Category: Sports

Now here’s something you don’t see every day:

While none of USA TODAY’s NFL analysts picked the Steelers to appear in the Super Bowl, Las Vegas oddsmakers are still looking favorably on the defending champions this season.

RJ Bell of Pregame.com has the Steelers favored in all 16 of their regular-season games this year. The Patriots, who trail the Steelers by one spot in the power rankings, are favored 15 times.

Woooooot! Football season starts TONIGHT, baby! I can’t wait!

via Vegas analyst will favor Steelers in all 16 games – USATODAY.com.

Saw this on a the Bawlmer Sun’s “Ravens Insider” page via Twitter:

Early in training camp, three-time Pro Bowl linebacker/defensive end Terrell Suggs goaded the reigning champion Pittsburgh Steelers by wearing a black t-shirt that read, “You Bet Your Sweet Ass I Hate the Steelers” on the back.

Well, cornerback Frank Walker showed off his own Steelers-themed apparel this morning and the sentiment was similar in tone.

Walker wore a black t-shirt that had “Hey Pittsburgh” in big yellow letters and a Raven extending a purple middle finger.

What’s funny about it are the comments from Ravens fans:

– “Hey Frank, don’t worry about the Steelers until you stop getting burned off the line. You suck.”

– “hopefully frank walker will be wearing his t shirt and watching from home in November, rather than being on the field making ben rothelsburger look good.”

Continue reading “More fun with Bawlmer”

Today marks the 21st anniversary of the death of Art Rooney, Sr., the founder of the Pittsburgh Steelers. The folks over at Behind the Steel Curtain have posted this poignant essay about the man who most knew as “The Chief”:

As a humanitarian, Art Rooney had few equals. When a Pittsburgh Steeler was ever in the hospital, Rooney would visit every morning and bring a newspaper and fresh coffee. Rooney’s wife, Kathleen, would stop in later with home-baked muffins. When boarding the plane after road games, each player was handed a couple beers while Art Rooney passed out cigars to all who wanted them. No wonder the players loved him, so much so that one year the players walked to his house and sang Christmas carols.

One day at a racetrack, Rooney and a friend were approached by a little old lady. She was sobbing loudly, telling Rooney how she just lost her last dollar. Her family was hungry and her grandson needed medicine. She bet what little money she had in order to make enough to buy food and medicine. Rooney pulled $100 out of his pocket and gave it to her. His friend quickly pointed out that the lady was an impostor. She was a regular phony at the racetrack. “I know that,” said Rooney, “but did you see that performance? She earned it.”

Another day at the track, a good one for the Chief, ended with him driving home with heavy pockets. He saw a priest waiting for a bus and, with his affinity for priests, stopped and offered the clergyman a ride. During conversation the priest revealed that his church needed a new roof. Rooney asked if the priest knew how much that would cost and was told $7,500. The Chief reached into his bulging pocket, peeled off $7,500 and handed it to the priest. Astonished, the priest politely indicated he couldn’t accept money that was not legit. After Rooney identified the track he came from that day, the priest took the cash with dropped-jaw and looked to the heavens. “That’s OK,” the Chief laughed, “just say a prayer for me.”

It’s a really great piece, and worth a read for any football fan. It almost makes me kind of sad that people like Jerry Jones can be NFL owners while there were once people like The Chief running things.

via He Stood on Higher Ground: Farewell to the Chief

– Plaxico Burress accepted a plea bargain today for the gun charges stemming from his “nightclub incident” last November. He was sentenced to 2 years in prison, but will likely serve 20 months.

– The suit against Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger continues to fall part. David Cornwell, Roethlisberger’s attorney, released several pages of emails today yesterday that allegedly “prove” that accuser Andrea McNulty is lying. The emails, between Andrea and “Ben” (a fictional soldier made up by the wife of a married man McNulty was sleeping with), certainly paint a light and carefree picture. I wouldn’t say they “prove” that she’s lying… but it is more evidence that she’s just after a big payday. Cornwell seems so convinced of their damning nature that he asked McNulty to drop her suit based only on these emails. Read more here.

In this post I talked about Angela Antonetti’s affidavit in the Ben Roethlisberger suit. I’d like to take a couple of minutes to follow-up on this.

First of all, you can download a PDF of the affidavit here.

Once you’ve downloaded it, check out paragraph 18:

In August 2008, Andrea asked me to travel with her to Pittsburg [sic] that fall to see a Pittsburg Steelers game and to try to “run into” Ben Roethlisberger. I told Andrea that she shouldn’t try to chase Mr. Roethlisberger. I believed that Andrea’s plan to travel to Pittsburg – uninvited – to attempt to see Mr Roethlisberger when he had not tried to contact her was not realistic. Based upon this discussion, I understood that Mr Roethlisberger had not tried to contact Andrea, although he could have easily reached her at Harrah’s.

And there’s the money shot right there. If this paragraph in particular is true, then I don’t believe a word of McNulty’s story.

Behind the Steel Curtain has a great post about buying team jerseys. Although many casual fans (and wives and girlfriends) might think buying a jersey is as simple as picking a player then picking a jersey size, the fact is that it’s a complex process full of pitfalls:

I’ve gotta buy a new Steelers jersey. This has kept me up nights, and any die-hard fan in the same situation should treat this monumentous decision the same way.

See, there’s far more that goes into a fan’s jersey selection than most think. It’s a commentary of that fan’s ownership of the team. It’s a proud statement that shows the devotion and loyalty to America’s greatest team.

Is it your favorite player? Is it a tribute to the olden days of the team? Is it commemorating one of our two recent Super Bowls? These are all factors, but the “coolness” of that player or the uniqueness and rarity of that jersey is also very important. Longevity and likelihood of that player’s continued employment by the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Even if you’re not a Steelers fan, you should still read the article, as it has a lot of good “rules” for picking just the right jersey. After all, every fan should know about “The Oversaturation Rule” (Roethlisberger, Polamalu), “The Bandwagon Rule” (James Harrison, Santonio Holmes), “The Commitment Rule” (Alan Faneca), “The Throwback Rule” and more, and how they might apply to your team.

Although amusing, the post has good information that every fan should know.

via The Sacred Rules of Jersey Purchase.

College football commentator Steven M. Sipple, writing a post for the Husker Extra website, talks about the grandeur, opulence and price gouging of the Dallas Cowboys’ new stadium:

You almost have to see it to believe it. There are carpeted hallways throughout the arena. Padded leather seats in sections other than suites. An 18,000-square-foot gift shop. Cowboyrita drinks for 14 bucks a pop. A total of 3,000 Sony high-definition televisions throughout the arena, with plans to add 2,000 more before the 2011 Super Bowl.

Tuesday’s tour took our group into a suite that can be leased for $800,000 a year — which doesn’t include the price of game or event tickets but does offer a large pizza for $90 (no toppings), 12-packs of domestic beer for $66 apiece and a four-pack of Red Bull for $22, among other ridiculously priced items.

The Big 12 is apparently considering making the new stadium the permanent home of the Big 12 Championship and Sipple, who opposes the move, was recently given a tour of the facility.

via HuskerExtra.com.

This video from Reebok shows how Pittsburgh Steelers wide reciever (and Super Bowl MVP) Santonio Holmes practices making those impossible catches:

That’s pretty bad ass!