The Pittsburgh Steelers are five days away from their third Super Bowl in six years. This is a truly remarkable accomplishment in sports and it should be the focus of the week.
Oh but if life were only that simple.
Sadly but predictably, there is a great deal of focus on Ben Roethlisberger this week. I admit I’m pleasantly surprised by the amount of accolades Ben is getting for his continued on field excellence. Alas those accolades are diluted through continuous reminders of his off the field issues. Roethlisberger’s superlative and gritty play seems to have finally swayed the football world to the reality that he is one of the elite quarterbacks in the game. And yet that reality is obscured in the shadows of what happened last spring.
Let’s be honest, this was inevitable.
In a rational world, Ben’s off the field behavior would be completely irrelevant. He is a football player; nothing more, nothing less. As long as he does his job every Sunday, it should not matter whether he spends his weekends in churches or VIP rooms.
Alas, we all know sports are not rational. And nothing is more irrational than Super Bowl week.
We as fans make an emotional commitment to our favorite athletes that is impossible to explain or justify. We feel as though we are personally vested in them. We don’t just want to cheer for them, we want to genuinely like them (or at least like our perception of them). And when they let us down, we feel truly betrayed. It’s irrational and illogical, but its reality.
To reiterate what I said back in April, I did not want Ben to be found not guilty. I wanted him to have not done what he was accused of doing. The Milledgeville district attorney’s not to press charges is enough for me to accept Ben the quarterback. It’s not enough for me to like him or be emotionally vested in him. I need to genuinely believe that he is not a monster before I can do that.
I noted the following last April in a blog entry entitled, “Big Ben at a Crossroads in the Burgh:”
It’s sad that I’m probably one of Ben’s most staunch defenders and the best I can offer is, “it’s not illegal to be a jerk.” When the best thing people can say about your actions is that no crime was committed, that’s not a good thing. Let’s be honest, there are a lot of people who feel far more strongly than I do that Ben should be playing somewhere else next season (or not playing at all). And make no mistake, if he does not get his act together that’s exactly what will happen
Steeler fans are a forgiving bunch. In all likelihood, their forgiveness can be purchased at a cost of one additional Lombardi trophy. That being said, they will never truly accept and love him again unless he clearly makes a commitment to change in his life.
When I wrote that, I had no idea that the Steelers would be on the precipice of their 7th Super Bowl title. I did not even know if Roethlisberger would be a Steeler on opening day. I admit I was just hoping that the team could stay afloat without him and maybe compete for a playoff spot. It’s a testament to their skill and character that they rose so far beyond that
And yet without suggesting any clairvoyance on my part, it’s amazing how much we are living out the situation I described nine months earlier.
I think most of Steeler Nation has “accepted” Ben back. Truth be told, I was more than ready to do that after living the Byron Dixonbatch experience for four games. That said, any doubt of his “acceptance” was likely erased seconds after Ben’s final completion to Antonio Brown against the Jets.
Alas there is a huge difference between accepting Ben and liking Ben. And that’s where the part about changing his life comes in to play. For Ben to regain his status as a beloved sports icon in the Burgh, he needed to demonstrate a complete commitment to changing his life and being a better person. In short, he needed to stop being an ignorant jerk.
A properly motivated person can effect such changes virtually instantaneously. It takes considerably longer for those around him to trust and believe in it. The worst case scenario for Steeler fans is to reinvest emotionally in Ben and then have him let us down with another ugly off the field incident.
Ben has zero “obligation” to seek our forgiveness. His only true “obligation” is to perform on Sundays, which he has always done to the highest level. That said, there are absolutely ramifications when players lose the trust of their fans.
Did you notice how quickly the city of Chicago turned on its supposed superstar QB Jay Cutler last weekend? Cutler compounded a poor performance in a big game with a questionable but very real injury. And for this he was blistered both by fellow NFL players and a Chicago fan base that has been desperately seeking a franchise QB for a quarter century.
And why did this happen? Because in two years in Chicago and five years in the NFL, most of the football world has come to believe that Cutler is a first class jerk. He has forced Bear fans in to the unenviable position of being emotionally vested in a person that they genuinely do not like. As a result he gets zero benefit of the doubt from those fans. If he performs to the expected level of stardom, they will grudgingly accept him. If he falls in the slightest, they will start the lynch mob to run him out of town.
Want a closer to home example? How about Jeff Reed? I noted in November that Reed was ultimately cut because he stopped making kicks. That said, his poor behavior, bad attitude, and lack of accountability cost him any benefit of the doubt with the Steelers or their fans. Both were more than happy to run him out of town.
So no, there was no “obligation” for Ben to seek or receive forgiveness from Steeler fans, but it’s truly in his best interest to do so. Otherwise, he would face the same wrath as Cutler and Reed the moment his on the field performance failed to live up to standard. You need only remember many of the fan reactions to Big Ben this summer to recognize that.
Which brings us back to the question, are we truly ready to forgive Big Ben? Yes we’ve accepted him back, but are we truly ready to embrace him again?
For me the answer is yes. And not just because Ben has lead us to another Super Bowl. I truly believe that he has grown and matured as a human being. I think we really are seeing a new Ben Roethlisberger. I know there significant skeptics but I’m not one of them. And here is why.
Often when a person is truly on the wrong path, they have to hit rock bottom before they turn things around. They need a genuine slap in the face before reality sets in. Big Ben got more than a slap, he got flat out punched; first by the accusations, then by the investigation and finally by his four game suspension. And he continues to endure daily slaps in the form of negative press and a steady public relations battering. I can’t even walk to work in Chicago without hearing Big Ben criticism on the street.
In short, Big Ben got a desperately needed wake up call.
What I’ve seen from Ben since then genuinely impresses me. I strongly believe that deeds overwhelm words so I’m happy to hear both teammates and media members saying that Ben is acting like a better person and better teammate. That said, I’ve been extremely impressed by his words. I hear a man who genuinely gets that he went off course and needs to change; not a man trying to placate the fans and media.
Maybe that makes me a fool. Maybe when you pull back the curtain it’s nothing more than a weak justification to enable my Super Bowl dreams. Maybe I’m no better than San Francisco fans who celebrated Barry Bonds’ home runs and blissfully ignored his steroid use.
Maybe, but I don’t think so.
The ultimate proof for me came when I pulled on my #7 jersey after a season of confinement to the top shelf of my closet. Sports are about emotion and there is nothing more emotional than pulling on a player’s jersey. It was telling that even as I supported Ben last summer, I could not bring myself to this simple act. It’s just as telling that I’m willing to do so now. That act comes from my heart; which more often than not is a better judge of character than my brain.
I’ve always believed in Ben Roethlisberger the football player. Slowly but surely I’m regaining my belief in him as a person. That to me is nearly as important as a 7th Lombardi trophy…although I’ll happily take both. I’m not sure we could have had the latter without the former anyway.
The message in all ways is I am ready to finally forgive Big Ben. Let’s hope he does not let me down…and I don’t mean this Sunday.
Monday, January 31, 2011
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Crosby’s Concussion Overshadows Steelers off Week
I am not ignoring the Steelers brilliant but troublingly close victory over the Jets on Sunday. I am not ignoring a third trip to the Super Bowl in six years. Trust me I’m thrilled, even if it took me 12 long hours to de-stress on Sunday night. Just once for posterity…I’VE GOTTA FEELIN…PITTSBURGH’S GOING TO THE SUPER BOWL !!!
Alas, we have 13 days to endure debating the endless minutia of the Super Bowl on continuous loop. At this point, I simply do not have anything of substance to add to the discussion. Sometime before they kick off in Dallas, I most assuredly will.
Instead I want to focus on a major issue on the Pittsburgh sports scene that is being shockingly undersold for its significance and severity. That would be Sidney Crosby’s concussion(s). The concussion(s) that he suffered somewhere between January 1st and January 5th (or both) and has managed to keep him off the ice and even out of the gym for three weeks.
Does anybody besides me think this is a MAJOR concern?
I give the Pens tremendous credit for how well they have played without Crosby and for the last three games without Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. That said, it’s fair to say their absence from the line-up has had a profound affect. Getting beyond the fact that I never thought I would see Craig Adams score the winning (and only) goal in a hockey game, the reality is the Pens have scored 4 goals in three games without 87 and 71. They are winning on grit, determination and Fleury right now.
I covered my belief that the Pens desperately need to add another scoring winger in a previous blog, not to mention every third conversation I’ve had with Christopher since March 2008. That however is not the issue here. The Pens could reincarnate Maurice Richard and it will not matter if Sid is not in the line-up. And right now, there is no sign of either of those things happening any time soon.
Let’s examine this issue for what it really is. The general belief is that Crosby suffered a “mild” concussion at the winter classic when he was hit by David Steckel and then suffered a second one five days later. That seems fairly reasonable to me based on the visual evidence. If that’s the case, Sid had two concussions in five days. That’s bad enough at face value but even worse when you consider that the first one did not heal before he suffered the second.
And I believe that’s exactly what happened.
We all know concussions are cumulative. We all know the once you get one, it’s a lot easier to get another. And that assumes the first one is given time to properly heal.
I’ve watched enough football over the years to get an idea of how the concussion thing works. When a player gets his first concussion ever and its of the “mild” variety (i.e., NOT cold cocking Heath Miller helmet to helmet 200 MPH), more often then not he is on the field the following Sunday. At worst, he sits out two weeks.
When they get a second concussion, the wait is usually longer. Consider Aaron Rodgers who earlier this year left a game with a concussion but played the following Sunday. Later in the year he suffered a second concussion and missed two weeks. The same thing happened to Big Ben last year as all of us along with Hines Ward and Dennis Dixon well remember.
For more context consider what happened to Miller. He took that absolutely brutal, helmet to helmet shot against the Ravens. I believe he was out for 18 days. I don’t know if that was Miller’s first ever concussion but it’s certainly the first I remember with the Steelers. If that had been his second or third, it might well have ended his season, or worse.
It’s usually when players start suffering multiple concussions that we seem them sitting out for long periods of time. Think Steve Young and Troy Aikman near the end of their careers. Or when they absorb a brutal and pointed hit to the head like the one Marc Savard took from Matt Cooke last year. Or like the one that Sid took from Steckel.
I appreciate that the Penguins are being ultra careful with Sid, as they should. He should not skate until he’s 100% symptom free and frankly I would not play him until he’s been symptom free for AT LEAST one week. That likely will happen because Sid will need time to get back in game shape when he ultimately does recover. Given that the All Star break is a free week off, it made sense for him not to try a comeback in the interim.
That said, we are now at three weeks and he is still having symptoms.
A few weeks back I wrote about the “de-evolution” of the Penguins. The premise was that with each passing year, the Pens are becoming more dependent on Crosby as the salary cap strips away their other offensive weapons. I contrasted that to the late 80s and early 90s when the Pens gradually became less dependent on Mario Lemieux. It got to the point where they were good enough to knock out the Rangers in 1992 with Mario sidelined thanks to Adam Graves' borderline criminal slash (yes I’m still bitter).
Well now you have a better idea of why I’m so concerned about this. When you depend so much on one player, no matter how great he is, you are vulnerable. I know the Pens are winning without Sid right now. There is a big difference between one goal victories over the Islanders and Carolina in January and beating the Goon Squad, Craps, or Dead Wings in May.
That said I have a bigger long-term concern. Concussions are cumulative. And Sid is not Vincent Lecavalier. He does not play out on the perimeter and shy away from contact. Sid is a gritty superstar. He scores most of his goals from 15 feet and in. He takes hits to makes plays and battles for loose pucks on the wall. Guys who do that sometimes get hit…hard. Pre concussion he can slough those hits off. Post concussion, one of them might end his season. Do you think just maybe Daniel Carcillo is aware of that?
And who knows if Crosby will be as willing to play his style of game after this. He admits this is his first major concussion. Nobody knows how he will react. A 10% reduction in his game might be the difference between the singularly dominant Sid we’ve seen the last 12 months and say a Jeff Carter. Can the Pens win the Cup as currently constructed if Sid plays even at that level?
I’m well aware that Sid is a smart player who plays with his head up. That’s in sharp contrast to the NHL’s poster children for concussions, Savard and Eric Lindros. I commented last year that while Cooke’s hit on Savard was careless and should have drawn a suspension, Savard did duck his head as he went to shoot which made him vulnerable. Well Savard suffered another concussion this week, one that may end his career, and I noted the same thing. He ducked his head and actually hit his head board level. That’s a player who puts himself in vulnerable situations.
As for Lindros, he refused to learn that no matter how big and strong you are you can not steamroll guys on every shift. And he paid for it. Of course once he stopped playing that way, he was never the same.
Sid is smart enough to skate with his head up and not seek out unnecessary contact. He’s done that his entire career. And that did not protect him on two separate occasions during the first week of January. A smart player can minimize the risk of head shots. He cannot eliminate it.
I’ve often wondered how many Cups the Pens of the 90s would have won if Mario could have stayed healthy. I’m convinced that the horrible, awful loss to the Islanders in 1993 was in no small part related to Lemieux’s recovery from cancer. He simply ran out of gas in that series. We know he missed the entire 95 lockout season and we will never truly know just how much his continuous back problems limited him in other seasons. I don’t want Sid’s head to become Mario’s back of the 2010s.
Some of this could be mitigated by Geno returning to full Geno status, which frankly we have not seen since June 2009. For the record, I fully support the Pens decision to sit him and let him get healthy as well. That said, with $17.4 Million of cap space invested in two centers, the Pens model for success is pretty clear. Crosby and Malkin have to be healthy and they have to be dominant. This team is not built to win the Stanley Cup any other way.
That reality and two Crosby concussions in short order is a potentially scary combination.
Alas, we have 13 days to endure debating the endless minutia of the Super Bowl on continuous loop. At this point, I simply do not have anything of substance to add to the discussion. Sometime before they kick off in Dallas, I most assuredly will.
Instead I want to focus on a major issue on the Pittsburgh sports scene that is being shockingly undersold for its significance and severity. That would be Sidney Crosby’s concussion(s). The concussion(s) that he suffered somewhere between January 1st and January 5th (or both) and has managed to keep him off the ice and even out of the gym for three weeks.
Does anybody besides me think this is a MAJOR concern?
I give the Pens tremendous credit for how well they have played without Crosby and for the last three games without Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. That said, it’s fair to say their absence from the line-up has had a profound affect. Getting beyond the fact that I never thought I would see Craig Adams score the winning (and only) goal in a hockey game, the reality is the Pens have scored 4 goals in three games without 87 and 71. They are winning on grit, determination and Fleury right now.
I covered my belief that the Pens desperately need to add another scoring winger in a previous blog, not to mention every third conversation I’ve had with Christopher since March 2008. That however is not the issue here. The Pens could reincarnate Maurice Richard and it will not matter if Sid is not in the line-up. And right now, there is no sign of either of those things happening any time soon.
Let’s examine this issue for what it really is. The general belief is that Crosby suffered a “mild” concussion at the winter classic when he was hit by David Steckel and then suffered a second one five days later. That seems fairly reasonable to me based on the visual evidence. If that’s the case, Sid had two concussions in five days. That’s bad enough at face value but even worse when you consider that the first one did not heal before he suffered the second.
And I believe that’s exactly what happened.
We all know concussions are cumulative. We all know the once you get one, it’s a lot easier to get another. And that assumes the first one is given time to properly heal.
I’ve watched enough football over the years to get an idea of how the concussion thing works. When a player gets his first concussion ever and its of the “mild” variety (i.e., NOT cold cocking Heath Miller helmet to helmet 200 MPH), more often then not he is on the field the following Sunday. At worst, he sits out two weeks.
When they get a second concussion, the wait is usually longer. Consider Aaron Rodgers who earlier this year left a game with a concussion but played the following Sunday. Later in the year he suffered a second concussion and missed two weeks. The same thing happened to Big Ben last year as all of us along with Hines Ward and Dennis Dixon well remember.
For more context consider what happened to Miller. He took that absolutely brutal, helmet to helmet shot against the Ravens. I believe he was out for 18 days. I don’t know if that was Miller’s first ever concussion but it’s certainly the first I remember with the Steelers. If that had been his second or third, it might well have ended his season, or worse.
It’s usually when players start suffering multiple concussions that we seem them sitting out for long periods of time. Think Steve Young and Troy Aikman near the end of their careers. Or when they absorb a brutal and pointed hit to the head like the one Marc Savard took from Matt Cooke last year. Or like the one that Sid took from Steckel.
I appreciate that the Penguins are being ultra careful with Sid, as they should. He should not skate until he’s 100% symptom free and frankly I would not play him until he’s been symptom free for AT LEAST one week. That likely will happen because Sid will need time to get back in game shape when he ultimately does recover. Given that the All Star break is a free week off, it made sense for him not to try a comeback in the interim.
That said, we are now at three weeks and he is still having symptoms.
A few weeks back I wrote about the “de-evolution” of the Penguins. The premise was that with each passing year, the Pens are becoming more dependent on Crosby as the salary cap strips away their other offensive weapons. I contrasted that to the late 80s and early 90s when the Pens gradually became less dependent on Mario Lemieux. It got to the point where they were good enough to knock out the Rangers in 1992 with Mario sidelined thanks to Adam Graves' borderline criminal slash (yes I’m still bitter).
Well now you have a better idea of why I’m so concerned about this. When you depend so much on one player, no matter how great he is, you are vulnerable. I know the Pens are winning without Sid right now. There is a big difference between one goal victories over the Islanders and Carolina in January and beating the Goon Squad, Craps, or Dead Wings in May.
That said I have a bigger long-term concern. Concussions are cumulative. And Sid is not Vincent Lecavalier. He does not play out on the perimeter and shy away from contact. Sid is a gritty superstar. He scores most of his goals from 15 feet and in. He takes hits to makes plays and battles for loose pucks on the wall. Guys who do that sometimes get hit…hard. Pre concussion he can slough those hits off. Post concussion, one of them might end his season. Do you think just maybe Daniel Carcillo is aware of that?
And who knows if Crosby will be as willing to play his style of game after this. He admits this is his first major concussion. Nobody knows how he will react. A 10% reduction in his game might be the difference between the singularly dominant Sid we’ve seen the last 12 months and say a Jeff Carter. Can the Pens win the Cup as currently constructed if Sid plays even at that level?
I’m well aware that Sid is a smart player who plays with his head up. That’s in sharp contrast to the NHL’s poster children for concussions, Savard and Eric Lindros. I commented last year that while Cooke’s hit on Savard was careless and should have drawn a suspension, Savard did duck his head as he went to shoot which made him vulnerable. Well Savard suffered another concussion this week, one that may end his career, and I noted the same thing. He ducked his head and actually hit his head board level. That’s a player who puts himself in vulnerable situations.
As for Lindros, he refused to learn that no matter how big and strong you are you can not steamroll guys on every shift. And he paid for it. Of course once he stopped playing that way, he was never the same.
Sid is smart enough to skate with his head up and not seek out unnecessary contact. He’s done that his entire career. And that did not protect him on two separate occasions during the first week of January. A smart player can minimize the risk of head shots. He cannot eliminate it.
I’ve often wondered how many Cups the Pens of the 90s would have won if Mario could have stayed healthy. I’m convinced that the horrible, awful loss to the Islanders in 1993 was in no small part related to Lemieux’s recovery from cancer. He simply ran out of gas in that series. We know he missed the entire 95 lockout season and we will never truly know just how much his continuous back problems limited him in other seasons. I don’t want Sid’s head to become Mario’s back of the 2010s.
Some of this could be mitigated by Geno returning to full Geno status, which frankly we have not seen since June 2009. For the record, I fully support the Pens decision to sit him and let him get healthy as well. That said, with $17.4 Million of cap space invested in two centers, the Pens model for success is pretty clear. Crosby and Malkin have to be healthy and they have to be dominant. This team is not built to win the Stanley Cup any other way.
That reality and two Crosby concussions in short order is a potentially scary combination.
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
The Ghosts of AFC Championship Games Past
I remember with shocking clarity the Steelers’ loss to San Diego in the 1994 AFC Championship game.
The final play is burned in my memory, a desperation Neil O’Donnell pass towards Barry Foster that was batted down in the end zone. Just as clearly I remember what lead to that. A slowly building feeling of doom as the Steelers dominated the first three quarters but failed to score. The moment of shock and terror when Alfred Pupunu torched Tim Mckyer for a long touchdown reception. The flicker of hope as O’Donnell led the Steelers down the field towards a potential winning touchdown. And the ultimate moment of dread when the drive failed.
One of the worst losses in Pittsburgh sports history for my money. At a time when there was an abundant supply to choose from.
Here is the other thing I remember. I remember going in to that game feeling with absolute certainty that the Steelers were going to win. There was not a doubt in my mind. The Chargers were a mediocre, warm weather team. The Steelers had nearly beaten them in San Diego on Jim Sorgi Sunday with a slew of back-ups in the game. I felt the game was little more than a coronation for Bill Cowher’s AFC Super Bowl representative.
I could barely sleep the night before. My 15 year wait to finally see the Steelers in the Super Bowl was finally going to end. All I had to do was sit through was a three hour demolition of Stan Humphries and friends. I did not know if the Steelers could beat San Francisco or Dallas in the Super Bowl but San Diego…please. That was a gimme.
That’s why I sat motionless on my couch in State College for a good 90 minutes after that game ended. I just could not comprehend that the Steelers lost to that joke of a team. I still can’t believe it and it’s been 16 years. I put that right up there with the Penguins losing to a beer league expansion team in the 1996 conference finals, excluding 20,000 plastic rats of course.
I can honestly say I’ve never been that confident going in to a championship game since.
That my friends, is what we call emotional scars. And when it comes to the AFC Championship game…I have many.
Rest assured it’s not just that one horrifying loss that caused this. It was three subsequent losses over the next decade, all at home, all against teams I perceived at the time (correctly or not) to be inferior. Five times in 11 seasons I prepared for a potential Steeler Super Bowl appearance. Four times I went home bitterly disappointed.
Even the one victory came with a healthy dose of pure angst. We all remember that the Steelers were a dropped hail mary pass from losing to a 9-7, Jim Harbaugh lead Indianapolis team in 1996. What you may not remember is that just like the San Diego game, the Steelers dominated play and yet fell behind late in the 4th quarter. This time, O’Donnell was able to pull off the late comeback, though not without help. Two weeks before he killed us in the Super Bowl, our buddy Neil threw a perfect pass in to the gut of a Colts defender. Amazingly, he dropped it and a few plays later the Steelers scored. Otherwise we would be talking about a 5th home loss.
Then of course came a loss to Denver following the 1997 season and losses to New England after 2001 and 2004. At the time those games were played, we thought the Steelers were superior to all three of those clubs. Denver was a wild card team with a history of playoff chokes. New England in 2001 was thought to be a fluke with some dopey second year QB from Michigan. And the 2004 Steelers were 15-1 and had battered New England in the regular season.
Of course given 15 years of perspective, and more importantly two Super Bowl championships to ease the pain, I have a far different view point on things. That Denver team went on to win back to back Super Bowls. That 2001 Patriots were the first of three champions in four years. And in all three cases, there was a tremendous disparity at quarterback. I’m sorry but all things being equal, Kordell Stewart is not going to beat John Elway in a championship game (not to mention Bill Belicheat). The true miracle is that the Steelers got to five championship games and a Super Bowl with a significant deficiency at quarterback.
(Note, I consider Ben Roethlisberger without question one of the top five QBs in football. That does not change the fact that as a rookie, he was not ready to win playoff football games, especially against a mini-dynasty and a future first ballot hall of fame QB).
You might think that armed with this perspective, I would be able to cope with those previous losses better, or at least not let them effect my view of this Sunday’s game with the Jets. And you would be wrong. I simply can’t shake the haunting memories of those bitter home defeats.
I came to this realization two years ago when the Steelers played Baltimore in the AFC Championship game. Notwithstanding that we had won the Super Bowl three years earlier, I was an emotional wreck. I knew the Steelers were the better team and I knew that the Flacco factor would likely doom the Ravens. And yet my head could not convince my heart of this.
When Baltimore got the ball, down 16-14 midway through the 4th quarter, I could foresee history repeating itself. The Steelers were clearly outplaying their hated rivals and yet I just sensed somehow Matt Stover was going to bank a 52 yard field goal off the cross bar and we were going to be left with yet another crippling home loss in a championship game.
A rational mind does not think that way but when it comes to the final game before the Super Bowl, I become devoid of such clarity. I just keep having flashbacks to those other losses. I see blocked field goals returned for touchdowns, kickoffs returned for touchdowns, and interceptions…returned for touchdowns.
That’s why I spent three plus hours that day alternately pacing, screaming, swearing, and throwing a roll of paper towels (the latter reaction I blame entirely on the late, great Limas Sweed). That I did all this in direct view of my future wife makes it all the more frightening. That’s how deep the scars run.
Thankfully, the incomparable Troy Polamalu picked off Flacco and the Steelers went on to one of the greatest victories in Super Bowl history. It’s telling of my scars that I was far more calm when Ben took over after the Larry Fitzgerald touchdown than I was while leading against Baltimore. It’s almost as though I have more faith in the Steelers to win on Super Bowl Sunday than I do if they are at home two weeks earlier.
So here we are again, another AFC Championship game at home against what appears to be a lesser opponent. We got exactly the scenario we wanted. The Jets knocked off Giselle’s husband and his arrogant, cheating head coach giving us a home game against a wild card team with a shaky second year quarterback. We could not get a better situation, unless Stan Humphries was behind center for the Jets (oops). And guess which fan and part time blogger is nervous beyond belief?
What’s amazing was I was totally relaxed and confident going in to last Saturday’s game. I never lost my faith in the Steelers, even down 14 to a hated rival with a bruising defense. Conversely, I started worrying about the Jets about ten minutes after they left the field in New England. I assure you it’s not because I think the Jets are better than Baltimore, New England or the Steelers.
I find some inner peace in my new found belief that champions find a way to win, regardless of obstacle or path. The Steelers showed their championship metal last Saturday. How many teams could overcome a 14 point deficit against Baltimore? How many quarterbacks could play like Big Ben did in the second half and especially on the winning drive?
That’s why I believe deep down the Steelers will win. It’s not about being better than the Jets, because the better team does not always win. It’s about having that championship metal, an exceedingly rare quality in sports.
These Steelers have great players; but more importantly players who know how to be great when it matters most. They have a quarterback who excels in the highest pressure moments, and a defense that dominates with shocking consistency. They accept no excuses, the standard is the standard. They never quit on a game, even when circumstances look dire.
My head thinks the Steelers will win 23-17. So does my heart. Sadly those title game scars will not let me believe that…until it happens.
The final play is burned in my memory, a desperation Neil O’Donnell pass towards Barry Foster that was batted down in the end zone. Just as clearly I remember what lead to that. A slowly building feeling of doom as the Steelers dominated the first three quarters but failed to score. The moment of shock and terror when Alfred Pupunu torched Tim Mckyer for a long touchdown reception. The flicker of hope as O’Donnell led the Steelers down the field towards a potential winning touchdown. And the ultimate moment of dread when the drive failed.
One of the worst losses in Pittsburgh sports history for my money. At a time when there was an abundant supply to choose from.
Here is the other thing I remember. I remember going in to that game feeling with absolute certainty that the Steelers were going to win. There was not a doubt in my mind. The Chargers were a mediocre, warm weather team. The Steelers had nearly beaten them in San Diego on Jim Sorgi Sunday with a slew of back-ups in the game. I felt the game was little more than a coronation for Bill Cowher’s AFC Super Bowl representative.
I could barely sleep the night before. My 15 year wait to finally see the Steelers in the Super Bowl was finally going to end. All I had to do was sit through was a three hour demolition of Stan Humphries and friends. I did not know if the Steelers could beat San Francisco or Dallas in the Super Bowl but San Diego…please. That was a gimme.
That’s why I sat motionless on my couch in State College for a good 90 minutes after that game ended. I just could not comprehend that the Steelers lost to that joke of a team. I still can’t believe it and it’s been 16 years. I put that right up there with the Penguins losing to a beer league expansion team in the 1996 conference finals, excluding 20,000 plastic rats of course.
I can honestly say I’ve never been that confident going in to a championship game since.
That my friends, is what we call emotional scars. And when it comes to the AFC Championship game…I have many.
Rest assured it’s not just that one horrifying loss that caused this. It was three subsequent losses over the next decade, all at home, all against teams I perceived at the time (correctly or not) to be inferior. Five times in 11 seasons I prepared for a potential Steeler Super Bowl appearance. Four times I went home bitterly disappointed.
Even the one victory came with a healthy dose of pure angst. We all remember that the Steelers were a dropped hail mary pass from losing to a 9-7, Jim Harbaugh lead Indianapolis team in 1996. What you may not remember is that just like the San Diego game, the Steelers dominated play and yet fell behind late in the 4th quarter. This time, O’Donnell was able to pull off the late comeback, though not without help. Two weeks before he killed us in the Super Bowl, our buddy Neil threw a perfect pass in to the gut of a Colts defender. Amazingly, he dropped it and a few plays later the Steelers scored. Otherwise we would be talking about a 5th home loss.
Then of course came a loss to Denver following the 1997 season and losses to New England after 2001 and 2004. At the time those games were played, we thought the Steelers were superior to all three of those clubs. Denver was a wild card team with a history of playoff chokes. New England in 2001 was thought to be a fluke with some dopey second year QB from Michigan. And the 2004 Steelers were 15-1 and had battered New England in the regular season.
Of course given 15 years of perspective, and more importantly two Super Bowl championships to ease the pain, I have a far different view point on things. That Denver team went on to win back to back Super Bowls. That 2001 Patriots were the first of three champions in four years. And in all three cases, there was a tremendous disparity at quarterback. I’m sorry but all things being equal, Kordell Stewart is not going to beat John Elway in a championship game (not to mention Bill Belicheat). The true miracle is that the Steelers got to five championship games and a Super Bowl with a significant deficiency at quarterback.
(Note, I consider Ben Roethlisberger without question one of the top five QBs in football. That does not change the fact that as a rookie, he was not ready to win playoff football games, especially against a mini-dynasty and a future first ballot hall of fame QB).
You might think that armed with this perspective, I would be able to cope with those previous losses better, or at least not let them effect my view of this Sunday’s game with the Jets. And you would be wrong. I simply can’t shake the haunting memories of those bitter home defeats.
I came to this realization two years ago when the Steelers played Baltimore in the AFC Championship game. Notwithstanding that we had won the Super Bowl three years earlier, I was an emotional wreck. I knew the Steelers were the better team and I knew that the Flacco factor would likely doom the Ravens. And yet my head could not convince my heart of this.
When Baltimore got the ball, down 16-14 midway through the 4th quarter, I could foresee history repeating itself. The Steelers were clearly outplaying their hated rivals and yet I just sensed somehow Matt Stover was going to bank a 52 yard field goal off the cross bar and we were going to be left with yet another crippling home loss in a championship game.
A rational mind does not think that way but when it comes to the final game before the Super Bowl, I become devoid of such clarity. I just keep having flashbacks to those other losses. I see blocked field goals returned for touchdowns, kickoffs returned for touchdowns, and interceptions…returned for touchdowns.
That’s why I spent three plus hours that day alternately pacing, screaming, swearing, and throwing a roll of paper towels (the latter reaction I blame entirely on the late, great Limas Sweed). That I did all this in direct view of my future wife makes it all the more frightening. That’s how deep the scars run.
Thankfully, the incomparable Troy Polamalu picked off Flacco and the Steelers went on to one of the greatest victories in Super Bowl history. It’s telling of my scars that I was far more calm when Ben took over after the Larry Fitzgerald touchdown than I was while leading against Baltimore. It’s almost as though I have more faith in the Steelers to win on Super Bowl Sunday than I do if they are at home two weeks earlier.
So here we are again, another AFC Championship game at home against what appears to be a lesser opponent. We got exactly the scenario we wanted. The Jets knocked off Giselle’s husband and his arrogant, cheating head coach giving us a home game against a wild card team with a shaky second year quarterback. We could not get a better situation, unless Stan Humphries was behind center for the Jets (oops). And guess which fan and part time blogger is nervous beyond belief?
What’s amazing was I was totally relaxed and confident going in to last Saturday’s game. I never lost my faith in the Steelers, even down 14 to a hated rival with a bruising defense. Conversely, I started worrying about the Jets about ten minutes after they left the field in New England. I assure you it’s not because I think the Jets are better than Baltimore, New England or the Steelers.
I find some inner peace in my new found belief that champions find a way to win, regardless of obstacle or path. The Steelers showed their championship metal last Saturday. How many teams could overcome a 14 point deficit against Baltimore? How many quarterbacks could play like Big Ben did in the second half and especially on the winning drive?
That’s why I believe deep down the Steelers will win. It’s not about being better than the Jets, because the better team does not always win. It’s about having that championship metal, an exceedingly rare quality in sports.
These Steelers have great players; but more importantly players who know how to be great when it matters most. They have a quarterback who excels in the highest pressure moments, and a defense that dominates with shocking consistency. They accept no excuses, the standard is the standard. They never quit on a game, even when circumstances look dire.
My head thinks the Steelers will win 23-17. So does my heart. Sadly those title game scars will not let me believe that…until it happens.
Friday, January 14, 2011
Bring on the Ravens…Again
I think it’s fair and pretty obvious to state that the Baltimore Ravens have become far and away the Steelers biggest rival. Which means that Saturday’s match-up is more than just your typical divisional playoff game.
The Steelers and Ravens have a one of a kind rivalry in today’s NFL; a brutally physical match-up where the teams beat each other up as much as beat each other. Truth be told, it’s the only current rivalry that would make the Steelers and Raiders of the 70s proud. The games are ultimately about survival as much as victory.
Both teams are built on the same philosophy; brutally physical and dominant defense. They play at least twice each year; each game a classic battle of attrition decided on or near the last possession. It’s the perfect storm for a rivalry as good as any in sports; and that’s before you consider that the Steelers swept Baltimore on the way to their 2008 Super Bowl championship. As if there was not enough fuel in the fire already.
The masochist in me wants to see the Steelers slug it out in another of those epic, bruising, physical games that they always play against Baltimore. Even in today’s kindler, gentler NFL, these teams still bring out that primordial brutality that we love in football. We may hate Haloti Ngata punching Ben in the face, and yet there is something about Ben playing…and WINNING…with his nose in three pieces that screams Steeler football.
Every playoff win is a huge deal. That said, there is something even more satisfying when it comes at the expense of a hated rival. I lived it twice during the Penguins remarkable Stanley Cup run two years ago. I can only imagine that’s how Steelers fans felt in the 70s when they would knock off Oakland and Dallas. Watching the Raven’s once again stagger off the field in bitter defeat would be nearly as enjoyable as watching the Steelers celebrate victory.
And that’s before we consider what is likely to be yet another 200 minute CBS love fest for Joe Flacco; the man who I’m told has reinvented the QB position in three short years.
Allow me a minute to bask in the glow of hope.
Now back to reality.
I would like to believe that the Steelers are better than the Ravens but let’s be honest, these teams are about as evenly matched as they get. It is merely by a fluke of the tiebreaker world that the Steelers have home field advantage and an extra week to rest. Crush the Ravens if you want for their early season loss to Cincy but remember that it apparently required divine intervention for the Steelers to beat Buffalo in November (for the record, this blog is not necessarily in agreement with Stevie Johnson’s interpretation of why he dropped that ball).
The two teams played twice this season and the games were classic Steelers/Ravens. Both came down to the final possession, both could easily have gone either way. In all honesty, I thought the Charlie Batch version of the Steelers played a better game in week 4, than Ben and the boys played in early December, but in the end, both games were decided by the narrowest of margins.
And let’s be honest, were it not for the incomparable Troy Polamalu, the Steelers would have been the team tearing the guts out of Indianapolis last weekend rather than getting a critically needed week to rest and heal.
Regardless that’s all irrelevant now. The situation is what it is. I’ve spent the week trying to convince myself that home field advantage and the first round bye is a huge advantage for the Steelers but deep down I don’t really believe it. Not after watching Baltimore brutalize an overmatched Kansas City team in Sunday’s glorified scrimmage. Not after seeing the Steelers lose countless home playoff games before finally winning the Super Bowl the year they had to play three straight road games.
No, I’m pretty set on the reality that this will be another classic Steelers/Raven’s slugfest.
There is not much point in analyzing this game from a strategic standpoint. These two teams have met 15 times in the Roethlisberger era and the blue prints are pretty well drawn. They will play a low scoring game where rushing yards come at a serious premium. Field position will be critical which will put the emphasis on special teams and of course not turning the ball over. Little mistakes that are often overlooked in other match-ups will be game changers here (see Sweed, Limas).
The Raven’s actually play the field position game better. They have a better kicker and punter and better coverage teams. That means that all things being equal, the Steelers will be fighting uphill on the field position battle all day. Historically the Steeler defense has overcome this with 60 minutes of brilliant play and one spectacular game changing moment. In short, if the Steelers win, I fully expect we will be recounting another moment where Polamalu wrecks Flacco. Dare to dream.
And there is also the Roethlisberger factor.
Personally, I’ve had enough stories of Ben’s personal redemption (though I doubt the networks have). This is now about high pressure, playoff football which is where he excels. I continue to say that Ben is one of the truly elite players in sports in regards to his ability to raise his game when it matters. Well this is yet another chance for him to prove it.
Steeler fans understandably gripe about Ben not getting enough respect from the fickle national media. Rest assured, that will change if he wins a 3rd Super Bowl, especially considering the brutal path the Steelers will likely have to travel. This is absolutely his opportunity to stuff it to the myopic football think tank that somehow pushes Phillip Rivers, Aaron Rodgers and for the love off all that’s good and holy, Flacco above him.
Ben’s history suggests he can and will step up in this moment; especially now that his offense line finally seems committed to prolonging his football life. Flacco’s history suggests he might just drop an extra possession or two in our laps. Keep in mind that while Phil Simms was basking in Flacco’s radiant glow last Sunday, the man who could not start for Dave Wannstedt at Pitt did manage to fumble twice. I’m not sure the Steelers will be as forgiving of such transgressions as Kansas City was.
All that said, the reality remains that these are two very evenly matched teams. There is little doubt in my mind that the 2008 Steelers were at least a half step better than Baltimore. We can not say that this time. If the Steelers bring anything less than their ‘A’ game on Saturday, my next Steeler blog will be a post mortem and a look ahead to next year’s draft.
It is pointless and in fact inappropriate to look beyond Baltimore but hard not to given the prospect of the next opponent. Giselle’s husband and the NFL’s most arrogant head coach will likely be waiting for whoever survives Sunday’s match-up. It will take a nearly perfect performance to knock of Belicheat’s boys and I don’t see that coming from the big talk, little action New York, Jets.
The concern of course is the physical toll a playoff win against Baltimore might take on the Steelers. Remember how beat up they were for the Bungles following the Sunday night blood bath in December? It’s hard to play a “perfect game” if half your players are hobbling in and out of the huddle. That issue is compounded by the reality that even at their best, the Steelers do not match-up well with New England.
So be it. True champions find a way to win, regardless of the path. They are undaunted; not by the schedule, by the officials, or by seemingly insurmountable obstacles. They do not rely on fortuitous match-ups; they beat the best to be the best. Just the same, teams that lack championship metal tend to come up short regardless of circumstances.
How could the same Penguin team that won 7th games in Washington and Detroit lose one at home to 8th seeded Montreal the next season? How could the Steelers’ team that pulled off that epic drive against Arizona lose a critical Thursday night game in Cleveland the same calendar year? How can New Orleans win the Super Bowl and mail in a loss to 7 and 9 Seattle inside of 12 months? It’s the difference between being championship caliber…and everything else.
The Steelers have played like Champions all year. They have maintained “the standard is the standard” and no excuses. They did not back down from the loss of their franchise quarterback, injuries or questionable officiating.
The Steelers will not win a championship because they beat Baltimore and New England. They will beat Baltimore and New England because they are a championship team. That’s what champions do. Champions also take it one game at a time; which means right now its all about the Ravens.
Steelers 16 – Ravens 13
The Steelers and Ravens have a one of a kind rivalry in today’s NFL; a brutally physical match-up where the teams beat each other up as much as beat each other. Truth be told, it’s the only current rivalry that would make the Steelers and Raiders of the 70s proud. The games are ultimately about survival as much as victory.
Both teams are built on the same philosophy; brutally physical and dominant defense. They play at least twice each year; each game a classic battle of attrition decided on or near the last possession. It’s the perfect storm for a rivalry as good as any in sports; and that’s before you consider that the Steelers swept Baltimore on the way to their 2008 Super Bowl championship. As if there was not enough fuel in the fire already.
The masochist in me wants to see the Steelers slug it out in another of those epic, bruising, physical games that they always play against Baltimore. Even in today’s kindler, gentler NFL, these teams still bring out that primordial brutality that we love in football. We may hate Haloti Ngata punching Ben in the face, and yet there is something about Ben playing…and WINNING…with his nose in three pieces that screams Steeler football.
Every playoff win is a huge deal. That said, there is something even more satisfying when it comes at the expense of a hated rival. I lived it twice during the Penguins remarkable Stanley Cup run two years ago. I can only imagine that’s how Steelers fans felt in the 70s when they would knock off Oakland and Dallas. Watching the Raven’s once again stagger off the field in bitter defeat would be nearly as enjoyable as watching the Steelers celebrate victory.
And that’s before we consider what is likely to be yet another 200 minute CBS love fest for Joe Flacco; the man who I’m told has reinvented the QB position in three short years.
Allow me a minute to bask in the glow of hope.
Now back to reality.
I would like to believe that the Steelers are better than the Ravens but let’s be honest, these teams are about as evenly matched as they get. It is merely by a fluke of the tiebreaker world that the Steelers have home field advantage and an extra week to rest. Crush the Ravens if you want for their early season loss to Cincy but remember that it apparently required divine intervention for the Steelers to beat Buffalo in November (for the record, this blog is not necessarily in agreement with Stevie Johnson’s interpretation of why he dropped that ball).
The two teams played twice this season and the games were classic Steelers/Ravens. Both came down to the final possession, both could easily have gone either way. In all honesty, I thought the Charlie Batch version of the Steelers played a better game in week 4, than Ben and the boys played in early December, but in the end, both games were decided by the narrowest of margins.
And let’s be honest, were it not for the incomparable Troy Polamalu, the Steelers would have been the team tearing the guts out of Indianapolis last weekend rather than getting a critically needed week to rest and heal.
Regardless that’s all irrelevant now. The situation is what it is. I’ve spent the week trying to convince myself that home field advantage and the first round bye is a huge advantage for the Steelers but deep down I don’t really believe it. Not after watching Baltimore brutalize an overmatched Kansas City team in Sunday’s glorified scrimmage. Not after seeing the Steelers lose countless home playoff games before finally winning the Super Bowl the year they had to play three straight road games.
No, I’m pretty set on the reality that this will be another classic Steelers/Raven’s slugfest.
There is not much point in analyzing this game from a strategic standpoint. These two teams have met 15 times in the Roethlisberger era and the blue prints are pretty well drawn. They will play a low scoring game where rushing yards come at a serious premium. Field position will be critical which will put the emphasis on special teams and of course not turning the ball over. Little mistakes that are often overlooked in other match-ups will be game changers here (see Sweed, Limas).
The Raven’s actually play the field position game better. They have a better kicker and punter and better coverage teams. That means that all things being equal, the Steelers will be fighting uphill on the field position battle all day. Historically the Steeler defense has overcome this with 60 minutes of brilliant play and one spectacular game changing moment. In short, if the Steelers win, I fully expect we will be recounting another moment where Polamalu wrecks Flacco. Dare to dream.
And there is also the Roethlisberger factor.
Personally, I’ve had enough stories of Ben’s personal redemption (though I doubt the networks have). This is now about high pressure, playoff football which is where he excels. I continue to say that Ben is one of the truly elite players in sports in regards to his ability to raise his game when it matters. Well this is yet another chance for him to prove it.
Steeler fans understandably gripe about Ben not getting enough respect from the fickle national media. Rest assured, that will change if he wins a 3rd Super Bowl, especially considering the brutal path the Steelers will likely have to travel. This is absolutely his opportunity to stuff it to the myopic football think tank that somehow pushes Phillip Rivers, Aaron Rodgers and for the love off all that’s good and holy, Flacco above him.
Ben’s history suggests he can and will step up in this moment; especially now that his offense line finally seems committed to prolonging his football life. Flacco’s history suggests he might just drop an extra possession or two in our laps. Keep in mind that while Phil Simms was basking in Flacco’s radiant glow last Sunday, the man who could not start for Dave Wannstedt at Pitt did manage to fumble twice. I’m not sure the Steelers will be as forgiving of such transgressions as Kansas City was.
All that said, the reality remains that these are two very evenly matched teams. There is little doubt in my mind that the 2008 Steelers were at least a half step better than Baltimore. We can not say that this time. If the Steelers bring anything less than their ‘A’ game on Saturday, my next Steeler blog will be a post mortem and a look ahead to next year’s draft.
It is pointless and in fact inappropriate to look beyond Baltimore but hard not to given the prospect of the next opponent. Giselle’s husband and the NFL’s most arrogant head coach will likely be waiting for whoever survives Sunday’s match-up. It will take a nearly perfect performance to knock of Belicheat’s boys and I don’t see that coming from the big talk, little action New York, Jets.
The concern of course is the physical toll a playoff win against Baltimore might take on the Steelers. Remember how beat up they were for the Bungles following the Sunday night blood bath in December? It’s hard to play a “perfect game” if half your players are hobbling in and out of the huddle. That issue is compounded by the reality that even at their best, the Steelers do not match-up well with New England.
So be it. True champions find a way to win, regardless of the path. They are undaunted; not by the schedule, by the officials, or by seemingly insurmountable obstacles. They do not rely on fortuitous match-ups; they beat the best to be the best. Just the same, teams that lack championship metal tend to come up short regardless of circumstances.
How could the same Penguin team that won 7th games in Washington and Detroit lose one at home to 8th seeded Montreal the next season? How could the Steelers’ team that pulled off that epic drive against Arizona lose a critical Thursday night game in Cleveland the same calendar year? How can New Orleans win the Super Bowl and mail in a loss to 7 and 9 Seattle inside of 12 months? It’s the difference between being championship caliber…and everything else.
The Steelers have played like Champions all year. They have maintained “the standard is the standard” and no excuses. They did not back down from the loss of their franchise quarterback, injuries or questionable officiating.
The Steelers will not win a championship because they beat Baltimore and New England. They will beat Baltimore and New England because they are a championship team. That’s what champions do. Champions also take it one game at a time; which means right now its all about the Ravens.
Steelers 16 – Ravens 13
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
The De-Evolution of the Pittsburgh Penguins
While most of the sports world was watching the latest incarnation of college football’s pretend national championship, I was enduring the Penguins second third period collapse against Boston in two months. The epic break down brought back painful flashbacks, though not so much to the previous incarnation in November.
No, I was flashing back to the late 1980s, or just about the time Sidney Crosby entered the world. In those days the Pittsburgh Penguins were plain and simply Mario Lemieux. If he did not dominate, the Pens did not win. If he did not play, the Pens did not have a chance.
We always understood that if the Pens were going to be more than a hockey carnival act, they needed to develop a core of great players around Lemieux. That process started in 1987 with Paul Coffey and continued as a spectacular array of stars and roll players were added over five seasons. Even with that, the Penguins evolved in to a true championship team only when they were good enough to win without Le Magnifique. They did that for half of the 1990-91 season and four critical playoff wins in the 1992 Cup run.
It’s a testament to Lemieux’s remarkable brilliance that we actually believed he could single handedly carry those mid 80s teams to Stanley Cup glory. Mario’s presence made a fairly mediocre team look playoff caliber on almost any given regular season night. We should not lose site of that reality as Crosby rekindles a Lemieux like dominance two decades later.
We are currently witnessing what might be called the de-evolution of the Penguins. The Penguins of early 90s slowly became less and less dependent on their superstar. The Penguins of the 2010s are slowly becoming more and more dependent on theirs. Witness their inept offensive performance without Crosby over the last three games.
To be honest, I’m not shocked by this development. The Crosby-less Penguins are being exposed for what they are, a team with way too many grinder forwards and not nearly enough scorers. The problem is compounded because neither Evgeni Malkin or Jordan Staal is playing anywhere near their ability offensively. Staal’s performance is partially excusable considering he is still recovering from injury. Geno’s continuing struggles are admittedly much harder to understand and significant part of my de-evolution theory.
Regardless, the Pens are fighting an uphill battle offensively. Watching these games without Crosby it’s not hard to understand why. No fewer than nine of the 12 forwards playing are 3rd or 4th line caliber. And that charitably assumes that Staal is a legitimate top six offensive forward which he has yet to conclusively demonstrate. You could reasonably argue that Malkin is the only top six offensive talent in the line-up right now.
This is the risk of building the team’s offense primarily around two superstars. Lose either one of them and the team takes a step backward. Lose Crosby and it’s a giant step.
To be fair, there was no way the Penguins were going to continue to play at their November and December level. A slip was inevitable with or without number 87. The team was playing close to perfect hockey, driven primarily by Crosby’s brilliant play during his 25 game scoring streak. Crosby’s work was as impressive an extended performance as I’ve seen in the NHL since Lemieux was last making a mockery of the game a decade ago.
And it was in no way sustainable.
It is not feasible in today’s NHL to win a Stanley Cup on the back of one superstar, no matter how incredible he is. Defensemen are too good and defensive systems are too strong. A team that depends offensively on one player is destined for an early playoff exit.
Its one thing to score eight goals on a random Wednesday night in January against Tampa. It’s quite another to score three or four in an elimination game at Philadelphia.
We’ve already seen Detroit and sadly Montreal contain or even shut down Crosby in a seven game series. Only once were the Penguins able to overcome this, in the 2009 finals. That occurred in large part because Malkin was performing as brilliantly as Crosby at that time. Notwithstanding that we have rarely seen that version of Geno over the last year and a half; it remains unreasonable to expect two players to continually carry this offense.
I’ve suspected this all season but it was masked by the team’s success and Sid’s other worldly play. Seeing the Penguins without Crosby has crystallized it in my mind. This team simply does not have enough offense to win a Stanley Cup. Every team needs a Max Talbot and a Matt Cooke to win a Stanley Cup; but you can’t win one with nine of them.
Now more than ever, I’m convinced that we will not see another Cup parade in the Burgh unless Ray Shero acquires a desperately needed scoring winger. I’m not talking about another Chris Kunitz, Ruslan Fedotenko or heaven forbid Alexie Ponikarovski. I’m talking about a player who is legitimate 30 goal scorer, whether he plays with Crosby or not.
It’s amazing to see what Crosby has done playing with Kunitz and Dupuis. Imagine what he could do if Dupuis were replaced by a legitimate sniper. Or perhaps Kunitz could drop down and give Malkin the power forward he’s been lacking since Ryan Malone took his talents to Tampa. I’m not sure it’s a coincidence that Geno’s inconsistency started about the time he lost any semblance of a scoring winger to play with.
It would help matters if Staal could reach the next level offensively. Unfortunately through his 5th season, Staal has yet to consistently demonstrate elite offensive ability. He’s too young to write off in this category, especially given his injury, but with each passing year I’m less convinced he will be more than a 20 goal, 50 point guy.
That’s not a criticism of Staal, a truly elite two way talent. He brings tremendous value as perhaps the most dominant third line center in the game. That’s not the same as suggesting the Pens can move forward expecting him to be their third offensive pillar. I still hope Staal and Malkin can forge some offensive chemistry together but there has been little evidence of that so far.
Which further enforces the desperate need for Shero to find that scoring winger.
I give Shero credit for the remarkable job he did rebuilding the Penguins defense this offseason. I initially questioned the need to sign both Michalek and Martin as an excessive use of cap space. Seeing how good the Pens can be with those two plus Orpik and Letang at their best has put those questions to rest. That said, and with all due respect to Bobby Orr, teams in today’s NHL do not win championships on the backs of their offensive defensemen.
The Penguins have one truly movable chip in Alex Goligoski and he will likely be part of any deal. We can debate how good Goligoski is or is not. I continue to see him Ryan Whitney part II but I recognize this is not a consensus opinion. What we can not debate is that Kris Letang has made Goligoski expendable and that Gogo is the one Penguin who could legitimately attract a top caliber forward without breaking up the team’s core. Of course another forward will have to be thrown in for roster and cap considerations.
It’s easy to look at the Penguins strong play in November and December and conclude that I’m panicking over three bad games. I assure you that is not the case. The goal of this Penguin team is the Stanley Cup, nothing less. Crosby and Malkin (at his best) can carry this team to a 110 point regular season and the second round of the playoffs but not all the way to the cup. Not with this supporting cast of forwards. For the Penguins that would be considered a staggering failure.
I’m comforted that Ray Shero knows this and is patiently waiting for the right opportunity to present itself. I’ve developed a tremendous amount of faith in his ability to recognize and address his team’s needs. With some general managers I would be concerned about over valuing Goligoski or putting too much credence in the Pens strong early season play. I truly believe Shero sees beyond that to the bigger picture.
Of course it will be easy to forget all this when Crosby returns. The team will start scoring and winning again leading to the easy conclusion that they are fine as long as he’s in the line-up. And they are, for 82 games and two rounds of the playoffs. What will they do if Babcock, Zetterberg and the Wings show up in the finals to clutch and grab Sid in to submission? What will they do if Sid slumps? What will they do if he gets hurt as Lemieux did in 1992?
No, I was flashing back to the late 1980s, or just about the time Sidney Crosby entered the world. In those days the Pittsburgh Penguins were plain and simply Mario Lemieux. If he did not dominate, the Pens did not win. If he did not play, the Pens did not have a chance.
We always understood that if the Pens were going to be more than a hockey carnival act, they needed to develop a core of great players around Lemieux. That process started in 1987 with Paul Coffey and continued as a spectacular array of stars and roll players were added over five seasons. Even with that, the Penguins evolved in to a true championship team only when they were good enough to win without Le Magnifique. They did that for half of the 1990-91 season and four critical playoff wins in the 1992 Cup run.
It’s a testament to Lemieux’s remarkable brilliance that we actually believed he could single handedly carry those mid 80s teams to Stanley Cup glory. Mario’s presence made a fairly mediocre team look playoff caliber on almost any given regular season night. We should not lose site of that reality as Crosby rekindles a Lemieux like dominance two decades later.
We are currently witnessing what might be called the de-evolution of the Penguins. The Penguins of early 90s slowly became less and less dependent on their superstar. The Penguins of the 2010s are slowly becoming more and more dependent on theirs. Witness their inept offensive performance without Crosby over the last three games.
To be honest, I’m not shocked by this development. The Crosby-less Penguins are being exposed for what they are, a team with way too many grinder forwards and not nearly enough scorers. The problem is compounded because neither Evgeni Malkin or Jordan Staal is playing anywhere near their ability offensively. Staal’s performance is partially excusable considering he is still recovering from injury. Geno’s continuing struggles are admittedly much harder to understand and significant part of my de-evolution theory.
Regardless, the Pens are fighting an uphill battle offensively. Watching these games without Crosby it’s not hard to understand why. No fewer than nine of the 12 forwards playing are 3rd or 4th line caliber. And that charitably assumes that Staal is a legitimate top six offensive forward which he has yet to conclusively demonstrate. You could reasonably argue that Malkin is the only top six offensive talent in the line-up right now.
This is the risk of building the team’s offense primarily around two superstars. Lose either one of them and the team takes a step backward. Lose Crosby and it’s a giant step.
To be fair, there was no way the Penguins were going to continue to play at their November and December level. A slip was inevitable with or without number 87. The team was playing close to perfect hockey, driven primarily by Crosby’s brilliant play during his 25 game scoring streak. Crosby’s work was as impressive an extended performance as I’ve seen in the NHL since Lemieux was last making a mockery of the game a decade ago.
And it was in no way sustainable.
It is not feasible in today’s NHL to win a Stanley Cup on the back of one superstar, no matter how incredible he is. Defensemen are too good and defensive systems are too strong. A team that depends offensively on one player is destined for an early playoff exit.
Its one thing to score eight goals on a random Wednesday night in January against Tampa. It’s quite another to score three or four in an elimination game at Philadelphia.
We’ve already seen Detroit and sadly Montreal contain or even shut down Crosby in a seven game series. Only once were the Penguins able to overcome this, in the 2009 finals. That occurred in large part because Malkin was performing as brilliantly as Crosby at that time. Notwithstanding that we have rarely seen that version of Geno over the last year and a half; it remains unreasonable to expect two players to continually carry this offense.
I’ve suspected this all season but it was masked by the team’s success and Sid’s other worldly play. Seeing the Penguins without Crosby has crystallized it in my mind. This team simply does not have enough offense to win a Stanley Cup. Every team needs a Max Talbot and a Matt Cooke to win a Stanley Cup; but you can’t win one with nine of them.
Now more than ever, I’m convinced that we will not see another Cup parade in the Burgh unless Ray Shero acquires a desperately needed scoring winger. I’m not talking about another Chris Kunitz, Ruslan Fedotenko or heaven forbid Alexie Ponikarovski. I’m talking about a player who is legitimate 30 goal scorer, whether he plays with Crosby or not.
It’s amazing to see what Crosby has done playing with Kunitz and Dupuis. Imagine what he could do if Dupuis were replaced by a legitimate sniper. Or perhaps Kunitz could drop down and give Malkin the power forward he’s been lacking since Ryan Malone took his talents to Tampa. I’m not sure it’s a coincidence that Geno’s inconsistency started about the time he lost any semblance of a scoring winger to play with.
It would help matters if Staal could reach the next level offensively. Unfortunately through his 5th season, Staal has yet to consistently demonstrate elite offensive ability. He’s too young to write off in this category, especially given his injury, but with each passing year I’m less convinced he will be more than a 20 goal, 50 point guy.
That’s not a criticism of Staal, a truly elite two way talent. He brings tremendous value as perhaps the most dominant third line center in the game. That’s not the same as suggesting the Pens can move forward expecting him to be their third offensive pillar. I still hope Staal and Malkin can forge some offensive chemistry together but there has been little evidence of that so far.
Which further enforces the desperate need for Shero to find that scoring winger.
I give Shero credit for the remarkable job he did rebuilding the Penguins defense this offseason. I initially questioned the need to sign both Michalek and Martin as an excessive use of cap space. Seeing how good the Pens can be with those two plus Orpik and Letang at their best has put those questions to rest. That said, and with all due respect to Bobby Orr, teams in today’s NHL do not win championships on the backs of their offensive defensemen.
The Penguins have one truly movable chip in Alex Goligoski and he will likely be part of any deal. We can debate how good Goligoski is or is not. I continue to see him Ryan Whitney part II but I recognize this is not a consensus opinion. What we can not debate is that Kris Letang has made Goligoski expendable and that Gogo is the one Penguin who could legitimately attract a top caliber forward without breaking up the team’s core. Of course another forward will have to be thrown in for roster and cap considerations.
It’s easy to look at the Penguins strong play in November and December and conclude that I’m panicking over three bad games. I assure you that is not the case. The goal of this Penguin team is the Stanley Cup, nothing less. Crosby and Malkin (at his best) can carry this team to a 110 point regular season and the second round of the playoffs but not all the way to the cup. Not with this supporting cast of forwards. For the Penguins that would be considered a staggering failure.
I’m comforted that Ray Shero knows this and is patiently waiting for the right opportunity to present itself. I’ve developed a tremendous amount of faith in his ability to recognize and address his team’s needs. With some general managers I would be concerned about over valuing Goligoski or putting too much credence in the Pens strong early season play. I truly believe Shero sees beyond that to the bigger picture.
Of course it will be easy to forget all this when Crosby returns. The team will start scoring and winning again leading to the easy conclusion that they are fine as long as he’s in the line-up. And they are, for 82 games and two rounds of the playoffs. What will they do if Babcock, Zetterberg and the Wings show up in the finals to clutch and grab Sid in to submission? What will they do if Sid slumps? What will they do if he gets hurt as Lemieux did in 1992?
Without another elite offensive player, they will lose.
Sunday, January 2, 2011
A Defining Moment for Pitt Football
I’ve spent most of New Years day relaxing, watching sports, and trying to get a handle on what has transpired with the University of Pittsburgh’s football program over the last 24 hours. Admittedly, I am stunned. I'm fairly sure I am not alone in that sentiment.
My respected sources (aka, Emily) first caught word of the Mike Haywood arrest story around 11pm Chicago time on New Year’s Eve. Not long after I noted that Bob Smizik was all over the story in his blog. The story has been a non stop source of conversation throughout the Pittsburgh sports blogosphere since it broke.
Twenty four hours later (as I write this), Haywood is out of jail and out of job. Pitt is once again looking for a new football coach and trying to overcome a potentially crippling moment for a floundering program.
The Haywood situation is an embarrassing moment for the University of Pittsburgh on a national scale. It’s an unfortunate and unexpected set back that leaves everybody involved ripe for criticism. It’s the type of moment that could do unfathomable long-term damage to the football program. But it does not have to be.
What Pitt does in the next two weeks will ultimately define this incident, not what happened this weekend. The University acted swiftly and definitively by firing Haywood today, for better or for worse. They need to continue to do so by spending the next two weeks seeking and finding a candidate to build the program around. They need to understand that this absolutely can be salvaged.
Keep in mind that Notre Dame survived the George O’Leary fiasco. The program fell on hard times but those issues had nothing to do with their rapid decision to cut ties with O’Leary after his bizarre fake resume incident. Truthfully, their failure was in hiring the wrong man to replace O’Leary.
Pitt can survive this and move forward. They can acknowledge that this hire went wrong and devote all of their resources to finding the right man. A coach with the 'A' list credibility to build a program who is willing to work at Pitt. I don’t pretend to know who that candidate is but I know they don’t have to go far to find the model. Panther football needs to find their Jamie Dixon.
Pitt is in a difficult spot because the top shelf candidates are not coming. Rest assured, Urban Meyer is not coming out of retirement to coach at Pitt. Every coach Pitt has ever hired has been either an unknown or somebody from a lower tier program.
They need to find somebody who fits the Dixon profile; a young coach who commands discipline and accountability but can also build a program as a head coach. They need to find somebody excited enough about this job to not use it as a stepping stone. That’s a very difficult line to walk which is why such candidates are not easy to find. Keep in mind that many people were not happy with the Dixon hire.
Let me step back and make two important points here.
First, I’m a little disappointed that Haywood did not get some due process in this matter. My beliefs are exactly the same as they were when the first Ben Roethlisberger accusations were reported. The media and fans have some obligation to wait for the relevant facts to come through before they condemn the accused. It’s entirely possible that this incident will ultimately not play out as initially reported; just as was the case with Big Ben.
That said, I understand why Pitt moved so quickly to fire Haywood. There was a critical need to act quickly and decisively in order to get beyond this. As for Haywood, if you are going to be a high profile public figure, you have to be beyond reproach, especially if you have not had time to establish credibility with your new employer and alumni. If this incident happened after three years and 25+ wins, Pitt might have given Haywood greater benefit of the doubt.
I specifically made the point with Big Ben that he was an NFL QB, not a teacher or priest. Quite frankly, Haywood’s job does require a higher standard. He is consider a teacher; a man who is responsible for molding young men. Such charges are a greater impediment for a man in his position than an NFL QB.
Haywood simply does not have enough football cachet to overcome something as serious as a domestic assault charge. In a court of law, he deserves every presumption of innocence until proven guilty. In the end, that presumption survives only to the court house walls. If he’s found not guilty his life will go on; just not as the football coach at Pitt.
Second, the idea that this incident somehow invalidates the Dave Wannstedt firing is absolutely absurd. I’ve heard numerous fans already suggest that Pitt should lick its wounds and beg Wanny to come back. Their argument is that he’s a solid guy who produced 7 or 8 wins a year and that’s not so terrible. This is a losers lament. There is no reason Pitt can not win 10 games and compete for Big East championships.
Pitt made the absolutely correct decision to fire Wanny. The program took a step back under his leadership and continually failed in big games. The program went backwards for three years after his arrival and he nver delivered a BCS Bowl bid, in spite of coaching in an awful conference. His team looked desperately out matched and out coached in every big game. And whatever minor progress occurred in 2008 and 2009 was wiped out with a horrifically embarrassing 2010 season.
As I noted last month, Wanny continued to demonstrate the same faults and deficiencies he showed in Chicago 15 years ago. You can not keep a coach who shows no growth over two decades simply because the new hire did not go as you hoped. Pitt’s mistake was not getting rid of Wanny; it was hiring the wrong replacement. And let’s be honest, they may have simply been a victim of nearly inconceivable circumstances.
Which brings us to the critical question; what does Pitt do now.
The University must devote all of its available resources to finding the best possible candidate. They can not settle for one of their coordinators or the first coach who will take a job. They can not settle for an alumnus with no head coaching experience like Russ Grimm. Pitt needs to find someone who brings immediate credibility to the program. They need to find their Jamie Dixon.
It was important to find the right person to replace Wannstedt. It is absolutely essential that they find the right person to replace Haywood. Keep in mind, Haywood was brought in to rescues the program from poor on the field performance. The new coach must do that and rescue them from this debacle.
One name that has been thrown around is Tom Bradley. I have infinite respect for Bradley’s work at Penn State. I think you could argue that he’s been the defacto head coach without the title for the last three years. He is a smart and dedicated football man and a great recruiter. He would certainly bring credibility. Still, I’m not sure he’s the right choice and not just because I do not want to lose him in Happy Valley.
The fact is Bradley has no head coaching experience. Hiring coordinators for big time college head coaching jobs is always risky because they do not have the overall experience of building a program. I think Pitt needs to find a young and energetic coach (50 or younger) who has been successful at building a program. That’s what needed to happen from the beginning. The program needs an infusion of life after the Wannstedt era.
Do I think Bradley can stabilize the situation and lend some credibility in a crisis situation? Absolutely. Do I think he can take Pitt to the next level that Wanny could not? Frankly I’m not sure. I would rather take a risk with a younger candidate who has shown they can build a program. Admittedly this is inconsistent with the Dixon comparison but football programs are frankly more difficult to run than basketball. And Dixon inherited a good situation. The new football coach inherits a mess on and off the field.
That said, I’m fairly sure I will not be on the search committee. Its up to Mark Nordenberg and Steve Pederson (assuming status quo), to find the right man. In the end, it’s not the Haywood failure that will define them here; it’s what they do now. If they panic on Frank Cignetti or heaven forbid Rich Rodriguez (and yes I’m being presumptuous there), I think the program will start a long hard fall.
Saturday was an awful day for the University of Pittsburgh. Sunday was the first day in repairing the damage. What happens next may define Pitt football of the foreseeable future.
My respected sources (aka, Emily) first caught word of the Mike Haywood arrest story around 11pm Chicago time on New Year’s Eve. Not long after I noted that Bob Smizik was all over the story in his blog. The story has been a non stop source of conversation throughout the Pittsburgh sports blogosphere since it broke.
Twenty four hours later (as I write this), Haywood is out of jail and out of job. Pitt is once again looking for a new football coach and trying to overcome a potentially crippling moment for a floundering program.
The Haywood situation is an embarrassing moment for the University of Pittsburgh on a national scale. It’s an unfortunate and unexpected set back that leaves everybody involved ripe for criticism. It’s the type of moment that could do unfathomable long-term damage to the football program. But it does not have to be.
What Pitt does in the next two weeks will ultimately define this incident, not what happened this weekend. The University acted swiftly and definitively by firing Haywood today, for better or for worse. They need to continue to do so by spending the next two weeks seeking and finding a candidate to build the program around. They need to understand that this absolutely can be salvaged.
Keep in mind that Notre Dame survived the George O’Leary fiasco. The program fell on hard times but those issues had nothing to do with their rapid decision to cut ties with O’Leary after his bizarre fake resume incident. Truthfully, their failure was in hiring the wrong man to replace O’Leary.
Pitt can survive this and move forward. They can acknowledge that this hire went wrong and devote all of their resources to finding the right man. A coach with the 'A' list credibility to build a program who is willing to work at Pitt. I don’t pretend to know who that candidate is but I know they don’t have to go far to find the model. Panther football needs to find their Jamie Dixon.
Pitt is in a difficult spot because the top shelf candidates are not coming. Rest assured, Urban Meyer is not coming out of retirement to coach at Pitt. Every coach Pitt has ever hired has been either an unknown or somebody from a lower tier program.
They need to find somebody who fits the Dixon profile; a young coach who commands discipline and accountability but can also build a program as a head coach. They need to find somebody excited enough about this job to not use it as a stepping stone. That’s a very difficult line to walk which is why such candidates are not easy to find. Keep in mind that many people were not happy with the Dixon hire.
Let me step back and make two important points here.
First, I’m a little disappointed that Haywood did not get some due process in this matter. My beliefs are exactly the same as they were when the first Ben Roethlisberger accusations were reported. The media and fans have some obligation to wait for the relevant facts to come through before they condemn the accused. It’s entirely possible that this incident will ultimately not play out as initially reported; just as was the case with Big Ben.
That said, I understand why Pitt moved so quickly to fire Haywood. There was a critical need to act quickly and decisively in order to get beyond this. As for Haywood, if you are going to be a high profile public figure, you have to be beyond reproach, especially if you have not had time to establish credibility with your new employer and alumni. If this incident happened after three years and 25+ wins, Pitt might have given Haywood greater benefit of the doubt.
I specifically made the point with Big Ben that he was an NFL QB, not a teacher or priest. Quite frankly, Haywood’s job does require a higher standard. He is consider a teacher; a man who is responsible for molding young men. Such charges are a greater impediment for a man in his position than an NFL QB.
Haywood simply does not have enough football cachet to overcome something as serious as a domestic assault charge. In a court of law, he deserves every presumption of innocence until proven guilty. In the end, that presumption survives only to the court house walls. If he’s found not guilty his life will go on; just not as the football coach at Pitt.
Second, the idea that this incident somehow invalidates the Dave Wannstedt firing is absolutely absurd. I’ve heard numerous fans already suggest that Pitt should lick its wounds and beg Wanny to come back. Their argument is that he’s a solid guy who produced 7 or 8 wins a year and that’s not so terrible. This is a losers lament. There is no reason Pitt can not win 10 games and compete for Big East championships.
Pitt made the absolutely correct decision to fire Wanny. The program took a step back under his leadership and continually failed in big games. The program went backwards for three years after his arrival and he nver delivered a BCS Bowl bid, in spite of coaching in an awful conference. His team looked desperately out matched and out coached in every big game. And whatever minor progress occurred in 2008 and 2009 was wiped out with a horrifically embarrassing 2010 season.
As I noted last month, Wanny continued to demonstrate the same faults and deficiencies he showed in Chicago 15 years ago. You can not keep a coach who shows no growth over two decades simply because the new hire did not go as you hoped. Pitt’s mistake was not getting rid of Wanny; it was hiring the wrong replacement. And let’s be honest, they may have simply been a victim of nearly inconceivable circumstances.
Which brings us to the critical question; what does Pitt do now.
The University must devote all of its available resources to finding the best possible candidate. They can not settle for one of their coordinators or the first coach who will take a job. They can not settle for an alumnus with no head coaching experience like Russ Grimm. Pitt needs to find someone who brings immediate credibility to the program. They need to find their Jamie Dixon.
It was important to find the right person to replace Wannstedt. It is absolutely essential that they find the right person to replace Haywood. Keep in mind, Haywood was brought in to rescues the program from poor on the field performance. The new coach must do that and rescue them from this debacle.
One name that has been thrown around is Tom Bradley. I have infinite respect for Bradley’s work at Penn State. I think you could argue that he’s been the defacto head coach without the title for the last three years. He is a smart and dedicated football man and a great recruiter. He would certainly bring credibility. Still, I’m not sure he’s the right choice and not just because I do not want to lose him in Happy Valley.
The fact is Bradley has no head coaching experience. Hiring coordinators for big time college head coaching jobs is always risky because they do not have the overall experience of building a program. I think Pitt needs to find a young and energetic coach (50 or younger) who has been successful at building a program. That’s what needed to happen from the beginning. The program needs an infusion of life after the Wannstedt era.
Do I think Bradley can stabilize the situation and lend some credibility in a crisis situation? Absolutely. Do I think he can take Pitt to the next level that Wanny could not? Frankly I’m not sure. I would rather take a risk with a younger candidate who has shown they can build a program. Admittedly this is inconsistent with the Dixon comparison but football programs are frankly more difficult to run than basketball. And Dixon inherited a good situation. The new football coach inherits a mess on and off the field.
That said, I’m fairly sure I will not be on the search committee. Its up to Mark Nordenberg and Steve Pederson (assuming status quo), to find the right man. In the end, it’s not the Haywood failure that will define them here; it’s what they do now. If they panic on Frank Cignetti or heaven forbid Rich Rodriguez (and yes I’m being presumptuous there), I think the program will start a long hard fall.
Saturday was an awful day for the University of Pittsburgh. Sunday was the first day in repairing the damage. What happens next may define Pitt football of the foreseeable future.
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