Steelers To Host Jaguars Saturday Night

Well, here it is. Saturday night, Steelers Vs. Jaguars.

The Steelers ended the regular season with a clunker today as they fell 27-21 in Baltimore. I'll be honest, I expected the Steelers to win today, even with a bunch of backups, and win quite easily. So, this is kind of a surprise, but, at the end of the day, whether the Steelers won 74-0 or lost 74-0, it's all irrelevant.

The important thing for today wasn't really winning or losing, but coming out of there healthy, and it would appear, they didn't do that.

Santonio Holmes looked like he basically had to crawl off the field after the game (ankle) and James Farrior supposedly had a stinger in his shoulder (at least according to the Steelers radio guys, that was the speculation anyway). Even worse than all of that, Head Coach Mike Tomlin announced after the game at his press conference that Max Starks suffered a sprained knee in the loss. That, my friends, is very bad news. Marvell Smith, normally the Steelers starting left tackle, is already out for Saturday's game, and now that Max Starks may be down, you could be looking at Trai Essex protecting Ben Roethlisberger's blindside.

It could be worse, however. At least right now we know what we're doing Saturday night. Playoff football. Up in Cleveland, right now, everyone is sitting on pins and needles rooting for Jim Sorgi.

Ty Conklin Records A Shutout For The Penguins

I will repeat that, because I never thought i'd be typing it. Ty Conklin - really - recorded a shutout for the Penguins. Conklin turned away 26 Buffalo shots tonight in the Penguins 2-0 win. It's his third shutout in 82 career games.

When Marc-Andre Fleury went down with his high ankle sprain a couple of weeks ago, I assumed the worst and figured it would be the start of an uncontrollable slide that sucked in the season before it ever had a chance to start. Turns out, I was wrong. Danny Sabourin and Conklin have kept the Penguins competitive, and they've actually played quite well. I guess that's why they play the games, eh?

Ben Expected To Sit On Sunday

This is a smart move.

While there is still a chance Sunday's game in Baltimore could mean something, there's an even better chance it will mean nothing. So, sitting your franchise player in a totally meaningless game, against a division rival, when he's already banged up after a season full of sacks and hits, is nothing short of obvious.

Actually, i'd take one step further, and after Charlie Batch gets a half of football in, i'd send in the Brian St. Pierre experience and see what he has going on. Why not?

Also, anyone that appears on the injury report would be sitting this week, if I were coach.

They'll need these guys next weekend, far more than they'll need them this weekend.

Hey, Ray Shero, WE NEED DEFENSE!

Sergei Gonchar just ripped a one-timer past a flailing Olaf Kolzig, in overtime, to lift the Penguins to a 4-3 victory over the hopeless and helpless Washington Capitals. That's the good news.

The bad news, is the game would have never gone to overtime had the Penguins not played, as assistant coach Andre Savard put it, "Like a bunch of guys just running around in our own zone." Whatever that means, it's putting it mildly, I think. For much of the game, the Penguins were outplayed by a team with far less talent. That shit won't fly against Ottawa and Jersey.

Gonchar - who did score the game winner, so, that's cool - played miserable hockey for three periods, single handily turning the puck over in his own end and setting the Capitals up for easy, easy goals. Then, in the third period, with the Penguins trailing by one, Gonchar was back on a 2-on-1 , and instead of taking away the pass - which is how a defender is supposed to defend a 2-on-1 - Gonchar went haphazardly charging at the shooter, like a man possessed, ignoring the man coming down the slot and thus leaving the back door wide open. Thankfully, the Capitals shooter, whoever he was, ignored the wide open pass and attempted to take a shot which ultimately missed the net (This is why they're the Capitals, and suck).

This problem, unfortunately, is much bigger than Sergei Gonchar. This is a team problem. I don't think i've seen a Penguins defender properly defend a 2-on-1 all season, and it usually ends up burning whatever goalie is left exposed and helpless.

Here's what i'm getting at: The Penguins need DEFENSE! And they need it now. The Penguins just lost Mark Eaton - perhaps their best defensive defensemen - with a torn ACL. His season is over. That leaves the Penguins with:

Gonchar
Ryan Whitney
Kris Letang
Rob Scuderi
Brooks Orpik
Daryl Sydor

The first three guys are extremely talented...offensively. The best of the trio is average, on his best night, in his own end. It's a problem when your top three defensemen are better at scoring goals than they are preventing goals. The other three guys just aren't very good. Brooks Orpik has been a tremendous disappointment, Daryl Sydor is at the very end of his career, and if you looked up the definition of mediocre in Websters, there would be a picture of Rob Scuderi.

The best prospect in the farm system is, perhaps, Alex Goligoski, who is also in the Whitney-Letang, offensively gifted, yet defensively flawed mold.

I know it's looking way, way ahead, but if the Penguins make the playoffs, it's going to be another short trip with that cast of characters holding down the fort in the Penguins' zone.

Perhaps it's time for Ray Shero to deal from a strength ( his plethora of offensive defensemen or centers, for example) to fill a glaring weakness (DEFENSE!) before it's too late.

Your 2007 AFC North Division Champions

The Pittsburgh Steelers.

Well done, gentlemen. Prior to the season, the Steelers were predicted by pretty much everyone to finish in third place behind some combination of Cincinnati and Baltimore. The only ESPN pundit to pick the Steelers was Merrill Hoge. No surprise there.

Thanks to the Bengals 19-14 win today over the Cleveland Browns, the Steelers don't have to worry about winning a tough game in Baltimore next Sunday (although, it would be nice to win it anyway). They're in. And they're playing at home to start the playoffs. And, I have to tell you, after rooting so passionately for the Cincinnati Bengals for three hours, I feel dirty. So dirty, in fact, that I think I need a shower. Now.

Remember When Sports Were About.......Sports?

Here's an interesting story (*sarcasm detector explodes in background*): Jessicagate '07 is starting to take off, and it appears, is dangerously close to consuming the Dallas Cowboys locker room and sucking it through a season crushing black hole of unbelievable proportions. At least, that's how it seems.

The always entertaining Terrell Owens - entertaining because he doesn't play for my team - decided to weigh in this week on whether or not Jessica Simpson is a distraction to Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo. Excuse me while I throw up.

"Right now, Jessica Simpson is not a fan favorite in this locker room or in Texas Stadium," T.O. said earlier today. "I think with everything that has happened, and obviously the way Tony played and the comparisons between her and Carrie Underwood, I think a lot of people feel like she's probably taking his focus away. Other than that, she was at the top of my list until last week."

Romo didn't make his usual Wednesday appearance, so he didn't have a chance to reply to Owens' remarks.

"I've got a message for her when we make the playoffs," T.O. said. "Just stay tuned."

That's...something, I guess. It's certainly possible that Owens made those statements in a joking manner in response to the seemingly endless coverage this non-story has received...but, considering that it's Terrell Owens, he could also be completely serious, and if so, may God have mercy on us all.

Let me just say this: If Tony Romo struggles because his no-talent, famous for the sake of being famous, girlfriend is sitting in a luxury box in the stadium, then he's a total fraud of a quarterback. Just sayin'.

The Steelers Are Trying To Keep The Black Man Out

No, they're not, but that's not going to stop Mike Seate from The Tribune Review. He points to the cost of tickets and the lack of rap music at the stadium (which, by the way, is a bold faced lie, there's a ton of rap music played on game day) as his examples as to why black people can't enjoy a Steelers game at Heinz Field.

Originally, I had no words for this article, so i'll leave you with the words of a poster over at MGP who goes by the name of JamesKPolk.

What gets me about this is that economic boundaries for minorities are a very real issue, but this guy writes such an unintelligent article that it completely destroys that point. High Steelers ticket prices are the effect of capitalism, not the effect of racism.

Writing an article about a negative correlation between prices and minority presence is inane. If we ran an analysis only on a sample of individuals too poor to afford tickets, I highly doubt that race would account for a significant amount of variance. In other words, within a sample of poor people, race does not determine whether or not an individual attends the game. The only issue is money. As such, the whole point of this article is to point out that minorities have less money, which is an important fact, but not new and writing something that appears to paint the Steelers in a negative light (i.e. mentioning that the Steelers wouldn't comment on this phenomenon) only serves to alienate people who might otherwise sympathize with a cause.

Additionally, to write flagrantly racist descriptions of Asians when discussing how another race is being mistreated or left out of opportunities does nothing but highlight the ignorance of the writer and again weaken the foundation of an argument.

Nobody is raising prices for racial motivations. They're raising them for financial reasons. Pointing out racism where it doesn't exist is silly because it exists in so many places. False positives reduce the power of those who point out true cases and, as such, are completely counter-productive.

Yeah! That's totally what I was going to say!

For the record, i'm a white male age 18-35, I can't afford club seats or a PSL (I can, however, afford my non-PSL bleacher seats...barely) and i've never heard Pantera, Slayer, the London Symphony Orchestra or the Boston Pops played over the loud speaker at Heinz Field.

If you really wanted to go to a game, instead of whining about it, you might be best served to take a walk down Penn Avenue, Sixth Street, Federal Street and General Robinson street about 20 minutes before kickoff when scalpers are starting to drop their prices down towards face value. From what I hear, the last three weeks people were getting seats for as little as $25.

Pirates Looking At A Number Of Bad Catchers

Here's the good news: The Pirates, if we're to believe the off-season rumor mill, are not happy with their current catching situation, most notably, Ronny Paulino.

Here's the bad news: The Pirates, if we're to believe the off-season rumor mill, are going to replace him with a guy who is most likely just as bad. The rumors? Johnny Estrada, Miguel Olivo, Damien Miller and Michael Barrett. And that doesn't even include those insane rumors of Jason Bay to Cleveland for Kelly Shoppach (really?).

Dejan Kovacevic's latest.

Another free agent believed to be on their radar is Miguel Olivo, who was
non-tendered by the Florida Marlins. Olivo, 29, batted .237 with 16 home runs
while catching 119 games last year.
• There have been preliminary talks with
free agent Damian Miller. Miller, 38, was Estrada's backup in Milwaukee last
season and batted .237 with four home runs while catching 56 games. Three of
those home runs and 10 of his 24 RBIs came against the Pirates.
• The Pirates
also have had trade talks with the San Diego Padres regarding Michael Barrett.

If they have to sign (or trade for) one of those guys, i'd rank them: 1. Barrett 2. Estrada 3. Olivo 4. Miller

But, wouldn't it be better to just platoon Doumit/Paulino, or, make a trade for a real catcher who would be more than a stop-gap or lateral move?

The WVU Playbook

Now that Rich Rodriguez has bolted WVU for the green money fields of Michigan, his WVU playbook has appeared on the interwebs. And here it is. I've been browsing through it here and there throughout the day, and i'll have a more in-depth look at it posted later tonight. But let's just say this thing is awesome. Page 2 lists the 2005 WVU goals as: 1) Win 2) Score

How he plans to win before he scores is a mystery to me, but, hey, i'm not a coach. Also, don't even think about using the Xerox machine.

Thanks to PSU4lyfe at MaximumGrilledPirates for the link.

Aaron Smith: We Need You

The Steelers, as a defensive unit, missed quite a few tackles today. Actually, "ass load" would be a more accurate measure. However, I don't think the absence of defensive end Aaron Smith can be overlooked. Today was the second game he's missed this season, and the Steelers defense has allowed the following rushing totals to the following running backs in those games:

Vs. Cincinnati: Kenny Watson 19 carries 88 yards
Vs. Jacksonville: Fred Taylor 25 carries 147 yards
Maurice Jones-Drew 12 carries 69 yards

The total team yards in those games comes out to 315 yards on 63 carries. That's five yards per carry.

Entering today's game, the Steelers had allowed less than 1,000 yards in the other 13 games with Smith.

Now, i'm not trying to say today would have been different with Aaron Smith in there, or that his absence was the only problem on defense, but hells bells man, it certainly couldn't have hurt.

When the season ends and the Steelers front office goes through their checklist of off-season needs, right after they get through the five offensive line spots they need to take a serious look at the depth on the defensive line.

The Steelers have three excellent starting lineman in Smith, Casey Hampton, and Brett Kiesel. After that? Egh. Things take a drop. Other than the quarterback position, I don't think there is a bigger talent gap from starter to backup with any other spot on the team. You need more than three good defensive lineman, and I'm not sold on Shaun Nua, Travis Kirschke, Nick Eason, or Ryan McBean being able to fill in.

This Bandwagon Is Getting Lonely

I realize the Steelers are a flawed team in some really bad areas (*Cough* Offensive Line *Cough*) and today was absolutely mind blowing. Watching the Pittsburgh Steelers, get run over, at home, in the snow, against a team from Florida was maddening and totally unexpected. However, the only thing more maddening is the sudden mass exodus from the bandwagon.

The Steelers Nation has this image, a reputation, of being these hardcore, loyal, fans, and for the most part, that's total crap. Bunch of front runners and bandwagoners is more like it. I don't mean that to be a blanket statement, but i'm quite confident in saying the people who pack other teams stadiums wearing black and gold are better fans than a lot of actual season ticket holders in Pittsburgh.

Take for example, the last three Steelers home games and their attendance:

Vs. Miami: 57,704
Vs. Cincinnati: 58,793
Vs. Jacksonville: 58,421

Heinz Field capacity: 65,000.

Today, with 18 minutes to play in a two possession game, people were filing out of Heinz Field as if it were a 40-point game with six seconds to play.

Nice work, nation. Sad as it is to say, Steelers fans - again, I don't mean this to be a blanket statement, even though it will sound like one - are starting to become like the Yankees fans of the NFL where we think it's our God-given right to play in the Super Bowl every season and failure to do so is an unacceptable finish that must result in the rolling of heads.

I think some perspective is in order here. The Steelers are currently 9-5 and one win (or one Tennessee loss) from clinching a playoff spot...and we're furious. Pissed off. Angry. Ready to fight one another. Falling off the bandwagon at a record pace.

Meanwhile, in Miami today, the Dolphins won in overtime for the first time all season. It's week 15. The Dolphins ran off the field with their index fingers in the air and whooping it up in the locker room (Joey Porter was actually leading the, "Let's Ride On Three" chant). The Dolphins are 1-13 and have lost something insane like 18 of their past 20 games.

High expectations, even if they're met with eventual disappointment, are still better than zero expectations.

That said, the Steelers have major issues on the offensive line and got their asses kicked physically for the second week in a row, and Aaron Smith, get well soon. We need you.

Mario Williams Would Like You To Know That He Does Not Suck

I haven't seen a play of tonight's Broncos-Texans game - *points middle finger in the direction of the NFL network* - but as far as I can tell from reading the box score, Mario Williams has registered three sacks. He entered the game with 9.5 sacks on the season. My math skills tell me that if he had 9.5 sacks, and added three sacks to that total, he would now have 12.5 sacks. In 14 games. That's nearly a sack per game. That's pretty good.

This is important because Mario Williams was the number one overall pick in the 2006 NFL draft, much to the chagrin of everyone who was not a member of the Houston Texans front office. The talking heads beat them to a pulp for taking Sam Bowie over Michael Jordan. How could they do this? Reggie Bush is going to be Gale Sayers, Barry Sanders, Jim Brown and Ladanian Tomlinson all rolled into one. And Vince Young, well, Vince Young is going to be everything MIchael Vick was supposed to be, and he's a good guy, as far as we can tell, and he never killed puppies, AND HE'S FROM TEXAS! When he scored a game winning touchdown in overtime last year, in Houston, the Houston fans cheered.

Well, who is cheering now?

So far, through two years, Reggie Bush is closer to Eric Metcalf than he is to Gale Sayers, and Vince Young, well, he's been worse than Michael Vick as a passer. And Mario Williams? He's turning into a monster. A quarterback eating, offensive line destroying, monster.

A quick update of the box score shows that Mario Williams just added another half-sack to his total, giving him 3.5 for the night and 13 for the season. That would put him second in the NFL behind only Patrick Kerney of the Seattle Seahawks. He trails him by .5 sacks.

Let's recap:

This year, Mario Williams has 13 sacks (and counting). Reggie Bush has fumbled 8 times and averaged under four-yards per carry for the second consecutive year. Vince Young is in the process of posting his second consecutive sub-70 passer rating season, doubled his touchdowns with interceptions, and seen a slight drop off in his rushing numbers.

And Mario Williams is living up to his number one overall status. Kudos to you Mario, you were written off as THE WORST DRAFT PICK EVER before you ever played a down, and now, you're a monster.

Well, Now We Know Why The Pirates Lose All The Time

By now, everyone has seen the much anticipated Mitchell report, thoroughly examined it, jaws agape, at the big names thrown about it - Really? Roger Clemens was on roids? Could have fooled me! - and debated what it all means and what should be done with these monsters who have forsaken us.

The notable thing for us, as Pirates fans, is the underwhelming names we contributed. Perhaps this explains our inability to win - NOT ENOUGH JUICE! As far as I can tell, the only players on the list to have done the deed while wearing The Black And Gold are first basemen Kevin Young and backup catcher Tim Laker - uh, guys, I think you were using them wrong. Honestly, I had forgotten Laker even played in Major League Baseball, let alone for my favorite team. But, lo and behold, he actually accumulated 33 at-bats between 1998 and 1999 with the Pirates. He had two extra-base hits...a double and a home run, clearly the result of steroids. Or perhaps not?

Now, the question becomes, what does all of this mean? Obviously, nobody knows what effect steroids have production. Many of the guys on the list are guys even the most hardcore baseball fans would have to look up to see who the hell they actually are (see: Laker, Tim, Crawford, Paxton). And as for guys like Bonds and Clemens...they were the best players in the game while playing for Pittsburgh and Boston respectively, and weighing 140 pounds soaking wet...combined.

I don't know how many home runs Barry Bonds hit because of steroids, how many strikeouts Roger Clemens had as a result of the injections in his butt, or how many games the Pirates would have lost had it not been for Kevin Young's - seriously, Kevin Young? -rampant use of performance enhancers. Which brings us to another question: What exactly is a performance enhancer? Don't people lift weights to to improve their strength, stamina, and durability to enhance their performance? Is reconstructive arm surgery not a performance enhancement? How many careers ended in the 1940's because they didn't have the technology and knowledge to have Tommy John Surgery performed on their elbow? If Nate Mclouth wakes up on game day suffering from a cold, with boogers covering is upper lip, is the sudafed he takes to lessen these symptoms not a performance enhancer?

I don't know. All I know is, a Hall of Fame without Barry Bonds is not a Hall of Fame, and Roger Clemens, steroids or no steroids, is a Grade-A prima donna who puts himself before his team.

Anthony Smith Writes Big Check Others Have To Sign; Check Bounces

Well, that was certainly a let down. At the end of the day, it doesn't really matter what Anthony Smith said or didn't say, but he didn't do himself any favors by playing an absolutely awful game, getting torched deep on two separate occasions - one on a flea flicker that saw the Patriots throw the ball across the field three times.

The Steelers kept it close for a half, had a nice run to open the second half...and then it just started to unravel.

That. Sucks.

What sucks even more, is the Steelers were in a position to get some help from the Jets who had a chance to knock off the Browns late. The Jets, trailing by five with less than two minutes to play, faced a fourth down at the Browns 17-yard line. Instead of going for it, and, in the words of his predecessor, "playing to win the game," Jets head coach Eric Mangini elected to....kick a field goal? Egh.

That's the type of day it was for the Steelers. The Steelers let it slip away, the Jets gave it away.

Next up: Jacksonville.

The important thing to remember is, even with the loss and the heaping helping of crow Anthony Smith has to chew down on his walk back to Pittsburgh, the Steelers are still 9-4 and in first place in the AFC North with three weeks left to play.

This will all be forgotten with a win next week. Right?

Neil Makes First Trade; Pirates Fans Yawn

After much anticipation and many rumors, Pirates General Manager Neil Huntington finally made his first trade today when he shipped reliever Solamon Torres to the Milwaukee Brewers for two guys none of us have ever heard of.

Exciting.

Honestly, I have no opinion. I'm not sure what the Pirates were going to get for a soon-to-be 36-year old Torres coming off his worst season in four years, but at the same time, these guys aren't turning this ship around.

Personally, I think we should have held out for Braun.

I'm kidding, of course.

My favorite Torres memory was before a game two years ago. As batting practice was winding down and the Pirates were leaving the field, Torres was pointing towards the upper deck on the third base side of the infield. He kept pointing, yelling, and pointing, and yelling, and pointing again. He then took a baseball out of the bucket near the pitchers mound, and launched up to the middle of the 300 level to a waiting fan who snagged it in his glove. It was quite a toss.

There was also that time he put one in Sammy Sosa's ear.

Get To Know Anthony Smith

Now that Anthony Smith has gone out of his way to make a name for himself - for this week, anyway - I think it's only fair that we take some time and get to know the Steelers free safety through the wonderful art of youtube.

Our first clip is Smith's second career interception in last seasons clock cleaning of the Carolina Panthers. Notice how after Smith picks off the pass - an impressive play, by the way - how he does the Deion towards the Steelers sideline. And notice how as soon as he gets there, defensive coordinator Dick Lebeau heads right for him and attempts to bite his nose off.




A few weeks later, with the Steelers closing out their season in Cincinnati, Smith introduced himself to Bengals Wide Receiver T.J. Houshmanzadeh. T.J., for the record, doesn't remember the meeting.





In the first Steelers-Bengals game this season, Smith again introduced himself to Housh.




In this year's Steelers-Dolphins Monday Night snore-a-thon, you can see Smith at the 1:48 mark of this video breaking Miami Running Back Jesse Chatman in half. Seriously.



One of the biggest criticisms the Steelers coaching staff has with Smith is the fact he's a certifiable whack job that often times losses his cool. He's already been flagged for a handful of personal fouls in his brief career, which is very interesting when you consider this answer he gave at his press conference following the 2006 draft:

I'm physical. I'm a smart player. I can play in the box and in the middle of the field. I'm always around the ball. So I think that is what I bring to the table.

Physical player? No question. Smart? No comment. We still love you, however.

Anthony Smith Says Something Dumb

If you were missing that presence Joey Porter brought to the Steelers locker room and sideline, fear not, Anthony Smith is here to supply it. Smith, the Steelers second year free safety and resident psycho, made some headlines today by, well, guaranteeing a victory on Sunday. And then he really said some dumb shit.

Not only that, he said while New England's receiving corps of Randy Moss, Wes Welker and Donte Stallworth is good, it isn't as good as the one the Steelers played Sunday against the Bengals, featuring T.J. Houshmandzadeh, Chad Johnson and Chris Henry.

"I think we were facing great receivers last week too and we shut them down," Smith said. "Those three guys, I don't think it gets much better than Cincinnati's corps of receivers. We've already seen the best."

Smith added a little more lumber to the fire when he said New England's receivers haven't been hit the way they will be hit on Sunday.

"They said Baltimore was their most physical game but I think we hit harder than Baltimore, so they haven't seen nothing like us yet.

"They should be worried about us. We never worry about receivers. We're the ones doing the hitting. They have to run routes. We're attacking them, they're not really attacking us."

I'm sure this is all just going to go away before Sunday. Yeah, that's it, no one is going to pick up on this. It's just going to go completely unnoticed and just sneak in under the radar, Right?

Oh well, at least it made things a little more interesting.

The Latest Johan Santana Update

Just a quick follow up from my last post. Again, from rotoworld:

The Johan Santana talks between the Twins and Red Sox have reportedly broken off for dinner.

They're scheduled to start up again around midnight.

And that's no joke. Here's the link.

I wonder what Red Sox General Manager Theo Epstein is going to go with? I'm going to guess a pasta dish, or perhaps a salad of some sort, maybe with a baked potato side. The Twins, on the other hand, are likely to go with a bucket of wings and pitcher of Miller Lite.

Thanks for the update Rotoworld, looking forward to your next one.

Baseball's Winter Meetings In Full Swing, Teams Improving, Pirates Watching

This is the pinnacle of baseball's off-season. The five days where all the General Managers, Assistant General Managers and Scouts get together in a hotel and simply Get. Shit. Done.

Deals are being signed, trades are being made, rumors are being floated and shot down, and as fun as it may be to speculate, guess and dream, it can also be downright maddening.

Some of my useless thoughts:

The big deal of the week, so far, is the pending trade between Detroit and Florida that is going to see Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis go to the Tigers for top-prospects Cameron Maybin, Andrew Miller and a handful of mid-level guys that we will probably never hear from again. This makes the Tigers a candidate for the best team in baseball...this makes the Marlins a candidate for the Pacific Coast League. I realize Maybin and Miller are top prospects and highly regarded around the league, but they aren't Miguel Cabrera and more than likely never will be. Could you, a Marlins fan, actually have any other feeling than blind rage right now? This would be like the Penguins trading Sidney Crosby and Marc-Andre Fleury to the Blackhawks for Patrick Kane, Cam Barker and a few mid-level prospects. Nuts to that.

Cabrera is only 24, and if he refrains from eating his way out of the league, has his best days still ahead of him, which is scary to think about when you consider he's already one of the most dominant hitters in the game.

Willis may never live up to the D-train hype of his rookie season, but he's still a more than capable middle-of-the-rotation starter...and still only 25.

- The other big name floating around is, obviously, Twins pitcher Johan Santana. This story is enough to make me want to stop following baseball, at least through the media. We've been receiving hourly updates on the Santana trade talks and each one informs us that a deal could be imminent IF - and only if - the two teams can agree on the players to go to each team.

Groundbreaking analysis, morons.

Let's take a look at the coverage from the fantasy sports site, rotoworld. Always on the leading edge of trade rumors, these guys have been passing along the links and rumors as they come, and nothing demonstrates this better than the time period between 2 A.M. and 5 A.M. Tuesday morning - and i'm not even joking.

Between those three hours - three hours when people are sleeping - rotoworld posted SIX JOHAN SANTANA UPDATES.

Let's enjoy them together.

At 2:43 -

According to the Providence Journal, the Angels have made a late bid to enter the Johan Santana sweepstakes.
The Twins would want Jered Weaver in any deal with the Angels. The Red Sox and Twins have yet to resume talking today, though WFAN's Sweeney Murti thinks a deal remains close. ESPN's Peter Gammons indicated that the Twins still aren't certain whether they like the Jacoby Ellsbury or Jon Lester/Coco Crisp package better. Meanwhile, the Yankees have no intention of changing their current offer, a team

At 3:22 -

An official from one of the two teams said the Twins have still not responded to Boston's proposals for Johan Santana. (Editors note: That's because they're sleeping, jackass)

ESPN's Jayson Stark says the Twins also haven't talked to the Yankees at all today. It's assumed the Red Sox have two offers out: Jon Lester, Coco Crisp, Jed Lowrie and Justin Masterson for Santana and one that replaces Lester and Crisp with Jacoby Ellsbury. The Red Sox were expecting to hear back from the Twins by this morning or afternoon, but the longer this goes on, the more it seems the Twins are exploring all of their alternatives first.

At 3:47 -

According to ESPN's Peter Gammons, the Red Sox and Twins are close to finalizing a Johan Santana trade after Boston added Ryan Kalish to the mix.

Gammons says it'd be a 5-for-1, and with Kalish in the deal, it only makes sense that the Twins would be taking Jon Lester, Coco Crisp, Jed Lowrie and Justin Masterson. If Jacoby Ellsbury was involved, the Twins probably wouldn't be asking for the additional center field prospect. Like Lowrie and Masterson, Kalish ranks comfortably among Boston's top 10 prospects. He is much further away from the majors than the others.

At 4:15 -

According to a source familiar with the negotiations, the Twins have told suitors they want to complete the Johan Santana deal by the end of today.

But we're trying to set traffic records here. By all means, let it linger into Wednesday.

At 4:56 -

The Twins and Red Sox have resumed negotiating this afternoon as they try to hammer out a Johan Santana deal, the Boston Herald reports.

The Herald didn't confirm that the Red Sox are now offering five players, though they do believe it's possible Ryan Kalish has been added to the mix, as Peter Gammons reported earlier. Meanwhile, both the Herald and the Globe are saying the Red Sox don't believe reports that the Yankees are completely out of it.

At 5:23 -

Baseball Prospectus' Will Carroll reports that the Red Sox and Twins are all but done with a Johan Santana deal that includes Jon Lester, Justin Masterson and Ryan Kalish.

Carroll cryptically says that the second player in the deal is a center fielder without naming either Coco Crisp or Jacoby Ellsbury. The talk all day has been that'd be both Lester and Crisp together or Ellsbury in a deal.

Awesome. The updates continued throughout the day, almost hourly, until we reached this gem at 8:43, Tuesday night:

One of La Velle E. Neal III's sources told him the Twins and Red Sox, as of 7:20 p.m. CST, were still haggling over names in a Johan Santana deal.

Neal doesn't know if there's anyone besides the Red Sox still in the mix for Santana at the moment. Conflicting rumors have left it unclear whether the Red Sox have added Ryan Kalish to a package that supposedly included Jon Lester, Coco Crisp, Jed Lowrie and Justin Masterson.

Awesome. After hourly updates, countless times of informing us that, "the deal is almost done," we are once again informed that the Twins and Red Sox are still haggling over names. That said, if the Red Sox get Johan Santana for Coco Crisp, Jon Lester and Jed Lowrie then...well...I don't know. That would suck.

- The Pirates, meanwhile, have been busy claiming utility infielders and relief pitchers with a few rumors thrown about...only to be shot down by the front office, and probably for the better.

So far, we're still waiting for our first trade from new General Manager Neil Huntington - remember, Neil, the bad thing about first impressions is you only get one, so make it count - but he has picked up Josh Wilson (Waivers, Devil Rays) Chris Gomez (Free agent, Orioles) and Ty Taubenheim (Waivers, Blue Jays). Wilson and Gomez will no question push Jose Castillo out the door (where he will join Brad Eldred, who has already been shown the door) while Taubenheim will be a depth guy somewhere in the system. Basically, it's a lot of house cleaning.

There were a ton of rumors flying on how the Pirates were shopping outfielder Nate Mclouth. The Rangers, Cubs and Braves were said to be interested. Neil, however, flat out denied those rumors and insists the Pirates want to see Mclouth play in an everyday role in 2008.

There was also a rumor reported by ESPN's Steve Phillips that the Pirates and Indians (Neil's old team) were talking Jason Bay, and that the Pirates would receive Kelly Shoppach and Cliff Lee in exchange. For what it's worth, this would not be a good first impression. Those rumors have since cooled.

Steve Phillips, by the way, once traded Jason Bay for Steve Reed.

The craziest rumor of the week, so far, was from the Beaver County Times' John Perrotto who reported the Pirates were talking to Toronto about a Jason Bay-Matt Morris for A.J. Burnett swap. This, too, would qualify as a bad first impression.

More updates as they come, obviously......

Did That Just Happen?

I can't believe I just spent the last three hours rooting for the Baltimore Fucking Ravens...and then watch that happen. If you were wondering why that team is 4-8, the final six minutes would be a great example as to why.

Oh, and James Harrison thinks Bart Scott is crazy.

Oh, and one more thing, here's hoping Harrison CJ's Tom Brady this Sunday.