FAN: Steelers Home Crowd and Renegade

I had my camera ready in the 4th quarter and when the scoreboard went blank, I taped the crowd. You have to turn your volume up to actually hear the song as the crowd is pretty much drowning it out.

FAN: Steelers 2009 Playoff Scenarios Week 17

Thanks to Steelers Depot for posting these.

Easiest route is We win, Jets lose to Cincy, Texans lose to Pats. Probably won't happen. Cincy would probably rather lose than allow us to enter playoffs. The other scenarios need the Ravens to lose or tie the Raiders and I don't see that happening. If the Bengals win they could move up to the 3rd seed which would then give them the 6th seed (us) in the first round. I say we don't make it, but today's game was fun nonetheless. I hate to be so negative, but with our play calling and our defense - could we really repeat? At this point it might be better to get a higher draft pick. Anything can happen if you get in, but I'm not sure anything translates to Rod Woodson walking out of the tunnel and playing CB for us next week.

FAN: Bruce Arians Blows

What was Bruce thinking throwing on 3rd down when Baltimore was out of timeouts? With two minutes to go they could have taken at least 45 seconds off the clock. I just don't get it. Once Ben had to scramble he should have went into a fetal position. To throw a pic at that point is crazy stupid. I feel like we won because of the Raven penalty on that play. If there was no flag I really think we lose.
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FAN: Asshole

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FAN: Club Level Rules

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FAN: Fan and Cornbread

Hooked up with Genco dudes and headed to Firewaters. Go Stillers!!!
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FAN: Best Shirt Ever

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FAN: Stockings and Grace

Brandy Grace

Well, if you thought the Christmas Eve post about my daughter made our website too mushy, the yearly Christmas post should put us back on track. Much like the Christmas 2008 and Christmas 2007 posts.....these pictures come direct from Google Images first page of returns for searches on Stocking and Grace.

FAN: I Got My Present

Wii. DS. Cellphone. Laptop. iCarly. Friends. Homework. Every year my 10-year-old princess has more things to occupy her free time. More things to occupy free time means less time with Dad. Sure, I'm always close....helping with Math, maybe playing (losing) Wii, sitting at yet another swim practice....but not as much snuggle time on the couch. Or using her as a quickly growing Teddy Bear after she wakes up on Saturday. That quiet, close alone time has been replaced by "Daddy, I'm going downstairs" when she wakes up on weekends. Even if I'm already up it's getting harder to coax her over to help warm me up on the couch a while before we eat breakfast. There's certainly less hand holding in the mall. This list goes on. Face it, she's getting older. 10 year olds today are probably more like 13 year olds when I was young.

Tonight, we got all spiffy and headed off to church - a full hour and twenty minutes before the service started. Yup, you read that right. We have more than 3,000 families and 13,000 people. They had two 4:00 pm services, two 7:00 pm services and a midnight mass. We have been going early ever since we had to sit in the gym for the "overflow" service a few years ago. Yuck. My back was not made for a folding chair for any length of time. That's not important to the story. What's important is that about 20 minutes into the service, I felt a little hand and arm wiggle it's way between my arm and body and hooked us together. Then, she rested her head on my shoulder. It didn't last long enough for me (Catholic church -up/down/kneel), but it was nice while it did. Right there with all her classmates, friends, volleyball and swim teammates as well as some teachers.....my little tweener in her non-kiddy Christmas dress wasn't too cool to show her Daddy some Love.

Pretty dopey, I know, but true nonetheless. Merry Christmas.

FAN: Playoff Scenario

Has anyone done the hard math? I looked and started to, but it's so muddy. At the very least, can they be eliminated this week even with a win? I don't think so. I would love to see it spelled out somewhere from a trusted source. Maybe I will go through the tie breaker rules and see what I can come up with. It just sucks to high heaven that if you give us any one of the wins that we coughed up in the 4th quarter, I believe we'd be controlling our own destiny.

Did anyone see that Warren is out for the rest of the season? Long snappers are hard to come by. All FG and punt attempts could be entertaining this week.

I will actually be at the game this weekend. My homeboy Cornbread and I are going to attend in the club level seats. I've never sat there so I will take a few pics and compare and contrast to where I normall sit in the stadium. I'm glad we won yesterday or going to this game would be depressing. At least I feel like I have a reason to cheer.

FAN: Long Winter Nap

Christmas music is on. Scrabble game was won by Dad. Fire is hot. It's nap time right in front of the fire. G'night.
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FAN: Vanilla and Chocolate

I went to a work Happy Hour last night and every 5 minutes I had to act like it was the first time I heard that Scott and I were wearing the same sweater. Then we had to start posing for pictures. Sigh. Funny how a few drinks makes everyone think they are funny. Ummmm, not so much.
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DOG: What Are You Listening To Now? #13

This is the Christmas Edition of WAYLT. Not exclusively a Christmas edition but it's Christmas and I have gone on a mission to rediscover the Christmas music of my youth in digital form. And I am pleased to report that I have got all the Christmas music I will ever need until the day I die.

First off, I'm not a big Christmas music fan. Years and years of listening to everyone from Elvis, Nat King Cole, Bing Crosby, and Mitch Miller, to Britney Spears, Metallica (yes they have a Christmas album), George Strait... well damn near anybody you ever heard of has a Christmas album or two; anyway so much of it's complete record company bullshit that it's turned me completely off to Christmas music.

But then I remembered some of the old albums we used to play when I was little. They were absolutley enchanting. I knew I had the vinyl somewhere and I found it. The Longines watch company put out a 4 disc set in the early '60s called Christmas At the Fireside and sold it through Readers Digest. Later the rights to the music were sold to Shell Oil and they sold the records at gas stations! Anyway, for me this is Christmas music beyond compare. Symphony orchestra + choir. Top notch stuff. So I went out and found it.

That was my mother's influence. On my father's side we have Gene Autry and the original versions of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and Here Comes Santy Claus. And yep, I found those digitized too along with a collection of all the Christmas songs Gene Autry ever recorded.

When you add these to the Vince Guaraldi Trio - Charlie Brown's Christmas, that pretty much gets it for me. I have since added Mannheim Steamroller's Christmas which sounds a bit manufactured but I like the synthesizers and oboes and the odd instrumentation. Plus there's no singing on it so that's cool too.

Along the way I had to pick up Manhatten Transfer, Rockapella, and Leann Rimes Christmas albums for Mrs. Dog. I know Fan likes Ho Ho Hoey by Gary Hoey but I don't have that one. So here's what I've been listening to. How 'bout you?

10.(TIE) Kenny Burrell - Midnight Blue, and DC Slater - Follow The Sun. I know, Kenny Burrell is jazz and DC Slater is heavy guitar rock but I love them both.

9. Wynonna Judd - Singin' Chapter 1. Another odd selection for me but wow was I surprised when I first heard this a few days back. It's mostly blues and rock cover songs and actually only a few country numbers. Made me re-evaluate the talent some of these folks have that gets misdirected by record company execs. Sickening.

8. Carey Bell - (2 albums) Tough Luck & Mellow Down Easy. The more I hear him the more I appreciate him. He's way up there among my favorite blues harpists.

7. Ace Moreland - All his albums. He's a now deceased Southern Rock / Blues guitarist who I am just discovering and I like just about everything I hear.

6. The Dirty Dozen Brass Band - Buck Jump. Sophisticated New Orleans-style street jazz. Good stuff!

5. Bernard Allison - The Otherside. Got ahold of a promo copy (album is not scheduled to be released until 1/31/2010) and when it comes out, get it. HOT Blues!

4. Vince Guaraldi Trio - A Charlie Brown Christmas

3. Alien Cowboys - (3 albums) Analogtherapy, Lift, & Zero Gravity. I got an Alien Cowboys album several years ago called Other Space which I really like. So when I saw these, I picked them up. Fast becoming one of my favorite bands.

2. Gene Autry - The Complete Columbia Christmas Recordings

1. Longines Symphonette Society - Christmas At The Fireside

DOG: A Lump of Coal

Well it's Christmas and we are in dire need around here of a real Christmas story. So I'm going to tell you one of my very favorite ones about how naughty children get a lump of coal for Christmas. And that's a fact, Jack. Check it out.

It was around Christmastime 1963 that my father kept reminding me that if I didn't start behaving myself Santa would bring me a lump of coal in my stocking instead of presents.

Now I turned 8 just weeks before Christmas that year and was still solid in my belief of Santa Claus. And I had heard that story of coal in your stocking from my various aunts and uncles, Mr. King the barber, my friends parents and just about every adult I encountered. But I never met one kid, even ones who misbehaved way more than me, who had EVER gotten coal for Christmas... and we lived in the middle of the richest vein of bituminous coal ever discovered!

So needless to say I didn't take my father's threat real seriously. But I did try in vain to behave myself a little better as Christmas drew nearer. 'Cause he did seem to have an "in" with Santa Claus based on the stuff I asked for and the stuff I got the previous year. For instance, my dad told me he bought me the race cars and the figure 8 track they raced on because Santa knew I wanted it but he didn't have room in his sleigh. So he asked my dad to get it for me. Seemed logical and very plausible to me.

Well, 6:00am Christmas morning rolled around and I jumped out of bed to unwrap my presents. I got all kinds of stuff. Almost everything I asked for. And not a lump of coal to be found! Whoo-hoo. My parents were still asleep in bed so I wandered over to my stocking where the "little stuff" was. Usually not much really good stuff in the stocking. Maybe some candy, a piece of fruit, some cheap-ass plastic car or something like that.

And what was in there? Well, I'll be damned... A PIECE OF COAL!! In fact a very LARGE piece of coal. Son of a bitch if that Santa Claus didn't know how bad I was after all. I got so much stuff though. It was like he was saying, "Look you're a pretty good kid so I got you some nice presents. But you're a smart-ass little bastard sometimes and a royal pain in your parents ass. So straighten up or it's all coal next year, buddy."

YIKES!!! What could I do? I felt so bad. I was embarrassed that Santa Claus knew I was bad enough to get coal... when even the bad kids didn't get any. Shit, I couldn't let my parents wake up and find out that Santa brought me coal. Then they wouldn't get me anything either. So, showing signs of the resourceful son-of-a-bitch I grew up to be, I had to think fast. We had a coal furnace, and thus a coal bin downstairs to keep our winter fuel. So I tip-toed down the steps and threw that piece of coal in with the thousands of other pieces of coal in the coal bin. And stealthily tip-toed back up to the living room.

When my dad came out to the living room he asked, "What all did Santa bring you?" So I started showing him this and that and when I got to the last of my long list of presents he said, "You sure he didn't bring you nothin' else?"

And I replied, "Nope, not unless there's something hidden somewhere."

Then he hit me with, "So you didn't get no lump of coal, huh?"

Son of a bitch. Why did he have to ask me that? Well, he was the last person I wanted to know that I got coal for Christmas so I HAD to lie.

"I guess not. I didn't see none. Only coal I know of is down in the coal bin." I lied.

Then a few years later when I finally discovered that the real Santa Claus is indeed your parents, he confronted me about that lump of coal I got back when I was 8. He had played me like Stephane Grappelli played a violin. He had my ass hook, line and sinker. It dawned on me that he knew all along cause he was the one who put the damn coal in my stocking to begin with!

Well, my father is gone now. But the last Christmas he was alive he still was telling folks about the year I got coal in my stocking. How I lied about it and tried to cover it up. And how a few years later he nailed my ass with it when I boldly told him there was no Santa Claus. He had forgotten a lot about his life by the time he was 86 but he never forgot that story. And wherever he is in eternity I'm sure he's still laughing about it. Me too.

FAN: Interesting Tactic To Try If Pulled Over

This lady might be worse than our old Japanese friend at the airport.

I forgot to write about it, but on my way up to NH for Thanksgiving, I was caught by a hiding trooper doing 81 mph in a 65 zone. Whatever. He had his trunk up so you couldn't tell he was PO-lice. Anyway, what would have happened if I reacted like this......

FAN: Best Of Slanted Christmas

A three year old post about favorite Christmas Specials

Marshmallow Baby Jesus

What looks "Christmasy"

Miser Brothers Remake

FAN: Magazines Starting To Suck

Listen you stupid magazines - I'm not happy one single bit with your latest ploys to prolong subscriptions. We get so many magazines I can't even keep track. I'm much more of a magazine reader than a book reader these days. If I get sufficiently pissed off at some of them though, I'll end that in a hurry. A slew of renewal forms just came through the house and I noticed three trends.

One - I almost ripped one up that my wife no longer wants to receive but on closer inspection, it had written on it: "You will be automatically renewed and billed unless you return this card marked DO Not Continue". That's some bullshit right there. It's OK for auto insurance to do that and the like. It's NOT ok for magazines to do it. It's just not. Why? Because for years we've been trained to get a renewal card and decide what we want to do. It's standard operating procedure for subscribing to a magazine for a certain length of time. I'm sure the economy caused this, but big business is slimy so maybe it was coming regardless.

Two - I already paid for another year of one of my favorite magazines. Another mailing came and my wife even said "Oh, I thought you paid that one". I did. It was another offer to add another year on for a reduced rate, but it was made out to look like my normal renewal card. The slimy bastages are looking for people who have so many subscriptions they can't keep track of what they already paid - so when they get this, they just check the box and pay another year ontop of what they're already getting. I swear the text explaining that I was in good standing for the next year and this was for 12 issues ontop of that was very hard to find and very misleading even to someone like me. Imagine the old goats getting this! They might not even live another two years!

Three - I'm 6 months into a 1 year subscription and I'm being told to renew or risk interuption of service. I'm not going to miss my mailed medications. I'm not going to lapse my auto insurance. I might miss a month of a magazine that just jumbles their article names and keeps cranking out the same old shit month after month. Yeah, I'm not going to renew you period, Pilgrim. I'll have to keep my eyes peeled for it though so they don't trick me into sending them money.

Magazine marketers have become carnival barkers. Word!

FAN: Chipotle Needs Process ReEngineering

Take a good look at this picture. I thought I was gonna have to paint a picture with words for this rant but I plugged "Chipotle Mexican Grill" into Google Images and behold - I got more than I expected.

I'm a simple man. A little odd, yes. A little direct, yes, but I work a certain way. A predictable way. Things should make sense to me. Inefficiencies suck. Call me crazy. I only spilled the contents of a bagless vacuum on the freshly vacuumed carpet once. It's woven into my fabric. When things annoy me, I look for and find better ways to do them. It's why I do what I do for a living. There is no better job for me than to find fault with things.

I hate salad bars. Hate them! I love salad. Dilemma! Why don't I like salad bars? How much time do you have? They're basically a mess. We love Ruby Tuesday's salad bar....at certain times of the day. If you get there shortly after they open or before the dinner rush, it's much better. By "much better" I mean "much cleaner". I don't like hard boiled egg pieces in my beets. It must be the presentation thing for me. Yes, I'm going to mix all those things together in my own salad, but I don't want the grape that the snot nosed kid touched and put back. You feel me? I don't like it when the stainless steel parts between the crocks are so full of old stuff it looks like a rather large person sneezed a hurricane. I don't want the oily mess from a pasta salad dripping on the carrots. My wife had to get "kitchen certified" to be the administrator of an assisted living once. She learned all kinds of creepy things about salad bars. TIP: Pass on the spinach and sprouts.

So, that was a little background. On to Chipotle. I love Chipotle Mexican Grill. A quick affordable lunch much better than Taco Bell. I haven't been in a Taco Bell in 10 years - maybe longer. With the advent of "fast casual" places like Chipotle's, Qdoba, Moe's and Baha Fresh - why would you? Of all those mentioned, Chipotle is my absolute favorite. Small menu, refillable Diet Coke, excellent burritos! Software geeks L-O-V-E burritos and caffeine. There's nothing like going back to the cube farm with some good belches lined up. I'll try to make this short. Maybe I'll email Chipotle myself, but as I'm coming through the line every time, and I prolly eat there once a week, I get those old salad bar feelings when I look at the sour cream. Why? There's typically corn salsa and cheese backstroking in it. I'm having the corn salsa and I'm having the cheese, so to get the sour cream is no huge deal to me, but for presentation purposes or if I had an aversion to corn and wanted sour cream, I'd pass.

Now look at the picture again. Imagine the section with the meat and beans is where you first order and then the secion with the salsas and toppings are right beside it. The worker is standing on the side of the sour cream. The corn salsa is closest to the customer as you walk down the board. I want the corn closer to the worker! If the worker doesn't have to navigate corn on a spoon going for a flyover of the sour cream.....no kernel can decide to commit cornicide and jump off said serving spoon. Genius! I just solved the age old problem of corn in the sour cream! I noticed it the second time I ate there. Now when I go, I just laugh at all the corn in the sour cream and wonder A. How did this come about? and B. Why is it still like that? I thought maybe it was just the one store I eat at for lunch but it's not. Our local one is set up the same way and this picture indicates that it's most likely this way at every location.

I know that swapping the corn and sour cream solves little as you'll just have the opposite effect of sour cream in the corn....but why do those buckets have to be that way? Use a thicker sour cream and it won't run off the spoon. Keep the same runny sour cream but put it in a squeezable bottle like ketchup. There are probably 100 different ways to get around this problem, but it's hard for me to understand why a national chain hasn't seen this as an issue yet and changed it. If that store opens at 11 AM, I guarantee you the first piece of corn flies into the white quicksand around 11:07. If Chipotle's was around and I worked there instead of Burger King when I was in high school - I would have solved that bugger on Day 2.

Don't you think one worker..somewhere..anywhere.. at 11:07 AM is saying "Damn! You there, you slippery hot kernel...YOU...will be the last kernel of corn that ever falls in the sour cream on MY watch!"

FAN: Idiot Local News

Ya know, I blame the networks when as a family we're watching a television show at 8 pm and they run a commercial for a rated 'R' horror movie. I can't stand it. Just what a 10 year old girl needs to see before going to bed. Heck, just what a 41-year-old chicken man needs to see before he goes to bed! Safe to say that when I notice it, we are watching something that can appeal to many age groups. Deal Or No Deal used to do it. American Ido used to do it.

Well tonight, at 8:30 pm, right smack dab in the middle of Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer in the Philly area on CBS....they do a 15 second local news teaser after the commercials where the girl says and I quote...ahem...."Tonight at 11, the gruesome story of a 100-year-old woman who was strangled and the surprising suspect...".

It's closing in on Christmas, the girls baked Christmas cookies today, we're sitting on the couch enjoying Bumble and the Elf Boss and Charlie in the Box....and then BAM!...Lucy has some 'splainin' to do. "Yes, honey, there are terrible people in this world who do not respect life one little single bit. What's that? No honey, Daddy doesn't know why anybody would strangle a 100-year-old lady." All the while in the back of my head I'm thinking I can't wait until she's a little older - how much older I'm not sure - but old enough to hear what her old man really thinks about the piece of low life scumbag shitstain animal that did this.

Back to the real topic though...why, WHY did the network have to use that for a teaser while Rudolph was on? Is there not a Producer of some sort that makes these calls or looks to see what's on before running with a teaser? Are we that desensitised that kids aren't supposed to blink when they hear a fragile old woman was strangled? What's wrong with people? I don't want her to hear that one 30-year-old man strangled another 30-year-old man in a bar fight, let alone have her contemplate the senseless killing of some family's matriarch.

Like Dennis Leary says....Have a Merry Effing Christmas.

FAN: Mathletes, Not

Maybe I'm biased because I majored in Math and Computer Science, but I read something so ridiculous (to me) last night I almost laughed out loud. I don't try many new recipes with a lot of ingredients so someone please correct me if I'm wrong. I might even debate you on it as it doesn't seem to make sense to someone who thinks like me. I was in the, um, reading room with no material of my own to read so I picked up one of Mrs. Fan's magazines. There was an article on healthy snacks to make for parties and there was a recipe for fruit and cheese balls that required no cooking. What struck me as totally odd and unnecessary was at the very top of the recipe right under the name. It stated "Recipe Can Be Doubled". Really? No shit, Sherlock! I bet it can also be.....wait for it....tripled or quadrupled! Is it me? Am I wrong? There was no chemical reaction to the process that I saw....maybe I'm just a grumpy old man? Please, school me on this one.

FAN: Finally Able To Comment

I just couldn't put the loss to the Browns in words until tonight. It took me a full day to play with it all day in my head....trying to make sense out of it.....how a 6-2 team that beat the Chargers and the Vikings could lose to the three blind mice. When did I know the game was over? I think I had a very bad feeling in the pit of my stomach around 8:22 or so. Steelers ball first drive Mendenhall for 5 on first down to the right. On second down it's Mendenhall again to the right for 4 more. It's windy. It's cold. We want to set the tone. We need to set the tone. We want to tell the Browns right now that they are in for a huge ass whoopin' and take some of their spirit away. I was giddy with anticipation as they broke the huddle on 3rd and less than a yard. I wanted Mendenhall to get a full two or three yards on this short yardgae carry. Um....why is Ben in shotgun? Why is Ben in shotgun? There's nobody back there with him. They're going empty backfield? I'm talking to one of my two cats of course because I think others in the house don't share my committment to the team...... SACK! I can't swear because Still A Stroke is within earshot so I think to myself GDMFSOAAPMB. I'm not mad at Ben. I'm not mad at the line (well, a little). I'm GDMF pissed off at Bruce Arians. Bruce Arians sucks more ass than Clay Aiken. He just does. I know the defense can't hold a lead in games lately near the end, but godfreaking dammit Bruce......it's 3rd and less than a yard on the opening GD drive after you already ran the GD ball twice and looked very good doing it. It wasn't 3rd and 7. It wasn't 3rd and 4. There are so many crazy things you can do in this situation, but shotgun with empty backfield? How about play action if you have to pass? You know what....I'm done. I could "what if" all night. They just aren't very good right now at all. If Bruce Arians is back next year, I'll be pissed but I'm guessing he will be since he gives Ben the freedom to call his own plays and Ben probably likes that and wants him to stay for that reason.

APM = ass picking monkey

One of my favorite swears to mix in when I'm really angry taken from one Ruth Gordon in Every Which Way But Loose.

DOG: An Attempt at Rational Analysis

Just today I read that Mike Tomlin will be making some personnel changes for the Thursday night game in Cleveland. That’s good because his rhetoric only sounds cool when he’s winning. It sounds like arrogance when they’re losing and I do not believe Tomlin to be an arrogant man. Action should have been taken long ago instead of “Unleashing Hell.” What bullshit. Tomlin should have been unleashing the Hell himself on the players and coaches. Maybe he’s learned a lesson.

OK let’s start out by stating the obvious. There are three main fault areas in this year’s Stillers. First is Special Teams primarily with kick return coverage units and more specifically the kickoff coverage unit. But I hold my breath during punt returns too. Second we have an offense with plays called for no rhyme or reason who can move the ball between the 20s with the greatest of ease but once inside the redzone stutters and sputters like a Model T out of gas. I have seen this offense referred to as “500 Yards and a Cloud of Horseshit.” Wish I knew who the guy was who coined that phrase. It wasn’t me but I’m using it anyway ‘cause I like it and it’s accurate. And last, we have a defense that cannot protect any lead in the 4th quarter of any game against any opponent. All three phases are screwed up.

On Special Teams I blame Tomlin for two things. Not firing special teams coach Ligashesky at the end of last season and putting bad personnel on the field on coverage teams. When Tomlin arrived who had been our special teams leaders and demons? That’s right, Sean Morey and Chidi Iwuoma. And Tomlin got rid of them very quickly. Now I will be the first to admit that neither Morey nor Iwuoma brought much to the table outside of special teams play but looking at the train wreck we have on coverage units right now I’d say we sure could use a couple guys like those two. Then beyond that, our top gunner from last season (which was nothing to write home about special teams-wise either), Sam Madison, was cut at the end of training camp. I submit to you that none of these players were truly replaced. One example is Ryan Mundy who is worthless on kickoff coverage (and he has the brain of an ear of corn as a Safety). Madison was resigned last week and I look for more personnel changes in all the special teams packages. And while I’m on special teams can anybody explain to me what the fuck Troy Polamalu was doing on a FG defense unit? Wouldn’t you think that outside of Roethlisberger the one guy too valuable to risk on something as simple as a FG attempt would be Polamalu? But there he was for some fat guy to roll up on his leg and, well you know the rest of the story. My prediction here is Ligashesky is fired at the end of this season and we start from scratch with a new coach and some new players.

On offense the popular thing to do is criticize Bruce Arians. And I must say Bruce brings this criticism upon himself. Not saying all of it is justified. But we have gone as far as Bruce Arians can take this offense. If we ever want to be an elite offensive unit he needs to step down or be fired. We have the talent to be elite but we will never live up to that talent with Arians as OC. Actually he has installed a very good offensive scheme around the talent that we have. But in game planning and on game day he is as lost as a 5 year old boy who can’t find his parents in downtown Manhattan. He never adjusts. Never calls plays to accentuate our strong points, conceal our weak points, or take full advantage of the weakness of a defense. Never calls one play to set up another later on. That is unacceptable. His partner in crime? QB coach Kenny Anderson. We’ve got a QB who week after week throws an interception in the endzone. There’s a definite pattern here. This is where coaching at the professional level should assert itself. Someone, presumably the QB coach, needs to get in Ben’s cage and help him fix that shit. That obviously isn’t happening. And besides, Ken Anderson was QB for the Bengals and I’ll always hate and mistrust him for that. I don’t have a prediction here but both these coaches need to be shown the door. If that don’t happen don’t expect much next year either.

On defense, we miss Polamalu undoubtedly. Not having Troy changes a lot of the things LeBeau has designed this defense to do. Also, not having Aaron Smith has rocked this defense to it’s very core despite the fact that you could argue Eason, Hood, and Kirshke have filled in about as well as could reasonably be expected. James Farrior has gotten too old to cover a RB on a pass pattern practically overnight. He is a very smart player but the brain isn’t the part of the body that allows you to cover Ray Rice out of the backfield. But the Achilles heel of this unit is the secondary. I had hopes that Wil.I.Am Gay could be a full time starter. Apparently Tomlin did too but he obviously is not. Tyrone Carter had known weaknesses. He tries hard but cannot make up for his lack of speed. Carter is fine to fill in when a safety goes down for a game. Maybe two games. But going with him for this long is bound to have consequences. And Ryan Mundy, I feel like he is stealing his paycheck. It’s not only that he can’t cover a kick, he can’t cover a receiver and when he tries to deliver a big hit he either knocks one of our guys out cold or draws an unnecessary roughness penalty. Negative, Negative, Negative. It must be driving LeBeau and Tomlin who have great experience as secondary coaches –and in LeBeau’s case as a player- to see this secondary playing so poorly. Ike Taylor can swag all he wants but swaggin’ ain’t helping him catch interceptions or stay close enough to his man to stop passes from being completed either. DeShea is too old. This is it for him.

So Tomlin’s going to make some personnel changes. I can’t wait. Gives me a reason to bother to even watch that game on Thursday. This is where I disagree with Fan and a couple other people who commented earlier. How can you say we need to draft for this position or that position? Case in point. This past draft we picked up two defensive secondary players in Joe Burnett and Keenan Lewis. So how can you say we need to draft secondary help? The help we need might already be on the roster. But none of us knows that because we’ve never really seen these two fellows play a game. Tomlin don’t really know either but we’re all going to find out. And the sooner the better. We also got defensive linemen Ziggy Hood and Sunny Harris this past draft. Those guys could be 2/3 of our future defensive line. But we need to find out what they can do.

In summary, put yourself in Tomlin’s place. The dude just won his first Super Bowl. It’s got to be hard to sit or cut the very players that put that ring on your finger. And it’s got to be harder still to fire some of the coaches who helped you reach that goal. But that’s exactly what should have been done. And I hope Tomlin realizes that now. I trust that the appropriate changes will be made. Remember it is not the Steeler way to respond with knee jerk reactions. That is left up to us fans. But I am confident a serious analysis of the situation is already in the works. It seems to me that from the comments in the media by team leaders like Hines Ward and Big Ben that there is also a disconnect and a distrust between the players and the coaching staff. The players are looking to Tomlin to resolve that and it hasn’t happened. So Tomlin needs to take over the reins a bit more. Keep your eye on what he does himself for the next 4 weeks. That will tell you all you need to know about what will happen in the offseason.

Now that I’ve rationalized all that for everyone and myself, it still pisses me off to be in this situation. But hey, it’s better than being a Cleveland Browns fan. And Fan, I did find pictures of some nasty nasty poop to use as a graphic but honestly it was just too gross to post. So I’m not using any graphics. Like they say, “If it’s Brown flush it down.”

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?