Tid bits...

We laugh in our face at the suggestion.

Also, guess who got a contract extension?  Yeah, I was surprised too. 

But what's up with Jeff Reed?  I can't possibly imagine life without his antics.

And Timmons is out for tomorrow night, which leaves Fox to start.  Should be interesting.  I guess it seems silly to worry about the LB corps of the Steelers, but I am.

Nice article from the Times on the Steelers.  Lots of Pats talk though, which I could have done without.

Ooops, almost forgot.

Oh man.  I'm starting to get excited. 

Do over...

I'm refraining from using an profanity with this one, but I'm sure many of you are thinking of the same 2 words to tell LenDale White as I am. Here's a hint, the last word is 'you'.

A new low...

I didn't mind reporting about our champion Penguins, but this one is a little harder to swallow.  That being said, I still don't agree with some of the comments I heard on the news and ESPN this morning.  Although it's been 17 very, very, long years, the Pirates, as an organization, aren't as bad as some are chalking them up to be.  Putting aside the crappy ownership of this horrendous streak, the Pirates have a lot to make them proud.  Take for instance, the 41 Pirates players and/or managers who have been elected into the Hall of Fame, which puts them in the top 5 among MLB teams.  Additionally, we've got 5 World Series titles and 9 NL pennants.  Now I know it's been about 30 years since we won our last title, but you can't argue with names like Stargell, Mazeroski, Wagner, and Clemente.  And Clemente is perhaps the most complete right fielder to ever play the game. 

So go ahead and laugh.  Make fun of us miserable Pirates fans, but I ask all of you out there, what other team can have their pitcher throw a no-hitter while tripping on acid? 
    

Roster Cuts...

Anyone surprised by the moves?  I was a little surprised by the decision to keep only 4 running backs.  And it seemed like Redman had a better preseason and camp than Summers, but I guess you can't cut someone nicknamed 'The Tank'.  I was glad to see Carey Davis get the boot though.  I never thought he was all that good, but I may still have some remaining biases from the Kreider era. 

Playing catch up...

Okay, now that bronchitis has thoroughly knocked the pants off and back on me again, I can resume the football talk. And there's been a lot going on in the world of Steelers football. Let's start with the small stuff first, like Keisel getting a 4-year extension. Congrats ol' boy. Great news, but I am still worried about the age of our D-line. We're starting to look like the Patriots out there, which could be a good thing, or a bad thing.

Also, roster cuts....any surprises? I was more surprised with the new Steelers.com website than the actual cuts.

And yes, we beat the pants off of the Bills. Not that preseason matters, but we saw some nice stuff out there. Particularly, Big Ben. He looked good. Nothing fancy, but solid numbers. The recievers showed up nicely too. Ward and Sweed looked to be a comfort zone and it seems certain that Sweed has locked up the number 3 spot.

Preseason Game 1...

So what did you like or dislike? The good, the bad?

Right off the bat I have to say I liked how the rookies and the other young guys played. I know this is just preseason, so don't get too excited, but why not? This is a chance to see who shines above the rest. If you can't be a game changer when your playing the second team vs. the other second team, you're not going get your break. So who was a game changer? Issac Redman, for one. I really like this kid. He kind of plows away at it, like a bumper car. He doesn't seem to be an outside runner. Take it right up the middle and bump out if you have to. He played well in beginning and then seemed to drop off a little at the end. Then there were other rookies like Burnett who redeemed himself with the INT after dropping a punt earlier in the game. And Mike Wallace looked pretty smooth out there too. Almost had a TD reception, but it was batted out of his hands. Even Ziggy Hood put on some pressure and got to the QB. However, I'm not a fan of seeing rookies do a dance in a preseason game. Come 'on dude - you're paid to do that.

What else? Sweed played well. No surprise. Not a lot of catches, but he played well. Most importantly, he looked like he had been doing it for years. Had a swagger to him. Dixon played pretty well too. He had some nice zinger passes and then some floaters. Not quite sure what was going on, but he showed some definite poise for a young guy.

Wasn't a fan of McDonald. He's too small. And I wasn't all that impressed with Mendenhall. We'll see. I know it will take some time, but last night wasn't a great start for him. 9 carries for 24 yards...hmm. Gotta do a little bit better than that next time. Also, what the hell is up with our special teams. I have no problem with our kicking or punting, it's just our inability to field the ball properly. Wallace had one nice return, but that was it. And we let them return all over our asses. You cannot let the opposing team start at their own 40 or better.

All-in-all, it wasn't too bad. We played a decent game. Definitely stuff to work on, but at least we didn't get blanked like the Redskins.

Left Speechless...

Not quite sure what to think, but I'm glad he's not a Steeler.

Attention fans...

If you want to start ranting and raving at your computer screen, then read this one.

I think I could spend an hour disputing each one. Especially no. 7, no. 5, no. 6, oh what the hell, all of them.

Number 20...

It's not his jersey number. No, no, Rod Woodson is the 20th Steeler inducted into the HOF. And who better else? The man was incredible and I was sorry to see him leave Pittsburgh all those years ago. He absolutely deserved to be a first-year eligible inductee and he even had a little time to prod the voters to send one of our other favs there. Did anyone watch the ceremony? It was hard not to see a some of it since ESPN aired it for a couple days straight, but awesome stuff.

Nevertheless, Rod isn't believing in us this year, so we'll just have to prove him wrong.

Training camp, etc...

Some good, some not so good....

Ziggy Hood is playing well, so far.

Big Ben and his big fat lying accuser.  (Haha, who would have ever thought, I'd link to TMZ?!)

Stapleton's knee is keeping him out and Hartwig's toe is keeping him out, so I guess it's time to bring in reinforcements.  Although, I've heard that Shipley is doing awesome thus far.  

Ahh yes, everyone's favorite - the goal line drills. 

And what to do about that pesky 3rd reciever?  Don't rule out Mike Wallace just yet.  

God, I can't wait for Thursday night!!!

Go buy the jersey...

If you haven't gotten one yet, which I do, you can now officially go out and buy yourselves a Heath Miller jersey because we locked him in for another 6 years.  Makes him like the 5th highest paid TE.  And conisdering he's the best combo TE, I think it's a fair deal.  Congrats Heath!  Glad to have you on for many more years. 

Morning routine...

I don't know about the rest of you, but my mornings always begin with about 20 minutes of Sportscenter before I lethargically roll out of bed. It keeps me up to speed with the sports I missed the night prior. This time of year, it lets me know how badly the Pirates lost. But this morning, the potential teams for Mike Vick came up, and guess who the hell they mentioned? Yup, that's right the Steelers. Why you ask? Because we have a 'iffy' backup situation and Tomlin knows Vick. Of course I thought this was all ludicrous and wasn't worth any more thought than that. Sporting News seems to agree with me. But then I see stuff like this. Now, I'm a gambling girl, I'll admit it, and I can't possible understand why the Steelers would even consider for a second picking up Vick. Personally, I think it's the wrong way to take the organization. But my opinion doesn't matter. So, what's a girl to think?

Making fun...

Usually, I don't like to make fun of other teams. I don't like to sink to the level of the fans surround me, Philly and Baltimore fans. But this one is just too easy. And yes, I'll admit, I get some sick, sort of pleasure out of it.

Ha, ha!

Hood Signed...

Welcome aboard Ziggy! Boy he sure does have a cute smile, huh? He must not know what he's in for. I can say that I am very happy and relieved to have him signed before training camp. So get ready everybody, now you can go order yourselves a no. 96 jersey.

Hey does anyone know the last Steelers starter to wear no. 96? Looks like Brentson Buckner was the last player of any significance. Although I must admit, I don't remember him that well.

Big Ben speaks out...

After a couple days of silence, Ben broke he out to confront the allegations of sexual assault charged against him.  Ben didn't say much and he didn't answer any questions.  Unfortunately we begin training camp very shortly and this is bound to steer some attention away from football. 

Ugh.  What a mess.  Can't wait till this is over and everyone can move on.