The Fritz Blitz

College football--a tarnished institution

2011-11-13T21:37:00.003-05:00

I’m reviving The Fritz Blitz this week. I had planned on reviving my general news blog, Fritzburgh An’at, but the most important story of the past week is also a sports story.

So much has been said about the child sexual abuse scandal* at Penn State that it seems that there’s nothing new to add—at least until more victims come forward. Pedophiles aren’t known for stopping in the single digits.

The scandal is not just sports news—it’s world news. Everybody seems to have an opinion on it—even people who could care less about football.

The reactions will be predictable. Colleges will tighten their regulations about reporting sexual abuse, as they should. But the scandal has everybody asking—how did this happen? How was Jerry Sandusky able to rape children for years while losing nothing but the keys to a locker room?

Sometimes it’s hard to remember, with all the prestige that comes with their positions, that college football coaches are, or are supposed to be, teachers. They are considered professors in their respective physical education departments, and many of them teach classes.

Suppose a professor of English or biology—or even a coach of a less popular sport than football—had been caught raping a child in a classroom at Penn State. Would it have gone unreported to the police for nine years? I doubt it.

What makes the difference? The stakes are much higher in the world of college football than they are elsewhere on campus.

At the elite schools, college football is a multi-million dollar industry and the people involved in it have an enormous amount to lose if things go wrong. Many head coaches make seven-figure salaries and rank among the most powerful people on campus. When Penn State is mentioned, many people—before the scandal, and, no doubt, for many years to come—will think of Joe Paterno. And as such, the Penn State scandal has given a black eye to the university as a whole, even though only a small percentage of its students are directly connected to the football program. To many people, Penn State has become “that college where…” For comparison, when I was growing up in Ohio in the ‘70s, “that college where…” was Kent State.

So you have a powerful organization whose goal is to win on and off the field—where a few individuals are revered and even considered infallible as long as they keep winning—and where nobody wants to rock the boat, lest they lose their jobs or kill the cash cow. It adds up to the perfect place for someone to commit one of the most heinous crimes and fly under the radar for years.

I wonder what other scandals are going on at other big-name football programs. We know about the recruiting violations, unscrupulous boosters, and players who trade their jerseys for tattoos that come to light from time to time—but those are mere violations of NCAA rules, not disgusting crimes that shock the conscience.

How many other Jerry Sanduskys are out there hiding behind the power and prestige of an elite college football program because nobody wants to speak out and tarnish the program’s reputation?

Maybe it’s time that college football took a good look at itself. Has it become too big and too dependent on winning and making money for its own good?

*And please, let's stop calling this a "sex scandal." Bill Clinton was a sex scandal. Herman Cain is a sex scandal. What happened at Penn State was the rape of children--one of the most horrible crimes imaginable.

Playing with Passion

2011-03-20T21:14:00.007-04:00

(Published in Western Pennsylvania Mensa Phoenix, April 2011)

You know about one champion professional football team in Pittsburgh, but you might not know that there’s another one—which has a Mensan in its ranks. Michele George plays linebacker for the Pittsburgh Passion, a women’s football team that has played since 2003.

The Passion, who won their league championship while going undefeated in 2007, will play in the Women’s Football Alliance as they begin their season this month. They play their home games in George K. Cupples Stadium on the South Side and practice at The Club Sport and Health in Monroeville. Owned by Head Coach Teresa Conn and Pittsburgh Steelers Hall of Famer Franco Harris, the Passion has been in the forefront of women’s football throughout their existence. In addition to their national title and two divisional championships, the Passion have set league attendance records and become the first women’s football team to broadcast games on a major television network (Fox Sports Net).

Michele, a native of East Brady, tried out for the team last year even though she had not played any sports in almost 10 years. She had lettered in volleyball and track at Butler High School and competed in the long jump, triple jump and pole vault at Clarion University. “I knew zero about football,” she said. “Never paid attention to it, never played the game.”

“When I moved to Pittsburgh, I wanted to do all the things I always wanted to and couldn’t,” she said. “I just wanted to try out to see if it was something I could do.”

The financial analyst at PNC Bank could say the same for joining Mensa. While she initially took the test to add to her resume, she has found other benefits to her Mensa membership. She said that going to Mensa activities such as Lemongrowers in different parts of the Pittsburgh area has forced her to learn the city.

Michele started out as a wide receiver with the Passion. “I thought I was doing good at that,” she said, “but at wide receiver, you’re pretty defenseless as far as taking hits.” After sustaining a concussion in practice, she decided to try a new position. “I asked the coaches, ‘Where’s a good place not to get blindsided?’” she said.

In an intra-squad flag football league, she found out she was good at defense, so the coaches suggested she try linebacker. “I really liked it,” she said. “Your head’s up the whole time. You can see who’s coming at you.”

Michele has found that football has some things in common with activities that some might associate more with Mensans. “Football is like chess,” she said. “You run the offense where you think the defense is not going, and on defense, you think, ‘This piece is in this position.’”

The Passion’s roster includes players from all over western Pennsylvania, and even a player from the Cleveland area, even though there is a Cleveland team in the league. They will play eight games during the regular season, with the first three on the road. The opening game will be against Pittsburgh’s other women’s football team, the Force, at the Ambridge High School stadium Apr. 2 at 7 p.m. The Passion will host the Columbus Comets in their home opener Apr. 30 at 7 p.m.

The Passion will be looking to improve on last year’s 4-4 record, and Michele thinks the team’s extensive preparation should give them an edge.

“The coaches said we’ve been together longer than any of the other teams in the division,” she said. “We know what we need to do and when we’re going to do it. I just don’t know what our opponents are going to do.”

2011 PITTSBURGH PASSION REGULAR SEASON SCHEDULE

April 2, Pittsburgh Force, Away
April 9, Erie Illusion, Away
April 16, Cleveland Fusion, Away
April 30, Columbus Comets, Home
May 14, Pittsburgh Force, Home
May 21, Columbus Comets, Away
June 11, Cleveland Fusion, Home
June 18, Erie Illusion, Home
All games at 7 p.m.
2011 Pittsburgh Passion Home Game Ticket Sales
Individual Tickets:
Adult: $14.00
Senior / Military: $10.00
Children (5-17): $7.00
Students with ID: $7.00
Season Passes
Adult: $46.00
Senior / Military: $32.00
Children (5-17): $22.00
Students with ID: $22.00
Tickets are available at www.pittsburghpassion.com. Individual game tickets are also available for purchase on home game days at the gate.

I think you're gonna finally understand

2011-02-05T12:11:00.001-05:00

The problem with a blog like The Fritz Blitz is that there is just so much sports news out there that is available from much better sources. By the time Jamie and I get wind of something we’d like to write about, hundreds of people have beaten us to it, and they have access to much greater information on the topic than we do. By the time we gain insight on Troy Polamalu’s Achilles tendon or Ben Roethlisberger’s choice in karaoke songs, those stories have been across cyberspace and back again.

That’s why we often need to go beyond statistics or the results of any one game and get into what sports mean to us. So while other sports outlets are dissecting the many matchups in Super Bowl XLV—Roethlisberger vs. Aaron Rodgers, Polamalu vs. Clay Matthews, The Black Eyed Peas vs. music—I’m going to make this Super Bowl column more personal.

This is about how I became a Pittsburgh Steelers fan.

When I was young, I was interested in the NFL in general, but I never had an allegiance to any one team. (The first pro football game I remember seeing on TV was an AFL game! Yeah, I’m old.) I think this was because I grew up in the middle of Buckeye country—where the most professional football team wears scarlet and gray. I remember wearing a Kansas City Chiefs windbreaker when I was a kid—not because I really cared about the Chiefs, but because I liked the colors.

NFL fandom in Columbus is split between the Browns and the Bengals, with a considerable number of Steelers fans. I went to a Bengals game with my brother when I was in college, and I thought it was cool that they made a couple of Super Bowls, but watching the NFL was mainly something I did when I had nothing else to do on Sunday.

This changed when I met Jamie.

When I visited her house before I moved to Pittsburgh, one of the things we did was watch the Steelers. We turned the TV volume down and listened to Myron Cope on the radio. I knew right then that I was watching much more than a football game. From Cope’s expressions like “yoi” and “um-hah” to the many years of lore behind the team, it was easy to be caught up in the Steelers phenomenon.

It’s no accident that I remember the day I moved to Pittsburgh—Nov. 10, 2002—as the day that the Steelers tied the Falcons, 34-34. Jamie and I saw our first game in person the next year. Not only was the game against the Chargers meaningless to the playoffs, the weather was quite cold (although Wikipedia says it was 38 degrees)—but you wouldn’t have known that judging from the crowd.

A Steelers game is something to see. It appears as if the whole town turns out for it—all devoted to their team and cheering on their favorites. And when there’s something important on the line—as there was in the 2005 playoff game we saw against the Jets—the upper deck of Heinz Field shakes. I have never seen such devotion to a team anywhere (and, yes, that includes the Buckeyes).

It has been fun watching the team build over the years, as each year brought with it new prospects that have become the team that’s playing in the Super Bowl now. There will be more than a team playing in the game tomorrow—there will be an entire city, and a great, big Steeler Nation, playing for a seventh Super Bowl ring.

GO STEELERS!

Sportspocalypse!

2011-01-15T09:35:00.002-05:00

Today's a big day for sports in Pittsburgh. The Penguins play the Bruins at 1 PM. The Steelers battle the Hated Ravens at 4:30. And apparently, there's also a Pitt basketball game tonight. I only know because several people have mentioned offers of free tickets, which they declined. Poor Pitt. Don't worry. By the time March Madness rolls around, you'll only have to compete with the Penguins.

I haven't blogged here in a while because I am lazy, and I haven't had much to say. But I didn't feel it was right to let this momentous occasion pass without leaving a little positive mojo out there for my Steelers. I hope the game goes just like this one did.

Go Pens, Go Steelers, Go Pittsburgh!

Not so little sisters

2010-11-25T23:18:00.002-05:00

The scenario is a common one. A college football team gains some respectability, but has not quite broken into the sport’s top echelon. They go through their season undefeated, although critics maintain that their schedule is weak. Despite their record, they are not invited to the championship game.

Sound like Boise State? TCU? Try Colgate in 1932.

Not only did the Red Raiders go undefeated that year, they did not allow a point—which no Division I team has done since 1939, and would be inconceivable in today’s college football world. Nevertheless, they were not invited to the Rose Bowl (the de facto college championship at that time), which instead chose twice-tied Pitt, which was blown out by USC.

To use one of writing’s worst (if often appropriate) clichés, the more things change, the more they stay the same.

For all the talk about the BCS system, it hasn’t changed anything. Every year, questions and controversy surround the champion.

Now comes E. Gordon Gee, president of The Ohio State University, and his remark that teams such as Boise State and TCU don’t deserve to play in the BCS Championship Game, implying that they play “Little Sisters of the Poor.”

While Boise State and TCU play in conferences that are, generally, a step below the Big Ten/11/12 or whatever you want to call it now or the SEC, I would be hard-pressed to call any of their opponents “Little Sisters of the Poor.” One reason for their weaker schedules is that the big boys don’t want to play these schools.

Why? Ask Virginia Tech, beaten by Boise State earlier this year at FedEx Field—neutral, but much closer to Blacksburg than to the Broncos’ blue (do not adjust your set) turf.

Ask Oklahoma, beaten by Boise State in the 2007 Fiesta Bowl.

And, while I am an OSU fan who will be cheering them on as they destroy Michigan Saturday, let’s talk about the Buckeyes’ “Little Sisters” for a minute.

The scheduling of non-conference mid-majors early in the season amounts to an Ohio State tradition. Note that the following teams have been on the Buckeyes’ recent past and future schedules:

2008: Youngstown State, Ohio U., and Troy.
2009: New Mexico State
2010: Marshall, Ohio U., Eastern Michigan
2011: Akron, Toledo
2012: Miami (Ohio), Alabama-Birmingham

None of these schools are literally “Little Sisters of the Poor,” but they are mid-major programs similar to those played by Boise State and TCU. The Buckeyes have the additional advantage of playing all of them in Ohio Stadium (except Toledo, which will be played in Cleveland). Not sure why, but I imagine it has to do with logistics—the opponents’ stadiums would have trouble handling the size of a crowd that the Buckeyes would attract.

Gee is certainly smart enough to know who’s paying him to make statements such as this—but “Little Sisters of the Poor”? Even a Buckeye fan like me has to give him 15 yards for piling on.

Horse of the Year? It's no contest

2010-11-07T09:58:00.002-05:00

So now the controversy begins.

As far as the Eclipse Award voters are concerned, the result of Saturday’s Breeders’ Cup Classic could not have been worse.

First there is Zenyatta, who has not won Horse of the Year despite going 19-for-20. She did almost everything asked of her throughout her career, although there were disputes in the racing community as to just how good she was. Many said she faced soft fields of fillies and mares that were far inferior, and that her greatest triumph—the 2009 Breeders’ Cup Classic—came on a synthetic surface.

Then there’s Blame, who Daily Racing Form is already describing as “the probable Horse of the Year” based on his head victory in yesterday’s race. It’s hard to take anything away from Blame, as he was clearly the best older male horse of the year. His only loss in five starts came in the Jockey Club Gold Cup, where Haynesfield was able to slow the pace down and come home with an easy win. Since Blame beat Zenyatta yesterday, Horse of the Year should be a lock, right?

It’s not so easy. Zenyatta did win five of six races this year, one of them on dirt, so it would be misleading to say that she could run only on synthetic surfaces. If you want to argue about track surfaces, note that three of the biggest wins of Blame’s career came at Churchill Downs.

But the criteria for Horse of the Year should go beyond statistics this year. Zenyatta did something for horse racing that hasn’t been done in a long time—she captured the imagination of the fans and had people who don’t know a furlong from a fetlock talking about racing. She became a superstar in a sport that’s needed one for decades.

I’ve never heard crowd noise at a horse race like I heard on yesterday’s telecast as Zenyatta was being led to the paddock. There were 72,739 in attendance, all betting on different horses, but they all agreed on one thing—this big mare with her unique demeanor, pawing and dancing for the crowd, is one of the greatest Thoroughbreds in history.

Zenyatta did more than win a few races. She gave new life to a sport that, depending on who you ask, has been in any one of several degrees of decline.

How can she not be rewarded with Horse of the Year?

Working both ends of the street

2010-10-27T20:30:00.004-04:00

The recent controversy over hits in the NFL shows that the league is, to borrow a phrase from my dad, working both ends of the street.

Not that the league is much different from many other forms of entertainment in this respect. Norman Lear built his TV empire on "All in the Family," a show that condemned bigotry while making it humorous. Some people laughed with Archie Bunker, others laughed at him, but everybody watched.

So it is with the NFL's policy toward "illegal" hits. The fines of several players, including Steeler James Harrison, reflect a recent concern with the damage some hits can do to players.

I can understand why the NFL wants to tone down violence in the game, especially since evidence shows that the cumulative effect of a career full of hits can result in a variety of health problems and premature death. Retirement benefits and liability have become issues, so the NFL is not addressing this concern solely out of the goodness of its heart.

But this recent concern causes its own problem. Let's face it--much of the attraction of football is in its violence. Something in us wants to see the big hits, as long as they're within the rules of the game. "Jacked Up!" got our attention in a way "C'Mon, Man!" just can't.

The NFL knows this. Until last week, they were selling pictures of the hit on the Browns' Mohammed Massaquoi that cost Harrison $75,000. Since that one's been taken down, here's one of Harrison sacking Philip Rivers. Perfectly legal, and, as you can see from the price list, very lucrative.

It remains to be seen how far the NFL will be able to go with toning down the violence. Football is a violent game, after all, and there is the risk that fans could lose interest if the action is slowed too much. Egregious shots, such as leading with the head, should not be tolerated. The balance between the appeal of the big hit and the safety of the players will not be easy to reconcile in the next few years. The NFL may have to work both ends of the street for quite some time.

Fun with random numbers

2010-09-10T20:38:00.003-04:00

OK, another NFL season is upon us, and I have an excuse for writing this blog again.

Let's face it--I just don't care about baseball anymore, for reasons that I've already articulated here and on Fritzburgh An'at several times. That said, I'm rooting for the Reds for old time's sake and all those games I listened to on WLW as a kid.

I have gotten so used to the Steelers being bashed by the pundits this year that I've had my Sports Illustrated NFL Preview lying on my desk for a week before I finally noticed a few choice words under the word "Preview" that brought a smile to my face. Thank you, Peter King. I think.

Last year, I made NFL predictions that couldn't have been farther off base. I picked the Steelers over the Falcons in the Super Bowl. Maybe I just saw this Sunday's game instead.

Since I didn't want to jinx the Steelers again, I decided to have a little fun instead. I decided to leave the season up to the random number generator on my calculator.

Here's how it worked: I found a prediction online (I don't even remember where it was) that included a prediction of the number of wins. Then I assigned a range to each team based on the number of predicted wins. For instance, here was the prediction for the AFC North:

Cincinnati 12-4
Pittsburgh 11-5
Baltimore 9-7
Cleveland 3-13

So 1 through 12 meant the Bungles, 13 to 23 the Steelers, 24 to 32 the Birdies and 33 to 35 the Brownies. The first number I drew finished first, the next number (not counting repeats) second, and so on. Playoff games were picked in similar fashion.

Here's what I came up with--which proves, without a doubt, that there were no re-rolls or personal bias whatsoever:

AFC East: Miami, New England, Buffalo, NY Jets.
AFC North: Cleveland [sic], Pittsburgh (wild card), Cincinnati, Baltimore.
AFC South: Tennessee, Indianapolis (wild card), Jacksonville, Houston.
AFC West: Kansas City, San Diego, Denver, Oakland.

NFC East: Washington, NY Giants (wild card), Philadelphia, Dallas.
NFC Central: Detroit (and with the best overall record!), Minnesota, Chicago, Green Bay.
NFC South: New Orleans, Carolina (wild card), Atlanta, Tampa Bay.
NFC West: San Francisco, Arizona, Seattle, St. Louis.

I came up with an algorithm for the season records, but the results were so ridiculous I'm too embarrassed to publish them.

So here are the playoffs:
AFC Wild Card: Pittsburgh over Kansas City, Indianapolis over Cleveland.
NFC Wild Card: Giants over New Orleans, Carolina over Washington.
AFC Semifinals: Miami over Indianapolis, Pittsburgh over Tennessee.
NFC Semifinals: San Francisco over NY Giants, Carolina over Detroit.
AFC Championship: Miami over Pittsburgh.
NFC Championship: Carolina over San Francisco.
And the randomly-generated winner of Super Bowl XLV is.....The Carolina Panthers.

So if there are any Panthers fans reading this, you can sleep a little better tonight knowing that a few microchips in a 10-year-old calculator owned by a cube farmer in Penn Hills, Pa., think your team will win the Super Bowl.

But I like Peter King's opinion better. HERE WE GO, STEELERS, HERE WE GO!

LeFaust (or why a Pittsburgher feels sorry for Cleveland)

2010-07-10T23:59:00.004-04:00

There are few people in America who don’t have an opinion on LeBron James signing with the Miami Heat. James accomplished a rare feat Thursday night—alienating NBA fans in five different cities at the same time.

The reaction of the studio audience to “The Decision” was a harbinger of the backlash to come. After James said, “I’m taking my talents to South Beach and signing with the Miami Heat,” there was the sound of one person clapping and a few muffled groans. It sounded as if a fifth-rate stand-up comic had just told an ethnic joke.

The ESPN montage has been constant since—a few happy fans in Miami interspersed with footage of people crying and torching LeBron jerseys in Cleveland.

In retrospect, James’ decision was more predictable than it appeared. The problems were apparent for a while—disappointing playoff runs over the past two seasons, followed by a team meltdown against Boston in the Eastern Conference semifinals. Then came the opportunity to play with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in Miami, and the move was complete. Yeah, there was also that whole “no state income tax” thing.

My Facebook friends list was full of angry people Thursday night—not just Cavaliers fans, but also Cleveland natives. And I was disappointed, too.

I’m not a big NBA fan, in part because Pittsburgh has no NBA team, but also because I think the NBA suffers too much from the superstar syndrome and has strayed from the fundamentals of the game. I think NBA referees officially stopped calling traveling back around 1995 or so.

At the same time, the Cavs have been my default favorite NBA team for the past few years. I figured that they gave Cleveland the best chance to win a sports championship—and without beating a Pittsburgh team! I could root for a Cleveland team without being a traitor.

But I also admired LeBron James. He came across as very mature for his age when he was drafted right out of Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary High School. While his basketball skills were obvious, he was already filling ESPN with witty, insightful quotes at 18. When asked if he was the new face of the NBA, he said, “No. Jerry West is the face of the NBA,” referring to West’s silhouette on the NBA logo.

From a pure basketball standpoint, it’s hard to argue with James’ decision. The biggest problem LeBron faced in Cleveland was the franchise’s inability to surround him with players who were close to his ability. In Miami, he will be playing for the closest thing to a Dream Team outside the Olympics. Think about this carefully. Dwyane Wade…Anderson Varejao. Chris Bosh…Jimario Moon. All questions of loyalty aside, what would you do?

I’m not going out on much of a limb by predicting that LeBron will be wearing a championship ring one year from today. But I feel for the city and its people who have been left in his wake.

I grew up in Columbus, where Ohio State football has always been the center of the sports universe. Pro sports loyalties (aside from the Blue Jackets—who first took to the ice when I was 33) are split between Cleveland and Cincinnati teams, with a slight leaning toward the Cincinnati sphere of influence.

As such, I did not realize how much pro sports mean to a city until I got to know some Cleveland natives in college. They were passionate about their city and all things connected to it (I haven’t heard so much Michael Stanley Band before or since), including the Indians and the Browns—not so much the Cavs, but remember that this was before LeBron was born. They suffered through every losing season with the familiar mantra of “wait ‘til next year.”

LeBron was a one-man, million-dollar industry in Cleveland. The giant “We Are All Witnesses” Nike ad downtown was well known, while ticket and memorabilia sales, not to mention food, drink and parking, were a bright spot for the otherwise depressed area. A franchise known for years as the “Cadavaliers” was suddenly one of the NBA’s top teams, and a city notorious for its sports losers had hope.

All that is gone now.

By any logical standards (bearing in mind that the games still have to be played), LeBron will have his title—but at what cost?

Back to back to backup

2010-05-22T12:05:00.003-04:00

Just one year after Pittsburgh was on top of the sports world, suddenly there's nothing going on here in the wide, wide world of sports.

The Steelers didn't make the playoffs, our quarterback has been suspended for acting like an idiot, the Penguins have been eliminated from the Stanley Cup playoffs and the Pirates are, well, the Pirates. Right now, the biggest sports story in town is which QB is going to fill in for Ben Roethlisberger during the first four to six games of the season.

There's Dennis Dixon, who did well in one game against the Ravens last season, but is being remembered by too many for the one errant throw that cost the Steelers the game in overtime. There's Byron Leftwich, who filled in admirably for Ben in several games in 2008. Then there's Charlie Batch, the 13-year veteran and Homestead native who has been the number-two quarterback for several seasons.

The smart money is on Leftwich, as he has been working with the first team offense during the most recent spring practices. He would be a good choice, as he has had some experience with several NFL teams over the past few years and is known for being strong through adversity. Who can forget how he was carried down the field by his teammates through several series during that game at Marshall?

At the same time, it's important to give Dixon some additional experience as he enters his third NFL season, and Roethlisberger's current suspension looks like the perfect opportunity for him.

The upcoming Steelers season cannot be written off already. I've heard people saying things like "When we're 1-3 when Ben comes back..." I would not make that assumption. We have two former NFL starters in Leftwich and Batch and, in Dixon, a Heisman Trophy frontrunner before his college career-ending injury. NFL teams have been in much worse situations at QB.

A humble analysis of Kentucky Derby 136

2010-04-30T22:32:00.003-04:00

“Space is the place.” – Sun Ra
“Pace is the race.” – R.A. Fritz

….Mine That Bird? Mine That Bird? Mine That Bird?

Oh, wait, this is 2010. That’s different. Never mind.

After I got through the five steps of accepting that the best 3-year-old of this year would not be racing in the Kentucky Derby, I watched the field take shape and couldn’t believe what was happening.

At the risk of tempting the racing gods, things were starting to look almost too easy.

A principle of pace handicappers, such as me, is that several confirmed front-runners are likely to tire each other out contending for the early lead, which sets the race up for a closer. In a race such as the Derby, though, there are often few horses that have to have the front end, so the come-from-behind wins that people love to see don’t happen too often.

This year is an exception. For some reason, there’s enough speed in this field for three Derbys, as several of the major preps were won by front-runners who were able to get an easy lead and carry it to the wire. They will not have that luxury Saturday.

Then there’s another weird phenomenon. The graded earnings requirement, which limits the field at 20, seems to have encouraged the connections of several horses to try the Derby even though most of their graded earnings have come on the turf, or as 2-year-olds who have since fallen off that early form. Just because you can enter your horse in the Derby doesn’t mean you should. (A caveat—and no, not the Belmont winner—here, though: Mine That Bird qualified for the Derby based on graded stakes earnings as a 2-year-old.)

As such, I have found it easy to eliminate two groups of horses.

The following horses either lack any foundation on a conventional dirt track, or do not have sufficient recent form to prepare them for the Derby: Stately Victor, Dean’s Kitten, Make Music For Me, Paddy O’Prado, and Homeboykris.

This group will be too busy beating each other early and figure to have nothing left for the legendary Churchill Downs stretch: Super Saver, Line Of David, American Lion, Conveyance, Discreetly Mine, and Sidney’s Candy.

The next one out is Noble’s Promise. While he’s been consistent up until the Arkansas Derby, and his running style suits the race, there’s just too much question about his condition. No horse, to my knowledge, has won the Derby three weeks after a lung infection.

I don’t see Dublin winning. I don’t care for his tendency to hang in the stretch, and his fractiousness during recent workouts is troublesome. If he thought marathon runners were too disturbing, how will he handle 100,000 drunks singing “My Old Kentucky Home” off-key?

The next horses I eliminated were Mission Impazible and Jackson Bend. I had to throw some more horses out because I don’t have the money to play them all. The speed figures on these two indicate to me they are a cut below the top group. Besides, Mission Impazible is a stupid name and I just can’t see it on a mint julep glass.

So here are the five horses that I plan to use in my Derby wagers.

5. Backtalk. My “Are You Kidding?” selection. Nobody but me likes this horse, which may be a bad sign right there. But if you draw a line through his Illinois Derby—a race where they always get in a straight line and walk to the wire—there are a few things to like. He’s the only horse in the race to have won twice at Churchill Downs and twice on off tracks (some are predicting an apocalyptic flood Saturday). Plus, he’s by Smarty Jones, who won the 2004 Derby in a swamp.

4. Awesome Act. He has a big shot here if he runs back to his Gotham Stakes. Trainer Jeremy Noseda said he lost a shoe in the Wood Memorial, and he does appear to not be going well in the race video, so that start can be thrown out. The distance should suit him too, if his late run in last year’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf is an indication.

3. Lookin At Lucky. He’s been the most consistent of this bunch, as he was beaten only a head in seven starts prior to his awful trip in the Santa Anita Derby (not that he’d have beaten Sidney’s Candy that day anyhow). The problem here is his post. A stalker like him is likely to run into a lot of trouble from post 1, as 19 horses will be trying to get into his lane. Can’t leave him out of the gimmicks, but a win looks unlikely.

2. Devil May Care. If you like my top selection, you have to like Devil May Care, too, since she won the Bonnie Miss on the same day—in the same time—as my top pick’s last race. There’s also some racing karma at work here. Trainer Todd Pletcher and jockey John Velasquez lost their chance with Eskendereya. It would be a perfect chance for the racing gods to repay them.

(Also—and I’m not making this up—the other night I had a dream about the Derby card where the 11 won and “Duke” was in the horse’s name. The dream was about an earlier race on the card, so bear that in mind. I looked at the entries and didn’t see a horse with “Duke” in its name on the whole card, so I figured I just ate too much Fresh Fish Basil from The Green Mango—great place if you’re in the Pittsburgh area, BTW. As I write this, it dawned on me that Devil May Care is number 11, and Duke’s nickname is the Blue Devils. And this dream was before the post draw. Read into it what you will.)

And the Oscar goes to:

1. Ice Box. It’s been years since I’ve seen a pace scenario set up as perfectly for a horse. There are six horses here who figure to be on or near the lead, and Ice Box is the only stone closer. He came from last at the top of the stretch to win the Florida Derby, and the blazing fractions—and maybe a deep, tiring track—set up a similar scenario Saturday. Expect Ice Box to come in from Terre Haute in the stretch to give Nick Zito his third Derby victory.

Here's what would be a miracle.

2010-02-21T10:50:00.004-05:00

It's been 30 years, as we are constantly reminded, since the "miracle on ice", the US hockey team's defeat of the Soviet team in the semi-final round of the 1980 Olympics. There has been endless, exhaustive analysis of the game and for good reason-it was extraordinary that a rag tag bunch of amateur hockey players from colleges and backyard rinks across the US would ever manage to beat the well-oiled Soviet hockey machine. It happened. We all know. Lots of us even watched the movie, which was good, and those of us who live in Pittsburgh, "Hockeytahn" as we like to call it, home of Craig Patrick and sometime home of Herb Brooks, the coach of the winning team, get it even more often.

Here's the thing, though. Men's Olympic Hockey is a completely different game than it was in 1980. Professional players from top teams in the NHL primarily but also other leagues around the world are now allowed to play. The USSR no longer exists, and the Russian team, while formidable, has finished no better than silver and was out of the medals in 2006. Olympic hockey has a much more level playing field as a result. Sweden has won gold twice since 1994 and Finland has the most medals with two bronze and one silver. Canada is a perennial contender, but has only managed one gold since 1952, despite having the likes of Mario Lemeiux, Wayne Gretzky, and Sid Crosby play for the national team. (To be fair, this is pretty much Sid's first Olympics as an adult, so who knows what can happen. So far this year, he's saved Canada from the inglorious fate of being beaten by Switzerland.)

IIHF hockey is wonderful to watch. There are less fights and more scoring. The lines on the rink and the dimensions are subtly different. There are some rule differences that make the game move faster and to me at least make the game more interesting and more fair, like no-touch icing and automatic misconduct penalties for hits to the head, and no restrictions on where the goalie can play the puck. If only the IIHF had any power over the NHL.

It's a good thing to remember the glorious day that the US men's hockey team pulled off their miracle, but honestly, we're not going to learn anything from further analysis. The sport is too different. The Games are too different. Enjoy the now of seeing the Stanley Cup champions playing for three different teams, seeing Jagr back on the ice in this hemisphere, and seeing hockey in its second-purest form once every four years.

Purest form? That would be women's international hockey. Enjoy the games!

And yeah, Johnny Weir got robbed. He did.

Images of gold

2010-02-19T21:14:00.001-05:00

Once again, we are in the midst of Olympic fever.

The Winter Olympics have a more limited audience than their summer counterpart, but they still have one of the biggest audiences of any sporting event. Few events define sports like the Olympics in either season.

Start with “Bugler’s Dream,” the song that has been used in Olympic telecasts since I can remember. Few songs are more recognizable, and none are more associated with a single event.

Then there are the events themselves. They are so varied that it’s hard to imagine there isn’t one that somebody isn’t interested in. Ever wanted to watch curling or skeleton? Here’s your chance.

And then there are the Olympic nations. While TV coverage is slanted toward the U.S. and the other countries that regularly face them, the Olympics are a great geography lesson.

The first Olympics I remember were the summer games in Munich in 1972, when I was six. My first knowledge of the Olympics came one Saturday morning in August when I was told that my cartoons weren’t on TV that day. In their place were, in the words of my mom, “all the runners and jumpers and throwers.”

But the first athlete I remember seeing that day was a swimmer who always seemed to win. His name would become immortal before the next week passed—Mark Spitz.

Over the next few days, there were not only runners, jumpers, throwers, and swimmers, but also gymnasts, boxers, wrestlers, divers, basketball players—and terrorists.

The politics of the games hadn’t quite sunk in to me yet. I had a vague idea that the U.S. was a “free” country and the Soviet Union was a communist country, but I wasn’t really sure what those things meant yet. But I was convinced that the Americans were the good guys, of course. And I had little knowledge of the situation in the Middle East that provided the backdrop for the deaths of the Israeli athletes at the Munich games. But I remember the reports on TV and I knew that some people had been killed. And I was left with a powerful image. To this day, my image of what a terrorist looks like is the picture of the ski-masked gunman standing on the Olympic village balcony.

Images are what each Olympic Games leave with us, and the Winter Olympics are no exception. The first winter games I remember were the Innsbruck games in 1976, which I associate with Franz Klammer gliding down a mountain en route to a gold medal.

The most indelible image has to be the U.S. men’s hockey team beating the Soviets in 1980. By then, I knew a lot more about the Cold War and the “us vs. them” mentality that came with every event in which the teams faced each other. I also knew that the Soviets had a huge advantage in many Olympic sports because professional athletes were not allowed in the Olympics back then. When the U.S. won that game, I knew that I was watching one of the greatest sports upsets in history.

World politics—and Olympic politics—are different now. The days of “us vs. them” are gone. When my favorite NHL team won the Stanley Cup, a Russian was named MVP—which would have been unimaginable just three decades ago.

While many things about the Olympics have changed, the images will remain, and this year’s Winter Olympics are sure to add more to our collective memories.

P.S. Jamie said that Johnny Weir got robbed.

This used to be my playground

2010-02-05T16:45:00.002-05:00

While aimlessly Googling last week, I stumbled across a website which tells part of my life story.

It’s officially called the Daily Racing Form Historical Online Archive. It includes PDF files of all copies of Daily Racing Form since the 1890s—at least all of them that have been entered online so far.

It’s an ambitious undertaking, and I’m not surprised that most days are unaccounted for. Issues from May and June—Triple Crown season—are the first to be preserved for posterity in most years, which is not surprising, because those are the issues that historians and fans care about the most.

It’s fun to go back to Secretariat’s Belmont and relive the anticipation of the real prospect of the first Triple Crown winner in 25 years. It’s eye-opening to read articles about the big races after the fact to see just how wrong the experts can be. The 1971 Derby edition shows that shocker Canonero II, while not completely dismissed, received baffled mentions as the mystery horse from Venezuela. The past performance lines from that renewal are good for a laugh, as I scoured the lines and the accompanying articles for any indication that horses such as Fourulla and Royal Leverage deserved to be in the race.

But it isn’t the famous races that I find the most fascinating. Having misspent much of my youth at Beulah Park, I’m attracted to the lines on $2,000 claimers at tracks that may or may not exist today—Narragansett Park! Lincoln Fields! Havana!—the grist of racing back when it was king.

Beulah isn’t in the current archives much because its race meets back in the day usually took place in the spring and fall (its spring meet still ends on Derby weekend), so many of my reminiscences must be experienced through other Ohio tracks (although I did find several cards from the ‘80s when Beulah was being mismanaged under the name Darby Downs).

It all comes back to me...those Sundays in the chilly air, maybe some rain, as they played the National Anthem and track announcer Jim Dolan gave the changes for the day, and I wrote down every last one of them with more zeal than I ever gave to any classes in school. I would hand two bucks to my dad to bet for me, and he would make no comment one way or the other, even if he thought my choice was ridiculous.

Then I would rush off to the paddock and study the horses intensely as if it were the Kentucky Derby. Then off to either the rail or the grandstand to see the race. I usually lost because my handicapping methods were pretty unsophisticated (“Hey, this week I’ll just go down the program until I find a horse that’s dropping in class!”). But it was my own, action-packed little world for one day a week.

And through it all was the Form. I would read it cover to cover the night before while listening to "Saturday Night Cruisin’", an oldies show on WBNS radio. Even before I set foot in a racetrack for the first time, I was familiar with the Form. There was just something about the mass of statistics that approached art.

While handicapping is far more sophisticated than this, there was something that showed me the general difference between a good horse and a bad horse at first glance. The better horses’ lines appeared cleaner, loaded with small numbers, 1s and 2s. Slow horses’ lines appeared cluttered, full of 11s, 12s, and, in later years, negative comment lines. How simple, and beautiful.

It may sound weird to discover such splendor in race horse statistics, but it’s no stranger than finding beauty in, say, Campbell’s soup cans.

Secondary is primary

2010-01-08T23:45:00.003-05:00

A Deadhead would say “What a long, strange trip it’s been.”

The Steelers’ season is over, and while many are disappointed that they didn’t get the help they needed to get into the playoffs, everybody—even the Steelers themselves—agrees that it should not have come down to needing that help.

Things started out so well, as the Steelers went 6-2 and beat Denver and Minnesota.

Then came a bad slide in the middle, with losses to Kansas City, Oakland and Cleveland.

Maybe the Steelers were listening a few weeks ago when I called them the worst NFL team at that moment. After that, they won their last three games, including a stellar 500-yard performance by Ben Roethlisberger against the Packers. But it was too late, as there was just too much to overcome to make the playoffs.

Mike Tomlin has started to clean house quickly. He's fired the offensive line and special teams coaches, which were two of the weakest links on the team this season. But the most crucial area is the defensive secondary.

The secondary's weakness was exposed when Troy Polamalu was injured. We know that Polamalu is a world-class player who can put himself anywhere he needs to be on the field, but I figured that the rest of the secondary was strong enough to fill in.

The Troy-less pass defense was the weakest part of the team. In some of the most egregious losses, the Chiefs and Raiders were able to pass on the Steelers all day. One of the most embarrassing stats is the number of interceptions by cornerbacks during the season--one, by Deshea Townsend (who was not a starter) in the final game against the Dolphins.

Tomlin is already working to improve the Steelers for next year, but special emphasis should be placed on the secondary. While just about every position except quarterback (and maybe the receivers) could use some work, cornerback would be the perfect first-round draft pick.

First to worst?

2009-12-12T23:19:00.003-05:00

The Pittsburgh Steelers might be the worst team in the NFL at this moment.

You might think that’s an exaggeration, but look at the teams they’ve lost to lately. The Kansas City Chiefs. The Oakland Raiders. The Cleveland Browns. These are among the bottom feeders of the league. While they don’t have the worst record (because they did well earlier), I don’t think they could beat any team right now.

Many reasons are being offered for their miserable performance. There are some that need to be reviewed.

The play calling is not what it was during last year’s Super Bowl season. There have been some calls that have been mystifying. The Raiders game started to unravel when the decision was made to go for a 53-yard field goal. Jeff Reed missed it and Oakland turned it into an easy score.

Injuries have not helped. Many people have talked about Troy Polamalu being out for much of the season. Less attention has been paid to the injury to Aaron Smith, one of the major playmakers on defense. The concussion sustained by Ben Roethlisberger has not helped, either, although Dennis Dixon did not do badly as the backup against the Ravens.

It has even been suggested that President Obama is to blame for sending Dan Rooney to Ireland. Sounds like another excuse for right-wingers to bash Obama, but what do I know?

The offense has been reluctant to use the run for some reason. Even though Rashard Mendenhall was the star in the Broncos game—the Steelers’ last win—the offense has been going to the air too soon and too often. This is, or can be, a power offense. Why are they afraid to run more?

The weakest part of the team lately has been the secondary. While Polamalu may well not come back this season, the remainder of the secondary has not done well. Look at the Oakland game. The Steelers were beaten by big plays—long passes with no defender within 10 yards of the receiver. The receivers were unknown outside of Oakland. There was Louis Murphy, and I can’t remember the name of the other guy. We’re not talking about Randy Moss here. The draft should concentrate on cornerback and safety.

The offensive line has been inconsistent. In the Steelers’ wins, they have played impeccably and opened holes for the running attack. At their worst (Thursday’s Browns game), they have folded like an accordion and given defenders a straight shot to Roethlisberger’s head.

Special teams have been awful, with several return touchdowns allowed and at least one big return guaranteed in each game. Jeff Reed’s non-attempts at tackling have made ESPN’s “C’mon, Man!” more than once.

But what it comes down to is a lack of desire. Something is missing. This team just doesn’t want to win. You could see it in the Browns game. This was a team going through the motions, one with no drive, one that might as well not show up.

There are three more games left, and they will not be easy. The Packers, Ravens and Dolphins are all fighting for playoff spots. The Steelers? It’s really hard to ask professional athletes to play for pride, but what’s left?

Penguins 4, Avalanche 1.

2009-12-03T22:08:00.003-05:00

Tonight, from the mind of Bob Errey.

"You gotta have that fire in your pit!"

"The Avs, over by the bench, you can throw a blanket over them! (I still don't know what that means.)

"The Pens just want to keep their sticks down and keep their hands off of bodies!"

"Billy Guerin, you could see it in his voice!"

You can't make this stuff up

2009-11-30T21:36:00.004-05:00

Hopefully, I'll be able to do this more often since Errey Blog is on indefinite hiatus. (and missed!)

Errey-Otica from tonight's Pens game:

"When you see a guy the size and thickness of a Donald Brashear coming at you, you just learn to avoid it!"

"Get it out of my crease! How many times has Sean Avery been on top of Marc-Andre Fleury?"

About Sergei Gonchar: "It looked like he was holding the stick there. I don't know what he was holding!"

Steigy: "Avery is like a Zamboni!"
Errey : "I feel sorry for him! Poor guy."

Obesiance has been made.

2009-11-22T19:54:00.005-05:00

Last time Bob posted, it was to remind folks what happens when they besmirch the Terrible Towel.

At the time, Bob suggested "It would be a great gesture for the Titans to make a donation to Allegheny Valley School, perhaps accompanied by a visit to Myron Cope’s grave at Chartiers Cemetery in Carnegie."

Well, guess what happened?

Story here.

"LenDale and Keith wish you all the best. P.S., Please release the curse," a note included with the autographed towel said.

The Titans have won every game since. The autographed Towel sold on Ebay for $1475, benefitting Allegheny Valley School.

Do not mess with the Terrible Towel! Myron Cope's power reaches from beyond the grave to ensure your doom should you besmirch the noble symbol of his love for the Steelers and the school that helped his son and countless other children live a fulfilling life.

And I do notice that the Bengals lost today, to the lowly Raiders, after some fans of theirs unwisely posted video on YouTube of the immolation of the Terrible Towel. We shall see what the Cincy Bungles must do to release THAT curse!

Remember, The Titans?

2009-10-20T21:55:00.002-04:00

To the Tennessee Titans publicity department:

I certainly do not envy your current task. To some degree, I can relate to it. I once worked in sports information for my college football team which went 0-10 my junior year. I know how frustrating a winless season can be.

All the pundits are having their say as to why the Titans are 0-6 and coming off a humiliating 59-0 loss to Tom Brady. Too many injuries, bad defense, Jeff Fisher is through, I’m sure you’ve heard them all.

Everybody up here in da ‘Burgh knows the real reason.

It’s because the Titans stomped on the Terrible Towel.

I’m serious. When several Titans trampled the Terrible Towel after their 31-14 win over the Steelers last year, they had no idea how much bad karma they unleashed. The Titans haven’t won a game since. Do you think that’s just a coincidence?

But your team and their fans are in luck. There is a chance to redeem yourselves, and probably save Jeff Fisher’s job, too.

The Terrible Towel is more than just a stadium accessory. Sales of the Towel benefit the Allegheny Valley School for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The Terrible Towel was created by the late Myron Cope, the longtime Steelers radio announcer whose son, David, is a resident at the school.

It would be a great gesture for the Titans to make a donation to Allegheny Valley School, perhaps accompanied by a visit to Myron Cope’s grave at Chartiers Cemetery in Carnegie.

Hey, desperate times call for desperate measures. The Titans can still go 10-6….

Regards,
Bob Fritz
Penn Hills, PA

Here we go, Steelers, sreleetS, og ew ereH

2009-09-21T21:50:00.002-04:00

After two games, not only are the Steelers 1-1, but their stats are remarkably symmetrical.
The Black and Gold has scored 27 points--and given up 27 points. Their home record is 1-0--their road record, 0-1. Their conference record is 1-0--their non-conference record, 0-1.
Things will have to improve, though. Not many 8-8 teams make the playoffs.

A homer's NFL preview

2009-09-05T09:55:00.005-04:00

Predicting an NFL season is not one of the easiest tasks in sports. With a salary structure that almost guarantees parity, there are always a few surprises. If you had the Arizona Cardinals going to the Super Bowl at this time last year, please e-mail me your predictions for this year, because I’ve got a hole in the bathroom wall that I’d really like to fix.

Nevertheless, I will make a few predictions;

*A receiver will make headlines by being a jerk.
*At least one NFL player will be arrested at some point in the season.
*Tom Brady’s name will be mentioned by the media more often than all Jacksonville Jaguars put together.
*My wife and I will go crazy once a week between now and, we hope, February.

* - Wild Card
AFC East
Miami 11-5
Pioneers of the Wildcat offense and a team headed in the right direction.
New England 8-8
Misses the playoffs again with no controversy this time.
NY Jets 7-9
Mark Sanchez could be one of the greats, but it will take a while.
Buffalo 4-12
Lots of drama from T.O. and not much else.

AFC North
Pittsburgh 14-2
New players fill in the remaining gaps—have they gotten even better?
Baltimore 8-8
Flacco figures to improve, but age catching up on defense?
Cincinnati 7-9
The most interesting floor show in the league. Enjoy.
Cleveland 5-11
QB controversy continues, Stallworth suspended, not much progress.

AFC West
San Diego 13-3
Truly dominant in a weak division. LT will have another awesome year.
Kansas City 8-8
Someone has to be second here.
Oakland 6-10
Fistfights between coaches are not a good omen.
Denver 4-12
These are the Broncos that Hank Scorpio gave to Homer Simpson.

AFC South
Houston 11-5
This is the year that they put it together.
*Tennessee 8-8
Winning one for the Gipper takes them to a wild card.
*Indianapolis 8-8
Age starting to catch up with this group, too.
Jacksonville 5-11
Home game blackouts? Bet they’ll be in L.A. by 2013.

NFC East
Philadelphia 10-6
The battle royal: Eagles fans vs. PETA in the parking lot before the game.
NY Giants 9-7
WR is the big question. Who doesn’t love to hear Chris Berman say, “GEEE-men!”?
Dallas 9-7
The billion dollar stadium! The scoreboard! The egos! Only in Dallas.
Washington 5-11
Has any other sports franchise spent so much to get so little?

NFC North
Minnesota 11-5
Favre gets the headlines, but the real star is Adrian Peterson.
*Green Bay 10-6
Meanwhile, Aaron Rodgers comes into his own and Pack fans forget Brent.
Chicago 8-8
Not sure getting Cutler was a great bargain.
Detroit 5-11
Matthew Stafford is Bill Clinton’s love child.

NFC West
Arizona 11-5
No fluke. Solid at nearly every position.
*San Francisco 10-6
Singletary has this team ready to surprise. Anything to keep him from dropping trou.
Seattle 7-9
Which Seahawks will we see this year? One of the league’s question marks.
St. Louis 4-10
This is the year they start going up.

NFC South
Atlanta 10-6
Now that Matt Ryan knows not to give away his counts, look out.
New Orleans 9-7
Highest-octane offense around. Who says Arena Football is dead?
Carolina 7-9
Trouble in the front office, looked bad in preseason. This division’s Seahawks.
Tampa Bay 5-11
Rebuilding in first year with coach Raheem Morris. This division’s Rams.

AFC Wild Card:
Miami over Indianapolis
Houston over Tennessee

NFC Wild Card:
Atlanta over San Francisco
Green Bay over Philadelphia

AFC Second Round:
Pittsburgh over Houston
San Diego over Miami

NFC Second Round:
Green Bay over Minnesota
Atlanta over Arizona

AFC Championship
Pittsburgh over San Diego
Atlanta over Green Bay

Super Bowl XLIV:
Pittsburgh 27, Atlanta 13

Well, what did you expect me to say? GO STEELERS!

Not almost heaven

2009-08-07T22:46:00.002-04:00

I had not seen the West Virginia Derby since 2003, when Soto held off Dynever in a thrilling stretch duel in pouring-down rain.

That was also the last time I’d seen horses go around a racetrack with my own eyes.

That’s right. I once made my living by watching nine or more races each day, but grown-up responsibilities have limited my racing enjoyment to simulcasting at OTBs—and even then, only twice a year (the Kentucky Derby and the Breeders’ Cup).

But when I found out that Mine That Bird was running in the West Virginia Derby, I had to go. I pulled all the racetrack memories out of the recesses of my brain and couldn’t recall ever seeing a Kentucky Derby winner who wasn’t on TV.

So Jamie and I made the trip to Chester, W.Va., to Mountaineer Park to see the West Virginia Derby. Mountaineer is allegedly a 30-minute drive from Pittsburgh, but construction and (I think) a major accident made the trip almost two hours. By the time we got there, the fourth race had just been run. Bear in mind that there was a time when I would have gone into a Rain Man-style fit of rage if I missed the first race of a given program. Nowadays, it’s more like, “Wow, that New Cumberland sure is a pretty town.”

We’d been to Mountaineer before (one of our first dates was there), but we were not prepared for what we saw. There were cars parked along the far turn, along the backstretch, and into the casino area. People were walking frantically from the casino lot to get to the track. A guard told me the parking lot was full, but he let me drop Jamie off at the front gate and turn around. I wound up parking by the three-eighths pole.

Inside, we found places to sit on a bench in the grandstand, which was a throwback to the days when the track was called Waterford Park, the home of the $1,500 claimers. The area where we sat was next to a section that was (albeit lamely) roped off due to construction. That area had the first few rows of benches missing, with several ladders lying on the floor. Mountaineer Park is apparently going into the home repair business as a sideline. People cut through the area all afternoon, and one man almost fell.

I headed for the concession stands, only to find a line stretching all the way across the grandstand (50 feet, maybe?). I found the vending machines, only to find they were out of Coke and Sprite, so I headed back to the Home Depot Annex with two Vaults and a bag of pretzels.

The heat started to be too much for Jamie, so she went inside to play the nickel slots (only to be chased out by cigarette smoke later). I waited in line for 10 to 15 minutes before each race to make my bets, but I hit a couple of exactas and began to feel as if I were a kid hanging out in the Beulah Park grandstand again.

Then it was time for the West Virginia Derby. Jamie and I went down to the rail—I should say near the rail, as we couldn’t get down to it. Jamie took some pictures of Mine That Bird with her cell phone (I had been told, apparently wrongly, that cameras were not allowed) and the crowd cheered as he walked by. With horse racing being eclipsed by other sports and forms of gambling, it’s reassuring to hear people applauding a champion.

He did not win. My guess is that Mike Smith got scared when Big Drama stole off a big early lead and made his move too soon. Mine That Bird is a deep closer and just can’t be rushed. Soul Warrior became another one of many longshot winners of this race.

I didn’t have Soul Warrior, but I still had some tickets and vouchers to cash in. The lines back at the grandstand windows were too long, so I looked for any other window—past hundreds of slot machines, up and down three flights of stairs (the elevator was broken), and finally wound up in the clubhouse dining room, where I found a window with no line.

Maybe Mountaineer wasn’t expecting Mine That Bird to enter the race and didn’t have time to prepare for a crowd of over 20,000. Maybe they just don’t care about the racing end of the facility anymore.

In any case, the track needs to get its act together the next time a Kentucky Derby winner pays a visit. With the West Virginia Derby purse now at $750,000, it will happen again.

Nice decision, Hossa

2009-06-13T09:35:00.001-04:00

A One Man Band

2009-05-30T23:27:00.003-04:00

The entire Cleveland Cavaliers team owes LeBron James an apology. Including, and maybe especially, Mike Brown.

That young man did everything he could to put the city of Cleveland on his back and drag it, singlehandedly, to the NBA finals. Shame on the rest of the team, and shame on Mike Brown for his ineffective and lazy coaching. LeBron deserves better.

I'll start the movement right here. Fire Mike Brown.

Lord Stanley's Cup

2009-05-30T19:56:00.002-04:00

It's a million little things.

It's the work in the corners. The backchecking. The sparks of inspiration at the right time. The deals for just the right players. The pain of last year. The hope of this year. The love of the fans. The hate of the opponents. The tradition of hockey and of sportsmanship from time immemorial.

It all starts, and finishes, tonight.

GO PENS!

The real winner?

2009-05-18T22:28:00.003-04:00

The history books will say that Mine That Bird won the 2009 Kentucky Derby and Rachel Alexandra won the 2009 Preakness, but that might not prove to be the real story.

The real winner could be horse racing itself.

This is the first time in a few years that I’ve seen the sports world this excited about horse racing. Mine That Bird’s 50-1 victory put him on the cover of Sports Illustrated and jockey Calvin Borel on The Tonight Show. Rachel Alexandra’s game win was the top story on SportsCenter and has a nation anticipating a rematch in the Belmont.

For all the recent talk about horse racing’s decline—and its many problems that have not gone away—the rumors of its death may be greatly exaggerated.

There was another time when horse racing was on a downward arc. General anti-gambling sentiment hit America around the turn of the 20th century. Many tracks closed. Churchill Downs went bankrupt, and the Kentucky Derby was a relatively minor stakes.

Key to the Derby’s resurrection—and the sport’s in general—were wins by a longshot and a filly.

First there was Donerail’s victory at 91-1 in the 1913 Derby—still the longest shot to win the race. Then there was Regret, who was undefeated when she became the first filly to win the Derby in 1915. These were the first in a series of notable wins in the 1910s and 1920s that brought the Derby back into the national spotlight and helped to make horse racing one of America’s most popular spectator sports.

Other sports have gone through down cycles, too. SI ran an article declaring the NBA dead—the year before Larry Bird and Magic Johnson were drafted. The NHL was off network TV for years, but now it’s on NBC and several cable channels. And, while I don’t really consider it a sport—but it proves my point—professional wrestling was late-night TV filler before the Wrestlemania phenomenon of the 1980s.

Could we be seeing the beginnings of a Thoroughbred renaissance? Can horse racing be the top story on SportsCenter more than twice a year? Will we soon see Calvin Borel stickers next to NASCAR decals on people’s cars?

Stranger things have happened….

One for the ages

2009-05-13T22:30:00.002-04:00

The best NHL playoff series I have ever seen ended in ignominy for the Capitals, who, frankly, deserved better. They didn't deserve to win, not the way they played, but they deserved a close game. But as ever in the sands of time, the Penguins have the Capitals' number, again and again and again. And I will not complain.

In an epic win, one big statistic stands out. The Pengins did not take one single penalty. Not one. I wonder what the stat miners will make of that?

On to the Eastern Conference Finals, versus either the Hurricanes or the Bruins. Bring 'em on.

Pre-game jitters

2009-05-11T09:57:00.002-04:00

What a great kid Geno Malkin is. Can you imagine a young hot-shot player in any other sport (and even most other hockey players) saying so sincerely how much he loves his dad? And his parents are likewise awesome.

Tonight's game six against the Capitals could be decisive. The Penguins took a while to find their stride this series, but they appear to have settled in well with Saturday's win at Washington. They were able to mostly contain Ovechkin and Varlamov, the exceptional rookie goaltender, is showing a great deal of vulnerability. Most impressive of all, though, is the way Hal Gill and Rob Scuderi are matching up against Ovechkin's line.

The team is keeping mum about Sergei Gonchar's injury for now but I'm really hoping it's not that serious, and thinking it probably ended his season. I'm sure I'm being a total homer here, but to me, that was a fineable, suspension-worthy dirty hit. There is no other reason he had to stick out his leg that way except intent to do harm.

I plan to try to get back to blogging here more often again but for now life is kind of in the way. In the meantime, GO PENS!

Mine That Bird?

2009-05-07T20:31:00.003-04:00

Mine That Bird.

Mine That Bird.

Days later, it’s still hard to believe. Mine That Bird, last seen finishing off the board in the Sunland Park Derby, will have his name on Kentucky Derby mint julep glasses for as long as they make them.

I don’t know of a single serious handicapper who had him. I had to cash in a voucher at the OTB after the Derby, and the line was comprised of a handful of drunks who liked the name.

One wag noted that there are probably some rich ornithologists out there. Maybe some Charlie Parker fans, too. I imagine Peter Griffin had him:

So now, Andy Beyer, Randy Moss (not that one) and all the other public handicappers are trying to figure it out. Remembering my dad’s admonition that “they all look good after the race,” I submit the following:

1. Mine That Bird enjoys running through a moat. There was no evidence of this in his past performances, as he had not raced on an off track before last Saturday. While he had some off-track ability in his bloodline, so did several others in the field. There are just some eventualities that you can’t predict in this game.

2. This is a weak 3-year-old crop (forget about Rachel Alexandra for the moment), made worse by several key injuries. By the time the Derby came around, the top four finishers in last year’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile were all out of action, as were the two best hopefuls to arise from the Derby preps, I Want Revenge and Quality Road. But even so, several of this year’s Derby entrants would have wound up in the Withers or the Federico Tesio at this time last season because they wouldn’t have had enough graded stakes earnings. Mine That Bird didn’t have to beat as much as he would have in some other years.

3. To paraphrase the salesmen in The Music Man, Calvin Borel knows the territory. Borel must have been really good to some old man who plays Skee Ball (inside joke for you Dogma fans) at some point. In two of the last three Derbys, “Bo-Rail” has made his patented (OK, he hasn’t really patented it, but maybe he should) move from far back along the Churchill rail, and the holes opened up for him at the right time.

4. It could be that Mine That Bird is better than his prep race form suggests. He was named Canada’s 2-year-old of the year, which is not chopped liver. The Preakness will tell whether the gelding is a one-hit wonder. Remember that Canonero II—who came to the 1971 Derby off a loss in a $3,500 handicap in Venezuela—shocked the world with his victory, then followed it up by setting a track record while winning the Preakness.

There is one thing we know for sure.

The legend of the Kentucky Derby has gotten bigger.

If you missed it, or just want to relive it, sit back and enjoy.

The obligatory 2009 Kentucky Derby blog entry

2009-05-01T19:19:00.003-04:00

Many Kentucky Derbys have had 20 starters, but I haven’t seen a recent one where the pool of talent was shallower.

Several horses that would not have had the graded earnings to break into the field in past years have, due to attrition, been able to give their owners free access to the best Derby parties, and little else.

Consider that six horses each have only a maiden win, and only three have won a Grade 1 stakes. One of the race’s “buzz” horses, Dunkirk, is eligible for a non-winners-of-three allowance.

Then there are horses that have raced on synthetic tracks in all or most of their starts. Synthetic surfaces are as different from dirt as dirt is from turf. The Derby is not the place to make your dirt debut. Note that none of the top four finishers in the 2008 Derby had raced on a synthetic track. I don’t think that was just a coincidence. (Nor was it Just A Coincidence—he ran last week.)

All this has made my handicapping a bit easier this year—almost too easy.

My first group of horses to eliminate is those who are clearly overmatched: Mine That Bird, Join In The Dance, Atomic Rain, Nowhere to Hide, and Flying Private.

Then there are those who have not started on dirt, or have shown poor form on dirt: Mr. Hot Stuff, Advice, Hold Me Back, Chocolate Candy, and Pioneerof The Nile.

Which leaves us with 10 horses.

Regal Ransom and Desert Party—Here we go again. Sheikh Mohammed is determined to have things his way by prepping his horses in Dubai instead of the U.S. This has not worked in the past, and I don’t see this year being an exception. These horses’ 2-year-old starts in the U.S. were not outstanding enough to overcome the unorthodox training strategy (although you might want to throw Desert Party in your exotics if the track is muddy). It’s also telling that Frankie Dettori didn’t come over to ride one of them.

Summer Bird—I was looking at this one as a live longshot after the move he made at the end of the Arkansas Derby until I looked at his past performances. March 1 of the 3-year-old year is the latest racing debut for a Derby starter I can recall. His connections are asking for too much, too soon.

Dunkirk—I’ve never seen so much support at the Derby for a horse who has never won a stakes. Trainer Todd Pletcher blamed a slow pace for Dunkirk’s loss in the Florida Derby. In what universe is six furlongs in 1:10.3 slow? Watch the replay of that race and you’ll see that he just couldn’t stay with Quality Road down the lane.

General Quarters—He’s been one of the feel-good stories because his owner-trainer is a 75-year-old retired teacher. He looked good in the Sam F. Davis (and the Blue Grass, of course, but that was on a rubber track), where he handed Musket Man his only loss. I watched both the Davis and the Tampa Bay Derby (where Musket Man won) and didn’t see a real excuse for either loss. Then again, all races at Tampa Bay Downs look like a stampede through a sandbar. I prefer Musket Man because his overall record is more consistent.

And now, in honor of Dr. Demento, it’s Funny Five time!

5. WEST SIDE BERNIE—Every year, there’s a plodder who comes in third or fourth and messes up everybody’s gimmicks. This one is a late-closer with dirt experience, and he’s been getting a share of the purse against the big boys. He could be this year’s Denis of Cork.

4. MUSKET MAN—Don’t overlook a horse who has never been off the board, especially one with that all-important dirt experience.

3. FRIESAN FIRE—The karma choice. After all the undeserved abuse his connections have taken after Eight Belles’ death last year, it would be so great for them—and the sport—to see them win it all. I would feel a little better, though, if the horse’s last race weren’t seven weeks ago. Could move up one—or two—notches if the track is sloppy.

2. PAPA CLEM—I thought of him as a one-dimensional speedball, but the Arkansas Derby reverses that judgment. He showed that he doesn’t need the lead, and his kind of tactical speed is very dangerous in the Derby.

Call me a chalk-eating weasel, but on paper and on video, there is a clear number one this year….

1. I WANT REVENGE—He was just one of several contenders on the West Coast plasti-tracks, but a move to the New York dirt gave him another gear. Reminds me of what happened when Cigar was moved from turf to dirt. If you have any doubts, just watch this:

Anything that could have gone wrong did for I Want Revenge in the Wood—a horrible start, traffic problems in the stretch, and a pace that was down to a crawl—but he still won. Barring a true disaster, I don’t see what else the Derby could throw at him.

That’s it. Your mileage may vary.

La Coupe Stanley

2009-04-16T22:16:00.001-04:00

La Coupe Stanley. I just love to say that. I don’t know why. There’s just something about mixing French and English that seems weird.

It may not be the most popular sports championship, but it is certainly one of the biggest. Literally. I can’t think of any team sports trophy that has the names of every team winner engraved on it. It’s the sports trophy answer to 6-foot-7, 263-pound Hal Gill.

It’s also the only sports championship where the sport is a totally different game than the regular season.

Sure, it’s still hockey, in that 12 players with sticks will bat a puck back and forth across a sheet of ice. But the intensity makes it a completely different game. When announcers say, during a lively stretch of a regular season game, that the teams are playing “tournament hockey,” it’s a big compliment.

The NHL has the longest season of all the major American sports, in a sport that is rivaled only by football in toughness. It’s impossible to maintain intensity from October to June, so there are bound to be lulls in the action. Try to stay awake at 1 a.m. as the Penguins play the L.A. Kings in December, and you’ll wonder how you became a hockey fan.

But all that is forgotten this week as 16 teams spend all their reserves in pursuit of the Stanley Cup.

A good example is Wednesday’s 4-1 Game 1 win by the Penguins over the Philadelphia Flyers. The Penguins have been improving steadily over the past few weeks with the addition of Coach Dan Bylsma, the return to action of powerful shooter Sergei Gonchar, and skillful trades that brought Bill Guerin, Chris Kunitz and Craig Adams to the ‘Burgh. But Wednesday night, they reached yet another level, including a 33-27 edge in shots and a 38-21 advantage on faceoffs.

Regardless of who your team is, they will play like you’ve never seen them before in the next few days. Everybody wants to win La Coupe Stanley.

Picking up the Pen (s)

2009-03-28T10:08:00.002-04:00

I'm going to tempt the fates here and deliver a mini-analysis of what's gone right with the Penguins since Dan Bylsma took over as head coach. The turn-around has been nothing short of stunning. Since Bylsma took over on February 16th, the team has lost just two out of 18 games in regulation time, and lost only three games in OT or shootouts, taking one point. They have won 13 games, three of those in OT or shootouts. The Pens came into Bylsma's term with 58 points. Headed into the final seven games of the season, a team that had a slim to none chance of making the playoffs now sits firmly if a tad uncomfortably in sixth place, with 88 points and a bit of wiggle room either way that could, potentially, get them into a home-ice situation in the first round depending on how other teams do.

I'll let you think on that for a minute. 30 points since Bylsma took over, in 18 games. Freaking unbelievable.

Now, not for one second do I believe the coaching change is responsible for all of that. The dead, stinking albatross-like weight of Ryan Whitney was finally eliminated from the shoulders of the team. Defensive leader Sergei Gonchar came roaring back with a vengance, earning 15 points in 18 games. And late trading was good to the Penguins, with the additions of Chris Kunitz, Bill Guerin, and Craig Adams.

Still, could Michel Therrien have done the same with the same circumstances? I doubt it. In hockey, sometimes a team is just done with a coach, and as much as I like Therrien and as great as his results were last year, it was apparent that the players were through with him. It's a little sad, but it's not the first time this has happened to a hockey coach, and it won't be the last. Therrien understands that, as does Bylsma, I'm sure. It's tough to keep everyone on your side and working to their full potential when things start to go bad, and Therrien was unable to stop the skid. Good luck to him, wherever he ends up.

In the meantime, Dan Bylsma has a fired-up team, and excited fan base, and a stellar record in his brief tenure. Here's hoping he can continue the success deep into the playoffs, and here's hoping that, if he doesn't, the team will continue to perform for him next year if GM Shero keeps him on.

In other news, I found this sweet Mario Lemieux commercial from 1987 on youtube while I was looking for something else.

Love that two-toned grey Blazer. I'll bet Mario doesn't drive one of those any more.

Here's what I was looking for, the "Great Day for Hockey" commercial featuring Evgeni Malkin. It's not as good as I wanted it to be since it's just recorded from someone's television set, but it's an awesome commercial because it really showcases Malkin's skills as a player and how he sees the game.

Hopefully at some point I can find a better copy.

A random bit of Errey-Otica.

(Be sure to check out Erreyblog for the best coverage of Bob and Steigy's verbal pulchritude.)

"There's five guys on that puck! Just throw a blanket over them!" WHAT????

Until next time...

Coincidence?

2009-03-26T21:56:00.001-04:00

Hmm.

Pitt makes the Elite 8.

The Penguins are on track to a solid playoff position after a VERY shaky couple of months.

And I haven't been blogging much here.

Coincidence?

You decide.

A pre-emptive strike

2009-03-15T13:22:00.003-04:00

After being upset by West Virginia in the Big East Tournament, you may need to be convinced that the Pitt men’s basketball team is headed for big things in the NCAA Tournament.

Don’t worry. Check with Pittsburgh City Council.

Council has given its preliminary approval to legislation that would ban upholstered couches from outdoor use. What does this have to do with the NCAAs?

For one thing, putting indoor couches on your porch doesn’t make aesthetic sense. It sounds like the perfect setup for a Jeff Foxworthy joke. But I think Council has another issue on its mind.

Council wants to deter Pitt fans from burning couches should they win the Big Dance.

Furniture burning has become a dubious tradition after sporting events. Stories of couch-burning after the Ohio State-Michigan or Pitt-West Virginia football game have become legendary.

The latest episode occurred after Super Bowl XLIII, when all the local news channels had their cameras fixed on a single, burning couch in the middle of Forbes Avenue.

I don’t understand the phenomenon. Maybe you have to be a college student (and very drunk), but I’d really like to see one of those kids make payments on a couch from IKEA and then set it on fire.

(And, yes, it scares me that I sound like my dad now.)

All the same, I don’t think City Council would be in a hurry to pass this legislation if Pitt were a nine-seed.

Drive-by post

2009-03-07T14:40:00.003-05:00

I'll tell you what, if nobody in the NBA is smart enough to draft Levance Fields, they don't deserve him. That kid is the best point guard I've seen since Jen Rizzotti.

What the great ones do

2009-02-14T15:25:00.002-05:00

It really shows my age that I remember when heavyweight championship boxing matches were broadcast on network TV. Not pay-per-view, not even cable, but good old ABC.

One fight I’ll never forget was the 1976 bout between Muhammad Ali and Jimmy Young. My opinion of Ali has mellowed over the years, but back then, I found his “I Am The Greatest” schtick more annoying than charming. So I always rooted against him, to no avail.

Then came the Ali-Young fight. Young clearly outfought the champ throughout, and even Howard Cosell sensed an upset in the making. Imagine my shock when Ali won by unanimous decision.

My brother, Joe, wasn’t shocked. He said, “If you’re going to beat the champ, you have to knock him out.”

Many boxing pundits think that Young was robbed, but that’s beside the point here. In many of his fights, Ali did just what he had to do to win—and that’s why he could call himself “The Greatest.”

The same can be said about the Super Bowl XLIII Champion Pittsburgh Steelers. Most of their wins weren’t pretty. Some were the source of controversy, and most left them open to criticism. But they did what they had to do to win.

Consider the two regular-season matchups between the Steelers and the hated Baltimore Ravens. The first game went into overtime and ended with three points off of Jeff Reed’s toe, 23-20. The rivalry was as intense as the score was close. Running back Rashard Mendenhall was injured by a hit from Ray Lewis, and much trash talk was heard in the media for weeks when Ravens linebacker Terrell Suggs claimed that a bounty had been put out on Mendenhall and wide receiver Hines Ward.

The rematch did little to resolve those issues. It climaxed with a controversial play in which Santonio Holmes was credited with a touchdown after review for a 13-9 win. Whether the ball crossed the goal line is something that is still being argued all the way from here to Baltimore.

There was also the game against the San Diego Chargers, the first 11-10 game in NFL history. It, too, ended in controversy as a fumble recovery returned for a touchdown by Troy Polamalu was negated by a questionable call.

Add to that the 20-13 come-from-behind win over the drama-ridden Dallas Cowboys on the late interception for a TD by Deshea Townsend—and, finally, the 27-23 Super Bowl victory in which Holmes kept both feet inbounds for one of the most memorable moments in Super Bowl history.

Through this season, detractors have passed these close wins off as dumb luck. Come on. I can see a blown call being worth one or two wins a season, but nobody wins the Super Bowl on luck alone. Faced with one of the toughest schedules in recent NFL seasons, the Steelers did just what they needed to do to beat most of their opponents.

The result? A sixth Super Bowl victory, and one that was more than earned—by doing just enough to win.

That’s what the great ones do.

Happy Football-mas!

2009-02-01T10:27:00.003-05:00

All the analysis that can be done has been done. Everyone, hopefully, is prepared. Now all that's left is to play the game.

My prediction-Steelers 35, Cardinals 14. I don't actually care about the score, though. It all depends on how well we can cover Larry Fitzgerald and scare Kurt Warner.

GO STEELERS!!

The greatest sports franchise?

2009-01-28T18:28:00.002-05:00

We’ve made it this far.

::catches his breath and pinches himself again::

It’s still a bit hard to believe that the Steelers are in Super Bowl XLIII, with as many rough patches as we’ve hit this year. (And if it’s hard for me to believe, I can’t imagine what Cardinals fans must be thinking!) Then again, a Super Bowl seemed inconceivable to me in October of the 2005 season.

The Super Bowl is being analyzed to death, as usual. Will Hines Ward play? Will Ben Roethlisberger post a passer rating that media pundits won’t make fun of for years to come? How many Bruce Springsteen songs will we hear this week?

I’m not going to analyze the nuances of every position and matchup, mainly because I have a life and am not getting paid to write this blog. Instead, I’m going to talk about the team behind the team.

An ESPN columnist recently put forth the proposition that the Steelers are the greatest sports franchise—which, of course, set the message board on fire. And a case can be made for many different pro sports teams.

In baseball, there are the Yankees. In the 1950s, they would be the only candidate for the honor, but they have lost some of their luster, mainly because baseball has lost its luster. The steroids scandal looms large over the sport, and the lack of a salary cap has given the Yankees the reputation as “the best team money can buy.”

Within the NFL, some will say that the Dallas Cowboys are “America’s Team.” In the NBA, arguments can be made for the Celtics and Lakers. Quite a few hockey fans voted for the Montreal Canadiens. If I looked deep enough on the board, there was probably some Brit making a case for Manchester United.

Only the truly blind fans of any of those teams can hold out against the Steelers as the greatest franchise.

I moved here in November 2002 (I will always remember it as the day the Steelers and Falcons tied), and it didn’t take long to get caught in Steelermania. When a co-worker was selling tickets to a game the next year, I jumped at the chance.

It was, technically, a meaningless game against the Chargers. It was December and both teams had been eliminated from the playoffs. The temperature was in the 20s—not ideal conditions to sit seven rows from the top of Heinz Field.

You wouldn’t have known that by looking at the fans. The parking lot was filled with tailgaters and the place was as packed as if a playoff spot were on the line.

But fan fervor isn’t the only thing that makes Steelers fans great. Win or lose, we do it with class. While there are exceptions, as a rule, you would never see Steelers fans pelting the turf with beer bottles or cheering over an injured player. And, as far as I know, Heinz Field does not have, or need, its own jail.

This was borne out in the AFC Championship Game when Baltimore Ravens running back Willis McGahee was taken off the field on a stretcher after a scary neck injury. The sound in a stadium is far louder than it sounds on TV, and it was with pride that I could clearly hear Steelers fans shout, “Good luck, Willis!” as the gurney wheeled past.

Whatever happens on Saturday, I’m sure that the vast Steeler Nation will continue to represent the greatest sports franchise with class.

Steelers 31, Cardinals 17.

When everybody shows up

2009-01-12T22:05:00.002-05:00

After a season of teasing us with glimpses of greatness, the real Pittsburgh Steelers stood up Sunday.

With a few minor glitches, the Steelers played as if their jobs depended on it (which may have been true for some of them) and turned in the best game of the season.

The NFL playoffs have been a real nightmare so far if you bet the favorites. The Steelers were the only fave among last week’s winners, as well as the only home team. And the only one not named for a bird, whatever that means.

What the playoffs have lacked in predictability, they should make up for in excitement, as the final four (yeah, I know, that’s basketball talk) are all teams with checkered regular seasons that are peaking at the right time.

I never thought I would use the phrases “Arizona Cardinals” and “NFC Championship” in the same sentence—but I just did. The Cardinals have, at least in my lifetime, been one of the most hapless sports franchises. I was nine when they last won their division in 1975. Prior to this year, they had won one playoff game since their 1947 NFL Championship. This year’s NFC West title was dismissed by many (including me) as the result of playing in football’s worst division, and a pitiful game in New England in December didn’t help, but the Cardinals have proven the skeptics wrong with upsets over the Falcons and Panthers in the playoffs.

They face the Philadelphia Eagles, who sneaked into the wild card picture with some help, then earned their spot in Week 17 with a blowout of the Cowboys. Their season has been a rollercoaster. Besides the Cowboys rout, another high point was a win over…uh…some other team in Pennsylvania, while the nadir may have been, not a loss, but a tie—the first in the NFL since 2002—with the wretched Bengals. Donovan McNabb has endured injuries, being benched in favor of Kevin Kolb, and even being dissed by Rush Limbaugh, but still seeks that elusive Super Bowl ring.

On the AFC side, the Steelers have their third game of the season against the

BALTIMORE RAVENS

BOO

BALTIMORE RAVENS

BOO

(One for the Bugs Bunny fans out there)

The Ravens have generated bad karma from the start, as the team was formed when Art Modell pulled the Browns out of Cleveland in 1996 after he failed to get a new stadium. Since then, they have laid claim to the title formerly held by the Oakland Raiders as the NFL’s bad boys, with a formidable defense led by Ray Lewis and Ed Reed. With the Browns and Bengals fighting for the AFC North cellar, the Ravens have emerged as the Steelers’ arch-rival in recent years. Not that we don’t pwn them anyhow. Although they do get kudos for knocking off the towel-stomping Titans for us.

Then there are the one, the only, your Pittsburgh Steelers! It appears that the final piece of the puzzle came together in the Chargers game. The offensive line, maligned everywhere from this blog to a Wal-Mart parking lot, finally played to its potential, protected Ben Roethlisberger and opened lines for Willie Parker. I never imagined that the O-line would be one of the strongest parts of any game this season. Just one of many surprises in these playoffs.

For Sunday, as in any Steelers-Ravens game, expect the mother of all defensive struggles—and with the AFC championship on the line to boot. Sub-freezing temperatures, hits you can hear from the back row of section 512, the titanic struggle of good vs. evil. I can hear the NFL Films music now.

Does it get any better?

Steelers 17, Ravens 6.

Pleasant surprises, playoffs and otherwise

2009-01-10T13:14:00.003-05:00

While I'm trying to distract myself from the Pittsburgh Penguins' latest woes, I thought I'd go ahead and do the column I promised a couple of weeks ago, the year-beginning "best of" the NFL.

The San Francisco 49ers didn't make the playoffs, but they did make a great decision in hiring Mike Singletary as interim head coach. The 49ers were having a dismal season before they fired Mike Nolan, and Singletary's chances at keeping the head coaching job were far from guaranteed, but he sparked them to finish 7-9, and second in the NFC west. Look for the 49ers to be a force in upcoming seasons.

The Atlanta Falcons seemed to be headed for a multi-season skid after the whole Michael Vick debacle but they managed to come out strong with a playoff trip capping an 11-5 overall record. Quarterback Matt Ryan seems to have a good future, if they can keep him healthy with a good running back to take pressure off the throw. Mike Smith has secured his job there, for now, with AP Coach of the Year honors and exceeding expectations in a big way for Atlanta's football fans.

The Miami Dolphins went 1-15 last year. This year they made the playoffs with a division win before running out of gas against the Baltimore Ravens. Watch for GM Bill Parcells to continue to be head coach Tony Sparano's man behind the curtain. I expect Miami will continue to be a contender, especially if they can build a decent receiving corps that is worthy of 2 time Comeback Player of the Year, Chad Pennington.

Of course, what kind of Pittsburgh Native would I be if I didn't mention the Pittsburgh Steelers among teams that exceeded expectations? After an 07-08 season that could only be described as "meh", head coach Mike Tomlin came back this year to run roughshod over the conference at 6-0 and over the division at 10-2. With perennial foes New England and Indianapolis eliminated from contention, the Steelers biggest worry will be the Tennesee Titans if they manage to beat a strong Baltimore Ravens team this afternoon. Of course, the Steelers will have to prevail against an LT-less San Diego Chargers team and hope they get better officiating than last time they played the Bolts.

Everyone, enjoy watching the games this weekend and GO STEELERS!

Defense Always Wins Games

2009-01-06T19:37:00.002-05:00

How far do you think the Pittsburgh Steelers will go in the playoffs?

Take a look at how far they’ve come.

Just like in their Super Bowl-winning season of 2005, the Steelers have had a habit of exceeding expectations.

Before the season, all the pundits were predicting grim things for them. The schedule was too tough, Ben Roethlisberger has lost a step, and the offensive line stinks. A common prediction around the office was 6-10.

As often happens, the Steelers proved the naysayers wrong.

It’s a bit hard to see how they achieved the first-round bye. Following the Steelers this season has required a great deal of patience. They have won some of their games in unbelievable fashion, pulling games out at the last minutes and leaving fans more relieved than celebratory.

The offensive line has been nonexistent at times, Ben’s season has had more sacks than Giant Eagle, and the punters could have been picked at random from the Pittsburgh phone book. Even fans could be forgiven for not being able to picture these guys wearing Super Bowl rings.

So could they go all the way?

You bet.

When I was a reporter, I covered a high school football team called the Greyhounds. They were nicknamed the “Dawgs,” which the coach said was an acronym for “Defense Always Wins Games.”

So it is with the Steelers. The defense, led by linebacker James Harrison, has been compared to the great “Steel Curtain” of the 1970s. It’s noteworthy that Harrison was the only defensive player to receive MVP votes this year. He was named NFL Defensive Player of the Year. Add to this Troy Polamalu, Lamarr Woodley, Casey Hampton, Aaron Smith, and the rest, and, barring injuries, there isn’t a weak spot on this unit.

Is the defense enough? Maybe. I am reminded of the 2000 Baltimore Ravens, a team that won the Super Bowl primarily on the strength of an incredible defense. Remember that the starting QB on that squad was Trent Dilfer. Starr…Namath…Staubach…Bradshaw…Montana…and Dilfer. As they sang on "Sesame Street," one of these things is not like the others.

As we look forward to Saturday’s divisional playoff game, remember what Coach Brian Cross knew back at Grove City High School—Defense Always Wins Games.

Steelers 23, Chargers 10.

Omens and Portents

2009-01-05T22:48:00.001-05:00

I'm normally the last person to get worried, long season and all, but the Penguins are starting to worry me.

Complete inability to score on the power play
Complete inability to score, at all
Terrible defense.
No spark. Flat play all around. The only player with any interest in the game is Whitney.

If I were Michel Therrien, I'd be worried about my job at this point. Something has to change, and soon.

Also, the fans in New York are assholes. Instead of cheering your own team for decent play and great goalkeeping, yell disparagement at the opposition, making yourselves sound stupid.

More soon.

Our honor defend, we will fight to the end

2009-01-02T22:11:00.003-05:00

The quote is attributed to Jesus: “A prophet is not without honor save in his own country.”

I doubt if he was thinking of the Ohio State Buckeyes, but that idea could have easily applied to them as far as my family is concerned, for the team has been held in much higher esteem by my brothers and me since we all left Ohio.

If you live in Columbus, it is hard to escape the long shadow cast by the Buckeyes, even if you could care less about football. Every fall, the place goes football crazy. I don’t know if it’s because there were no major-league professional sports in Columbus until 2000, but every Saturday in the fall, the town’s eyes are on the Buckeyes.

Such was the case in my house when I was growing up, although we were fans in the loosest sense of the word. We followed the Buckeyes not because of any great loyalty to The Ohio State University (only two of five kids were OSU graduates), but because the team happened to be in the neighborhood. Nevertheless, it was hard not to be caught up in the spirit of a town that was coated in scarlet and gray. I remember listening to a show called the Byers Buckeye Bandwagon on Saturday mornings, which was basically one long ad for a local car dealer interspersed with numbers from the OSU Marching Band. Nothing like hearing that brass echoing “The Buckeye Battle Cry” as it could only on AM radio. The first time I really understood how much the Buckeyes meant to the town was when I saw the 1974 OSU-Michigan game on TV, when Michigan missed a field goal for the win and the crowd stormed the field.

While we cheered when they won, the losses were actually good for a few laughs. No figure was—and is—more associated with the Buckeyes than Coach Wayne Woodrow “Woody” Hayes. He was one of the greatest college football coaches in history, with five national titles and 13 Big Ten championships to his credit. But he was often the subject of ridicule in our house for his conservative play-calling and the violent temper that led to his downfall. I remember the 1977 Ohio State-Michigan game where he charged an ABC cameraman following an interception. The camera zoomed in on Woody, he ran towards it, and the next thing you saw was several seconds of sky.

Then there was The Punch that ended his career at the 1978 Gator Bowl. My brother Mike owned the first VCR I ever saw, and he caught The Punch on tape during a newscast. One night, burned out on tapes of horse races, we played The Punch repeatedly and laughed ourselves silly.

Not that we were the Buckeyes’ only critics. Then, as now, few college football teams come under more scrutiny from their fans. Columbus radio call-in shows following a loss to Michigan are unique in their criticism of coaches, players and anything else you’ve got. It doesn’t matter if the Bucks won every other game that season—you lose to Michigan and your job is in jeopardy. The Buckeye faithful never warmed up to former coach John Cooper, mainly because he declared that the Michigan game was “just another game.”

Now that each of us has moved to a different state, we are much bigger Buckeye fans. Whether that’s ironic or appropriate, I’ll let you decide.

It was incredible to listen to my brothers talk about the Buckeyes when we met in Florida for our nephew’s wedding last year. We sat in a restaurant watching OSU play Wisconsin as they analyzed the team’s strengths and weaknesses at every position and talked seriously about how they could win it all. Hard to believe these guys used to call them the “Choke-eyes.”

Why the difference? Because the Buckeyes are not just the local team anymore. They represent something bigger—our family, our roots, and the things that made us who we are today. As John Mellencamp once put it so eloquently, “I cannot forget from where it is that I come from.”

GO BUCKS! BEAT TEXAS!

The year's worst

2008-12-29T21:25:00.002-05:00

Well, it’s that time of year, the time when all the sports pundits sit around and endlessly analyze what went right and what went wrong with football teams around the US. Who am I to be the exception? Nobody, that’s who. I’m going to divide this up into two parts, what went wrong, and what went right. Today’s column is a salute to the wrong side of the NFL.

What do these things have in common?

Cleveland,
the New York Jets, and
Notre Dame.

All have had high expectations from coaching changes. None of those expectations have been met. All the coaches came out of New England’s system under Bill “the cheatin’ hoodie” Belichick.

Not so easy to run up a winning record when you don’t have tape of the opposition’s signals, is it Charlie? Brett Favre couldn’t bail you out, Mangini? And Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou, Romeo? You’re a nice guy, but you’re a lousy coach, dude. So far, the Beliclones are not doing so well. Getting that tradition of skullduggery started in a new city must be tough. My only wish is that someone would pay me the kind of money those guys are getting for doing a piss-poor job. I would rest comfortably on my laurels, and you wouldn’t hear from me any more. Retirement, here I come! Charlie Weis in particular should be ashamed of the money he's taking away from the Catholic Church. They could be doing a lot of good with that seven million, restoring a fresco or two, buying the pope a new hat, or funding some orphanages. Touchdown Jesus is weeping somewhere.

A few more things that have some common ground.

Dallas,
Detroit, and
Oakland.

What do they have in common? Bad ownership, that’s what.

In Oakland, Al Davis is just a scary, scary man. Nothing will truly change there until he’s either died or metamorphosed. Your guess is as good as mine as to which will happen.

Detroit is just inept. They’re like the opposite of King Midas; everything they touch turns to shit. I think they need to do like the Arena League and take a year off to regroup. And draft something other than a damn wide receiver for a change.

Then there’s Dallas. Ah, Dallas. Despite being shoved down our throats every year as “America's team”, they aren’t and never will be. This group is pitiful. The players are so busy throwing each other and the coaching staff under the bus, it’s a wonder they have time to get endorsement contracts. Underachievement is their constant watchword. And in Wade Phillips, son of O.A (Old Asshole) “Bud” Phillips, Jerry Jones has the perfect head coach. Someone who will never, ever interfere in what Jerry Jones wants. A billion dollar stadium. All the plastic surgery money can buy.

A team made of drama queens to keep Jerry in the spotlight. What more could an egomaniac want? A super bowl trophy? Don’t be silly. This team doesn’t need a dumb Lombardi to prove what they are. All they need is a statue of TO, because he exemplifies everything they’re about. Let the Dallas press clamor all they want for Phillips’ head, it will never happen so long as he lets Jerry Jones run the real show.

Seattle,
Jacksonville, and
Buffalo.

Three teams that could have gone either way this year, the biggest disappointment has to be Jacksonville. They were poised to make a good run deep into the playoffs, and they just… imploded. I can’t explain it. I didn’t see enough of their games to know for sure but I think they relied too much on the big quarterback being a tough guy and had a lack of offensive balance. It’s a disappointment, but it doesn’t change the fact that whether he’s 11-5 like last year or 5-11 like this year, Jack DelRio is still the best-dressed coach in football.

Seattle’s year reminded me of a less competent Steelers team in Bill Cowher’s final year as coach but with more apathy and less skill. And Buffalo just makes me sad. I am sure they’d be delighted to see a Super Bowl loss, or any sort of playoff hope, but this year went the way of so many before, into mediocrity and an early end to their season.

Kansas City, St. Louis, and Cincinnati? Just a simple case of more of the same. It’s a good thing those cities have baseball teams, it gives them something to look forward to. Football is certainly not going to improve there any time soon. St. Louis probably has the most talented team of the three and has the best chance at a rebound in the next several years, and they have a real star in Steven Jackson, if they can keep him. Kansas City continues a new tradition of football ineptitude. I remember not so long ago we used to worry about getting them in the playoffs. No longer. And Cinci is now nothing but a punch line in a long series of jokes, most of them starting with either Chad Ocho Cinco or an arrest.

Until next time, when I’ll have happier times in the NFL with some big turnarounds, playoff hopes, and for real predictions.

New favorite thing

2008-12-16T05:45:00.002-05:00

Penguins visit Children's Hospital, bring presents.

Shout-out to the PittsburghPens community on Livejournal for this. Bring your kleenex. It looks like they really took a lot of time and spent time playing games, visiting, etc. What a great group of guys.

These are a few of my favorite things

2008-12-15T15:44:00.002-05:00

Video of last week's game-winning interception.

My favorite thing is Mike Tomlin's sweet flying chest bump with Big Ben at 0:37. I'm pretty sure that's Tomlin going WOO! WOO! WOO! in the background too. I love that guy. Seriously.

Yinz Love Da Stillers.

Consistent brilliance. The NFL decided he wasn't allowed to use video clips under fair use and made him pull some of his previous videos, so he started using plastic figurines to represent the plays. WIN. He also does a Yinz Love Da Pens series worth checking out.

Sidney Crosby's hat trick-the first goal is a thing of amazing beauty and skill, and the third is a hell of a lot of fun.

Bob Errey. Oh Bob. That's an oldie but a goodie.

This week's Errey-Otica includes
"The god of thunder has stricken!" Steigy on Eric Goddard's goal, and "People are aroused by that!", Errey referring to the exciting fast play in the Pens/Devils game.

Gene Collier, the PG's best sports writer, has a good column about Sunday's victory against the Ravens and Ben's drive.

Bob and I are speculating on how far the phrase "double chinstrap football" can get into the running for the 2008 Trite Trophy. The talking threads on ESPN used that phrase at least 20 times in the run-up to the game on Sunday and it got old, fast.

The Penguins are having a mini-slump, but it'll pass. Once the defensive injuries are healed up, hopefully things will improve on the power play and also the penalty kill. We got killed by the Flyers' power play on Saturday, mostly because our defense is barely out of Wilkes-Barre, but also because it was our third game in three and a half days. I'm not worried, I keep telling myself. It's early.

It's interesting to speculate on what a different sport hockey would be if there were only 16 games played a year, like football. I like that we play practically 16 games a month, it's more entertainment and less melodrama.

Speaking of melodrama, how about that T.O.?

Oh, and this just in... Terrell Owens is a 12 year old.

Another good piece of speculation-T.O. and Plaxico Burress both end up in Oakland, under the kindly tutelage of Al Davis. AAAAAHHHHH!

Until next time, Sports Fans.

The impact of one play

2008-12-13T18:31:00.003-05:00

If Deshea Townsend starred in It’s a Wonderful Life, Clarence would show him the Dallas Cowboys winning Super Bowl XLIII, the Pittsburgh Steelers not making the playoffs, and a Halliburton CEO winning $1 million from ESPN.

As the NFL regular season winds down to the playoffs, it’s clear that one play by Townsend will affect the destinies of several teams—and it’s changed the life of one UPS worker in Miami.

Steelers fans know what happened—Townsend picked off a pass by Tony Romo with 1:40 left to give the Steelers a 20-13 comeback win over the Dallas Cowboys—but the ramifications of that play have been felt far beyond the top row of Heinz Field.

That play kept the Steelers in line for a first-round bye in the playoffs and hurt the Cowboys’ chances of making the playoffs at all. It has also kicked off a meltdown in Dallas.

The pass was intended for Jason Witten, which has led Terrell Owens to make public statements that Romo favors Witten over him. As he did at San Francisco and Philadelphia, T.O. is being a destructive influence in the locker room—which is just fine for fans of any team other than the much-hated Cowboys.

As yet another soap opera unfolds in Dallas (Who shot down T.O.?), several other teams suddenly have a better chance at the NFC wild card spot to which the Cowboys are clinging by their spurs as I write this. Just judging from the remaining schedules, don’t count out Philly.

The win also kept the Steelers one game in front of the even more-hated (at least in Pittsburgh and Cleveland) Baltimore Ravens and brought them even closer to clinching a playoff spot.

As the NFL millionaires fight over the chance to make even more money, Townsend’s play has made Samuel Louis-Charles a millionaire, too. Louis-Charles, or Bigsam1122 as he’s known at espn.com, predicted the winners of 25 straight sports events correctly to win $1 million in ESPN’s “Streak for the Cash” game. Louis-Charles, who had stopped watching the game and gone to work when the Steelers were behind 13-3, has said he will send gifts to Townsend and Romo. I’m sure Romo will be just thrilled to get his.

Other Steelers have had more impact on the season, and there are more likely Pro Bowl candidates.

But when the 2008 season goes in the books, it will be hard to think of a play that’s had the impact of Townsend’s interception.

How I fell in and out of love with a sport

2008-12-06T10:47:00.002-05:00

Change has been the theme of this election year. We all know about the change that happened in the White House and the change that didn’t happen in California.

There was also a referendum that gained little publicity outside the state where it was held, but it could eventually have repercussions in sports, or at least in the gaming industry, nationwide.

Last month, the voters of Massachusetts decided to ban dog racing. The state’s two greyhound tracks, Wonderland and Raynham-Taunton Park, will have to cease operations by Jan. 1, 2010, barring any last-minute legal challenges.

This may seem minor to anyone unfamiliar with dog racing, but it’s a major blow to the sport. Of the 16 states where dog racing is legal, only in Florida has it been entrenched more firmly. When Sports Illustrated ran an article on dog racing in the early ‘90s, Wonderland, one of the most popular dog tracks in the U.S., was featured because it regularly outdrew the Boston area’s Thoroughbred race track, Suffolk Downs. SI used this example to infer that dog racing was a major threat to horse racing. (Which is sort of like comparing Ohio State football to the Cincinnati Bengals and inferring that college football is superior to the NFL.)

That threat never materialized, mainly due to increased competition from casinos and other forms of gaming, but also because many people became aware of dog racing’s dirty secrets.

They were enough to turn me off the sport in a hurry.

It wasn’t always that way. I became a dog racing fan in the mid-1990s when I covered Delta Downs, a Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse track in Vinton, La., for Daily Racing Form. When I found out there was a dog track, Gulf Greyhound Park, just two and a half hours to the west near Houston, I had to check it out.

I immediately became fascinated by the constant action (a race goes off every nine or 10 minutes, compared to 18 to 20 minutes for horses), the program statistics, the ease of handicapping (two words: early speed), the letter-grade system of ranking dogs that assured a competitive race—and, of course, the dogs themselves.

The greyhound is the opposite of most people’s idea of a pretty dog—so thin, with a coat that appears matted (but is thicker than it looks) and bulging, cartoonish eyes, it appears from the front as if half of it is missing, but it possesses a unique, regal beauty. I must have looked like the biggest idiot at the track when I would watch the post parade from the rail and gush over the field. “Aww…look at them little guys…aww, big babies, they’re looking so sad…aww, that one’s got racing stripes!” As Bob Seger once said, I wish I didn’t know now what I didn’t know then.

I even gave the breed a nickname. I once covered high school sports for a team called the Greyhounds, who had a mascot named Scuffy. Scuffy inspired me to dub greyhounds in general “scuppy dogs.”

Soon, I was going to Gulf whenever I got the chance. I would stay in a motel overnight on long weekends to catch racing action for two straight days. I even developed a good-luck ritual when I approached the place on I-45—I would always sing the theme from “Scooby-Doo.” (Yeah, I know, Scooby’s a Great Dane. Sue me.) If time permitted, I would either come or leave via a back way in order to take the Galveston Ferry, get out of my car and enjoy the Gulf breeze. It was pure degenerate gambling bliss.

At the time, I wondered why dog racing existed in gaming’s ghetto. It seemed like a secret world, an acquired taste. Even non-racing fans can name several champion Thoroughbreds, but the only racing dog most people can name is Santa’s Little Helper.

I would not learn the reason until a few years later.

I started reading online about the cruelty of the sport. I read about overbreeding and how the puppies that don’t make the cut are killed. I read about the practice of training dogs with “live lure”—teaching them to hunt using live rabbits, cats and other animals. I read about how, despite the industry’s burgeoning adoption program, many dogs are killed when their racing days are through—and the canine “killing fields” that have been discovered to prove it. The dog racing industry has done little to refute this evidence, aside from making increasingly desperate pleas to adopt a retired racer.

I haven’t set foot in a dog track since I learned the truth about the sport, but I always kept a tiny glimmer of hope that the industry might somehow find a way to clean up its act.

I know in my heart that the voters of Massachusetts have done the right thing—but why does the vote leave me feeling a little bit sad?

******

For information on Going Home Greyhounds, an organization that places retired racing greyhounds in homes in the Pittsburgh area, go to www.goinghomegreyhounds.org.

Monday Semi-Roundup

2008-11-30T21:52:00.006-05:00

It's been a good weekend for Pittsburgh sports fans. The Steelers kicked major Pawts ass in their home stadium. Maybe it will shut the pundits up for five minutes. I was ready to throw a shoe through the TV during ESPN's pre-game hoo-raw on Sunday morning because they were pretty much saying the Steelers were going to lose and weren't all that good. Let's have a look at that, shall we?

Patriots were one for 19 on third down conversions.
Patriots had three fumbles and two interceptions.
23 unanswered points for the Steelers.
The Steelers scored on four of five New England turnovers.
The defense was stifling and Dick LeBeau (love that guy!) made the needed adjustments, again, going into the second half. 267 yards allowed.

The fluidity and adaptability of the Steelers defense is, in my opinion, their most dangerous quality. I feel pretty good about the rest of the season now, what with the offensive line finally gelling. The titans are the biggest hurdle, but they're beatable. There isn't much in the NFC that can challenge today's team other than the Giants, and they're also eminently beatable, particularly with Plaxico Burress out of the lineup. Oh, Plax. Never change, ok? I love you just the way you are.

Moving on.

Pitt wins the backyard brawl against West Virginia. A moral victory and probably enough to keep Dave Waanstedt on board for another year. I think he's been a consistent underachiever and scouts poorly but what do I know. It never ceases to amaze me, though, that so many coaches think life is going to be easier as college coaches. College is harder-these kids aren't sure if football is going to be their life. College has a revolving door-you can't keep a player around much after five years unless you put him on staff. And as Charlie Weis can tell you, in college football, you don't get the other team's defensive signals taped for you. Oh, sorry, did I type that out loud? My bad.

Pitt Women's hoops is 4-1. I'll be glad when they start showing some games on TV. That probably won't happen until tournament time, unfortunately, because everything from poker to MMA to bass fishing has precedence over one of the most exciting team sports out there. Repeat after me, sports fans. Everyone suffers under the patriarchy.

The Pens are doing well, winning two out of three this past long weekend. Sid is on a roll, capped by his belly-flop hat trick on Saturday. (quote by my work daughter Liz, "he slid on his belly like a real penguin!! awwww he's soooo adorable.")

Finally, this edition of Errey-Otica might be one of the last. We took delivery of a new home theater (thanks, woot.com!) this weekend and now we can listen to Mike Lange's radio coverage while we watch on TV.

Friday, from Steigerwald...
"He's going to be whackin' and hackin' all night long!"
Several times, Steigy referred to Sabres' forward Daniel Paille as "Paiella". Yeah, the fish casserole that cross-checks you back!
The best one Friday was Errey's.
"He shed him like a bronking bull!"
I don't even know what that means.

Saturday, Steigy invited us to "behold the wonders of Sidney Crosby" during an intermission. It was mid-home theater installation so I didn't see it, but I think some of it must involve what he called "sid-o-rama". Hilarious.

Errey has been talking about people playing unconscious a lot lately. Now, I could be wrong, but I think being unconscious while playing hockey might be a bad thing. Errey obviously thinks it's a good thing. Who am I to contradict?

Errey-Otica is contagious! During the radio broadcast of the Steelers game, Craig Wolfley made repeated references to a player being sidelined with "a hitch in his git-a-long." Bob suggested he be flagged for talking like a grizzled 1890s prospector. Much amusement was had as we discussed the best way to signal that. I'll leave it to your imaginations, though.

Until next time-GO PENS, GO STEELERS, and GO SHOPPING if you need to.

Happy Thanksgiving from the Fritz Blitz

2008-11-27T08:43:00.002-05:00

I thought I'd start the day off with some things that make me thankful.

The Penguins' ability to play a crappy game for two of three periods and still win. I'm thankful for the Pens in general, but especially for this.

Sid and Geno. And the years of hockey ahead of them. Here. In Pittsburgh.

The Steelers. Despite playing with a battered and bruised offense, a secondary that has more ups and downs than a game of Hungry Hungry Hippos, whatever punter they can grab from the stands, and an o-line that sometimes puts me in mind of the Seton LaSalle Girls JV Auxiliary flag football team, they're in position to get a first round bye in the playoffs and are coming on even stronger late in the year.

The Pirates. Yes, you heard me. The Pirates. Even when they don't win (and when do they win?) they're entertaining. Even when they're not playing, (maybe especially when they're not playing) they're entertaining. This week, the Buccos signed two prospects found in a global talent search in India. India? Seriously? Why not, I say. These guys have a background in cricket. From the minimum I know about cricket (it seems to have similar rules to 43-man squamish) there is an awful lot of pitching involved, some hitting things with sticks, and games can last up to five days. Five days! Even the worst rout at PNC with every pitcher in the bullpen getting a turn doesn't go five days. It may SEEM like it, but it doesn't. So why not?

Pitt Basketball. I have a bias for the Women's program, and this year's team is looking to continue where they left off last year. I've found the Men's program to be consistently over hyped and prone to choking. Unreasonable expectations, poor conditioning, coaching weaknesses, who knows, but the Pitt men never seem to live up to their hoop dreams. We'll see how this season shakes out but I'm hopeful the women's program will go even further this year.

Joe Paterno. He plans to come back next year. Not sure how the PSU brass will take that but good on him.

Chad Ocho Cinco.

I love this guy precisely because he does NOT take himself seriously. You'll never find him crying after the game lamenting his perceived lack of respect, his touches, or the media treatment of his quarterback. (Okay, once, he did cry after a game, but I'm convinced he was doing it as a joke.) Chad is hilarious, like a parody of TO and all those other over-rated, under-talented, loud-mouthed Cowboys receivers for the past 20 years. Hey TO? Michael Irvin called. He wants his schtick back. But I love me some Chad Ocho Cinco. Pure comedy gold.

YouTube, for all the great sports clips, for Yinz Love Da Guins, and for the fact that YouTube is blocked at work because if it weren't, I probably would not have a job any more.

The Empty Netters blog on the Post Gazette website, and to Seth for linking the Fritz Blitz on his sidebar. Now, maybe we'll get more than three readers a week! Seriously, though, the EN blog is a gold mine of video clips, links, hockey information, humor, and scary pictures of Brooks Orpik. You should definitely check it out if you haven't already.

And finally, I'm most thankful for my co-blogger here, Bob, my hubby, who shares my passion for and love of sports and who keeps me sane and moving in the right direction on a day to day basis. Thanks, honey!

Now, GO LIONS!

Quite a compliment

2008-11-26T22:23:00.003-05:00

A story about the Cleveland Browns would not be an early candidate for this blog--save for one great quote at the end.
It's not every day you hear a compliment from your fiercest rival, but here it is:

“The Steelers from the 1930s to the 70s, maybe there wasn’t much of an identity. But coach and group of players show up, memorable plays are made and a myth is born, a legend is born and an identity is born. The Rooneys were able to parlay that into another administration under Bill Cowher and kept it together for (37 years) with two coaches. I’m very envious of that.”

Thank you, Mr. Lerner. And good luck with that identity thing.

Famous or infamous?

2008-11-18T21:04:00.003-05:00

I was surprised to find out that Sunday’s game between the Steelers and the Chargers was the first 11-10 game in NFL history. I’m amazed that there wasn’t at least one other 11-10 game back in the low-scoring days of leather helmets and Bronko Nagurski.

The score gave the game a lot of attention, even outside the sports world. National Public Radio’s “All Things Considered” ran a segment on the game, and NPR is as well-known for its sports reporting as modern-day MTV is known for music.

I hope the game isn’t known for less positive reasons before the season’s over.

The part about the game that stuck out for me wasn’t the score, but how it got there.

The story of the game was the officiating. We have heard all about Troy Polamalu’s fumble recovery on the final play that should have resulted in a touchdown, but Pittsburgh was also penalized 13 times for 115 yards, while San Diego was docked twice for five yards. Now, I’ll be the first to admit that this blog is not the most objective place on the Internet, but few games are this lopsided in the flag department.

It’s not just the number of penalties against the Steelers, but the overall result that’s suspicious. The penalties, and the blown call on the final play, had the effect of assuring that the Steelers would not cover the 4 ½-point spread.

Most blatant was the pass interference call on Ike Taylor that set up the Chargers’ first-quarter touchdown. Whether Taylor interfered with the receiver should not have been an issue because Philip Rivers’ pass was thrown to a hot dog vendor in the 10th row.

Then there was the holding penalty on Sean McHugh that nullified Willie Parker’s touchdown. McHugh did put the “habeas grabbus” on (thank you, Tunch Ilkin), but I see much worse holding go uncalled in most NFL games. And that touchdown, with the extra point, would have made the score 15-10, covering the spread. Hmm….

Am I paranoid? I think not. Although the NFL would like you to think otherwise, people—including players—have been betting on pro football games as long as there’s been pro football. Paul Hornung and Alex Karras were suspended in 1963 for betting on NFL games. Former Colts QB Art Schlichter may have the most destructive gambling problem of any athlete in modern times.

But most players aren’t going to risk a multi-million dollar career to win thousands on a bet. So, if someone wants to fix a game, what do they do? As the recent NBA scandal has shown, they go to the officials.

Far be it from me to say that Sunday’s game was fixed. I have no access to information that would prove such a thing. But for the good of the sport, the NFL should take a good, serious look at that game’s officiating.

JoePa: a life

2008-11-16T14:33:00.003-05:00

“Hi, I’m Joe Paterno. I’m a football coach. Not very good.”

Such was my introduction to the legend that is Joe Paterno. I interviewed him in the early ‘90s when he and two-time Heisman winner Archie Griffin appeared at a benefit for Buckeye Boys Ranch (now The Buckeye Ranch), a home for troubled youth in Grove City, Ohio. For not being a very good coach, he sure has built quite a name for himself. Only 23 bowl wins from 34 bowl appearances, and being named Sports Illustrated's Sportsman of the Year in 1986 (the first college football coach to win that title), among many other honors.

I had met many prominent people from the sports world during my career as a sports reporter, but it was special to interview Paterno. Why did he come into the middle of Buckeye territory to speak at this awards banquet? Ultimately, to make a difference in people's lives.

"You never know what sticks in somebody's head," he said. "A lot of these kids will say 'Who's this guy with the funny suit and the big nose and the funny glasses?'"

This was 1991--a time where major challenges lay ahead for Penn State, as it had recently been included in the Big Ten.

"I've always felt that one thing I wouldn't get the chance to do is coach in the Rose Bowl--and that still might happen," he said. It happened in 1994 (Penn State won 38-20) and it will happen again this year.

But he didn't want to talk about himself--he wanted to talk about young people.

"I can't imagine where it would be more fun to be young than it is today," he said. "There's no Iron Curtains and no Berlin Walls...We cannot afford to lose another generation of young people. If we blow this thing now, we're never going to have the opportunity again."

For many college football fans, Joe Paterno is the only head coach Penn State has ever had. That’s literally true for me, since he became head coach in 1966—the year I was born.

Imagine working the same job for 42 years. Most people couldn’t imagine this, even if they liked the job. But while many other coaches have come and gone, JoePa has been synonymous with Penn State. His presence is as old-school as the Nittany Lions’ white uniforms, and his dedication to his players and to education has few rivals in college football.

It is hard to picture Penn State football without Paterno, but that will happen soon. We have seen him continue to coach the team from the press box, through several injuries, but how long will it last?

This season would have been a perfect ending to his career. Penn State seemed destined for a perfect season and a national championship, but it all ended with a one-point loss to Iowa last week. (Yet another case for the playoff that JoePa has long favored.) He will probably retire with two college football championships, which is two more than most coaches have.

There’s still an outside chance at the BCS title, but a lot would have to happen. A Rose Bowl win seems more likely. Still, JoePa will be retired soon, and he will take with him a piece of anybody who follows college football.

Cardiac Kids?

2008-11-13T22:23:00.002-05:00

Holy Cow, Pens.

I love you guys, you know that. And I love the exciting games. But for the love of all that is holy (and for the love of my fantasy team), could you please stop giving up massive numbers of goals? Thanks.

The Penguins are doing well these days. They continued a win streak into five games, being generous enough to allow the Flyers to have a point as they went into a shootout tied at 4-4 after leading 3-0 in the second period. Why isn't hockey the world's most popular sport? You do not get this kind of excitement from anything else.

The sleeping giant appeared to have awoken on Tuesday in Detroit, as Jordan Staal scored a hat trick and an assist to win the game in OT. He was shut out tonight, though. Sweet Dreams, Jordan. Kris Letang remains pointless this season and remains right up there with Staal as prime trade bait. Coach Therrien gave him a chance tonight to get one in the shootout and his attempt was weak and very unlike him. Fortunately for both these guys, it's still early in the season and there's time for them to pull something out of their hats.

All in all, I'm most impressed with the team play of the Penguins. The defense could be tighter, sure. They depend on Marc-Andre Fleury to do most of their work on them, as evidenced in how differently they play with Dany Sabourin in net. I'm sure that will be addressed in the locker room and in practice ongoing. These guys need to be reminded that even the best goaltender needs help now and then.

The biggest improvement from last year continues to be faceoff wins. Mike Zigomanis, I can't say enough about this guy. He's a great addition to the team, both for winning tons of faceoffs, and for having an awesome name. Zigomanis! That is a beautiful, beautiful hockey name.

Offense in general continues to improve, with passes tightening up, puck control coming along, and finally, finally, some shooting. I don't find myself impotently screaming "SHOOT! SHOOT YOU LOUSY BUMS! SHOOOOT!" at the television nearly as much this season.

A five-game win streak is pretty good, even if some of them were scary wins that were nearly losses. And I can't say enough about that outstanding win in Detroit on Tuesday.

Errey-Otica

Let me just get this out of the way. Inspired by Steigy talking about how everyone was out there on the ice, whacking. I couldn't find the clip I wanted, so this one will have to do.

Errey-Otica has been spotty the last couple of weeks, due to the west coast road trip, a game on Versus, and my pre-holiday knitting taking more of my attention during games than I like. Bob has been kind enough to take some notes for me, though. These were from last week.

"Sidney Crosby, when he plays with the right guys, he's gonna explode!"

"You can't discount the fact that Souray's got a big rifle back there."

"That's the advantage you have when you have that big gun in the backside."

Tonight brought us Errey between the benches again. While one of the Flyers was prepping his stick for the shootout, Errey made some priceless comments. I'll leave them to your imagination. They're probably not suitable for mixed company.

Until next time-GO PENS!

(No, I'm not sick of this commercial yet. Shut up.)

The thin black and gold line

2008-11-11T20:49:00.001-05:00

In spite of Sunday’s 24-20 loss to the Colts, the Steelers are still on most people’s short list of NFL playoff contenders. The loss caused them to drop only one spot in ESPN’s weekly power rankings—from #3 to #4.

Much of this respect is due to the Steelers’ defense, which leads the league in total defense (240.3 yards allowed per game) and passing defense (171.1 yards), and is second to the Baltimore Birdies (thanks, Myron) in rushing defense (69.2 yards).

The weakest link, as it has been over the past few seasons, is the offensive line, which could be the biggest thing standing between the Steelers and another Super Bowl.

Consider that Ben Roethlisberger has been sacked 28 times so far this season, behind only J.T. O’Sullivan (32) and Matt Cassel (29). Not good company for someone with a Super Bowl ring to be keeping. The sacks are beginning to take their physical toll on Ben, and some pundits are wondering if he isn’t destined for a short career.

The Steelers can’t say they weren’t warned.

Even when the Steelers have been at their best, the biggest mistakes—the sacks, the rushed passes that turn into interceptions, the failed conversions on fourth-and-goal—can be traced directly to the weak offensive line. Things have gotten worse since Alan Faneca left for the big money and bigger expenses of New York City.

The biggest puzzle on draft day was why the Steelers did not address their offensive line needs. I shook my head as they took Rashard Mendenhall and Limas Sweed in the first two rounds, despite the 2008 draft being the most lineman-rich draft in recent memory. The only lineman chosen was Tony Hills in the fourth round. He will take some time to develop, as he ended his college career at Texas with a broken fibula. Hook this ‘Horn for later.

The only new free agent acquisition on the line is center Justin Hartwig, who at least makes fewer high snaps than Sean Mahan.

I’m reminded of the old Isotoner Gloves ad that showed Dan Marino giving his offensive line gloves for Christmas (in Miami?). The slogan: “Take care of the hands that take care of you.”

The Steelers’ first priority for the off-season is finding some hands to take better care of Ben.

One for the other hand?

2008-11-02T19:50:00.000-05:00

My wife has done such a good job blogging about the Penguins that it may appear that we have forgotten about that other team in town. We have not. That’s why there’s a stack of Terrible Towels sitting by the living room chair, and somewhere in this house there’s a novelty football that says “Here we go, Steelers, here we go!” and plays a rather annoying, generic fight song.

While much has been made of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ loss to the New York Giants, the Steelers still have a legitimate shot to win it all this year. If they don’t, they should get a special award for leading the AFC North at this juncture without the benefit of an offensive line.

Almost all the pieces of a championship team are in place. We have Ben Roethlisberger, perhaps the best quarterback in the game. He manages to keep his head and connect with receivers despite being on track to being sacked 75 times this season. I wonder how long he can take that kind of punishment.

Mewelde Moore has been the most pleasant surprise this year, as he has kept the running game going even though the backfield has been devastated by injuries. Signed mainly for special teams duty, Moore has managed to make some big runs in each game since Willie Parker was injured.

Then there is the defense. The Steelers defense has been a sack-fest of a good kind, as LaMarr Woodley has come to the forefront to join James Harrison and James Farrior as one of the NFL’s best defenses at stopping the run. Add to that the great Troy Polamalu, who can get to any spot on the field in an instant, and certainly has the league’s coolest hairdo.

The season isn’t easier from here, although it doesn’t look as hard as many pundits thought back in September. Tomorrow night’s opponents are the Washington Redskins, whom many people are picking as the NFC champion (although they did lose to the St. Louis Rams). Add to that the Colts, Chargers, Patriots and Cowboys, and you have a homestretch that doesn’t look like it’ll break the Steelers, but isn’t chopped liver, either. Who would have thought at the season’s beginning that the most formidable opponent on the schedule would be the Tennessee Titans?

Right now, the spotlight is on the Titans and the Giants, but a Steelers Super Bowl is not out of the question. Remember that, at this point in the 2005 season, the Steelers were also 5-2.

The more things change.

2008-11-02T19:23:00.003-05:00

Well, it's been a pretty glum week in Pittsburgh sports here. The Pens stunk up the road trip, redeeming themselves last night against the lowly St Louis Blues. I guess you could say they played pretty FLAT against the Sharks and the Coyotes, but TUNED UP THEIR GAME when they arrived in St. Louis, and left them singing the ... oh, never mind. Too easy.

The Steelers tried pretty hard to beat the Giants last Sunday but ended up losing narrowly after the emotional tide turned when James Harrison snapped a ball over punter Berger's head.
Speaking of that, what with Berger and Reed, who else thinks they need to get someone named Green to be the long snapper? They could be that law firm of Berger, Reed and Green, the one that runs those silly ads with the randomly exploding trucks and crash-test crashes in the background.
I have grave concerns about the Steelers hopes moving forward. There are too many injuries, and the offensive line is starting to look like the Detroit Lions Swinging Door Offensive Line that Charlie Batch still has nightmares about.

Moving on.

Penn State appears to be staying in the #3 slot because if there's a team from Texas in the running for the BCS, they have to be ranked higher because of TV ratings or some obscure Mason-Dixon Reparations Law or something. I think Penn State has a good chance at the national title this year, which would be great for Joe Paterno. I've always loved Joe Pa, I don't know why. I think because he reminds me of my family. Plus, he's old. I like to see good things happen to old people. More so as I get older.

Pitt is doing surprisingly not-bad. They managed to squeak out a win against Charlie Weis's Notre Dame team yesterday, in OT. I have nothing against Charlie Weis personally but I have an axe to grind with anyone who has been with Bill Belichick within the past ten years or so. In fact, I kinda laughed at Charlie's first season with Notre Dame, wondering if it was difficult for him without having the other team's signals. Anyway, Dave Wannstedt managed to avoid snatching defeat from the jaws of victory yesterday and good for him. I can't help but feel it won't last.

In other Pitt news, Agnus Berenato got herself a well-deserved new contract from Pitt. Perhaps women's basketball will experience a renaissance here in the Burgh, and we'll get a WNBA team when we get the new arena, and daisies will bloom in February, and there will be ponies for everyone, and then I'll wake up. Oh, darn.

(Speaking of axes to grind, eh?)

The clocks have been turned back an hour and there's not much to do outside right now, the Giants beat up on the Cowboys and Treehouse of Horror is about to start, so to close, here's the top ten Mike Lange goal calls as posted on YouTube by the terrific hockey clip-aggregator DayWalk3r.

In other local YouTube goodness, be sure to check out Deck of Jack's "Yinz Love the Guins" and "Yinz Love the Stillers".

Definitely worth subscribing to. The one where they take Mike Tomlin out for ice cream is pure comedy gold.

Until next time, whenever that is...

Lovin' the 'Guins

2008-10-24T20:06:00.002-04:00

It's been a good week for hockey. The Penguins are playing strong, with good improvement after a shaky beginning. Faceoff wins are the main thing I see as improved. I can't find a stat on it right off the bat, but it sure seems to me like this year's Penguins are winning a lot more. I credit Michel Therrien with that for the most part, but it sure looks like Mike Zigomanis has been a big help in that department. He's been a solid player overall, and along with Matt Cooke, Bissonnette, Goddard, Satan and Fedotenko, has helped ease the pain of the off-season losses. I still miss Georges Laraque. And Ryan Malone. (wipes a tear)

Kudos especially to Dany Sabourin for showing he can be a strong backup to Marc-Andre Fleury. I'm sure Ty Conklin's success last year was a bit disconcerting to Sabourin but he kept calm and stepped up when needed. Hockey players tend to be like that, I find, more so than other big pro athletes. Maybe it's the ice.

This week's Errey-Otica include a couple of real classics from Steigerwald.

"Tonight is Hockey Fights Cancer Awareness Night!" Why is hockey fighting cancer awareness? Nice tie, by the way.

"They're looking for ways to make the game more offensive!" Bob suggested they have someone come out and poop on the ice. That would be offensive. I think I mentioned naked skating. That would be dangerous AND offensive.

From Errey-

"On two occasions, Crosby has gone through the legs to find the stick."

"Beautiful play by Ference, horizontal on the ice, stick out!"

And from last night's game, talking with Steigerwald about the physical appearance of Paul Bissonnette...
"Bissonnette, he reminds me of Rick Tocchet, with those dark eyebrows and those dark eyes."

OK, Bob.

For the record, Bissonnette doesn't seem like much of a gambler to me, so I doubt he's much like Tocchet.

Until next time.

Errey-Otica

2008-10-18T00:21:00.002-04:00

Hopefully, a semi-regular feature here as we get into Hockey Season, Errey-Otica will be a compendium of the most mind-boggling statements uttered by Pens TV broadcaster, Bob Errey. (and Steigerwald or anyone else too, if deserved.)

Bob Errey is like the anti-Mike Lange. Mike Lange makes mind-bogglingly surreal comments when a goal happens, but he's an astute observer of the game and a heck of an intelligent guy. Bob Errey, maybe one too many cross-checks from the likes of Marty McSorley.

Anyway...

Last night’s top three highlights as Errey called color on the game from between the benches.

“I feel pretty special here between Ovetchkin and Staal!”
I’ll bet you do, Bob. I’ll bet you do.

“He’s like a heat-seeking missile out there!”

At some point, in the aftermath of a vicious check;
“Mass times velocity equals force, if you remember your chemistry class!” I think I actually yelled at the screen “WHY?? WHYYYYY????” at that point.

We can all be thankful that he didn’t refer to Jordan Staal as a “pterodacTILE” or a “human tripod” at any point during the game.

Much like the Pens, I believe Bob Errey is just getting warmed up for the season ahead, and it won't be long before he's talking about running into Sid Crosby's dad in the bathroom again, or musing on the ability of the power play to penetrate the opposing goalie. We can only hope.

What she said

2008-09-16T19:32:00.004-04:00

I haven't been blogging much lately because I've been pretty busy--buying a new car, keeping a house in order, helping the local chapter of a dysfunctional social organization, and looking for a job that doesn't suck the life out of me. Not that there haven't been any sports to talk about. We've been treated to the Best. Olympics. Ever, the Steelers are 2-0, the Penguins will be starting their season again soon, and the Pirates still suck.

I was inspired by my wife's latest blog entry, in which she nailed a major problem--the recent tendency of politics to resemble professional sports.

One could also argue that sports sometimes resembles politics. The business of sports can be political, with its megamillion business deals. And sports can definitely cross paths with the law. The sports page in my old hometown has its own subheading titled "Legal File," printed alongside "Baseball," "Football" and the rest. "Legal File" features two-paragraph stories about athletes who made really bad plays off the field.

I am reminded of the words of my college religion professor, Dr. Paul Redditt. (Yes, I took religion in college--it was required.) He was a true anomaly--a liberal Southern Baptist. He was very interested when he found out I was the sports editor of the college paper. He talked about one of his favorite sports writers, Dick Fenlon of the Columbus Dispatch. I'll never forget his reason why he liked Fenlon.

"He knows that there's nothing really important that happens in a ball game."

What a powerful statement.

And it's true. Unless you are employed in the sports industry in some capacity, there's nothing really important that happens in any sports event.

Wars, the economy, global warming, civil liberties--these are important. No sports event is important. Not even the Super Bowl.

That's what make sports so great. We root for our favorite teams, we cheer, we boo, we lose ourselves in the moment. When we're watching our favorite athletes, nothing else matters--and yet, it really doesn't matter at all. If our team wins, we go on with our lives feeling better for a while. If our team loses, we go on with our lives. We feel like we've played the game vicariously, and we can share in the victory without worrying about torn ACLs. We have all the drama of any national news story without millions of people being adversely affected by that drama.

How ironic that the irrelevance of sports is precisely the thing that makes them meaningful to millions.

Sports matter because they don't matter.

A whiter shade of green

2008-08-09T21:58:00.002-04:00

Of all the teams I thought Brett Favre would be playing for this year, the New York Jets were not in the top five.

Favre’s trade to the Jets was a dramatic left turn to the saga that has dominated the NFL pre-season. It seems incongruous—a good ol’ boy from southern Mississippi moving to the big city—but I suppose no more so that the same person playing on the frozen tundra of Lambeau Field for 16 years.

The big money to be made in New York was obviously a factor in Favre’s decision, as it was in Alan Faneca’s decision to jump ship from the Pittsburgh Steelers. Which is just fine, as long as you don’t check out the cost of living in New York City too closely.

The precedent for a top NFL quarterback moving to another team late in his career is not good. As ESPN’s John Clayton has pointed out, Johnny Unitas, Joe Namath and Warren Moon did not fare well moving to other teams in the twilight of their careers. Only Joe Montana has made the transition without tarnishing his legacy.

It remains to be seen if Favre has one more year in him. I have been fooled before. I thought he was through after the Packers went 4-12 in 2006, but he keeps coming back, sort of like The Terminator did at the end of the first movie.

If he wanted to play one more season, good for him. I started rooting for the old guys in sports years ago. But you have to question the way he went about this comeback.

He started to tell the media weeks ago that he wanted to come back to the Packers. By that time, the Packers had already begun building their offense around Aaron Rodgers. Did he expect them to drop everything and change plans just to bring him back?

He waffled on reinstatement until last week and built a mystique around the question of whether he would play, to the point where ESPN began adding updates labeled “FAVRE” on a crawl at the bottom of the screen. MLB…NFL…NBA…FAVRE. He really was in a league of his own.

The trade did not end the media circus, as Favre has moved to the country’s biggest media center. Through the miracle of web radio, I caught a bit of the morning show on WFAN the other day. The topic--will Favre be the greatest QB ever to take a snap in a Jets jersey? Probably, as his only real competition for that title is Namath. (OK, who’s the wise guy who voted for Kellen Clemens?) The question would make for great sports-bar debate—but let’s let Favre take that snap first.

I may feel like crap, but at least I'm not the Pirates

2008-08-02T22:25:00.003-04:00

After a long hiatus here, I've been inspired to come back to the world of husband-wife sports blogging by a conversation Bob and I had in the car on the way home from Damon's tonight. (Or as we have come to call it, Damo's. But that's another story for another blog.)

It's worth noting right off the bat (the BAT, get it? Har har) that I am no major fan of major league baseball. Oh sure, I'll follow the World Series and whatever big star is acting like a six year old child and the latest scandal but I get a little tired of it. It's a long season, and frankly, it's difficult to get worked up about major league baseball when you live in Pittsburgh, AKA the Farm Team for the Rest of Baseball.

After coming frighteningly close to reaching .500 this year, the Pirates have engineered a series of brilliant trades, guaranteed to ensure their continued lack of playoff appearances. I'm starting to wonder if the Bucco's head offices have a non-compete deal signed with the Rooneys or something to avoid conflicting schedules once NFL season is in full swing. Not that there's much competition between the Pirates and the Steelers here in da 'burgh, anyway. The Steelers rule, and everyone knows it. Shame that it is, because there's certainly enough love to go around, anyone who followed the Penguins' march to the Stanley Cup finals this year knows that.

At any rate, the Pirates sit proudly in last place in their division, the unremarkable 51-59 record pretty much guaranteed to not improve. Last Saturday, the Pirates traded Xavier Nady and Damaso Marte to the Yankees, AKA the Best Team Money Can Buy, for prospects. In the middle of a game. Seriously. Nady led the team with a .330 batting average, and Marte was the Bucs only real threat as a closer. We got pitching prospects for them. I can't say it any better than Bob Smizik does here, so I won't try. But wait, that's not all. For years, the Pirates management has traded away stars the moment they start showing talent, and we still had one hanging in there. Jason Bay, who claimed over and over to NOT want to be traded, was traded on Friday in a three way deal with Manny Ramirez and some prospects. Guess who got Manny Ramirez? Here's a hint kids. It wasn't the Pirates. But I can't say it any better than Gene Collier does here, so I won't try.

So another season goes down the toilet. This one wasn't too far out of it anyway, but there was that slim, slim hope of reaching .500, of maybe having a not-unreasonable "magic number" for the first time in 25 years, the glimmer of a playoff spot standing shining in the distance, waving in the breeze like a pennant, like Jack Wilson's hair, like the legions of fans who wanted so much to believe that "WE WILL", as the Pirate slogan was so inelegantly and cryptically stated last year. (We Will what? We will play 162 Games? We Will have fireworks? We Will lose a lot of them? We Will sell off all our best players to the real grownup teams in Baseball?) It's all too much for someone who used to be a fan, who might have once wanted to be a fan.

There's still hope, though. We still have the Pirate Parrot, and the guy who runs around the bases dressed as a giant pierogie. NOBODY's getting them. Although I've heard we can be talked out of Lanny Frattere , both LaRoche brothers, and Tom Gorzelanny for a bowl of really good homemade guacamole, a bag of those awesome lime tortilla chips, and tickets to see the next Monster Truck Rally at the Arena.

The most important thing you will ever read

2008-07-04T17:06:00.000-04:00

From legendary Yankee Stadium…to the frozen tundra of Lambeau Field…to the treacherous greens of Pebble Beach…to the heartbreaking homestretch of Churchill Downs…

It’s a triumph of the human spirit! Two sides locked in the ultimate struggle! A performance never seen before in the history of mankind! The most important thing you will ever see! Forget the JFK assassination, the moon landing—even Verne Troyer’s sex tape! This is an event like no other!

This is not just a game….this is SPORTS HYPERBOLE!

It’s great, it’s magnificent, it’s a war! It’s a record that will never be broken! It smashed a world record by one point! It’s the greatest game that’s ever been played this week! You need to drop everything you’re doing and watch this spectacular!

You will never see anything like this again.

What sport is it? Who cares!

This is SPORTS HYPERBOLE!

Horse names that rock

2008-06-21T13:10:00.001-04:00

One complaint that people who name race horses have is that all the good names are taken.

To some degree, this is true. Names of famous horses are officially retired by The Jockey Club, so there will never be another Man O’War or Secretariat. Horse names also cannot be reused until 15 years after the previous horse’s death. There are other rules—no “vulgar, obscene or suggestive” names, and no names of “commercial significance” (although Big Brown apparently slid by).

With an increasing number of common names being taken, one recent gimmick is to string a phrase together as one word (to fit the 18-letter space limit), such as Atswhatimtalkinbout. Occasionally, this works (e.g., current harness phenom Somebeachsomewhere), but it usually results in cumbersome, unmemorable names.

U.S. Trotting Association writer Dean Hoffman has suggested naming horses after classic literature, such as Absalom Absalom, Catcher In The Rye, A Farewell To Arms—you get the idea. This is imaginative, although I would stop short of naming a horse The Idiot.

This got me thinking—why not name horses after classic rock albums?

I’m not the first one to have this idea. There were horses at Beulah Park when I was young named Physical Graffiti and Stardust Ziggy (not sure why they flip-flopped the words). Plus, there was a champion Quarter Horse a few years back named Sgt. Pepper Feature.

But there are many album titles that would not only be short enough, but would sound really cool coming from an announcer’s mouth. (And for all I know, some of these may be in use.) Consider:

Abbey Road
Revolver
Aftermath
Nevermind
Sticky Fingers
Rocket to Russia
Let It Be
My Aim Is True
King of America
Electric Ladyland
Axis Bold As Love
Quadrophenia
London Calling
American Beauty
Nashville Skyline
Thriller
Purple Rain
Darksideofthemoon
Wish You Were Here

I could go on. But there were two names that leaped out at me as being especially appropriate.

Who’s Next. That sounds like a champion. Just think of what the headline writers would do if this horse got on a win streak.

Then there’s the perfect rock horse name: Born to Run. That wouldn’t work for a harness horse, though, because “run” is a synonym for breaking stride.

This list makes me grateful for the limit on the number of letters. Otherwise some horse might have been stuck with When the Pawn Hits the Conflicts He Thinks like a King What He Knows Throws the Blows When He Goes to the Fight and He'll Win the Whole Thing Fore He Enters the Ring There's No Body to Batter When Your Mind Is Your Might So When You Go Solo, You Hold Your Own Hand and Remember That Depth Is the Greatest of Heights and If You Know Where You Stand, Then You'll Know Where to Land and If You Fall It Won't Matter, Cuz You Know That You're Right.

Myths about the Belmont

2008-06-09T12:32:00.002-04:00

I will say this for this year’s Triple Crown—it got people talking.

From the tragic breakdown of Eight Belles in the Kentucky Derby to Big Brown’s stunning loss in the Belmont, there’s been plenty of fodder for TV pundits and online message boards—80 percent of which comes from people who can’t tell one end of a horse from the other.

In the aftermath of Big Brown’s loss, two myths have been thrown around the electronic media that need to be addressed.

Myth #1: There is nothing wrong with Big Brown. This was the first thing that came out of the mouths of most of ESPN’s on-air personalities after the race. Even on-air vet Larry Bramlage assured viewers that nothing was wrong with the horse.

Perhaps this collective denial is an attempt to keep PETA at bay, but it’s belied by the running of the race itself. Big Brown was trying to bear out throughout the race, to the point where I thought he might blow the first turn. I’ve seen many horses run the same way, and it’s usually due to some sort of pain in a left leg. Big Brown’s quarter crack was in the left front.

Maybe the quarter crack wasn’t healed as well as trainer Rick Dutrow claimed. Maybe the cause was more mundane—he may have been overheated or have bled. In any case, there was something wrong with the horse. Which brings me to….

Myth #2: The Belmont was fixed. I’m amazed at the number of people online who are making this claim. People actually think that there was a conspiracy to stiff a potential Triple Crown winner in order to cash a big bet.

This was not a $5,000 claiming race. This was one of the biggest races of the year with a $5 million bonus on the line. Are we supposed to believe that Kent Desormeaux would throw that away—not to mention a place in racing history—in order to hit the trifecta?

Desormeaux eased Big Brown because, again, there was something wrong with him. He was doing what he thought was best for the horse, and I applaud him for that.

The problem with Big Brown will eventually be revealed, and I will not be surprised if he never races again.

All over--or just begun?

2008-06-08T17:06:00.002-04:00

The Cup has changed possession once again, but this time is different.

While this year’s Stanley Cup Finals saw the Detroit Red Wings beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-2, that stat doesn’t begin to tell the story.

Those who watched saw more than just a series of hockey games. They saw the future of the sport being transformed.

Maybe I’m not seeing the whole picture because I live in Pittsburgh. After all, a poll taken last weekend by ESPN showed that many outside the traditional hockey strongholds found Kimbo Slice beating the crap out of some bum to be more compelling.

But it would be hard for any true sports fan to dispute that the NHL was where it was happening the last few weeks.

The Stanley Cup Playoffs had everything you could want in a championship (well, except the Penguins winning it all). It had established teams who go a long way back with the Cup. It had upstarts in their breakthrough season. It had a number-one seed being knocked off in the second round. It had bitter rivals contending for the Eastern Conference title.

And—at least in the early rounds—it gave you a chill up your spine as packed arenas joined in singing the most euphonious national anthem, “O Canada.”

The reason people who aren’t Canadian, or from a U.S. state that borders Canada, cite for not liking hockey is that it’s boring. That’s why it’s rarely on network TV. That’s why it’s on a cable network that fills the remainder of its time with cage fighting and hunting. Whenever the major networks have tried to take on hockey, they’ve felt obligated to add some gimmick to make it more exciting. Remember Fox’s headache-inducing glowing puck?

Nobody who saw the last two Stanley Cup games could say that hockey’s boring. Game 5 gave us a tying goal from Max Talbot with 34 seconds left, then 50 additional minutes of hockey before a goal from Petr Sykora broke the tie and sent the series back to Detroit. The same scenario almost repeated itself in Game 6, when the Penguins staged a last-minute rally, only to see the puck slide across the crease—just in front of the crossbar—at the last second.

Compare that to the NBA, where the last two minutes of a game often take 20 minutes, or steroid-ridden Major League Baseball, where 26 teams are farm teams for the other four.

If games such as those seen during the Stanley Cup Playoffs are any indication, hockey should assume its rightful place in the sports pantheon in years to come.

Well, that sucked!

2008-05-25T22:06:00.003-04:00

OK, so the Penguins stumbled--literally--in the first game. So what? Coach Michel Therrien is bringing in his secret weapon Monday night.

"WWGRD?"--What Would Gary Roberts Do?--has become a catch phrase in da 'Burgh over the last few weeks. Now we'll see what Gary Roberts can do.

This may be what the Penguins need to give them more experience, as they're going against the extremely experienced Detroit Red Wings. Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin's combined ages are younger than Chris Chelios.

It would almost be like a movie if the "old man" (who is the same age as me) Gary Roberts could turn the Coupe Stanley playoffs around and be the hero.

He should be mad as hell after having to watch the first game from the nosebleed seats in Joe Louis Arena.

And if that doesn't work, there's always HOSSA! HOSSA! HOSSA!

The old...uh...ball game?

2008-05-21T18:32:00.002-04:00

There's this ad for Baby Ruth candy bars on the radio that starts out: “This year is an important anniversary in baseball.” The first time I heard it, I thought, “The 50th anniversary of anabolic steroids?” Actually, it’s the 100th anniversary of “Take Me Out to the Ball Game.” So this morning the ad came on, and I put two and two together….

Shoot me up with some steroids
Shoot me up with some ‘roids
Buy me some Ripped Fuel and power drink
I don’t care if my testicles shrink
‘Cause I got a call from the Yankees
If they don’t sign, it’s a shame
‘Cause it’s one, two, three million bucks
In the old ball game

BASEBALL CAUSES CANCER!!!
HOCKEY MAKES YOU HOLY!!!
GO PENS!!!

A Dead Horse in the Derby

2008-05-07T12:20:00.002-04:00

Thoroughbred racing has reached a crisis.

This year’s Kentucky Derby gave us a serious Triple Crown threat in Big Brown, but few people are talking about him because the Derby gave us something else—a dead horse.

Horses have broken down in major stakes races before, but the death of Eight Belles is different because the Derby is different from other races. For many people who don’t know a furlong from a fetlock, it’s the only horse race they watch all year. There has been an idea among many racing fans that the Derby is somehow charmed—that there is some sort of Derby god who wards off tragedy and makes sure that the race is won by the people with the most heartwarming story.

History has borne this out. While Barbaro’s death affected many people, he sustained his fatal injury in the Preakness. Too many horses have died during the Breeders’ Cup championships. But you have to go back to 1974 for the last breakdown in the Derby. Flip Sal’s injury was relatively minor and he survived to stand stud.

Tragedy just doesn’t happen in the Derby—until now.

Eight Belles’ death horrified racing fans, scared off a lot of newbies, brought PETA out of the woodwork to compare horse racing to dog fighting, and left everyone concerned asking why.

Given the sport’s recent trends, the real question is why it took so long.

Since that awful day in 1990 when Go for Wand broke her leg in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff, it seems as if a year doesn’t go by without a career- or life-ending injury in a major Thoroughbred stakes. The names mean little to anyone who’s not a racing fan, but they would have made for a pretty impressive feature event if they had all been entered in the same race. Holy Bull. Charismatic. Prairie Bayou. George Washington. Pine Island. Union City. Fanfair.

Then there was Barbaro. For two weeks, he captured the nation’s imagination with his impressive Derby win—and then, in an instant, his racing career was over and a nation awaited his recovery in vain.

In the aftermath of last week’s tragedy, a lot of revisionist history is being posted on message boards. Some people maintain that horse racing has always had a high casualty rate. They're calling it a cruel anachronism, not suitable for a more humane, politically correct era. At the same time, many horse racing supporters on these boards insist that nothing’s wrong, and that carting a dead horse off the track after every other televised race is somehow normal.

As a racing fan for over 35 years, I can tell you that the sport has changed. The horses that ran in the 2008 Kentucky Derby are not my grandfather's Thoroughbreds.

I grew up in the 1970s, a golden age for racing. The decade was highlighted by three Triple Crown winners and several near misses. Nobody had to give the competitors’ safety a second thought. Shooting a horse with a broken leg was a joke in my house because it happened so seldom. The only high-profile breakdown during the entire decade was Ruffian-and that occurred in an ill-conceived match race.

For about the last 20 years, it has been clear that the Thoroughbred is more fragile than it used to be. This is not nostalgia—this is fact. Seabiscuit raced 35 times as a 2-year-old alone. I will be surprised if any starter in this year’s Derby races 35 times in its career.

Racing needs to get its head out of its butt and do something. Synthetic tracks may reduce catastrophic injuries, but they are only a short-term solution. What needs to start now is a hard look at the breeding of the horses themselves. Are they being bred for the long-term good of the breed, or for short-term profit? Perhaps the industry has also become too dependent on drugs such as Bute and Lasix, which have allowed infirm horses to have successful racing careers and eventually enter the gene pool.

This is not about animal rights. This is about the survival of racing. The sport gained no new fans Saturday, and the old fans will not be able to close their eyes and think of Secretariat for much longer.

I will be rooting for Big Brown in the Preakness and Belmont—not to win the Triple Crown, but to make it around the track. And that’s not how racing was meant to be.

The Damnedest Thing I've Ever Seen?

2008-04-30T20:03:00.002-04:00

This is the week when I officially go crazy.

This is the week when I spend hours analyzing a handful of horse races, watch the replays of those races repeatedly, and scour horse racing websites for any clue that might help me make a bet on a two-minute race.

This is the week that I dig books and old Racing Forms out of the basement, not only to find patterns in races from past years, but to relive a lot of great memories as well.

This is the week that climaxes with me in a crowded OTB, getting misty-eyed at the playing of the official song of a state where I’ve never lived.

This is the week that I actually like Dan Fogelberg.

This is Kentucky Derby Week.

It means little to most sports fans, and probably less to most racing fans than it does to me. But it was an obsession in my house when I was growing up.

The first Derby I remember watching was 1972, when I was six. I remember my brothers studying the Racing Form and talking about the race, with the name of one horse standing out—Riva Ridge. It just sounded like a winner to me. He was not the best Derby winner ever, though—or even the best from his own stable. That would happen the next year.

The ‘70s were a golden age for the Derby, with three Triple Crown winners and several near misses. The major prep races were telecast on ABC, and I spent all spring waiting for the buildup to the big day—as did everybody else in my house.

Then I got the chance to see three Derbies in person in the 1980s. The Kentucky Derby should be on anybody’s “Bucket List.” I will never forget my first glimpse of Churchill Downs. I’d seen it on TV many times, but that does not do it justice, if only due to the size of the grandstand. My idea of a racetrack was Beulah Park. I was not prepared to see the Twin Spires.

Through the years, through my career in horse racing, as well as my present incarnation outside the sport, everything has stopped for the Derby. My family is scattered across the country, but at around 6 p.m. this Saturday, I will know exactly what they’re doing.

The Derby is not only the peak of the Thoroughbred racing season, but the ultimate handicapping challenge because it is unlike any other race. No other race in North America has a field of up to 20 horses—all separate betting interests for bigger payoffs. No race features 3-year-olds racing farther than they have before. No race is run with a crowd of over 100,000—many of them partying in the infield.

I write this, I have given Saturday’s Derby past performances a quick look. This edition’s field has more question marks than a Spanish phrasebook. It looks like the damnedest thing I’ve ever seen.

But I say that every year.

The Pittsburgh Penguins: A Complete Team

2008-04-13T12:46:00.002-04:00

The Pittsburgh Penguins will win the 2008 Stanley Cup.

This will probably sound to most of you like the empty brag of a townie. And it’s always asking for trouble to make guarantees. But, with everyone on the team healthy as the playoffs begin, it’s hard to hold out against that judgment.

Injuries subdued the team at certain points in the season, which is the main reason why the Pens are the #2 seed in the East instead of #1. You don’t have your team captain and your starting goalie out for any length of time and win the Presidents' Trophy.

Judging from Wednesday night’s 4-0 drubbing of Ottawa in the first playoff game, the team is now at full strength and should be unstoppable.

Much has been said over the past three seasons about Sidney Crosby, who has already amassed an amazing number of NHL records for someone who can’t buy beer yet. But the high ankle sprains (a phrase that is fast becoming hockey’s equivalent to “walk-off home run”) to him and goalie Marc-Andre Fleury proved to be blessings in disguise, as this season has seen the Penguins evolve into a complete team.

First, there is Evgeni Malkin. Malkin was the second pick in the 2004 NHL Draft, but until this season, he was more famous for the controversy surrounding his signing with the Penguins than anything he’d done on the ice. His play showed flashes of brilliance (he did score a goal in each of his first six NHL games), but could be inconsistent. With Crosby sidelined for several weeks, Malkin emerged as a team leader.

Fleury’s injury created a void at starting goalie. When Dany Sabourin couldn’t show consistency, the Penguins recalled Ty Conklin from Scranton-Wilkes-Barre. Conklin’s career before that point defined “journeyman,” as he has played for four NHL teams and countless minor and German professional league teams. No one was ready for his contribution. He won his first nine starts and ended the regular season with the second-best save percentage in the NHL. Not bad for a backup.

To complete a team, trades are often necessary, and this was the case with the Penguins, too. The season’s blockbuster trade with the Atlanta Thrashers brought Marian Hossa and Pascal Dupuis to Pittsburgh in exchange for Colby Armstrong, Erik Christensen, Angelo Esposito and a draft pick. This trade gave the Pens the scoring power they needed on the front line in addition to Crosby and Malkin. The trade was criticized because Armstrong and Christensen had made their share of contributions to the team, while Esposito, a first-round pick, was seen by some as a future franchise player. Time will tell if the Pens gave up too much for a serious Stanley Cup run, especially if they aren’t able to re-sign Hossa for next year.

For now, all the important spots are being filled, and the Penguins have emerged as the NHL’s most complete team.

March Madness

2008-03-18T12:22:00.002-04:00

This is the weekend in which people who can’t tell a zone defense from a pick and roll suddenly become interested in college basketball.

Selections have been made for the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament, also known (and even officially trademarked) as “March Madness.”

While college basketball has its share of fans during its regular season, it’s not until this weekend that nearly everybody in the country starts to care about it. There will be office pools, betting (legal or not), TV remotes hard-wired to CBS, and thousands of heads looking up at the screen whenever the distinctive, eight-note March Madness jingle is played, in order to check the score of a game in which most people couldn’t name one player.

Why do people who can’t locate Gonzaga on a map suddenly start rooting for them?

Because March Madness is one of the most democratic sporting events—up to a point.

The tournament is one of the few sporting events where David has a realistic chance of beating Goliath. Basketball’s nature makes it more amenable to upsets than other sports. A college football team needs to recruit scores of players and spend thousands on equipment. A college basketball team needs five good players and a ball. Some of this year’s first-round matchups would be inconceivable in college football, except as an early-season, 59-3 blowout. Kansas vs. Portland State? Tennessee vs. American? Washington State vs. Winthrop? Winthrop? Wasn’t that Ron Howard's character in The Music Man?

Another factor contributing to the unpredictability is the ungodly amount of money to be made in the NBA. A truly superior player won’t stick around for four years of college when he can make millions. This has served to level the playing field—or should I say the court?—in the college game.

So, on this weekend, the unlikely is likely to happen. There are always a few upsets in the opening round. While no #16 seed has ever beaten a #1, four #15 seeds have beaten #2. The #9 has actually beaten #8 54 percent of the time.

Eventually, reality sets in for most of the underdogs. The tournament’s length tends to ensure that favorites will be there at the finish. For a Belmont or Cal State Fullerton to pull off one upset would be quite a feat. To do the same thing six times in a row? Well…you can never say never.

Still, that’s why we watch—to celebrate the underdog in all of us.

Just don’t bet the rent on Coppin State.

Myron Cope 1929-2008

2008-02-29T12:39:00.005-05:00

A piece of Pittsburgh died this week.

As I write this, people are gathering in downtown Pittsburgh to pay tribute to Myron Cope with a ceremonial wave of the Terrible Towel he invented. Newspapers, TV stations, and blogs are loaded with tributes to Cope, who died Wednesday from respiratory failure at 79.

These tributes are the most I’ve ever seen for a sportscaster. Nobody mourned Howard Cosell this way.

In the relatively brief time that I’ve lived in Pittsburgh, I can see that the tributes are justified.

Soon after I moved here in 2002, it became apparent to me that Cope was more than a sportscaster. One of the first things Jamie did to introduce me to the area was play a Steelers radio broadcast. I had never heard an announcer quite like him. His nasal voice, with a heavy Pittsburgh accent, came across like Cosell without the pretentiousness. His catch phrases, such as “um-hah,” “yoi,” and “okle-dokle,” became part of the local vocabulary, as did his nicknames for opposing teams—the “Cleve Brownies,” the “Cincinnati Bungles,” and the “Baltimore Birdies.” He made Steelermania instantly accessible to me. For the uninitiated, this site has a good collection of Myron’s sound bites.

Two of his most recent games stand out in my mind. One was the last game of the 2004 season. The Steelers had clinched a playoff berth and started many second-stringers against the Buffalo Bills, but beat them anyway. Myron marveled at the performance of the “Steelers Scrubs” and riffed on it throughout the game. He even joked that he would have T-shirts made reading “Steelers Scrubs.”

Another game, that same year, was a fairly decisive win against the arch-rival Cincinnati Bengals, in which he came up with the line, “We’re putting the lox on those Cincinnati Bagels!”

His legacy goes beyond the broadcast booth. He once joked that his epitaph would read, “Creator of Towel Dead,” and many people know him best as the creator of the Terrible Towel. The Towel, invented prior to a 1975 playoff game, has set the standard for sports team symbols. Cope was also an excellent print journalist. He and George Plimpton are the only two writers ever given the title of Special Correspondent for Sports Illustrated.

Until Myron's retirement, it was a tradition in our house to watch the Steelers game with the TV sound turned down and the radio playing in the background. I will never forget that moment before each game when the stadium music boomed in the background as the Steelers ran onto the field. Myron would sputter, raise his voice higher than usual, and generally break every rule of sportscasting, but, at that moment, he said everything you needed to know. It’s telling that, with all due respect to Tunch and Bill, we now listen to the radio broadcast only when the TV announcers really suck.

Thank you, Myron, for welcoming me to Pittsburgh.

Bye now!

We can all stop searching now

2008-02-16T11:33:00.003-05:00

In my intro to this site, I said that I’d blog on chess if I thought anybody was interested.

I never thought I’d get the opportunity so soon.

Bobby Fischer passed away last month in Reykjavik, Iceland, the town where his legend reached its peak. It may sound strange to call him a sports legend, or to even call chess a sport, nowadays—but for a brief period in the 1970s, both were true.

It goes without saying that Fischer was to chess what Babe Ruth was to baseball, or Michael Jordan to basketball—but he may have been even more important, as chess was made and broken by his place in the spotlight. Interest in baseball did not plummet the day the Babe retired, but when Fischer was stripped of his chess title in 1975 in a dispute over issues that wouldn’t have made Terrell Owens blink, people, at least in the U.S., stopped trumpeting chess as “the sport of the mind,” and it returned to what it was before Fischer won the title—a pastime for high school nerds.

It was the chess world’s misfortune that its destiny laid in the hands of a stark, raving loon. This was borne out by the obituary story done by ESPN on "SportsCenter." While the story did show a montage of Fischer’s extraordinary rise to the top, the most lasting images were a sound bite from a Filipino radio station in which Fischer praised the 9/11 attacks, and an anti-Semitic rant at a news conference in which Fischer vehemently denied his own Jewish lineage.

Not that Fischer was the first chess champion to suffer from mental illness. Paul Morphy, the first American chess champion, stopped playing in his twenties and became a recluse who passed his time arranging women’s shoes on the floor and dancing around them. Wilhelm Steinitz, the first official world champion, once challenged God to a game—and offered him a pawn. Steinitz eventually died in a mental hospital.

Does the intense concentration and need to anticipate an opponent’s moves at such a high level lead to mental illness, or does the game’s nature attract the unstable? A lot of bandwidth could be eaten making chicken-or-egg arguments about that question.

Fischer’s My 60 Memorable Games opens with an epigram from champion Dr. Emanuel Lasker that speaks to the game’s enduring appeal:

“On the chess board lies and hypocrisy do not survive long. The creative combination lays bare the presumption of a lie; the merciless fact, culminating in a checkmate, contradicts the hypocrite."

Other games have some element of chance, such as dice or cards. Even in Scrabble™, you have to draw the letters before you can play them. But not chess. In chess, it’s just you and your ability. That’s why many have considered it an ultimate test of intellect, if there is such a thing.
But what happens when the intellect fails—when a player reaches an opponent or position that just can’t be beaten? What does that say about a player? Maybe it wasn’t mere hyperbole when Pravda published news reports after the Fischer-Spassky match saying that Boris Spassky “would never recover” from losing the match, as if he had contracted some terminal illness. (Although Spassky has not only continued to play topflight chess for many years, but has now outlived Fischer.)

Maybe that’s why so many chess grandmasters fall apart.

Or, at the very least, maybe that’s why I don’t play chess much anymore.

The Foofaraw in Phoenix

2008-01-31T18:11:00.000-05:00

I heard a rumor there’s some football game going on this weekend. Is this true?

All eyes will be on the New England Patriots as they pursue the greatest season ever against the New York Giants in Super Bowl XLII.

If you root for the Patriots (assuming you aren’t from New England), you probably also root for Microsoft, Rupert Murdoch and Darth Vader. As much as we all love to see a well-played game, it’s hard to like a juggernaut.

And it’s not hard to find a reason to not like the Patriots. It started with Spygate at the beginning of the season, when the team was caught cheating, paid a hefty fine and lost a draft pick (but somehow still get the seventh pick in this year’s draft!). Add to that a quarterback who appears to have never heard of Trojans (and not USC, either), a brilliant receiver with a history of playing when he feels like it, and a head coach who has unapologetically run up the score all season, and you wind up with a team that has replaced the Oakland Raiders as the league’s embodiment of evil.

As easy as it is to hate the Patriots, it’s hard to bet against them (straight up, anyway). Why? Because they’re just that good.

Tom Brady has always had a knack for short-passing opponents to death. With the addition of long-range target Randy Moss (who they got for a fourth-round draft pick, making the Pats the beneficiaries of the most one-sided trade since Peter Minuit), he can now beat you short or long. I could analyze each position, but suffice to say there isn’t a weak link on the team.

The Giants have momentum on their side, which can count for quite a bit under the right circumstances. Jamie posted an excellent blog entry on Eli Manning below. Since that post, the Giants’ win over the Packers has shown that the little brother has come of age. As the youngest of five kids, I can relate. They may not be as deep at every position as the Patriots, but they have already shown they can overcome adversity. Many pundits wrote them off after an 0-2 start, and didn’t give them much chance as the fifth playoff seed in the weaker of the two conferences. They are already the first team in NFL history to win 10 road games in a season, so what’s one more?

An upset is not out of the question. It would be big. Not Appalachian State or Buster Douglas big, but certainly comparable to the Jets in Super Bowl III.

Just don’t make any guarantees, Eli. It’s been done.

I asked the trusty random number generator on my calculator to make a Super Bowl prediction. First, I had it select a random number, 1 or 2—1 for Patriots, 2 for Giants. Then I selected two random numbers between 0 and 50. The higher is the winner’s score, the lower is the loser’s (or, as Ned Flanders would say, the team that does not win). So, here’s the wisdom of a few random microchips from our friends at Texas Instruments:

Patriots 41, Giants 28.

Read into it what you will. In the words of the great Myron Cope, if you bet the wrong way, then you made your own bed.

Little Brother Makes Good

2008-01-15T19:00:00.000-05:00

I can imagine the thoughts going through Eli Manning’s head.

“Finally! I did something Peyton didn’t do!”

“Look Daddy! I’m in the playoffs!”

“I told ‘em I was just as good as HE was. Nobody believed me. Who’s in the conference championship now? Huh? Who? ME, that’s who.”

Maybe I’m projecting. But I’m sure Eli Manning felt a huge sense of relief at making the playoffs, and more than a little happy twinge at doing it when his illustrious big brother didn’t.

Let me share something here. I've never really been big on the Mannings. (Well, the Mannings Farm in PA, the fiber arts nirvana, I’m sure I’d be a fan, but that’s for another blog.) Archie Manning may have been a gifted quarterback, but he squandered his talents with clubs that didn’t live up to his potential. I have a theory that he liked it that way, but that’s just my pop-psychology take on it. His college career was unspectacular due to a mediocre team. Third place in the Heisman trophy voting wouldn’t even be a blip on the radar these days, never mind that the actual Heisman winner usually does little when moving on to the NFL. Ten losing seasons with the Saints, most of them spent on his rear end at the hands of Jack Youngblood. Two pro bowls. Two more losing seasons, one with Houston and one with the Mini-Vikes. His record among starters was the worst in NFL history (.263%! Really!) among QBs with 100 starts or more. So I’ve never really understood the adulation.

Peyton Manning was put in the catbird seat early on. He had a better college career than his dad, natch. He compiled some impressive stats and trophies, lots of plaques and an accusation of sexual harassment, but no Heisman for this Manning. (Charles Woodson beat him out, and actually went on to do something in the NFL.) No national championships either, and early indications of not responding well to teams that knew how to pressure him. Peyton moved on to an even better position with the Indianapolis Colts. He’s been the subject of much foaming at the mouth and outright hero-worship, second only to Tom Brady, from all the top analysts, reporters, pundits, and talking heads of American Sport. His noble profile, his sense of humor, his ability to coordinate the offense while ACTUALLY ON THE FIELD. Wow. IMAGINE. It took him nine years to finally win a Super Bowl, surrounded by some of the best players in the league and an intelligent and indulgent coaching staff who let him have free rein on the field. Some of his commercials are clever, but his adenoidal intonation annoys me beyond all reason, possibly because I used to have adenoid issues. In general, though, I think he’s treated like some sort of football demi-god in a way that is really mostly undeserved. Yes, he’s a good quarterback. But he needs to listen to his offensive coordinator more often and stop being so damn twitchy in the backfield. Also, he chokes.

Which brings us to Little Brother Eli. Eli went to Ole Miss like a good boy, his Dad’s alma mater. He had a decent college career and set some records, a bit more nondescript than Peyton’s, but good. He didn’t get into any (reported) trouble while there, unlike Peyton. He ran third in the Heisman, and never really contended for a national championship. The well-known kerfluffle around his draft day trade with Philip Rivers probably had less to do with the Chargers being bad for his career (LT anyone?) and more to do with not wanting to play in the AFC, where he’d be likely to face Peyton on a regular basis. Eli’s always struck me as someone who wanted to please his Dad and maybe someday PLEASE show up his big brother if possible.

Now I grew up an only child. But I’ve watched my kids, and my aunts and uncles, my cousins, and I can see how Eli must feel, finally, achieving something Peyton didn’t, not this year, and having a decent chance to win the big game besides. I hope he’s not ruining the experience by worrying about when Peyton’s going to come up behind him and give him a wedgie.

Good on you, Eli. Brett Favre's probably going to eat you for lunch and laugh the whole time, but I wish you luck on the Frozen Tundra anyway.

OSU—What happened?

2008-01-14T18:49:00.000-05:00

This year’s BCS Championship Game marked yet another moment of mourning from a lot of people in Ohio and a lot of people outside Ohio.

On paper, Ohio State was the dominant team in college football this season. They rolled through the first 10 games of their season, lost to Rose Bowl-bound Illinois by a touchdown, then beat archrival Michigan 14-3. Take nothing away from LSU, whose two losses were in overtime by a combined eight points.

The best thing that can be said about the Buckeyes’ performance Jan. 7 is that it wasn’t as embarrassing as last year’s 41-10 loss to Florida. Still, for the second year in a row, the Buckeyes of the regular season mysteriously disappeared. College football fans in general—not just Buckeye fans—have to be asking why.

One reason may be the gap between OSU’s last regular season game and the BCS game, and the gap in preparedness that goes with it. OSU played Michigan on Nov. 17—a break of over seven weeks. LSU’s came to the BCS game off a win in the SEC Championship on Dec. 1, giving them five weeks between games. OSU and Florida had a similar inequity the year before. Also note that this year’s Rose Bowl resulted in a USC blowout of Illinois. Illinois’ regular season ended Nov. 17, USC’s on Dec. 1. There are other factors at play, but it’s clear that Big Ten teams aren’t entering bowl games on the same conditional footing as their rivals.

This problem began several years ago, when most of the major collegiate conferences began extending their seasons (and generating more revenue) by holding a year-end championship game after the regular season. The SEC has a championship game. The Big Ten does not. I don’t think a championship game would work in the Big Ten, because, in most years, it would be a reprise of OSU-Michigan (although it would have been OSU-Illinois this year), and there aren’t enough couches in Columbus to burn for that to work.

So, like many other pundits, I am going to invoke the dreaded “p” word. To paraphrase Jim Mora: Playoffs? Playoffs? I’m going to talk to you about playoffs—but not for the reason that most people mention.

In addition to all the talk about determining a college football champion in a “fair” manner (whatever that means), a playoff would be desirable because it would remove the gap between the last regular season game and the BCS championship. If the first playoff game were played during, say, the third weekend in December, the seven-week hiatus would be a thing of the past. Each team would have played the same number games in a reasonable time span.

Let there be a playoff among the top eight or 16 teams in the BCS rankings, with the top bowls affixing their names to a given game in whatever way they can agree upon. There would still be plenty of room on ESPN’s schedule for all the Who Cares Bowls that pit the fourth-place team in the WAC against the third-place team from Conference USA.

When the NCAA rejects a Division I-A playoff, it usually does so by making some ridiculous statement about education (as if Divisions I-AA, II and III, which have playoffs, don’t care about education?). The pre-bowl conditioning gap between conferences should give some schools, such as those in the Big Ten, cause to reconsider.

Welcome!

2008-01-13T01:49:00.000-05:00

Welcome to the Fritz Blitz.

I'm Jamie Fritz. My husband Bob and I love sports. We talk about sports a lot. We often say what the announcers say before they say it.

We also have opinions. We like our opinions, and wish to share them with the world, in all their sparkly glory. Hence, this. As far as we can tell, this is the world's premier (and first) joint spousal sports blog.

A bit about me. I'm a big fan of pro hockey and pro football. I also like basketball, especially women's college and pro hoops. I'm an inveterate homer about the Steelers and the Penguins, but I'm not all that into the Buccos, at least not until they start winning. PNC park, however, is beautiful. I enjoy Olympic sports, (both winter and summer) and can take or leave college football. I like to watch drag racing (cars only please, the motorcycles scare the crap out of me) but I really don't get the appeal of NASCAR. Honestly, I can watch and appreciate almost any sporting event.

I'm also a feminist, a knitter, a spinner, a photographer, and an animal lover. I keep a knitting and general day-to-day stuff blog over at Buttercupia and tend to update that about once a week, if you're interested. If you're not, that's also fine.

Bob and I have been married since 2005. We don't have kids of our own, but I have two grown daughters (22 and 24) who have fully adopted Bob. We have two Welsh Corgis and three cats. We're both members of Mensa, and our interest in sports sets us apart somewhat. It's one of the things that brought us together. We also love movies and music, but no blogs on those subjects are in the works.

Here we go, Fritz Blitz, here we go!

2008-01-13T01:48:00.000-05:00

Welcome to The Fritz Blitz! Jamie and I have created this blog to share with you our common interest in sports. We plan to bring you the constant variety of sport. The thrill of victory--and the agony of defeat. The human drama of athletic competition. And I have just really dated myself with that reference. We are slightly crazed Steelers and Penguins fans, but we will blog on other sports, too. We will also blog on the Pirates, Pitt, and, of course, the Ohio State Buckeyes. (Yeah, I know they aren't in Pittsburgh, but I am a Columbus native, yanno?) And I'll warn you in advance that I get really sentimental when Kentucky Derby time rolls around. We'll even blog on chess if we think anybody will care. And if there's a favorite of yours that you want us to blog on (Blog on! Apply directly to the website!), please let us know. We welcome any comments, as long as they aren't about Ron Paul.