For as much as I like/care about/know(?) about sports I never really post about it. Today…I will.
Steelers – Last week the Steelers played the New Orleans Saints. There were 3 horrific pass interference calls against the Steelers. There were two debilitating fumbles by the Steelers. There was a potential pass deflection that would have rendered the one PI call that didn’t get challenged. They went conservative on a 3rd down (on the Ridley fumble) and then ridiculously aggressive on the 4th down fake to Nix. It took ALL of that to cause them to lose by 3 points. You know what you call that? A loss. You know what you call that? Sports.
Many want Tomlin fired. “He’s terrible at game management! He never wins a challenge! He coaches down to bad teams!” Valid points. “He only won with Cowher’s players.” We are not going there, that’s silly. Cowher didn’t win with his players, Tomlin did. Also, people wanted Cowher gone and he has only become a greater and greater coach since he stopped coaching. You need not only look at what Tomlin has not or can not do but also what he has done. You cannot underestimate the effect he has on this team. Whether it be the Le’veon Bell saga, the Antonio Brown drama, the slow start to this season, the fact that he’s coaching a team that is 19 million UNDER the salary cap, he keeps the team together and focused (ummmm, except maybe against bad teams, touche’). If you get someone else to coach, can they do the things he does? Maybe they do things well that he doesn’t but can they do what he does well?
Last year, the Steelers won a bunch of close games. This year they haven’t. There were too many turnovers, 4th quarter drives surrendered by the defense and quite a few missed kicks. You can say that these are directly and indirectly his fault but did you give him credit for when they went our way last year?
Penguins – How spoiled we are. It was a terrible start to the season. Just like the Steelers, the Penguins need to stay the course (historically speaking, not specific to this year) and “In Sully We Trust.” Crosby will be Crosby, Malkin will cycle through and re-emerge, Phil will be Phil and be back, Letang is having an MVP season, Murray is the no. 1 and (providing he stays healthy, which is a big hope) will be fine (DeSmith has become a very solid no.2), the lessor stars are shining (Guentzel, Rust, Brassard, Aston Reese) and will compliment well, and, oh yeah, we get Schultz back in February.
Can we win it all again? Sure. Will we? Who knows? It’s a long season and really hard to win the cup. Relax, enjoy the process and progression of the season. Would you switch places with any other fan base? No, you wouldn’t and/or shouldn’t.
Pirates- Sigh. What can you say? There are some things to be excited about. The starting pitching could be good if Williams duplicates what he did in the second half of the season last year. Taillon should continue to progress. Archer could be what he once was and is great to have around even if he’s so so. Musgrave is a baller and someone you want to root for on your team. The bullpen is fine and ends quite well. There is some…some offense with guys that are easy to root for. However, the ownership…the ownership. THAT is hard to root for and much more difficult to believe in. It’s just not a level playing field and never will be. They’re not playing the same game as those trying to win.
College thoughts – Pitt hoops is exciting and may be going places soon. Pitt football is getting better but can they get…there? Clearly they need to offer Daequan Hardy of Penn Hills. PSU football is good but hard to root for with Franklin as the coach. PSU hoops apparently still fields a team.
MMA – Very few of you care but I still absolutely love the sport. The UFC is more of a pay per view business and less of a sport but still fields by far the most entertaining roster. They are, and will be for a very long time, the best MMA has to offer. Bellator is a nice little brother and has shed a lot of the “freak show” tactics of the past. PFL has been a nice addition to the scene and well worth your time to watch with their year long 1 million dollar champion tournament. ONE is nice and now has a contract with TBS which will make it much easier to watch.