Continuing To Take Over The Internet

Another column for SCI, this time, talking about Willie Parker and the teams short-yardage situation. Perhaps the timing isn't perfect, considering Parker's fumble on the goal line Sunday night, but, I stand by it...

Also, the Steelers made their first round of cuts today. While the list was full of guys who never had a chance to make the team to begin with, it also contained Kevan Barlow, who despite scoring a touchdown against the Eagles, did little to stand out in a positive way this pre-season.

Five Brief Thoughts From 522

1. I know some people will get on Ben for that silly interception - honestly, dumb throw - but I thought he looked really good last night. Sure, he missed Hines a few times, but I think that can be corrected relatively easily. The important thing, to me, was that he looked like Ben, and not that tentative guy who was lining up under center last season. He was moving around, making people miss, avoiding the rush, and it's difficult to argue with 10 yards per pass attempt in the first half. The throw to Heath was great, the third-and-5 toss to Santonio to set up the Willie Parker touchdown was right on the money, and I liked the fact he wasn't afraid to dump it off when there was nothing open down field. I just wish we could take back that pick.

2. The defense was rock solid. Despite losing the field position battle for pretty much all of the first quarter, they managed to hold Donovan Mcnabb and the Eagles first team offense to only three points, and those came on the drive following Sepulveda's shank job. Impressive set for the Steelers there. Once the Eagles got down inside the ten-yard line, the two guys battling for the free safety spot took over. On first down, Ryan Clark made the stop on the run, he was in coverage on second down when McNabb was forced to throw the ball away, and on third down, Anthony Smith drilled Kevin Curtis at the goal line as McNabb's toss sailed to nobody. Loved the pressure they put on McNabb as well. A couple of sacks and a forced fumble.

3. Charlie Batch is the best backup quarterback in the NFL.

4. Steely McBeam made an appearance at halftime during the weekly "drunk guys kicking field goals" contest. He was announced. He was booed. I laughed.

5. Willie Reid continuing to do his best to mirror Ricardo Colclough in the punt return game is troubling. Especially when he's doing it inside the five yard line.

Bonus clips:

- While I loved the dive from Jovon Johnson, I loved William Gay forcing the fumble even more. That guy has developed quite a knack for being around the ball and making big plays. He looks to be a keeper.

- Lawrence Timmons was up and down. He missed a couple (a lot) of tackles, looked good the few times he was in coverage, and made a fantastic tackle on a Jeremy Bloom punt return late in the fourth quarter.

-The best part of the night: Nobody got hurt.

Nate Mclouth Makes His Case

Ever since Andy Van Slyke's career circled the drain over twelve years ago, the Pirates have been searching for somebody - anybody, really - to play a capable center field and provide something even somewhat positive from the batters box.

We've been teased by the likes of Adrian Brown, Tike Redman and Chris Duffy. We've been horrified by Brant Brown. We've been disappointed by the oozing talent, unlimited potential, and walk-on-water greatness of Chad Hermansen. We weren't quite sure what to do with Mike Kingery, hell, most of us don't even remember the one season he played here - or Mike Kingery in general. We were mildly satisfied with what Gary Mathews Jr. did in three months after being claimed off waivers, and then watched him get sold to the New York Mets the following off-season. We scratched our heads as he struck it rich with a $55 million contract this past winter.

Since 1994, the Pirates string of opening day Center Fielders is an appalling one:

1995: Jacob Brumfield
1996: Mike Kingery
1997: Jermaine Allensworth
1998: Jermaine Allensworth
1999: Brant Brown
2000: Chad Hermansen
2001: Adrian Brown
2002: Adrian Brown
2003: Kenny Lofton
2004: Tike Redman
2005: Tike Redman
2006: Chris Duffy
2007: Chris Duffy

It's been an endless, revolving door of suck, only briefly interrupted by three months of Kenny Lofton, an aging big name in the oldest starting outfield ever fielded by a bad team (flanked by Brian Giles and Reggie Sanders) before being thrown in to the Aramis Ramirez trade mid-June of 2003.

Andrew McCutchen gives us some hope, but he's not here yet and probably won't be ready to make an impact until mid-2008 or even 2009. While it's nice to think - dream is more like it - the Pirates would be players for a free-agent like Andruw Jones, Torrii Hunter, or hell, even Mike Cameron this off-season, it's just not going to happen. Snowballs have better odds on the equator. The hole remains and somebody needs to fill it.

Recently, Nate Mclouth has been doing everything in his power to stand out. Actually, over the last couple of weeks, he's been playing like he's Rickey Henderson. Potential solution? Another tease? Time will tell, of course. But Mclouth is making his case to open next season with the job.

Entering play this weekend, Mclouth's .794 OPS would rank seventh among Major League center fielders if he had enough at-bats to qualify for the batting title. Among center fielders who have at least 200 plate appearances, his OPS is 10th out of 30.

Physically, he's built kind of like Lenny Dykstra, without the additional ten pounds of tobacco of course. He's an excellent base-stealer (22-of-23 in his Major League career) and a decent fielder. Right now, he's playing out of his mind. Of course, like anything with the Pirates, we should look in Mr. Mclouth's direction with a curious, questionable blank stare. A giant, "Meh," if you will. After all, we've seen this fish before. Semi-young player hits well after the All-star break, earns the job the following season, stinks out loud, and the revolving door continues to go round and round.

Still, letting Nate Mclouth sink or swim in 2008 is perhaps the least objectionable option the Pirates could lay out on the table. Even if he sunk like a rock. What else is there? Rush Andrew McCutchen? Sign Brady Clark? Trot Chris Duffy back out there?

Perhaps the Pirates could do us all a favor and enter the bidding for Kosuke Fukudome. At least he has a cool name. I'd buy that jersey.

Hey, Football Season: Just Get Here

I can't take it any more. Pre-season games. Alan Faneca's future. Jerome Bettis' past. Who will Bill Cowher be coaching next season? Why didn't we hire Russ Grimm? Enough already.

Football. Meaningful games. Get here.

Now.

Conor Hughes Is CLUTCH!

The Steelers used three second-half field goals from Conor Hughes to defeat the Washigton Redskins, 12-10, in Pre-Season game number three. Some Observations, comments and ramblings:

- Both teams played their starters for the entire first half, the Steelers first team defense would have had a perfect night if they were playing with CFL rules (three downs, instead of four) because on first and second down...they were rock solid. Third down however, things were a little sluggish. We kept seeing the same play over and over again: The Steelers would bring a rusher off the edge, the Redskins would toss a little floater to the same spot where the rusher came from, and they would pick up one more yard than they needed for the first down. It was quite frustrating. But, through it all, the Redskins only managed one touchdown on the night, and even with their success throwing the football, they still only averaged about five yards per pass attempt, which isn't very good.

- The Steelers first team defense registered three sacks, one from Lamar Woodley, one from Clark HAggans, and one from Deshea Townsend. On one series in the second quarter, Townsend made just about every play, including back-to-back tackles in the Redskins backfield (the sack would be one of them).

- Scary moment in the first quarter as Brett Kiesel took Jason Campbell's knee out. Campbell went down and looked to be in serious pain, fortunately, he was able to walk off the field and appeared to be okay as he later returned to the sidelines. Kiesel was flagged on the play, and walked 40 yards down the field to make sure Campbell was okay.

- The starters on offense struggled for a quarter-and-a-half. Trai Essex and Willie Colon started at the tackles, while Max Starks and Chris Keamauto rotated in and out. Trai Essex had a miserable night, the Steelers couldn't run to his side of the field, he was flagged for a couple of penalties, and the only time he wasn't beaten by his man was when he was receiving extra help from backs.

- The best drive of the night was the final drive in the first half. Ben Roethlisberger hit Santonio Holmes for two big gains - including a 3rd-and-16 conversion - and ran for two first downs on his own. The Steelers ended up with a field goal.

Roethlisberger finished 8-0f-12 for 87 yards and 17 yards rushing.

- With the way the running backs played tonight (Russell, Davis, Haynes, Barlow) I don't see anyway that Kevan Barlow makes the first cut, let alone the team. He just shows no power, speed, explosiveness, moxie, grit...nothing. Carey Davis didn't run the ball, but he did record three catches and registered two tackles on special teams, including a heavy hit on a punt return.

Verron Haynes ran hard. He finished as the games leading rusher with 30 yards on seven carries. Barlow finished with 12 on five.

- Daniel Sepulveda just absolutely pounded the ball. His first punt of the night was a 58 yard missle. He averaged a cool 50 yards per punt.

- William Gay played another strong game, including his second pick of the pre-season to seal the game with one second left in the fourth quarter. He should have had another pick earlier in the quarter as Mark Brunell threw a floater down the right sidelines. The Redskins receiver fell, and Gay ran under the pass as if he were the intended target. He went to make a wide open, over-the-shoulder pick, and just as he went to haul it in......he dropped it. As of right now, it looks like he's made the team.

- Yes Pittsburgh, Lawrence Timmons does exist. Timmons played in spurts, and the Steelers had him moving around all night long. Seriously, he never quit moving. Before every snap Timmons would pace back and forth, almost as if he were a predator stalking its prey, just waiting for the perfect chance to attack. On his very first snap, he lined up on the right side of the defensive line, stood up, walked over to the left side, and rushed the quarterback.

He also showed some flashes in pass coverage. I didn't see it happen, but according to Tunch Ilkin on the Steelers radio broadcast, on the next to last play of the game, the Steelers had Timmons line up at corner back, press the receiver at the line, and then run with him stride for stride down the sidelines. Not bad for a guy with a bad groin. On the games final play (William Gay's interception), Timmons had tight coverage and may, or may not, have tipped the ball.

- On the Steelers first offensive play from scrimmage, they lined up with Heath Miller and Matt Spaeth in the backfield.

- The Redskins made a strong push late in the fourth quarter, but managed to shoot themselves in the foot. On fourth-and-ten with under a minute to play, Mark Brunell hit Ryan Hoag over the middle to set the Redskins up inside the Steelers 20 yard line. On the play, backup safety Mike Lorello put a heavy hit on Hoag which appeared to leave him shaken on the field. The Redskins were out of timeouts and had to substitue Hoag, which took longer than it should have, and resulted in a delay of game. On the very next snap, Brunell threw a pass towards the endzone only to have his intended target commit offensive pass interference on William Gay (The man was everywhere tonight). As a result of the penalty, the Redskins were pushed back to the Steelers 41 and were never able to overcome the penalties.....or William Gay.

Taking Over The Internet, One Website At A Time

Thanks to some help from Ryan Wilson, and the kind helpful heart of Mr. Jim Wexell, I'm going to be doing a little bit of work here and there for Steel City Insiders. My very first column was posted this morning. Have at it.

Oh, and hey, there's a Steelers game tonight. The Steelers will be playing what seems to be their annual pre-season contest with the Washington Redskins (which seems to take place in Washington every year). Lawrence Timmons is expected to play, Bryant McFadden is starting at corner, and Gary Russell needs to make an impact when he doesn't have the ball.

"He's kind of shown what he's capable of from a ball-carrier's standpoint. We want to see if he can show what he's capable of in some other areas -- pass protection and so forth, see if he can participate in the passing game a little bit. He's a sharp young guy, a competitor, but the job description is you have to be a complete back. We want to see what he can do when the ball is not his hands."

Play nice, and for the love of God, don't get hurt......

Random Stuff: Bill Walsh Field At Monster Park, Shane Youman, and the Suckitude Of The San Francisco Giants

- I'm sitting here watching the Broncos and 49ers (Travis Henry is a bull!), and they keep referring to the newly renamed Bill Walsh Field at Monster Park.

I can't quite put my finger on it, but something about that seems kind of......wrong. I think it's great the 49ers want to honor the legendary strategist in some way, but attaching his name to Monster Park seems kind of bizarre. I understand John York's desire to chase the almighty dollar, so I can't blame him for sticking with the Monster Park name (Monsters are notoriously rich, plus, there is the sticky matter of business agreements and multi-million dollar naming right deals) but attaching Bill Walsh's name to Monster Park seems like an insult to everything he accomplished for that franchise.

Or perhaps i'm overreacting. Perhaps it'll just take getting used to. Like, The Blessed Sacrament Of Our Sacred Mother Church at First Union Center.

Something like that.

- Hark! The Pirates found a team worse than them. Ignoring drubbing the Giants are laying on the Pirates in game two of their double-header, the fighting Tracy's managed to take four consecutive games from the Giants, including a weekend sweep in San Francisco. After clobbering the Giants bullpen on Friday night, and rocking Tim Lincecum's world on Saturday (funny fact about Saturday - Pirates: 13 runs. Packers: 13 points. Steelers: 9 points, who knew?) Tom Gorzelanney pitched a complete game shutout on Sunday. As if that wasn't enough for the Giants, Paul Maholm followed that up this evening by throwing a complete game (his second of the season) in game one of the double-header. Maholm completed his masterpiece in a brisk one-hour and 55 minutes while only tossing 90 pitches.

Unfortunately, in game two, Shane Youman and Masumi Kuwata are getting the cream cheese pumped out of them. It's currently 10-1 as Kuwata throws batting practice to the tune of five earned runs in one inning. His ERA now sits at 9.43.

I wonder, if you took every pitch thrown by Youman and Kuwata tonight, added up their speeds on the radar gun, if it would break 90 MPH?

It's times like this I wish Major League Baseball were run like the English Premier League. After all, it would make these August and September games between two hopeless, awful, disgusting and pathetic teams at least somewhat interesting. Instead of fighting for the worst record in the League and the first pick in the draft, they would be fighting to avoid the embarrassment of being relegated down to Double-A.

- The Pitt Panthers football season appears to be over before it even has a chance to start. It was going to be difficult enough for them to replace players like Darrelle Revis, Tyler Palko and H.B. Blades, but now, they're going to have to find a way to replace their best returning player in Wide Receiver Derek Kinder. Turns out, Kinder tore his ACL on Saturday and his season is finished.

From ESPN.com:

Senior wide receiver Derek Kinder tore his right anterior cruciate ligament in practice Saturday and will miss the entire 2007 season.

It's a huge blow to the Panthers' hopes as Kinder was an All-Big East first-teamer and a semifinalist for the Biletnikoff Award with 57 catches for 847 receiving yards and six touchdowns in 2006.

Kinder, by the way, was responsible for the block of the year during Darrell Revis' punt return against West Virginia.

The View From 522

Well, Saturday night's game was perhaps the most boring, dull, lackluster football game i've ever attended. Now, every year, I say that about the pre-season games, especially the sloppy ones, but Saturday seemed to take the cake. Nothing interesting happened, on or off the field. Hardly any regulars attended and the ones who did left at half-time with everyone else - It's Saturday Night! Where are you going in such a hurry? And the people who were there, seemed totally disinterested in everything. At some points, you could have heard a pin drop in that stadium.

I saw Steely McBeam outside the stadium snapping a few photos with fans, he was holding a giant steel beam and a terrible towel, I wanted to tell him that he sucked, but decided against it. Other than that, the only time he was visible was during the Steelers introductions. He never made an appearance after that, and that's a good thing.

As for the game...

- Neither teams starters on offense did much. Brett Favre looked sloppy and Ben Roethlisberger only played two series. He was 2-for-2, but lost a fumble on the opening drive. On the fumble, it was painfully obvious that Marvell Smith completely whiffed on his block, leaving Roethlisbergers blindside exposed for Cullen Jenkins to knock the ball loose and pounce on it.

The Packers went three-and-out on the next series.

The Steelers did break out their no-huddle offense in the first quarter, it looked a little sloppy at times, but that's to be expected in pre-season game number two.

It should be noted that the Steelers played on offense without Willie Parker, Alan Faneca and Chukki Okobi.

- The Steelers run defense - and defense in general - was stout. On the Packers opening possession, Troy Polamalu went unblocked through the middle of the Packers line, forcing Favre to rush a pass and overthrow his man by about five yards. It looked like Polamalu could have really lit in to Favre if he wanted to, perhaps if it were a real game, he would have.

On the Packers second possession - following the fumble - Polamalu again helped stall the Packers drive on third down by having tight coverage on Donald Driver.

- Najeh Davenport still is not very good in short yardage situations. Stuffed on a third-and-one to end the Steelers second series.

- Charlie Batch looked impressive, again. He is quite simply the best backup quarterback in the NFL, and a popular player in Pittsburgh. I saw at least three people roaming the stadium in Charlie Batch jersey's, and heard at least two calls on the post game call-in show asking how long it will be until he's the starter. Good to see the fans only need two weeks of Pre-season ball to work themselves in to mid-season form.

Speaking of the call-in show, last night featured over two hours of Ellis Cannon, Tunch Ilkin and Craig Wolfley, as opposed to the awful Bendel & Benz crap we had to put up with last year. The first call to start Charlie Batch never made it to air, Ellis Cannon said he accidentally disconnected the call and seemed frustrated by it, saying, "Anytime you can get a call asking about Charlie Batch starting, you HAVE to get it on the air."

A few minutes later, some woman called in asking how long it's going to take for Mike Tomlin to bench Ben if he doesn't produce. Tunch and Wolfley seemed to let out their groans at the same time while Ellis Cannon laughed. God bless these fans, every one of them.

- Sepulveda pounded three punts inside the 15 in the first half. The first one, I think he ended up being kind of lucky on it as the Packers nearly broke through and blocked it - God help us if that ever happens - forcing Sepulveda to rush it. Off of his foot, it looked like he shanked it out of bounds, but the ball took a fantastic bounce and rolled down to the 12 yard line.

- At the nine-minute mark of the third quarter I felt like I was at a Steve Miller concert as someone in our section was getting lit. Heavily.

- Aaron Rodgers was, without question, the best player on the field. He showed a lot of mobility - I didn't think he could move like that - and made something out of nothing quite a few times. He played most of the game for Green Bay and finished 18-for-27 for 168 yards and a touchdown - which was a fantastic catch by Carlyle Holiday over Anthony Madison. Rodgers was also credited with one run for 20 yards.

- Walter Young is making a strong argument for his spot on the final 53. He hauled in a 41 yard touchdown in the second quarter, which was a magnificent combination of superb route running, accurate passing, and downright disgusting tackling. I'm not sure who the Packers two defensive back's were down field in coverage, but those were some shoddy efforts. The first guy (I think it was #20, whoever he is) tried to throw his shoulder - weakly, I might add - at Young as he bounced right off of him, and then the second guy simply wanted no part in the play as Young skipped past him in to the end zone.

- Santonio Holmes made the play of the night as he hauled in a 49 yard toss from Charlie Batch. On the play, Holmes out ran three Packers defenders and made a tremendous over the shoulder catch to put the Steelers inside the 20. They settled for a Jeff Reed Field Goal on the series.

- One of the most unintentionally funny things at Heinz Field over the years has been their consistency of playing, "Have A Drink On Me" every time Jeff Reed kicks a field goal.

Have a drink indeed.

- Last week's pre-season phenom Carey Davis never recorded a carry, but he did make a nice tackle on the opening kickoff.

- Brian St. Pierre played almost three quarters of uninspiring football. Gary Russell was the only thing that got them close to scoring in the second half.

Victor Zambrano and Steely McBeam: They Both Suck

I haven't been able to find an official announcement on it - in other words, I haven't looked - but Victor Zambrano is showing up on the roster of the Pirates Triple-A team, the Indianapolis Indians.

Dave Littlefield has been making signings like this all season, bringing in guys who were once highly thought of or successful, and throwing them all against the wall to see who or what sticks. You can add Zambrano to the list, which already includes Alay Soler, Dewon Brazleton, Josh Phelps, Peter Bergeron, Matt Kata and I suppose Masumi Kuwata qualifies as well.

So far, he's had little success. And by little success, I of course mean no success.

All they have to do now is sign Rickey Henderson and they can be Major League Baseball's answer to the Newark Bears: The team where players who were once good go to end their careers.

Hey, look at the bright side, at least the Pirates can say they signed a Zambrano, even if they did sign the wrong one, which has also been a disturbing trend with this team over the past ten years. After all, we've had Victor Zambrano, Freddy Garcia (the third basemen, not the pitcher), Mike Maddux and four very forgettable starts from Ramon Martinez. Ugh.

It never ends.

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Earlier this week, the Steelers announced the winning entry in their "name the stupid mascot contest." The best one they could come up with out of the supposed 70,000 entries?

Steely McBeam.

It shouldn't come as much of a surprise, but, Mr. McBeam has not been welcomed with open arms by the Steeler Nation. In fact, there is already a petition up on the internets to have the name changed, or, the mascot removed all together (my vote).

If they were going to throw a mascot to the wolves, they could have at least brought back the terrible fan. I think he looks like a twinkie.

Over at the Post-Gazette's blog & gold page, they have a poll asking fans their opinions on the new mascot. As of right now, the results are staggering.

Like it: 10%
Don't like it: 21 %
The Steelers don't need a mascot: 69%

I expect this thing to get treated worse than the Packers tomorrow night...

Well, That's One Pre-Season Game Down

Pre-season games aren't about the starters. For me, it makes no difference if Ben Roethlisberger goes 2-for-3 for 79 yards (which he did, by the way) or 0-for-3 with three interceptions. The important thing is all the key guys get their one or two series in, and get through unharmed. Everything else after that is gravy. Tonight, that's exactly what happened. With a nice heaping helping of gravy.

These games are all about the guys fighting for roster spots in the second half. It's about seeing who might be the next Willie Parker, James Harrison, Dan Krieder or Nate Washington, to come from the anonymity of the University of New Hampshire, Tiffin or the bench of Chapel Hill.

Some guys that stood out tonight...

- The running backs: Carey Davis and Gary Russell. Davis, a player who has bounced around five teams in a little over a year, played tonight like a guy whose career is on the line. He hauled in a 32 yard screen pass early in the game, and, in the second quarter, ripped off a 56 yard run which saw him display a nifty combination of power and speed as he ran over and through the Saints defense. Davis finished the night with 68 yards on seven carries and 33 yards on two catches.

Gary Russell, an undrafted free agent from Minnesota, played some mop-up duty in the fourth quarter and finished with 41 yards on eight carries.

- William Gay: Gay had an impressive fourth quarter. First, he lit up Saints first round draft pick Robert Meachem on a pass over the middle, a play that appeared to knock the wind out of Meachem and leave him on the turf for several moments. Two plays later, after Meachem returned, the Saints again went to him over the middle and this time he went after the pass with Todd Pinkston arms and again missed the ball while Gay lurked around the neighborhood. On the Saints next possession, Gay intercepted a Tyler Palko pass inside the 25, a play that sealed the victory for the Steelers.

- Brian St. Pierre, the Quarterback who just won't go away, looked pretty solid completing 8-of-14 passes for 129 yards and a touchdown. The touchdown was a sweet fade pattern to Santonio Holmes in the right corner of the end zone. Holmes ran a great route and St. Pierre lofted an absolutely perfect pass directly over Holmes' shoulder. The touchdown was set-up a few plays earlier when St. Pierre connected with Holmes on a 41 yard pass down the left sidelines. St. Pierre entered the game early in the first half after Ben Roethlisberger and Charlie Batch played the opening three series.

- Second round draft pick Lamar Woodley started at the left outside linebacker position and didn't look out of place. He registered one solo tackle and broke up a Drew Brees pass over the middle on a third and eight to halt the Saints opening drive.

Some other observations....

1. The Saints left their first team offensive line in for quite a while in the first half, and still couldn't get anything going on the ground against the Steelers second and third team units.

2. No Sean Mahan? Seems kind of odd.

3. Last season, Nate Washington looked like he was developing in to a nice little wide receiver, especially between the 20's. His biggest problem was hanging onto the football in the red zone, and tonight, he appeared to be in mid-season form in that regard. Washington dropped two passes inside the 20, including what looked like a perfect pass on the opening possession from Roethlisberger (his only incompletion of the night). Not good for Nate, especially when you consider...

4. Cedric Wilson put his hands where his mouth is. Earlier this week, Wilson went public and voiced his displeasure over the lack of passes coming his way in camp. Well, somebody listened and he put 99 yards up on the board during the first quarter alone. On the second play from scrimmage, Roethlisberger connected with Wilson on a 55 yard pass to set up the Steelers first score. Three plays later, Roethlisberger again hooked up with Wilson to put the ball inside the five. Najeh Davenport pounded his way in for a touchdown on the following play.

5. Willie Reid is fast. He bobbled just about every kickoff/punt that he fielded, but when he had the ball secured in his hands, he looked dangerous. Since i'm the optimist, i'll just assume the bobbles were due to the wet conditions.

One down...four to go. Lets make them all like this one...

FOOTBALL!

A couple of days ago, Toni, one of this waste of bandwidth's most loyal readers - perhaps its only reader for all I know - asked what I thought of his beloved Oakland Raiders.

Here's what I think: I hate them.

To me, right now, the Raiders represent all that was wrong with the 2006 Steelers and everything I hope remained in 2006. Watching the Raiders win two games, one of them against the Steelers, in the manner in which they did, is something that still makes me wake up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat. I still can't believe it happened. And hells fire man, had the Steelers won that game they'd have been in the playoffs. DAMNIT!

But in all seriousness, I do like these things about the Oakland Raiders:

- Dumping Randy Moss. In his prime, he was worth the trouble, because, after all, he ruled. Now? Not so much. In the three games I watched him play as a member of the Silver and Black, he looked like he lost some speed, and even some of his work ethic which wasn't all that great to begin with. Maybe the Patriots find a way to crack the whip and get him moving...maybe. But it wasn't going to happen in Oakland, I don't think. Perhaps being reunited with Daunte Culpepper would have sparked something (for both of them) but again, maybe it wouldn't. I don't think it was worth figuring out.

- Derrick Burgess. 27 sacks the last two years and I think 18 of them came against Max Starks on that infamous Sunday of which we will never speak again. If he played on a better team the last two years, he might be mentioned in the same breathe as Dwight Freeney. I think he should be anyway.

Stuff I have to question:

- What happened to Robert Gallery? When he came out in the '04 draft, he was actually my top choice for the Steelers, ahead of Phillip Rivers (the guy everyone thought the Steelers were going to end up with), Larry Fitzgerald, Sean Taylor and even Ben Roethlisberger himself. A franchise tackle for the next 10 years? Sign me up. And then...nothing. Is it the fact he's been moved from left tackle, to right tackle, to left guard, to left tackle, to left guard, etc. etc. etc? Is it the fact he's been surrounded by lackluster talent during his career? Or has he just been a complete and total bust from the start?

- I don't like the rumor that Lane Kiffin was going to get rid of everyone older than him because, "they might challenge his authority." If true, that might be the most bizarre thing i've ever heard from a coach, at any level.

- I don't like four games against the San Diego Chargers and Denver Broncos.

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Here is an interesting nugget from Mike Preston of the Baltimore Sun:

In fact, it was just one player, Reed, who already has been told to either play within the scheme, or risk getting put on the bench. Reed's gambling hurt the Ravens last year, and they can't afford it again this season.

It's doubtful the Ravens would ever consider benching Ed Reed, after all, he's Ed Reed...and they just paid him about a bazillion dollars, but it's kind of odd to see such comments being thrown around. And what does Ed Reed think of this?

"I play with instincts," Reed said. "I'm never going to change my game or how I play. But, at the same time, I play within the defense and chose when and when not to go and make a play."

Interesting.

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ESPN.com put together this list of current NFL players who they feel are ticketed for Canton. Like anything ESPN has done in the post Charlie Steiner era, this list sucks. Granted, there are three Steelers on the list (Troy Polamalu, Alan Faneca, Hines Ward) but that does little to win me over.

For example, here are a list of players who they feel are ticketed for Canton:

Vince Young
Matt Leinart
Reggie Bush
Calvin Johnson
A.J. Hawk
Adrian Peterson

Four of those guys have played one season in the NFL (quite honestly, two of them were quite bad in that one year) and two of them have actually yet to play a snap beyond the college level. That alone seems to ruin it all.

Trying to figure out which second year player - OR ROOKIE! - is ticketed to the Hall of Fame is a futile exercise. For all we know, Reggie Bush could end up being Eric Metcalf and Calvin Johnson could be Charles Rogers. And for some reason, I just don't like Matt Leinart. The only thing they didn't include on this list was "WHO IS THE MOST NOW?!"

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We're like, one day, from the Steelers first pre-season game. It's finally here, and I can't wait.