FAN: Harold and Kumar Go To The Movies

This is hilarious. Every so often I look at what drives people to The Slant. Haluski references are still happening at an alarming rate. I still think Stilladog should start a free Blog dedicated to nothing but Haluski and put Google Ads on it. There is money to be made! Anyway, as I'm looking tonight, there was a Google search for "Slant Dog Milinon Years". I read that four times and then just started laughing. They obviously wanted "Slumdog Millionaire". I drilled down to see where the hit came from. New Delhi, India. Nice! If more people couldn't pronounce shit, we'd get more hits! SPeaking of movies, I saw "Juno" for the first time last weekend and really really enjoyed it. Really. Great acting on the girl's part. Also saw Paul Blart: Mall Cop with the family. A few good belly laughs, but we all know I like disturbing movies....there is nothing disturbing about Paul Blart.....

FAN: Steelers Will Stop The Cardinals

I think I now know what Dick will do. After having "Dick Do" in my head for the past few days, I tried to find the best picture I could of a "DickDue". I think this one suffices. DOesn't he look like Jim "The Anvil" Neidheart from the glory days of the WWF? Anyway, after reading a bunch of opinions, I'm not sure enough credence has been given to muscling their receivers at the line of scrimmage in an effort to disrupt Kurt's timing. Everything they seem to do is 3 step drops and him blindly throwing the ball through a window. I think maybe we need to time these things perfectly....every so often in an obvious passing situation (read every down) knock their heads off on the line while sending our normal four. Maybe have six DBs in when we do this and have cover two while we try to knock them off the line. I don't know....I'm not an X,O guy at all. I just think if you're playing a timing offense you have to make them drop a pancake every once in a while. Also, I'm not sure these guys have ever faced the hitters we have back there. Maybe in the first quarter we can play off of them if we pin them deep and give them some room to make some underneath catches....then hit'em with our missiles. Another thing I thought of is the element of surprise. Nobody gets to Warner on blitzes. Maybe we don't blitz a single time until their first critical drive of the game, even if it's not until the third quarter. Let their linemen think we won't be coming all day...then unleash the hounds as they're back on their heels for a series. I think on offense, we do nothing different. They aren't good enough on defense that we have to change anything. I start running Parker and don't stop him until they do. Then, we can start throwing on first down to keep them guessing. I honestly can't see them stopping our offense, but I've only seen about five of their games this year. I don't think they can put up more than 24 points on the league's best defense. I think we'll put up 27. That's my score 27-24.....and I think Warner will have the ball in his hands with a chance to win the game late. In grand fashion, we'll force a turnover and the game will end with us kneeling.

FAN: Warren Sapp is a .....Well, Sap

We're done. We're going to lose the Super Bowl. It's over. Why you ask? Didn't you watch Showtime's Inside The NFL tonight? Warren thinks the team isn't focused. Why? Because Kurt Warner got off his team plane in a suit and looking focused. Ben Roethlisberger got off his team plane holding a camcorder. Now, while I agree with Pittgirl's assessment today at haveagoodsandwich.org, what in the heck does it have to do, Warren, with how a game will turn out more than a few days away? What a giant (and I mean giant) idiot. Every person to the man on the panel tried to get him to elaborate and he raised his eyebrows like "how dare you challenge me" and said "that's your quarterback right there, that's your quarterback....and he's got a camera....looks to me like he's on vacation." Go ahead, take a long silent pause here to think about how ridiculous pregame coverage has become. Ladies and gentlemen, we're not debating how healthy Hines Ward will be. We're not debating if Larry Foote will leave the field so Troy can slide down further in the box. We're not discussing if Fitzgerald will be a decoy and Boldin will have a monster game. We're not discussing if the Steelers are aware Warner has been sacked on blitzes only 8 times all year. We're not discussing if the best way to throw Warner off kilter is to hold up his receivers at the line for 1 full second to screw up the timing. We're discussing how Ben Roethlisberger chose to exit the plane. Stay tuned for the second half of our broadcast ladies and gentlemen, as we'll get hair coloring tips from Skippy Reed. What if the poor guy's mother said "Ben, what's it like getting off the plane and seeing the throng of people waiting to see the team?" I'm being drawn into it, I'm trying to pull a Covey.....I'm looking for the unknown "what if....." that makes sense of it....Ugh!

DOG: What Would Dick Do?

I've seen some ideas put forth that it will be the Steeler offense vs. the Cardinal defense that will decide the outcome of Super Bowl XLIII. The feeling being that the powerful Cardinal offense and the smothering Steeler defense will wash each other out. Leaving the lesser known units of each team to decide the contest. This theory has a great deal of merit. But I don't think Dick LeBeau is going to let that happen. I think he will come up with a grand scheme to throttle that high powered offense and make them play Steeler football.

It will come down to what personnel the Steelers employ on the field in down and distance situations, particularly passing situations. We know the Steelers can shut down ANY team's running game and Arizona's run game is not top notch to begin with. If Whisenhunt abandons the run quickly as I suspect he will, the personnel packages we use to react to this change will dictate the game. How soon does LeBeau pull Casey Hampton? How soon does he pull Larry Foote, a great run stopper but a liability in the pass coverage?

We cannot stop Arizona's passing attack in our base 3-4. Nobody knows that better than Whisenhunt. But fortunately for us, we do have the personnel who can stop them. Here's what I expect, and something you should watch for.

As soon as LeBeau recognizes that the Cardinals recognize running the ball is futile, he will make personnel and thus scheme changes to take away Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin. First thing is to remove Fat Casey. Instead, the pass rush will still be provided by 4 players but they will be Kiesel, Smith, Harrison, and Woodley. That leaves 7 men to drop into coverage. Larry Foote should then be replaced by the much faster Lawrence Timmons. Making the coverage linebackers Farrior and Timmons. That leaves us with 5 defensive backs being Ike Taylor, Troy Polamalu, Ryan Clark, Bryant McFadden, and either DeShea Townsend or William Gay.

If this scheme can provide enough pressure on Warner, mistakes will be made by the Cardinals and turnovers will ensue. We may have to rush 5 to get sufficient pressure but that still leaves 6 men in coverage. And as little man coverage as possible. Warner chokes like a lawn mower outta gas when facing complex zones. He's not going to get fooled like Joe Flacco. But we can make him indecisive and that may be good enough.

That's what I think Dick will do. We shall see...

DOG: What Are You Listening To? #3

On this week leading up to Super Bowl XLIII I know many readers of this site will be listening to the Pennsylvania Polka and Here We Go, and the Steel Barrel Polka.

And if any of you have links to where good versions of Steeler fight songs can be downloaded for free, please post the link in the comments. Also, please let us know what you're listening to and if you've discovered anything new in the past few weeks.

One week to go and I'm being motivated by some heavy guitar at the top of my list. Other stuff just happens along.

#5 - Albert King - The Lost Session. The name is ironic because I had The Lost Session on vinyl and just was able to locate it in digital format this week.

#4 - Dickey Betts & Great Southern - Again I found digitized versions of a couple old vinyl albums I had.

#3 Los Lobos - I have a bunch of their albums I am making my way through. Forgot how good these guys are/were.

#2 Buddy Guy - Hold That Plane! Finally found this album. It was first released in 1972 and was issued on CD in 1990 but has been out of print for quite some time now.

and #1 with a bullet this week... Frank Marino, Mahogany Rush, and Frank Marino & Mahogany Rush. So yeah basically Frank Marino music and the screaming, growling, scorching, guitar.

The bad news is that I have blown out the woofers in the both of the large Advent monitors I had in my media room. The good news is Circuit City is having a going out of business sale.

What are you listening to?

FAN: Table For Two

We do our share to help the economy by eating out on Friday nights. We live in a very densely populated area and even though new places to eat pop up almost monthly, if you aren't at a restaurant by 5:30 PM on a Friday night - be prepared to wait for a table. Once we were seated and got our drinks at Texas Roadhouse, the hostess walked past us with a middle aged couple....a rather large middle-aged couple. She walked them to a table for two. The gentleman looked at the table and asked if they could sit in the adjacent booth. The hostess hesitated, then allowed them to switch after calling it in on her space age headset. Mind you, the booths are big enough for four people to sit easily, five if there are two or three kids, and maybe even six if everyone is average size or smaller. It didn't affect me and I don't know why I care, but on the way out, you can't help but notice all the families waiting for tables. I think if I managed such as establishment I might impose a rule where if there is any kind of wait at all - two people must sit at a table for two. They'll fit, they'll just be inconvenienced, like the family of four waiting for a table. Also, these places could fit 10 more tables if they moved the benches closer to the tables....another thing I can't stand. I've read that the spaces keeps getting bigger and bigger as Americans continue to grow. If you want to get technical on me, I guess in reality that couple is adding more to the bottom line than I am due to how much food they're gearing up to eat when they sit down to strap on the feed bag.

FAN: Liberal Hollywood Hypocrites

Alone in the house last night for the first time in more than a week, instead of watching a movie we decided to watch the Inauguration Concert on HBO. It was mildly entertaining but full of hypocrites. I just couldn't stop laughing at all the mentions of bringing the country together. We don't have red states or blue states, we have United States. Puke. My question to these folks is easy: Would you have performed at this function had John McCain won and you were invited? Would these same performers say the same rhetoric if a liberal wasn't in office? Hilarious. Perform. Congratulate your candidate. Gloat a little. But please, don't insult everyone's intelligence by pretending that since Obama won, the red state's interests will be given the same preferences and we'll all hold hands and sing "Michael Rowed The Boat Ashore".

FAN: And We Miss You, Sean Morey

This is a short, but great article and really speaks to what's so special about our Pittsburgh Steelers. If you think I'm not serious about missing Morey, just go up to the "Search This Blog" area and enter "Sean Morey". Told you so. Good Special Teams coverage is an art and Sean and Chidi were very good at it.

DOG: Sixburgh = Bad Ju Ju For The Steelers

Yes, thanks to the greedy total assholes at All Pro Embroider and Screen Printing on the South Side of Pittsburgh, the Steelers are likely to go down and go down hard in the Super Bowl. And I could just kill them all I am so mad!

Have you seen the Sixburgh T-shirts being printed and sold by these knuckleheads? Well you have if you look at the picture headling this article. Now why in the world would a Pittsburgh company want to upset the karma we have established with something as stupid as this? Who are we, the New England Patriots fans?

Remember the pompous "19-0" shirts the Patriots fans were buying and wearing before last year's Super Bowl? Well this presumptuous Sixburgh bullshit the same Gad-damn thing! Yeah, just think about it for a bit. Where do you suppose those "19-0" shirts are now, Zimbabwe?

Remember when the LA Lakers had "Three-peat" shirts made up before they lost in the NBA finals? Well, I do. And history does indeed repeat itself. I think those shirts ended up in Angola.

So if you think we're going to beat the Cardinals 73-0 then go ahead and buy one of these stupid shirts. But I'd rather wait for one that said, "Pittsburgh Steelers Super Bowl Champions" and I don't give a shit how long I'm going to have to wait cause I'm prepared to wait at least another year thanks to these dickheads.

STOP THIS STUPIDITY AND GREED NOW!!

Beware of the DOG: You have been warned.

FAN: Steelers Should Fear Cardinals

The Cardinals. The Cardinals? The Cardinals? All we have to do is beat the Cardinals? And we'll have six Lombardi Trophies? The Cardinals? I keep thinking that. I thought the same thing all week as the Eagles were preparing to play them and schools and companies had "wear your green" days. Heck, it's just the....Cardinals? Wrong. These aren't your father's Cardinals. They might not even be your grandfather's Cardinals. These Cardinals are good, and they're pissed off. I've been watching much more TV this week concerning football. The Cardinals aren't happy with just winning the NFC. On Showtime's Inside The NFL Ken Whisenhunt took a clear jab at Cris Collinsworth for a comment he made a few weeks ago saying the Cardinals may be the worst team to ever make the playoffs. He's using that negative energy to fuel his team, and it's working. They're going to pull out all the stops in The Super Bowl. That's when a team is most dangerous. They've been playing with house money for weeks and now they have a pile of chips sitting in front of them and Whiz is seriously considering going "All In". And when you think about it, why not? The Steelers might have better hole cards, but the Cardinals have at least a pair of 7's. If I was Whiz, I would not just let this game play out and try to stay close until the end. I would come out like I was driving a Porsche with a 100lb anvil pinning the gas pedal to the floor. If they can get up early and take the 85% Steeler crowd out of the game and put the Steelers on their heels, it could go towards winning the game. This is not going to be an easy game. The only way it gets ugly is if we get to Warner early and often. Remember Warner in that Giants start when he fumbled 3 times in the first half or something because his head kept hitting the turf? That's what I want to see. I also saw an interesting piece on one of the shows about Ken Whisenhunt being Ben's OC. It was discussed how Whiz knows all of the things Ben doesn't like to do in games. Hopefully he's grown out of those things, but it was just 2 years ago. He will definitely be able to help the defense game plan for Ben. This has nothing to do with my prediction or how we will attack them - that will come later next week. I'm just saying, I hear a lot of people saying Arizona doesn't have a chance. As a huge fan, I want to believe that. As a somewhat knowledgeable football fan, I don't. If Warner has time to throw and gets comfortable, it could be a long day.
On a completely different note - you should catch NFL Network's Live Wire show this week. It's clips from NFL Films with some commentary mixed in. They showcased Ward getting injured and then cheering from the sidelines. It's amazing what you don't get to see during a game. When Limas Sweed dropped the TD pass and finally got up, Ward threw off his cape and started walking towards him screaming "Sweeeeeeeeeeed..........Sweeeeeeeeeeed........." as he motioned for him to come over. I was thinking, Wow, he's going to lay into him..... I couldn't have been more wrong. Ward slapped him on the side of his helmet and said something like "now you have to forget that drop and go play some ball." What leadership. What maturity. I was really impressed. Then they showed Sweed getting the crushing block with Hines yelling approval and also making a clutch 3rd down catch. You wonder if Hines didn't say anything to him if he would've folded like a AAA map. Damn, I love me some Steelers Football.

FAN: US Airways 1549 Was Brought Down

Seen swimming on the Hudson shortly before takeoff.

DOG: Cardinals & Steelers Were Once One Team

I'm sort of the resident Stiller historian around these parts so I'm going to start off the Steel City Slant Super Bowl coverage with a little history lesson.

Once upon a time back when the Germans and Japanese were the bad guys and Al-Queda didn't exist, the Steelers and Cardinals merged to form an NFL team known as Card-Pitt. The year was 1944 and it was the height of World War II.

As many of you know an ill-fated merger between the Steelers and Eagles -the Steagles- in 1943 resulted in complete chaos. So why Art Rooney thought a similar merger with the (then) Chicago Cardinals the following year would be any different, I cannot say. No doubt with all the available strong young men drafted to fight the war, football players were hard to come by. The decision was driven by pure economics. Rooney was just trying to keep his team afloat.

What I can tell you from a very old friend of mine, Joe Maloney, who lived it and fought in the war was this: The Great Lakes Naval Training Center could have whipped any team in the NFL that year. Joe was 18 in 1944 and played football in the service with Otto Graham. He told me that 1939 Heisman Trophy winner, Nile Kinnick, once had played for Great Lakes before he got there but I am unable to substantiate this. Kinnick, a Naval pilot (as was Joe) died in a training mission in 1943. But by Joe's personal account I can assure you the best football players in America were on one armed services team or another. Until they shipped out for their battlefront assignments.

This left the Card-Pitts with the worst rag-tag bunch of players in the league. Their record was 0-10. They and the Brooklyn Tigers that same year were the first teams to go winless in a full NFL season. A Pittsburgh sports writer once wrote that they should be named the Carpits because every other team in the league walked all over them.

The team played 5 home games. Two at old Forbes Field in Pittsburgh, two at Comiskey Park in Chicago, and one inexplicably in Philadelphia. They wore the uniforms of the Chicago Cardinals and were co-coached. The team set the record which still stands today of averaging only 32.7 yards per punt. They had a player mutiny. And the most famous event was a brawl they had with the Washington Redskins where police had to take the field to break up the near riot. It is said that Art Rooney himself jumped down from the stands to enter the fight but order was restored before he actually took a swing at someone. Can you imagine what Goodell would have to say about something like that?

The day the season ended the partnership was dissolved. The end of the war in 1945 assured the Steelers enough players to field a team exclusively their own the following year. The Cardinals soon recovered from this mess to win the NFL Championship in 1947 and play in the Championship game again in 1948. The Steelers never really recovered until 1972.

The Cardinals moved to St. Louis in 1960 and again to Arizona 1988 and have not even come close to a championship since 1948 when they were in Chicago.

So now we are two separate teams in two separate conferences. Two hungry dogs fighting over a single bone. I know which dog I have in this fight... the Stiller Dog!! (Mike Vick, if you're reading this from your jail cell, this in no way implies a correlation between dog fighting and NFL football.)

DOG: AFC Championship Game Summary

Well, I struggled with writing an analysis of last night's AFCCG and I had one written and it was in depth but probably too deep. Let me start by saying I have never wanted the Steelers to win a game so badly since they were in Oakland for the AFCCG played in January of 1975 prior to Super Bowl X.

1. Troy Polamalu proved why he is the premeire Safety in the game today an why it is not Ed Reed. Three plays come specifically to mind. The pick-6 interception to seal the game obviously. The stuff of Flacco on the QB sneak on 4th & 1 after Willie Parker's fumble. And the tackle of Flacco for a 6 yard loss on a designed QB sweep. There's more but those stand out. He was feeling the Samoan Warrior inside him last night and it showed.


2. Speaking of Ed Reed, did he even make the trip from Baltimore to Pittsburgh? Could have sworn they introduced him on the screen but I can't remember seeing him. Here's Ed Reed in a nutshell. He loves to play centerfield. Catch fly balls and return them for touchdowns. And he's very good at that. He want's no part of run support in any way, shape, or form.


3. Big Ben proved himself yet again last night. People need to stop worrying about his scrambling and improvising and just enjoy the experience of watching Ben Roethlisberger work. Sometimes he gets in trouble holding on to the ball but with risk come rewards. And like my grandmother used to say, "You gotta take the bitter with the sweet." That 65 yard TD to Santonio was as made up a backyard play on both their parts as it gets. Improvisation that results in big plays is a thing of beauty on a football field. Don't believe me? Two words. Immaculate Reception.


4. I knew Terrell Suggs was playing possum with that arm in a sling. I watched him beat Max Starks and Darnell Stapelton both numerous times... with one good arm!


5. The injury to LeRon McClain in the Tennessee game was the one that really had the biggest impact. He was barely used and barely useful when he was used. No running game meant Joe Flacco had to throw and LeBeau had the boys ready and waiting for that.


6. Not only did LeBeau force Flacco to throw. But more specifically he made him throw to the middle of the field. I have, by nature of my proximity to Baltimore, watched almost all the Ravens games this season. And Cam Cameron protected his prize rookie by giving him the sideline patterns to throw. Almost nothing over the middle where sneaky linebackers and safeties could pick him off. All season. But LeBeau took away the sidelines and forced him to to throw over the middle. Result? Three interceptions for a guy who hadn't thrown a pick since (guess when)... that's right, the last Pittsburgh game in December!


7. Hines being out really hurt the offense. But Santonio, to his credit, stepped up.


8. Hines has taught Limas Sweed to block. Perhaps he could teach him how to catch a football.


9. Not worried about Willie Parker's yardage totals. After all he was facing the best defense in the NFL not named the Pittsburgh Steelers.


10. Willis McGahee needs to watch more film... specifically the 2008 Pittsburgh-New England game and specifically Wes Welker over the middle.


11. Once Ryan Clark got up and walked off I was fine with whatever else happened to McGahee. Two things immediately came to mind, "That's what you get for coming over the middle." And the other was, "What do you think about your MF-ing bounty now, bitch?" I can honestly say (and I said this at the time) "I hope he can walk again. But I don't give a good God-damn if he ever plays another down of football."


12. The Ravens paid so much attention to James Harrison that Woodley had a very good game from the other side.


13. Old man DeShea keeps making plays. I figured him for the scrap heap after Super Bowl XL but you just can't keep him out of the lineup. The picks on Flacco and Tony Homo a few weeks earlier were both nice plays.


14. A very very solid game by all (except for the Limas Sweed drop of a sure TD). Even Willie Colon got his weekly penalties out of the way early instead of waiting until Ben throws a TD.


15. Jeff Reed is overlooked for his value to this football team.


16. Mike Tomlin. What can you say? I love this guy. It's official. I'm in the Tomlin camp and I'm not going back. I was on the fence about him for a long time. But ever since I questioned his decision to keep Arians after last season, I have not a single thing to criticize him for. And I love his quotes. My favorite is his answer to a question as to whether he was worried about the timeout John Harbaugh called just before Reed attempted his game winning FG in OT of Ravens game #1 this season. Tomlin replied, "You can't ice a psychopath."


17. Last but not least. Mrs. Dog called to see how the Steelers were doing just as the Ravens had taken over on their 13 with the score 16-14 and needing only a FG to win and 4:29 on the clock. But she was calling from Portugal where it was 3:00AM! I started saying, "We're up two but Baltimore's got the ball and all they need's a field.... Polamalu just intercepted. He's running from one side of the field to the other. He's got blockers. Holy shit he's going to score a TD!!! This game is over." Then I thanked her profusely for making the call.

So on to Tampa to face the Cardinals of Whiz & Grimm. Ironic that the three top candidates for Bill Cower's job all find themselves in the Super Bowl again.

FAN: Steelers Super Again

I feel the need to pay tribute to Pittgirl tonight. I'm going to do my own version of What They're Really Thinking. I hope you enjoy. I don't have many things to say about the game other than there is nothing in the world as fun as beating the tar out of the hated Ravens. Nothing. Well, maybe sex....but this is a close second. I will try the humorous route and allow Stilladog to bring the real analysis. Enjoy.

Second Choice was "I need to drop a few pounds"

Second Choice was "Hi Mom, Told you I'd be easy to spot!"

Second Choice Was "Denzell ain't got shit on me"

Second Choice Was "Live Long and Prosper"

Doesn't Need Second Choice

Second Choice Was "Super Bowl means LESBIANS!"

Second Choice Was "The missing young man was last seen entering Heinz field around 5:00 PM EST on Sunday January 18th"

Second Choice was "Lower....Lower, Mitch.....Lower"

DOG: And It Is Written...

"The non-believers were taken aback as he smote them with the pure intensity of his being."

FAN: Gran Torino Works

Falling asleep on the couch at 9:00 PM on a Friday night is a curse. I'm typically a weekend night owl and I live on six hours of sleep, a gift given to me by Still A Dad. I love waking up early even on weekends as it's prime computer time....quiet.....peaceful......relaxing. Well, you do the math - if you fall asleep at 9 and live on little sleep - yep, I woke up at 4 AM on Saturday morning. I tried to go back to sleep but my brain and body were ready to roll, heck I got an extra hour in. The heat didn't kick back on yet and the house was a nice comfy 60 degrees. Now, how was I going to spend these bonus hours? It hit me that a friend at work gave me a copy of Clint Eastwood's Gran Torino to check out. It wasn't filmed in the theater with a handheld, it was a copy that a radio station had "or something". I didn't care about "or something", I just wanted to see the movie. All I can say is "Wow". The commercials made it seem like Clint was just going to walk around blowing people away - like Josey Wales. I don't want to give any of the movie plot away so I'll try to remain vague in my review if I can. The movie works on so many different levels it's a tribute to the story and script. Religion plays a huge part in the movie. Sacrifice and confession are the themes and atheism is also discussed. Racism is also a huge part of the movie.The movie whacks you over the head with how easy it is to be racist from afar, but how hard it is to be up close. If the movie didn't have enough themes going on, it also dives head on into relationships between fathers and sons. Clint's character is so "standoff-ish" that his sons don't even know how to talk to him. He definitely was one of the "old school" dads that just barked orders and everyone followed them. There are several phone calls between him and his sons that last a total of 30 seconds. I have trouble relating to that because Still A Dad and I can burn up a phone line for 30-45 minutes at a time talking like two old blue-haired ladies. As the movie progresses though, you start to see that almost every interaction between him and his kids is because they want something from him. Even his granddaughter takes part in the wanting. It becomes more obvious that his family doesn't really know him because they never really tried to know him. When somebody does try to get to know him in the movie, they succeed. It's hard to describe without mentioning spoilers, but if you can overlook the sometimes poor acting by some of the foreign cast and the young priest, I think you'll really enjoy the movies. The religious parallels that you are forced to draw at the end of the movie are worth the price of admission....well, unless you watched a pirated copy.

DOG: Judgement Day For Tomlin

We are on the cusp of judgement day for Mike Tomlin. The test is Sunday. The AFC Championship Game is the reason Mike Tomlin was brought in to coach the Pittsburgh Steelers. Not because he is African-Amercian, not because anybody thought he was a better coach than Bill Cowher or Ken Whisenhunt (he may be but...). He was hired specifically to win this game.

Tomlin himself uses phrases like "look at the body of work" and "we are what we put on tape." And looking at his body of work to date I think Mike Tomlin has done a wonderful job in his two years as our coach. At times I questioned him. And to be sure he's made some mistakes. But there is much to like about the man.

First of all, fans can bitch all they want about pounding it into the line on 4th and 1 and not making it. But I don't question the decision to go for it at all. This is something that drove me crazy with Cowher who would sooner kick a field goal than put an opponent on the run/in the grave. And a similar decision for the FG cost Jeff Fisher a playoff game just last weekend. Tomlin will go for the kill shot when it's there. As I always say when playing tennis, an aggressive mistake is OK. When you crawl into a shell is when you lose. Now the play selection on these calls.... well, that's another story for another day.

All week I have been hearing from Shitbird fans and Stiller fans alike about our record when playing an AFC Championship game at Heinz Field. But I say to you that was Bill Cowher's legacy. We got Mike Tomlin now. Let's see what a man who is not afraid can do! How many of these games has Tomlin lost? That's right, none.

Because of our ineptitude when it comes to winning the AFC Championship at home (probably worsened by Bill Belichick's cheating in two games) when Cowher resigned, the first thing the Rooney's looked for was a coach who could get to the Super Bowl. Cowher got there twice but should have been there at least three other times. It gnaws at me that we have had teams that good but could not get over this hump at home. They got their man. So now the time has come.

It is all fitting and proper that we should play the Baltimore Shitbirds, our greatest rival, in this game. What would it mean if we would beat the Miami Dolphins? But beating a worthy opponent is indeed a mark of character. So it's on.

Over the past two years I have said, and I've heard many others say, "I'll reserve judgment on Tomlin until he's coached a few big games." We'll he's been in a few big ones with mostly positive results. But the big test looms. By midnight Sunday we'll know exactly what we have. It'll be on the tape and committed to the body of work. This week and this game is Mike Tomlin's time to prove to the world he's the man. And I for one can think of no one else I would want leading my team, the Pittsburgh Steelers, into this game.

Here We Go Steelers! Here We GO!!

FAN: Torture

George W. Bush made his last speech tonight. I kind of feel bad for him. Why, you might ask? Why not keep the subject matter light and to football? Because I honestly believe some of the things he says. When he says he made unpopular decisions but kept terrorism out of the US for 7 years after 9-11, I applaud him. I don't care if you do or not. I do. I read another article on torture and it's effects coming from our side. It's interesting and hopefully fair. Consider if you will, if we didn't torture a few of those monsters and another attack happened on our soil. Can you imagine? IMAGINE? People blast the poor guy as it is - I can't imagine for a second what it would have been like if another commercial airliner went down in the middle of DisneyWorld at noon on a Saturday. Then the same people would have complained that he didn't do enough. Did the Iraq war create a front away from home? Yeah. Was it successful? Define successful. The article goes on to say that while no terrorist attacks happened here, they increased around the world. First of all, that number counts every roadside bomb used against our troops....so it's a bullshit number anyway. Second, maybe if those countries followed a more proactive plan and turned some screws, their numbers wouldn't have went up. Isn't that a fair question? Was Bush perfect? Hell no. Is Obama the second coming of Christ? Hell no. Change? Is that why the new cabinet is full of ex-lobbyists and Washington insiders? His main man was having hush-hush meetings with a Governor selling a Senate seat? C'mon. When you vote for a President, you're voting for the lessor of two evils most of the time. People say Obama inspires them. Why? I hope he inspires me. I'll give him a chance, but I don't inspire easy. I have a feeling his handlers are a lot more liberal than America knows.

FAN: Meggett Has Duchovny Syndrome

As Kid Rock likes to say "HIStorY rePEATS itSELF aGAIN". Dave Meggett is busted taking candy from the cookie jar again. When you read the article, you see how many times he's had issues with this. Several times the charges were dropped. The man needs locked up for a long time. I was going to make a Chris Berman reference and then it seemed so familiar that I searched Steel City Slant for "Meggett" and found this gem. Creep.

DOG: Beano Cook

Beano Cook

I love Beano Cook. He is a Pittsburgh icon that few know much about. Beano has probably forgotten more college football than any living human has ever known... and Beano hasn't forgotten much. His analysis of college football and players is always spot on.

He is renowned for his quick wit and historical knowledge of all things sports.

A few years back Beano suffered a severe illness and had pretty much retired from the public eye. But fortunately for all of us -not the least of which is Beano himself- he is back now and as good as ever.

I heard him being interviewed on ESPN radio today while I sneaked out of the office in the early afternoon to exchange a Christmas gift at Dick's. Anyway here's a couple things Beano said that cracked me up.

Regarding his predictions for the college football national champion over the past 10 years Beano said, "I've had one of the two teams playing for the championship in every year but I've only gotten two years right... which is one more than Bob Stoops (coach of Oklahoma). "

Host says, "Would you like to hear my predictions?" Beano says, "Do I have a choice?"

And here's my favorite becase Fan is sure to be posting lots of stuff about American Idol now that I hear it's back polluting the airwaves and cables again. Host says, "Did you see American Idol last night?

Beano says, "No."

Host says, "Why not?"

Beano replies, "I don't have a high IQ. But it does contain three digits."

Long live Beano Cook!

Dog: Quoth The Raven...Poe

People keep asking me, "Dog, you live among these idiots. Are these Baltimore Shitbird fans stupid or just delusional? They talk like they've won the Super Bowl already."

I say, "Do you know Edgar Allen Poe? The guy who authored The Raven, the piece of literature for which their team is named?" And I quote from the writings of Edgar Allen Poe himself, “Stupidity is a talent for misconception.”

This defense of theirs is based on false bravado. That's why they are always talking. Always woofing. Always making themselves sound tough. They have created a misconception for their fanbase, and the media as well. Those who are really tough don't have to say a word.

FAN: Called Titans Loss In October

It's damn hard work being right all of the time, although Still A Dad will want to change that to most of the time. Slantedamus strikes yet again.

FAN: Steelers Explode on Chargers

Not many random musings. Not sure about the fake punt, but I really think Tomlin thought the defense was playing at the top of their game at the time. However, if that's true, why not punt and really pin them back. The last 10 minutes of the game are meaningless on defense. I don't care what happened, the game was over. Once they got started, Ben was decisive and sharp....and strong. Simply the best Willie Parker has looked this season. I'm not sure he had a negative carry? This was a great team victory...defense, offense and special teams. I'm a little hungry. Hmmmm, anyone for some roasted raven? Mrs. Fan bought me the complete works of Edgar Allen Poe for Christmas. I think I'll wait until after next Sunday to start reading it.

DOG: What Are You Listening To? #2

Eddy "The Chief" Clearwater

OK, so it's been 9 days since our first What Are You Listening To segment. Let's see whether anybody is expanding and exploring their musical tastes or if they are stuck in the same old rut that the music industry has boxed them into.

On my music delivery systems we have shifted our focus from Africa to Chicago and New Orleans mostly. Here's what is coming out of the speakers nowadays.

5. Marcia Ball - Soulful Dress, Live!, and Peace, Love & BBQ.

4. Boozoo Chavis - Down Home on Dog Hill. Some very interesing and good zydeco.

3. Professor Longhair - Crawfish Fiesta. Used to have this on vinyl. Finally got it digitized.

2. Duke Robillard and Roomful of Blues. Listening to some of Duke's solo albums and some Roomful of Blues when he was the lead guitar player there too.

And the number 1 artist being played on Sonos and iTunes this week...

1. Eddy "The Chief" Clearwater - Cool Blues Walk and A Mean Case of The Blues.

I honestly don't know how Eddy "The Chief" Clearwater escaped me for so many years in light of how much blues music I listen to. Clearwater is an older man who was a contemporary of the West Side Chicago blues men like Magic Sam, Otis Rush, and Buddy Guy.

What are you listening to this week?

DOG: Sunday Morning At The Dog House

At the split-level Dog House on a sunny Sunday we're thinking about:

Home field advantage? My ass. Nonetheless... Thank you Baltimore Ravens for awarding us home field advantage in the playoffs before we ever even take a playoff snap. Thank you for beating a team we could not beat and... we'll see what happens next. I hope not the same fate that beset the home teams yesterday.

Snow and cold in Pittsburgh this morning. Proof that there is indeed a God and he does answer your prayers.

When was Jillian Barberie Reynolds (former NFL on Fox weather girl) ever fat? She's touting Nutri-system but I don't see any evidence of her ever being overweight. Unlike Mike Golic.

Did Whiz and Grimm have the Cards ready to play last night? Wow, they absolutely ripped the Panther's a brand new anal oriface!

Pacman Jones is looking for a job again. Must be a gang somewhere looking for a high profile thug... Oakland anyone?

All my firewood is covered in a skin of ice this morning. Might have to chop up some old furniture to stay warm!

Just trying to calm my nerves between now and 5:00pm today. Got some things I need to get done but honestly I can't wait for the kickoff.

What is on anybody else's mind as we prepare to embark on our real Super Bowl run?

FAN: PETA Out Of Control

I hate PETA. Hate. Is there a stronger word than HATE? Loath? Anyway, you can almost give them a pass about baby seals and a good clubbing or things of that nature. I am an animal lover but I'm also a meat eater. If the cow has to die for me to eat a rare steak, the method is rather arbitrary to me. So, now that we all understand that point, I can even kind of understand them getting upset at how cows and pigs may be put to plate. Chickens? Come on. Chickens? Chickens are like....like.....chickens. String them to a wire hooked to a battery and spray them with water. One chicken that's a family egg layer might be something special to someone. A pen with 10,000 chickens in it is food for mass consumption and you have to look at it as such. They are nothing but a number. Ok, so now we know where I stand on that. Lobsters? Wait...are you kidding me? Lobsters? PETA please. Lobsters? I thought a Lobster was half a step above an insect? Lobsters? If PETA would stick to puppy mills and shit like that I wouldn't have such an issue with them. Lobsters? And Ok, Holmes was old, but why just free him? Hell, his life is almost over....free one of the young ones! They probably put him in the harbor and he was dead within a day. When you think of all the wasted hours of energy that PETA puts forth, you wonder how much good could be done in the world with it. Go be a big brother or big sister to some young kids in homes who need direction. See? I'm not heartless, just practical. Throwing red paint on a jacket made of rabbit and trying to save a lobster. Whew. I'm glad that makes them sleep better at night.

FAN: Playing The System

Didn't we just talk about stuff like this? Dude, if I was even slightly tan, I would go buy an Arabic T-Shirt and buy a $200 ticket to Florida. What's $200 when you can score like this?

FAN: Yeah, I Said "Playoffs"

I know, I know, I know.....you need your football fix. I'm sorry. Bad week at work for that. Maybe I'll explain later, maybe I won't. Anyway, I thought The D, O double G would be filling the football need but he must be up to no good as well. So, anyway, what are my thoughts on the upcoming game? Well, here goes - I think we're going to win. I think we're going to win, but it's going to be as close as the last game. Philip Rivers is much more confident than the last time we saw him and they have a new shiny weapon in Sproles. True, we won't see much of LT if at all, but Sproles is a much shiftier back. While we plug the middle and run side to side well - if this dude finds a little crevice - Troy will have to hunt him down or it could be six. I'd like to say we have a coaching advantage, but I'm not sure if we do. Norv is usually a MUTT in the playoffs, but he does have much more big game experience than Tomlin. Normally I would say Norv will choke - but he didn't against a very hot Colts team. I'm hoping the difference in this game will be our defense scoring. I think we can score enough points to win, and I think our defense can hold them to one point less. I hope Dick pins their ears back and goes after Rivers early and often. I'd like to see him get rattled and have a few 3 and outs in the first quarter. We'll see. Hopefully we'll both get a chance to wax poetic about a defensive struggle with either the Titans or Ravens. I would much rather play the Titans, but let's get past San Diego first. A new football word for the lexicon:

Norvally: according to a rule, general custom associated with losing big games. exp - They norvally lose in the playoffs.

FAN: Black Noise, BlackBerry Overuse

So, feeling strong after the addition of Belimort to the football lexicon, I have another creation that I'd like to add to the business vernacular. Office buzzwords are so overplayed it's ridiculous. I go out of my way to avoid using them unless I'm an early adopter or I think they're really warranted. For instance, you'll never hear me say "my guy can't do that, he doesn't have enough bandwidth." How about Outside The Box? When people say that to me, I just roll my eyes, right in front of them. We have a guy in our office pretty far up the food chain who can't get through a meeting without saying the word germane. One day he wasn't in for our daily meeting and being the smart ass that I am, I actually said, "Hey, somebody else is going to have to say germane today." Half the attendees cracked up and half of them looked at me like they had no idea what I was talking about. I have a theory about those who had no idea what I was talking about. They have no idea that he says germane every day. You know why? Because they are too busy using their BlackBerry. This is not a rant about Research In Motion's BlackBerry. Heck, I own one. But you won't see me pull it out and check my email while I'm talking to somebody. You also won't see me on it in a meeting I'm in or staring at it blankly as I walk through the halls. You see, people today are too enamored of shiny objects. The people who are pecking away responses at meetings don't get it that only 5% of what they are sending needs to be answered at that very moment. This is my issue. Prioritization, my friends. The CEO is speaking at the daily meeting I'm in and I'm positive people are answering emails about lunch and what they watched on TV last night. A BlackBerry means you can get and answer your email on the go. It does not mean you have to answer Sheila when she asks you if you think Stacey is being a bitch lately. At least not right now. The instruction manual does not say "Stop whatever it is you're doing when an email comes in an answer it or you will be vaporized." So, what's my new buzzword? Have you heard of white noise? As in "Sort through all the white noise and pull out what's germane....er, I mean relevant." Well, I've noticed a trend since being at my first place of business where almost everybody has a CrackBerry......and I'm going to call it Black Noise.....and you are going to forward this article to everyone you know who may think this is funny.....or agree with me. Have you noticed after hours or on weekends when an important email comes out, everyone feels like they have to chime in? Look at me, boss, I'm checking my emails - on the weekend no less! Hmmmm, how can I make sure the boss knows I saw this? I know, I'll reply back to everyone - that way even Sally who never works on weekends will know I'm doing my fair share and she'll see my time/date stamp on Monday. So, on Sunday at 12:57 PM, 37 people get an email from this chronic purveyor of Black Noise that reads.........."I agree". Great! Thanks for that! Bob, who is currently in the local produce aisle looking for lemons feels the buzz in his pocket and starts to sweat. "Shit. Shannon got first. What should I do?" He looks around slowly contemplating his options. He doesn't want to do it, but feels like he must. You see, Bob is aware that he does this thing that hasn't yet been named, but he can't help himself. Slowly he begins to type. He hates himself. "Me too...talk more Monday." He clicks Send and grabs another lemon as he will now need more Vodka to hide his shame. Ladies and Gentlemen of the workforce, I give you.....

Black Noise: (noun) any communication stemming from a RIM BlackBerry (typically off core hours) that adds nothing of importance to a thread. In most cases sent so the sender can feel better about themselves for being involved in some process, even if they don't understand the process in which they are trying to seem a part of.

Now you, my loyal readers, can finally be an early adopter with "Black Noise". Start to use it at your office. Scoff at how much Black Noise Scott sends out on Saturdays. Use it in front of those you don't like without telling them what it means so you will seem more in the know. Go forth, and spread thy word.

FAN: Nature Wins

As I sit here eating a grapefruit that my sister in NH sent from Florida to western PA to our grandmother's house which I then drove to Eastern PA because they can't eat them due to adverse interactions with their medications.....I have to think about the brilliant scientists who design medications. How frustrated do those people have to be that they can't beat the all-powerful grapefruit? I did a little Googling and found page after page dedicated to this very subject. How on Earth can all of that R&D money be spent on drugs and the one thing they can't skirt is this largish yellow citrus fruit? Isn't that just odd? We've had a robot on Mars for 5 years rolling around taking pictures and we can't make a Cholesterol drug that isn't thwarted by something from the produce department at ACME.

FAN: Artie Timing

Mrs. Fan gave me "Too Fat To Fish" by Artie Lange for Christmas. It's a great book, especially if you're a Stern listener. There are stories in the book that I've never heard before and a few that are expanded on. I finished it this morning after just starting it Tuesday, but what a weird coincidence I had reading it on the couch today. I just found out a few hours earlier that John Travolta's son, Jett, had died. He was 16. Near the end of Artie's book, he tells a story about what a huge ass pain Jett's mother, Kelly Preston, was on the set of Jerry Maguire. Artie had a chance meeting with Jett, then 4, while passing baseball on the lot. I think I read one time in the past that Zuko had a kid named Jett....now, all within the same morning, I read of his death and of him as a kid on a movie set. Weird. Weird. Just plain weird..............

DOG: What Are You Listening To? #1

King Sunny Ade

A while back I promised (threatened?) to add some cultural diversity to this blog by adding a more structured music segment outside of Fan posting some stuff about his basement band and some various Kiss and Rush related items... and of course his occasional blues promoting. So in my attempt to stimulate dialogue here, here goes.

So starting this first week of 2009 I'm going to post some things that pump out of my speakers or flow out of my new Bose noise cancelling headphones and pour into my ears. It's going to be very free form. I'll post any number between 5 and maybe a dozen or so of artists I'm currently listening to.

What I'm looking for is to find out what anybody who reads this blog and these posts specifically is listening to themselves. So please put in some comments. You can even make fun of my stuff or ask questions about it. I'll reply as best I can. I am always astounded at what passes for popular music and others probably scratch their heads at what I listen to. So here's what I've been listening to this past week with any applicable comments:

1. The number one thing I'm listening to is a huge variety of African Music. In fact it's what I've got on right now. I put together a play list called Musique Afrique that is a mix of all kinds of African songs. A couple prominent artists in my list that you might want to check out on your own are: King Sunny Ade, Fela Kuti, and Zaiko Langa Langa.

2. Earl Scruggs Revue - In my vain attempt to locate an album by Earl Scruggs called Live at Austin City Limits, I ran across the Earl Scruggs Revue Anniversary Special Vol. 1. So I've been listening to it instead.

3. Little Walter (Jacobs) - I can just put this on and listen to that Chicago blues all day long.

4. Squirrel Nut Zippers - Hot. I've had this album since it came out in 1996. And I don't remember liking it as much as I do now. Never throw out those CD purchases you think you went wrong with. Just listen to them 12 years later!

5. Guns N Roses - Chinese Democracy. It's pretty good. Can't see why it took 10 years to release. Nor why all the fuss about it being prematurely released on some internet site.

6. Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown - Just came across an album of Gatemouth's from 1977 that I thought was out of print called Black Jack. This is like finding a brand new release to me. Never heard any of this before.

7. Dave Edmunds - A DJ on the old WHFS in Annapolis named "Weasel" used to play this guy all the time back in the mid-80s. I just acquired a bunch of his albums and have enjoyed rehearing a lot of this stuff.

8. The Doors - Got ahold of a bootleg of a Doors concert in Pittsburgh in 1970. When Jim Morrison was still alive and the Civic Arena was called the Pittsburgh Ice Arena.

9. The Del McCoury Band - Had a buddy of mine go to the big Christmas Jam down in Asheville, NC that Warren Haynes of Gov't Mule & the Allman Bros. puts on every year. And he was talking about Warren jamming with bluegrass/country legend Del McCoury. So I thought I'd bust out some of Del McCoury and give it a new listen.

10. Todd Rundgren - Just picked up the bigger part of his discography that I didn't already own.

Just realized I should have done this in reverse (10-1) order like Letterman. In a week or two I'll do this again and I'll do it that way. Until then, what are you listening to?

FAN: Opportunistic Lawyer

How can you read this article and not wonder if this was a complete setup. Obviously these are bright people involved. Who better than a Muslim lawyer to board a plane with an entire group of Muslims and proceed to openly talk about the subject matter while the passengers are boarding the plane? They get kicked off, interviewed, cleared......and now he is already talking about a civil suit. They will pay him to settle and he'll make millions and write a book. God Bless America.

FAN: Technically I Own Belimort

On 2/3/2008, I referred to Bill Belichick as Belimort. I recently looked at searches that landed at SCS and one of them was for Belimort. I did my own Google search and found that even though one other person used it, I used it first. When you think about it, if you were to merge Patriot's coach Bill Belichick with any other famous villain - who would it be? It flows so beautifully. Maybe Adolf Hitler, but how could you phrase it? Darth Vader? Same issue. I wish this would catch on and become part of the football lexicon. Just think of the marketing opportunities if Belichick embraced this idea. Even though Disney doesn't make the Potter movies, they do distribute them...don't they? Belimort T-Shirts would fly off the shelves. I can see Patriots authentic jerseys with number '666' on the back and "Belimort"stitched into history. I am hereby petitioning all NFL fans, heck, anybody that reads this, to copy as many football fans as you know with this link. I want to add Belimort to the NFL vernacular. Can't you just see this character stalking the sidelines, breathing heavily through his mouth, turning quickly in disgust after every bad play...... My dream would be for Belimort to be as big as Chucky during the week Mr. Gruden went to the Super Bowl. Voldemort, meet Bill Belichick.....brought to you by Steel City Slant.

DOG: New Year's Reflection Back

Welcome to 2009! People celebrate New Years in lots of different ways. To me it's no big deal and a good night to stay home. It's nothing more than the night before a ton of college bowl games. That's all. So, how did I spend New Years Eve? I took a look back. Way back to January of 1975 to be exact. Figured the ringing in of a new year was cause to get a little nostalgic (that's a fancy word for geezing). And a great opportunity to check out one of my best Christmas gifts... All 5 Steeler Super Bowls on DVD!

So I decided to start at the beginning and look at Super Bowl IX first. First off, the DVD is mastered from video tape which does not age well at all. It's hard for me to believe the NFL could not repair the images any better than what they did while digitizing the output. But nonetheless, the poor quality of the image (which is painfully obvious when watching on a big screen HDTV) gave the DVD a realistic feel of watching the game as it was broadcast in 1975. Like if you had rabbit ears picking up WIIC (later WPXI channel 11 in Pittsburgh). Furthermore, it contains the original broadcast announcing. Curt Gowdy, Don Meredith, Al DeRogatis, with Charley Jones as the sideline reporter who is never seen and comments only once about wind and the flags surrounding Tulane Stadium in New Orleans.

I used to hate Curt Gowdy at the time. He was always washing the balls of the Oakland Raiders and that was inexcusable for me. Al DeRogatis was useless. Don Meredith was both entertaining and enlightening. And for sure, Meredith did not take the game so damn serious as we do today. Dandy Don used a very light hearted approach. Down home Texas-style, which was just his natural personality. The announcing was so much better than the douche-bags they put on the air today. I didn't like Gowdy but he was worlds ahead of anyone manning the booth now.

But wow, I did not realize how the NFL has changed. Goodness, it was an eye opening experience. And it started right at the kickoff... from the 35 yard line. Here are just some random differences I noticed and other interesting notes:

• Fred Cox, the Minnesota placekicker was still kicking "straight ahead." He was one of the last of that breed.
• Blocking rules have really changed. I saw Ray Mansfield chop Carl Eller at the knee while he was engaged with Gerry Mullins. That's a clear penalty today. Not so in 1975.
• Dwight White and Jack Lambert were getting in all kinds of late shots, punches and shoves after the whistle. No flags.
• Anybody who thinks the '08 Steeler defense is anywhere near as good as the Steel Curtain needs to look at this game. Our current defense is no doubt the best in the league. But the Steel Curtain (which hadn't even peaked in 1975) was overwhelmingly better.
• There were an alarming number of white men playing for both the Vikings and the Steelers. I'd guess twice as many as today.
• Almost every Steeler offensive play involved Rocky Bleier shifting from tailback in the I to a two back split backfield.
• Terry Bradshaw had a rocket arm. But he was very undisciplined. And he was a very good runner. There were several plays called as designed runs for Bradshaw in this game.
• The Steelers ran quick trap after quick trap and did so succesfully.
• Jeff Siemon and Jackie Wallace had great games for Minnesota which are completely forgotten. The Purple People Eaters came to play. Most of the rest of their team did not.
• Minnesota coach, Bud Grant, also won four Grey Cups in the CFL as a coach, played pro football with the Philadelpia Eagles and Winnipeg Blue Bombers, and played NBA basketball with the Lakers! He took his team to 4 Super Bowls but did not win any.
• A lot more tripping and clipping penalties back then too.
• On one 4th down play for the Vikings they actually called "mutual offsides" which resulted in no play. Nobody made a big deal about it. Today there would be multiple replay reviews, and a million people crying like stuck pigs. The game just went on and the Vikings punted. Very similar to the famous no call in the Steeler-Colts playoff game in '06.
• Franco Harris was a beast. Absolutely at the peak of his game in 1975. Inside or outside he was a punishing runner.
• Players were much smaller. Although they were still big men, not a 300 pounder to be found on either roster.

I remember watching this game live when it happened. But looking at it 34 years later I realize there was more to see than what I saw. Probably true about lots of things in life when we take a moment to look back.