FAN: Cold Weather Super Bowl

I still read Peter King's Monday Morning Quarterback just because I like to stay kind of up-to-date with the NFL during the off season. It gives me a little information besides the crawlers and headlines I read.

One thing he's been super negative about is the cold weather Super Bowl in New York or New Jersey. His main point that he keeps harping on - and it's everybody's point that doesn't like the idea - is that OMG it might be -20 and snowing and people paid $4000 for tickets and what will they DOOOOO for 4 hours out in the cold....

Are you effing kidding me? Really? You have to be effing kidding me, right? The Super Bowl is two weeks after Championship Weekend. So for the Conference Title Games you could be in Chicago, Green Bay, Buffalo, Cleveland..... Puhlease! How could 2 weeks make any difference in the world? It's a crap shoot you moron. New York fans don't know weather like Buffalo and Cleveland fans.

You know what it really means? Real fans instead of corporate idiots who don't know Brett Favre from Brett Michaels will be at the game. Buffalo season ticket holders go to 8 home games and probably 5 or 6 of them are in very cold weather. If you're "tough" enough to want to blow four large on tickets, you better be tough enough to sit outside in whatever weather could present itself.

The second game I went to at Heinz Field was with Still A Colt for a MNF game against the Colts. I was tailgating with the Genco crew and we started around 3 PM and it was 36 degrees. At 12:30 AM when we were crossing the river on the Gateway Clipper it was 20 degrees. That's 9.5 hours outside with the bulk of it below freezing. Were we cold? Yes. Were we dying? No! We were dressed for it.......and the beers didn't hurt either. Those were good times.

FAN: Local Yocal Butchers Accused Roethlisberger

Did anyone listen to that press conference? If "Roethlisberger" was said outloud 21 times, it was mispronounced 19 of them. The guy at the mic kept calling him "Rothlismenburg". The woman butchered it a few times as well. Don't yout hink before this clown goes in front of all those cameras for the nation to see he would have learned how to say his name correctly? It's not 2004. I thought everyone knew how to say it?

FAN: Boldin Bolsters Shitbirds

Great. Anquan Bolding was traded to the Ravens where he will get a new $28 million dollar contract. Now our crappy corners will have to cover him twice a year for four years. The Browns and Bengals...don't you feel sorry for them? The Ravens offense may really take off this year. It's a good trade and sign for them. I'm actually impressed. I'm wondering what we'll end up doing. If Ryan Clark signs elsewhere, Troy's hammies will blow out by week 4 again this year trying to cover everyone else's ass.

FAN: Peyton Manning In The Playoffs- Fail

Stilladog got me thinking last night after reading his post. Who has Manning won against in the playoffs? I'm sick and tired of people talking about him as the greatest ever when he's won exactly one championship, and that was against Rex Grossman. Let's pull back the curtain a little bit on a snowy day and take a look. Is he great? Is he great in the regular season only? What's his deal anyway? What happens when you take away the security blanket that is his dome?

Forget about the failures in college and high school to win it all or win against the biggest rivals. Let's concentrate on just the NFL. Manning is a crazy 131-61 in the regular season with a passer rating of 95.2. How on Earth is it possible then that he is a pedestrian 9-9 in the playoffs with a rating of 87.5. Great players are supposed to play better in big moments, not crumble.

So, who exactly did he beat in the playoffs with his 9 wins? Let's check:

Jake Plummer in a Wildcard game.
Trent Green in a Divisional game.
Jake Plummber in a Wildcard game.
Trent Green in a Wildcard game.
Steve McNair in a Divisional game.
Tom Brady in a Conference Championship game.
Rex Grossman in the Super Bowl.
Joe Flacco in Divisional game.
Mark Sanchez in Conference Championship game.

Wow. What a list of future Hall Of Famers. Maybe Manning just racks up stat after stat when there is no pressure and then caves in when it matters most.

Who did he lose playoff duals to?

McNair in Divisional game.
Jay Fieldler in Wildcard game.
Chad Pennington in Wildcard game (41-0)
Tom Brady in Conference Championship game
Tom Brady in Divisional game.
Ben Roethlisberger in Divisional game.
Philip Rivers in Divisional game.
Philip Rivers in Wildcard game.
Drew Brees in Super Bowl.

Now get ready for this. Who is already favored to win the Super Bowl next year? The Colts. Why? Listen, I'm not saying he blows or anything, you'd be an idiot to say that. I'm saying if I'm in the Super Bowl and I have to pick one quarterback of all time to lead my team, why would I pick Manning? Is he really the best of all time? Maybe in the regular season you could make that point. Once the second season begins? Forget it.

FAN: Favre Retiring Again...No Wait

Great. It's January 24th. Favre threw a pick which cost the Vikings a chance at the Super Bowl. With their front 7, the Vikings had a better chance in my opinion of beating the Colts than the Saints do. Oh well.

Now all we have to look forward to is Brett retiring and unretiring all spring and summer. We have about what, six months now of "will he" or "won't he"....which is six too many for yours truly and I like the man.

I was going to write a sort of parody of him already retiring and un-retiring 3 times since the game ended around 10:30 but what would be the point? I'm not sure it qualifies as a parody. He was brought there specifically to win this game and even though he had a spectacular season with only 7 picks, his never say die attitude which plagued him at times in the second half of his career came shining through today. If he takes off running with that ball and steps out of bounds they kick and win.

I think he's going to want that one back tomorrow. Next week. Next month. 10 years from now. In the end, he couldn't stop himself from being Brett.

FAN: Cleveland Chooses Holmgren's Mediocrity

Thank You Cleveland Browns. Thank You, Thank You....Thank You. Why? For hiring The Walrus of course! This hyped up pile of steaming poo is the poster boy for NFL mediocrity. I can't believe (actually I can) the way the press is all over every move the man makes. Where are the graphics showing the man's credentials to take over a franchise? Without knowing the facts before writing this I think his credentials suck monkey balls.

So, off to Wikipedia I go, in search of why Cleveland is all gaga over this guy. Holmgren coached 7 years in Green Bay with a record of 75-37. Very good. He began with 3 9-7 seasons in a row while Brett Favre learned how to play the game and then while Brett was in his prime he road his horse for a 48-16 record and playoff success and a Super Bowl win (and a SB loss). He had great success at Green Bay when tethered to Favre and his waistline, I mean legend, grew.

This is where it gets fun. Mike's ego wanted to run his own team. He wanted to buy the ingredients and cook the meal. Seattle offered him that opportunity and he jumped at the chance in 1999. He went 9-7 in his first year there. Decent enough but it takes time to turn a program around, right? He got worse in 2000. Much worse. His record was 6-10. Ask Bill Belimort, it's hard as Hell to win games without a star quarterback. In his third season as Seattle's football czar, Mike went 9-7 again. Ok, Now he's back on track and is set up to succeed in season four - except he didn't. He went 7-9. So, the genius Mike Holmgren was brought in to win and so far as the man in charge of everything, he's posted a 31-33 record. How did ownership react? They stripped him of his GM role and said "Just coach please". He couldn't run the organization. He failed at the thing he wanted most.

Without running the organization he had immediate success going 10-6 but lost the first playoff game. Like most of his tenure, he failed to put together back-to-back good seasons and went 9-7 followed by another first round playoff loss. Maybe Mike should change his name officially to "Nine Wins Holmgren". He finally delivered in 2005 going 13-3 but lost the Super Bowl (he he he) to a far superior team and then blamed the referees instead of being a man. Nice character there, Niner. You can only guess that he went 9-7 in 2006. He showed a little promise going 10-6 in 2007 but he lost in the playoffs to.......Brett Favre. Sigh. That must have really rocked his world because he ended his Seattle stint with a 4-12 record. Let me repeat that....a 4-12 record. In totality, in Seattle, the genius was 86-74 and 4-6 in the playoffs.

Cleveland wants a football czar. Hmmmm, who should they seek out? How about a coach who has 7 seasons with 10 wins or more out of 17 seasons. Out of the other 10 campaigns, 7 of them were 9 win seasons. Yawn. And don't forget he got shit canned as the GM after only 4 years. He hasn't had back-to-back 10 win seasons since 1998 and that was with Favre. The fact that this man is so sought after is mind boggling to me. I read once where he wanted to go open a coffee shop or a B&B and retire. He should have followed his dream.

What has Cleveland gained since employing Mike? Well, they decided to keep a coach with a career NFL record of 28-36 because he had a 4 game winning streak. I'm impressed. The fact that Mangini went 10-6 in his first year with the Jets and 4-12 in his second tells me he went 10-6 with somebody else's team. Whatever. So what do I read this morning? Holmgren is close to hiring Seattle's Pro Personnel director to be Cleveland's GM. He's worked with him before in Green Bay and Seattle. Super! Steeler fans rejoice! Mike is going to bring his amazing streak of mediocrity to the Browns by surrounding himself with cronies from the old days who have already failed with him at other locations.

People, People, People.....please pull back the curtain and take a good look at your wizard. Your wizard isn't a wizard at all. Your wizard, is a walrus.

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: 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: Steelers Titans Game Thoughts

My chronological thoughts from the game:

Pop acts completely blow live. Completely. When your music is mostly over produced, why even try? I mean Fergie is fun to look at and maybe she can sing a little....but how could you tell? I would rather hear the song on the radio than watch that snooze fest. Tim McGraw wasn't any better. Blech.

What is with Al Michaels hair? His top front reminds me of me below the waist in 9th grade.

Two huge Special Teams plays in the first five plays of the game. Logan's return and Danny's punt and the cover. Long overdue.....both.

Neither Ed Reed or Bob Sanders can make the play in the backfield that Polamalu made coming from where he started from.

We wuz robbed on the Polamalu PI call. Not even close.

Holmes TD looked too easy, didn't it? Then again, so was the subsequent Titans score.

After Ryan Clark got beat he really messed up. Instead of getting under control and getting his man down on the ground, he went in all crazy and let him go and he went for another 15 easy yards.

Jesus Christ, Jay Leno overload. How on Earth can you take a 30 year old girl seriously on a commercial who says she's been waiting all summer for him to return? Really?

Willie Parker up the middle on their first 3rd and 1? WTF? Are you kidding me? You don't prove you can run up the middle on 3rd and short against the Titans with your small back. There's more.....especially on a night when you're averaging about .3 yards per rush! No way Ben called that play. The retard did.

Through three quarters, Collins is impressing me. He's the Marty Schottenheimer of quaterbacks.

I'm not sure I'm buying what the Steelers are selling about continuity on the O line. They aren't showing me much. If I was O Line, I wouldn't want to watch this game tape tomorrow.

I didn't miss John Madden. Shrug.

Mewelde Moore may want the ball more than Willie Parker and Mendenhall. Still, why do we have to prove we can run for it? How about play action or something...anything else? Please!

Hines should have had two hands on that ball.

Did you see Hines Ward kill Fuller in an OT block?

The fact that we can win that game with that pitiful excuse for a running game is amazing. They need to send the O-Line out to a bar to get into a fight. They need attitude to run the ball.

You Can't Ice A Psychopath!!!!!

FAN: Steelers Camp Link

There are some really good tidbits of information in this article. Typically, these articles are full of fluff but I can chew on some of this stuff.

FAN: Tomlin Dead Serious

Slantedamus strikes again. This is exactly what I had in mind when I wrote about this coming season. No, I didn't get the job. The bastard never even got back to me. Tool.

FAN: McNair Getting Some Strange

I am so freaking sick and tired of reading pompous assholes tell me how Steve McNair's death was so much different than how he pretended to live. What? They compare his charity work with getting shot by a lover. Ladies and gentlemen, the man was not robbing banks. He wasn't beating his wife (or his children). He wasn't drowning dogs. Hell, he probably wasn't even stealing cable. He was HORNY. For Christ's sake shut up already! He wasn't selling drugs and was shot. He wasn't gambling and owed someone money and was shot. The man simply wanted some "strange" and chose poorly. How the hell that makes him less of a good human being, I'll never know. I'm going to guess Mrs. McNair was closed for business so he had to open a franchise. Don Banks of SI.com pontificated for 10 paragraphs about how you never really know somebody and I was laughing the entire way through it. Take out the part where he got shot by a crazy bitch and what happened? He was cheating on his wife. Oh My God! What percentage of married NFL players does Don Banks think cheat on their wives? I'm going to say a conservative estimate is 80%. Seriously! 80%. Banks just needed to turn in a story and took the easy way out. If he believes anything he said he is a stone cold moron. I hated McNair because of who he played for. From what I read he did a ton of good things off the field. He didn't shoot a hooker or end up dead in a closet in pantyhose with his nads tied up for greater masturbatory pleasure like Hung-Fu. He got shot. He got shot. Let that sink in you idiotic windbags.

FAN: Steel Resolve

I was recently trolling Craigslist looking at the gigs link for potential web consulting deals. One caught my eye: an Eagles writer for a new national sports website. Feeling lucky I went to the Pittsburgh link and the same ad was there for the Steelers. I sent an iquiry and was given a faux assignment to write. I shot them this link, but all they found out from it was that I like torture and revenge movies. Actually he said there was was decent stuff here but wanted to see a more realistic article. So, it's been a day or two and I haven't heard back so I thought I'd post it here. The task was to describe the deciding factor in the Steelers repeating or not repeating next year. Hope you enjoy. It had to be 400-600 words so I hope it's not too wordy. I think I've written 2,000 word diatribes about air travel.



Steel Resolve by Still A. Fan


On January 20, 1980, the Pittsburgh Steelers added a fourth Lombardi trophy to their case before any other team even added a third. Quite an accomplishment was that, as was winning all four titles within a span of six years. In February of 2010, should the Steelers find themselves on the friendly side of the Super Bowl scoreboard one more time, they will again own two more trophies (seven) than the next closest collectors – Dallas and San Francisco.

Ask twenty different towel-waving, sandwich-eating diehards of Steeler Nation what they think the odds of that happening are and you will no doubt get 20 different answers. Follow that question up with an innocent “Why?” and watch Mr. Eleven Letters ending in “ski” and his lunch buddies get animated very quickly. “If the O-Line can keep Ben healthy, it’s seven.” “They didn’t go O-Line in round one, they’re done.” “Parker’s health – write it down.” “Ben finds a way to win no matter what – they repeat.” “If Ward or Holmes goes down the season is over. O-V-E-R.” “Remember 2005. They stunk it up the following year. No chance.”

All reasonable assessments coming from some of the most, if not the most, passionate and knowledgeable football fans in the country. One response was both close and yet far away from what I profess to be the main factor in this equation. My black and gold brethren, the deciding factor in the quest for seven is….Mike Tomlin. Why do I say that? Come along for the ride. Short of banging coconuts together on the sidelines and offering shrubberies to referees as bribes - Bill Cowher found his Holy Grail in winning Super Bowl XL. After all the failures to win it all (or even get there) - it is my opinion that the 2006 season was nothing more than a collective sigh of relief. He lost his hunger. He was losing it prior to 2005. In earlier years he could will that team to win in tough spots. Like he did before in his coaching career, I feel that he got too friendly with his key players the following year and it showed. He became one of the boys and he loved his vets to the point of it hurting the team.

The sheer amount of talent on the current team is enough to get them to the Super Bowl every year for the next 3-4 years. To keep the team focused and hungry though is an entirely different story. Mike Tomlin is Bill Cowher in 1994. He’s still hungry. You can hear it in his voice and see it in his actions. The 2009 Steelers will not go “Hollywood”. They aren’t going to pat themselves on the back all through training camp and be media darlings. I have a feeling Tomlin has already delivered a “last year is over” type speech. They are 0-0. True, they’re the defending champions of the world – but anybody who put money on them in Vegas in the 2006 preseason would like to kneecap anyone who suggests doing that this year. The obstacles are focus, determination, hunger and mostly pride. Who is driving the vehicle that will steer them through the emotional obstacle course, knowing when to praise and when to pounce? Mike Tomlin. It is my humble opinion that Mike Tomlin will do in 2009 what Bill Cowher failed to do in 2006 - refocus the team in camp. Yup, it’s as simple as that.

Keep‘em wavin’.

FAN: Foote Wants New Shoe

Looks like Larry Foote's days are numbered in Pittsburgh as another solid linebacker gives way to youth and talent. I'm not sure I agree with his reasons, but the only linebacker I've ever missed after leaving was Hardy Nickerson. Harrison, Farrior, Timmons and Woodley will make offenses cringe but what about depth? What about the chance to repeat? What if we ship him to a 4-12 team? Would he rather have more playing time there or be a valuable role player on a perrenial contender? I guess we already know the answer to that since he asked to be traded or released. Weird. But, whatever.

FAN: A Look Under The Hood

Not surprising. He fits the bill as the next guy to be one of the three. The only thing I read that scares me a little is that his lower body needs to add strength. If he is going to be NT we've always had shorter fire plug types who can get low and control. Here are some things I found:

Position: DT

Class: Senior

School: Missouri

Conference: Big 12

Ht., Wt.: 6-3, 300

40 Time: 4.89

BIOGRAPHY: Three-year starter awarded all-Conference honors since his junior season. Senior totals included 62/7/5 after 49/8/5 as a junior.

POSITIVES: Athletic defensive lineman swiftly moving up draft boards. Plays with terrific explosion, quick off the snap, and fluid changing direction. Holds the point of attack, resilient, and flies around the field trying to make positive plays. Displays an array of moves getting off blocks, possesses a burst of closing speed, and makes plays in every direction on the field. Moves well for a big man, and works hard until the whistle blows.

NEGATIVES: Stands to improve the strength in his lower body. Not a big or bulky lineman.

ANALYSIS: Hood is an athletic defensive tackle who has the physical skills to be used in a variety of positions at the next level, and he offers starting potential. He played well as a senior, and he really watched his game take off in the post-season. Hood could be a surprise selection in the late part of round one, based on his performance in the past six months.

FAN: Ravens are Chicken of Steelers

While reading Peter King's Monday Morning Quarterback, I was a little shocked to read this:

The NFL doesn't have great options for the Steelers for opening night, Sept. 10. San Diego, Green Bay and Tennessee are the best ones (the Ravens have requested not to be prime-time fodder for the Steelers for the fourth time in three years), and I'm hearing the Titans are favorite sons here. Roethlisberger-Collins. Young stud versus old. And don't forget the infamous towel-stomping incident -- I know the Steelers haven't. Good matchup if it happens. Very good. The football world approves.

The Ravens don't want any part of us in prime time. That's hilarious. What a lousy attitude. Ray does sort of resemble a chicken when the camera is on him and he's going through his very tired dramatic act. If he would have switched teams I bet he would have went to the NFC just so he'd only have to play us one more time in the next 4 years. Losers.

FAN: Steelers Free Agent Talk

It's that time of year again. The Super Bowl just ended and already the machine that is the NFL has us refocused on next season. I'm not finished marinating number SIX yet and here we go. We have a lot of players on the list this year, but not too many we have to worry about. Let's take a look first at the restricted players. Teams rarely sign another team's RFAs, but we'll go down the list anyway.

Willie Colon: I think if other sites graded him out, he would be about a C+ right now. No way anyone shows any interest. We will resign him relatively cheap.

Trai Essex: I'll pay for the cab fare to the airport. It's good that he knows the system and all and I suppose if you can get him for league minimum the learning curve is there, but he's never done anything for me as a player.

Chris Kemoeatu: Probably the best of the three? I'm not sure. It's a toss up between him and Willie. I don't expect other teams to come knocking. We'll resign him.

If Kemo and Colon continue to develop, it will work out nicely to resign them for 4-5 years while their stock is low. Next up, Unrestricted Free Agents. We're in very good shape here, the best in years. This may be the best chance for a team to repeat in recent history given their free agent situation.

Charlie Batch/Byron Leftwich: I think Leftwich thinks he can start. The thing is, who is going to give him a chance. Nobody is going to come calling Charlie. We have all the leverage. I say, let Leftwich go try the market. If he gets no starting offers, take him back as our #2. If Ben goes down, we are better off with Leftwich in my opinion. Batch runs the offense nicely when in there, but I have feeling if we need a long stretch, Lefty is the way to go. Charlie should be cheap as a #3 if he wants to stay. He's like another coach, really. If Leftwich goes, sign Batch and wait until after the draft for anundrafted free agent QB for #3.

Keyaron Fox: From what I remember, he made some nice special teams tackles as the first man down. He'll be so stinking cheap, why not resign him since he knows the system? If he goes, he goes. No loss.

Andre Frazier: See Keyaron Fox.

Sean McHugh: I'm indifferent. No loss if he goes.

Orpheus Roye: Do you know the story of the saying "Don't look a gift horse in the mouth"? Well, dude's teeth are pretty long. All he has going for him are the tricks of the trade that he's kearned over the years that help him battle youth, speed and strength. Let him walk. No offer.

Jamel White: Who in the Hell is this? Is the list I found accurate? Walk, no offer.

Nate Washington:I'm tempted to let him test the market. I like him, I really do and I want him to stay. However, if I'm playing Moneyball, the 3rd receiver is not a high paying job. We need to save those duckets for Santonio when he comes up. We didn't draft Limas Sweed to sit on the bench the entire game and he can play this position cheaper. Think about it, with Holmes, Miller and Ward running around in the secondary and Sweed ready after another full camp, I am predicting we lose Nate Washington and I'll wish him well.

Bryant McFadden: Here he is, boys, the one guy I don't want to lose this year. Sign him....tomorrow. Get 'r done.

Later this week: Draft Strategy. Dog, any issues with the FA assessment? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?

FAN: You Can't Ice A Psychopath

Jeff Reed 1 Sheetz Paper Towel Dispenser 0

Come on, you hate it too when you have to wipe your wet hands on your nice pants. This guy better retire a Steeler, that's all I know. I don't care if he's bat shit crazy. He's the most money guy we've had since Gary Anderson and he has a stronger leg. He also throws his head into some tackles. Personally, I want to hang out with him some night. Talk about having some stories to tell.........

DOG: Favre Announces Leave of Absence

I'm sure you've heard by now that Brett Favre is taking a leave from his job as a professional football player for the next several months... again. He calls it a retirement but since he's had a press conference each of the last 3 seasons to announce his "retirement," let's just acknowledge it's a leave of absence for now and leave it at that. Favre is just one perfectly timed reminder that Vinny Testaverde played QB well into his 40s from being back slinging passes for some NFL team next September.

Here's my slanted take on Favre's deal. He still wants to play football, of this I have no doubt. He had a good time playing for the Jets last year although they faltered late in the season and failed to make the playoffs. Who wouldn't have a good time throwing 6 TDs in a single game?

But he wants to play for the Minnesota Vikings. He wanted to play for them when he left Green Bay but the Packers pretty much blocked his path. Now it's another year later. The sanctions the Packers put on him moving to a team within their division are lessened greatly. He asked for an outright release from the Jets but they refused. So he retired again. But that's not the half of the story.

The other half of the story is that he would have been fine staying with the Jets under Eric Mangini. But now the Jets head coach is former Shitbird defensive coordinator, Rex Ryan. I don't think Favre has any particular problem with Ryan. The problem lies in the fellow Ryan hired to be the Jets new QB coach, Matt Cavanaugh. Cavanaugh is a knucklehead coach, plain and simple (with the emphasis on simple). In no way could I see Favre playing for Cavanaugh.

Matt Cavanaugh is the guy who ruined Brian Billick's reputation as an offensive guru while he was offensive coordinator on Billick's staff in Baltimore. Matt Cavanaugh is the guy who could not get an offense moving under a myriad of QBs both high draft picks and high profile free agents. So when Billick and Cavanaugh got the boot out of Baltimore, Cavanaugh ended up on Dave Wannstache's staff at Pitt as offensive coordinator. He was universally hated by Pitt fans. His offense was so powerful that Pitt lost their most recent bowl game by a score of 3-0! Word in the 'burgh is that Shady McCoy, who represented 99.4% of Pitt's offense last season, would have stayed for his senior year if he had known Cavanaugh was leaving for the Jets.

And that's the Steel City Slant on this story, friends.

FAN: The Immaculate Drive

After a week of soaking it all in, there are still good stories coming out about the final drive of the Super Bowl. Peter King wrote a good article (for once) and gave credit all the way around - but still takes a shot at an anonymous Steelers fan in an airport, stinking Bostonite that he is. I think the thing I enjoyed most this week was watching Showtime's Inside the NFL which dedicated the entire hour to the big game. NFL Film's version was shown and then dissected. I read all the things Holmes supposedly said leading up to the final catch but you get to relive them in realtime thanks to NFL Films. As soon as Fitzgerald scored, Holmes started screaming they needed to "dare to be great" and exclaimed "I dare to be great". He walked over to Ben and told him he wanted the ball before going out on the field. Then, it seemed like he was reminding him before every snap. They interviewed Holmes in his house and he seemed very gracious and humble. He talked about kid's choices and wanting to be a role model, but something about him just tells me if offered a big rolled fatty at a party he'd take it in two seconds. My only issue with Showtime's version of the HBO staple is Warren Sapp. He says such stupid things you have to wonder about his IQ. Phil Simms said that the extended halftime was good for the Cardinals because it allowed them more time to get over the shock of the potential 14 point swing due to James Harrison's pick six. Good point. Sapp chimed in that he thought it was better for Pittsburgh because Harrison needed more time to rest after the return. Huh? It was a 100 yard dash, not a 5k. If he thinks the extra 10 minutes of Super Bowl halftime allowed Silverback to be his normal self in the second half, he's dumber than I originally thought.