Sports

Best Sports City.  Last fall, for the first time since it began its rankings in 1993, The Sporting News named Pittsburgh the Best Sports City in the U.S.  Philadelphia came in second.  SN based its results on point values for categories such as won-lost records, post-season appearances, opponents’ power ratings, number of teams, and attendance.   The article included a 9-page spread on the Steel City’s sporting scene. 

STEELERS

What the “experts” say.  Ah, summer.  When every sports writer’s a genius and has the entire NFLl season nailed.  Here’s how five national sports magazines rank the 2010 Steelers in the AFC North.  Keep in mind that last year the Steelers were a consensus pick to win their division.   The year before, Super Bowl-bound, most pre-season mags had them finishing  2nd in their division at best.

USA Today:  Ravens;  Bengals; Steelers; Browns

Athlon Sports:  Ravens; Steelers; Bengals; Browns

Sporting News: Ravens; Steelers; Bengals; Browns

Pro Football Talk:  Ravens; Steelers; Bengals; Browns

Yahoo! Sports:  Ravens; Steelers; Bengals; Browns

Tidbits from the “experts”:  In its listing of the 50 best players in the league, USA Today has Peyton Manning first, James Harrison 16, Ben Roethlisberger 41, and Troy Polamalu nowhere in sight. ****Sporting News nominates Lawrence Timmons as the Steeler most likely to have a breakout season****Athlon Sports has coronated the Ravens as “the class” of the AFC North, and predicts they’ll overtake the Colts in the AFC pecking order.****Yahoo! Sports predicts the Steelers will finish 8-8, good enought for 2nd in the AFC North.****Pro Football Talk assures us the Steelers won’t regret keeping Roethlisberger, describing him as “a throwback…a hulking reminder of how much football has evolved.” 

Cowher’s take on Big Ben.  First the bad news:  Bill Cowher likened Ben Roethlisberger to a child who won’t listen to his parents and has to learn through painful experiences.   The good news is that Cowher says Ben is learning.  In an interview with the Associated Press, Cowher said Roethlisberger turned to him for advice about turning his life around and the two have developed a good relationship.  “I think Ben has ad a chance to reflect a lot,” said Cowher.  ” I think he’s a good person.  While it’s unfortunate, I think it may be an eye-opener to him; kind of a slap in the face.”  After learning of Cowher’s comments, Roethlisberger said he felt honored.  “It’s gone from being a rookie quarterback and a coach that’s been around for a long time to a guy I can talk to in an almost fatherly relationship.”

Show him the money.  The Steelers promising rookie wide receiver, Antonio Brown, has been dubbed the team’s Rod Tidwell by Hines Ward.   Tidwell was the larger-than-life receiver in “Jerry Maguire.”   Ward said he was surprised and amused by Brown’s theatrics during the preseason game against the Lions, which included the rookie’s removing his helmet after hauling in his first touchdown.  “Antonio totally shocked me,” said Ward.  “Just a low-key kid who [usually] doesn’t say much.  But I’m never going to deter the kid from getting excited about catching his first NFL ball or scoring his first NFL touchdown.”

What frightens Ben Roethlisberger?  In a lengthy interview with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Big Ben admitted he was scared while driving to Steelers training camp July 30–about how the fans would react to him.  “Driving up here today,” said Roethlisberger, ” I was talking to my Dad, and for the first time it hit me about what is about to happen and–who knows? I got scared. I really did.”  When Roethlisberger was ready to leave the locker room for the practice field, Hines Ward asked if he could walk with him through the fans.  If he was going to get booed, I was going to take the boos right along with him,” said Ward, who has not been overly friendly with Roethlisberger over the years.  As it turned out, Ben was greeting warmly by just about all of the Steelers fans who attended the first open practice.  Roethlisberger says he loves Pittsburgh.  “I don’t say it, but I’m a yinzer.  I feel like [the fans] are home to me; they are family.”  Roethlisberger said he hopes his past behavior won’t be his ticket out of Pittsburgh.  What he wants, he says is to “win championships, get married, and start a family here in Pittsburgh.  Hopefully, I will never leave here.”  (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, July 31, 2010)

Toughest or dirtiest? Hines Ward was called the NFL’s dirtiest player by 11.6 percent of 296 players polled by Sports Illustrated.  According to SI, that makes him the dirtiest player in the NFL.  Hines’ closest competition is the Redskin’s Albert Haynesworth, who pulled in 6 percent of the vote.  Troy Polamalu came in 9th with 3.7 percent.  Says Hines:  “When I go across the middle, those guys aren’t going to tackle me softly and lay me to the ground.  That’s not football.  I find it ironic that now you see a receiver delivering blows and it’s an issue.” Source

PIRATES

Pirates shell out big bucks for new Bucs.  Pirate general manager Neal Huntington seems to be serious when he says he’ll be loosening the purse strings for a while.  The team reached contract agreements with its two highest draft picks this year–pitchers Jameson Taillon and Stetson Allie, agreeing to pay a total of $12 million for this year’s draft class.  Tallion, the second overall pick this year, most recently had an 8-1 record and a 1.78 ERA for his high school team, striking out 114 in 62 innings.  His pitches range from the mid- to-upper 90s, topping out at 99 mph.  Allie went 9-1 his last year of of high school, with a 1.29 ERA and 134 strikeouts in 60 innings.  He’s been clocked at 100 mph a half-dozen times.  The Bucs followed those signings by coming to terms with 16-year-old Mexican pitching prospect Luis Heredia.  The team paid $2.6 million for Heredia, who already has a 93 mph fastball, better than 3/5 of the Pirates’ current pitching staff.

He can bend spoons, but can he hit the slider?  Well, it can’t hurt.  Renowned mentalist The Amazing Kreskin is offering his services to help turn the Pirates around.  As part of his plan, Kreskin would remove General Manager Neal Huntingon and Manager John Russell from power, then use the power of suggestion to convince the Pirate players that they’re capable of being winners.  At last report, the Pirates had not gotten back to Kreskin.

Coming out of the bullpen, literally.  Pirate pitcher Ross Ohlendorf  may have trouble finding a win, but it isn’t from lack of smarts.  He spent a couple of months during the winter as an unpaid intern for the U.S. Department of  Agriculture. 

Ohlendorf  comes from a family of cattle ranchers in Texas.  He scored 1520 on his SATs and was graduated from Princeton with a 3.8 GPA.   “He’s a guy who has an unquenched thirst for knowledge,” said Pirate pitcher Zach Duke in the Washington Post.  “He’s kind of a geek, as we refer to him.”

A Classy Guy. When the Pirates conducted their fire sale last year, one of the long-time Bucs to go was shortstop Jack Wilson, now a Seattle Mariner. Shortly after, Jack wrote an open letter to the people of the Pittsburgh area for publication in the Post-Gazette. He reminisced about his first days in Pittsburgh and finished by saying: “There are no words for me to describe how much you, the fans of Pittsburgh, have meant to me and my family…you were always there for me…the standing O I received [the last home game of 2008] will be the most cherished memory of my career….No matter where God leads me next, I will always be a Pittsburgher. Go Bucs!”

PENGUINS 

Crosby vs. Ovechkin in a snowstorm?  Washington, DC, says it has the best hockely player in the world; many in Pittsburgh disagree.  The Caps and Pens will take the argument outside when they meet in  the 2011 NHL Winter Classic.  The game will be played outdoors at Heinz Field on New Year’s Day.  Said NHL commissioner Gary Bettman, “If you love rivalries, Capitals-Penguins may be our best.  If you enjoy the sight of team captains providing passionate leadership and game-breaking skill, I don’t think you can do much better than Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin.”  

When I say Penguins, you say…? According to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, the Pens’ goal is to make the team synonymous with Western Pennsylvania (think Steelers Nation), so they hired a consulting firm to gauge the Pens current image around the Steel City. Judging by the bottom line, you’d have to say it’s pretty good. The Pens have sold out over 140 home games in a row and they top the NHL in merchandise sold. So quick…what animal and what vehicle come to mind when you think of the Pens organization? Most fans answered “cheetah and Jaguar.” The Steelers were most often associated with “grizzly bear and Hummer.”  Don’t know if they asked about the Pirates.

PITT

Panthers’ dynamic duo.  CBSSports.com named Pitt the nation’s fifth best football/men’s basketball combination in the country in its “Flourishing Five Countdown.”   The Pitt football team finished 10-3 last year, including a bowl win, and hopes are high for this coming season.   The basketball team has a 245-65 record over the past 9 seasons.

Good recruiting season for Pitt football.  Standout running back Jameel Poteat from Bishop McDevitt High School in Harrisburg chose Pitt over close to 40 other scholarship offers.  Poteat, cousin of Hank Poteat, who played for both Pitt and the Steelers, was considered the 15th-best running back prospect in the country. The day after Poteat committed to Pitt, another four-star recruit, quarterback/defensive back Terrell Chestnut, chose Pitt over 30 other offers.  Cornerback Kyshoen Jarrett, ranked the 4th best prospect from Pennsylvania, chose Pitt over Penn State. 

MISC.

The cure for football withdrawal.  If the Pens reach the playoffs next spring, they’ll share the Consol Energy Center schedule with the Burgh’s latest incarnation of indoor football.  The Pittsburgh Power will be an expansion team, joining the 15 teams in the league last year, including the Cleveland Gladiators. 

And if that’s not enough….  The newly formed Johnstown Generals will be bring ing indoor football back to Cambria County, following on the heels of three other indoor teams over the past 20 years .  The league will hold a players combine and draft in October, followed by the opportunity for free-agent signings.