DOG: Big Ben at The Crossroads?

People have come to the understanding now that Big Ben Roethlisberger will throw an interception in the red zone (if not the end zone) in practically every game. It is to be expected. It is to be planned for. It will most always come at the most inopportune moment… not that there is ever a good moment for such a thing.

Ben will play 99% of the game flawlessly. He’ll escape sacks like Houdini to extend and make plays. But he’s guaranteed to throw that one pick that will prove to be costly in the final score. This results in either potential points that were never realized, or points for the opponent, or both. It’s exactly that kind of play that cost the Cardinals the Super Bowl when Silverback picked off Warner and took it 100 yards the other way. And it’s this kind of play that contributes to the Stillers miserable season when it happens continually, week after week.

To explain why this happens I offer “The Robert Johnson Theory.”

As you may or may not know, young Robert Johnson aspired to be a blues guitarist and singer. But by all accounts, the young man couldn’t play for shit. Only knew a few basic chords. So one Mississippi night he went out to a certain “Crossroads” and, as the legend goes, made a deal with the devil. The deal went that the devil would guarantee Johnson fame and fortune as a musician in exchange for his eternal soul.

As the story goes Johnson disappeared into Arkansas for, according to varying accounts, from a month to six weeks. He returned to Mississippi and could suddenly play his guitar better than anybody around. Johnson indeed became a huge star in the ensuing years. Until the devil decided it was time to collect on his end of the deal and Johnson was given poison whiskey. He died a horrible torturous 2 day death. So how does this apply to Big Ben you ask?

Before that final drive in last year’s Super Bowl the Devil whispered into Ben's ear, "You want to throw that winning TD pass don't you? I can make that happen for you."

Ben says, "Yeah man, what do I got to do?"

"Just throw the ball to Santonio, I'll do the rest. The only thing is next year you're going to throw an interception in the end zone every game. And you have to bang an ugly skank for me out in Nevada. Deal?"

And Ben replied, “Deal!”

So, just as Robert Johnson 75 years earlier traded stardom for his soul, Big Ben traded that winning Super Bowl TD and the fame that came with it for a sexual assault lawsuit and season full of interceptions in the end zone.

FAN: Unleash The Truth

I'm guessing Mike Tomlin didn't make it to the end of the movie Gladiator the day he was watching it and quoted it leading up to the Raiders game. Maximus dies, dude. Not only does he die, they killed his family! They didn't just kill them, it was more graphic than that when explained to him. They were left hanging at the property as well. Sound familiar? In the end he wanted death! He wanted to join his family in death and thought about it often. Now it really makes sense, no? You can just see Ike Taylor Swaggin' down in Miami after the season. Just close your eyes, Ike...close them....see the sand....feel it beneath your toes......that's right....drift off......let it go..............................

FAN: NFL Draft Is Four Months Away

Swagga. Ike Taylor......Swagga. Hey Ike, you're supposed to be able to stop the most dangerous receivers in the league. Maybe that doesn't include bush-league players. I'm so disappointed. Not mad, disappointed. We now need to win out and most likely get help from other teams. Unleash Hell? Did Mike Tomlin really say that? We're going to unleash Hell in December? We're just not that good on defense right now. It's sickening. When William Gay went down and they surrounded him on the field, I thought it was like a YouTube fight video and the other Steelers were kicking him out of view of the cameras. I could care less about the call on Mundy. We were going to lose regardless. The only way to not lose is to take the lead with about 3 seconds left on the clock. I was almost positive that Tomlin wouldn't let the team respond this way this year. I was wrong. Can they make the playoffs? I don't know. They can get hot and win out, but Geez who wants to go at it as the sixth seed again after winning it all last year? I say the second they are mathematically eliminated, lose out and draft a DB. We have to draft a DB. I'll scream bloody murder if they don't draft a corner because William Gay is not an NFL corner, I'm sorry. Also, how freaking appropriate that Sweed got his hands on the Hail Mary at the end of the game.

FAN: HOF Part II

I never got around to posting the second half which will be more abbreviated. It does give me something to do while Still A Stroke gets schooled on faster freestyle starts.

After big fat Aretha did her set with help from Annie Lennox, the set went dark and I heard James say "We're Metallica and this is what we do". They played a song by themselves and then had Ray Davies come out for "All Day and All Thru The Night". Cool. Then Lou Reed came out for "Sweet Jane" and I thought Lars rushed him something fierce. Very noticeable to me. Very. Next was something really cool, Ozzy came out! They played "Iron Man" and went into "Paranoid". Sweet, sweet metal! Ozzy left and they ended with "Enter Sandman".

There was a short Bluesish segment with Jeff Beck where my main man Buddy Guy came out and played "Let Me Love You Baby". Beck also played "People Get Ready" and Sting sang which was OK but I would have preferred Rod Stewart on vocals.

Lastly U2 played too long a set with Bono allowing the crowd to wash over him with his ridiculous Jesus poses. Just sing, man! I didn't understand Fergie and Will I Am being there but they sang with U2 and Mick Jagger on a tune in which Fergie really did sound good on backing vocals....very powerful. Mick, much like Bruce, is almost embarassing to watch at this point. He moved So much trying to get every signature move in within 3 minutes that its a wonder he didn't end up in traction!

All in all, even with my little digs, I've still watched it almost 3 times through already. Its worth buying for the Beck, Ozzy, Buddy and other cool sets I mentioned. Enjoy!
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FAN: Rock-n-Roll Hall Of Fame 25th Year Concert

Wow. Did anyone else see this? I set the DVR on Sunday but just finally watched it last night. Tonight I FF'd through it to show Mrs. Fan and Still A Stroke a thing or two. They got nowhere near as hyped up as I did, but it's mostly because it wasn't Beyonce or Madonna. I'm not going to lie, parts of it were just "meh" for me, but some parts had me screaming emphatic "Yeahs" in an empty house and raising double rock signs while riding a recumbent bike. On to a detailed review.....The two concerts totaled over 5 hours but HBO cut it down to 4. If the DVD is ever released I hope to buy it as it's really a superb rock reference.

The show opened up with Jerry "Killer"Lee Lewis singing Great Balls of Fire solo with only a piano. He looked and sounded like shit but he was still 100% rock-n-roll. He flipped his seat when the song was over and it was symbolic but kind of sad really. I don't think the Killer is going to be around much longer. During the piano solo in the middle they did an awesome video montage of his hair flying around in his younger days. Still A Stroke couldn't believe it was the same human being but that's the point I was trying to get across.

The next set was Crosby, Stills and Nash. I have nothing against them and I know Stills is a good guitarist, but they just were never my bag of tricks. They stayed out and played the part of house band for a while while others played with them. I know I will forget people over the course of the review but I think Bonnie Raitt did a song with them as well as Jackson Browne and James Taylor. Of course being a blues fan I liked the Raitt part the best, but I could have done without the wife beater and James Taylor. Again, no offense, they just don't speak to me. I like some of Taylor's music and he showed some life on stage but this entire set kind of bored me a little. Taylor sang "Love The One You're With".

Paul Simon came 0ut next and did a really entertaining set. He's a very capable guitar player. He did a solo hit or two including "Call Me Al" which included some strange dancing by Paul that looked out of place at his age. He's old enough to scare young children for God's sake. Dion DeMucci joined him for "The Wanderer" and then Stills and Nash came back out for "Here Comes The Sun". Simon then introduced Garfunkel and the place went bat shit. Art needs a stylist as he still looked like his usual self from their heyday. It was weird in that it looked like Will Ferrell dressed up in makeup. I have to say though that I enjoyed the set they did together. "Sounds of Silence" sounded great. HBO cut some of their songs but left in "Bridge Over Troubled Water" which I could have done without. They also cut Paul doing "Late in the Evening" and I love that song. The band was really tight and I was enjoying all the percussion. I hope it makes the DVD.

Stevie Wonder came out next and tore it up. He did one song with an embalmed looking Smokey Robinson. A 100 year old man should not have the smooth face of a 7 year old. Creepy. Ew. John Legend joined him for a song and I have no idea who that is. BB King joined him for what else but the only song he ever plays on TV "The Thrill Is Gone". Uninspired I was. I got fired up for what came next though as Sting walked out playing bass to "Higher Ground" while they traded lyrics. Cool. The song then morphed into "Roxanne". Sting tore the bass up on Higher Ground which sounded more like the Peppers cover with Sting on bass. Sting had a lumberjack beard that I didn't mind on him. He's a solid solid musician in my book. Not sure who was on drums for this set but he kicked ass. The next song ended up being my favorite of the concert....Jeff Beck strolled out for "Superstition" and brought the house down. His solo was electrifying. My daughter was like "how does he DO that?" and I said "Baby, that man is only 4 years younger than your Grandpap. Pay attention cause they won't teach this in music class". I was inspired to listen to Beckology at work today. What a showman too. He doesn't move much so every movement he does make carries extra significance to me. Understated and perfect.

The first night's set ended with Bruce doing too long a set in my opinion. Billy Joel joined him for 2 songs, Sam Moore did a little with them. John Fogerty did a good rendition of "Desperate Son". Then I was totally blown away....Tom Morello from Rage Against The Machine came out which I thought was a really odd pairing and they did "The Ghost of Tom Joad" together. Morello knocked the solo out of the park. It was crazy. Bruce also had a very good guitar solo which shocked me to be quite honest. My main problem with Bruce is that he has become a caricature of himself and he doesnt realize it. From the first note of the first song he was strumming that crazy ass strum he does and rearing back to sing and making faces like he had a redwood tree trunk stuck in his ass....the first song! He looked like he just finished a marathon. Stop acting and only do that stuff if you're really feeling the music. Don't fake it. It looks retarded. Darlene Love also did a song but I don't know her either.

I'll do a second post tomorrow or Friday on the rest of the concert. It's too long to do in one post and I need my beauty sleep. I will say this.....I was curious the entire night as to why the concert was in New York when the HOF itself is in Cleveland. Isn't that a slap in the face to Cleveland? I also understand every band isn't still together or there have been deaths and other things that occur, but it seemed odd to me from reading the set list that Paul Simon and then Paul & Art got so much time. Looking back into the history and influence of everyone in the HOF, were they THAT significant? Who knows. More later...... I suggest setting your DVR if it's going to be on again or trying YouTube.

FAN: Tiger Shows True Stripes

I haven't watched Saturday Night Live in 15 years but I just bet you there's going to be a Nike commercial for "Just Do It" this weekend. What a horse's ass. All the money in the world. One of the most powerful people in sports. A wife that is like an angel so sweet you'd swear she was made out of cotton candy. Look at her! A beautiful child. Respect. All gone. Gone! G-O-N-E. For what? Some strange. McNair had to have it and it killed him. What if Elin chasing Tiger with a golf club caused him to crash so hard his head went through the windshield and he died. Can you imagine! What a fascinating way to go out. I hope sweet sweet Elin had a huge prenup. LOOK AT HER! Dear God. A swiss model/nanny and your child's mother - all traded in for a Las Vegas cocktail waitress. Cock and tail can only lead to divorce, my friend. Elin, that girl doesn't deserve her picture to be shown, the media whore. She can't compete with your toe jam. How stupid is Tiger to think she wasn't taping messages and keeping texts? All for what? Chris Rock nailed it. Men will do almost anything for NP.

DOG: Regression To The Mean

Fan, the mathematician knows exactly what I am talking about. There is an average level of play in the NFL. And given enough time ie. high enough number of samplings, each NFL team will gravitate towards it. It helps explain why teams don't win forever or lose forever. And yes I know Cleveland has been losing in what seems like forever and there is such a thing as Standard Deviation from the mean. But that's not what I'm talking about.

I'm talking about what Bob "The Ol' Gunner" Prince used to call "Hidden Vigorish." He would say that the laws of hidden vigorish indicated that Willie Stargell was likely to hit safely in his next at bat because he had gone 0-18 in his current hitting slump. He stated it as "The longer you go without a hit, the closer you come to getting one." In other words, gravitation to the mean.

And that's what we have with the 2009 Pittsburgh Steelers. This year's Stillers have now lost 5 games, all of them by less than a TD and 2 in OT. Last year's Stillers won many a close game with last minute heroics and defensive stands. Off the top of my head we beat San Diego, Cleveland (first game), all 3 Baltimore games, Dallas and the Cards in the Super Bowl by less than a TD and/or in OT. And there's probably more but I'm not taking the time to look it up.

What this means is that we are naturally gravitating or regressing to the mean. We are becoming a very average football team. And if things don't change in December, that's exactly what we'll be. A very average 8-8 or 9-7. Can't remember what coach coined the phrase, "We are who our record says we are." But that's the truth.

FAN: Miracle Needed

Well, our season won't officially be over if we lose today as I believe we were 7-5 after 12 games in 2005 and still won it all. However, I feel that if we lose, our chances of making the playoffs are shifted to about 33 percent. I'm hoping Ben is really going to play and they gave Dixon most of the snaps Friday as a red herring. Did I use that right? I don't care if I didn't. If Dixon plays, we are in serious trouble and will have to rely on the ground game. The thing is, the Ravens should be attacked thru the air. What a pickle. Is Mike Tomzak busy tonight?
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FAN: Green Jello

Because I know Stilladog didn't have any today...I took a picture of the famous family Green Jello salad complete with carrots and pineapple pieces. It's a tradition for it to be present at the big turkey day meal. I don't crave it during the year but I eat it for symbolic reasons. The Gen X'ers refuse to prepare the dish so one of the "elder" statesmen of the family usually brings it. It was Still A Dad's mom's go-to dessert dish for pot luck meals. Here's to you Grandma S. I can't remember if we made fun of it when she was alive, but we sure do now. I assume at some point one of us X'ers will break down and start making it for nostalgic reasons. Happy Thanksgiving!
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FAN: Make Room For Kids

What are you thankful for this Thanksgiving? I'm thankful that I'll be spending it with my daughter at my sister's house in NH. In fact 5 sets of parents will be there with their healthy children. Wouldn't it suck if your child was in the hospital for the holiday? Wouldn't it suck if your child was in the hospital period? I know mine likes to play Wizard 101 online and Stardoll and mess around with Alice and play her Wii and kick my tushie at every game she has and then beat me at some Nintendo DS game. She's not a "gamer" but she has game. Back in the day her dad was a gamer. Grew up on the originals. I was there to witness it all. I even have a standing coin-op in my game room. So, read this post and help out That's Church.com because a good thing is being done over there. Steel City Slant has already pledged $100 to the cause. A Paypal account is being set up on Monday and Mario Lemieux's organization is holding the money until the donations stop coming in or hit $10,000 which is the goal. If you are too lazy to read the post (you know who you are!) Ginny aka PittGirl at That's Church was trying to get Burghers to vote in a contest where the winning city would receive $10,000 for a gameroom for their Children's Hospital. Sadly, the Burghers lost. Ginny promised to organize a drive to raise the $10,000 to provide the room if they lost. So, game on. It will be state of the art and really cool for the sick kids, some of whom will never leave, to be able to head to the room and do some hardcore gaming. Give $5, $20, $50....or more. Make it hurt a little.

DOG: Judgement Day Awaits

Dog's Team!

It's taken me a few days since our ass-whipping at the hands of the KC Chiefs to collect my thoughts and make an an attempt at rationality in this post.





It's not Thanksgiving yet so I'm going to give the Stillers at least one more game before I throw in the towel on the season. But it's Judgement Day in Baltimore on Sunday night in so many ways.





First of all the team seems utterly lethargic ever since the win on Monday Night Football in Denver. No energy, no ambition, no sense of urgency, no motivation. Something is clearly wrong. And I sense (speculate) that something ill is brewing internally. Furthermore, my suspicion is that it relates to a disagreement between some members of the coaching staff and the players, particularly the veteran players many of whom have two Super Bowl rings. Perhaps it is discontent with Ligashesky, coach of coverage units who have given up what 5 KO return TDs and 1 punt return TD in 10 games? Or strong disagreement with how Bruce Arians puts together a game plan and tactically calls plays? My guess is both.





Arians continues to call plays in total grab-bag fashion. It's as though the Magic 8-Ball is giving him the plays. Our OT possession in KC felt like a monkey was in charge. Mendenhall for 7, Mendenhall for 3, Mendenhall for 9. So it's 3rd and 2 about 1 yard outside of Reeds FG range and I just know Mendenhall is going to blast into the line and either make the first down or get it close enough to either go for it on 4th or kick the FG. But nope. Moore, our slowest back, is in the game instead. And to try what? A sweep right. One of the few running plays (outside of a reverse) in the playbook where there is potential to lose yardage!!





Coaches are not putting our players in position to succeed. Sometimes the players are to blame with poor execution. But they need to be in position so that perfect execution is not always required.





So what else we got? Well Jell-o Head Ben gets his umpteenth concussion yet is still going to play in Baltimore. What difference does it make? Between in-game concussions and kissing a Chrysler at 30mph he isn't going to see 40 anyway. Might as well let him play football while he can, right? Besides it's not like we have anyone we can count on as a backup. I love Dennis Dixon but the Ravens would love to see him play more than me. And has it gotten so bad the name of Tyler Palko has been mentioned? He sucked at Pitt and he sucks now. If Tyler Palko ever suits up in a Steeler uniform for a game, it is a guaranteed sign that the Apocalypse has begun.





But we also still have Troy out. And Kemo is going to miss at least 3-4 weeks now. We have got some stepping up to do all over the place. From Tomlin on down to the 53rd man there needs to be a collective effort this week or else we bag the season. The Bengals might tank, but they won't tank bad enough for us to win the division unless we beat Baltimore now.





It's a big challenge for Mike Tomlin. He's great at spinning his words at press conferences. Let's see what he can do when the chips are down. I can't wait to see because I still believe.

FAN: Inventions

Why is it that we can put a man on the moon, but we can't make a fountain soda dispenser that doesn't spray syrup and water like we're trying to reach the far corners of our lawn with it? The damn things also continue to run far too long after releasing the dispense lever! The easy answer is to not use them, but my God man, build a better freaking mousetrap!
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FAN: Trap Game

This is the kind of game I hate. We lost to the Bungles last week and are feeling down. Troy is out and our record without him resembles the Lions of Detroit. We're playing at Kansas City which is a tough place to play even when their teams aren't that strong. Larry Johnson is gone so we don't have to gameplan for him. I have no idea what to make of today's game.

It's way too easy to say we should manhandle this team as the current World Champions. This is a yardstick game for me. I want to see character and resolve. Determination. Business-like. I want to surgically take this team apart and take away their will. I don't want a 4th quarter panic and an ugly win, although make no mistake about it, we need to win - ugly or not. A loss today will put them in a chase for a wildcard as they would most likely be off the bubble with a loss. It's good to play a team KC after last week. If they have any desire at all to repeat this year, the ass kicking should begin today. Enjoy the game.
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FAN: Mall Santa Too Early

We went out to dinner last night and then headed to the mall to pickup a few things. We had dinner at a German restaurant and I was the only one who ordered something authentic. I had a sausage sampler which had one veal, one pork and one beef "link". They were so big I "Brat" some home. Poor joke, sorry. German potato salad and spaetzle rounded out the meal which started off with a roasted red pepper filled with goat cheese and drizzled with vinegar. To top it off we shared a slice of black forest cake and fresh cream that was the size of a cinder block. Yum. I asked the waiter and he confirmed that they buy some of their menu items from the German farm that I took Stilladog to when he last visitied. Cool, but I digress. What's stuck in my craw is that last night was Novemeber 21st and Santa was at the mall already. I know for years stores start decorating the second Halloween is over and one store we were in two weeks ago was already rockin' Christmas tunes, but usually you don't see the big guy until after Thanksgiving. I was kind of bummed out. When I met up with Mrs. Fan and Still A Stroke to go to the car I siad something about it and they told me he was out last week when they ran over to get something. Still A Stroke no longer believes so it makes it a little bit easier on us this year, but when the little kids have to put up with seeing Santa 6 or 7 weeks before the big day - I think it's too long. You can't stay excited that long. Marketers can have the airwaves and the storefronts. I'm just saying it was 56 degrees here last night at 8 pm. I was wearing shorts in the mall. To see Santa? Really? It just felt, well, wrong.

FAN: Man or Woman

I gave blood today. I've been giving pretty regularly for the past 10 years or so. It makes me feel good the rest of the day, like I did my good deed. It always amazes me that the questions continue to change. I used to get a kick out of the verbal question "Have you ever paid for sex or traded sex for drugs, even once?" or something to that effect. I used to say "Does buying my wife dinner count?" and I would get a polite chuckle. That question has since been moved to the open laptop portion of the questioning. I just gave back in May and I swear I had a new question today. It was asked verbally too...not part of the laptop questioning...which made me think it was new as well. The question? "Were you born a male or a female?" Howard Stern has been talking a lot about Chaz Bono lately and I almost laughed when the woman asked me. I wanted to be witty with her but I could tell I was dealing with Ms. Blood herself so I better not be a wise acre, lest I find myself booted out.

DOG: Wait Until Thanksgiving

After yesterday's debacle at Heinz Field and other similar occurrences throughout NFL stadiums I am reminded of why I always say, "You never know what you have until Thanksgiving."

Really what I'm saying is that you don't have a clear picture of what kind of team you have until at least all the bye weeks are finished and every team has more than ten games under their belt. So let's not be so quick to evaluate.

What do we have in the Stillers? It's still not clear. Can we beat a quality opponent without Polamalu in the lineup? Can we cover a kickoff return... ever? Will we be able to win enough games to make the playoffs? Nobody knows for sure, not even Mike Tomlin.

In my mind I think I'll have a pretty good idea after we play the Ravens in Baltimore. By then too, we'll know if the Bengals will collapse against the rest of the league. But they sure didn't against last years AFC Championship Game finalists, going 4-0 against them. Will the Ravens make a run? Before we head into December we should know what to expect. But not before. It's all about managing expectations.

Around the league it's all the same. Look at the Giants. They did more in their bye week to contend for a division title than if they'd have played a game. At 5-4 they find themselves a game out of first place in the NFC East, one game back of Dallas who they play in 3 weeks and have already beaten in Dallas!

Three weeks ago the Broncos were riding high at 6-0 with a 3 game lead over the Chargers in the AFC West. Now they are reeling after losing 3 straight and find themselves tied with San Diego going into their showdown for the division lead this coming weekend. The Chargers, who I ridiculed after the first month of the season, now look like the team so many folks picked in the preseason to represent the AFC in the Super Bowl.

What it boils down to is that anybody sitting at 7-5 or better after 12 weeks has to be taken seriously as a title contender. I would venture to say that an 8-4 or 7-5 team at that point has a better shot at winning the Super Bowl than either the Saints or Colts who are cruising through the schedule at 9-0 right now.

So be patient. Stay the course with Mike Tomlin. We'll either step up or step off in the next couple weeks. There's plenty of work to do. You know it, I know it, and Tomlin knows it. But until Thanksgiving weekend is over let's not make too many preemptive judgements. After you've flushed the last of your digested holiday turkey into the nearest sewage system then, as Tomlin is prone to say, "We can evaluate the body of work to date."

FAN: They Ride

I hardly have an opinion on the game yesterday. I would rather watch paint dry then to rehash the game. There were many things I didn't particularly like. I wasn't even going to post - but it's still killing me. Why did they have to go for so much so soon when they started their last possession? Is it just me thinking that? I've seen Ben in this situation countless times before and he typically has to get in rhythm before throwing deepish. You live off WR screens all year where you can usually get out of bounds any time you want and you shy away from them here? I don't know, maybe in the big picture they did what Cincy wasn't expecting them to do in this situation, but I thought they should have started off shorter and getting Ben in rhythm.

I also thought throwing a challenge flag in the first series would have been a good idea. Typically I don't like using them early but I thought it was very apparent he didn't get two feet down. It would have forced them to punt and taken 3 points off the scoreboard.

Who knows. I'm just glad I'm not still 25 working in an office full of raging Eagles fans. A loss like this would have stayed with me through Wednesday easily. I think I let this one go emotionally at around 4:25 PM yesterday.

Note to Jeff "Skippy Skeeve" Reed: The next time one of your kicks is being returned and it's a no-brainer that the return man is going to be within 5 yards of you within the next three seconds.......do one of two things......either A. lay down and roll towards the ball carrier angling yourself to either pin him to the sideline or force him back to a trailing player or B. pick the spot on the field you think he will be in within the next three seconds and hit the dirt making like a snow angel. You can cover far more real estate while waving your arms and legs than you can standing up and spinning in a 360. M-kay? Why the Special Teams coach can't spend 10 minutes at every practice teaching these guys how to break down a ball carrier is beyond me. You don't have to tackle him! Break him down! Slow him down or force him out of bounds you flaming idiot. Remember when Norm Johnson killed that return man? Wow. Give me 25% of that effort you baffoon.

FAN: Hitler or Saddam

So here we go again.... another NFL week acting like the Colts and Patriots are the only two teams playing. I get really sick of it. Manning is on the cover of SI so Peter King can suck from his teet. Picking who I want to win this game is easy, the Pats. Should the Steelers make the AFC Championship game and it's not a home game which is a very likely scenario, I'd much rather play at New England than go to the sissy, sterile, noise added dome. As for actually rooting for the Pats to win, ain't gonna happen. I hesitate to even watch the game because the idiot announcers are already in a thesaurus this morning frantically scribbling down other words for awesome, phenominal, perfect, elite, gay ......etc.

DOG: What Are You Listening To Now? #12

Thanksgiving is coming up and it's time to share your listening pleasures with your family when they come over (or you go over) to dine on turkey and all the stuff that's usually served. And you need to savor the moment and all the food... even the green jello with carrots if necessary. And give thanks for all the many blessings you have, including the fact that you haven't had to go to the family funerals of any of the folks seated at the table. 'Cause someday you will, or they'll be going to yours.

So if you aren't entertained by whatever football is on the tube, scare the living daylights out of them with what you've been listening to! Since I'll be going somewhere that it's best if I just keep my mouth shut, give my thanks, and go outside to play with the resident dog, the best I can do is give you some stuff to check out.

Here's what the Dog's been listening to and giving thanks for finding:

Honorable Mention:

Dr. Hector & The Groove Injectors - Vital Signs.

Otis Grand - Nothing Else Matters

King Biscuit Boy - Official Music

10. A whole bunch of Nighthawks albums from the late 70s & early-mid 80s from when Jimmy Thackery played guitar for them. Probably my choice among these is a live album from the PsycheDelly in Bethesda, MD. It has covers of J. Geils' Whammer Jammer and Little Feat's Tripe Face Boogie. A couple of my all-time favorite tunes.

9. Sonny Criss - Mr. Blues Pour Flirter (Jazz in Paris) from 1963. Sonny Criss was such an outstanding alto sax player it boggles my mind. Perfect tone. Perfect note selection. I have a number of his albums and they're all good but this might be the best one.

8. Todd Wolfe Band - Stripped Down At The Bang Palace. Todd Wolfe used to be the guitar player for Sheryl Crowe (cause Sheryl sure can't play for shit) until he decided to make music he liked to play and started his own band. Again I have a few of his albums and this would have to be considered his best effort to date. Either that or the Live @ Manny's Carwash album which is more pure blues than this one.

7. James Cotton - Live At Antone's Nightclub. All blues classics performed live by classic blues men. Matt"Guitar" Murphy & Luther Tucker on guitar, Pinetop Perkins on piano, Willie "Big Eyes" Smith on drums, Calvin Jones on bass, and of course "Mr. Superharp" James Cotton on blues harp. This was recorded in 1988 before Cotton's throat cancer and subsequent surgery which left him able to speak gruffly but not sing.

6. Papa Don McMinn - Home Blues. Don McMinn heads the house band at The Rum Boogie club which is at the corner of Beale Street & Highway 61 in Memphis, TN. If you're ever in Memphis do yourself a favor and go check him out.

5. Big Bad Voodoo Daddy - Live. This is one of Mrs. Dog's favorites for right now. Big band swing, blues and boogie. A terrific representation of their music and a good place to start if you're ever motivated to check them out.

4. Gov't Mule - By A Thread. This is the new album by the Mule. The first 5 tracks are worth the price of the album. Particularly 'Broke Down On The Brazos' which features guest Billy Gibbons from ZZ Top.

3. Debbie Davies - Holdin' Court. This is a brand new release from Debbie Davies. It's an all instrumental blues album and it's terrific. She may not know room 234 is on the second floor of a hotel, but she damn well can play!

2. Johnny Nicholas & The Texas All-Stars - Rockin' My Blues To Sleep. Texas/Louisiana Blues & Dance Hall Favorites. I was unfamiliar with the music of Johnny Nicholas until very recently but this stuff is right up my alley! One to be thankful that I ran across for sure.

And at #1 this time around we have a tie...

At 1b. we've got Larry Carlton - Sapphire Blue. Wow is this a quality recording. Carlton is absolutely great on this one. It's way better than I imagined when I picked it up. It's from 2004 and it's a great example of guitar jazz in the new century.

At 1a it's Brad Paisley - Play: The Guitar Album. I cannot tell you how good this album is. Words do not do it justice. And accordingly there's vocals on only 4 tracks. The top pickers from all over Nashville (Steve Wariner, Vince Gill, Albert Lee, Mark O'Connor etc.) join in too as do BB King and Buck Owens. It's not your usual Brad Paisley country album that's for damn sure. Unrestrained by the record company machine, he cuts loose on stuff he just likes to play. There's tributes to his guitar heroes sprinkled throughout including Eric Johnson, Les Paul, and Dick Dale. And songs as diverse as their titles indicate 'What A Friend We Have in Jesus' and 'Cluster Pluck.' You got to hear this one.

So what are you listening to? Taylor "Flavor of the Month" Swift, like everybody else?

FAN: Veterans Day

I can't believe I had to work today. I thought I always used to get Veteran's Day off. Some of the ridiculous things we get off for and we don't get this off. It's a slap in the face to the boys. Everyone should stay home and watch Saving Private Ryan followed by Black Hawk Down. This goes out to my three deceased great uncles who all served in the second world war....Stilladog's father Carl, "Chew" and "Boke". My other great uncle, Chick, served as well but saw no action. My cousin Doug was an Army Ranger in the 80's. Last but certainly not least, Still A Dad served in the Air Force as an MP in Japan. Veterans kick major ass. Hoo-Rah.

DOG: Lil Evil Strikes Twice

Tyrone "Lil Evil" Carter

With Ryan Clark sitting due to his Sickle Cell condition at high altitudes, Tyrone Carter stepped up in his place pulling in 2 ints., one going for a pick-6 to destroy the Denver Broncos.

Lil' Evil Carter exemplifies why the Stillers will be in the Championship hunt all season no matter what big evil may befall them. Depth, my friends, depth. There is no team in the NFL who can plug replacement players in for starters and have less drop in quality play than the Stillers. Fox for Timmons, Carter for Clark (and earlier for Polamalu), Kirschke for Smith and then Eason/Hood for Kirschke. Almost universally across the board this is true. The depth at RB is amazing. Of course nobody can replace a player with the unique skills of Roethlisberger or Polamalu. But we have quality subs at their spots. And remember it was Joey Porter getting ejected for picking a pre-game fight with the Cleveland Browns that gave us our first glimpse of the Silverback in action! Injuries sometimes create opportunities.

I hope we can avoid any more serious injuries. But we are better equipped than most to weather the storm.

So it's back home to Pittsburgh where we must duplicate last night's effort against the Bengals. If the Broncos were pretenders (and we proved that they were) it's about time for the tents to fold on Cincinnati too. They have already stayed too long at the fair. A Bengals collapse is overdue and we're just the ones to kick off that party! Here We Go!

DOG: Caption This Picture IV

Hey, my steak smells like fish!

Now that, folks, is a "rare" piece of meat. In the name of fair play from Caption This Picture III, go ahead and caption this one!

FAN: Kevin Smith At Philly's Merriam

This isn't my photo and I don't even think it's from last night, but he did change into a bathrobe at some point in the show. Smith came out right at 8:00 and had me in stitches right up until 11:05. The theater had a hard out of 11:00 so he was limited to 3 hours. I've heard he can go on-and-on for hours without stopping. There were still 15 people in line when he ended the show last night. My stomach hurt from laughing. Smith's appeal to me is crazy. He is without a doubt one of my favorite story tellers of all time. I've seen all the movies several times each and own them all. I listen to every podcast. I read the blog. I don't Twitter...... He has an uncanny ability to take any question and make the response entertaining. He can talk any sailor under the gutter yet his IQ probably surpasses the CEOs who ruined the stock market. I can sum up the funniest bit of the night in one sentence: Kevin tells a story of how Bruce Willis cannot be directed. That's eleven words. It took 20 minutes to tell the story. I wish it took 40. I was laughing so hard. I'm not sure I've ever laughed harder. It would be interesting to tally the curses. Some of the things he talks about with his parents are just wrong....but side splittingly funny. He opened telling the very touching sotry of his Dad's last night before he died....how perfect it was..... The way he is able to talk about it is very healthy. Since most of the audience has the same tastes in television and movies, when he says "do you remember that scene in... it was like that" you look around and 95% of the crowd are nodding. His Dad died the night of his last Q&A in Philadelphia and it's the first time he's been back for a Q&A since. A great opening and it just got better from there. Kevin is like asparagus. You either love him or you don't. Rarely any middle ground. I love him. I love some of his movies much more than others - but what he does best is tell stories. If he could bottle that shit, I'd buy a case a week. Go see him, buy his "An Evening With" dvds or go YouTube some of his Q&A stuff. It's classic.

FAN: Dad Scores Again

Still A Stroke had a fun Wednesday night as I was able to score four Miley Cyrus tickets for her new tour. I bought them right after the presale started and got row 10 right off the side of the stage on the first level. This is a shot of the catwalk off of the front of the stage, not of the video screen behind the stage. When she came out on the catwalk, they had a really good view. She took her friend and her mom and had a blast. I would have most likely went, but I had Kevin Smith tickets for last night and didn't feel like back-to-back concerts. Do I like Miley? Meh. I would have been looking at the moms....lol. As Miley's age increases, her clothing decreases. She tries to say all the right things, but it's hard to push Jesus when you're dressing like Jezebele. Seriously, I don't care in the least how she dresses. You can't expect her to be 20 and still dress to the liking of 7 year olds, but isn't she still 16 or something. Towards the end of the concert she got on a motorcycle that "took off" and came right past their seats as you can see here. Stoke claims she made eye contact and exchanged waves. I'm sure everyone in that area has the same story, but it's cute and I'm glad she had a good time.

DOG: Caption This Picture III

Weenies & Ham!

Is there really any doubt from what part of the pig this slice of ham was cut?

FAN: Right On The Numbers

Dog's post about jersey selection is spot on. While we were walking out, I said with absolute authority that there is no chance that another team in the league has as many different numbers worn as the Steelers. No chance. Zip. If we went to every home game this year and recorded every jersey worn by a fan, no team could come close...especially if the criteria was that there had to be at least 5 at any one game to count. A quick rundown of the all-time roster by jersey would reveal the following possibilities...most of which we saw last week:

3 - Jeff Reed (saw a few myself!)
7 - Roethlisberger (a good 20%)
8 - Maddox shouldn't count but they do exist
10 - I still saw Slash jerseys but most are now Holmes. This should count as 2.
12 - Bradshaw
14 - O'Donnel shouldn't count either, but they are still out there. He did go to a Super Bowl.
20 -Bleier
24 - Ike Taylor
26 - Woodson
29 - Foster
31 - Shell
32 - Franco
33 - Hoge
34 - Mendenhall, Andy Russells have to be 0ut there as well!
36 - Bettis
37 - Lake - Borderline
39 - Parker
43 - Polamalu
47 - Blount
51 - Farrior
52 - Webster
55 - Porter
56 - Woodley
58 - Lambert
59 - Ham
66 -Faneca, I saw them
68 - Greenwood
75 - Green
76 - Lipscomb, I saw one....I went with one!!!!
82 - Stallworth
83 - Miller current, Lipps - they exist
86 - Ward
88 - Swann
92 - Harrison
94 - Timmons
95 - Lloyd
98 - Hampton
99 - Keisel

That's 38 numbers. If you take away the recent ex players like Maddox, Slash, Faneca and O'Donnel you have 34. If you take away some current players who won't be long in our memories like Parker, Reed, Farrior...etc, you still have 27-28 legitimate jersey choices right now. It's crazy.

FAN: Pumpkin Spook

Still A Stroke did this one.
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FAN: Pumpkin Carving

Which witch is which?
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DOG: Fan Etiquette

Last week at Heinz Field Fan and I took up one of our favorite pastimes, people-watching. And our focus was what people wear to football games. We silently observed that most folks were wearing football jerseys. An alarming number of them wearing Viking jerseys too. No matter that half of them were Brad Johnson and even Ahmad Rashad jerseys. Too many opponents let through the gates for my liking.

As for the Stiller fans, my observation was that even though Keyaron Fox and LaMarr Woodley made the key plays in that game, very few Woodley jerseys and absolutely no Fox jerseys were seen. Yet we had people in Dan Kreider jerseys, Joey Porter jerseys, Alan Faneca jerseys, even a Jason Gildon jersey. Those dudes don't even play for us anymore!!

Now Fan's got on his authentic Polamalu #43 jersey and I've got on my #76 Big Daddy Lipscomb 75th Anniversary throwback. So by all means, we were cool. But many fans were far far from cool. So we thought about what really is proper attire for attending a Steeler football game?

So here are some guidelines for dressing for a Stiller game:

1. Always wear black and gold. It doesn't matter if you've got a white away jersey or a black home jersey, wear either if you've got it. If you choose not to wear a jersey or don't have one, wear a Pittsburgh Steeler shirt of some sort.
2. If you want to wear some crazy shit, that's OK just don't go overboard. You get too crazy you're just going to look like a Raven fan. So we got to draw the line somewhere. I draw the line just after wearing nacho libre wrestling masks which is OK. Facepainting on the other hand is not. A fair amount of people still do it but even gay people find that, well, gay. Look at it this way, even though today is Halloween, a Steeler game is not a Halloween party. It's a football game. Leave the costumes at home. You ain't gonna scare anybody dressing like a Raider fan. Just ask a Raider fan.
3. A big no-no is that too many people wear the jerseys of players who AREN"T EVEN STEELERS!! Holy shit man, Tommy Maddox served his purpose here and got a Super Bowl ring. But wearing his jersey to the game now is just stupid! Buy a new one. The exception to this is if you're wearing the jersey of a Steeler who is a Hall of Famer or member of the 75th Anniversary team. Terry Bradshaw's #12, Jack Lambert's #58, Joe Greene's #75, Mike Webster's #52, Greg Lloyd's #95, Swann's #88 or Stallworth's #82 etc. are all cool. But don't be coming around with a #14 O'Donnell jersey.
4. Another thing we noticed which is not cool at the game is all these folks who have taken to wearing either a Pro-Bowl jersey, or the college jersey of their favorite player. Dude, the Willie Parker jersey is fine but it's his Pro-Bowl jersey and that ain't black and gold (See rule #1). Take that mother off! You want to look like a wayward Patriot fan on TV?? Same thing with the Big Ben Miami jerseys and the Polamalu USC jerseys. They ain't black and gold and should not be worn to the game! You want to buy these jerseys, fine. You want to wear them when your buddies come over the house to watch the game with you, fine. Don't wear them to the game. Get yourself a nice picture frame and hang them on display in your den.
5. Don't wear a jersey signed by a player to the game. At the point it was signed it became a museum piece and should not be treated the same as game day attire.
6. If you're at an away game, always "rock the colors." Never fear an assault by opposing fans. There are always plenty of Steeler fans who have your back. Trust me on this, I've been to Baltimore!
7. Those pink "girl jerseys" are fine, but wear them in your dorm room not at Heinz Field. Lot's of Hines Ward fans are violators of this rule.
8. Last but not least, always bring your Terrible Towel.
   

At last week's game with the clock winding down and Bret Favre driving the Vikings well into FG range which, at the very least, would have sent the game into overtime, I summoned the power of the Terrible Towel. With Fan as my witness, I shook my Terrible Towel at the sky and I said, "Myron, if you're listening, and I know you are, we need a little help. If there's really any power in this towel we need you to make something happen." On the very next play the ball clanked off Chester Taylor's hands and Keyaron Fox was on his way to an 82 yard interception return for a TD. DO NOT UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF THE TERRIBLE TOWEL!!!

DOG: Bye Bye Blues

Bye-Bye

The Bye Bye Blues was a song from back in the 1930s made famous when Les Paul & Mary Ford covered it in the 1940s. Anyway, I first discovered it when I heard the Widespread Depression Orchestra do it in the 1980s. And today I've got the Bye Bye Blues on account of the fact that I'm staring at my first weekend without the Pittsburgh Stillers in several months. The Bye Week. So I thought it might be time to take stock of what we've gotten so far.

Here are the biggest changes/revelations and our slant on what this means:

• Rashard Mendenhall has supplanted Willie Parker as the feature back.
  This means Mendenhall better learn how to hold onto the ball and that Willie Parker can still play a major role as we go into the second half of the season.
• Aaron Smith is out for the season with a shoulder injury. This means that Travis Kirschke needs to stay healthy or Ziggy Hood needs to get better at that position fast. Or both!
• Troy Polamalu's injury proved him to be even more indispensable than I thought. This has shown that we are terribly weak at Safety and Troy cannot suffer a re-injury or the season is doomed. The avoidance of this situation was addressed several years ago with the drafting of Anthony Smith. But Smith was either too stupid or too much of an asshole for Tomlin so he's gone, out of football entirely I believe after the Packers cut him. And now we find ourselves with very little talent behind either Troy or Ryan Clark. It's a concern.
• Mike Wallace was the steal of the draft. Don't look for him to receive much recognition nationally for Rookie of the Year. Since he isn't a starter it's safe to say that Percy Harvin with two KO return TDs already and Johnny Knox lighting it up in Chi-town will grab too much spotlight for him. But opposing defenses better be aware.
• If Lawrence Timmons can avoid the dreaded high ankle sprain syndrome that sent Kendrell Bell off the the Chiefs and shortly thereafter to his "life's work," he may finally justify the #1 pick. Dude can hang with any TE in the NFL in coverage. A Troy Polamalu at linebacker if you will.
• Our next two games are critical. We must beat the Broncos in Denver and the Bengals at home to take over the Division lead. The two Baltimore games loom large yet too but less so if we can win the next two.

So tomorrow I'm going to watch the Baltimore-Denver game (as if I really had a choice in my viewing area) to see how our future opponents fare. I've seen both teams play 3-4 times already but things change constantly in the NFL. Rooting interest in the SBI (Steelers Best Interest) will be on the side of the Broncos. I think in the past 12 seasons any team playing Baltimore and Pittsburgh on back to back weekends has won at most one of those games. Happened just last week when we beat the Vikings after the Vikings had squeaked out a close one the week before against Baltimore. And guess what, it continues the week after next because Baltimore plays the Bengals the week before us too! Long as the Shitbirds keep knocking the crap out of those teams, win or lose it helps the Stillers.

So relax if you can this Sunday and get ready to strap on the ol' leather helmet for the second half of the season next week.

FAN: Swine Clue

I found this amusing... After our volleyball game last night, we lined up to shake hands under the net. Somebody made the decision that due to Swine Flu, we should just say Good Game and keep moving - no hand shakes. Hmmmm, didn't we all just touch the same ball, rotate in and out of the same seats, spend close to an hour together in a closed gym? Do what you normally do and then use Purell when done. If we stop shaking hands......the terrorists WIN!
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FAN: Steelers Weekend

Enjoying a beer at Firewater's before heading over to Heinz

Still A Fan

Stilladog & Still A Fan before the mayhem

The Dog & The Chief

I look like a midget

Still A Fan pops a cap in Steely McBeam

Our view at kickoff. Beautiful.

Gateway Clipper and The Point

Cal U Vulcans represent. Still A Fan is '91 alum.

Dog got a good laugh out of this guy.

FAN: Harrison Sr.

Forgot to mention on the way out we met James Harrison's dad. What a nice guy!
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FAN:Kickoff

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FAN: The Rock

T minus about an hour.
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FAN: Tail Heaven

Fan and Dog Tearing it up!
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FAN: Army Aunts

I don't have time to get into this entire story with all the details. I'm trying to get to bed early tonight as I'm driving back to the Steel Town area early Friday for my annual pilgrimage to Heinz Field with Still A Dog. I'll have a camera on hand and will post many pictures. This isn't about the Steelers, the Dog or Andy Griffith. This is about youth sports and why you have to be crazy to coach. We have 12 practices and 18 games. Including all the time driving to/fro, managing emails and other things, I'd say I have about 60-75 hours into this volleyball season. For free. Free time that I love. My running has suffered. My weight has suffered. The Slant has suffered. I do it because I really enjoy it. My group of girls are bad ass. Still A Stroke might have to change her name to Still A Serve as she was the best server on the floor tonight getting another 5 serve limit and two 3-point trips to the service line. So we're playing well as a team and we're a few games over .500 but on Sunday I had the craziest thing happen to me. When we got there another game was going on. A mom on my team who is a friend of ours from school and also a summer swim team member pointed out her sister-in-law to me. She was coaching the team on the floor. When we went out to play, the same coach took to operating the scoreboard. We played, we won, I rotated the girls in and out like I have all year to this point, we shook hands with the other team and before I could even go address my team and tell them all the positive feedback - this woman was in my face. I don't need to go word-for-word but in a nutshell she told me I wasn't coaching JV right. All the girls didn't get equal playing time. I told her I didn't have to. She said I left some girls in the entire game. I said "I know. That was my plan when I left my house. I have it all written down in my planner right here." She didn't appreciate my humor. She told me I HAVE TO play each girl equally. I told her that I didn't but thank you for making me miss talking to my girls as they had already scattered. I tried very hard to remain calm and polite as I knew it was her family but she didn't know we were good friends of HER sister-in-law. I knew what was up. She was mad that her niece didn't play as much as some of the other girls. She played exactly as much as 3 other girls. I even casually made reference to this during the discussion without singling her out. I said some of my girls come to everything and some have been to 4 out of 12 practices. Suck it, Aunt Bea.

She ruined my night. She ruined my wife's night...lol. I sent emails to my Parish VB Director and to the CYO District VB Director. They both had my back in a huge manner. The District VB Director has ref'd 4 of my matches and told me I was doing a very good job, the girls always seem to be having fun, I never yell and I clap and always say something positive. It made me tear up (lie). In fact, there is no rule. To be more clear, I only have to make an attempt TO PLAY each player although that would be frowned upon in JV. She played 50% of the match. Her and another girl shared a spot on the floor. Two others shared another spot. The other 4 spots are my regulars. I sent her mom an email just in case Crazy Aunty didn't tell her what she did. She did. And mom got beer muscles I guess as her email made it clear she wasn't happy with snowflakes time either. Funny because after game 2 and in another email I said what my policy was and told people to approach me with problems. Attendance counts. My Director sent me the form all parents signed to join VB. Item #2 said Volleyball is a team sport. While the coach will make attempts to get everyone sufficient playing time, poor attendance will result in a loss of playing time. BINGO! Now I was really armed.

If you don't know me, I'm always right. So is Still A Dad. When we're not sure, we're right. When we KNOW we're sure.....poor you. POOOOOR YOU. I emailed mom back armed with my bazooka and asked her to please forward it to Aunt Bea. I also included in the email stats from my attendance sheet that I keep. I love stats. There are lies.....damn lies......and statistics. Out of 12 practices and 13 games to date she came to 4 and 8 for a total of 12. That's the worst attendance on the team yet I still put her in for 50% of the game, the same as some other players with far better attendance. How much better? Well, in 10th place on my team, a girl was at 7 and 9 for 16. Worst is 12. One slot up is 16! The girl with the 2nd worst attendance is still there 33% MORE than snowflake. Sigh. The top 5 girls are at 25, 24, 23, 23, 22. Get over yourself. You play two sports and this is #2 on your priority list. There's no shame in that. You just don't know where to be and what to do, you're clearly a liability on the floor and you shouldn't and won't play as much. Mom got the email and sent back a reply as sweet as one of Aunt Bea's pies. Mom clearly didn't know the stats until I enlightened her. I guess she realized to some girls on my team Volleyball is their #1 priority, like soccer is snowflake's. If Stroke signs up for something, she's going. Not when it's convenient, not when TV isn't good, not when she's bored.....she's going unless she's too ill to go to school. Learn responsibility and committment early kiddies - it will pay off HUGE in future endeavors. We all work and we all know that one guy or gal who just can't be relied upon. Shows up at 9:30, sick all the time, always leaving for this or that, always has car trouble....funny how dark clouds just hover over some people isn't it?

Some problems in life are clearly nails and need to be solved with a big heavy......calculator.

FAN: Healthy Snack

Mmmmm, I loves me some candy corn at this time of year. The picture goes with a little story. I have to at least have a little candy corn every fall. I love it. I prefer the corn to the pumpkins. While out shopping with my daughter she bought a very small bag of candy corn from Gertrude Hawk. A bag that looked to be the size of two Brach's bags off-spring cost more than a big drugstore bag at $1.29. Wow what a difference! The candy corn from a chocolatier is definitely more preppy...lol. It has 3 shallow grooves on each side, there are no broken tips and the colors are actually seperated, not blurred together on the lines. These are cultured corns for sure, not corns from the hood which I'm eating at work. The best part is that they taste way better. Way. It's a party in your mouth. Its hard to describe and to the non corn gourmet it may be subtle, but it is far superior in flavor. I would make green clovers for St Patrick's day, Bean shapes for Easter...Christmas trees....red white and blue for the Fourth.... Why are peeps mostly for Easter and corns only for Halloween?
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FAN: Wilcots = Dumb

Troy makes a pick and walks off gingerly. The Steeler's offense has the ball. While the Steelers are driving, Solomon Wilcots opines that Polamalu could be injured again. He said something like "he left the game after the pick and hasn't returned...". Wow. Really? Does that have anything to do with him playing DEFENSE and the DEFENSE hasn't been on the field since the pick?

FAN: Death Star Conspiracy

Funny original parody.