Guest Post: Dog in Bowl Heaven

From Still A. Dog:

With nothing to do but eat fruit cake and watch college bowl games for the next week or so I thought I’d give you loyal readers (all 4 of you) some things to look for in the bowl games as they relate to the Pittsburgh Steelers. And with Fan out of touch until further notice, I can fill some dead space on the blog. So here we go…

Holiday Bowl 12/27/07
Texas DT Frank Okam 6’5” 325 vs. AZ State C Mike Pollack 6’4” 300. We definitely need a center and probably a defensive lineman as well. In this two-fer you get to watch both guys go against each other. Both should be day one if not first round picks.

Champs Sports Bowl 12/28/07
Boston College QB Matt Ryan – not because we’ll draft him (we got one worthless BC QB on the roster now, St. Pierre ) but because the Ravens are salivating over him.
Michigan State RB Jehuu Calucrick 6’0 260 – Closest thing to Jerome Bettis in this draft. But still far far away from Bettis’ talent. I’ve seen him look good and very average. Watch him for yourself and see what you think.

Alamo Bowl 12/29/07
Texas A&M FB Javorskie Lane 6’0 and Unlimited Weight division – Also looks like Bettis, but in short yardage situations only. A poor man’s Ron Dayne. Has a career in the NFL if he can lead block but he’s a short yardage back and that’s all.
Penn State LB Dan Connor 6’3 240 – Latest in a loooong line of quality LBs from Penn State . Not sure how interested we are in another LB, but this guy’s probably the best one who’ll be around when we draft.

Sun Bowl 12/31/07
South Florida CBs Mike Jenkins and Trae Williams. Both are good. Jenkins is better. I’m not real good with CBs (I thought Fred Smoot covered all the earth not already covered by water) but I like Jenkins and Williams is pretty darn good too. I would think these guys will both be gone by round 3.

South Florida LB Ben Moffit 6’2 240. If you want a LB here’s the guy I’d go for. You can make up your own mind, but he drops into pass coverage and kills QBs in the backfield with equal enthusiasm.

Insight.com Bowl 12/31/07
Only one guy to keep an eye on in this game. Indiana WR James Hardy 6’6” 220. Not as fast as many but gets open and can catch the ball. Has the size we are lacking at the WR position.

Fiesta Bowl 1/01/08
I would absolutely love to see the Steelers get both these guys.
Oklahoma OL (can play G or T) George “Duke” Robinson 6’5” 335 – He’s a monster. Can bulldoze an opponent in the run game and keep up with a speed rusher in the passing game. We need a guy like him bad.
West Virginia FB Owen Schmitt 6’3” 260 – Without a doubt the best FB at West Virginia since Jim Braxton (the blocking back for OJ in Buffalo ). He is the perfect replacement for Dan Kreider and is actually capable of carrying/catching the ball much more effectively than Kreider ever was. Dude broke like 8 facemasks in college. And who do you think springs Pat White and Steve Slaton for all those yards? Like to see him doing the same for Willie Parker. Should be available in the late second or third round. We need a guy like him badly too!

Rose Bowl 1/07/08
Lots of good players on both sides but watch Ohio State LB James Laurenitis. He’s only a junior but this guy can take over a football game. He can sometimes get lost in the crowd too. Plus his daddy was a pro wrestler on WWE.

So there. If you got nothing to do but watch bowl games, keep these guys in mind. Most likely you’ll see them all playing on Sundays soon. Comments and opinions welcome.

Guest Post: Still A. Dog on Mike Gundy

Everybody seems to have an opinion on the Mike Gundy rant that's #1 with a bullet on YouTube.

So as the Steel City Slant resident college football commentator here's my 2 cents. Mike Gundy was a real good QB at Oklahoma State. He appears to be a pretty good college coach too (the upset 2 weeks ago against Troy State notwithstanding).

My first recollection of Mike Gundy was as OK State QB against my beloved West Virginia Mountaineers in the 1987 Sun Bowl played on Christmas day. OK State had both Thurman Thomas AND Barry Sanders and won a 35-33 track meet because West Virginia, led by RB A.B. Brown and QB Major Harris, missed a 2 point conversion with just over a minute to play. Despite having these two future hall-of-fame RBs, the OK State squad was clearly led by their QB, Gundy.

OK, that's the Gundy background (pun intended). And now for mine. I have both written for, and been interviewed by, newspapers covering sports. I can honestly say I have NEVER been accurately quoted in any article in which I was interviewed... EVER. Furthermore, some articles in which I submitted the truth in writing was edited to the point that it's accuracy became suspect. Matterafact (thanks Joey T.) they didn't spell my name right half the time either.

So when Mike Gundy goes to bat for his player who some dim-bitch newspaper woman basically called out as a pussy, I'm in his corner. She, like every other sportswriter I ever met, probably doesn't have the facts. Her conclusion is wrought with speculation and opinion. And besides, the coach has more right to call one of his players a momma's boy, not the newspaper... and he isn't doing it (at least not in public).

The wall between the media and sports figures can now be built ever higher. If all we wanted to know was the score and the stats I suppose we'd be fine. But mixing this "human interest" with football doesn't blend well especially when the writer bases her work on rumor, heresay, and any other story source that fits her agenda.

Bottom line is OK State players know Gundy has their back. And that will go a long way for him. PR blunder? Perhaps, but I for one am glad he called a spade a spade and went as far as to call it a god-damn shovel. This needed to be said and people needed to hear it. Mike Gundy is the man!

Here's the link to the newspaper article to be put in as "called out as a pussy" http://newsok.com/article/3131543 but I can't connect to it right now.Here's the YouTube video of the rant. http://youtube.com/watch?v=5VytIZZzee0

From Still A Fan: Click Here to see Jenni Carlson's response.

Thanks, Dog! Interesting Story!

Miami Fight - Hypocrites Abound

I'm sure I don't have to recall here what happened in the Miami game over the weekend. What a fiasco. 31 players reprimanded, both school's officials forced to apologize for the behavior. The announcer of the game, former Hurricane Lamar Thomas was fired for his idiotic comments during the fight where he said they should meet in the tunnel after the game and said he was close to going down the elevator to join the melee. You can take the man out of Miami...but you can't take the Miami out of the man. Has any school ever given the NFL so many troubled players? I would love to know if the suspended players could have gotten into "The U" if they didn't play football. Well, here's the most hypocritical thing surrounding the game: The cable network that ran the game in the local area replays the games on Wednesdays. This week, they are going to replay the game twice - but they are going to edit out the comments made by Thomas. Huh? Why not edit out the fight? If you were so outraged over the violence and the comments made - why include the fight at all and why show the game twice? Oh - now I understand. Ratings. Money. It's kind of like the NFL toughening up rules about hits and stuff while giving their blessing to games like NFL Blitz. Do they think we're stupid?

Football Parity Gods Got Our Number

Well, this year is turning out to be pretty interesting. They really seemed poised to me to make a strong run for a title repeat. The defense is pretty much intact and the offense is only missing Bettis. The return game did miss Randel El over the first 3 weeks, but hopefully Willie Reid will put an end to that. Ben knocked a lot of rust off this week, so hopefully he's back on track. The scheduling Gods are just as much to blame as anyone as we've faced some pretty good teams so far without getting the benefit of a cupcake game. However, there is no excuse for losing to someone starting their 5th game at QB in my opinion. The fact that LeBeau couldn't get more pressure on Rivers is either bad game planning or superb pickups by their blitz blocking schemes. I'm not sure which it was at this point. I know Willie Parker will be seeing Jamal Williams in his sleep for a few nights. This game was different than the Bengals game but in some aspects it was the same. It was another game that we seemed to have in hand, and then it just got away. The coverage Townsend supplied on the TD was perfect. It was just a perfect pass from Rivers. My thoughts here are scattered because I'm trying to remember everything that caught my attention - but I wasn't happy with a few things. The trick play early in the game on the punt was atrocious. In a game that you know is going to be a defensive struggle, I don't know how you pass up the opportunity to pin them deep in their own territory. Not only that - the play looked idiotic and sandlot - not like most of their trick plays. On the flea-flicker, I can't believe Ben chose to let that one fly. Holmes was obviously covered, double covered in fact. His only other option there was to throw it too far so if Holmes didn't outrun them while the ball was in the air - it would fall incomplete. Davenport seemed to have some early success but was then yanked after one failed run. The pass rush got to Rivers when they called it early. When it stopped getting to him (or stopped being called) he carved them up which is why they lost this game. We have some real talent in our defensive backfield and to get torched by Eric Parker and whoever the heck the other clown is IS HORRIBLE! I saw Troy overrun several pursuits. Who knows what else I can't remember, I'm just a tad disgusted. I guess the football gods have said - "well, you had your fun last year...now it's someone else's turn." Yeah, you can stomp your feet and complain loudly and not be happy at all that they're 1-3, but just think how many teams have never sniffed a Super Bowl win or even appeared in one and it kind of puts it all in perspective for me. I got to enjoy a Super Bowl win and one the greatest runs through the playoffs off all-time. I don't need to be greedy......but geez, if they're going to miss the playoffs, it would be nice to miss at 10-6 instead of 6-10. Seems like the only shot we have now depends on us sweeping the Ravens and beating the Bengals in Cincinnati. There is little room for error and 3 more losses will eliminate us. Basically we have to finish 10-2 which isn't unheard of, but putting two 5-1 streaks together seems like a longshot right now. I wish since Ben had such a bad offseason and the appendectomy that he could have got his feet wet against the Titans, the Browns or the Niners. That's why repeating is so hard. If Cowher is considering retirement, it will be much easier to do with half the city calling for his job anyway. It could also embolden him to stay. Stay Tuned.

What Will TO Apologists Say This Time?

Like there aren't enough reasons to dislike Michael Irvin already....I almost want to hear his low IQ explanation for what happened to TO this week. It never fails that he backs him up because TO is his "friend". They talk. They're boiz. The Playmaker and The Big Faker (I think this was staged to some degree to try and garner sympathy). I remember when he hurt his hand originally - TJ said with TO it will always be something. Irvin started to loudly defend him asking how hurting his hand is TO's fault. TJ's classic reply was to just keep fading out and saying "it will always be something.....it will always be something....it will always be something". Tom Jackson owns this angle. There is no other angle. However, because his damn necktie knot is so big it chokes the oxygen from his tiny squirrel-sized brain, Irvin will now probably get all serious and talk about depression and say how we all need to love and support TO. Support TO? Huh? Wuh? These two friggin idiots were made for each other. I wish they would get in a car with Drew Roseypalm - invite Stuart Scott and tell him they're going out partying in the hood, lock the doors, put on the child locks....and drive the stupid car over a cliff somewhere where there is water below. Boooooo-Yah!