Well......That Didn't Go Exactly As Planned

The Penguins lose, 5-1 in Boston, and that's not even the worst of it. Marian Hossa took a knee-on-knee hit from Glenn Murray early in the second period and did not return with what is now being called, "a minor MCL sprain." Out at least a week.

Isn't that just a pisser?

Arm Injuries And Unlimited Fat

Ah, yes. The smell of Pirates season is in the air, and what better way to kick off the season than the news one of your best pitchers is already missing work because of shoulder soreness. The Pirates say it's minor, but we've all seen this fish before.

Pirates pitcher Tom Gorzelanny will miss his scheduled start today because of what the team is describing as shoulder tenderness, but he is expected to return early next week.

"If this were April 2 or Aug. 1 or any date in the regular season, Tom would be making his start," general manager Neal Huntington said this morning. "But it's spring training, and there's no reason to rush anything. This is minor. It's not even going to affect his spring preparation."

Somebody get Dr. James Andrews on line one. Now.

If there's one guy the Pirates can't afford to lose to injury, it's Ian Snell. And if there's another guy after him they can't afford to lose to injury, it's Tom Gorzelanney. These are the only guys standing between 90 losses and 110 losses.

So, that being said, let's get on with the big news to come out of the Pirates offices this week: ALL YOU CAN EAT SEATING!

From Pittsburgh Sports Insider:

The All-You-Can-Eat seating sections will be in the outfield reserved seats starting with section 147 and moving to section 146 based on demand. Menu items include: hot dogs, hamburgers, nachos, salads, popcorn, peanuts, ice cream and soda.

In addition, the North Shore Refreshments concession stand on the Riverwalk will be exclusively dedicated to all-you-can-eat seat holders to ensure a “speed line” approach. A maximum of four of each item per trip to the dedicated concession stand will apply. Water and adult beverages will be available for purchase at nearby concession stands.

The seats, which normally cost $17, would cost $40 on the pre-planned splurge nights, which means each person would have to eat $23 worth of ballpark food to make it worth it. Really, $23 worth of ballpark food isn't all that much (keep in mind, you still have to pay for your beers), but I still wouldn't recommend it...unless you plan on eating it all directly over the toilet.

Finally, and we better enjoy this now because we can't be sure of how many times we'll get to say this during the season, but, the Pirates have won two games in a row! Yeah, it's spring training, and yeah, the first game was the yearly scrimmage with Manatee Community College, but hey...we'll take them where we can get them, while we can get them.

Ty Conklin Makes 50 Saves

I guess he doesn't want to give up that starting job, eh? 50 saves? In regulation? Crazy.

With the deals of the day, and the fact there was a game tonight, the Penguins had to call-up Connor James and Nathan Smith from Wilkes-Barre just to fill out the roster. James and Smith then had to drive from W-B to Long Island, in bad weather, in rush hour traffic, and then missed the first period. James then scored his first career goal later in the game. That's just silly.

Evgeni Malkin scored a goal and picked up an assist to maintain his points lead over Alexander Ovechkin, Jordan Staal scored his first goal in nine games, and Jeff Taffe (see! It's easy to find third liners!) also tallied goals for the Penguins.

Also, and I missed this in my initial reaction to the Hossa trade, but the Penguins also received Pascal Dupuis from Atlanta. Dupuis is essentially the same player as Colby Armstrong (only not as funny!), if not a little better. And if he's not better, you probably couldn't tell the difference anyway. Well, you could, maybe, because when Colby Armstrong is around people are always laughing. Because, you know...chemistry.

As guys like Jeff Taffe have shown this year...third and fourth liners are everywhere. If you threw Jeff Taffe, Tyler Kennedy, Jonathan Filewich, Colby Armstrong, Ryan Stone and Connor James into a hat, and starting pulling names out, you would never be able to tell the difference.

Bold trade. Great trade.

As Conklin said on the TV broadcast following the game, "I think it's a big statement from management, and that they expect big things from us."

Yeah.

Penguins Lay It All Out On The Table: They're Fucking Going For It

I don't think anybody saw this coming. I may have dreamed of it, I may have joked about it, but I didn't really think it would actually happen. And by "it," I mean Marian Hossa. By "it," I mean General Manager Ray Shero actually stepping up to the plate and doing something bold.

Critics will say Shero gave up too much, or that the Penguins aren't ready for a deal like this. I completely disagree. This was the perfect time, season, and player. As we stand today, there are no great, elite, standout teams in the Eastern Conference. Nobody is head and shoulders above the rest of the pack, and the Penguins, minus half of their team, have managed to keep pace with the leaders. This Penguins team, one of the many good, but not great, teams in the East, were the right player away from positioning themselves to make a serious run this season.

Not next season. Not in two seasons. Right now. And they did it. Not only did they do it, they were the only one of the teams in the East to substantially improve their roster, all while preventing Ottawa and Montreal from making a similar move - Ottawa and Montreal were considered the heavy, heavy favorites to land Hossa.

The debate now will be "was it worth THAT MUCH?" Especially if Hossa leaves as a free agent after the season.

I will still say yes. A thousand times yes.

1. For the first time in his career, Sidney Crosby will now have a legitimate top-line talent on his wing. No more of these ridiculous, "Hey, what would happen if we put Erik Christensen or Mark Recchi on Sid's line?" experiments.

2. This gives the Penguins two legitimate scoring lines. Last year in the playoffs, Ottawa was able to send out the defensive pairing of Anton Volchenkov and Chris Phillips and shut down Sidney Crosby with no fear of another line, or player, beating them. The Crosby-Hossa line, combined with Malkin (much better than last season)-Sykora line should be troublesome for any team in the East.

3. The Penguins acquired a 40-goal scorer, rental player or not, and did so without having to give up Jordan Staal, Kris Letang or Alex Goligoski.

Score.

Granted, it did cost them last years first-round pick Angelo Esposito, and a future first rounder (which will be a late first-rounder, mind you) but let's not throw papers in the air and rue the day we lost Erik Christensen and Colby Armstrong. Say it with me: Spare. Parts.

The biggest complaint I'm seeing on the various tubes about giving up Colby Armstrong is the chemistry factor. And because he's one of Sidney Crosby's closest friends. To that, I say get over it.

Marian Hossa may not tell jokes like Colby Armstrong (hey, maybe he does?) or spend the night at Crosby's house, eating s'mores and watching The Breakfast Club, but he is going to put a few more of those tape-to-tape passes Sid tosses out there into the net, passes that Armstrong or Christensen would fan on, miss, or fire directly into the logo on the opposing goalies jersey.

You could take 22 of your buddies, slap on some hockey jerseys, and skate around against an NHL team and have out-of-this-world chemistry. You would crack jokes. You would laugh. You would mesh, and bond, and click and...I'm out of hockey cliche's...all of that. You'd do it. You would lose 84-0 and have to scrape yourself off the boards with a spatula. But you'd have great chemistry.

My point: I'm taking Marian Hossa's goal-scoring ability over Colby Armstrong's chemistry set.

As for Christensen, his future with the team was non-existent. This guy was NOT one of the Penguins key, cornerstone, building block players. He was either going to be a borderline second-third line wing, or the fourth best center on the team. He's nifty and fancy and unstoppable on shootouts, and all that jazz, but there are no shootouts in come playoff time. And keeping a guy around when he is limited in other areas of hockey because he's good in the shootout is a waste of a resource, in my opinion.

Bold move. And I love it.

Ray Shero Makes Me Eat Every Bad Word I Ever Said About Him

Marian.

Hossa.


That is all.

More later.

Marian Fucking Hossa.

There's Only Thing That Will Keep The Pirates Competitive In 2008

And that, of course, is the overwhelming incompetence of the rest of the National League Central.

The last two years, the top team in the division has escaped with 85 and 83 wins respectively - though, to be fair, one of those teams did end up winning the World Series, but, still...85 wins?

Incredibly, this years batch of teams doesn't look to be any better (we already know the Pirates aren't any better). To illustrate this, the Cincinnati Reds upped the ante on the rest of the teams in the division when they hired Dusty Baker to be their manager.

Baker, of course, has a long history of eating toothpicks in the dugout, ruining the arm of every young pitcher he's ever had in his grasp, and having a never-ending desire to spout off every single cliche in the big book of baseball cliches. Spring training isn't even two weeks old this year, and he's off to a great start.

"I'm big on driving in runs and scoring runs," Baker said. "Guys in the middle should score about close to equal to what they drive in. On-base percentage, that's fine and dandy. But a lot of times guys get so much into on-base percentage that they cease to swing. It's becoming a little bit out of control.

"What you do is run the pitcher's count up, that helps," Baker said. "You put him in the stretch, that helps. But your job in the middle is to either score them or drive them in. The name of the game is scoring runs. Sometimes, you get so caught up in on-base percentage that you're clogging up the bases."

Interesting. Baker doesn't want to get caught up in on-base percentage, but he wants his guys to score runs and drive in runs (which requires guys to be on base, and thus, have a high on-base percentage. Unless you plan on setting a record for the most solo home runs in Major League history).

The best player on the Reds is Adam Dunn. If you could construct the perfect Dusty Baker player from an assortment of spare parts and limbs, Adam Dunn would be the exact opposite of your creation. He's a big, lumbering oaf of a player, who makes a living striking out, drawing walks (clogging the bases) and hitting gargantuan home runs that never land until they've reached the next zip code.

He's a flawed player, no question, but he's also a really, really good and valuable player.

It should be interesting to see how Baker handles Dunn this year. Interesting to me, anyway.

Will he let Dunn do what he does (Hit 40 home runs, get on base a lot) as a player? Or, will he try to have Dunn "cut down on the strike outs" and "get more Sac flies" or some other crap like that?

Hopefully, for the Pirates sake, he puts that boob on the bench where he belongs so there is no fear of him clogging the bases with walks or hitting home runs instead of moving the runners along with bunts and sac flies, or something or other.

Or, the Reds could always ship him to the Pirates.

However, all of that Dunn stuff is just me speculating and having a laugh, the bigger concern for the Reds should be how many times he lets Homer Bailey and Aaron Harang throw 140 pitches in a game. Mark Prior and Kerry Wood know all about it.

"Huge Week" Falls Flat For All But RMU

It was a self-professed "huge week" for local college hoops. Unfortunately for hardwood fans in the 'Burgh, only one team apparently has remembered how to put "W's" up in the standings.

The University of Pittsburgh lost twice, although dealing with #21 Notre Dame on the road and #23 Louisville at home is no easy stretch. Levance Fields may have returned, but he's added little to the suddenly struggling Panthers. Yes, the Big East is tough, but you have to win home games, even against top competition like Louisville, and especially when it's only a single digit lead.

Duquesne continues to play itself out of not only the NCAAs but the NIT and even the A-10 tournament. They have slid all the way down to #9 in the Atlantic 10, and they are very much in danger of dropping out. Dayton and George Washington are lurking, and the Dukes have forgotten how to win. La Salle and Xavier definitely took care of business against the Dukes this weekend.

It's hard to believe, but if the trend continues - if Duquesne's slump finds no end and Pitt has an early exit from the Big East after slumping in these final games to finish the season - then only the Robert Morris Colonials might make the NCAA Tournament.

It'd take an impressive collapse from Pitt for it to come true, but one thing is certain: Robert Morris is the only team taking care of business in Western Pennsylvania. The Colonials avoided a trap game against their chief rival, the average but intense Mount St. Mary's Mountaineers on Thursday. Then, after slumping to a 7 point deficit to start the first half in the battle for first in the Northeast Conference, the Colonials roared past Wagner 46-17 in the 2nd half to win 74-52.

Suddenly, Robert Morris' 23-6 record guarantees them of at least sharing the fictional regular season title of "Most Victorious In Pittsburgh" this season, as Pitt has four games left to reach 23. Suddenly, Robert Morris' positioning has them on the fast track to a 14 or 15 seed in the NCAA Tournament - if they can win the conference tournament.

Suddenly, and this is the least hypothetical statement in this entire column, a region that once had three teams vying for seeds in the NCAA Tournament may only have one.

And it's the one that no one was expecting.

Some Losses Aren't As Bad As Others

All things considered, two out of four points this weekend isn't all that terrible, and while yesterday's overtime loss to Ottawa was a punch to the gut, today's shootout loss to San Jose wasn't quite so bad.

Actually, managing to get a point out of today's game is pretty damn good, I think. A moral victory of sorts. The Sharks, after all, had been sitting in Pittsburgh, resting comfortably for the previous three days, while the Pens were coming off a physically, and probably mentally, draining game just 24 hours before.

Ty Conklin rebounded from a so-so performance yesterday with 36 saves in regulation and overtime, before melting down in the shootout (the Sharks scored on all three shots, and nobody made a move...they were just straight wrist shots).

Struggles in the shootout aside, they probably don't get a point without him.

Speaking of the shootouts, anyone have an idea as to why Michel Therrien insists on shooting first at home? Does it make that much of a difference? It seems to me you would want to take the college football overtime approach and go on defense first, sort of getting the last at-bat so to speak.

Anyway, after two of the most boring, sleep inducing periods the sport of hockey has ever seen, the Sharks finally struck first when Jonathan Cheechoo (who was on the receiving end of a great Colby Armstrong hit earlier in the game) skated around the pylon that is Ryan Whitney and beat Conklin for the games first goal mid-way through the third period.

At the time, it seemed to be a crushing play, perhaps a game deciding moment, as the Sharks, who were already clogging up the neutral zone, were sure to turn it up a few notches and cling to that one-goal lead. Then, Sharks goon Jody Shelley took a hooking penalty (borderline call, I thought, but I'll take it) to give the Penguins a powerplay, which they turned into a goal when Erik Christensen, in his first game back, scored on a one-timer from an impossible angle.

Christensen would then score in the shootout for Pittsburgh, along with Jarkko Ruutu. Kris Letang was the only player to be denied, and that was only because he failed to elevate his shot. He had San Jose goalie Evgeni Nabokov beat.

Well......

In terms of wins, they don't get much bigger than Thursday night's game in Montreal. And in terms of losses, well, they don't get much bigger than this. Or perhaps that's making a mountain out of a mole hill? Maybe. But either way, that game is going to be a bitter, bitter pill to force down. For thirty minutes the Penguins played the Senators like the Senators played the Penguins last year in the playoffs - dominating every single aspect of the game. It was a complete 180 from last April.

The Penguins had a 3-0 lead, Petr Sykora was seemingly everywhere, and Ottawa played like a team that had no interest in being on the ice, let alone winning the game. Then, out of nowhere -and speaking of 180's - the final thirty minutes looked like last April all over again. The Penguins quit playing and the Senators took over as they managed to the tie game early in the third period when Dany Heatley found himself wide open in the slot and blasted a one-timer past goalie Ty Conklin, who actually played one of his worst games of the season today.

For as good as Conklin is at controlling rebounds and directing them safely into the corner, he still seems to be a turnover waiting to happen when he leaves the crease to play the puck. For the third time this season a turnover of his behind the net led to a goal, while he had to scramble from behind the cage and make a desperate dive in front to prevent another from going in.

Both teams earned a charity point for getting to overtime, and just when it appeared the game was heading for a shootout, Daniel Alfredsson pounced on a loose puck in front of the net and slid it between the pads of Conklin for the winning tally with just four seconds remaining in overtime. Fist. Gut. Punch.

It's hard to get a read on this team; on some nights, they start off terribly, rally late, and manage to gut out wins in games they probably had no business winning (Tuesday). Other nights, they start off like they did today, take a large chunk of the night off after that, and either have to fight like dogs for wins (Thursday), or, completely melt down (Today).

The Penguins had a chance to at least move into a tie for the top spot in the East (New Jersey won earlier today, which, had the Penguins won, would have left the two teams with 77 points each) and instead allow Ottawa to maintain its slim lead over the field.

Fortunately, there won't be much time to dwell on this.

But, when you lose a game like that and are looking for an answer to the question, "how in the hell did that happen?" You don't have to look much further than:

Powerplay: 1-for-7.

Evgeni Malkin Helps Bail Out Michel Therrien

Normally, I think Pittsburgh Penguins Head Coach Michel Therrien takes far more heat than he deserves. When you consider the injuries his team has had to overcome this season, and the fact they continue to win hockey games, it makes him an easy finalist for the Jack Adams award as coach of the year, if not a slam dunk winner (okay, maybe not that far).

Having said that, his decision to start Danny Sabourin tonight in Montreal - in a game that potentially had the top spot in the Eastern Conference on the line - as opposed to the white-hot Ty Conklin, was nothing short of idiotic. And it was almost costly, as the Penguins saw a 3-1 lead turn into a 4-3 deficit in a matter of five minutes of clock time.

The only reason the broadcast guys could give for starting Sabourin was the fact he is from Montreal, and Therrien likes to do things like that for guys on the team. Well, hell, if that doesn't make sense! That makes much more sense than starting guys based on trivial, meaningless things like, say, the playoff race?

Fortunately, after escaping the Canadiens third powerplay of the night, Evgeni Malkin tied the game on a breakaway just out of the penalty box, while Sergei Gonchar ripped a precision wrist-shot from the blue line just moments later to give the Penguins the lead for good

Aside from finishing the game with three points - to push his lead to four over Alex Ovechkin in the scoring race - Malkin also registered three blocked shots, two hits, and three takeaways. Holy shit. The guy is incredible.

In other meaningful games in the Eastern Conference...The Flyers lost their ninth game in a row, 3-1, to the San Jose Sharks, while the Ottawa Senators dropped one at home, in a shootout, to the Columbus Blue Jackets. As a result of the Penguins win, and Ottawa receiving a loser point for getting to overtime, the Senators hold a one-point lead over the Penguins for the top spot in the Eastern Conference. Oh, and the Penguins and Senators meet on Saturday afternoon...in Pittsburgh.

Finally, it wouldn't be a game in Montreal if a completely undeserving Canadien didn't get a star, as Saku Koivu finished as the games second star. Ryan Whitney, who finished with a goal and two assists, obviously wasn't worthy.

Steelers Place Transition Tag On Max Starks

Max Starks may have seven million reasons to jump up and down.

Desperate times call for desperate measures, I suppose. As the story from Scott Brown says, this doesn't make it a lock that Starks will be in the black and gold, making a rather large sum of money in 2008; but it makes it pretty damn likely. Unless of course, some team goes Dan Snyder on them and backs a dump truck full of money up to the Starks residence. That could always change things.

From the Tribune Review story:

The team placed the transition tag on Max Starks on Wednesday, though that doesn't guarantee the tackle will be with the Steelers for this season.

By making Starks, who would have been an unrestricted free agent at the end of the month, a transition player, the Steelers have the right to match any offer that is made to the fourth-year pro. The team has a week to match any offers.

If the Steelers do not match an offer that is made to Starks, they will receive no compensation if he signs elsewhere.

If Starks does not sign with another team, the Steelers are required to pay him the average of the 10 highest salaries for offensive lineman in 2007 (roughly $6.9 million) next season. The sides, however, could agree to terms on a long-term contract extension.

If it comes to Starks making almost $7 million in 2008, well, that would be bat shit crazy. He's a nice player and all, and he did do a passable job when he played last year...but $7 million is a big hit for a nice, passable player. Especially when said player lost his starting job just last August to Willie Colon.

I'd love to be wrong, of course.

Also of minor note, in a move noticed by almost no one, the Steelers re-signed defensive end Travis Kirschke to a two-year contract extension.

Penguins-Panthers

So, last night I scored a couple of tickets to the Penguins-Panthers game, and wow, what a friggin' game. It was the first game I'd been to since the 2003 season (yes, that's Richard Lintner scoring a goal for the Penguins. Richard Lintner) and what a night to make a return to the arena.

The game was no different than any of the Penguins recent games; slow start, furious rally late, fans ask each other how the hell they won that game. For 40 minutes they could do absolutely nothing right; Passes went to nobody, the powerplay was terrible, Ryan Whitney gave the puck to guys wearing different color uniforms, etc. etc. etc.

Everything changed just five minutes into the third when, following a penalty kill, Colby Armstrong ripped a slap shot past Panthers' goalie Thomas Vokoun to pull the Penguins within one. From that point on, it was a completely different game as the Penguins tightened up defensively, Ryan Malone continued to play like he's the reincarnated version of Rick Tocchett, and Evgeni Malkin found openings where openings should not have existed.

Good stuff.

Malkin, with his two assists last night, took over the NHL scoring lead, which is kind of amazing when you consider he was 14th in scoring when Sidney Crosby went down with his high-ankle sprain 14 games ago. That's stepping up and being a franchise player.

It also shows, to me anyway, that when Crosby does return to the lineup he should remain at center instead of returning to Crosby's wing, as was the combination when Sid went down. While the two were a dominating duo together, the Penguins (in my opinion) are a far more dangerous team when Malkin and Petr Sykora are telepathically connecting on one line, while Crosby is doing his thing on another line...preferably with a new top-6 winger. Someone like... this guy...

Huge Week For Local Hoops

This is the stretch run for college basketball teams, the last moment to find some momentum and secure your position for your respective conference tournament. Locally, all three teams are should have quality seeds for their tournaments. But this week will go a long way to determining some of that positioning, while also offering up some great match-ups.

THURSDAY:
Pittsburgh (19-6, 7-5) at #21 Notre Dame (19-5, 9-3) in South Bend, Indiana - 7:00pm on ESPN
Irish are currently #4 in the Big East while Pitt is #6. This is the last year the Big East Tournament will sit at 12 teams - it expands to a full sixteen next year - and thus it's the last year that teams will get a bye. Notre Dame, at #4, is the last bye team right now. Pitt wants that bye, so this game will go a long way to determining the final seeds.

Duquesne (16-8, 6-5) at #12 Xavier (22-4, 10-1) in Cincinnati, Ohio - 7:00pm
Another 12 team tournament with spots currently in jeopardy. Xavier's almost locked in as the #1 seed at this point, so this is more of an opportunity for Duquesne to make some noise. The Dukes started the season strong but have found an incredibly ability to mire themselves in inconsistency the past two weeks. They are tied with Rhode Island for the #5 seed in the conference, meaning they would be stuck playing the first day. A win over Xavier would be huge, both for their conference tournament and their at-large bid candidacy.

Mount St. Mary's (13-13, 9-6) at Robert Morris (21-6, 12-2) in Moon Township, Pennsylvania - 7:00pm
The only home game of the Pittsburgh Trio, this is a huge rivalry game. Robert Morris and Mount St Mary's hate each other, and both are quality basketball teams. The Colonials are on a 9 game win streak and are first in the NEC, tied with Wagner. More on that tie later. Mount St Mary's is fifth in the NEC, just a half game away from hosting a first round playoff game. The top 8 teams get in, and while RMU has clinched a spot, the Mount can do that with a win. Robert Morris has been red hot and won the earlier match-up in the season in Maryland.

SATURDAY:
Wagner (19-6, 12-2) at Robert Morris (21-6, 12-2) in Moon Township, Pennsylvania - 7:00pm
The only Saturday game locally, and it's senior night for the Colonials. So what better way to celebrate the best season since 1989-1990 by hosting their current co-leader in the NEC? The Colonials and Seahawks play just once this year, and it's tonight. Should both teams win their games Thursday night, this would be a battle for the number one seed in the tournament, an incredibly valuable piece to have in your pocket.

SUNDAY:
#23 Louisville (21-6, 11-3) at Pittsburgh (19-6, 7-5) in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania - 12:00pm on ESPN Full Court
Cardinals will be looking to use this as a case to take over #1 from Georgetown in the Big East, as well as ammunition for an at-large bid if it should come to that. Panthers certainly don't have an easy weekend, and they may just be happy with a split. It might be easier, even though Louisville is good, to do it today at home instead of in South Bend.

La Salle (11-13, 5-5) at Duquesne (16-8, 6-5) in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania - 2:00pm
Even if the Dukes lose Thursday night, they can salvage their weekend with a win here. La Salle is struggling and the Dukes need to win against inferior conference opponents, something they didn't do earlier in the year against St. Bonaventure. La Salle is only barely in the tournament right now, something that they know well and no doubt will try to utilize as motivation to beat Duquesne.

Patriots Film Steelers; Steelers Don't Care

Yesterday, news came out that Senator Arlen Specter (honestly, when Arlen Specter is involved in sports news, in any way, the bastards have won. I don't know who exactly the bastards are, but they have clearly won) had proof, in the form of witnesses, that the New England Patriots filmed the Steelers, illegally, as many as four times, including two conference championship games.

Everyone has been going crazy with this stuff, damning the Patriots to hell and stripping them of their titles and women, while farting in their general direction. Everyone except the Steelers, that is.

I will repeat what I said just prior to the Super Bowl: I don't hate the Patriots and Bill Belichick because they cheated. I hate the Patriots and Bill Belicheck because they're a bunch of assholes. That's all the reason I need.

Anyway, first we have Steelers owner Dan Rooney talking about how the Patriots voyeurism had no impact on the outcome of those games.

"We consider the tapes of our coaching staff during our games against the New England Patriots to be a non-issue. In our opinion, they had no impact on the results of those games.

In Today's Tribune-Review linebacker James Farrior was quite honest with his feelings.

"They're probably not the only team that ever did that," Farrior said. "If they did tape it, I'm mad that we didn't do it first.

"Everybody's trying to gain that little bit of a competitive edge. I wish our coaches would have thought of that first, so that we might have (more) championship rings."

Touche, James. Touche.

Of course, that's not to say everyone is taking the same approach the Steelers are. Take former Rams defensive back, Willie Gary, for example. He's decided to do what any person in his situation would do: File a $100 million lawsuit.

NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- A lawsuit filed Friday by a former St. Louis Rams player and others seeks millions of dollars in damages from the alleged taping of Rams practices by the New England Patriots before the 2002 Super Bowl.

The Patriots won the game 20-17 in the Superdome.

The $100 million suit, filed on behalf of former Rams player Willie Gary in U.S. District Court in New Orleans, names the Patriots, team owner Robert Kraft and head coach Bill Belichick.

I'd say he has a decent shot to see that money. And by decent shot, I of course mean, no shot.

Arlen Specter Claims Patriots Filmed Steelers Four Times

I really do have mixed feelings about this "spygate" shit. On one hand, yeah, they violated league rules - multiple times - and were arrogant enough to think they would get away with it. That quickly moves the Patriots up the douchebag scale. On the other hand, Arlen Specter was off the charts long before this.

Plus, I don't for one second believe the Patriots were the only team doing this. Everybody in sports tries to get an edge, any way they can, by the rules or against them. Sign stealing, steroids, little pine tar under the tip of the cap, cork in the bat...whatever.

Ladanian Tomlinson was right when he said of the Patriots, "They live by the saying, 'if you aren't cheatin', you aren't tryin'."

But the same thing applies to every team and player in sports, Tomlinson and the Chargers included.

Besides, even without "spygate," it's been so much fun to point at the Patriots fans and laugh as they try to get rid of all that 19-0 gear.

Douchebags.

RMU's Lee Notches 2nd Straight Triple-Double

This story also appears at Colonials Corner

It had been 29 years between triple doubles for Robert Morris before Tony Lee notched one Saturday against Long Island.

Apparently Lee didn't want to wait that long to see a repeat.

The senior guard did it again Thursday night in a comeback win for the Colonials as they topped Central Connecticut State 80-74 in New Britain. Lee's 12 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists augmented Jeremy Chappell's game high 24 points as the Colonials shook off a sloppy night to win.

Oh, and by the way, the Colonials are now in first place in the Northeast Conference. Wagner beat Sacred Heart in double overtime, and now the Seahawks and Colonials are tied for 1st at 11-2. Sacred Heart fell to 11-3.

Chappell keyed a late run for the Colonials, scoring five straight points with less than two minutes left as part of a game winning 11-0 run by RMU.

Lee nabbed assist number ten on a highlight reel jam by AJ Jackson. Lee picked up Jackson going down the court and lobbed it to Jackson, who finished with a tomahawk slam.

Jackson had 10 points while Mezie Nwigwe had 12 points off the bench. Jimmy Langhurst played just 14 minutes, while Gary Wallace played 23.

Robert Morris now has 12 wins on the season on the road or at a neutral court, their most ever. They've won 7 consecutive road games - a new record. And, they've won 20 games in a season for the first time since 1989-1990.

It's been a long time since a Colonials team was this good. We'll see if they can continue it on Saturday against St. Francis NY. Tipoff is 2pm. You can watch live on Fox College Sports Atlantic or as a tape delayed broadcast at 4pm on FSN Pittsburgh.

This Is What It's Like When Hell Freezes Over

Entering tonight's game in Carolina, Penguins defenseman Brooks Orpik had scored only three goals in 272 career games. The last one coming October 22, 2005 - a span of 181 games. That drought was ended about 15 minutes ago when he snapped a one-timer between the legs of Hurricanes goalie Cam Ward from the blue line.

Insanity.

Game tied at 1, after 20 minutes.

Pirates Report To Spring Training On Thursday

And this is the room of people who care

If this doesn't speak volumes about my level of interest in the Pirates, I don't know what does: I had absolutely no idea pitchers and catchers were showing up in Bradenton this week.

Knowing that doesn't exactly fill me with piss and vinegar, either.

Don't get me wrong, I'm excited for baseball season...... i'm just not looking forward to another 95-loss season from the Pirates, or whatever the hell it was they lost last year.

With the Penguins continuing to climb the Eastern Conference standings - without Sidney Crosby, Marc-Andre Fleury, etc. etc. etc. - the Steelers on the verge of signing Ben Roethlisberger to a contract extension, Pitt basketball making another run at the NCAA tournament, and, well...the grass growing, there are so many things to distract us from the never ending disappointment the Pirates will surely provide.

The best case scenario is a long playoff run by the Pens (early June would be perfect), so we only have, oh, I don't know, a month to watch the Pirates before we can shift our focus back to the Steelers with the arrival of training camp in the middle of July.

How's that for optimism?

Pitt, by the way, pounded Providence, 82-63, at the Pete tonight. Even better than that is the news point guard Levance Fields is on the verge of returning to the lineup. Of course, he didn't play tonight like the link suggest he could, but he's close.

I'll be at the Penguins game Wednesday night, assuming the tickets show up on my desk before 3:00.

Steelers Staying With Grass

The first big news from the Steelers this off-season isn't that they've extended Ben Roethlisberger's contract, or re-signed Alan Faneca...but that they are going to stick with natural grass at Heinz Field in 2008. That means lot's and lot's of complaining. "But it doesn't look nice..."

Last week Gene Upshaw - head of the players union - spoke out on the condition of the field, pretty much begging the Steelers to try something new. Well, that's not happening.

My opinion? The Steelers' record at Heinz Field speaks for itself, and as long as other teams piss and moan about having to play on it, I support the soup.

David Tyree's Catch: GREATEST EVER?!?!?!?!?

Let's be honest, it was pretty damn great. The problem is, far too often in today's sports world the last great play, or player, or team that is thrown down in front of us is automatically proclaimed - THE GREATEST EVER!

The day after the Super Bowl, I was watching the Monday evening sportscenter and the two guys yacking back and forth at each other (I think one of them was Scott Van Pelt) made mention that Tyree's catch was probably the greatest play in Super Bowl history - an opinion that has become quite popular this past week - and then, without fail, the one friggin' guy stopped himself in the middle of his sentence and said, "NO, THIS MAY BE THE GREATEST PLAY IN FOOTBALL HISTORY."

That's just nonsense, and the Stanford Band, Franco Harris, Kevin Dyson and Dwight Clark all agree that it's nonsense.

But, sticking with the Super Bowl theme:

Was it really better than this?

No Reason To Stay Home

Pitt played already. Duquesne plays on the road at LaSalle at 2pm. The Penguins play at 1pm.

There is no reason for you to be home Saturday night at 7pm. Get away from the television, go up to Moon Township, pop into the Charles L. Sewall Center, buy a ticket, support Breast Cancer Awareness, and watch the 18-6 Robert Morris Colonials take on Long Island.

Of course, if you stay home after watching/listening/following the Duquesne and Penguins games prior, it's understandable. But you shouldn't.

It's a glorious weekend for local sports fans, one that promotes general camaraderie and happy festivities. The Pro Bowl? Pssh. Give me Pens-Flyers on NBC!

Two Penguins games. Plenty of local hoops to watch, and it's not crappy local hoops either. Duquesne and Robert Morris are quality basketball teams, and both are coming off absolute thrashings of their opponents. Shawn James was a beast for Duquesne against St. Joseph's Wednesday night.

Then Robert Morris comes home Thursday night and destroys a wounded Fairleigh Dickinson squad 95-45.

I'll let you digest that.

50 points. Very rarely do you see those scores this late in the season, unless you're playing New Jersey Institute of Technology (currently winless in their first season playing D-1 hoops).

Rejoice. Revel. Enjoy the end of football season by immersing yourself in basketball and hockey. Support your local colleges with a cheap-ass ticket. Stand behind some crazy college co-eds, vocalize your hatred for a team you don't even know while supporting the home team, and watch some amazing athletes.

And then come back here on Sunday and see how they all did.

Ryan Whitney Helps Win Game; Ronald Ramon Shocks WVU

Just days after he was publically called out onto the carpet by his head coach, Ryan Whitney manned up on Thursday night and pitched in three points (two goals and an assist) in the Penguins 4-3 win over the New York Islanders.

It's a huge win for the Penguins after they tinkled away a point on Monday night, which moves them into a tie for first place in the Atlantic Division with the Philadelphia Flyers.

With Pittsburgh leading 3-2, the Islanders tied the game midway through the third when Mike Comrie roofed an off-angle shot behind goalie Ty Conklin. It was a ridiculous shot. The type of shot you only see once every so often due to its precision and pinpoint accuracy.

Only it wasn't.

Moments later, Penguins defenseman Kris Letang came flying down the right boards and beat Islanders goalie Rick Dipietro on a shot that was almost a carbon copy of Comrie's goal, giving the Penguins the lead for good.

Evgeni Malkin picked up three points (all assists) moving him into a tie for fifth place (with Henrik Zetterberg) in the race for the Art Ross.

Ryan Malone was the other goal-scorer for Pittsburgh, as he tallied his 16th of the season as the Penguins continue to find ways to scratch out wins despite missing half of their team to injury.

---

I saw roughly 40 seconds (Okay, maybe 20 minutes) of the Pitt-West Virginia game, and everything I saw awful. Bad basketball wrapped around terrible basketball smothered in lousy basketball. Both teams were equally responsible for the debacle, and it's debatable as to whether or not either team deserved to win.

West Virginia actually had a two-point lead with nine seconds remaining when Ronald Ramon - who made two shots on the night - hit a 3-pointer from the corner as the horn sounded, setting off insanity at the Pete.

55-54 Pitt wins.

The Mountaineers were nothing short of embarrassing from the field, as they shot a putrid 35-percent, and a mind-numbingly awful 7-of-17 from the free-throw line. At one point, with his team at the line, West Virginia head coach Bob Huggins was actually on one knee, face in palm, refusing to watch his team shoot. He then looked up, muttered something about " making damn free-throws" (at least that's what my lip reading skills told me) and planted his face back into his palm.

The highlight of the absurdity came when Joe Alexander - the only guy on WVU who can make a free-throw - hit both ends of a one-in-one to give West Virginia a one-point lead. Trouble is, Alexander wasn't the player who was fouled, so the shots didn't count. The officials took the points off the board, made the correct man shoot, who then promptly tossed the first shot off the front of the rim.

It's not going to take Mr. Huggins long to figure out what went wrong on this night.

Ryan Whitney Cost Us The Game

Those aren't my words, those are the words of Penguins head coach Michel Therrien following the Penguins 4-3 overtime loss to the New Jersey Devils on Monday night.

For 50 minutes the Penguins dominated the Devils, frustrating them for the second time in six nights on their home ice, beating them at their own game. Then, out of nowhere, Therrien called the most random timeout in hockey history, and from that point on the Devils absolutely mopped the floor with the Penguins.

Pittsburgh still took a point out of the night, but considering how the majority of the game was played, and the fact the Penguins had a two goal lead with ten minutes to play, a loss in regulation or overtime is a bitter pill to force down.

Obviously, the coach agrees.

"It's unacceptable to lose a hockey game like this. Unacceptable," Therrien said. "A guy like (defenseman) Ryan Whitney, he's going to have to be more aggressive around the net. He's not aggressive at all. It cost us the game."

Ouch.

Last season, Ryan Whitney looked like he was on his way to being one of the games premier offensive defensemen, he signed a large contract during the off-season, and has seemingly floated through this season. He still has all the tools to be a great player, but he plays with all the intensity of a raggedy Anne doll.

Shortly after getting beat in front of the net for the Devils game-tying goal, Whitney fumbled with the puck in his own end allowing New Jersey to get another scoring chance on goalie Ty Conklin.

This isn't the first time Therrien has let loose on his team through the media. Rewind back to his first year as the Penguins head coach, when he went off on one of sports great rants.




If Therrien were coaching in the NFL that would be showing up in Coors Light commercials.

Today, it's worth noting - perhaps - that the Penguins have called up defenseman Alex Goligoski from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.

Looks like a message is being sent.

Pens Travel To New Jersey...Again

For the second time in six days the Penguins will be in the swamp to take on the Devils in another big Eastern Conference contest.

Some notes:

- The road team has won every game in the season series this year, with the Penguins out-scoring the Devils 9-2 in two games at the Prudential Center.

- Evgeni Malkin has 16 points in 15 career games against New Jersey.

- Don't Expect Many People To Be In The Stands - Over/Under? 12,000. Take the under.

- Georges Laraque isn't a fan of the Penguins opening next season in Sweden -

"Spending money to go play in Europe is not doing anything for the NHL in the United States," Laraque said. "We're talking about wanting a bigger market for hockey in the U.S. What are we going to accomplish by going to Europe? What are we doing? The league needs to do better work to make the game popular in the U.S."

He's pretty balls on accurate with that, i'd say.

- Jonathan Filewich and the Naz have been sent back to the minors

Justice Prevails......Sort Of

For 58 minutes of clock, I was completely zoned out from this game. The TV was off, I was listening to rush, drinking cherry vodka, and reading a book. Seriously.

Around 9:30 I heard rumor that the Giants were on the verge of an upset, but I still refused to watch. It was going to be the same song-and-dance we've seen all season: Team plays Patriots to the limits, Patriots win, everything is awful.

Around 10:00, a friend came calling, "Adam, you have to see this." I started watching just in time to see an orgy of madness and insanity. And all of it was glorious. Eli Manning had just lobbed a perfectly thrown pass to a wide open Plaxico Burress - who had just shaken some poor sap of a Patriots cornerback out of his shoes - in the left-corner of the end zone.

Giants 17 Patriots 14

I still wasn't a believer. 35 seconds, three time outs and Tom Brady. This was not going to end well. And then it did. Tom Brady took a helmet to the sternum from some backup defensive tackle, and then proceeded to throw the ball 80 yards down field to double covered receivers when all he needed to do was try for a first down to set up a more sensible hail mary attempt that at least had a snow balls chance in hell of reaching the end zone.

When the last ball fell incomplete, there was still one second left in the clock, and Bill Belicheck, resident bastard, asshole, complete jerkass, rushed out to midfield with thousands of other people and shook Tom Coughlins hands. And then raced to the locker room and left his team on the field as they still had to run the last second off the clock to make it official.

16-0 is now meaningless. It doesn't matter. Without the trophy it's just another team that didn't win the Super Bowl.

Of course, that's not to say it's all gumdrops and lollipops. Eli Manning and Tom Coughlin still won. And Mercury Morris and the '72 Dolphins will still be jabbering about something. But all of that is pure ecstasy compared to another Patriots Super Bowl and 19-0.

Penguins Beat Hurricanes; Everybody Else Wets The Bed

1. Pens Score Four Goals In Third Period - I didn't see any of the game, but from what i've heard and read, they looked shaky for two periods, and then made Hurricanes Goalie Cam Ward their kitty cat for the final 20 minutes.

Evgeni Malkin picked up three points (goal, two assists) in the win, and is now just two points behind Sidney Crosby for the team lead, and only nine points behind fellow Russian Alex Ovechkin for the league lead. I wouldn't count him out.

Ty Conklin turned aside 27 shots and is now eligible to be listed among the league leaders in stats. And in case you were wondering, he's first in save percentage and third in Goals Against Average.

2. Pitt Losses At Uconn....Again

3. Duquesne Gets Pounded By Hapless St. Bonaventure

4. Robert Morris Salvages The Local Hoopes Scene For The Night

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Apparently There's A Big Football Game Today

I don't think i've ever had less interest in a Super Bowl. Aside from not wanting either team to win, I've had enough spygate stories. I haven't spent the season rooting against the Patriots because they "cheated," i've spent all season rooting against the Patriots because they're a bunch of douche bags. That's the only reason I need.

The News Of The Day

1. Pirates Close To A Three-year Extension With Freddy Sanchez - It will be a very popular move, and a very risky move. If Sanchez doesn't hit over .300 (closer to .310 or .320 would be ideal) then he may not have all that much value to the Pirates, seeing as how he doesn't hit for power (home runs that is), draw walks, or steal bases.

He'll probably get around $6 or $7 million per season.

2. Pirates Claim Another Utility Infielder, DFA Sean Burnett - The news here isn't Rey Olmedo (he's terrible, just terrible), but Sean Burnett. Such potential. Such promise. Such high hopes. Such disappointment.

After dominating the lower levels of the Minor Leagues, Burnett, along with high school teammate and fellow first-round draft pick Bobby Bradley, were supposed to be the future of the Pirates franchise. Today, Bradley is out of baseball all together and Burnett probably isn't far behind. Even if he remains in the Pirates organization it's difficult to see him ever making an impact.

3. RMU Ice Hockey Losses 7-5 to Alabama-Huntsville

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Saturday's College Basketball Action

- Pitt Travels To Uconn - 1:00

- Duquesne Takes On St. Bonnie - 4:00

- Robert Morris Visits Mount St. Mary's - 7:00

A Black and Gold Book Review: God Save The Fan

Deadspin has gone mainstream. Just don't tell Will Leitch.

The creator and signatory author of the world's most popular sports blog cut his chops as a "dignified" and established writer well before hooking up with Gawker Media and getting his site banned from ESPN. Now he has a brand new book, equipped with perhaps the longest title in recent memory: "God Save the Fan: How Preening Sportscasters, Athletes Who Speak in the Third Person, and the Occasional Convicted Quarterback Have Taken the Fun Out of Sports (And How We Can Get It Back)"

Leitch's book reads similar to his postings on Deadspin, analysis littered with humorous anecdotes and subtle sarcastic quips. Leitch has always been a renegade journalist, in my eyes, and while he professes his hatred for the press box, "God Save The Fan" reads accurately enough to give the impression that Leitch has spent plenty of time with his fellow scribes.

"God Save The Fan" is more thought-provoking than it is revolutionary. Little of the material - save for a downright terrifying interview of John Rocker - is recycled from Deadspin. A few memorable stories return, unearthed from the pages of Deadspin and given new light - Chris Berman's infamous, "You're with me, leather" quip has additional background to it. However, most of the book deals with Leitch's perceptions of fans, sports personalities, owners, and even the media have changed how we look at sports.

The comments on fandom, the players, and the owners are hardly revolutionary - indeed, many of the positions Leitch takes can be heard on any message board or in any bar across the country. What makes the book worthwhile are Leitch's comments on the media, the same faction that he's largely become ostracized from. Without the analysis and digging of ESPN (and others), Leitch is just another sports fan. But as a revolutionary figure doggedly harping on the mass media at every turn, Leitch transforms from ordinary and devoted sports fan to a cult figure.

Most importantly are the stories, the actual anecdotes, involving media members being screwed over or whipped to follow a certain agenda. Dan Shanoff, a respected journalist and occasional blogger, including for The Sporting News, has been banned from participating in the god-awful Around The Horn because he refused to follow a producer's script. These are the stories that Leitch needs to focus on in his future writings.

If there is a "God Save The Fan Part 2," I hope it's a continued dissection of the media. We know about the athletes, the fans, and the owners. But not all of us have friends at ESPN, Fox Sports, The New York Post, The LA Times, et al. Understanding how the sports media works goes a long way to helping the fans evolve as sports evolve. Leitch has started us on the right path.