Apparently I’m not the only one that’s sick to freakin’ death of those Chevy commercials with John Mellencamp’s “Our Country”. As this article at Newsweek.com notes, sports fans all across America are sick to death of the commercials, and it’s even tricked up to the columnists at ESPN and other sports sites.
Sadly, though, they aren’t going away any time soon. In fact, Chevy plans to keep running the same nine new spots throughout this NFL season. They seem to be convinced that it’s helping truck sales. John Mellencamp likes them too, as it’s given him time in the spotlight for the first time in years. In fact, the only people that seem to dislike them are us poor viewers.
Thank God for the DVR, no?
The Pittsburgh Steelers, on the other hand, seemed to be firing on all cylinders. The offense is still anemic in the first quarter, but thankfully Pittsburgh’s D is good enough to not make this an issue so far. In fact, I’m really liking the Steelers’ schedule so far this year. The first four games are against weak teams, and maybe this will give Big Ben a confidence boost. He’s actually looked pretty good so far this year: while he hasn’t been the huge playmaker he was in his first two seasons, he’s also not making stupid mistakes like he did last year. Something one of the game commentators said yesterday that I hadn’t thought about: Ben admitted recently that he spent almost all of his pre-season time last year getting into shape. He had almost no classroom time before the start of last season. Physical issues aside, this explains a lot about his performance last season, and the extra hours he’s spent studying this year seem to be bearing fruit. Also, it was good to see touchdowns from all Steeler teams yesterday. The 49ers enjoyed their 3-0 lead for about 14 seconds yesterday, as former Atlanta Falcon Allen Rossum returned SF’s ensuing kickoff 90+ yards for a touchdown. And late in the game Bryant McFadden picked off a SF pass and returned it for a TD that made the score 30-9. The Steelers almost kept their opponent in the single digits for the third game in a row… except for a SF TD with 2:22 left in the game, deep into “garbage time”. All in all, a *great* performance from the Steelers; I look forward to next week’s game against Arizona and their new head coach – former Steelers OC Ken Whisenhunt.
On a happier note, the Steelers walked all over the Bills 26-3 this past Sunday. Part of what made this post so late in coming was that I wanted to watch the game in full before reporting on it (and it was a slooooow download). And all I can say is… wow! It’s true that the Steelers didn’t put it in the endzone until the second half, kicking four field goals in the first half for a 12-0 lead – but in this case, the score doesn’t tell you how close the game wasn’t. The Steelers controlled the game in all aspects, relying on the running game to dominate time-of-possession. Although Big Ben still looks a bit rusty in the passing game, it’s good to see him not making stupid mistakes by trying to force things that aren’t there. The O-line looked really good (yaaaaa!) and the defense was brutal as usual. The Steelers outrushed the Bills 239-50 in the first half alone… and that’s as much to do with how good the Steelers looked versus how crappy Buffalo might have played. All in all, it was a great game! It’s far too early to crow about getting into the playoffs, but if the Steelers can get it together as a team in the easier first half of the schedule… other teams should look out for them in the second half! Lastly, I’m probably alone here… but I actually liked the Steelers throwback uniforms! They’re not “genuine” throwback uniforms, they’re actually a hodgepodge: jerseys based on the 1940s design, the 1962s helmets with the 1963+ stickers, etc. But since the Steelers have used their current uniforms for 40 years, it’s hard to do a true “throwback” uniform that will comply with current safety specifications.
Well, week 1 of the 2007/2008 NFL season is over… how about some of my “award-winning” football analysis?
Wow! What can I say about Saturday’s game between Georgia Tech and Samford? Tech was up 28-0 in the first quarter, and was up 45-0 by halftime in what would go on to be a 69-14 blowout. The Jackets had 380 rushing yards, punching the ball in for a record 9 rushing touchdowns. The game was such a blowout that running back Tashard Choice was pulled at the end of the first quarter, and GT played three quarterbacks in the first half alone – a forth, Kyle Manley, played in the 4th quarter.