Steelers Links From Around the NFL Universe

I provided my own personal Steeler coverage a little further down the page, but if that doesn't quite do the trick for you, here are some other links for your enjoyment and convenience:
-The Post-Gazette's game coverage, Gene Collier's ever-amusing column, Ron Cook's nice column about the Steelers D's superiority, Chuck Finder's solidly entertaining (if a little lengthy) live blog of the Steelers-Birdies game, Gerry Dulac's two-minute drill which is really just overkill of the other points in the other columns, the Steelers notebook which details SpitGate, and lastly the PG's traditional Report Card of the game, always good to read. You think this is a Steeler town or what? Good god that was a lot of links.

-Peter King loves our Steelers in his weekly Monday Morning QB, as he puts them in the coveted top spot of his Fine 15.

-ESPN's AFC North Blogger James Walker talks Steelers-Ravens, especially Big Ben's clutchness and the Steelers ascendency to the favorite status in the AFC.

-Walt Coleman quickly explains the TD Call for Santonio late in the game that is causing all this uproar.

-Peter King's SI Colleague Don Banks makes the claim that our beloved Black and Gold have that look of a team of destiny. This actually worries me, as the supposed "team of destiny" isn't usually emerging in Week 15. It usually ends up being that no one realizes they are a team of destiny until they get a playoff win under their belts. Think about it: The G-men a year ago, our Steelers three years ago, the first two Patriots title teams, the Ravens title team. None of those teams (maybe the Colts a little bit) were considered among the most serious of contenders at this point in their respective seasons, and weren't really considered dangerous until they got a playoff win or two.

-Andrew Perloff makes a good point about the refs having balls to make a decisive call instead of equivocating with a "inconclusive" call. Of course, if this had happened to the Steelers I would be in the midst of a 1000 word expletive-laced e-mail to Perloff. But he's okay in my book right now.

-The Steelers get a B+ from Pete Prisco, the Birdies a B-. Sounds about right to me.

-Clark Judge sounds off on the resilient Steelers and says that he too believes in this Steelers team as maybe the best team in the league. I don't know about you, but being everyone's favorite for the Super Bowl makes me very, very uneasy. Too many scars from the Bill Cowher era of teams that lost in the AFC Championship I suppose.

-And normally I would try to throw something in from the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, even though I'm a PG man, but their website is down right now. Your loss Trib.

Steelers Clinch the AFC North

How about those spiffy AFC North Division Champion hats the Steelers were sporting after this evening's W over the Ravens? Just kidding, anything other than a Super Bowl championship hat is unacceptable in my book in the NFL. But the NFL and the Steelers wanted to make sure they got their marketing dollars, so we were subjected to these:Whatever. The Steelers held off the Birdies in yet another nailbiting game that probably had yinzers the world over partaking heavily in some Iron Cities while worrying if that Primanti's sandwich combined with this game was going to finally cause a literal heart-stopping moment.

-This is one of the weirdest yet most successful teams that I can ever remember seeing in my many years of watching Steeler football. That offense will drive you bonkers for 57 minutes a game, but when it gets late in the 4th quarter is there anyone in the NFL right now you'd rather have leading your team down the field than our own Ben Roethlisberger? In my opinion, no. The guy is just a force of nature in the waning minutes, in what was, I think I saw, the 16th game-winning or tying 4th quarter drive of his career, a very large number for a guy with less than 5 years under his belt. It was also his 50th career W, leading to further cementing of his reputation as a winner, even if the gaudy stats aren't always there.

-And that defense... Good golly. Just flat out dominant, even when their studs are being mostly neutralized. James Harrison was held...err... I mean "blocked" all day long on double teams and Troy Polamalu was all over the field as usual, but the Ravens weren't willing to test him downfield much with the inexperienced Joe Flacco. So instead of those two leading the charge, guys like Lawrence Timmons (more on him in a bit), William Gay, Ike Taylor and Aaron Smith all had excellent days to help shut down the Ravens.

-On to Timmons. It's crazy to me that he isn't playing just about every snap these days. He is a freak of nature out there, and when he comes off the edge or up the middle on those surprised blitzes, he's next to impossible for an immobile lineman to fend off due to his incredible speed. I mean Larry Foote has had a nice run in his time in the 'Burgh, but he's lost a couple steps, and was never anything more than a nice complement for James Farrior. Timmons is a weapon all by himself, and gives Dick LeBeau yet another position on the field from which he can blitz in his zany zone schemes. And all this goes without even mentioning the help he can provide in passing situations with his defensive back type speed and the nasty way he delivers some of his hits.

-Even though I took a few shots at Willie Parker earlier today and his numbers against the Ravens today were only OK on the stat sheet, I thought he fared quite well in reality. That Ravens squad is very difficult to move the ball on, especially at home, and there's no shame in a 47 yards on 14 carries performance against them. While Big Ben continues to rightfully own the 4th quarter, I really wouldn't mind seeing a bit of a heavier dose of Parker in quarters 1-3, as his play today showed me the effectiveness is still there even against a great D like the Ravens.

-Hines Ward showed up today, as we knew he absolutely would against the Birds. And surprisingly, his biggest impact wasn't felt in the form of devastating block on some unsuspecting Raven. Whenever the Steelers needed a crucial conversion, Ward was their man. When they needed a big drive in the 4th quarter, Ward was one of the key cogs, and he put together his 3rd 100 yard performance of the season, all in the last 6 games. Ward now sits 136 yards away from his 5th 1,000 yard season, and first since all the way back in 2004. There's only two games left, so it will probably be close, but I hope he gets there, it would be cool to see him hit the mark yet again.

-Nate Washington and Santonio Holmes, meanwhile, continue to drive me bonkers. To his credit, Nate actually didn't have any terrible drops like usual, but he had difficulty reeling in some downfield passes in coverage. And Santonio... I mean the talent on that guy is ridiculous, but he nearly destroyed the Steelers day all by his lonesome. A costly fumble deep in the Steelers' own territory and a muffed punt that the Steelers lucked into were just a few more examples of his inconsistencies. But, he did snag the game-winning TD on a nice effort to get open when Ben was in trouble, so I've got to give him credit for that, anyway.
Back tomorrow with some links on the coverage of the Stilllllers.

Pitt Basketball Update

I haven't done anything with Pitt basketball in a few weeks, and with the Panthers sticking mostly to the playing-as-many-bad-teams-as-humanly-possible logic of non-conference scheduling, there isn't really a whole lot to say until the Big East season gets fired up in a few weeks. And while I was at the game last night and watched the Panthers coast, I don't really have a ton of stuff to add to the kinds of things you already know. Still, here are some random thoughts.

-Gary McGhee put 6 points on the board, which I have to believe is a career-high. Don't be fooled into thinking he is making some kind of Aaron Gray-like progress, though. All 3 of his made shots were monster slam dunks that would've never happened against a good team. But at least he has that shot down. Oh and by the way, I figured out who Gary McGhee looks like: That's right the Koopa Troopas from the Super Mario Bros. Movie!!! Especially those top two pictures. Anyway, I think McGhee might be making some strides, but I wouldn't expect to see much of him come the Big East season, as he does not look like he's progressed enough just yet, and this means the Panthers will once again be one of the more undersized teams in the league.

-I like what I see out of Nas Robinson in the limited amount of work he's had so far this season. However, I highly doubt we'll really see much of Nas once Big East play rolls around, and it will have little to do with how the talented true freshman is playing. He is just too similar of a player to Gil Brown, and since Gil is such a dynamic force on the wing and is definitely further along, I think Nas will likely be relegated mainly to mop-up duty or playing when others are in foul trouble.

-Why is Tyrell Biggs shooting from the perimeter? I found myself asking that twice early on in the game last night. One was from just inside the three point line so it didn't show up as a long-ranger on the stat sheet, but still he clanged two in the first few minutes as the Panthers got off to a very slow start.

-I was very impressed by Ashton Gibbs' scoring skills last night. Granted his 13 points in 11 minutes were mostly mop-up, but the kid has some definite ability, and I think should be given some more opportunities to play if he can keep filling the basket like that.

-Despite a 35 point W, the Panthers were very ho-hum last night, and I've yet to see this team really be challenged by a legitimately talented team. Wazzou and Texas Tech are both okay teams that idle in the middle of decent conferences, but neither compares to the cream of the crop in the Big East. Siena will be an interesting game because the Saints are a frisky mid-major squad that has some tournament experience and knows how to play with the big boys, even if this team doesn't appear to be the school's best in recent years. They played within 14 of Tennessee a few weeks back, but even that one likely won't pose a big challenge to the Panthers, at least I hope, and Florida State doesn't figure to either, even though the game is in Tallahassee, so the Panthers figure to go into Big East play 12-0, where they start at the always tricky RAC against Rutgers. Until that day comes, it's going to be tough to really gauge just how good this Panthers squad is, but they've done nothing to suggest they don't deserve their lofty ranking yet. Let's hope it stays that way.

Steelers- Ravens Preview

One of the NFL's best rivalries of the last decade gets its latest chapter written today, and no I'm not talking about that Seattle/ St. Louis clash of the titans. Of course, it's the Steelers/ Ravens, a game always filled with lots of trash talking, hard-hitting, defense, running plays, sacks, turnovers, and this year, bounties.

-Expect the spotlight to be on the one and only Hines Ward most of the day, as you know he'll be doing his best to level a bone-jarring block or draw a dumb penalty from whoever today's Jarrett Johnson is. And you also know that, as much as the Ravens may claim they aren't looking for a revenge shot on Hines, Ed Reed, Ray Lewis, Terrell Suggs and whoever else would love nothing more than to knock him into next week.

-Lots of worries and concerns from all over Steeler Nation about the little divide that has emerged between Fast Willie and our beloved Head Coach Mike Tomlin. The thing I'm not sure Willie understands here is that, if the Steelers had a consistently productive back who could be counted on to move the ball late in games, I'm sure Tomlin and Bruce Arians would be falling all over themselves to use it a lot late in games. Unfortunately, our running backs have been nothing short of inept the past few weeks, and being that they are playing a team today that has almost always shut down the Steelers' backs in the past, I don't think we will see a heavy dose of the Parker/Moore/Russell trio. In a late season, frozen game like this one, with Parker still clearly not 100% against a very hungry and dangerous defense, this reeks of one of those games where Parker has about 25 yards on 14 carries midway through the third quarter. Anyway, I guess my point is this: someone needs to tell Willie that if he stepped up more consistently and played like he did for the better part of the last three seasons, be quite certain the Steelers would be feeding him the ball 20+ times a week.

-It's crazy that in all likelihood neither Troy Polamalu nor James Harrison will wind up with the Defensive Player of the Year, when really I think they should be finishing 1-2 in that voting. They will most likely take votes away from each other, because just when you think you've figured out which one is more important to the Steelers D, the other one goes and makes a game-changing play. For my money, even though I campaigned for Harrison for MVP earlier this year, Polamalu is the guy right now, though that could change if Harrison single-handedly destroys the Birdies like he did last season. Harrison may have more plays on the stat sheet and is a force of nature coming off that line of scrimmage, but Polamalu has been the best player in football the last several weeks, and continues to re-define the safety position as we know it.

-In case you weren't aware, this is a matchup of the top two defenses in football, which means this could be one of those games where first team to 14 wins or something like that.

-While Joe Flacco was certainly nothing special in their first meeting, I was impressed by his poise and think he definitely showed all the reasons why he was highly touted coming out of Delaware. I think he will develop into a nice QB down the line, and I will be very interested to see how he fares today with some game experience against this ferocious defense in a late-season, incredibly important ballgame. And of course, every time I see his name, I curse Walt Harris and the early Dave Wannstedt for allowing this kid to leave Pitt so they could instead start the great Tyler Palko and then suffer through last season, what would have been Flacco's senior season, with the sinfully bad Pat Bostick/ Kevan Smith/ Bill Stull trio of quarterbacks.

-As always against the Ravens when Ben Roethlisberger's involved, I expect to see them get to our beloved number 7 a decent amount, and I can pretty much guarantee he'll drive Steeler fans to scream at their TV at least 2 or 3 times: "Get rid of it Ben!" as he scrambles around with 4 Ravens chasing him down before heaving one downfield to a covered receiver. But hey, if you are expecting him to change at this point in his career after all his successes, then you clearly aren't familiar with the man.

-Harrison, Polamalu, Woodley, Farrior, Reed, Lewis, Suggs, Scott. Some of the best defenders in football go toe-to-toe today, and though the offenses will certainly have something to say about this one, I think one of the two defenses ends up taking a turnover back for 6, and I'll be hoping it's the black-and-gold. My bet is Steelers 17 Ravens 13.

That wraps things up for me, I'll leave you with this:

Live Bloggin Pens/ Flyers

1:06 Welcome to the Three River Sports Live Blog of our beloved Pittsburgh Penguins taking on the Filth-adelphia Cryers. The tensions are always high in these games, and we'll be watching closely to see if Sidney Crosby's personal declaration of war on the Flyers continues. Ever since that Derian Hatcher dirty hit knocked out some of Sid's teeth and made bleed all over the ice, Sid has been transformed against Philly into a one man wrecking crew. Sid has something in common with his landlord, Super Mario in that they both own NHL teams, all Mario's is financial ownership of the Pens, whereas Sid just flat out owns the Flyers on the ice. Should be a good one.

1:08 Marc Andre Fleury is still out, though he is in uni at least, as Dany Sabourin gets the start. Flyers win the faceoff and away we go.

1:10 With Sean Avery now out of the division, I think it's safe to say that Scott Hartnell is now my least favorite player and the guy that, if he suffered a career-ending injury tomorrow, I would be most excited about hearing. Just a dirty player with no real skill or ability whatsoever. Anyway, Geno takes a BS holding penalty. This already looks like a war in the making.

1:12 Looked like Mark Eaton was going to head to the box for firing one over the boards, but turns out just milliseconds before that, Joffrey Lupul held Jordan Staal. Not only do the Pens avoid being down 5 on 3 for a few seconds, they get a power play of almost 1:50. Good times! Let's see what they can do.

1:15 The Flyers PK outshoots the Penguins PP 2-zip. Not good times. And almost as soon as the Pens' power play ends, we have yet another penalty, this time on Matt Cooke for holding, as Jeff Carter started whining worse than Jim Boeheim after a Syracuse foul.

1:17 Joffrey Lupul puts the Flyers up 1-0 about 6 minutes into the first. A shot goes wide of Sabu, and for some reason he flopped down trying to make the save. Lupul grabbed it behind the net and stuffed it in. Paul Steigy is talking about the Flyers having a guy in the crease. Not sure about that one, and FSN of course doesn't show a replay after Steigy makes this statement to see if its true or not.

1:20 Okay yeah there was a guy in the paint for the Flyers that the official didn't call anything on. To be honest he didn't impede Sabourin at all though I don't think. Still, that's Cryers hockey for you.

1:23 Pens on the man advantage again. 4 penalties already, and of course the Flyers get another PK shot. Ridiculous. The Flyers are the most aggressive PK team I've ever seen I think. Logically that should mean the team on Power Play should be able to take advantage of this aggression, but that just doesn't seem to ever happen.

1:25 Jeff Taffe and Connor James both see time on the power play. Evidently the other 10 forwards all have food poisoning or something.

1:26 AHHH! Another penalty on the Pens. The Flyers special teams are superb. The Pens are a better 5 on 5 team, but I don't see how they can beat Philly in this kind of a game.

1:29 Good Lord, another Flyers goal, 2-0 Filth adelphia. Mike Knuble gets the goal after Mike Richards was given all kinds of time and space on an absolutely hideous PK effort by the Pens. This is my first Pens live blog, and if this keeps up it will be my last, too.

1:33 Hey it's another penalty, this time on the Flyers, though the way the Pens PP has played, I don't think it matters. And oh good! An interference call against Petr Sykora to even things up even though the refs blow two tripping penalties that should have been called on the Cryers. Nothing gets my blood pressure up to unhealthy levels like watching a poorly officiated hockey game.

1:39 The Flyers are just doing what they please in the offensive zone, getting things set up and moving the puck effectively. The Pens meanwhile are a hot mess when they get in the offensive zone, as the dump and chase has been their most effective tool thus far. Just hideous. Mikey Therrien is going to have some choice words at the intermission I think.

1:41 Ouch! A nasty looking hit on Ruslan Fedotenko, who got his head smashed into the boards. A moment later Fedotenko appears to be wide open on a breakaway but somehow ends up offside. Not his best shift.

1:43 End of the first period, I'll be back for the start of the second, 2-0 Flyers. The Pens need to change things up somewhere if they're going to get back into this one.

2:00 And we're back. The big intermission story was about sharpening the players' skates. Didn't take long for the well to run dry for Penguins stories at FSN.

2:04 Pens continue to be about as coordinated as diarrhea. I'm growing concerned here, as that offense just likes totally impotent right now.

2:06 Bob Errey makes a good point (imagine my surprise) about Dany Sabourin making plays on shots he doesn't have to because they are wide or high. This led to one of the Flyers earlier goals. They say its a potential confidence issue. Worth keeping an eye on.

2:09 Put on the board! J-Staal sneaks one behind Marty Biron for his 10th of the season! The Flyers lead is cut to 2-1. Tim Wallace, Ruslan Fedotenko and Alex Goligoski make that play happen for him as it started back at the other blue line and Rus and Golo both get assists on that one I believe. Wallace was as important as any there though and has faired pretty well in his 2 games since being called up.

2:12 Tim Wallace apparently comes from a long line of snow bowlers up in Anchorage Alaska. Good thing you're there Dan Potash.

2:16 CRAP! 3-1 Flyers, as Mike Richards reads a telegraphed play like he's Antonio Cromartie or something and takes it to the house on Sabu, who is having some issues out there it seems. That wasn't really his fault, though.

2:19 CRAP Part Two! 4-1 Flyers, and Scott F-Ing Hartnell scores for the Flyers. Nothing pisses me off as much as seeing that D-bag scoring a goal. This one is getting ugly.

2:25 Connor James takes a nasty spill in front of the Flyers net after being shoved down. What's more notable than yet another non-call from the refs (whose jerseys should probably be orange and black striped) is that there is little friskiness from the other Pens on the ice after this.

2:28 In a wildly transparent effort to get us fired up, Errey and Steigy spend a good deal of time ignoring the on-ice action and talking about the record-breaking pace of comeback wins this season in the NHL. Of course, this team looks half asleep right now and will need some kind of spark in order to get back in this game. So far they've shown little sign of a pulse.

2:30 Good lord another freaking Flyers goal, 5-1 now after Geno gives up a bad turnover and the rest of the Pens stand around staring as Mike Knuble rules in a pitiful shot past Dany Sabourin who is doing his best impersonation of the Dany Sabourin who gave up 4 goals in a period in his first ever game with the Pens.

2:33 In play typical of the most despicable city on the planet, a few Flyers knock Matt Cooke around with some cheap shots, the refs who apparently all wagered heavily on Philly today, call absolutely nothing and play continues even as a near fight is erupting in the corner. And, in typical fashion of the inhabitants of the 9th circle of hell, the Filth adelphia fans start chanting "Crosby sucks" as Sid comes over to help Matt Cooke while his useless teammates stand around doing nothing. Seriously what is going on with this Penguins team chemistry?

2:35 Mercifully, the period ends. I'm thinking we may see Marc-Andre Fleury in the third period. I mean why not at this point? Let him go out there and shake off some of the rust. And for some reason, Bob Errey thinks MAF has a shot at making the All-Star team even though he's third on his own team in Save % and is well behind Carey Price in the fan voting, because Errey is rooting for Flower to get into the game so he can get closer to qualifying for all-star play. Sometimes I wonder what goes on in that head of his. I'll be back for the third.

2:38 Uhmm...Dan Potash, why are you interviewing Scott Hartnell?!? Way to know your audience there FSN. The last person on the planet earth I want to hear from there is Scott Freaking Hartnell. The only way I would've wanted to see that interview is if Potash was setting Hartnell up for a sniper to pick off or something.

2:52 We're back here and ready for the third period. If the Cryers get up 6-1, I'm probably going to pull the plug on this thing, as I just really don't know if I have the heart to write about a blowout loss to our archrivals. We'll see. And by the way, for some reason, Marc-Andre Fleury is not in the game. I guess maybe they're still not 100% on him being able to play, but as Bob Errey points out, there shouldn't be any doubt about Fleury's health if they were willing to send Curry down today. I don't know, this seems like the ideal time, but they'll have 4 days until their next game to get Flower ready, so I guess that's enough for the Pens.

2:58 Pens don't have a shot in the first 6 minutes of the third period, and as Errey and Steigy have pointed out about 20 times in the last few minutes, our boys just look flat tired out there right now. They look ready for that nice break.

3:02 Seriously someone needs to take that Potash-talking-with-an-actual-Penguin commercial out back and shoot it. In fact we should probably do a similar thing with Potash himself. Can you tell I'm a little grumpy? Yeah.

3:04 Finally some heated moments. Mike Richards goes over to get in Matt Cooke's face about Cooke's earlier hit on Kimmo Timonen. Richards partically shat himself when he realized Cooke wanted to throw down and quickly looked around for backup. Sid came blistering over and jumped on top of some useless Flyers player. And of course, all the demon spawn sitting in the Wachovia Hell hole are chanting "Crosby sucks." We all know you're jealous that we have a once-in-a-generation Canadian talent who actually panned out, unlike Eric "The Human Concussion" Lindros. Seriously, how long before the city of Filth Adelphia is just walled up and forgotten about like New York is in that old "Escape from New York" movie? It needs to happen. Nothing even remotely useful comes from there.

3:09 HOLY CRAP! Eric Godard scored a freakin' goal! Just as I was about to call it day with this blog, Godard scores and allows me to say I was here for a truly historic moment. 5-2 Flyers now, and that is a pretty god awful moment for the Flyers team a whole. Godard might be the least offensively talented player in the NHL. And almost as importantly, Geno gets an assist to up his league leading total.

3:15 Looks like Russie Fedotenko may have been injured more than I thought on that earlier dirty hit. He hasn't returned to the lineup it turns out, which explains why Godard was playing with Geno.

3:18 Eric Godard and Scott Hartnell go toe to toe and Hartnell goes down in a hurry there, clearly wanting no part of Godard and instead turtles up almost instantly. Seriously Hartnell, grow a freaking pair.

3:20 As Errey points out, Godard is now an assist away from the Gordie Howe Hat Trick. Unfortunately, he got an additional 2 minutes onto his penalty and won't be returning unless the Pens pull off a miracle and take it to OT. Too bad.

3:21 Freakin Jeff Carter tips in a Lupul shot and it's 6-2 Filth Adelphia. Rough day for the Pens penalty kill and for Dany Sabourin. Let's hope thats the last of the day.

3:23 Tim Wallace nearly bats one in for a goal, but Marty Biron won't help a brother out. Too bad that would've been a cool thing to see, as Wallace is playing pretty well.

3:26 Well so much for Russie Fedotenko being out, he somehow snuck back in there and puts a goal on the board, 6-3 Flyers with less than 2 minutes to go. Jeff Taffe and Petr Sykora get the assists for the Pens.

3:28 And that will do it from the Wachovia Hellhole, 6-3 Filth adelphia Cryers top our beloved Pens. The Pens just look flat beat at this point and I'm sure will savor their next few days off as they try to climb out of this funk they've been in of late.

While today certainly didn't go as planned, here's a little reminder for us Pens fans of that little showdown from last spring:
I'll be at the Pitt game tonight folks and will give you an update tomorrow on what I saw from the team, and will have a preview of the Steelers and Baltimore Biridies up tomorrow as well.

My Pittsburgh Sports Christmas Wish List

The world is in full-on Holiday spirit these days, so I figured I'd get myself in that same spirit and pump out a Christmas Wish List, Pittsburgh sports style with a baker's dozen wishes I'd love to see fulfilled. Enjoy.

-A real college offensive coordinator for Pitt Football. I know, I'm going to hear it from people about Cavanaugh being the OC for a team that is 9-3 and could be headed for a 10 win season in a few weeks. But he's just too weird in his play-calling for me. Cavanaugh doesn't make nearly enough use of his tight ends, especially considering their struggling QB who desperately needs the confidence of a security blanket option. He also calls for far too many downfield passes with a QB who can't throw downfield.

-A consistent goal-scoring winger for the Penguins to pair alongside Sidney Crosby. We saw the fruits of that last season when Marian Hossa and Sid unleashed hell on the Eastern Conference last spring.

-A completed new arena for the Penguins. I know this puppy is on the way and will be here in a few years, but I was at the arena three times in the last few weeks, my first 3 trips of the year, and the thought of a new arena eventually opening just makes me want to get rid of the Igloo right now. I know some Pens fans still have some nostalgic feelings towards the old building, but its a dump, and I'm ready for the luxuries of a new arena already.

-Space and money for Pitt to build an on-campus football stadium. Yes Heinz Field is a nice facility and it is kind of cool for the Pitt players to play and practice in the same venues as the Steelers, but that doesn't mean the fans like it. Heinz Field may be nicer than Pitt Stadium, but the atmosphere just flat out stinks there for a college game, especially when the stadium is only 2/3 full for the early games. Plus, as a student, its a real pain in the behind to have to leave campus several hours before the game to go tailgate. I would love nothing more than to be able to leave my apartment at 10 AM for a noon game, walk 10 minutes across campus to a tailgate and drink for a few hours. Instead, to do the same now I have to leave by 9 to get down to the lots by 10 or so.

-Aramis Ramirez, Jason Bay, Xavier Nady, Chris Young, Matt Wieters, Jair Jurrjens, and Oliver Perez for the Pirates. They should have had all these players in the organization this past season. Combining this fearsome bunch with Nate McLouth, Paul Maholm, Ryan Doumit (because Wieters would still be in the minors), Freddy Sanchez, Matt Capps, and Ian Snell would have given us quite the Pittsburgh Baseball Club.

-Teams willing to deal good prospects for good major league players like the old days. You know, like the old Jair Jurrjens for Jack Wilson offer that Dunce Littlefield turned down, or Steve Phillips' infamous Scott Kazmir for Vic Zambrano deal. Nowadays, teams are way too conservative with their prospects, which makes rebuilding efforts much more difficult and take much longer.

-Of course, an offensive line that can pass block a little better for Ben Roethlisberger. Although I think this line has done a serviceable job this season considering their respective talent levels.

-A consistent outside three point shot for the Pitt bsaketball team. As far as I can tell, this is really the one area that Pitt is really lacking in.

-2 or 3 extra inches of height for DeJuan Blair. Not that I take issue with the big man and his play with the Panthers, but if he was 6'9 or 6'10 instead of 6'7, the NBA scouts would be drooling all over themselves and wondering how high in the Lottery he'd be picked in next June's NBA Draft.

-Full health for the Penguins come spring time. A rash of injuries have hit the Pens this season, and every team in the NHL goes through injuries. Let's just hope the injuries cease and desist by the time the playoffs get going.

-A speedy recovery and a fulfillment of his potential for Rashard Mendenhall. I'm not asking him to come back this season, but if the play of Willie Parker, Mewelde Moore, and Gary Russell has been any indication this season, Mendenhall will have a definite opportunity to get some playing time next season.

-82 wins for the Pirates this season. And that's not for the Pirates organization, the front office, the players, or the coaches. Nope. It's for the fans and for the city. Pittsburgh very much wants to love baseball again, and an 82 win season, even if the Pirates are 18 games out of first place would be something for the fans to attach themselves to, and would keep the Buccos from being distinguished as having the worst run in sports history with a 17th straight sub .500 season.

-A trip past the Sweet 16 for Pitt basketball this season. They need to break that invisible barrier at long last, and this team looks like they are poised to have the most potential to get past that point of any squad since the Howland era began.

Is all this too much to ask? Yeah probably.

The Bowl Poll Picks

It is indeed the most wonderful time of the year! Just to be clear, I'm not talking about Christmas or any other Hallmark-ed up Holiday, I'm talking about the one December holiday season that the card companies haven't picked up on: Bowl Season! Sure, I've made my displeasure with College Football's lack of a playoff system very well known on this site, but it turns out I'm quite good at talking out of both sides of my mouth, because there are few things that put a hop in my step as much as the college football bowl season. And since I am in 2 bowl polls, I figured I would give a rundown of my thought process for each of the 33 completely meaningless games and 1 meaningful game that start next Saturday and finish up Thursday January 8th. Let's get to it...
EagleBank Bowl
Wake Forest vs. Navy
Few things say the start of bowl season liked the historic EagleBank Bowl played in... (Googling "EagleBank Bowl location)...Washington D.C.?!? Really? Who decided it was a good idea to have an outdoor bowl game in December in D.C.? Anyway, this one is Wake Forest vs. Navy. Wake is a sneaky good ACC team, and I watched the Midshipmen get taken apart by my Panthers. The pick here is Wake Forest.

New Mexico Bowl
Colorado State vs. Fresno State
Two squads that were stuck in the middle of the best of the lower conferences doesn't exactly make you want to program the old TiVo does it? I'm leaning toward Colorado State simply because the Mountain West was a better conference than the WAC, and really that's my best reason.

Magicjack St. Petersburg Bowl
South Florida vs. Memphis
I was all fired up this morning when I came across a commercial for Magicjack. I watched the commercial and must say, this is probably the only year that product sponsors a bowl game. Anyway, this game will probably be South Florida heavy even though the Bulls were a god-awful team down the stretch because it's practically played in the Bulls backyard. So with that in mind, I will take the free-falling South Florida squad even though I think they are a mess of a team right now.

Pioneer Las Vegas Bowl
BYU vs. Arizona
This is a pretty good BYU squad that basically runs Las Vegas every December (they've been here 4 years in a row now!) against a mediocre Pac-10 team that is probably just happy to have gotten into a half-decent bowl after a tough finish to the season. I'll take BYU.

R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl
Southern Miss vs. Troy
10 Syllables is too many for a bowl game to have, although just wait til I get to the next bowl down. Anyway, Southern Miss is a mediocre team in a below-average conference while Troy is the best team in the worst conference. I wonder if that's how this game will be advertised. Probably not. Sun Belt teams are barely Division I-A, so give me Southern Miss on name recognition alone.

San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl
Boise State vs. TCU
Hey with a whopping 14 syllables we have a new leader in the clubhouse for longest bowl name. I don't know if this length can be topped. It's like DiMaggio's hit streak or Wilt's 100 points, the bar is just set too high. The crazy thing is, this is actually a very good game. Or at least it should be. The strength of the C-USA and the WAC will be revealed as these two battle for the right to have their conference be considered the 8th best conference in college football. I love Boise State, but I think TCU is a better football team and a bad matchup for the Smurf Turfers.

Sheraton Hawaii Bowl
Hawaii vs. Notre Dame
Charlie Weis gets a chance to at least sorta salvage a disastrous season for the Irish as he tries to get to 7-6. If the Irish drop this one, and there is a strong possibility of just, this will be a truly humiliating year for the Golden Domers at 6-7 and losing to Hawaii in a bowl. The pick here is that the Irish continue to choke in bowl games, losing an incredible 10th in a row to Hawaii at the Rainbows (I refuse to call them the Warriors) home turf.

Motor City Bowl
Florida Atlantic vs. Central Michigan
As if the poor people of Detroit haven't seen enough lousy football this season, they get to watch a bunch of guys who couldn't even make the Lions' roster play in a bowl. This is the worst bowl game I have come across yet. At least it's a Michigan team, though. So for that reason, I'll take Central Michigan.

Meineke Car Care Bowl
West Virginia vs. North Carolina
Another pretty darn good bowl game. Pat White's brilliant college career comes to a close against Butch Davis' rejuvenated UNC squad. White has always been a monster in bowl games, and I'd be shocked if West Virginia didn't go out on top in his final game.

Champs Sports Bowl
Wisconsin vs. Florida State
The Noles looked posed for a shot at the ACC championship game and at worst figured to get a spot in the Gator Bowl just a month ago, but they fell a long way. It was a disappointing finish for both teams, and I doubt either one is too excited for this game. Still, it's right down the road from Tallahassee, so give me Florida State.

Emerald Bowl
Miami vs. Cal
The 'Canes look like they may be on the way back up, as they had an encouraging season under Randy Shannon, but they still aren't The U of old. Playing in California against a very good Cal team won't help them much, either, as California prevails, gouging a pretty bad Hurricanes run defense with stud Jahvid Best.

Independence Bowl
Northern Illinois vs. Louisiana Tech
How bummed must the organizers of this baby be? Normally, they get an SEC/ Big 12 matchup, although its typically two mediocre teams from those two conferences. The last few years they've had Alabama/ Colorado, Oklahoma State/ Alabama and South Carolina/ Missouri. And this year... neither conference could fill their spot, and I think this one surpasses the Motor City Bowl as the worst bowl game of the season. Anyway, give me Louisiana Tech though I have exactly 0% confidence in this.

Papajohns.com Bowl
NC State vs. Rutgers
These two squads are both red-hot coming into this game, and yet... pretty much no one is gonna care. I saw the full force of that Rutgers squad though, and they looked damned good. So give me Rutgers.

Valero Alamo Bowl
Missouri vs. Northwestern
Remember how excited everyone was for Mizzou earlier this season? Remember how close they came to playing for the Ship last season? So much for all of that Mizzou hype, and if this kind of thing continues happening, that's how good coaches like Gary Pinkel get their walking papers. Still, Missouri is way too good to lose to a lower tier Big Eleven squad.

Roady's Humanitarian Bowl
Maryland vs. Nevada
Maryland looked like a decent bet to make the ACC Championship game just a few weeks ago in that parity-riddled conference, but they collapsed on themselves and now instead of living it up on South Beach they are zipping up the parkas as they walk around Boise. Talk about depressing. And now they get to take on a very underrated Nevada squad led by Colin Kaepernick. I'll take Nevada to knock of the Terps.

Texas Bowl
Western Michigan vs. Rice
Yet another game that you really can't even get a little bit excited about. Rice will be playing in their backyard, so the Owls have a serious advantage. Chase Clement leads the high octane Rice offense to victory.

Pacific Life Holiday Bowl
Oklahoma State vs. Oregon
This should be a pretty entertaining game. The Ducks represent the Pac-10 pretty much perfectly, as they are as underrated a squad as you'll find anywhere. The Ducks struggle to move the ball in the air, but are one of the most dominant rushing teams in the country. And Okie State is apparently the one Big 12 squad that doesn't throw it a million times a game, so we can expect a heavy dose of the ground game for both sides. Give me Oklahoma State because of the experience they have playing some of the best teams in the country.

Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl
Houston vs. Air Force
The Air Force squad somehow throws for less than 100 yards a game while Houston goes for over 400 a game in the passing game, second only to that zany Mike Leach and his Red Raiders. Even if this isn't a clash of traditional powers, its still going to be interesting to see the contrasting styles. The high-powered Houston squad is a little too good for Air Force I think, though.

Brut Sun Bowl
Oregon State vs. Pitt
I'm all sorts of fired up for this New Year's Eve Day bash, and let's hope it wraps up the New Year the right way for us Panther fans. Give me Pitt.

Gaylord Hotels Music City Bowl
Boston College vs. Vanderbilt
There were certainly be some sentimentality on the behalf of the 'Dores, playing in their home state in their first bowl game in ages. Despite these factors, I think Boston College is just too good for Vandy to handle.

Insight Bowl
Kansas vs. Minnesota
A year after a breakthrough year for Jayhawks, they fell back to earth this season in the top heavy Big 12. That alone gives me faith in Kansas to to top a similary middle of the pack squad from the much weaker Big 11.

Chick-Fil-A Bowl- aka the Peach Bowl
LSU vs. Georgia Tech
I still think this thing should retain the Peach Bowl moniker, just like the Capital One Bowl should still have the Citrus Bowl moniker. Georgia Tech's triple option offense surprisingly blossomed under Paul Johnson, and with a struggling LSU defense, I'm going to call for the upset as Georgia Tech takes down an overrated Tigers squad.

Outback Bowl
Iowa vs. South Carolina
Shonn Greene was a force of nature this season for the Hawkeyes, and is practically unstoppable for any college D around. That means SC is going to have to score to stay in this one, and with a pretty anemic offense, I just don't see that happening, as Iowa prevails.

Capital One Bowl aka Citrus Bowl
Michigan State vs. Georgia
Javon Ringer turned into one of the biggest workhorse backs in recent college history. Then again, Knowshon Moreno was no slouch himself. Combine Moreno with Matt Stafford, and I just don't see Sparty being able to keep up with Georgia by plunging Ringer for 3 yards and a cloud of dust.

Konica Minolta Gator Bowl
Nebraska vs. Clemson
Who are these Huskers? After years of setting the trend in the Big 12 with their rushing attack, the Big Orange are finally catching up with their conference rivals in the passing department after a 3300 yard season from Joe Ganz. Clemson played better after Tommy Bowden was dumped, but they still have a pretty unproductive offense, much like most of their ACC brethren. For this reason, I'll take Nebraska.

Rose Bowl Game Presented by AT&T
Penn State vs. Southern Cal
Even with all those syllables for the stodgy Grand daddy, the San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl is still our winner for most syllables with that 14 number. Anyway, this is a great game coming up, as the wildly talented and explosive Southern Cal team takes on Penn State in its rejuvenated state. I don't think the Nitts have enough to stay on the field though, so give me USC.

FedEx Orange Bowl
Cincinnati vs. Virginia Tech
Cincy may not be much of a traditional football power, but that is a good club. VT meanwhile will do its typical Beamer Ball antics to keep any game close, no matter who they are playing. As much as I'd like to see the Big East take another W in a BCS game, I think Virginia Tech just has too many factors going its direction in this one.

AT&T Cotton Bowl
Ole Miss vs. Texas Tech
For the Red Raiders, this is a letdown. The Cotton Bowl is a terrific bowl game for this school almost any other year, but they had higher hopes this season. And for Ole Miss, this is just about as good as it gets. Still, despite these emotions, I think Texas Tech just has too much talent for the Rebels to contend with. And one more thing, I'm severely irritated by the decision to move yet another game off of New Year's Day, in this case the Cotton Bowl. It's a crying shame. I miss the days of having 3 and 4 bowls on at the same time and 8-9 bowls on during the entire day. We're now all the way down to just 5. If 1 or 2 of these games are blowouts it's going to be a very disappointing recovery day.

Autozone Liberty Bowl
Kentucky vs. East Carolina
ECU was a frisky squad this year, and are playing about as well now as they were a few months back when they were a BCS darling. Kentucky, like so many of their SEC brethren, had one of the least productive offenses in football, and will likely force ECU into a low-scoring brawl of a game. Kentucky basically collapsed at the end of the season, as they were 4-0, 5-2, and 6-3 at different points but finished at 6-6. After UK's struggles, I have little faith in them, so give me East Carolina in this one.

Allstate Sugar
Utah vs. Alabama
Utah will do its best to stand up for mid majors everywhere. Somewhat luckily for them, no one is going to judge Utah on whether they win or lose, but if they can make it a game and keep it close with the former top team in college football. Also luckily for the mid-majors, Bama doesn't figure to blow out any half decent football team, as they are content to play controlling offense and let their D win the game. I think Utah does make a game of it, but Alabama is going to be too much for them in the end.

International Bowl
Buffalo vs. Connecticut
Imagine how disappointed these two schools must have felt when they realized where they were going. Of course for Buffalo they were excited to win the MAC so they were probably okay with it, but seriously if you are in New England and upstate New York and are getting the chance to go somewhere for a Holiday vacation and you then find out its... Toronto. Ouch. Anyway, that season finale for UConn told me all I needed to know about them. Their QB play will never let them beat a good MAC team like Buffalo.

Tostitos Fiest Bowl
Ohio State vs. Texas
These two schools always find a way to play each other don't they? And its always turned out to be a darn good game. OSU has had a nightmarish run in BCS Bowls of late, and their job doesn't get any easier this year, so I'll take Texas and their high-octane offense led by Heisman finalist Colt McCoy.

GMAC Bowl
Ball State vs. Tulsa
These two squads had very disappointing season-end finishes as they both were upset in their conference championship game. They both have excellent passing games, and this should be a match of high powered offenses. Neither one has played much in the way of talented football squads, so its pretty tough to get a good read on them. Still, Ball State had a better regular season, so for whatever reason, I'm leaning that way.

FedEx BCS National Championship Game
Florida vs. Oklahoma
This figures to be one monster of a football game. Both teams have been matched up against the best of their particular styles, with Florida tackling the extremely defensive and tough Alabama, Georgia, and LSU squads and Oklahoma taming the high octane Texas Tech and Missouri teams, losing only to the equally high octane Texas team. This will be the first time they match up against such contrasting styles. Florida does have a pretty sizable amount of offensive firepower even though they play amongst the grunts of the SEC. I think this will be one of the most high-scoring National Title games we've ever seen, and if that happens, Oklahoma has to be the choice given the team's recent offensive explosions.

Penguins Go Off on the Hapless Islanders

Wasn't it just a week ago that Petr Sykora had his roughly 10 millionth 2-goal game, and people were lamenting how he just couldn't seem to get that elusive hat trick? Well.... so much for that, eh? Petr went off last night with a 4 point, 3 goal night against the Islanders whose goaltenders were so terrible I think they were considering signing Goldberg from the Mighty Ducks this morning to replace one of those bums.

And seriously, how pissed must Pascal Dupuis be? Obviously he's not ACTUALLY mad, but I mean he picked the wrong game to snag his first career hat trick, as everyone is too busy fawning over Sykora finally getting over the hump to notice that Pascal had a heck of an evening himself, doubling his season goal total in one night.

Anyway, I hadn't covered the Pens in too long, so here are some random thoughts on our beloved ice hockey squad.
-Just as I was getting ready to make a "can somebody please check Miro Satan's pulse?" joke after a dreadful 1 goal 2 assists over 9 games stretch, he goes and equals those numbers in last night's domination.

-Chris Minard, Jeff Taffe, Tim Wallace and John Curry all on the Penguins at the same time? Is it really any wonder why this team has been having a bit of a rough stretch prior to their game against the AHL's newest team, the New York Islanders. It seems like half the roster is on the verge of coming back from an injury, but until Whitters, Gonch, Fleury, Mad Max, TK and whoever else start returning, I think we may see some more struggles from the Flightless Birds. However, I will take a rash of injuries in November and December and guys being healthy in April and May over the opposite scenario any day of the week.

-The Consol Energy Arena? Mehh... Maybe it will grow on me.

-I'm still trying to figure out how in the world this happened considering how far back Sid and Geno originally were and how badly the Canadiens fans were stuffing the ballot box. Seriously though, you can't tell me something fishy isn't going on here, right? I mean look at the totals for the Eastern Conference leaders vs. the Western Conference leaders! Are we sure that the Western teams' fans even know the NHL has an all-star game? Whatever. Good job Pens fans, and let's keep it up, because nothing would be funnier than seeing Whitney and Gonchar win starting spots, even if they aren't eligible to play and Fleury winning a spot even though he's been out for quite a while and doesn't even have the best goalie stats on his own team.

-It looks like we are getting closer and closer to Ryan Whitney returning to the lineup. A little while ago I wondered how the Pens would handle the return of Whitney to the lineup, as they had so many good NHL defensemen already playing, but the last few games, prior to last night's game, most of those guys had really been struggling. Goligoski, Letang, Eaton (when he occasionally plays), Boucher, and even a little bit Scuderi have all looked like suitable guys to sit when Whitney returns. Certainly, Letang and Scuderi figure to both be safe on the roster, though I think they will see diminished ice time and the occasional night off as well. I think Eaton or Boucher if he is still having injury issues make the most sense to be demoted and scratched on a Darryl Sydor-like basis, and the wild card is Goligoski. Prior to last night's game, he had just 2 points (both assists) in his last 11 games, and although his +/- has been solid, I was beginning to wonder if his rookie hot streak was wearing off. He looked good last night, though, and his play in the coming weeks will be worth watching.
AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar

Pirates Shaking Things Up at the Winter Meetings

Two transactions in the last half-day or so for our Buccos, and in all likelihood they have another one coming a little later on in the Rule 5 Draft. In case you haven't heard, the Pirates dealt away Fat Ronny last night, and believe it or not, another team gave the Pirates something of substance in return. I had just assumed that when Paulino was dealt, the Pirates would get nothing in return and end up sending money along with him in order to cover for his new team's increased buffet costs. The guy they got in return was the great Jason Jaramillo (no that isn't his pic above, I'll get to that in a minute). He too is a catcher with some ability (a former second round pick), but never really amounted to much. He is going to be fighting with Robinson Diaz and maybe Raul Chavez for the coveted opening backup catcher slot.

Now, for that glorious picture above of a man with the great mustache, that could be the Pirates newest member, Mr. Ramon Vazquez, signed for an oustading 2 years and 4 million dollars!!!! My first reaction: Uhmm....What?!? Sure he had a nice little career year last season, batting .290 in 300 at-bats with a career-best .795 OPS, numbers that are respectable for a utility middle infield guy, but take a look at these career stats! For one, he's 32 years old and hasn't been a full-time player at any point in his career and the season in which he saw the most action was 2002! That will be 7 years ago! Aren't we supposed to be a small-market team in a recession? How are we spending 2 mil a year on Ramon Vazquez? This has to mean that Jumpin' Jack is getting dealt in the coming days, right? If there's no deal for Jack, then we are paying 2 million a year for a guy who right now the team hopes almost never starts a game this season, right? I mean if Jack stays (and up until this signing I thought there was an increased chance of that) then we certainly expect him and Freddy to be out there for 150+ starts this season, and the team has shown it is more than happy to let Andy LaRoche does his best Adam-in-April routine for most of the season without any repercussions, so where does the 2 million dollar backup fit in? Nowhere! I think this was a crazy move, personally, as they could have waited until the free agent market was picked over and signed someone to a minor-league deal and gotten 80% of Vazquez for a 25% of the price, much like Luis Rivas or Douggie Mientkiewicz a year ago.

The Panthers Are El Paso Bound

I've been taking some time off due to a busy few days, but I'd be remiss if I didn't offer a big congrats to the Pitt Panthers football squad. It's been a long time coming, but the Dave Wannstedt era is finally starting to bear some fruit, and the schools first 10 win season in 27 years could very well be that fruit. The Sun Bowl, while no BCS Bowl, is one of the best bowls the Panthers have been to in many years, with really only the 04 Fiesta Bowl squad getting to a better bowl.

I can't really offer much in the way of analysis just yet, as that game is over three weeks away and I don't have nearly that kind of motivation, but I needed to at least bring it up. Also, look for regular posts to return sometime on Thursday, and I hope to kick it in into overdrive over the next few weeks with no classes to hold me back and all.