Is The Future In Good Hands?

I was reading some old articles from April in the Post-Gazette trying to find out info on the 75th Celebration Gala at the Convention Center the day before the MNF game with the Ravens. the Dog and I will be in town for the game...as will Still A South and his crew. I may be inclined to drive into the city for that as well. Anyway, I came across this and it may be telling of our future......

"The mascot, the brainchild of Art Rooney II, is a fellow with a black hardhat in Steelers colors, black overalls, a gold long-sleeve shirt with black piping, a surprisingly blond beard, black eyebrows and carrying a steel beam made of Styrofoam and, of course, a 75th-anniversary edition Terrible Towel."

Yup, Art II is to blame for Sucky McSuck Suck. Dude, your grandfather would SO not be proud!

Steelers Caught With Pants Down!

After reviewing the free agent signings in the NFL for Wednesday and Thursday, I decided to place a call to Steelers headquarters in the 'Burgh. I asked for Kevin Colbert but he wasn't around. Seems Coach Tomlin was watching film. Dan Rooney was napping. Art II was throwing darts at a dartboard with Bill Cowher's face on it. Interesting. I asked the nice lady who answered the phone if anyone over there realized the free agent signing period began on March 2nd. She assured me it started on April 2nd and that I had nothing to worry about. They were cutting players that wanted sentimental money and devising a strategy for resigning the new core of the team. I told her that Joey Porter had already signed with the Dolphins and she said that it was just a rumor. I told her to check NFL.com and she said they all saw it, but assumed the website was hacked and the image of Joey wearing Dolphin's gear was "Photo Shopped". I asked her if they were targeting any players that would get the fans excited and she told me all about this exciting punter. I asked if I could put her on hold and get the new commissioner on the line - she agreed. The commish came on the line and informed her that the free agent signing period had indeed started almost a full week ago. Bells went off, alarms sounded, papers rustled....there was some screaming followed by some crying....followed by some screaming about crying. I heard what sounded like Coach scream "What? Is anyone left? A Punter!!!?????". In all the confusion, the office manager forgot about me so I slowly hung up the phone, happy with the fact that if they sign the punter, I'll never have to hear "You know Jim, Chris Gardocki has never had a punt blocked". I'll miss that almost as much as I miss hearing that Carlton Haselrig never went to college.

Thoughts On Mike Tomlin Hiring

After soaking all of the drama in for a few days, I think I finally understand the decision of Mike Tomlin as head coach. First of all, he fits more of the "Rooney Rules" than Russ Grimm does. Tomlin is the age that they like. Tomlin is a defensive guy. Tomlin was a defensive coordinator. Tomlin is from outside the organization. The only thing Russ Grimm had going for him that the Rooney's like is that he's a local boy. Tomlin is from Virginia. Now, putting all those rules aside - I think they were just more impressed with Tomlin. I really feel that since the Steelers finished a disappointing 8-8 last season - they felt the need to shake things up. Maybe productivity was going down due to comfort level. I've seen that happen before in jobs. Someone leaves a management position and now "one of the guys" takes over and they don't command the same respect. Bringing in an unknown will put everyone on edge and they will all be busting their asses when camp rolls around to impress the new coach. I think they Rooneys discussed money with Russ at the 2nd interview and he read too much into it. The Trib source claims Grimm was told he could tell those close to him that we was going to get the job. Grimm now says that didn't happen. I have a hard believing the Rooneys offered him the job and then rescinded. It doesn't sound like them....or should I say it doesn't sound like Dan. We're all still feeling out how Art II works. I also found it a little odd that when Grimm left the building after packing his boxes for Arizona and The Whiz that he said "I'm A Pittsburgh guy, I'll be back." Does his new employer halfway across the country really want to hear that he's planning on returning already? And in what capacity did he mean that? Maybe he'd be a good fit for Pitt. And just what's wrong with Grimm anyway that he can't land one of these jobs? The Bears passed. The Cardinals passed. Maybe the Rooneys were thinking "What are our fans going to think if we hire the loser of the Cardinal's coaching job? What if Arizona goes 10-6 and we go 8-8 again. People will kill us for not hiring Ken Whisenhunt." All plausible scenarios I guess. Anyway, I watched the press conference and I was excited when it was over. This team needs a kick in the butt and it will be fun to watch Dick Lebeau preach the 3-4 to a 4-3 cover 2 disciple. We'll see which one wins out. If we draft a lot of DLs this year, get ready for the 4-3. I'm guessing they'll stay base 3-4 this year but maybe work in some 4-3 sets in special situations. Either that or the Rooneys used the Jedi Mind Trick on young Tomlin and made him retain Yoda (LeBeau) to reprogram himself. We'll see.

Reading Between The Lines

While I've never read that Art Rooney II or Bill Cowher has gone on record as saying they don't like each other - I'm starting to piece together a puzzle that says as much. While no single item points to this, many small items added together surely do. I read an article that pointed out that during Cowher's press conference, he thanked Dan Rooney and mentioned "The Chief", but did not thank Art Rooney II who has been running the team officially since 1993 while Dan remained Chairman. The same article also pointed out that Art did not show much love when he introduced Cowher at the conference - doing it very quickly. Remember, it was Art who mentioned - correctly - a few years ago that it was time for the Steelers to win another Championship. Was that a subtle way of telling Bill Cowher he couldn't hold the job forever without winning one? Was it Bill's way of telling Art to go "F himself" by resigning so soon after finally winning it all? I'm assuming Art had final say over Cowher's contract as team President. There are always going to be Cowher detractors, but the city has to be slanted in his (Cowher's) favor at least 80-20. I'm just not sure what all of this means. I read something this morning that is so subtle the article I read didn't even mention the possibility of the Art Rooney / Bill Cowher rift entering into it. Chan Gailey was added to the Steelers search for a head coach and had the recommendation of.....Bill Cowher. It is rumored that he gave no such support for Grimmy or The Whiz. So, after the Steelers interviewed Chan Gailey - they announced their shortlist for second interviews. Gailey was not on the list. Hmmmm. The second I read that, I bridged the stories together to come to the conclusion that maybe Art II used Gailey as a pawn in his chess match with Bill Cowher. It was another instance where he could take a little jab while remaining classy and not make anything public. It's just a theory. I'm not taking sides. I was a big fan of Bill Cowher. Like Still A Dog, I feel that he was too conservative at times in the second half of his career - but he did bring us a tremendous amount of success and respect in those 15 years.