Saturday

-PFW.com picks the brain of various scouts for their assessment of James Harrison: "A classic rags-to-riches story."

-Of concern is that Troy, Santonio and Marvel will all be out of the Bungles game. These injuries have gone from day to day to now over 2 weeks (except for Marvel - whose back flared up a week ago) and is a major concern for the Steelers, who haven't played well for at least 2 weeks now.

-Steve Pederson is back. Wow, didn't see that coming. Pitt hasn't had a lot of success with second go-rounds.

-Tonight: Hockey Night in Canada with the Pens in Toronto OR Backyard Brawl? Which to watch? Consider that the Brawl will be interesting for all of 15 minutes, I say start with the Pens, tune to the Panthers until it's ugly, then back to the Pens. And all along, give thanks for Tivo.

-WVU/Pitt is a rivalry. Yes it is but I've always felt that the media made more of it than it deserved. Growing up a Pitt fan with memories back to the late 70s, I've never liked WVU, but I've never really hated them either. WVU winning the National Championship would not the be the worst thing in the world. Maybe this will change when both are both competing for the Big East title. Being in the same conference and having good teams will spike the intensity.

To me however, it is Penn St. who is and always will be Pitt's rival. I hate Joe Paterno and seeing Penn St. on a football field churns my stomach. Every game they lose is reason for a small celebration and nothing brings greater pleasure than knowing the Pitt beat them 9-0 in the last game played between then two.

-In response to Dr. Z's inane rant that I highlighted yesterday and some apparent brainless Dolphs fans, both Ed Bouchette in his Q&A and Lawrence Timmons himself deny that anything intentional happened in the slop on Monday night.

The real news from those is that Jim Haslett once did intentionally step on Terry Bradshaw's head.

-The real problem with the Pens was their lack of scoring. Now that they've scored 5, 5, and 4 goals in the last 3 games, all wins, isn't it amazing how the issues and questions surrounding their defense and Fleury has faded into the background?

Thoughts for the Weekend

To consider over the weekend:

• The headline of this week's SI reads: "How the Browns Learned to Win" (subscription required). Excuse me? Win what? This sounds a a lot like Bengal-mania which has inflicted media types for the past 3 years. The diagnosis goes like this: team spends years losing, team acquires big name offensive talent, team ignores defense, team wins more games than expected, team continues to lose to the Steelers, team does not win playoff game. After this, the virus is spread infecting the media, which then displays symptoms: predicting Super Bowl for team, predicting Steelers will not win division, forgetting that defense is part of football, lamenting poor season and blaming it on the coach, continuing to proclaim QB/WR/TE/RB (pick one) as one of the best in the league despite contrary evidence, watching team slide down the standings, professing surprise that the Steelers win the division.
• I wish the above disease could include the Ravens, but unfortunately, they have won a Super Bowl and actually did win the division last year in a season when the Steelers went 8-8. For that, they seem to have avoided the trap.
• Dr. Z thinks the Steelers play dirty. Is he really a doctor? If so, shouldn't he recognize symptoms of Alzheimer's or increasing senility? If not, take the silly 'Dr.' away from him and get him to a real one ASAP! Slowing down the game to examine how a player ran down a fumble on a muddy slop of a field and concluding he was "deliberately veering off" in order to step on a player is a good sign he needs help.
• More from our favorite crazy doctor:

  "Some things, it seems, used to be [called as penalties] but just aren't anymore, my number one example being the penalty on the crowd for excessive noise while the other team is trying to run its offense."

  Is there a hotline where I can report people who use the Dr. moniker without any qualifications? In this case, any understanding of football and its fans?
• BTW: I like Lawrence Timmons a lot. Too many were tagging him with the dreaded "next Huey Richardson" tag, but remember that he's still a rookie and learning a new position. When he does get on the field, he seems to always be around the ball making plays, recovering fumbles, etc. whether on defense or special teams.
• On the flip side: I know he's hurt now, but coming out of the preseason, I expected more from LaMar Woodley this year than what we've seen.
  
• PFW gets in on bashing football announcers and pregame personalities: this column could be 5 times as long as it is. They forgot to include the "analysis" from Monday night that since it was wet and the field was muddy, teams wouldn't be able to throw and would have to revert to running the ball. Which is why Big Ben set a team record for completion percentage and consecutive completions and the Steelers moved the ball on the lone scoring drive almost exclusively through the air.
• Perplexing gambling note of the week from PFW:
  The Steelers have covered eight of their last 10 night games vs. AFC North rivals but have covered only three of their last nine contests after having held their previous opponent to fewer than 10 points.
• Bigger ice surfaces for new arenas? Why not, it's a better idea than larger nets. Why can't new arenas in the NHL have bigger ice surfaces? For years, the arenas in Boston and Buffalo had smaller surfaces; it led to home ice advantage and visiting teams had to subtly change their gameplans, but it wasn't the end of the world. In fact, it was intriguing to see how teams fared in the cramped corners of Boston Garden. The only issue with this is that preexisting arenas, including the many that are still relatively new, realistically can't increase their ice surface. But that's fine, why do all ice surfaces need to be exactly the same size? Something tells me Mario would like the idea of having Sid an Geno skating on the big ice. Hell, he might even try another comeback to give it a shot himself.
  
• Again, Eklund is out there and throws rumors around like the Yankees hand out money, but trading Recchi makes too much sense, especially if he's going to moan about not playing.
• Making a run for biggest blowhard in journalism, Mike Celezic chimes in again, this time about Sean Talyor:
  

  And is really that much different that Ben Roethlisberger? Big Ben also felt the need to show what a tough guy he was, except he did it by riding a motorcycle without a helmet. That doesn’t have the same air of danger about it that waving guns around and acting like a thug does, but it almost killed him. It seems that the underlying psychology is the same, it’s just the cultural backdrop and mode of expression that’s different.

  One guy gets intentionally shot by another person, the other injures himself in an accident. He makes it worse by bringing Josh Hancock and Thurman Munson into his head spinning argument.
• Of course, Celezic has a tough task before he can catch old Bill Conlin from Philly. On case you have missed it, do yourself a favor and acquaint yourself with the definition of a crotchety old curmudgeon who should be in a rest home by now.
  
• Best Fill in your own joke headline: Father, son cited for hunting at airport.
  

This N'@

• Sid Saves Hockey.
  

• Interesting: So far, the Pens have received the second most Eastern Conference All-Star votes as a team, behind only Ottawa. Of course, it helps to have the votes leader.
  

• Bucci's back, this time blogging a game from 1971. Good stuff.

• PFW really gets into it this week with their Audibles. It's good stuff, probably none of it is true or accurate, kind of like the E! channel for NFL junkies:
• "Randy Moss, I don’t know if he is a premier receiver."
• "Reggie Wayne drops too many balls."
• "Ownership does not have a clue. They try one thing and it does not work and now they are going back and trying to reinvent the wheel."
• "He does not get it. He cannot figure out right from left."

• Great stat passed along by a couple and noted by TMQ: Since 1970, the two winningest franchises are Miami and Pittsburgh. Those two have been 1-2 for several years now (Dallas is a close third - check here for an update as of last week). As of today, November 28, 2007, the Dolphins have 353 winns, as they have had since last year. The Steelers have 349. There are five games to go this season. It is now possible that the Steelers will pass the Dolphins this season.

• Ricky Williams' season is over after 6 carries. How does this surprise anyone? That he received so much attention is what is surprising. This is a guy who continues to come back to football because if he doesn't and retires instead, owes the Dolphins millions of dollars that he no longer has because he's spent it on pot and whatever else. So he comes back and the Dolphins welcome him back, which in itself is amazing, and decide to play him after 2 years off and 1 week of practice. Only two things will happen to an RB in this situation: he will fumble because he has not been hit by an NFL player for 2 years and he will get hurt because he hasn't been hit and involved in a real play against a real NFL defense for 2 years. Don't make a mockery of the game and pretend anything else could have happened in this situation - the Dolphs and Cam Cameron should be ashamed of themselves.

• Steeler Fury gives his interesting Steeler version of MEveningQB.
  

• Gotta love Nick Bakay. He's not breaking things down this week but does offer up some tidbits:

• "Know what else was wrong? All the whining about the rain and the turf... Okay, the game's gonna be a mudder -- so what? Yes, the field looks like one of those high school games we all played in when you had to make a mental note not to step on the exposed metal drain grids. When did football become so damn precious?"

• "It's time for Kornheiser to drop the comb-over. It's giving "Bacon strip" a bad name."

• "The image of chicken wings getting sauced or massive sandwiches being cut in half, or etouffee, or sausages, or any food product represents one of my favorite parts of prime-time football. Until they mess it up. Mark my words, you hear that John Williams Gladiator music, and you're lucky if you get a nano-glimpse of a porterhouse sizzling in a pan before they fly in the sponsor logos ... right smack in the middle of the screen! Right over the food! Instead of jambalaya, I'm staring at a logo for Hampton Inn -- a chain that doesn't even have room service, I might add!"

• Yep, they're still around, and this isn't good news. I may have to rethink my pennant winning prediction because they didn't land the infield coach they wanted. But getting Don Long to coach the hitters may balance things out.

• Don't miss the chat with new GM Neil Huntington today at 1:30. You can ask is he's going to institute any rules against bring food into PNC or how many firework shows will be held this year.

• Highly touted prospect Neil Walker isn't exactly tearing the cover off the ball in the Mexican Pacific Winter League. Again: he's an above average prospect as a catcher. As a third baseman, he is not even average.
  

• Yet, our friend Jenifer Langosch in her Bucs Q&A this week says:
  

  "As for Walker, I don't think it's a stretch at all to assume that he will be making his Major League debut in 2008. Walker is currently tearing it up at the plate while playing winter ball in Mexico."

  Since when is hitting .268 with 4 HRs and 17 RBIs in 149 ABs in Mexico tearing it up? Keep trying to reset my expectations lower Jenifer!! I'm sticking to a pennant run in '08!
  

3-0!

What to make of that disaster? Let's see:

• According to Blog N' Gold, Vince Neil was set to sing the national anthem but didn't sound so good warming up in the afternoon. Maybe that' was the real reason they didn't sing the anthem last night - not this silly excuse that TV wanted to hurry up and start the game, what does TV ever control?
• Whoever thought to put a new layer of sod OVER the old one and then do so without looking at the weather forecast should be fired. The old field would not have been worse than what they put down. Plan to put new sod down guys, but have a contingency plan in place in case the forecast on Saturday afternoon (which is only 2 days before Monday night meaning even the weather guys could be right) calls for cats and dogs living together kind of rain coming on Monday. If so, leave the field be.
• Last night's field conditions, broadcast to the entire country will go a long way to forcing the Steelers to rip up the real stuff and install fake grass for next year. Which is too bad. Players, the Rooneys, and most fans prefer real grass and playing in conditions that real grass presents is an element of football that shouldn't be taken out of the game. That said, the conditions last night were horrible, but I attribute that more to putting new sod down in the rain. Can't they get real grass that doesn't get torn up every year?
• Mike Celizic at MSNBC.com rails against the Steelers and the NFL for allowing the field to get that bad:
  

  It was a travesty of football and an insult to the NFL, the players, the fans, and anyone who turned on a television in the hopes of enjoying Monday Night Football. It was a disgrace.

  Calm down Mike.
• How is it that every year the WPIALs, Pitt and the Steelers play at Heniz on the same weekend? Can't someone ensure that either or both Pitt and the Steelers are on the road the weekend after Thanksgiving when the WPIALs are played?
• Ed Bouchette at the PG uncovers a couple of interesting notes about turf and the league:
• The new turf for last night was not from Kentucky or some other area known for its grass. It was from New Jersey!! Now it all makes sense, what does NJ do right?
• Teams wanting to change their playing surface in the middle of the season must get approval from the league office. The New England Patriots did not do that last season, when they installed Field Turf late in the season, but the league office did nothing to stop them. What? Why not? Another conspiracy here...
  

• Steeler defense with Troy in the lineup gives up 16.1 points/game. Without Troy: 0.
• Big Ben completed a team record 15 straight passes at one point - how does that happen in those conditions? Just goes to show that bad conditions do NOT mean you have to run the ball, as the TV talking heads always proclaim. You can throw the ball in the rain and mud and is often more effective than running, for many reasons.
  
• Ben's tackle on Joey Porter after his interception may have been the best tackle of the game and even the play of the game. If he doesn't slide and make that tackle, Porter has clear sailing all the way up the sideline for a TD. How big would that have seemed in the second half?
• At one point midway through the 4th quarter, Ben had attempted 13 passes (completing 11). 9 of those came in the first quarter, 10 by 14:07 of the second. He attempted 1 in the entire third quarter. Then on the last drive, he threw the ball 5 out of 9 plays - and they scored! I know they tried a few more passes and either Ben was sacked or there was a penalty but that "balance" is absurd. They threw the ball 5 of 8 on the first drive then basically put Ben's arm in hibernation until the last two drives. They need to have better balance than that.
• When they did attempt a pass, it was (until the final drive) invariably a short one, 5-10 yards at most. Why? This is a team that throws the ball downfield more than all but a couple of other teams. Weather? The Dolphins, with inferior talent, were throwing the ball vertically. No Santonio? Maybe, but someone should be able to get open against the Dolphs secondary. No time? Ahhhh, very likely.
  
• Speaking of no time to throw - for a few weeks now, teams have gotten pressure on Ben but the routes and play calling haven't changed much (until last night, though even the short routes last night took time to develop). What happened to draw plays? Might slow down a rush....
• Heath Miller was brutal last night. Two costly penalties and not a good blocking performance at all. I thought he would make a good mudder. Guess not.
• A true mudder: Hines Ward. What a game he played. No drops - these days he is usually good for one or two a game. But not last night, he had the right attitude:
  

  "We play in Pittsburgh. The weather and the field are not going to be perfect all the time."

• Longsnapper Greg Warren may be the MVP of the game:
  

  "On the winning kick, at least my feet were level," Warren said. "On the miss [late third quarter from 44 yards] one foot was about 5 inches below the other and the ball hit grass on the way out." Warren said that because the Steelers called a timeout with 19 seconds left before Reed's winning kick, he had time to tamp down the turf with his feet to get a level stance to snap the ball. The Steelers didn't call a timeout before Reed's first attempt.

• Best quote of the night comes from Larry Foote about Joey Porter's interception:

  "His mouth was moving so fast you couldn't understand him. But you know he was talking trash. He was screaming."

• The Steelers have gone 99 minutes and four seconds without scoring a touchdown.
• Despite all the ugliness, Ron Cook (for once) gets it right: It's a win and no one will remember come January.

Goals From Heaven

Two straight games with 5 goals scored; maybe the Pens are realizing that the object is to put the puck in the back of the net and not cycle around the boards with it. And the best part, even though I' love to see Sid or Geno break some scoring records, is that more players got on the scoresheet. I believe the two major reasons for this offensive semi-explosion are: a much improved transition game and better ice. Maybe they go hand in hand.

They actually had odd man breaks the past two games, a rarity so far this season. And the ice surfaces in Ottawa and even at the Igloo on Saturday night looked to be smooth and hard. No bouncing pucks and slush. For a team with this talent to be handicapped by poor ice on your home surface is shameful - invest the money or planning or whatever to ensure your stars have the best ice to work their magic.

• Mark Madden has many thoughts for Michel Therrien, including the idea that the team would be better off utilizing its speed and talent in the transition game and not cycling around the low boards. The only semi-poor idea is taking Gonchar off the 1st PP unit.
• Want to know more about the ice? It's all here and pretty much supports the fact that the NHL hasn't done much to improve the quality if ice around the league since ohhh 1920.
  
• On the Forecheck has an early look at the Hart race, focusing on Sid, Lecavalier, Zetterberg and AO. What is interesting is that he tries to include drawing PPs in the analysis, which helps Sid's argument.
• Darren Elliot at si.com thinks Sid is doing just fine as the youngest captain ever.
• Empty Netters has 2 pretty cool items today: the top 100 scorers in Pens history (Dan Frawley at #89??); and a youtube of the tribute to Badger Bob held after his death in 1991. I was at that Thanksgiving Eve game and it was emotional. I held onto my electric candle for a long while until I moved into my own place.