Why The NCAA Tournament is Too Big…Seriously.

I’ve discovered something interesting about German television. Most of it is in German.

Given that my entire German vocabulary consists of good day, thank you, you’re welcome and “do you speak English,” that leaves me with three choices; CNN, Disney Channel in German, or blogging. And one can only handle so much CNN. Life without television, go figure.

So without further adieu; random thoughts from across the pond…in English of course.


I am probably the only person on earth who thinks the NCAA tournament field is too big.

I’m not talking about the obnoxious decision to bloat the field beyond 64 teams. I actually think it was too big at 64.

Look I get that there is a spectacular symmetry to the sixteen team brackets; a symmetry by the way that the NCAA happily destroyed for more TV money. I get that the tournament is possibly the most exciting event in U.S. sports. And I’m fully aware that the chances of the NCAA reducing the tournament field are comparable to Disque winning a Nobel Prize.

That does not change my opinion that the tournament is bloated. I complain all the time about college football’s ridiculously exclusive system for determining its de facto national champion. Well college basketball goes to the opposite extreme.

Consider the 16 team monstrosity that is the Big East. All the teams played 30+ regular season games, plus the meaningless conference tournament. And then the NCAA was cordial enough to invite 11 of those 16 to its championship field of 68. That's an awful lot of basketball to eliminate 30% of the conference from the big dance. And people say the NHL’s regular season is meaningless?

In the end, 9 of those 11 teams, including the Mighty Pitt Panther, failed to reach the round of 16. The two that did, each beat another Big East team in the second round. That to me is a staggering indictment of the conference and a case study in how ridiculous the college basketball season has become.

If the NCAA tournament was reduced back to 48 teams and the automatic bids were retained for conference champions; that would force a lot of the fluff teams out and actually make the regular season meaningful. As much as I bash the conference tournaments, they would actually matter if the conference was likely to only get 3 or 4 bids. And that’s how it should be. It completely devalues the regular season when that the 5th best team in a conference gets to play for the NCAA championship, let alone the 11th best.

Even worse, after all those teams get in we still have to listen to the talking heads at TMZSPN moan and complain about the poor 12 loss teams that got excluded.

Fear not however, this will NEVER happen. The NCAA tournament is one of the most lucrative events in sport and the NCAA would never scale back its cash cow. I know the tournament is fantastic. Just understand that everything that happens before that is essentially an exhibition season for college basketball junkies.


Jamie Dixon has built a tremendous program at Pitt but his failures in the tournament can no longer be ignored. Especially given my entire rant above about the regular season being meaningless.

It’s easy to forget that before Dixon and Ben Howland arrived, Pitt had fallen off the Big East map. Under Dixon, the Panthers regularly compete for Big East Championships and get high seeds in March. Pitt basketball has become nationally relevant, which is far more than we can say for their football program.

Unfortunately with each passing year it’s looking more and more like Dixon is a coach who can’t win when it truly matters.

The reality of college sports is that the players turn over every four years (or less); the coaches remain the constant. The results at Pitt have been pretty constant under Dixon; strong regular seasons, high tournament seeds, and early round flameouts. In any given year you might blame the players. Over eight years, you have to look at the coach.

One of two things is happening at Pitt. Either Dixon is not a good enough coach in big games or he recruits players who can not raise their game to championship level. I believe its both. And even if you somehow blame it solely on the talent, keep in mind that Dixon is the person doing the recruiting

Most of us could accept Pitt’s loss to Butler this weekend as a fluke if it were a one time occurrence. Unfortunately, this has become the norm over the past decade plus. Sad as it is, I expected it, (which somehow did not stop me from ruining my brackets). You can not argue that Butler has more talent than Pitt. Nor can you argue that they were more talented than the teams they played on their miracle run to the NCAA championship game last year. That tells me they are extremely well coached and that coaching made the difference on Saturday.

The question is can Dixon do better and/or can Pitt do better?

To the latter, I say no. Pitt is not Duke or North Carolina. It is still a second tier destination in college basketball. Pitt compares perfectly to Syracuse. Jim Boeheim became a coaching legend by consistently producing strong regular season teams. And in Boeheim’s case, final four lightening struck three times in 30+ years. That success, including one national championship makes most people forget the litany or early round failures there. The same thing could easily happen for Dixon at Pitt.

To the former I’m not sure. I am truly skeptical that Dixon is capable of improving as a big game coach after eight years. As for recruiting, it’s absolutely possible that Dixon gets the best talent he can to come to Pitt. I wonder however if he is so set getting players to fit his system that he ignores potentially better offensive players who might be difference makers come tournament time?

I do not believe Pitt has peeked under Dixon or that he should be fired. That means the adjustments need to come from within. The status quo is no longer acceptable in Oakland; improvements need to be made, even if that means Dixon stepping out of his comfort zone.


I blistered the National Hockey League a few weeks back for their impotent handling of the travesty on Long Island. Sadly nothing has changed.

The league continues to hand out embarrassingly light penalties for severe incidents with obvious and predictable results. How many players have to be seriously injured by cheap shots to the head before the NHL hands out a single meaningful punishment?

There is no way to sugar coat this; Colin Campbell and the NHL brass have handled this issue with complete incompetence. The players keep driving elbows in to each other’s brains because they know there are no serious repercussions. And it’s not always the goons and thugs that are doing the dirty work. Now it’s the PAVEL Kubinas and Dany Heatleys of the world as well.

I seriously wonder if Colin Campbell failed third grade. Because that’s usually the point where people figure out there is a correlation between incorrect actions and punishment. It’s why we have prison cells for criminals in this country, to dissuade crime. If Colin Campbell was a judge in the criminal justice system, manslaughter would probably carry a four game suspension. Sadly I fear it may come to that in the NHL.

The league had a perfect opportunity to address the issue at the general manager’s meeting and again failed miserably. More tough talk and impotent action. The NHL continues to tacitly endorse and enable this activity which endangers its players and cheapens its product.

Unfortunately for Penguin fans, Matt Cooke is a big part of the NHL's problem. I previously accepted Cooke as physical player and an instigator who played on the edge and for the most part I respected his overall game. Alas, pretty much since the time Cooke clobbered Marc Savard last year he’s gone over the edge.

I’ve previously resisted the urge to label Cooke a dirty player but I can no longer defend him. At the very least, he’s reckless beyond an acceptable level. Trust me he’s not the only offender in the NHL but we can no longer ignore Cooke’s acts; not when Penguin fans are still boiling about Trevor Gillies. Even worse, those acts are now costing the Penguins points in the standings.

The NHL should come down on Cooke as a repeat offender; no less than ten games for his latest cheap shot. And honestly, Matt Cooke’s day in Pittsburgh should be numbered. I would rather use his cap hit to keep Talbot and Kennedy. I hate that its come to that but Cooke has left us no choice.

Short Term Pain for Long Term Gain - Crosby's Comeback Can Wait

Pittsburgh’s current hockey savior skated in full pads on Monday, ending his 68 day ice hockey exile. That short skate, plus two others that followed represent mere baby steps in Sidney Crosby’s recovery from his January concussion(s). And yet the mere sight of number 87 in uniform took Penguin fans on a rollercoaster of extreme emotions ranging from unbridled optimism to trepidation and outright fear.

Truth be told, any reaction at this point is premature. The simple fact that Crosby skated does not insure his return this season. It’s reasonable to assume that skating is part of his rehabilitation routine; a routine that could last an additional three weeks or three months. Much as we would like to believe otherwise, it’s very possible that we will not see Sidney Crosby play another game this season.

That said (for you Jared), I doubt the Pens would have made such a public spectacle of Sid skating if they were not reasonably comfortable with his chances.

So at the risk of putting the cart way before the horse, the obvious question is; should Crosby return this season? Are the risks implicit in his return worth the potential rewards of it?

From a pure hockey standpoint, there is no discussion. Sidney Crosby is the best player in the world right now. It goes without saying that his return to the line-up would measurably improve the Pens Stanley Cup chances. If he were rehabbing a knee or a shoulder injury there would be no debate; the Pens would suit him up the minute he was even close to ready.

Unfortunately that’s not the case. Crosby is dealing with a significant head injury; in point of fact, two head injuries. The concussion(s) was serious enough to keep him off the ice for nearly ten weeks during which time he continued to experience symptoms. That’s too big a red flag to brush aside based on two or three healthy weeks.

I understand that at some point injured players must take the risk implicit with returning to the line-up. With all due respect to Aaron Asham, I’m far more willing to accept the risks of his returning too early than I am for our face of the franchise superstar.

The Penguins know much more about this situation than we do. They have top notch physicians studying Crosby’s cranium and making informed medical judgments. And yet those same physicians basically threw their hands up for the last 2 ½ months and admitted essentially that the brain will be what it will be. They are doctors, not miracle workers. I’m sure Anaheim goalie Jonas Hiller would confirm that sentiment.

I’ll reiterate something I pointed out in late January when I first expressed my Crosby concussion concerns. Heath Miller endured one of the most brutal head shots I’ve ever seen against Baltimore and was back on the field three weeks later. Sid has been out more than three times that long. That should give some context on how serious this is. Remember, two concussions in five days; the second of which occurred before the first healed.

Concussions are cumulative. Each is worse than the one before; each one takes a greater toll. You simply can not be too careful given that reality. I keep thinking about how Bill Cowher and the Steelers enabled Ben Roethlisberger’s overzealous return from his motorcycle accident in 2006. His mid season concussion against Atlanta seemed almost preordained given those circumstances.

I’m not sure that anybody can definitively determine what the proper healing time is for this injury. I think we can all agree that six months is a safer time frame than four weeks.

Crosby is a smart player who plays the game with his head up. That’s a politically correct way of saying he’s not Marc Savard. And yet we all saw what happened to Sid twice in five day span in early January. It does not matter who you are; it is impossible to avoid every hit, especially when you play in the high traffic areas.

So yes the risks are great, as are the rewards. A healthy Crosby gives the Pens a legitimate shot at the Stanley Cup. No Sid drastically reduces that opportunity. How do we evaluate this risk reward dilemma? By weighing as many considerations as possible. To wit:

1) The Pens chances to win the Stanley Cup – Exponentially better with Crosby in the line-up (unless you go with the theory that you can’t multiply by zero) but still considerably reduced without Evgeni Malkin. Throw in the likelihood that Sid will not be 100% either physically or hockey wise and those chances slip a bit further. Are those odds good enough to risk the franchise’s future?

2) The Future of the Program – The Penguins are built around Crosby both structurally and financially. Crosby takes up $8.7 Million of cap room through 2014. The worst case scenario is no Crosby. The second worst case is Crosby being in an out of the line-up at partial effectiveness a la Lemieux from 2001-02 through his final retirement. That would leave the Pens in a state of helpless hockey limbo.

3) The Championship Window – Any lost opportunity within an obvious championship window is profoundly disappointing. That disappointment is mitigated by the fact the Pens have locked in their young core for at least two more years; and that core is less than two years removed from lifting the cup.

4) The Environment – We all know the playoffs are considerably more physical than the regular season. You lose the Trevor Gillies thug factor but you gain the…”everyone finishes every check factor.” Net result, chances of injury increase. And that’s before we even consider…

5) The Garage League – The NHL has done little or nothing to dissuade head shots this year. They talk tough and then act with stunning impotence. Yes players fear suspensions more in the playoffs but the sad reality is that the league has FAILED to create a climate where players fear the consequences of delivering a hit to the head.

In the end, my contention is it’s not worth the risk. I might feel different if Malkin were not hurt. I might feel different if the team’s core was aging or they were about to be ravaged by free agency. I might feel different if the NHL made a genuine commitment to protecting its players rather than just spewing spineless rhetoric.

And before you tell me that the Pens medical staff has the best handle on the situation; remember this. On top of all the uncertainty I’ve already described, the Penguins let Crosby play four periods of hockey after taking the original hit from Steckel. For all the good things that go on at the new Igloo these days, this was nothing sure of negligence from top to bottom of the organization. The minute I saw Crosby scrape himself off the mush that was the winter classic ice, I suspected a concussion. Somehow his employer did not.

My emotional side wants Sid back in the line-up without question. My logical side knows that if he does play, I will cringe every time he goes to the corner to play a lose puck.

If you’re still conflicted, a bit of historical Penguin perspective can be quite valuable.

There are striking parallels between Crosby 2010-11 and Mario Lemieux 1989-90. Both players were dominating the league and carrying their team when significant injury struck. And while this current Penguin team is clearly superior in talent and depth; neither is or was a serious cup contender without their marquee star.

Remember how excited we were when Mario miraculously returned to save the Penguins’ hopes in the last game of the 1990 season? Remember how utterly devastated we were when the Pens lost in spite of that and were eliminated from playoff contention?

Given two decades of perspective we now clearly see what was impossible to know that night; losing that game was in reality the best case scenario. The Pens gave up a fleeting moment of happiness and a likely first round playoff defeat for the opportunity to draft Jaromir Jagr. In addition it eliminated the dilemma of whether Lemieux should try and play in the post season with his back in disrepair.

Moreover, Lemieux’s decision to comeback for that game ultimately delayed his inevitable back surgery and his return the following year. The Pens were quite fortunate that delay did not sabotage their 1991 cup run. In short, all emotions aside, the Pens should have shut Big 66 down the minute he hobbled off the ice at Madison Square Garden.

Sound familiar?

Sometimes discretion is the better part of valor. My heart would love to see Sidney Crosby on the ice when the playoffs start. My head hopes he sits until next year.

Coming to Grips with Conflicting Penguin Emotions

Watching the Penguins brilliant 3 to 2 victory in Boston on Saturday night I was overcome by the emotion of two conflicting thoughts. One is that this was yet another inspirational effort from a team overcoming an unprecedented run of critical injuries. The other was that not withstanding this, the Pens as currently constituted have little chance to win the Stanley Cup.

I started to come to grips with this when the Penguins played a tremendous game against the Craps a few weeks back and lost 1-0. The contest was in every way a playoff caliber. And it came down to Washington’s elite superstar scoring the only goal; while our stars continued their rehab. At that moment, I had shocking clarity in to what the post season could be like for the Pens.

The Pens are going to make the playoffs. The team accumulated enough points in November and December to assure that. They are going to battle when they get there. The team’s character, backbone, and strong coaching staff assures that. And they are likely going to finish without hoisting Lord Stanley’s Cup. The injuries to Crosby and Malkin dictate that.

I know we would all like to believe the Pens can pull this off without Crosby. On some level, I would like to think that Dustin Jeffrey will morph in to Jonathan Toews, James Neal in to Kevin Stevens and Alexie Kovalev in to…Alexie Kovalev. I know we would like to believe that a well coached team with grit, character, an all world goaltender and the best front four defense group in its history can overcome the loss of its two marquee superstars.

There is nothing wrong with believing that right to the last moment. That’s what true fans do. I assure you that’s what I will do. I will not give up on the Penguins under any circumstances. When the playoffs start, I will convince myself that the Penguins can win every series; even if the NHL somehow resurrects the 1984 Edmonton Oilers as their opponent.

Just understand that unless Sidney Crosby miraculously returns to health, there will likely be no Stanley Cup parade in the Burgh this year. And for the record, at this point I’m not sure it’s the best thing for Sid to come back this season, even if he can.

You may ask why I feel the need to say this before it even happens. Why throw cold water on an already difficult situation? Why not sit back and just see what happens? I am after all the person who said after the 2005 and 2008 football seasons that I would never give up on a Pittsburgh team again.

Because the cruel reality of the Pens situation is crystallizing for me. A team that was perfectly situated to win a Stanley Cup has been stripped to its core by critical injuries. I’m trying to reconcile the “successes” of a short handed team that plays its heart out every night with the harsh truth of what it takes to win a championship. And its creating a vicious internal conflict for me. Not too mention a fair degree of sadness.

The fact is, it’s not always a failure when a team does not win a championship. Sometimes getting to the playoffs and winning a series or two can be considered a huge success. Do you think that Montreal fans considered last season a failure because they lost in the conference finals?

If you look at the Penguins sans Sid and Geno, is there any doubt that duplicating Montreal’s conference final run would be a credible success? And such a run is possible, even without our two marquee stars.

That said, when a team is legitimately of championship caliber and falls short for whatever reason, it is profoundly disappointing. Championship opportunities are rare and precious. You simply do not know when or if they will come around. And there is a simple reason for that. There is a cavernous difference between a GREAT team and a CHAMPIONSHIP team.

Sports history is replete with great teams that were not championship caliber. The Penguins as currently constructed may be a great team; but it’s Sid and Geno that make them elite. For an apt comparison, think of the Steelers from 1992 through 2003. They had no fewer than six “great” teams in the era but no championship teams; thanks to the Kordell O’Donnell quarterback fiasco.

It takes an unbelievable mix of scouting, drafting, player development, coaching, talent, grit, heart, and luck just to create a championship window. If you doubt me on that luck part, remind yourself that Sidney Crosby wears a Penguin uniform solely based on the fortuitous bounce of a ping pong ball in 2005. Would the Pens have won the cup in 2009 with Bobby Ryan instead of Sid?

That is why you can never overstate the significance of a championship opportunity lost. You just do not know when or if the next one will come. Injuries, age, salary caps, and other factors often conspire to crash a championship window, faster than anyone would ever expect.

To this day I lament the Pens loss to Florida in the 1996 conference finals (even though I continue to deny it occurred). That said, it bothers me less on some level than the 1993 loss to the Islanders for this simple reason. The 1996 team Pens were a great team; but they were not a championship team. They simply did not have the depth on defense or at forward to beat Colorado in the finals. By contrast, the 1993 Pens were far and away the best team in hockey and should have steamrolled to a third consecutive cup.

The disappointment of the 1996 Pens was only to the extent that they lost one round earlier than they should have (and also that they were clutched and grabbed in to submission by a beer league expansion team). The tragedy of the 1993 Pens (strictly from a sports perspective) was a legitimate championship opportunity lost. Or worse, given away.

We have a ton of experience in Pittsburgh with great teams that in retrospect were not championship caliber. And we had some brilliant and wonderful rides with those clubs that I would not trade for anything. Last night I watched a clip of the Pens game 6 win over New Jersey in 1999; the game where Jagr scored late in the third and in overtime. It’s one of the greatest wins in Penguins’ history; leading to maybe the greatest upset in Penguins’ history. Great moments do not by definition have to occur on the way to championships.

There will be no shame if the Pens lose in early in the playoffs this year. Not with their roster in tatters. As long as they battle with every ounce of heart and guts they have available, I will be proud of the result. Everything I’ve seen from the Pens this year, especially since the injury run started tells me they will do just that. This team has inspired me on the same level as the 2009 Pens in games 6 and 7 against Detroit.

The sad reality though is that without Sid and Geno they struggle to score goals. And its hard to win 16 playoff games when you can’t consistently light the lamp. We love the great stories of grit and overachievement that occur in the playoffs. We love the Talbots, Cookes and Craig Adams of the world raising their game and playing with the heart of a champion. They are a big part of what playoff hockey is about.

You absolutely have to have those guys to win, but it’s the truly elite superstars that elevate a team to the next level. Championships are possible when the best of the best; Sid and Geno, Kane and Toews, Datsyuk and Zetterberg, raise their game to a level that goes beyond just hard work and grit.

Herein lies the heart of my conflict. I have never been more proud of the Pens than I am right now. I have no doubt they will continue to do us proud in the post season. And yet I can not get past the reality that a legitimate championship opportunity may have been stolen by cruel twists of fate. It’s frighteningly reminiscent of that brilliant ‘93 team that I’ve still never quite gotten over. It matters not that the current concerns are driven by factors beyond their control while the ’93 Pens simply failed to play their best hockey. Disappointment does not distinguish rationale, it deals only in results. Opportunity lost is opportunity lost.

I hope beyond hope to be wrong. I will be there to the very end rooting for a true Stanley Cup miracle. That’s what fans do. I will be proud of this never give up Penguin team until the final whistle. I just can’t help fearing that whistle will blow too soon.

Calling Out Scott Burnside’s Petty Vendetta Against Mario Lemieux

I started this blog primarily for two reasons; I love sports and I love to write. I’ve wanted to be a sportswriter for as long as I can remember. The reality is that this blog; a true labor of love for me; is about as close as I will ever get.

I would like to believe that’s why most sports writers ended up in their chosen profession.

Covering sports every day is not a bad way to make a living. That goes especially for columnists who have nearly free reign to write whatever they want under the guise of “opinion.” I’ll readily concede two points on this issue; first my blog is entirely “opinion” and I tend to read columnists first and beat writers a distant second.

In short, I would be a complete hypocrite if I criticized someone for having strong opinions, even if they are in opposition to mine.

I can live with the idea that not every columnist is going to see the world as I do, especially when it comes to Pittsburgh sports. I pride myself in having as objective a view as possible about my home town teams. That means I’m about 10% as objective as a neutral outsider party doing the same analysis. I can be logical and pragmatic to a point; but its always overridden by my fierce emotional attachment to our teams.

In short, I really do understand that for much of the sports world, the sun does not rise and set over the Three Rivers.

Which brings us to Mr. Scott Burnside of ESPN.com fame (or infamy).

Mr. Burnside clearly does not like Mario Lemieux; which is his prerogative. There are a few people in this world I do not like and I don’t feel obliged to justify my reasons. The difference is that I do not use an international sports forum, or even this blog, to denigrate their character. Scott Burnside has now done so on three separate occasions to Lemieux. As far as I can tell, he’s doing so because Lemieux committed the heinous crime of refusing him an interview at the 2009 Stanley Cup finals.

To be clear, I have no issue with Burnside criticizing Lemieux or anybody else for their job performance or their opinions. That’s his job. I take severe issue when those criticisms become personal in nature and go clearly and obviously beyond the issue at hand.

To me there is a covenant of responsibility that any “journalist” has with their readers and those they cover; a covenant that grows in scope and magnitude with the size of their audience. The media has tremendous power to influence or even create public opinion. Given that, somebody fortunate enough to have an audience on the most widely viewed sports forum on earth; has a tremendous obligation to use that power responsibly.

Sadly, Scott Burnside has lost sight of this. He sacrificed his ethics, his objectivity, and his credibility over a petty grudge. So I’m calling him out on it plain and simple. His “columns” about Lemieux qualify as nothing more than petty, vindictive trash and are beneath the standards of “journalism.” He’s using the ENTERTAINMENT and Sports Network to carry on his one man vendetta against Lemieux.

I’m not going to turn this column in to a one man defense of Le Magnifique. Mario nether wants nor needs me to defend him. Like most Penguin fans, I have a very high opinion of the man for what he’s done for the Penguins and Pittsburgh, on and off the ice. I also think a man whose foundation annually donates millions of dollars to cancer related causes is probably a half way decent fellow.

That said, whether Mario is a saint or a sinner is irrelevant here.

We know beyond a doubt that Mario is a private person. We also know that he has tried very hard to make the Penguins of today the story; and not their legendary owner. There are many owners in sports; Jerry Jones and Dan Synder come to mind, who would be well served to learn that lesson. And it goes without saying that none are as accomplished as Lemieux in their chosen sport.

Apparently in Scott Burnside’s eyes, that’s a serious offense.

When I read Burnside’s first scathing condemnation of Lemieux in 2008, (attached below this paragraph), I was truly shocked. I thought I was reading about Ted Bundy…or at least Terrell Owens. To wit, a few quotes:

http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/playoffs2008/columns/story?columnist=burnside_scott&id=3413241

Yet there is one hockey great who will remain strangely, inexplicably mute through these Stanley Cup finals. When requests are made to talk to Lemieux, either in a one-on-one setting or in a group format with reporters covering the finals, word politely comes back through the team that the man who is the Penguins' part-owner doesn't want to take the spotlight away from his young team.

What a load of hooey. This has nothing to do with taking any spotlight away from his players. No, this is more about Lemieux's detachment from the game or, at least, detachment from having to share his thoughts and feelings about the game. It is both convenient and predictable for Lemieux to hide in the background at a time when the game most needs its relevant stars in place, because it's always been about convenience for Lemieux. The only reason Lemieux isn't making himself available during these finals is because there's nothing in it for him.

Beyond the fact that I don’t know what “hooey” is, this seems awfully contemptuous for a man’s whose primary motive is maintaining his privacy. And how exactly does the omnipotent Burnside have such clarity of vision on Lemieux’s motives? The answer is he does not; but then why let facts ruin a perfectly good character demolition?

If Burnside had left it at that, I would over time have taken the forgive but not forget mentality. Alas he was not capable of burying the hatchet. After the NY Islanders spent a Friday night making a mockery of the NHL last month; Burnside was moved. Not to criticize the Islanders for their cowardly, premeditated actions or the NHL for their impotent response mind you. No, Burnside was moved to shred Lemieux for speaking out against it. More quotes from that story (which I’ve included below):

http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/columns/story?columnist=burnside_scott&id=6120121

But this wasn't a call to action; it came off as a petulant child stomping his feet.

It's more than a little rich that Lemieux is threatening to walk away from the game now that he's got a shiny new arena and presumably all the millions he was owed all those years back when he hated the game but saved the team in Pittsburgh nonetheless.

Please take a good look at the title; “Only Failure Here is Lemieux’s Message.” Really? That’s the only failure in this travesty? Not trying to end Eric Tangradi’s career for example? Feel free to read the article and/or these quotes and tell me I’m over the top. And “Petulant child stomping his feet…” if that’s not the pot calling the kettle black.

Instead of discussing the relevant issue of a game that was an affront to every respectful principle of sport; Burnside writes an article filleting one of the games all time greats for speaking out against it. Somehow I don’t think he would have reacted that way if Steve Yzerman had those same comments. After all, Stevie Y is always available for an interview.

So a few weeks later, Trevor Gillies returns from a nine game suspension and immediately proves Lemieux 100% correct. In his first game back, Gillies takes a vicious run and gets a 5 minute penalty and game misconduct for attempt to injure. Apparently a nine game suspension for a blatant attempt to maim and injure is not quite the deterrent that Colin Campbell presumed. Who knew?

So what does my buddy Burnside do? He writes an article admitting that Mario was correct and still manages to throw in quite a few cheap shots.

http://espn.go.com/blog/nhl/post/_/id/5263/trevor-gillies-punishment-coming-too-late

Somewhere Mario Lemieux is wagging his finger at those of us who criticized him and saying, "Look, you eggheads, was I right or was I right?" We hate that, by the way.

In the aftermath, Lemieux insisted the NHL had failed, and then destroyed his own message by threatening to leave the game. Haven't seen a "For sale" sign up in front of Consol Energy Center, so I can only assume Lemieux has reconsidered.

“We hate that by the way” hardly smacks of objectivity. That said, here is the key point that is nearly lost in Burnside’s vendetta.

But in the wake of Gillies' performance Wednesday, it's hard not to agree with Lemieux's assessment of how the NHL responded to the situation. That is to say, they failed to send an adequate message.

Gee, where have I heard that before?

So you see, even in admitting that Mario was correct, Burnside still can’t put aside his petty grudge. Is not granting enough interviews really a crime worthy of constant public denigration of an all time great player and decent human? Is it so severe as to take precedence over an event that set hockey back 25 years?

The answer of course is clearly and obviously no. And keep in mind, this is not Dave Molinari dealing with Tom Barrasso’s daily mood swing in the Penguin’s locker room. That I can somewhat understand though certainly not endorse.

Burnside to me has lost all of his credibility because he lost site of his most critical responsibility as a journalist. His personal attacks in a public forum do not even feign objectivity. That deserves far more condemnation then he’s given Mario Lemieux.

Eastward Bound…Penguin Fan Traded at the United Center

Sunday afternoon in my adopted hometown of Chicago, I learned what it feels like to be traded.

To be clear I said “traded;” not “bailing on my current team to sign a one year contract with an arch rival that supposedly gives me the best chance to win the Stanley Cup.” Hypothetically of course.

I attended the Blackhawks game last Wednesday versus Minnesota and was 100% behind the Indian Head. Five days later I’m in the same building, dressed to the nines in Penguin attire and screaming my guts out for Marc-Andre Fleury and the Wilkes Barre Seven. The Hawks players I rooted for five nights earlier were now the faces of the enemy.

Appearing at the U.C. in visiting colors, 100% vested in the visiting team, even sitting on the opposite side of the building; well let’s just say I now understand how Jaromir Jagr felt the first time he played at the Igloo in a Crapitals sweater.

In all seriousness, the United Center looked different on Sunday. The Hawks looked different. For one night, I saw my adopted hometown through the eyes of a stranger. It’s the tenuous and dangerous existence I walk trying to root for two hockey teams. Adding another layer of conflict, my wife walks the same line but with inverse team priorities. Yikes.

With that brief introduction, my latest “SportsGuy” style recap of Sunday’s out of body experience at the United Center. All times central standard and heavily estimated as always…

1:30 PM – I make one last series of futile attempts to convince Emily to wear Penguin gear to the United Center. She politely declines. Emily is wearing her red Hawks t-shirt, I’m wearing my black Fleury jersey. The battle lines have been drawn and there is no more denying the truth we’ve tip toed around for two years. We are a mixed hockey couple…and for one day we’re on opposite sides of the fence.

2:00 – I spend the warm-up scanning the ice for Penguin players I actually recognize. I carefully watch our goaltenders to try and guess who is starting. I’m praying for Marc-Andre Fleury so I can see at least one Penguins’ star for my $87.50 investment. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE don’t tell Brent Johnson I said that…I fear pain.

2:15 – Reality sets in…no Sid, no Geno. Things have gotten so bad for the Pens that I’m actually lamenting the loss of Chris Kunitz. Seriously.

2:35 – National anthem at the United Center…still the best live moment in professional sports.

2:45 – Fleury robs Patrick Sharp with a BEAUTIFUL breakaway save. This pretty much sums up the opening period, MAF is single handedly keeping the Pens in the game. How he does not even flinch when Sharpie launches a slap shot from 15 feet at his “mid section” is beyond me. Goalies are scary people…even the ones that are not Brent Johnson.

2:50 – Sharp scores on a beautiful set-up by Hawks captain Jonathan Toes. Chelsea Dagger blares from the loud speaker as per usual. In spite of weeks of preparation for this very moment, Emily is clearly conflicted as to how to proceed. In the words of Steve Miller I tell her to “dance, dance, dance…” She does.

2:51 – The heavy set gentlemen in front of me stands up to “adjust himself” during play for about the 4th time in the opening period. This is irksome enough at face value but coming right after the Pens give up a goal, it’s too much to bare. In a strikingly out of character moment, I scream at him to SIT DOWN. Five minutes later the beer man also feels my wrath. I guess being traded really shakes a guy up. By the way, the Hawks fan next to me is in complete agreement with my position though decorum prevents me from repeating his exact comments. Good to see fans of different teams can find common ground though.

2:55 – An entire line of Wilkes Barre guys hits the ice. Somewhere in Canada, Jock Callender and Mike Needham are smiling.

3:00 – More than half way through the first period and I have zero tangible proof that Marion Hossa is taking part in this afternoon’s contest..

3:15 – The single most disturbing moment of a difficult day. Hawks’ mascot Tommy Hawk perches himself on Emily’s lap for nearly five minutes. He stares right at me (and my jersey) before he does it, clearly mocking the superior fowl. Apparently it’s not enough that for 24 hours I’m an outcast in my home town. Now some dude dressed like a giant bird is hitting on my wife. For a moment I ponder going Brent Johnson on him and throwing a right cross to the beak. I mean what’s my worst case scenario for premeditated avian assault? Five for fighting and a four day suspension?

3:20 – Mike Milbury is taping the between periods show no more than 20 feet from our seats. Once again I’m pondering whether felonious assault by a fan is acceptable, if it takes place within the context of the game. If Mike’s a man of his word, he will accept his beat down as “part of the code.”

3:35 – Pierre McGuire leaps over the boards at the commercial break to interview Dan Bylsma. As I bask in the glory of seeing but not hearing the all knowing hockey savant, I quietly wonder if he has to ask Edzo for permission to go to the bathroom a la Red in Shawshank redemption.

3:45 – Alex Goligoski turns the puck over in the neutral zone. In other news, the Pens miss Crosby and Malkin, Chicago weather sucks in the winter, and Emily likes cookies. And who knew then I was watching GoGo’s last turnover in a Penguin uniform.

4:00 – What has gotten in to Patrick Sharp today? On the heals of being named one of Chicago’s 50 most beautiful people, the Hawks leading scorer takes out Brooks Orpik with a high stick and cracks Paul Martin with a Cooke-like shot from behind. The hit on Martin draws no penalty. Not that it matters because Penguin power players these days are nothing more than suicide wind sprints for Kris Letang. All we need is Herb Brooks with a whistle screaming…”AGAIN!” and “WHO DO YOU PLAY FOR !”

4:00 (and 30 seconds) – The first of at least seven angry text messages from Christopher bemoaning the inequity of officiating in today’s game.

4:02 – As the Hawks go on the power play, I mumble something about how a short handed goal would be great right here (or any goal truthfully). Right on cue, the Superstar Max Talbot sets up Cooke with a Lemieux like saucer pass that Cooke buries behind Corey Crawford. Much to the chagrin of my wife and most of section 314, I let out a scream that could wake the dead. We’re all even.

4:20– Emily’s friend Katie is kind enough to switch seats with us so we move from the upper deck to four rows off the ice for the 3rd period. Finally I feel like one of those fans who wins the “seat upgrade” contest.

4:30 – Unbelievable. I never thought I’d say this but I’m having Justin Abdelkader flashbacks. Fleury has single handedly carried the Pens to this point and then suddenly regresses to his October form. A pillow soft goal over the glove hand and sends the United Center in to a frenzy…with one notable exception. My beautiful wife, knowing how much I abhor bad goaltending, is too thoughtful and considerate to dance after that goal. Not that this was ever in doubt but my wife is a much better person than I. Read on…you’ll see.

4:15 – I observe former Chicago Wolves minor league star Brett Sterling standing next to some Hawks winger that used to play for Detroit (aka, the invisible man). Ever wonder why a 50+ goal scorer in the minors barely gets a sniff of the NHL? Let’s just say he looks like Dorf on Golf standing next to Hossa. Seriously, I think the guy is 4 feet 9 or something. On the plus side, I’ve finally noticed Hossa in the game.

4:30 – Jordan Staal drives the net, pushes a Tyler Kennedy rebound to the side and…you guessed it…Sterling drives it past Crawford to tie the game. I let lose another wake the dead scream. Emily is reconsidering her earlier gesture of kindness. Even in this moment of joy I’m still in shock that this constitutes our first line.

4:45 – A clean and sober Patrick Kane dances around Kris Letang and nearly ends the game before overtime. Letang is forced to take a penalty. All I can think is…why can’t it ever be easy?

4:46 – No worries. Hossa returns the favor and takes down Cooke. At least now he’s in the box score. Seriously, at what point did Hossa morph in to Vinny Lecavalier north? And just in case I’ve been too subtle to this point; no, I have not quite forgiven him for running out on the Pens. A few more games like this however and I just might.

4:48 – Jordan Staal takes a slap shot square in the jaw on an overtime power play. Staal’s life is turning in to slapstick comedy. It’s nothing short of divine intervention that he was not seriously injured in the bus crash last week. Heck he was probably driving.

4:50 – Fleury giveth, Fleury taketh away. MAF makes two of the sickest saves you’ll ever see. Yes he gave up a softie but the Pens got a point day solely on his shoulders.

4:52 – Penguins shoot out line-up…Pascal Dupuis, Kris Letang, and Tyler Kennedy. No I’m not making that up. Hawks line-up…Jonathan Toes, Patrick Sharp and Patrick Kane. I’m not by nature a betting man but…

…4:55 – Hawks win…Kane beats Fleury with a sick move moments after Dupuis cranks iron.

4:57 – While I respond to Christopher’s 7th angry text message, Emily appears smiling in her Hawks glory on the United Center scoreboard. Somehow, in spite of being in the next seat, her Penguin attired husband does not make the cut. Either way, those three seconds represent the only time I can look at the scoreboard today and smile.

5:00 - We leave relatively happy considering both the latest specter of hockey doom and the $25 Million of talent the Pens have on injured reserved. This one is behind us. Now let the James Neal era begin!

My Post Mortem on the Long Island Brawl

I’ve spent the last week trying, and for the most part failing, to get over my anger about what happened on Long Island a week ago Friday.

The entire spectacle was an embarrassment to the National Hockey League, not that the league is intelligent enough to understand that. My position on this incident has not changed over eight days, it’s just been clarified. What happened was a 60 minute premeditated and cowardly assault with intent to injure. It was based not on some noble if misplaced desire to protect the Islanders’ top players; rather on some flimsy vendetta that the Islanders conjured out of mid air. It was, to paraphrase Mario Lemieux, a travesty of sport. A travesty made worse by the NHL’s impotent reaction 24 hours later.

If you think I’m overreacting to all this ask yourself two questions. What would have been the reaction if Matt Martin had landed his cowardly sucker punch from behind and fractured Max Talbot’s jaw or even broken his neck as Todd Bertuzzi did to Steve Moore. And how will you feel if Eric Tangradi is unable to play for a year or more because of his second concussion.

The NHL is doing what it always does, punish the result rather than the action. That would be bad enough if the punishments were proportionate to the crime which they rarely are. It’s a sad truth that if Talbot suffered a career ending injury, Martin likely would have received a 25 to 40 game ban. That would have been woefully inadequate given Martin’s action but certainly more than he got.

Instead the NHL’s lack of action will simply encourage and enable more of this behavior. Consider that the Pens/Islanders game was the third brawl filled game in ten days and little action was taken on the first two. Consider some unknown Colorado hack took a cheap run at Olli Jokinen the next night after he put up four points on the fading Avalanche. It’s a systematic and endemic problem that the NHL does not acknowledge, let alone attempt to fix.

For too long the league has relied on its archaic code of justice to mediate justice. Besides the obvious flaw in having the inmates run the asylum, the simple fact is its not working anymore. Players seem to be losing respect for the so called “code”. What the Islanders did Friday night was a three hour case study in this. As former Penguin Rick Tocchet said last week, players seem more willing to hurt each other today. And Tocchet knows a thing or two about hockey fights.

I might excuse the Islander’s conduct on some level if any member of their organization, player or coach had acknowledged in the slightest that things got out of hand. They steadfastly refused to do so. Instead, they bragged about protecting their players, sending a message and in the most asinine comment I’ve heard this season showing restraint. I guess my memory is foggy. I’m sure I remember Garth Snow wearing a mask when he played goal for the Pens yet he seems like he took one too many slap shots to the cranium.

The NHL should have come out and sent a strong message that this behavior will not be tolerated. When you use the term “DELIBERATE ATTEMPT TO INJURE” in doling out punishment, you are saying that the player committed a crime against the game. They should have suspended both Martin and Trevor Gillies for the remainder of the season for their assaults on Talbot and Tangradi. They should have suspended Jack Capuano five games for complete failure to control his players. They should have suspended Matt Hailey for spending the entire night starting brawls. And yes, Dan Bylsma should have been suspended as required by rule for Eric Godard leaving the bench.

Instead they suspended only three players. Two of the suspensions, for Gillies and Martin, were frighteningly inadequate to the crime. And the Godard suspension, which I agree with, was only by rule and would not have been necessary if the officials had put a stop to the insanity in the second period. None of the other brawlers were suspended.

The obvious message here…fighting is acceptable no matter how badly it gets out of hand. And if you go as far over the line as Gillies and Martin did, the league will talk tough and then give them a slap on the wrist suspension. Compare that to the NBA, hardly a bastion of purity or responsibility which suspended players involved in the Indiana/Detroit brawl for the remainder of the season, about 60 games and the playoffs.

The NBA’s message to its players, that kind of brawling will not be tolerated. The NHL’s message, as long as you don’t cheap shot a guy in the head, you’ll be back the next night. And even if you do, you’ll only sit a few days. Somehow I don’t see that as quite the detriment that the all knowing former goon Colin Campbell does.

Those who continue to profess that the players police themselves will call this an isolated incident. I say that this incident proved how ineffective and counter productive that idea is. The NHL claims that fighting protects the game. I take the opposite view point, I think fighting enables the kind of ugly incident we saw last Friday night. As I said last week, if you believe fighting is necessary to police the game I ask you this…did it work last Friday? Keep in mind that before he tried to end Tangradi’s career for no apparent reason, Gillies fought Eric Godard.

I personally would not mind if they eliminated fighting from the game. Unfortunately, the only way that’s going to happen is if somebody dies on the ice during a fight. I truly believe that. And as much as I would prefer hockey to be fight free, I’m not willing to pay the price of a human life to get there. So I would suggest that the league add a mandatory ten minute misconduct on top of every fight. If fighting is that necessary to police the game then a player should be wiling to pay a 15 minute price. And for those who believe it necessary, I remind you that it all but disappears when the playoffs start.

What is worse is what has happened since. Mario Lemieux, arguably the greatest player in NHL history rightfully called out what happened as a travesty of sport. He criticized both the events itself and the NHL’s pathetic response. His message was right on point and had to be delivered. As a fan, I would want my owner to do exactly that.

Not only was his message ignored, it was summarily dismissed by the NHL and Lemieux was ripped for it by fans and media alike. I found it fascinating that in all the talk of Lemieux being a hypocrite because of the sinful act of employing Matt Cooke, not one person actually contradicted his point. To me that is even more convincing evidence that he was 100% correct.

That said, the universal effort to shoot the messenger was telling. It tells me that there are too many people in the NHL that are more concerned with protecting its archaic code of brutal violence than doing what’s best for the sport. Even as the game’s best player and poster child sits on the sideline with a concussion induced by an unpunished cheap shot to the head, the NHL continues to ignore an obvious problem.

Lemieux has been ripped for not calling out Cooke for his shots on Marc Savard and Fedor Tyutin. The implication is that Lemieux supports Cooke’s actions. Beyond the fact that Lemieux and the Pens never once complained about Cooke’s suspension this argument is blatantly stupid. Ask Andrew Ference what happens when you call out a teammate. Do you think free agents would be lining up to come to Pittsburgh if Mario was calling out his own players?

And for the record, I think the NHL should have suspended Cooke for the hit on Savard and more for the hit on Tyutin. It’s all part of an overall trend of the league not taking these issues seriously enough. And each time that happens, the repercussions are worse. Sadly the NHL just does not get this.

Instead they let a career goon like Campbell dole out obviously inadequate punishments. They continue to rally around small minding thinking and an archaic and useless code. They continue to cheapen their product through unnecessary fights that lead to brawls and worse. They continue to make their stars take a back seat to fourth line goons.

As a lifetime hockey fan, I am grudgingly able to look beyond this. Far too many are not. Hockey is one of the greatest games on earth. Sadly, the NHL is hell bent on making sure many people never find out. We learned that the hard way last weekend.

A Sickening Display of “Sport”

I love hockey. So please understand how serious I take what I'm about to write.

My love for the sports parallels the Penguins’ rise to prominence, lead by a quiet (usually) French Canadian simply known as “Le Magnifique.” And yet, I clearly remember watching Michelle Dion and the Pens nearly pull one of the greatest playoff upsets in sports history against the Islander dynasty in 1982.

Those Islander teams were amongst the greatest of all time. They were blessed with a roster full of hall of fame players. They were not saints, but for the most part played the game the right way. Three decades later, their successors put on one of the most shameful displays in NHL history.

I’m not sure what was worse; the beer league goonism and thugery the Islanders perpetrated under the guise of “settling a score,” or the pathetic see no evil response from their coach and general manager. To hear Jack Capuano and Garth Snow tell it, their team of choir boys was simply defending themselves from the likes of the evil Eric Tangradi.

I guess that explains why the legendary Matt Martin felt the need to give Max Talbot the Todd Bertuzzi treatment. I guess that’s why Trevor Gillies skated half the rink to drive his elbow through Tangradi’s cranium, punch him while he was clearly injured and then taunt him while he was laying face first on the ice. So much for getting tough on head injuries.

Let me be as clear as possible on this so there is no misunderstanding where I stand on this. Gillies' actions in that sequence were possibly the most sickening display I’ve seen in over 30 years of watching sports. It was the single most disgraceful act of a game that was a complete disgrace to the sport.

Seriously, what does it say for the Islanders that Martin tried to end Talbot’s season with a cheap sucker punch from behind and it was only the second worst display of the night? And there was an ample supply of other candidates.

All of this occurred because the Islanders apparently felt the need to avenge a questionable hit by Talbot in the last meeting and Brent Johnson’s one punch TKO of Rick DiPietro. Frankly I would think the Islanders would pin a metal on Johnson for taking DiPietro out of the line-up but that’s an argument for a different day. I guess I’m struggling to understand how fighting is an accepted part of the game unless your guy loses. Then its justification to run Johnson and his teammates all night long.

The NHL was apparently incensed in word though not in deed. They admonished both players for “deliberate attempt to injure” and then gave them slap on the wrist suspensions. I’m sorry but when you acknowledge that somebody “deliberately attempted to injure an opponent,” that player’s season should be over. It goes against every principle of organized team sports to purposefully injure an opponent. Even James Harrison acknowledged that. When there are multiple acts as such over 60 minutes, the offending organization and coach should be severely punished.

Apparently the fact that Talbot was lucky enough to duck and avoid a fractured jaw makes the act less egregious, at least in the eyes of the all knowing and all powerful Colin Campbell.

I recognize that the NHL fined the Islanders $100,000 and in doing so sent a bit of a message. That said, whether the Islanders are cheap or not, that’s chump change for a professional sports franchise. What absolutely should have happened is additional fines and a suspension for Islanders coach Jack Capuano who at best turned a blind eye to his team’s obvious intentions, at worse encouraged it.

I commented after the game were that anything less than 20 game suspensions for both Martin and Gilles would leave me outraged. Well guess what…I’m outraged. If I thought my voice carried any weight, I would publicly admonish the league for this tragic miscarriage of sports justice. Thankfully, Mario Lemieux took care of it for me.

Let’s take a step back though. Any non Pittsburgh fan who reads this is going to interpret it as a one sided rant by an angry Penguin fan. I do not deny my anger; my impression is that the Islanders caused most of this; but there is a bigger issue here. In short, what happened Friday night was inevitable.

I’ve never hidden the fact that I’m not a fan of fighting in the NHL. I believe it’s unnecessary and that it cheapens and demeans what is otherwise a great sport. It’s amazing to me that something deemed so necessary all but disappears in the playoffs. It’s even more amazing that people feel that two 4th line goons fighting has more effect on the game than Brooks Orpik crushing a guy with a clean, legal check. The only thing I hate worse than fighting is the pathetic attempts to justify it as a necessary act of “policing the game.”

Did the Islanders look like they were “policing the game” on Friday night?

That said, I have reluctantly accepted fighting for years as part of the game’s culture. I grudgingly gave the league credit for eliminating bench clearing brawls and for gradually siphoning fighting from the game. If fighting was limited to the occasional Eric Godard versus Colton Orr scrap to fire up the crowd, I could live with it. If it was occasionally used to avenge say Adam Grave’s criminal slash on Lemieux in 1992 or Matt Cooke’s hit on Marc Savard last year, I could deal with it.

After seeing three brawl filled games this week, and the NHL’s meager response I fear that’s no longer the case. It’s even worse that the league tries to depict its response as aggressive. The impotent punishments from the league in response to Friday night’s horrific actions are nothing less than a tacit endorsement of what went on. For all of Campbell’s tough talk, only three players left the arena with anything more than additional PIMs.

If the NHL wants to protect fighting’s limited role in the game, I guess that’s their right. If the players truly believe that a limited amount of fighting is necessary, I can continue to accept it in extreme moderation. That said, the travesty of sport that occurred Friday night on Long Island can not be allowed under any circumstances. It is indefensible on any level for a civilized sport. It’s the latest example of a league that continually sabotages any chance for mainstream acceptance.

The movie Slapshot was supposed to be a parody of a bygone era or minor league hockey. It was not supposed to be replayed in earnest by “supposed” NHL players.

The Penguins are not innocent bystanders in this. It does not help their cause that they lead the league in fighting majors. Nor does it help them that Matt Cooke is forcefully growing his reputation as one of the dirtiest players in the game. That does not excuse what went on Friday night in Long Island but it’s clear that the Pens are earning an ugly reputation around the NHL.

A year ago I praised the Pens for becoming a genuinely tough and physical team to play against. This year they seem to be morphing in to their neighbors to the east.

That said, this is bigger than the Penguins and bigger than what happened on Friday night. The simple act of allowing fighting in the sport opens up the doors to that kind of breakdown. The refusal of the league to take truly aggressive action against such an embarrassing display emboldens every other franchise. What’s to stop any other team from bringing up a few minor league hacks to rough up any player who dares throw a body check? I realize the Islanders are not a playoff team (or an NHL team in my opinion) but do you really think losing Matt Martin for four games is going to affect them?

Again, I love hockey and I was thoroughly disgusted by what happened Friday night. The game had the same effect on me that it had on Lemieux; it made me question whether I want to continue to be a part of the sport I love. The NHL remains a niche sport in the United States. When it starts offending its most die hard fans, it’s in serious trouble. The league can not continue to let a minority of backward minded Canadians determine its destiny. It must stop catering to the barbaric Don Cherry and Mike Milbury mentality, or risk destroying itself.

What happened Friday night was a sickening and disgraceful display. Kris Letang and Dan Bylsma said it was not hockey, I saw it was not even sport. It served only to embarrass the National Hockey League and the teams involved, regardless of who was ultimately at fault.
The league had to send a strong message that this was unacceptable on any level. As Lemieux clearly stated today, they failed.

Penguins Making Super Bowl Week Easy

As a sports fan, there is nothing better than having your favorite team in the Super Bowl. It is so to speak, sports nirvana.

Unfortunately, as former Blackhawks owner Bill Wirtz frequently reminded me, you do not get something for nothing in this life. The cost of that Super Bowl glory is the interminable two week wait leading up to it. One minute you are celebrating the thrill of reaching the summit of the sports mountain; the next you are stuck in a two week abyss of no football.

Compounding the misery is the non stop dissection of the event by the various and bloated talking football heads; supplemented by a steady does of rumor, innuendo, and pointless gossip. Everyone and their mother is on TV or the internet with their own useless analysis and meaningless predictions. Let’s face it, the average human being is not equipped to handle 14 days of Deion Sanders, Keyshawn Johnson, and Steve Marriucci.

The oversaturation of pointless news and gossip reached a historic low point today when it was reported as breaking news that Ben Roethlisberger was seen drinking with teammates at a piano bar on Tuesday night. Unless Ben singing under the influence is consider a potential felony this is a total non story. Unless of course its Super Bowl week.

Maybe I’m just spoiled after three Super Bowl trips in six years but I frankly can’t stand it. Fortunately I have the perfect cure. It’s called Pittsburgh Penguins hockey.

The Penguins are doing a phenomenal job keeping my mind of the Super Bowl week abyss. Instead of being immersed in the endless minutia of Super Bowl week, I’m watching perhaps the gutsiest regular season performance in the history of our beloved hockey team. And I’ll be doing so right up through Sunday afternoon. Instead of eight hours of senseless pre game babble, I’ll be watching Disco Dan’s boys taking on the hated Washington Crapital’s in a matinee special.

By all accounts, the Penguins should be in free fall right now. In case you did not get the memo, they have played the last ten games without the world’s best player, a young fellow named Crosby, and the last five games without his superstar sidekick Evgeni Malkin. To up the ante on Tuesday night, Jordan Staal decided to go all Brent Johnson and punch out a Ranger forward, thus earning an early shower.

If I had told you after the winter classic that the Pens would be without Sid for ten games and Geno for five of those games, would you in any way, shape, or form believed they would earn 13 points?

I’m not above admitting that I would not.

With this performance, the current group has redefined the image of the Pittsburgh Penguins. Our boys have always been thought of as a run and gun, offensive skill team. They’ve never been considered a team that wins games with defense, physicality and grit. At least until now.

All of a sudden the Pens are winning games because Max Talbot and Matt Cooke are running guys all over the ice, Zbynek Michalek and Brooks Orpik are dominating the defensive zone, and Brent Johnson is punching out Ricky DiPietro. Okay, the last part is more of a bonus parting gift but you get the point.

And think, some idiot on this blog keeps insisting that this team has too many grinders and not enough scoring wingers. Blasphemy.

Anyway.

Two months ago, I wrote a blog overflowing with praise for the Steelers brilliantly gritty victory in Baltimore. The game was the classic embodiment of Steeler football. The team battling for 60 minutes through a brutally physical encounter and all but willing themselves to victory. It was men pushing themselves beyond the limits of human endurance for nothing more than one regular season victory. I was so fired up afterwards that I could not sleep until 3am.

I had nearly the same feeling after the Penguins gutted out a 4-3 win at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday night without their top four centers (including Mark Letestu). Oh and after spotting one of the league’s best goaltenders a 2-0 lead. The Pens just refused to quit, right up to the point where a rookie with less than ten games of experience scored the game winning goal in the shootout. It was quite frankly a “Steeler-like” performance.

I love the Steelers and the Penguins but I sometime marvel at how different they are. Steeler football is so emblematic of Pittsburgh. It’s about brutal physicality (except when it angers Roger Goodell), hard work, and an overwhelming desire and will to win. It’s rarely pretty; a fact we were comfortable with long before Mike Tomlin clarified that style points do not matter.

The Penguins on the other hand have been considered a brilliantly talented, finesse team pretty much from the day they were raised to prominence by a quiet French Canadian simply known as Le Magnifique. Go back and watch Hockey Night in Canada’s coverage of Lemieux’s mind numbing playoff goal against Ray Bourque and Boston in 1992. The announcer sums up the perception of Penguin hockey perfectly when he asks, “Have you ever seen such finesse?”

That’s not to suggest in any way that the Pens are not tough. Ulf Samuelsson was tough. Rich Tocchet was tough. Ryan Malone played a playoff series with a broken nose. We know all about the likes of Cooke, Brooks Orpik and Mike Rupp. Hockey players frequently play through injuries that would keep a good accountant in bed for weeks (hypothetically).

That said, when you think of the Steelers, you think of Jack Lambert or James Harrison, covered in blood and driving some poor running back through the turf. When you think of the Pens, you think of Lemieux’s Jagr, Crosby, and/or Malkin undressing some poor defensemen and humiliating the likes of John Casey, Andy Moog, or whatever AHL caliber goaltender is suiting up for Philadelphia.

Steeler fans prefer a 7-3 victory behind a dominant defense to a 40 point, 400 yard passing explosion. Penguin fans prefer that same 7-3 score, with Crosby and Malkin tallying 5 points each. It’s a shocking dichotomy in our sports preferences.

At least until now.

I pointed out last season that the Pens have become one of the toughest teams to play against in hockey. It’s not just because of Deryk Engelland dropping the gloves two out of three nights. It’s because of fast, physical forwards who pummel defensemen on the forecheck. It’s because of big, strong and mobile defensemen taking out guys in the defensive zone. Heck, even our back-up goaltender is tough.

And did I mention that the Penguins are the top penalty killing team in the NHL? The Pittsburgh Penguins? What next, the New Jersey Devils in last place?

This is not necessarily new, it’s just that nobody noticed until the team’s two offensive superstars went on the shelf. The Penguins are not scoring nearly as much without 87 and 71 but they have not changed their system one bit. They continue to dominate on the forecheck resulting in a huge disparity in zone time. They continue to choke off scoring chances when the puck is in their defensive zone (without trapping by the way). And offensively they are now opportunistic. Not a word frequently used to describe Penguin hockey over the last 25 years.

The result is some of the grittiest hockey in Penguin history. The gold standard to me remains games six and seven of the Stanley Cup finals against Detroit two years ago. That said, this is a close second and it’s being accomplished with $17.5 Million of all world production in the press box. I don’t know that I’ve ever been prouder of our boys.

Dan Bylsma has risen to another level as a coach. And let’s be honest, he set the bar pretty high to begin with. I hate to poach quotes from Mike Tomlin but I can almost picture Bylsma telling his injury riddled team, “the standard is the standard.” Of course it does not hurt that Marc-Andre Fleury is playing perhaps his best hockey ever; and has to just to stay ahead of Johnson.

Let me be clear on this. As impressive as this run is, the Penguins are not going deep in to the post season without a healthy Crosby and Malkin. And I still think the team needs one more offensive winger to win a cup. You need grit in the NHL but you also need guys who can put the puck in the back of the net. Alas, that’s a subject for another day.

For now, I’m just enjoying this remarkable display of Steeler style hockey from the Pens. The fact that it keeps Keyshawn off my television for the better part of the week is just an added bonus.

Are We Ready to Forgive Big Ben?

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.

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.

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.

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