Who will leave Pittsburgh first?

Who will leave Pittsburgh first?
-Raul Mondesi
-Jason Kendall
-Lloyd McClendon
-Kevin McClatchy
-Dave Littlefield

Baffling Bucs

The Pirates have signed Raul Mondesi. Besides having to consider him in my fantasy league drafts now, and I'll try as hard as I can not to draft him, I can't see any reason why the Pirates would do this. At best, Mondesi helps the Bucs win 5 more games that they otherwise would not have, getting them to 75, and his attitude is a non-issue. But when you think about it, what are the chances of a best case scenario playing out? 5% tops maybe? And am I skipping over any additional positives he might provide? It's not like fans are going to pay to come out and see the Great Mondesi. And it's not like his attitude is going to imbue the young players in the clubhouse with a sense of pride for the team and working towards team accomplishments.

Worst case? Raul realizes in mid-April that the Pirates are the worst team he has ever played on and he wants out. Look for a bowl full of laughs to ensure after that. Fun and games for all as Lloyd McClendon keeps talking about his "professional" and keeps running him out there day after day, missed cutoff after overthrow. And I'm sure his malingering won't have any impact on the other guys in the locker room. It's already a miserable enough place with Jason Kendall leading the league in lack of effort miserable attitude. Now along comes one of the few guys who could teach Mr Kendall a thing or three.

No British Invasion

I really like London's Civilized Cabs, but I don't see them making a big dent in the US. First off, they're too nice for the streets of NYC. And there are plenty of other reasons as well, but what gets me is having to sit facing backwards in one of the jump seats. It's not like riding backwards in a limo. For some reason, maybe it's that I can see out of all the windows, I get sick very quickly when riding backwards in these cabs and I don't get car sick at all otherwise, never really have. Throw that into the mix, and I just don't see them making a big splash over here, despite how cool they look.

Steeler Draft Options

Many early NFL mock drafts predict the Steelers will take Oregon St. RB Steven Jackson with their first pick, #11 overall. I don't buy it at all. First off, the Steelers don't like to draft RBs that high and are probably thinking they can get a quality back in a later round. Plus, if there is a shut down corner, or even more likely, a big offensive tackle, available, that's where they'll go. And it looks like Ohio St's Chris Gamble or Arkansas' Shawn Andrews might be there at the 11th pick. If they are, forget Jackson.

My solution is for the Steelers to deal a mid round pick to the Bengals for Corey Dillon (which is all it seems it will take to get him), then use the first round to grab a player who fills another need of theirs. That way, they could fill more holes in their lineup than they would be able to if they stayed where they are in the draft.

There are still over 2 months to the draft and there are a lot of factors still to consider and events to go down, we'll see how it plays out, but no matter what (and no matter how much I'd like to see a stud back in the Steeler backfield) I'd be VERY surprised if they use a first rounder on a RB.

Tivo!

Oh Tivo and it's remote, how I love thee!! Now Preening on the Coffee Table: The TiVo Remote Control

While this may be one of the best gadgets ever created, the DirecTV version I own has some flaws: the TV Power button is the same size as and is right next to the '1' button, sometimes causing eme to turn off the TV unexpectedly, and the 'Clear' and 'Enter/Last' buttons are the same size as the other buttons around them, making reutrning to the channel you were previously watching difficult. But for the overall joy that this remote brings me, I'll more than overlook a few design flaws that seem, at least as this article seems to imply, that were added on by DirecTV.