Batch Looks Like Better Backup

Charlie Batch is scheduled to become a free agent this week. I hope the Steelers resign him and keep him as the backup to Big Ben. Tommy Maddox needs a change of scenery the same way Rosie O'Donnel needs a salad. Badly. After taking over for Kordell Stewart and leading us to the playoffs in 2002, Tommy Gun was the talk of the town. I don't have to repeat his story here, but it was a good one, going from selling insurance to the NFL again. Tommy's game seemed to mimic the Arena Football League though...it was mostly throwing to places and praying the receivers would be there. It was all on quick drops and throws. Well, in year two of his rebirth the defensive coordinators around the league caught up to him and he was abysmal....leading us to a 6-10 record. I know the line was banged up that year, but he made very poor decisions all year. After Ben proved to be the savior of the franchise in early 2004, it seemed like we didn't need both Maddox and Batch backing him up even this year. Batch looked better than Tommy (marginally as they both looked bad) this season while Ben was out with his knee and he is also 3 years younger. Charlie can also still move around in the pocket a little while Maddox still looks like Peyton Manning could take him in a race. This seems like an easy decision to make: money, youth and speed are all on Batch's side plus he is from Homestead and we know the Rooney's like their homeboys. To fill out the squad with QBs they will probably either sign an undrafted rookie free agent or bring back Brian St. Pierre at the league minimum salary. With St. Pierre's years of service going up - don't be surprised if the take the undrafted free agent route. Besides, in an emergency if Ben and Charlie both get hurt - all they have to do is call Prudential and ask "Is Tommy there?".

Disney Movie Club Full Of Pooh!

This is a lesson not so much in false advertising, but more along the lines of doing business in a dubious manner. My daughter belongs to the Disney movie club. You know the drill, it's one where you receive a few movies up front for shipping and handling charges only, then you purchase 4 movies at regular club prices and then you can choose to stay in the club or end your membership. We've been in for quite some time and they do run decent specials, but once the committment is made, you are better off just buying the movies at Wal-Mart or The Disney Store so you don't have to pay $3.99 for shipping. I received the latest card in the mail telling me what movie would be mailed to me if I didn't respond. I started to wonder if we had fulfilled the agreement but I couldn't find that information on the card. I went to the website and of course I had to enter my life history over 3 pages just so I could find out how to potentially quit. I saw nothing that said "You need to purchase x more movies" or "You have fulfilled your committment". I went to the FAQ and found WAY at the bottom that "periodically we will display on your mailing your committment status". Well, Thanks! Periodically? Why not every month? You cram enough offers in the envelope that I could light a fire for a week, but you can't tell me how many more movies I have to buy? I decided to check over the card 1 more time. This time I saw a little area where it said I was a VIP member. I had no idea what that meant. I went back to the FAQ and saw that VIP stood for "it has been at least 60 days since you completed your obligation". Perfect! I'm out. Now all I have to do is find the "Cancel Subscription" link. Well, they have a link for everything but cancelling. I go back to the FAQ and again, near the bottom, is the question "How do I cancel?". Of course, you cannot cancel online, you have to call a number. I call the number, and it's definitely a pattern now, there is no option to cancel. I followed the directions and drilled down about 3-4 times and was finally in the generic bin. After waiting on hold for what seemed like 15 minutes, a very cheerful "castmember" suddenly sounded like I shot her dog when I told her I wanted to leave the club. After trying to get me to stay, she relented and cancelled my subscription. What a nightmare! If signing up is as easy as clicking a button online - I see no reason why cancelling shouldn't be the same. But that would be too easy, wouldn't it?

Hussein, Hungry, Ends Hunger Strike

This is as stupid as stupid gets. Well, if you want to read a news story that says basically nothing, click here. I can save you the trouble by stating the obvious. Hunger strike ended due to "health grounds"? Excuse me? Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't "health grounds" part of the deal when you commit yourself to a hunger strike? Warriors of the past would commit ritual suicide before answering enemy questions or being captured. Maybe he has one more romantic novel burning inside of him that he wants to share with the world before he checks out? You know what I wish? It's a coin toss between 2 things. On one hand, I wish the unit that found this coward would have just killed him on the spot. No trials. No life sentence. No fear from Iraqis that one day he may return to power. Bang. Over. On the other hand, maybe we should have just secretly turned him over to a country that tortures people for a month or so before "finding" him....or just did it ourselves. We could have invited the Iraqi soccer team over to take part in that. Remember them? They're the ones who were stripped and whipped until their backs were raw and then tied to a tractor and drug through septic waste and sludge. Instead he's probably in spa-like conditions. Go figure. I would put him in a padded room with a tv that only shows Oprah - and if the tv gets turned off, Clay Aiken's music is immediately piped in. He gets to choose his western poison.

I Think Quincy Can Start

I think the Steelers had a plan when they cut Fred Gibson late in camp last year and signed Quincy Morgan. If not, maybe they should have. They signed Morgan to a cheap 1-year contract. They sat Morgan on the bench behind Hines Ward, Randle El and newly aquired Cedric Wilson and allowed him to return kickoffs and play in the 4 receiver sets. I don't know about you, but to me it looks like a beautiful blueprint for when Randle El decides to split town. Cedric Wilson, who is similar in stature to Randle El, will become the new slot receiver and Quincy Morgan, a bruising 6'1" 215 pounder will take over as the new #2 receiver, all for slightly more than league minimum. Why? Last season he had 9 catches for 150 yards. That's a single game for some receivers. He will not get much attention with those numbers. But, he also didn't get an opportunity to catch many balls. It was just 2002 when Q tore up the league with 56 for 964 yards and 7 TDs. The qb situation kept changing and he had 38 for 516 the following year. He wound up in Dallas catching 31 for 404 but that was from 82-year-old Vinny Testeverde. The Browns were also going through qb turmoil when Quincy was there. Holcomb was good to him but Couch was not. I think the Steelers are thinking that with Big Ben at the helm, Q can return to the player he was in 2002 when he had 17 catches of over 20 yards. Thats outstanding and would compliment Ward very well. Maybe it was by design they signed him last year, knowing they would be able to resign him cheaply this year. At this point it really wouldn't surprise me at all if Q lined up as a starter in week 1 next year. The options would be hard to defense with Parker and Wilson playing the parts of the shifty runners, Ward catching everything thrown his way, Miller going over the middle and Quincy going deep.

Could Duckett be a better Bus than Duce?

It's an interesting thought isn't it? He's big. He's strong. He's not going to command huge dollars after Edge and Shaun Alexander get signed. He won't even command what Ahman Green will get if he gets released from Green Bay. The Steelers love big backs and Duce Staley isn't exactly Bus II. After Bam Morris and The Bus, TJ seems to fit the pants more so than Duce, who also can't seem to stay healthy. What would it take to get TJ in black and gold? Well, this is probably his last year in Atlanta as the 2007 season is voidable by TJ if he reaches certain goals in 2006 that seem easy to reach. His contract details were not disclosed, but his cap number appears to be around $1.1 million this year. If Atlanta can't get an extension done with him, or if they don't want to get one done - they may be willing to trade him rather than letting him play this year and walking in 2007. Remember, we didn't trade the world to get Bettis, maybe this could be the same type of situation. Duckett would have to be content with backing up Parker in the same manner that Jerome did - but the fans sure would embrace another wide body that can convert 3rd and 2's and TD's inside the 10. He only averaged 3.1 yards per carry this year (that would change with our line) so his stock is down.....way down. Keep an eye on this. With Duce's injury problems and his brush with trouble last month - it will be interesting to see how this pans out. If we keep Duce and he gets hurt in week 3, we may be sorry we didn't look into another big back with no health issues.

Chris Hope Update: Don't Get Greedy, Chris!

From steelerslive.com:

"Hope told the Tribune-Review earlier this week that he wants to be paid like one of the top five safeties in the league, which would take a lot of maneuvering for the Steelers. The team clearly has to rework the deal for Pro Bowl center Jeff Hartings, who stands to count $8.1 million against the cap in '06."

Quote: "I love the city, love the way (it) treats the team and I like the organization. But I can't continue to play for less than my worth."

Well, then I guess you'll be wearing the uniform of a different team next year. You are NOT one of the top 5 safeties in the league. Period. This team needs depth. To create depth, you have to slot values for certain positions and not overpay. Since we will have to overpay Troy Polamalu in the near future, we CANNOT overpay Chris Hope. We just can't. We can resign him, but we can't overpay him. We also can't overvalue him just because we won the Super Bowl. It doesn't work like that. You have to keep your core players.

In my mind, the core players are: Ben, Willie Parker, Hines Ward, Heath Miller, Alan Faneca, Marvel Smith, Casey Hampton, Aaron Smith, Joey Porter, James Farrior, Ike Taylor and Troy Polamalu. Yes, the other players are good, but I feel they can be replaced. Jeff Hartings is in the core, but at his age with his past knee problems, he is not a priority to resign. Randle El is special because of his 'X' factor, but I still don't see him as essential. Nice? God Yes. Essential? No. It's great to have the good younger players we have: Trai Essex, Max Starks, Haggans, Foote, Coke, McFadden, Kreider, Keisel....I could go on and on....but they aren't in the core YET. They may be by next year, but as of right now - they aren't. I want consistency in the defensive backfield, but we can't devote too much cap space to role players. That's a blueprint for disaster. Here is one Steeler fan who will not be upset if the 2006 season starts without Hope, Randle El or Kimo. Sad? Yes. Upset? No.

Perfect10.com is a Media Whore

Wow. The website Perfect10.com has a pretty crafty marketing team. Who is Perfect10.com? Probably a website that got a few million hits today, thanks to their crack efforts. Perfect10.com is a porn site offering (for subscription fees) nude photos and videos of "all natural" women. I went to the site to do a little......research after reading what I read this morning. I'm sure everyone is familiar with Google's image search. I use it all the time. There are a ton of practical reasons to use it. Since Perfect10.com has images on it that get scanned and indexed by the google bot - the photos are showing up as thumbnails on Google search results screens when the photo name matches the search criteria (of which we won't mention here). They are suing Google (and a case against Amazon is being put together) for Copyright infringement. Clicking on the photo does not display the full image and the url shown is for the Perfect10.com website. Google is helping to drive business to them with organic search results. Yes, I know organic closely resembles a popular porn term, but in the world of Search Engine Optimization (which I happen to know a little about) - it means natural results....not paid for....exactly like what they are claiming about their girls. Why oh why would they want to bite the hand that potentially feeds them clicks? Simple, so everyone who reads the tech news will go their website and potentially sign up. This seems silly to me since Google isn't actually printing the image or even hosting it - they are merely pointing to it and showing you that the image is at their (P10) website. This is a silly case being used as a marketing ploy and it is costing us tax dollars. Now, if Perfect10.com would like to give me a membership for life, maybe I'll see it another way........ DO NOT CLOSE THIS STORY AND HUSTLE OVER THERE TO CHECK IT OUT! No good freebies and a 3 day membership is $2.95. Giving them more traffic will only encourage them.

Liberal California is Ruining My Day

Are you kidding me? The state of California just had a stay of execution for a man who kidnapped, raped, tortured and killed a 17 year old girl. Why the stay? They couldn't get a doctor to perform the lethal injection. Why? Because they think it's cruel and unusual punishment. Huh? What's cruel and unusual punishment is not letting the girl's father have 60 minutes alone with this animal. He cannot be rehabilated. He is an ANIMAL and the planet is better without him. The old school "eye for an eye" trumps the new school "love thy enemy and turn the other cheek" in my house. I want to go Old Testament on this guy's ass and torture him slowly while watching him die. Not only that, I'm willing to broadcast it on TV. You want to talk about crime deterrent? In scenario one, said animal gets to spend his life in prison watching tv, lifting weights, surfing the net, getting a degree...he may even get out some day. Nice deterrent. In scenario two, we duct tape him to a chair and let dad slowly torture him on national TV. I'm talking about cutting ears off, electric drills into the eyes, pulling off fingernails...am I Shocking you yet? Good. Is this horrible? Yes. Is it necessary? YES. Think for one lousy second what that poor girl went through while this animal was in control of her. Make you mad? Good. Let's ship this coward to Texas and let a real state government deal with him like a real criminal. Cruel and Unusual? I'm all for the chair. Strap this bastard in. The Doctors won't do it? Let the guards put a bullet in his head then. I am good and pissed this morning after reading this....totally disgusted. Nuff said. Michael Morales, may you rot in hell.

Howard - Let us Stream or Download

I wasn't always a fan of Howard Stern. I knew who he was and I saw him on Lettermen a few times, but I never listened in the early days. I was in college from '87-'91 and my drive to work was short and sweet until about 1996. I listened on and off for two years and then I started listening regularly when I started commuting longer in 1998. I never had to listen and I would turn the channel if I wasn't laughing, but I would say I listened most days, even though it was only for 45 minutes a day. When I heard Howard was going to Sirius, I decided to buy one. There were no commercials for the first week, but there are 2 breaks an hour now with a few commercials. I thought when I got my Sirius before Christmas that one of Howard's 2 channels would play the morning show on a continous loop. I really assumed I would be able to listen in the morning and on the afternoon drive. Well, I got pimped there also because we now have Bubba The LoveSponge on the afternoon drive. Howard signed him so he doesn't want to compete against him. I only bought one radio but I knew you could stream Sirius over the net if you are a subscriber. I thought I would get to the office and continue to listen over the web. Wrong again! The Stern show is not streamed on the web and there is no reason online for that decision in the FAQ. I've been putting up with all of this pretty patiently - hoping things would change sooner or later - but now Howard has announced he will be taking Fridays off! Now I'm paying $13 a month for far less than what I thought I was getting. Let's do the math! I thought I was getting two drives worth of Stern and I'm really only getting one. Let's let S=Stern. Right now I have S/2 or 50% of what I thought I was getting. Howard is now only on 4 days a week. Thats 4/5 or 80% of what I thought I was getting. Combine that with half the drives and you get 40%. Add in the 2 commercial breaks I get on my way to work and it's really about 35% of what I thought I was getting. What would be the harm in allowing the website to stream the show? Better yet - why not have the show available for download as soon as the show ends in real time around 11:00 AM? Most content providers are moving in the direction of allowing consumers to watch or listen whenever they want to. The cable show created from this daily show is available "On Demand". Why can't the radio show be the same way? I have 2 small conspiracy theories to go along with my rant. I have nothing to base either of these claims on, except my usually dead-on gut feelings. First - I think Howard trumped up the FCC pressure in order to move and get P-A-I-D while creating an "Us against Them" atmosphere with his fans against the FCC. He couldn't move to "pay for" without criticism unless he created a good reason to leave. Second - he HAD to know when he signed the deal that he would be taking Fridays off. He had to. He just had to. I really wish he would have been upfront about that. Why not wait a year and then do it? Anyway - Sirius programming rocks with or without Howard so I'm not totally disappointed. I listen to Octane, Back Spin, Faction, Hard Attack and 1st Wave quite alot while I'm in the car. In fact, I haven't listened to regular radio since Christmas. Listen, I'm paying for the content - let me have it when I want it.

Hoping For A Fair Deal

Chris Hope is an unrestricted free agent. He's young. He hits hard. He's still learning. He shouldn't command a royal payday. Those are his good attributes. On the other side of the coin - he misses some tackles, he hits too high and gets carried and he just won the Super Bowl. Ask around the league what the ring is worth on the free agent market. As much as I want this defensive backfield to stay together for consistency's sake, I do not want to simply outbid all comers for Hope. Hopefully Kevin Colbert has a number in his head that is fair and he won't deviate too far from it. When you look at this rationally, Hope is near the bottom rung on the 11 player defense's ladder. In no particular order, the other starters that are more important to the team on defense are Smith, Hampton, Kimo or Keisel on the other side, Porter, Farrior, Haggans, Polamalu and Taylor. That leaves Larry Foote, Hope and Townsend as the least important. I could very easily see Townsend getting replaced with McFadden or Coke next season. The way the Steelers draft and develope linebackers, Foote can also be replaced. Hope is interesting to say the least. I like him and I want him to stay, but if he gets a ridiculous offer, they can survive without him. Like I said earlier, Randle El can walk and we'll miss his versatility on gadget plays and punt returns - not on the starting 11. For the life of me, I can't think of one reason why we would miss Chris Hope if he left. Sign him - just don't go crazy with the zero's.

Jewel Theft

I'm in the process of ripping all my cds to my hard drive. I use iTunes and I run with a small Rio Sport mp3 player and I'm also in the early stages of preparing for a 60 gig iPod to be purchased later. Stay with me while I go off on a tangent - I'll bring it all together at the end. I'm also reading a book right now entitled First Shot which is about the use of mini subs in the attack on Pearl Harbor. As you can see...I lead a very exciting life. Anyway, the book briefly goes into the history of the submarine and says that early tests were being done in 1870 for underwater travel. That's not a typo, 1-8-7-0 is correct. Where am I going with this? This is a doozy. I ask you, how on Earth can somebody be building and testing a submarine in 1870, yet in 2006 we can't make a jewel case that won't break at the hinges when the least amount of pressure is put on it? I mean REALLY. Are we trying hard enough? Could the nipple that fits in that little hole BE any smaller? REALLY? My God. I ripped about 10 cds today and the hinges were disfunctional on 8 of them. So far I've ripped about 80 cds and I bet 50 had hinge issues. The cases were all different, from all years, from all labels. You can classify most of these issues into 3 categories. 1. Nipple broken off 2. Hole split to edge 3. Entire corner broken off. Yes, we as Americans want cheap products, but damnit, we want quality too. Ok, so I can buy 100 empties at Wal Mart for $5. Why doesn't Williams-Sonoma come out with empty jewel cases that never break and cost $35 for 100. They have a toaster that costs $400, why can't they do this? Ok, I'm done. But really, c'mon, the design is 20 years old and it sucks. It has always sucked. it sucked in the beginning. It sucked 10 years ago. I think it sucks worse now. With cd burning and now dvd burning....can't one company...ONE...come out with a better design? Now I'm done. Really.

Don't Bogart The Doritos, Ricky Williams

This story can write itself. Ricky "Rhasta" Williams has
been handed his 4th offense against the league's substance abuse policy. The 4th offense carries an automatic 1 year suspension. William's agent claims he will be found innocent during the appeals process and isn't even sure Ricky is aware of the charges being that he is in India practicing "yoga". Well, if yoga in India translates to "smoking mad amounts of weed" then yes, Ricky is in India practicing yoga. While it's easy to make fun of his plight, let's not overlook the fact that probably half the league is on Vicotin (remember Favre's problem with this powerful painkiller) and the other half is on Vodka (albeit legally). If Ricky would just change his high to painkillers instead of weed, his insurance would pay for it and he wouldn't keep getting suspended. Think about it. The Dolphin's pre draft trade attempts will now be in shambles unless his agent can get this mess cleared up within the next 60 days.

Hartings Will Renegotiate...Or Else

Jeff Hartings is due to make more than $4 million dollars this year. I'm sorry to say it won't happen in a Steelers uniform. What I am happy about, though, is that Jeff Hartings will still be your opening day starter for the Steelers. I'll bet my foosball table that Hartings will be a good citizen and work with the Steelers front office to make more cap room available to sign free agents. This will probably be Hartings last year in the league. He has bad knees and a Super Bowl ring - not to mention millions of dollars in the bank. I think he will restructure and they will try to give a backup some playing time during the season. They will definitely draft a center and they already signed a FA center and assigned him to NFL Europe. Chucki Okobi will be playing for his career in the preseason. He is due to make $2 million because the front office probably thought he would be starting this year. The only way Okobi starts this year is if Hartings refuses to restructure and gets cut. I just don't see the Steelers paying a guy his age $4 million plus this year. I just don't. Note to Jeff: Please restructure! We want you around! We've not only had stability at head coach, but we've had it at the center position also. From Ray Mansfield to Mike Webster to Dermonti Dawson to Jeff Hartings to.....? I don't want the answer to that question until 2007.

Antwaan Randle El, Farewell and Good Luck

As much as I hate to admit it, the Antwaan Randle El era in Pittsburgh is coming to a close. I thought during the week before the Super Bowl that it might be the last time we see him wearing the black-n-gold, and after reading his comments in the Chicago Tribune - it sounds like as long as the Bears make him a fair offer, he's going to take it. In fact, it sounds like he's beginning to pack his bags already. After his comments, I'll get into why it really doesn't bother me that he'll probably leave.

“Certainly my family members want me to come here and play here. Also my friends and those who are involved in marketing and that sort of thing,” Randle El said.…“I have to make sure I make the decision based on the important things,” he said. “If God leads me here to Chicago, I certainly prefer that situation for my family if it is the best situation for me coming in and playing. If this is a team that needs a receiver or a punt returner or what have you … those are the things that are most important.”
“The money is not the biggest factor,” Randle El said. “Of course there’s a business side to it. But you have to make sure what is best for your family. You have to make sure you don’t go to a team that doesn’t have a clue about using a guy like myself. You want to go to a team that understands that I want to be a punt returner and I want to be a starting receiver.
“I would rather know before March ends,” he said. “I want to get the playbook. I want to know my team’s offense so there is no problem when it comes to the season starting. And I want my family to be settled and situated before the season hits.”…“Some teams undervalue [special teams play] a little bit,” he said. “They have to understand that the hidden yardage and field position factor into every game. If you have got a guy who can break it open, it becomes a big factor and it is very important.”

Oh yeah, he's looking to move. That's Ok. He will be missed on special teams, but not in the starting 11 for several reasons. First, he's a slot receiver at heart and we had him on the outside. I'd be curious to know exactly how many of his catches came from strictly playing the outside instead of going in motion to the slot. Cedric Wilson is the same build although not as shifty a player as Randle El. When Wilson was signed for 2 million a year last off-season, it may have been because the Steelers already realized what Antwaan's value would be on the open market this year. Also, the Steelers typically resign players they are going to keep before they become unrestricted free agents.

Second, he lacks size. I think Quincy Morgan was brought in last year to regain some of the size they lost when Plax wasn't resigned. Fred Gibson was drafted for size, but getting someone of Morgan's ability for a song and dance contract was too good to pass up. The Steeler wideouts need to be ferocious downfield blockers and smallish "crafty" receivers aren't really conducive to that.

Third, let me introduce you to Heath Miller. With Heath emerging as a serious threat, the 2nd wide receiver in the Steelers offense is only the 4th option in the attack behind Parker, Ward and Miller. Not many teams pay their 4th option crazy money. Some team will step up and pay him what he wants, but it won't be us. Didn't the Lions pay crazy money for Az-Ahir Akeem after a standout stint with the Rams? Maybe that was because all the DBs were too concerned with Holt and Bruce. Akeem was going 1-on-1 with dime backs and killing them. As a starting wideout, he did little to warrant his contract. There are too many other examples of this scenario to even name.

The last reason the writing was on the wall in my opinion was the fact that there are so many other key players that need to be signed or extended. Troy Polamalu only has 1 year left on his contract. He must be resigned before he reaches free agency. Ike Taylor is also a priority, although he is a restricted free agent. Chris Hope, on the other hand, is unrestricted and I'll focus on him in a future article. The secondary has gone from a weakness to a strength over the past two years. Continuity is key in the defensive backfield and these young guys are only going to get better the longer they play together. And what about Ben? Carson Palmer got a contract worth over $100 million. When will the Steelers have to seriously consider resigning Ben? True, he got a ton of money upfront, but there is no way he'll play out his original contract. They will have to redo his contract next offseason at the latest. Today's dollars are worth far less than dollars 3 years from now.

Randle El will be sorely missed in the punt return game, but there were times last year when I felt he danced too much before the coverage got to him and it hurt him instead of just going north as soon as he touched the ball. I know we all think he's great in this capacity since we're Steeler fans, but the reality is this: Of all players in the NFL with 10 or more punt returns - he finished 10th in the league with a 10.2 yard average per return. Rosco Parrish finished first with a 13.3 average. The player that finished 20th had an 8.4 average. While Randle El took 2 to the house, Parrish had no TDs. Antwaan's longest return was more than double Parrish's yet Parrish still averaged 3 yards more per return. What does that tell me? That tells me that Parrish was probably a lot more predictable, actually having many returns in the 10-15 yard range. It also tells me Randle El had several long runs and several short runs. He was more of the "dance and get 2" or "dance and get 20" type. Ike Taylor returned 1 punt this year and it was for 17 yards. I think Ike or Cedric Wilson could do a respectable job returning punts for the Steelers. Maybe they will draft another small, shifty receiver in the later rounds this year.....how about Santana Moss's younger brother?

Anyway - the Steelers look prepared to let Randle El go to another team. Let's not hate either side on this issue. I love Randle El as a Steeler. That being said, the long term salary cap health of the team is far more important than this particular player. 'Nuff Said.

Steelers Partying Too Hard?

Another Steeler got into a little bit of bind in the wee hours of the morning on Saturday. Trai Essex was arrested for nonviolently resisting arrest after an altercation in South Beach, Miami. Not many details are available at this point, but a former college teammate of his from Northwestern was also arrested. I think Coach C needs to get on the horn and remind every player to the man that they should not be showing up in the newspapers for stuff like this. Essex is young and will learn. I think Duce should have known better and walked away before the situation erupted. Let's hope this is the last of the police reports for this off-season. Mr. Rooney should have had at least one month to enjoy his Super Bowl ring before he starts spinning damage control.

DUHbury Mint!

So I go out to the mailbox today to see what's inside and I received two Steeler items. The first was an autographed card of Tim Worley that I purchased from a dealer for a whopping $2.00. No, I'm not a huge fan of his, I just needed him for my collection. The second item was a mailing from the Danbury Mint to inform me that they have commissioned a set of 22 kt gold plated...I'm sorry...a SHIMMERING set of 22kt gold plated player cards with the logo for Super Bowl XL on them - not to mention a collector's book to keep them in. No mention of "rich, Corinthian" leather so I'm assuming it's "pleather". While I wasn't interested in the cards, I thought I would go to their website to see what other Steeler items they might have. They have a series of figures starting at $79.99. The list of players forever cast as Danbury Mint "worthy" are Big Ben, Bettis, Jack Lambert, Mike Webster, Franco, Joe Greene, the Linebacker Collection which is one base with Lambert, Ham and Russell together, the Steel Curtain Collection which is one base with Greene, Holmes, Greenwood and White together - and the most conspicuous figure of all - Kordell Stewart? Are you kidding me? I mean, I loved the kid in the early years and I supported his first 2 years as the starter. After that, maybe Cowher should have cut his losses and forced him to be a kick returning slot receiver or leave. I thought there were too many cooks in the kitchen also as Cowher stayed with him but his coaches continued to change. Well, we all know how that movie ended so there is no use opening old wounds. The only thing I can say with certainty is that there are no fewer than 186 former Steelers who deserve to be "preserved" forever as a DM figurine more than Kordell. Wow, did they jump the gun with that one or what? I wonder if the guy who made that call is still working there? Can you imagine that meeting in 1998: "Hey, I know it would be great to add Swann, Stallworth or Blount to the Steeler line, but I really feel strongly about this kid Stewart and I think we should add him to the line as soon as possible." DUH!

Staley Flip Flops - Why?

Much like changing into a sweatsuit before a game, Duce is now changing his statement about what happened in South Carolina earlier in the week. He originally said he was grabbed around the throat and lost a platinum bracelet worth 50 large and 2 diamond earings worth 25 large each during a fight in a strip club at 4:00 AM last Saturday. He is now saying there was an altercation in the club, but he wasn't directly involved in it. He is also saying he has his earings but did lose his bracelet. No charges have been filed and police are trying to get to the bottom of what really happened. Why on Earth would he lie in the first place, unless his second statement is the lie? My only thought is that in retrospect, he realizes that the Steelers don't put up with this kind of stuff and he's worried about his job. The Steelers would show confidence in Verron Haynes and draft another big back if Staley happened to be let go. Don't get me wrong, I've questioned Duce's toughness in the last 2 years, but if he gets serious and gives 100% - I'll back him like crazy. My wife was on a flight with Duce when he was still an Eagle and chit-chatted with him at the luggage pickup area. She didn't even know it was him! After he walked away another person asked her why she didn't get his autograph. She said he was a very nice guy. I want to give him a break, his father died between the Colts game and the Super Bowl and little mention was made of it in the press. Let's hope he shows up in camp determined to win over the fans in Pittsburgh. We're not hard to win over, and we will show loyalty when it's deserved. Let's hope Mr. Staley learned that from Mr. Bettis.

Fathers, Don't Let Your Sons Grow Up To Be...

...figure skaters??? Not that there's anything wrong with that, I'm just a little confused. Somebody needs to help this kid Lysacek get some direction in his performance. From what I've gathered, he is a US citizen from Illinois, with a Czech surname, who dresses like a Spanish Matador for the Olympics in Italy. Ok, Ok, Ok, Italy does have some bullfighting in it's history - but it has since been banned there. So my point is, if he was dressing this way to impress the locals with some kind of heritage - great job on picking something they BANNED. Anyway - the music sure sounded mariachi to me. He fell, he cried.....can any of you imagine Hines Ward crying in front of millions of viewers? Wait. Ok, bad example. Can any of you imagine Joey Porter crying in front of millions of people? That's what I'm talkin' bout! Dads, if your boy shows any promise in skating at a young age - please place a hockey stick in his hand and pepper him with pucks. Do not - I repeat this for emphasis - Do not allow him to play "dress up" with his sister or wear anything containing 10% lycra. Just my opinion. Do with it what you will.

A Republican's Dream

I had a weird dream last night. It started out with VP Dick Cheney on a big game hunt. He was in a black Chevy Suburban with several handlers around an open bar. He was throwing back gin and tonics and babbling incoherently. The Suburban was flanked by a Secret Service vehicle and an ambulance. They stopped at the hunting destination which apparently had a cover charge of some sort. Someone paid for the entire group and a barrier was moved to allow the vehicles into the hunting area. It looked like it was designed for walkers. Apparently not everyone there knew this was a hunting area as a family of 5 walked past eating popcorn and stopping to take pictures of the animals. The driver pulled up to a large sign marked "African Elephants" and stopped. As Cheney left the vehicle he could be heard complaining that the area the elephant was in was much too large for a man of his age to track down. The area was gigantic. Some estimates put the area at between a tenth and a quarter of an acre. Making it even more dangerous, it was enclosed by an electric fence and a small moat. As Cheney sized up the beast and waited for it to move closer to the fence, a crowd of shocked onlookers approached. Cheney could not understand what so many families and children were doing at his newly discovered hunting paradise. Not being a technical individual, he used Google to research a good place to find large game close to his home. He had no idea that he could leave the US and get to "Zoo" so quickly. Cheney lined up the large mammal and pulled the trigger. The elephant turned it's huge head at the sound of the blast just in time to see Mrs. Claire Johnson, 42, wife and mother of 3 drop to the ground with a huge GSW to the chest. A secret service agent took the fall for this episode because he apparently muttered "shoot that big mother" seconds before Cheney squeezed the trigger. Mrs. Johnson, God rest her soul, went about 425 and Dick did have a few cocktails. "What's next?" Cheney bellowed. Checking his Palm Pilot, his handler replied "ummmm, you have a pheasant hunt with both Clintons at 1:00... Bill called last night to confirm and asked what kind of spirits you preferred."

Staley Hurts Positioning With Steelers

Duce Staley reportedly lost $100,000 worth of jewelry at 4:00 AM in a fight at a gentlemen's club earlier this morning. In my opinion, Staley was already on the fence as far as making the team next year. He's already taken a boatload of money from the organization and has not produced much in return. Duce started out the 2004 season on fire before being injured before the Eagles game in week 7. He came back for a brief appearance in the playoffs but the team belonged to Bettis (again) by then. This year was much worse as Duce barely suited up. I was literally shocked to see him in uniform at the Super Bowl. I distinctly remember Bam Morris being arrested shortly after the Steelers appeared in Super Bowl XXX. He was caught with enough marijuana in his trunk to get an entire university high. He was summarily released by the Rooney's who do NOT put up with questionable characters who may bring disgrace to the franchise. If Plaxico were more like Hines Ward, he might still be a Steeler and own a Super Bowl ring. Ever since Joey Porter got shot (as a bystander) outside a bar in Colorado, Bill Cowher has preached responsibility to his players. He tells them to make the right choices and not put themselves in positions where they might get into trouble. He also tells them all the time to watch out for opportunistic types and distance themselves from troublemakers. Staley getting into a fight at a strip club did nothing to make his stock rise in the organization. I like Duce and I'd like to see him be able to fill Bettis' shoes next season, but his toughness and willingness to play hurt have always come into quesiton. Stay tuned. When he gets motivated, he is hard to tackle. I clearly remember him being a force in the Eagles NFC Championship game against Carolina a few years ago. It was taking 3-4 Panthers to tackle him every time he touched the ball. I haven't seen it yet in a black and gold uniform.