da baby or something about a baby.  Not to be outdone, our superstar wide receiver Hines Ward has vowed that he’d gladly obliterate LB Keith Rivers‘ jaw once again, despite Herr Goodell (Sieg Heil!) passing more rules to pussify the game.  Cincy comes in to this Sunday’s game at 1-1, the same record as your World Champion Pittsburgh Steelers.  Not to put too much emphasis on such an early season game but division games are crucial at any time of the year and after last week’s debacle in the Windy City, the Steelers really need to right the ship before they need an pep talk of their own from Ambassador Rooney.