Pittsburgh Steelers

via NFL.com and Pittsburgh Steelers

Update: lol @ Me posting a blog without my own thoughts. I mean it IS my blog. lol

I hate most of the yellows in the league whether it’s Steelers or Packers. So the sort of ugly yellow w/black stripes it’s over the top for me. If it were a different color (say, green) I might like it more. But the gold pants are a win for me. I hate white pants so almost any color pants is a welcome change for me. But something about this gold is kinda snazzy!!

Steelers Safety Ryan Clark, a man whom I do not know and therefore was unfortunately not able to slap this week.

I’m just going to repeat the headline.

The last time Pittsburgh Steelers Safety Ryan Clark played in Denver he lost his spleen, gallbladder and 30lbs. He could have lost his life. I swear I’m not making this up. Clark has sickle cell trait-which I also have-something that really doesn’t bother most people who don’t hurl themselves into other people at extremely high altitudes.

Now here’s the part where I become a big old girl.

All week I could not figure out why there was a discussion about whether or not Clark would play or not. Some things just don’t bear discussion. Given what happened last time he played in Denver it seemed obvious to me that he would not play. I realize players want to be tough, but I also realize there is a really thick bright red line between “tough” and “stupid” and the Steelers would have played double dutch back and forth across that line by letting Clark even suit up. I don’t even think he should travel with the team much less play.

The other thing that’s a non-factor for me is that it’s a playoff game. If the Steelers defense can’t stop the Broncos’ barely-there offense without Ryan Clark their chances of going deep into the playoffs probably aren’t very good. No need for Clark to risk his life for a one game playoff push.

And while we’re on the subject of the Steelers, they were also unwise to allow Ben Roethlisberger to play with a high ankle sprain. There was one series in the game against the 49ers where Big Ben was sacked on every single snap. And Troy Polamalu who has been diagnosed with several concussions during the course of his career and two this season simply doesn’t seem himself as of late but continues to force his way into games despite continued concussion-like symptoms. So I don’t know why I was surprised to hear that Clark was willing to play but that Tomlin made the ultimate call. Unless there are some strange politics I don’t know about that called for the team to pretend Clark playing was ever on the table, I think a strong argument could be made that the Pittsburgh Steelers might not be the brainiest organization in the NFL.

I’m glad that Clark will sit but the fact that there was any doubt he wouldn’t after what happened last time kind of makes it hard to believe players and teams can be trusted to report concussions and other longterm impact problems. The NFL will continue to have its hands full when it comes to getting teams to make safety a priority.

Troy Polamalu became latest big name player to sign bigger contract

NFL owners continue to make it rain on their best players-wait…are we still saying make it rain or did that go out of style when Bryant Gumbel said it to Pacman Jones? Oh well whatever. Lots of money being thrown around this week. Now, Pittsburgh Steelers Safety Troy Polamalu and his gorgeous flowing locks are getting their jackpot.

Polamalu’s contract is “expected” to average out to a little more than 9 million dollars per season, but the ink isn’t dry yet so the details haven’t been announced. I’ll update this post when I have more information and a strong opinion on it. For now, enjoy this photo the Steelers posted of Polamalu in the airport making the new terms official as they head out to play their fiercest rival, the Baltimore Ravens IN Baltimore today.

A smiling Pittsburgh Steelers Linebacker James Harrison

When a player sets up a blog SPECIFICALLY to air out thoughts on ONE issue you know they are FRUSTRATED. Last time this happened, Steelers Running Back Rashard Mendenhall set up a blog clarify his comments on 9/11. Well Mendenhall’s teammate James Harrison has followed suit. Harrison was very clear about his dissatisfaction with the NFL’s hit rules and their strategy of enforcement during the season, and he has not cooled off.

Harrison writes:

Now you have to wait until a guy catches, or even worse, you have to let them catch the ball before you can even attempt to tackle him.  Along with that, you cannot let any part of your helmet or facemask touch any part of them basically from the chest up. If you are following the letter of the rules exactly, now most tackles, if not ALL tackles can be flagged, fined and/or result in ejection from that game, or future game(s).

I understand the intent behind making the rules, but in their attempt to make the game safer, they are actually clouding what is allowable.  Even the referees are confused.  A close look will show you that the referees were calling things that were not even supposed to be called, and NOT calling things that were actually illegal.

Quickly, the background on this blog post is that Harrison called the NFL leadership “idiots” and said the Steelers were being targeted which caused a backlash in the media (as usual). This prompted Harrison to try to do a little damage control. Don’t think this blog post does much in that arena, but this is James Harrison, I don’t expect him to back completely down from what he said.

ESPECIALLY since he seems to say in his post that he has lost respect for Roger Goodell and other NFL leadership such as Ray Anderson, VP of Football Operations, and Merton Hanks the former safety who now has a role in operations that I don’t quite understand to be honest.

Back in January, I wrote about how the NFL was quietly reducing fines that had been doled out for hits. Harrison, himself, had a fine reduced from $75K to 50K. I said then that these sorts of reductions prove the NFL is unsure of it’s own rules. Add that to the fact that is no independent arbiter and you have somewhat of a mess.

Harrison says in his blog post that he thinks there is more to the rules than player safety-I agree, and I would say that “more” is the need for the NFL to appear to care about players. With former players dropping dead left and right and the amount of bodies strewn about at the end of the season, the NFL is lucky to have avoided a full-on PR crisis.

That being said, as I argued before, I think that players like Harrison are better off touting that they will do their best to understand and follow the rules, and when they are called for a hit they believe is unjust, calmly explain why, have their agent appeal and move on with life. “If” the NFL is just keeping the rules for appearances, it might behoove guys like Harrison to play along with the act. After all, the NFL’s image includes the players as much as they may feel disconnected from its leadership.

Just a note, the Steelers were not the primary recipient of NFL hit fines last season, and when I find the breakdown (again) I’ll update this post.

Never thought I’d say this but Warren Sapp summed it up best.

“We took care of each other,” said Sapp, “and that’s what this is all about — taking care of the game, taking care of each other. And if James Harrison and LaMarr Woodley don’t see this, then maybe they need to leave the game. Because the game’s gonna be here a long time after you, and it’s been here a long time before you. So either get on the train or get off.”

Finally, very brief synopsis of the rules approved last week. The rules don’t seem so unclear; however, I will say this. I’d like to hear a player articulate how these rules feel in motion. I do understand momentum arguments but they could be explained better, especially in the context of looking for a legit tackle RATHER than a hit.

I blogged about how embarrassing the whole media response to Rashard Mendenhall’s tweeting was over at Media Strut. To sum up that post, I think that Mendenhall was a victim of sports media TROLLs and search engine optimization:

The media’s, and subsequently the public’s, reaction to Mendenhall’s tweets is an embarrassing display of how “outrage-driven” today’s media is as well as how aggressively it seeks search engine optimization. Web content managers know that the NFL is in the midst of the a lockout, twitter is a popular social media network, and Osama Bin Laden was the most searched term of the week. NFL + Twitter + Osama Bin Laden = high search engine results for articles on Mendenhall’s tweets.

Plus a slow news day can produce any number of asinine stories that on a heavier day wouldn’t be a blip on the radar. And now that sports media has become just as 24/7 as the rest of the media, athletes are subject to much of the same “trolling” for comments by the journalists that other celebrities have long submitted to. Yes, sports reporters are TROLLS now, and although I’m sure some reporters love it, if sports journalism is reporting on Brett Favre’s penis and who tweeted what I’ll pass indefinitely.

One of the things I’m most proud of with this blog is that is not based on dicks and tweets. I hate to describe it so crudely but unfortunately that’s what sports media and blogging has come to. And if someone tweets their dick that’s pretty much like hitting a gold mind. This really ain’t that kind of blog though.

Obviously, there’s something to be said for catering to the public’s overwhelming interest in gossip, but must every site behave as sophomorically  as TMZ and Mediatakeout?

Moving on to Mendenhall specifically, his comments really were not that serious to put it bluntly. I’d bet he’s pretty shell-shocked by the public’s reaction. I’m sure going forward he will know that it’s probably much safer to tweet his penis than his opinions. And honestly, the public is probably more interested in his penis than his thoughts. I mean Wrangler didn’t have an issue with Brett Favre attaching a picture of his penis to all outgoing Jets emails. I kid! I kid!

You can read Champion’s statement on firing Mendenhall here. If you don’t want to click, here’s my translation: “We’re Champion. Our colors are red white and blue. America is perfect and you better be too!” That wasn’t going to rhyme initially but it fit. Champion basically appears to have fired Mendenhall for being involved in controversy NOT because he actually said something wrong. Or at least not something so wrong they could be specific about what was so wrong.

That’s another thing I address over at Media Strut-the inability to tell what will become a firestorm and what won’t anymore. No wonder PR was named one of the most stressful jobs. I think it’s fine to hold athletes accountable for what they say. But I also think it’s even better to take a look a the mirror and ask yourself if you’re really offended by what was said before you start bashing a person.

Darren Rovell over at CNBC surmises that Champion will still have to pay Mendenhall, and I hope that is the case. I think it would have been more advisable for Champion to say that they disagreed with Mendenhall’s comments (which ones?) but as an American company they respect the right for everyone to have a conversation about current events. In the current reactionary media environment, that kind of mature response by a company might have been refreshing.

On a final note, I hope this whole Osama Bin Laden is dead thing doesn’t return us to the time in this country post-9/11 when no one could say shit without their being a shitstorm. Honestly, things are too tough for too many people in this country to return to that level of fear and retaliation.

I’m proud to say I don’t own any Champion products, and I won’t be buying any. Even when they’re $3 at Ross. Well, maybe if they’re $3 at Ross.

I’m not gonna lie, I laughed at this parody. I think we can officially retire  Wiz Khalifa’s “Black and Yellow” now.

Congrats to the Packers. They lost key players to injury in the Super Bowl and still managed to pull out a victory.

LEAD UP AND PRE-GAME

Let’s start out by saying, I don’t give a damn about the Super Bowl unless my team is playing. I just watch because I love football. The Super Bowl becomes even more of a production every year. Now we’re up to two full weeks of Super Bowl talk all around mainstream media plus a weekend of stories and interviews and flashbacks etc.

I do enjoy “some” of it. But now that the NFL has replaced baseball as America’s sport, the level of attention paid to the Super Bowl from all spheres has become overwhelming. So much so, I really didn’t pay much attention to most of it.

As far as the pre-game was concerned, I get making Super Bowl a distinctly Americans event-we love holidays and nostalgia. But this year’s Super Bowl was full of unwelcome and uncomfortable propaganda. All sorts of lines about “freedom” and “independence” read by players, coaches, and military men and women, among others. It felt like it was airing on the history channel, only the Fox News version where there are colonies and colonizers but no small pox blankets or slaves.

In fact, they actually talked about the colonies. Awkward. The tone of pre-game production wasn’t my cup of tea. I suggest the NFL keep the history references to a minimum unless they’re referring to the evolution of the game.

The National Anthem And Whatnot

In a show of shameless promotion, Fox decided to have Lea Michele from the sitcom(?) “Glee” sing “America the Beautiful.” Unfortunately, it sounded ugly. Too bad the NFL doesn’t have any Canadian expansion teams, cause that would have been a good reason to drag Tamia out to sing “Oh Canada.” ANYTHING would have been better.

Christina Aguilera’s rendition of the Star-spangled Banner was simply awful! She oversang, messed up the words, and looked like a goth blob. Most people who sing the anthem choose to pre-record. That eliminates these sorts of embarrassments. But alas she sung her rendition live. I’m sure she wishes she had a time machine.

Speaking of the anthem, Americans will bet on anything, and by anything I mean the over/under on how long it would take Aguilera to finish the national anthem. The two big gambling sites bodog.com and Bookmaker.com clocked the time differently (1:53.7 and 1:54.2 respectively), sending the online gambling world into a frenzy.

I may or may not be exaggerating.

HALFTIME

I thought the Black Eyed Peas did a good job but they put quantity over quality, opting for a effect-driven show rather than a talent-driven one. 500 dancers and I don’t even know how many songs were in their medley-7 maybe? They also bought out both Slash and Usher. I thought both were great, but Fergie’s singing wasn’t as good as it normally is and the songs jumped genres and had no real flow.

But luckily I like their party music, so I jigged a little and was satisfied for the most part. I think if you like BEP, generally speaking, the performance was good, if you don’t it was a tragic mistake.

Kind of hard to please anyone who’s seen Michael Jackson and Prince perform at halftime.

THE GAME

The first quarter simply wasn’t competitive. The Packers ran over the Steelers scoring two quick touch downs. The rest of the game was much better, but turnovers and dropped balls pervaded it making the energy a bit uneven.  Still a a good game overall (probably not in the top 10 of those I’ve seen in my lifetime though).

I remain kind of in disbelief that defensive titans Harrison, Polamalu, Farrior, and Clark made very little impact on the game.The Packers Defense played well-they looked confused for a bit after CB Charles Woodson left the game with a broken collar bone, but eventually pulled themselves back together and continued to apply pressure.

Ben Roethlisberger made some crucial errors and turnovers including 2 interceptions. The Packers converted Steelers’ turnovers into 21 points, and I think that really tells a lot of the story. Rodgers looked to be heading into his normal bad-second-half routine that he’s had throughout this year’s playoffs but it didn’t last very long. He really put together a good game.

RODGERS VS. FAVRE

I think it would be a nice gesture if Favre called Rodgers personally to congratulate him. Favre has been a hard act to follow in terms of winning the hearts and minds of fans. But as you can see from Rodgers’ play this year and Favre’s stints with the Jets and Vikings, the Packers made the right choice in sticking with Rodgers.

I’m sure Packers fans will have no problem coming to terms with this now that that they have another Lombardi trophy to show for it. Besides, after only 3 years they have a QB that gets to be in the ranks of the “chosen ones” that analysts shower with deference and positivity. A land where no black man shall ever live. Just one more thing to celebrate.

DEPRESSION

I do watch other sports; however football is the only sport that matters. The lockout that is looming is like a dark cloud over my life. Speaking of life, unfortunately, with football season over I have to get one.

I’m glad that the combine is coming up soon because that’s always a good time, well, to me anyway.

Even though the season is over I will still be busy on this blog. It’s in the process of being redesigned and I’m working on some special projects to introduce that will make next football season even more fun for me and hopefully for my readers as well.

The NFLPA has been appealing all the fines that have been levied against players for hits. And, quietly, the NFL has been steadily reversing or reducing many of the penalties. To me, this could be one of the biggest stories of the season and a sign that the NFL isn’t quite as confident in its new tact on hit rules as previous assumed.

The NFL has reduced the fines for Atlanta’s Dunta Robinson and New England’s Brandon Meriweather, both cited for flagrant hits against defenseless receivers.

Robinson’s fine was reduced by the league’s appeals officer, Ted Cottrell, from $50,000 to $25,000. Meriweather’s went from $50,000 to $40,000.

Robinson’s hit on Philadelphia wide receiver DeSean Jackson left both with concussions, and Meriweather picked up a 15-yard penalty for unnecessary roughness after hitting Baltimore tight end Todd Heap in the head.

The Steelers have been, by far, are the team with the most issues with the rule and they continue to plead their case to the public as well as NFLPA leader DeMaurice Smith.

It appears the work by Smith and the union earned linebacker James Harrison some measure of satisfaction, although not as much as he would have liked. Thursday, the NFL announced that it had reduced his $75,000 fine, the largest in the league, to $50,000 for his hit Oct. 17 on Cleveland wide receiver Mohamed Massaquoi.

It brings Harrison’s total in four fines this season down to $100,000, and Bill Parise, his agent, has an appeal scheduled Tuesday to reduce the $25,000 fine the NFL levied for a hit Nov. 28 on Buffalo quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick.

The reversals are also important because the NFL does not have independent arbitrators to decide such matters such as is the case with the NBA and MLB. You have to think that at some point the NFL will want to strike the right note here.

As for Smith, he points out that he represents both “the guy who delivered the hit and the guy who received it.” But given the fact that many of these hits have been on defenseless receivers I have to wonder how much fighting the amount of EVERY fine levied is fair. Robinson’s hit on Jackson seemed 50K worth to me, reducing it to 25K further proves the need for the arbitrator and clear rules-not the need for lesser fines.

When asked about the pain in his injured foot, Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger said: “It hurt a lot, but the broken nose took some of the pain away.”

That quote sums up the death-match that takes place any time the Steelers play the Ravens.

Oh and so does this hit on Heath Miller that almost brought a fucking tear to my eye.

To summarize:

Baltimore lost Heap on the first play from scrimmage. The Steelers lost Sepulveda in the first half. In the second, Miller left with a concussion after he took a shot to the head from linebacker Jameel McClain. Carl Johnson, the NFL’s head of officiating, told NBC that McClain should have been penalized on the play.

For most of the game the Ravens were in the lead and by the time the Steelers went up by 3 and there was under 2:30 minutes on the clock, I knew the Ravens would lose. If two teams are scoring about once every 20 minutes, it’s hard to imagine one of them getting another score within 2 minutes.

From the beginning I said that this game would come down to Flacco, and boy did it. Flacco was strip-sacked by Polamalu with 4 minutes on the clock and with under 2 minutes on the clock threw somewhat of a bounce pass that obviously wasn’t caught by the receiver.

To be fair, Flacco had lots of completions last night-even on long passes which he typically struggles with. He passed some real beauties to Donte Stallworth and Anquan Boldin.

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I was surprised that this article wasn’t passed around more. I live for lists, so I couldn’t wait to crack open Bleacher Report’s 25 dirtiest player list. Apparently Sports Illustrated has such a list as well, but its based solely on voting? Correct me if I’m wrong.

The bulk of the list was no surprise, but there were a few that made me raise my eyebrow and one glaring omission that bothered me.

The first thing you’ll notice about the list is that there are multiple Pittsburgh Steelers on it. No wonder no one wants to play these guys. Polamalu, Harrison, Ryan Clark (??????), and Hines Ward made the list.

Brian Dawkins being on the list (admittedly low on it) was a tad surprising. I think he, like Roy Williams, have calmed down a lot. I think the last time Williams was called for a horse collar tackle or even grabbing someone by the hair was 2008. Maybe 2 years isn’t long enough to get a clean slate.

Also is Shawne Merriman, who also made the list, still considered dirty? He’s barely on the field enough to cause any trouble. There needs to be a statute of limitations on how long you can ride players about certain behaviors.

Darnell Dockett is also on the list along with Joey Porter and I don’t know if I agree. What do yall think? I think Dockett and Porter made the list because they’re annoying. I’d love to interview them both for this blog, but I can’t deny they can work a nerve. But annoying doesn’t mean dirty, if it did, every man in the NFL would be on here. hahahaa ha ha…anyhoo….Let’s not confuse “dirty” with “problem child.”

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