FAN: Where's Our Corner?

So in the second and third rounds we still stayed away from cornerbacks. Not quite sure why. Yes, Santonio Holmes was cut so he could go bake somewhere else but I seriosuly don't think a slot receiver is more important to the team right now than trying to find an NFL caliber corner. Emmanuel Sanders was projected to be a 4th round pick and several receivers projected to be 3rd rounders were still on the board. I would think if he was drafted solely to play the slot then it could be justified taking him over other receivers, but with Randle El back I think CB is more important right now. We must really have high hopes for Keenan Lewis and Joe Burnett from last year.

I realize I skipped over the second pick. I just wanted to bitch and moan and I figured Dog would do some analysis on him since he's our college football expert.

FAN: Bulger Is Available

Well, for everyone saying we may need a bridge if something happens to Ben's legal situation - Marc Bulger was released by the Rams today. Not sure he'd do any better than Batch since Bath has been in the system forever, but he has more skill than Batch. He certainly would do better with a veteran team than Dennis Dixon even though DD looked promising last year. The good news is that I don't think any charges will even be brought against Ben. Maybe a civil case, but no criminal. Anyway, any thoughts on Bulger being Steeler if the price is right?

FAN: Roethlisberger's DNA Not Needed?

I'm so confused about the Roethlisberger incident. SI.com is now running a story that the police are no longer seeking Roethlisberger's DNA. I'm not quite sure what to make of this. All I know is, on the surface it sounds good for Ben. As Still A While said who tipped me, he is one lucky bastard if this eventually goes away. I happen to be firmly in Stilladog's corner with his prdering of events. Something happened that was consentual, it ended badly, she was drunk and/or embarassed and her friends convinced her something really bad happened or she didn't want to be seen as some celebrity bopper.

That's my guess and nothing more. I stand by my statements made here and on That's Church's website that if he is found guilty I will come down on him hard. If not, I chalk it up to I don't know what. I want to believe him and I want to like him but reading everything that I've read recently - it's hard to find any positives. John Steigerwald's post really paints him poorly and that's from a Pittsburgh journalist.

So, I don't think it means much since he admitted to sexual contact so we'll still wait and see. If no charges are filed, or charges are filed and he's innocent - what do we have? We have a QB who wins and is apparently a jerk. Is that bad? I don't know. Rex Grossman is prbably a swell guy, but he can't play football. If Ben sexually assaulted that girl, the game changes. I'm saying what if he didn't. I can live with a hard partying QB who wins even if he is a tool, and I'm not calling him a tool. I personally know someone who was at the PNH video shoot which starred Ben a few years ago. He told me the next time I saw him that he was an @$$hole, but I chose not to believe it because the guy isn't a Steeler's fan.

If he is only guilty of being a jerk, suit him up and thorw him out there. I tend to believe most pro athletes probably are and they only change when the cameras are on them and they do charity not because they really want to but because they feel pressure to. Of course that isn't true of everyone, but I bet for every Troy, there are 25 jerkoffs. If our jerkoff can win two more Super Bowls, I'll keep him.

FAN: Second Helping

The tosser of the best pass in Super Bowl XL has returned to the Stillers. I hope it works out. On paper, I'm not sure why we did it. Was it a knee-jerk reaction tot he Shitbirds signing Stallworth and Boldin? If so, I don't think we scared anybody. I like him as receiver #4, but if he takes snaps away from Wallace, then I'm good and pissed off. Hines is old, folks. The future is Tone and Wallace. Wallace needs to play as much as possible.

If he's here for kick returns or punt returns - I thought Logan was really good last year - much better than ARE towards the end of his Steeler run when I thought he danced way too much instead of taking yardage when it was there. I don't know, maybe I hold a grudge that he even left the first time. We did offer him a contract if memory serves.

I read an article that said we also contacted Larry Foote. Did anyone else read that? Weird. Usually when we say "bye" we're getting younger. I'm glad Ryan Clark stayed but I hope we didn't overpay. We have a bunch of big name players making big name money. We need to fill those other slots with lower salaries than the reported 4 mil for Ryan. He is an intimidator though and I love that. Maybe the contract is structured in the team's favor. We'll see. I'm not surprised by Clark coming back but I am surprised about the other 3 signings. I was glad to see the salaries of Battle and Allen as they were relatively low.

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: Who Is Colbert Loyal To?

I just read an article that said Kevin Colbert is in the last year of his current contract. Speculation is that if the Rooneys do not resign him before next season he will eventually join Bill Cowher when he takes over (enter team here) next year. I've always thought The Jaw was just waiting for John Fox to quit or be fired so he could stay in cushy North Carolina and out of the AFC. If Colbert goes, he goes. Who knows the league and football men better than the Rooneys? I trust them 100% to replace him with a good football person. Had the Rooneys not plucked Colbert from the Lions his career may have died years ago anyway. No one man will make or break the Steelers.

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: Steeler Contracts & Free Agents

Yes, it's a picture of a door.....as in "don't let the door hit you in the ass on your way out." It's time to reflect on the season and what better way to start than to talk about starting to clean house a little bit. Before that though, in general it was an entertaining season to say the least. Crazy entertaining. My friends and I have just been discussing how Ike Taylor seems to shy away from contact instead of sticking his nose in there sometimes so what does he do yesterday? He handed out a "Check Please" type hit that makes Steeler Nation salivate. I still can't believe that a man his size can inflict that much damage. I guess when the guy you're hitting is smaller than most Quad A HighSchool players - you've got a shot. It was still nice to watch. I'm glad the dude is OK. In the end I don't blame the other teams for not winning - I blame our guys for falling down and not rallying around Polamalu's absence. Aaron Smith was missed as well but we got to see flashes of the future there. We saw nothing with Troy out but the back of Tyrone Carter's jersey taking yet another poor angle.

Let's discuss the Restricted Free Agents first. We would get compensation if they leave and a chance to match any offer they get. LB Patrick Bailey. Who? He plays for us? He doesnt need a contract tendered. T Willie Colon. I believe we will most definitely tender him a contract. I don't complain about the line as much as I used to. Both RBs showed they can run behind it and the sacks Ben took are mostly of his doing. Early in the season the line caused a lot, but not recently. Carey Davis I like, but nobody is going to offer him a contract so he is safe to not sign and wait and see what happens. William Gay. I am dead serious when I say I hope we've seen the last of him. He is not an NFL starter. Not even close. The bad news is, we don't have any other alternatives right now. Townsend is washed up. I would seriously vote for drafting a CB first and signing a classic Steeler type above average FA to start next year in Gay's spot. Sepulveda will be offered a contract. Spaeth will be offered a contract. Darnell Stapleton is a question mark. My gut says "no contract". Now let's take a look at the unrestricted Free Agents.

Charlie Batch will most likely be asked back but will also be asked to take the hometown discount. On the other hand, I don't think there is much interest out there for a fragile backup. He's more valuable as another "coach" for Ben. Dixon proved to me he can play so we'll see what happens to Charlie. Rocky Boiman is supposedly a LB on the team. No contract. Tyrone Carter is hopefully gone. Yes, he knows the defense, but what did that get us this year? There has to be a better backup safety available. Has to be. Ryan Clark I would have back in an instant. He got some bad press this year but I like him and what he adds. I wish he wrapped more people up rather than just hit them - but he is absolutley in people's heads as they roam around in our secondary. He is much better when Troy is out there. Nick Eason can play a little and with the age on our DL, we need to get younger there. Is he the person to help? I don't know. The only upside is that he knows the system. Hood will start soon. A rookie is cheaper. However, a lengthy injury to one of the grandpas and some experience would be nice. I say "no contract" right away. We need to see what happens. If all else fails, bring him back. Casey Hampton will not get a reward contract. He's a 2 down player who has no wind. Not sure how much interest he'll even generate. I say offer him a real contract for 2-3 years at market value. Kirschke is most likely gone. We need to get young. He doesn't fit that bill at all. Willie Parker can stay if he takes backup money. The Ravens are nice at RB with their dual approach. Parker showed a burst yesterday. They can't give him big money though. Will he remian a Steeler for less? I think not. I think he's this year's Antwaan Randel El and somebody will overpay for him. Should Mendenhall get hurt, Moore can fill in. Jeff Reed is crazy but he's also usually money. Bring him back but potentially see if somebody else can kickoff for next to $0. Townsend is GONE. I love the guy but he can't play anymore. Did you WATCH yesterday's game? Galloway is gone unless ridiculously cheap.

For the players under contract, will any be let go? Limas Sweed seems likely to me. James Farrior is also a possibility here. Again, I love him, but his play really dropped off this year. He's slow. We pride ourselves on side to side speed. Can't do that when slow in the middle. We also need to resign Santonio Holmes and Lamarr Woodley this offseason as they are up after 2010 and you know we won't do any deals after the season starts. They are core players and will absolutely get nice deals this year. They could both break the bank on the open market. I hope both work something out this offseason and I see no reason why they wouldn't. We've been very good at this recently.

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: 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: 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.

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: 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.

FAN: Wilcots = Dumb

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

FAN: Is Korky Back?

Mrs. Fan and Still A Stroke are out of town for the weekend so I went out to eat last night by myself. Sad I know, but I was running errands and had to drive by Outback so I went in and ate at the bar. There is nothing that a rare filet, a slice of Key Lime pie and a couple of beers can't fix. I looked up at one of the TVs at the bar and did a "Jon Lovitz in A League of their Own" doubletakes when he sees the homely girl up close. I swear Kordell 'Korky' Stewart was on ESPN the deuce talking about college football. There was no volume, it was loud in there and it wasn;t on long so maybe I was dreaming. A quick look at Wikipedia shows nothing that he is currently employed by the deuce, although he did do some college stuff for them last January. If he was just hired, I guess too many people aren't scrambling to update his Wikipedia page. Fifty bucks says he updates his own page. I never hated Kordell, I actually liked him. He just got to a certain point as a quarterback and couldn't progress past it. That's not his fault. Too many coaches. Too many OC's. Too many square peg in a round hole guys messing with him. Who knows what he could have been with a team built to feature him at QB. Anyway.....am I nuts or did I see him and that big thing on his neck talking about football?

FAN: Steelers Scrape By

Well, we survived another week. It looked like we were on automatic today. Nothing special. Is it too hard to get up for the Lions minus their QB and their best wide receiver? We still couldn't even cover. Whatever. I have no comments about their play. I have comments about the announcing. That may have been the worst announcing job by a team of professional analysts that I've ever heard. Is Enberg still alive? He's horrible! Fouts? Fooey. They sucked. Individually and as a team. Enberg kept droning on and on the entire game about Detroit declining a penalty after they kicked a FG that would have been close to a first down. He wouldn't shut up about it. Hasn't he ever heard that you don't take points off the board. Where was Fouts to at least express that point of view? He kept droning on and on like it was a travesty they didn't at least look at the measurement. WHat if they wipe the points and then lose 8 yards on the next play you dolt? What if they fumble or throw a pick six? It's hard in the NFL to take points off the board especially when it puts you ahead of the defending Super Bowl champs. Shut it. What a humdrum game. I almost fell asleep. I had more fun watching Denver come back and beat the Patriots.

FAN: CDC Thwarts Swine Flu

The CDC announced today that a foolproof method has been found to thwart Swine Flu, the dreaded H1N1 virus. Limas Sweed has been kidnapped and is being held 3 stories underground at CDC headquarters. Sweed's DNA is being taken and used against his will in a vaccine that will stop everyone from catching everything. Sweed hasn't been sick since he was 7 months old and projectile vomited his formula. He can't hold anything either. He can't catch a cold, a break or a cab. He can't hold a hand. He can't carry a tune. William Gay was mock rocking a baby? Please God don't give that baby to Limas Sweed because it will have a massive head injury within eight minutes after he drops it. You know why he's skinny, right? He drops his food. He drops weight. He drops trou... He can't hold his liquor. I think Heinz is commemorating a Bobblehead of Sweed for next home game. Don't give one to Limas, he'll drop it. This is too easy, I could do it all day. Ladies and Gentlemen....I think Ike Taylor was happy the day we drafted Limas....he knew he no longer had the worst hands on the team. Limas Sweed can't even sleep on a cot. Mother Hubbard rolls right off.

FAN: Skippy Blows It

On a day when my Volleyball Team lead out of the gate and never looked back for their second consecutive win, the Steelers lead out of the gate and then couldn't hold on. I don't have many comments for this one. I'll throw out what I chose to remember.

Rashard Mendenhall now has one good run in his pro career. Without that run, I would screaming to end the experiment. Even on his good run he kept looking at the defender instead of just running full tilt.

Ben threw a lot of balls low today. Was it the rain?

Mendenhall's run looked like a clip from 1974 with Franco running that same play.

Holmes had three catchable balls hit the turf today....one that could have changed the outcome late. If he snares that ball, Reed doesn't have to be the goat.

I say Reed blew it, and he did today...but even if he hits one of those two, it would have only tied and they still could have lost. Think about it though - when was the last time Reed missed multiples and we lost by 3? It doesn't happen very often.

It looks like we'll be content to throw a lot of balls to our receivers at the line of scrimmage instead of running 30 times a game.

Heath Miller has no moves. Catch the ball and run North my friend. One yard is better than your Randle El impersonation. Still, he is so money.

Farrior missed a sack by being a little out of control.

Carter is thugalicious.

FAN: Who Said These Words?

I read these words online tonight. Who said them? I'm going to cut out the fluff and just leave the meat.

On Thursday night the Steelers went from being a great defense to merely a good defense in just one play against the Titans.


People will say, "Well, they still have James Harrison and Casey Hampton and so on..." Irrelevant. Troy's really the only guy on this defense that I see as a full playmaker.


I expect to see him out on the longer side of the projected three to six weeks. If it goes longer, could they win another Super Bowl without him? I don't think so.


One more reason Pittsburgh's in trouble: these Steelers are a mediocre running team on their best day.


The running back I like least on that team is Frank Summers, the rookie fullback. He doesn't seem to understand what's going on. He's missing plenty of blocks, and that's affecting everything. That definitely has to be addressed off the field this week.


The bigger problem, though, is the offensive line. They have no continuity.


This problem isn't anything new, and I blame the coaching staff for not addressing the line in the offseason. How did they rationalize not doing anything about it? Well, they won a Super Bowl. They won't be so lucky twice in a row.

Who said all of those things?


Why your own Jerome Bettis. I only clicked on the link because of the one teaser about John Fox should be fired. I think Coach Cowher called him up and asked him to write that. I remember when Jimmy Johnson set the table for himself by boldly picking the Dolphins to win the Super Bowl the year before he took over coaching them. He wanted to make it seem like a slam dunk so people would be disappointed when they didn't and blame Don Shula.