18 Dec
published in category: Ike Taylor on Tuesday, December 18th, 2012 – 1:02 pm
Listen to the Ike Taylor Show live right at 2pm for your chance to win an autographed Ike Taylor Jersey. Send an e-mail with Ike in the subject headline and your name and address in the body of the e-mail for your chance to win.
17 Dec
published in category: Pittsburgh Steelers on Monday, December 17th, 2012 – 9:07 am
Brandon Carr picked off Ben Roethlisberger on the second play in overtime to setup Dan Bailey's 21 yard field goal pushing the Steelers (7-7) out of the last playoff spot.
Roethlisberger, who finished 24-40, 339 yards, two touchdowns and one interception, tried to reach Mike Wallace on a twelve yard out. Carr jumped the route and collected his third interception of the season. It was a diving play, one that would have ruled Carr down around the 30 yard line had Mike Wallace remembered to touch him. Instead, Carr rose to his feet and ran the ball down to the one yard line. After a Tony Romo kneel down to center the ball, Bailey kicked his team into a three way tie for the NFC East.
Wallace's boneheaded play was just one of many by the self-touted "Young Money Crew", made up of wide receivers Emmanuel Sanders, Mike Wallace and Antonio Brown. Sanders fumbled the ball on the opening drive after making a catch over the middle. Luckily, the referees overturned the play and ruled it as an incompletion. Antonio Brown's fumble midway through the fourth quarter completely changed the momentum of the game and setup Dallas' comeback.
The Cowboys (8-6) dominated the first quarter, out-gaining the Steelers by 80 yards on offense, but only had a 3-0 lead to show for it. Demarco Murray had the ball stripped inside the ten yard line by James Harrison, keeping the lead at three. After a 17 yard touchdown to Jason Witten, the Cowboys appeared to be in complete control of the game.
But the Steelers came back.
After a field goal by Shaun Suisham to cut the Dallas lead to seven, Ben Roethlisberger found Heath Miller for a 30 yard touchdown with under a minute remaining in the half. The play required Roethlisberger to scrambled, dodge and side-step the Cowboys' pass rush for nearly ten seconds before he fired the ball to a wide open Heath Miller.
The Cowboys regained the lead on a touchdown to Dez Bryant but the Steelers quickly responded thanks to a sixty yard catch by Mike Wallace to setup a one yard touchdown run by Jonathan Dwyer.
Early in the fourth quarter, the Steelers took the lead for the first time on a seven yard touchdown catch by Antonio Brown. After forcing the Cowboys to punt, Antonio Brown looked to have a huge return only to fumble the ball on the Steelers' 45 yard line. The turnover eventually led to a three yard touchdown run by Demarco Murray to tie the game.
The Steelers won the toss in overtime and elected to receive. Instead of marching down the field to retake the lead, the Cowboys forced a turnover and won their third straight game. They are now tied with the Washington Redskins and New York Giants for the NFC East Division.
The Steelers, meanwhile, are now one game back from the Cincinnati Bengals; the team they will host next weekend. The loss not only endangers their chances of making the playoffs but also prevents them from stealing a suddenly winnable division. The division-leading Baltimore Ravens were blown out at home earlier in the day to push their record to 9-5.
It's been a season of missed opportunities for the Pittsburgh Steelers, symbolized by the Antonio Brown fumble. However, if the Steelers manage to win their next two games, they'll still make the playoffs.
14 Dec
published in category: Sports Talk Radio on Friday, December 14th, 2012 – 4:09 pm
Congratulations to Pine-Richland's Zach Richey for being voted TribLIVE Radio High School Hockey Athlete of the Week. Richey has 13 goals and 5 assists for a total of 18 points in 7 games this season.
Listen to Inside High School Hockey Wednesdays 3pm to 4pm on TribLIVE Radio.
13 Dec
published in category: Pittsburgh Steelers on Thursday, December 13th, 2012 – 4:56 pm
Picking 24th back in April's 2012 NFL Draft, the Pittsburgh Steelers made a pick that team management felt could have been made while wearing a mask.
Stanford's right guard road-grater David DeCastro, he of the 39 Pac-12 starts and 96.88 senior year blocking consistency mark, dropped to Pittsburgh in the draft's first round and had Steelers fans dreaming of a resurgent offensive line.
Those dreams then appeared to end in the squad's third preseason game in Buffalo when DeCastro went down with an injured knee (torn MCL, dislocated knee cap, and patellar tendon damage) as teammate Marcus Gilbert landed on his right leg.
Fortunately for the Steelers, it was the first year the league offered a 'designated for return tag', a new injured reserve rule that allowed a player be eligible for the Active List after spending eight weeks Reserve/Injured.
After 16 weeks of not playing, David DeCastro is ready to make his Steelers debut this Sunday at right guard against the Dallas Cowboys.
"It's been a great story other than the negative of him getting hurt," Pittsburgh Steelers offensive coordinator Todd Haley said on Thursday. "The fact that the new rule was made that kept him alive, it gave him something to work for, a goal. We didn't know for sure whether he'd be able to make it back or not but it's a testament to him and the trainers, the hard work that he put him for a big chunk of the season to put him in a position to even get back on the field is terrific. Now that he's out here I think every week he's done a good job, gotten more and more comfortable with his feet under him. We got to have pads on yesterday [at practice] which was good, and he's passed every test."
DeCastro's ultra serious personality became a punch-line among his Steelers teammates early in the season. In August, center Maurkice Pouncey joked that the team called DeCastro "Mr. Personality."
Pouncey laughed when asked if DeCastro had improved his social skills.
"He done opened up a lot now," Pouncey said. "He jokes around a little bit. He came in a serious dude trying to get the offense down. We finally found his personality. Just time payed off a little bit for him, being around the guys, getting acclimated to everybody and knowing everybody else's personality."
That's not to suggest that DeCastro is a social butterfly.
"He doesn't go on and on now," Pouncey chuckled. "He might give you five quick words and he's done."
Running back Issac Redman agreed that DeCastro's verbal skills were a work in progress.
"I still haven't heard too much from him," Redman said. "We actually were talking and laughing at practice today, me, him, and Ramon [Foster]. That was pretty much the most I've talked to him all year. I'm thinking he's starting to get more comfortable around the guys. The longer you're around certain people the closer you get."
The question remains, how good can DeCastro be in his first start on the road in Dallas?
"We'll see," Redman said. "He had to overcome it physically but you also have to overcome a knee injury mentally. In your head, having that confidence to do certain things. Once the game goes we'll really be able to see if he's ready. Since I've been [in Pittsburgh] I haven't seen a guy come from a knee injury and then come back and play in a year. I take my hat off to that guy that he's able to work hard, get back, and be able to come help us play some games."
DeCastro will be making his debut to the left of a fellow rookie who will be making his 3rd NFL start, 7th round draft pick (and 5 away from being 'Mr. Irrelevant') and the team's third right tackle on the season in Kelvin Beachum.
"Me and David are real cool, we came in as rookies together," Beachum said. "We've grown together. It'll be nice playing alongside him. We've got a great challenge in front of us and I think both of us are ready to roll."
"That's awesome, man, they get an opportunity to go showcase their skills, show everybody why the coaches brought them here," Pouncey said. "I think they're going to embrace that opportunity and run with it."
"The good thing is they came in together, those guys that come in the same class tend to have good rapport right out of the gate," said Haley. "They're going to have to count on Pouncey, but they're both smart guys and 'Beach' has been in there for two-and-a-half weeks. I know they'll be communicating and ready to go mentally and physically."
"We were all excited about Kelvin from the start," Haley continued. "We were excited when we drafted him we were able to get him where we did. You only have so many picks and you've got a long list of guys that you'd love to have on the team. He obviously was one of them. I can remember clearly on draft day that there was some fist pumping and high five-ing because we were able to get another guy that we wanted. He hasn't disappointed. He's a hard working, nose-to-the-grindstone type of kid that you don't hear much out of. When he got his opportunity to play he's done a commendable job. He needs to get better like everyone else but for a young guy being thrown to the wolves he's done a good job. He'll be facing the ultimate test this week. These guys rushing outside in Dallas are the real deal."
And between the Beachum-DeCastro tandem, despite the personality progress, it may still be up to Beachum to do the talking.
"If I look over and [DeCastro's] doing that," laughed Pouncey, "I'll really know he's doing great with communication so I'll be happy."
12 Dec
published in category: Ike Taylor, Pittsburgh Steelers on Wednesday, December 12th, 2012 – 5:53 pm
THE GOOD INJURY NEWS
Steelers OLB LaMarr Woodley made it through a full practice on Wednesday after missing two games, and much of a third, due to an ankle injury.
Woodley, who has been criticized by even his own position coach Keith Butler for being out of shape at points this year, made sure to emphasize that this injury was unavoidable.
"Somebody fell on my ankle," Woodley said. "That's something you don't have control over."
AND THE BAD
Not participating in practice Wednesday were CB Cortez Allen (groin), CB Keenan Lewis (hip), CB Ike Taylor (ankle), WR Emmanuel Sanders (shoulder), S Troy Polamalu (day off), LB James Harrison (ill), and T Mike Adams (ankle).
For this week's opponent, the Dallas Cowboys, they were missing WR Dez Bryant (finger), CB Morris Claiborne (concussion), G Nate Livings (concussion), RB DeMarco Murray (foot), S Charlie Peprah (foot), DT Jay Ratliff (groin), and LB DeMarcus Ware (elbow).
FOSTER THE (LEFT GUARD) PEOPLE
Steelers multi-purpose offensive lineman Ramon Foster says hadn't worked at left guard since the preseason in August, but that he "got in there today & did well" as he gets set to replace the injured Wille Colon at the position for the foreseeable future. Foster also took a "couple sets" at right tackle, preparing for what he called "emergency situations."
Foster, whose locker sits between those of Colon and DE Brett Keisel, had his winter hat hanging from a strange looking piece of artwork above Keisel's stall.
"I don't know [what it is] but I love it," said Foster as he tried to describe the item. "My hat is hanging there right now. This is a mantle on it with antlers, with Brett Keisel's shoes as a head that's not there. And I'm hanging my hat on the antlers. Follow me [on Twitter] @RamonFoster later to see what it looks like."
Foster said that Willie Colon's notoriously smelly shoes from adjoining locker would not be part of the artwork because "they are currently in the garbage."
THE GIFT THAT KEEPS ON GIVING
One other strange item in Steelers room was a poinsettia sitting on the ground near NT Casey Hampton's locker. When asked who gave it to him Hampton said, "That's not mine, man". Hampton said if it had been given to him, he'd have re-gifted it.
THE HAMPTON IS INN
Post-practice Wednesday at the Pittsburgh Steelers facility has become a weekly chat session with always-entertaining Hampton.
This week, Hampton returns to his home state of Texas as the Steelers take on the Dallas Cowboys. Although Hampton is a Galveston native, he was raised by fans of the 'Blue Stars'.
"All my family grew up Cowboys fans," Hampton said. "I was a [Houston] Oilers fan. I wanted to go against the grain. Warren Moon, those were my guys. Everybody in my family knows I wasn't a Cowboys fan [although] I liked Michael Irvin and Leon Lett, those were my two guys [from Dallas]."
With all those Cowboys fan relatives, Hampton has spent the week acquiring tickets to the game from his teammates and Steelers staff. Exactly how many, Hampton wouldn't say.
"I can't say that," said Hampton. "We're still working that out. I'm going to try to keep that under wraps because a lot of [teammates] are from Texas and Louisiana and they're going to be mad at me. I can't really tell you how many I'm really getting. I have people I know in high places around here. They told me not to say."
Hampton, who played college football in Austin, said his ticket take wouldn't hit triple digits, but admitted the number is high.
"My mom has 11 brothers and sisters, I've probably got 80, some 100 cousins first and second," Hampton said. "It's a dog fight for 'em. My momma's gonna choose. I'm going to let a lot more kids go this year. They don't get a lot of opportunities to go. I've got quite a few '98' jerseys, but my family represents man. If they don't have a jersey they're going to have it painted on. They'll be in full effect, ain't no question about that."
It's been a year filled with drama for Hampton's team, capped this week by the news that running back Rashard Mendenhall was suspended for not showing up at the most recent game. But according to the 12th-year man Hampton, drama around the Steelers is more normal than the public knows.
"You never know what's going to happen, man," said Hampton. "It's crazy because you guys all know about some of things that are going on behind the scenes, but there's been crazier stuff that y'all didn't know about. So don't think it's been any crazier than any other year."
Asked to provide an example, Hampton wouldn't budge.
"I can't tell you, that's secret information," said Hampton. "Believe me, there's a lot more crazy stuff that's [gone] on that we kept under wraps."
STEELERS – COWBOYS, THE LAST MEETING (2008)
The last meeting between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Dallas Cowboys, December 7th, 2008 at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh, was a pivotal one for both franchises.
The Steelers won the game 20-13 to improve their record to 10-3, keeping their lead in the AFC North en route to the franchise's sixth Super Bowl win.
The Cowboys blew a 13-3 fourth quarter lead in the game and fell to an 8-5 record, eventually missing the playoffs with a 9-7 mark and thus failing to win a playoff game for the franchise's 12th consecutive season.
Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo threw three interceptions in the defeat on that day in 2008, but said today on a conference call with the Pittsburgh that four years is a long time in the NFL.
"I don't think I've played them for a while," Romo said. "I remember it was a tough game up there, they ended up getting us. Two good ballclubs. It's different. They have a couple of the same guys, but they have some new pieces, some different guys in. Schematically they're a little bit different. They still run their same system but you can see they've evolved in a couple of new schemes. They're just going to be very difficult with the pressure they get. We just have to have a lot of stuff up to handle the pressures, and we're coming up with a lot of different things."
Four years ago, Romo's third INT ended up in the arms of Steelers' CB Deshea Townsend, who read an intended pass for tight end Jason Witten and jumped it for a 'Pick-6' that decided the game with just 1:40 remaining.
That INT was set up when the Steelers called a timeout at the 1:51 mark as Dallas had run for just 2-yards, seemingly playing for overtime with the ball at their own 17-yard line.
According to James Harrison, during the timeout Romo mocked the Steelers defense for calling the stoppage.
''[Romo said], 'who called a timeout? You guys called a timeout?''' Harrison said after the game. ''Yeah, we called a timeout. And you go and throw a pick to Deshea so we can win.''
12 Dec
published in category: Pittsburgh Pirates, Pittsburgh Steelers on Wednesday, December 12th, 2012 – 9:11 am
Step aside, New York Yankees. Move over, Boston Red Sox. There's a new spoiled rich kid team in town: the Los Angeles Dodgers.
After signing Zack Greinke to a six year, $147 million contract yesterday, the Dodgers have boosted their payroll up to roughly $225 million, well beyond anyone else in baseball. Considering $208 million was spent this winter on two players (Greinke and pitcher Hyun-jin Ryu), along with a lineup that includes Hanley Ramirez, Adrian Gonzalez, Carl Crawford and Matt Kemp, it's safe to say the Dodgers aren't messing around with their money.
Or maybe they are and they just don't care.
After all, with a near seven billion ($7,000,000,000) dollar TV deal that's supposed to last for the next 25 years, the Dodgers will make a profit despite their expenditures. In essence, a $225 million payroll will still produce a profit when the club receives over $250 million in TV revenue plus the revenue generated by attendance.
Side note: that's why refusing to go to Pirates games doesn't really affect how much money they make in the long run.
While it's already been said a thousand times on Twitter, Facebook, and general conversation, I'm going to say it one more time: oh but the real problem with baseball is excessive draft spending by the Pirates.
Without a cap on TV revenue for teams in huge markets and free agent spending, the chasm between big and small market teams will grow wider every season. You thought it was ridiculous Russell Martin received $17 million over two seasons? Look at Angel Pagan's contract with the Giants: four years, $40 million. All for an outfielder with average defense, zero power, and a .280 average. Or how about Mike Napoli, a catcher whose numbers showed he wasn't much better than Martin, signed for three years, $39 million?
The free agent market is suffering from hyperinflation; not by Ben Bernanke but by big market teams spending an obscene amount on players. If Zack Greinke is truly worth $24.5 million per year (he's not. No professional athlete is worth that much), then an above average pitcher is worth $8 million (see: Brandon McCarthy). It also means a terrible pitcher like Kevin Correia qualifies for a two year, $10 million contract.
Unfortunately, the small market owners do make money off of the luxury tax big market teams pay for surpassing $178 million in payroll spending. So the Bob Nuttings still make money out in all this and while it's not enough to go out and buy an All-Star free agent, it's still millions of dollars. In the end, all owners, big markets and small, are businessmen. And small market owners will not vote against a CBA if it means they will receive money at the end of the year. The proof? They all voted for the last CBA a year ago.
As far as creating a fair and balanced league? No way. The spending will increase for LA, New York, Boston, Detroit, and Dallas while the other teams will continue to forage through the junkyard, looking for someone to help the team get a record good enough to go to the playoffs.
09 Dec
published in category: Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday, December 9th, 2012 – 7:32 pm
RUN GAME LACKING
The Pittsburgh Steelers managed just 32-yards rushing on 10 combined carries between Jonathan Dwyer (8-32yds) and Issac Redman (2-0yds) in their loss to San Diego.
Included in that were failed conversion on two 3rd-and-1s and one 4th-and-1.
After the game, Redman said he won't know what went wrong in the run game until they watch film, but he did see a drop in emotion.
"We lacked enthusiasm," Redman said. "Didn't come to play. It showed on the field. One of our worst games on the year. We can't keep doing this. We can't play our hearts out one week and come out and have a performance like this, it's not Steelers football. It starts on Wednesday at practice."
"I don't think we took them lightly at all, we prepare the same every week," Redman continued. "Guys are focused every week. We know this was a big game, each game for the rest of the year is big so there's no type of excuse to say we took them lightly because in this league you can't take anybody lightly. We've proven that in our past couple of losses when we're losing to teams with losing records. We know any given any team can be beaten in the NFL. We've got to clam down, not get too overwhelmed when things aren't going our way. Have somebody step up and calm the team down, which Ben [Roethlisberger] tried to do. It just wasn't our day."
THE WALLACE COASTER
A contract-year season that began with a holdout from training camp has proven to be a roller-coaster one for Pittsburgh Steelers receiver Mike Wallace in 2012.
Sunday's game was the same, as Wallace had two second half TD grabs against the San Diego Chargers but also a dropped deep-ball in the first half as the Steelers fell behind 13-0.
"All I know is at the back end at the receiver spot we have to catch the ball," said Wallace. "And get open on third-down. In some instances we did that, but not enough. Not enough early in the game. It really cost us. We got in a hole, and the hole we got in we just couldn't seem to climb out of."
The offense was battling poor field position for the first two quarters, beginning drives on their own 8, 16, 9, 7, and 11-yard lines before finally putting together a field goal drive late in the first half.
Wallace didn't use the excuse, though.
"It doesn't matter where we start from, the two, the twenty, or forty, it doesn't matter," Wallace said. "We have to make plays on offense when we're given the opportunity. We just haven't been doing that."
Nor would Wallace blame the gameplan. Urgency, however, was a place Wallace agreed the finger needed to be pointed.
"Coaches had us ready, we just didn't perform up to par," Wallace said. "We're not making plays on offense. We don't have hardly any explosive plays. That's what gets our defense going, that's what gets everybody on our team hyped. Especially when a team goes up 20-3 [on you]. We obviously don't have enough urgency, enough consistency. We have to pick it up. We have to. We have to come to play every single game, no matter who we're playing. I think sometimes we don't play up to our skill set. We have a great team, and we know it. We have to get out of our own way. That's the problem, we're in our own way. Stuff we know we shouldn't do, mistakes we know we shouldn't make, we make 'em. We've got to get that going yesterday. We have to take care of that if we're going to make this run that I know we're capable of making. We have a great team. We have the players to make the run, we just have to do it."
WALLACE GETS BOOED, ROETHLISBERGER SOUNDS OFF
Although he finished the game with 7 catches for 112 yards and 2 TD, Pittsburgh Steelers WR Mike Wallace had a 40-yard pass from QB Ben Roethlisberger go off of his hands around midfield after Wallace had gained separation on CB Quentin Jammer.
There were scattered boos heard from the crowd as the offense would eventually punt for the 5th straight time to being the game.
Roethlisberger admitted to feeling bad for Wallace upon hearing the negative crowd reaction.
"Nobody should ever get booed," Roethlisberger said. "We are out their busting our butt. Nobody intentionally does anything to hurt the team. I don't intentionally throw interceptions and guys don't intentionally miss blocks or fumble. We don't intentionally do it. I just told him that I was going to come back to him, and keep his head up and he made plays for us late."
Wallace took the blame for the drop afterwards.
"I gotta catch that," said Wallace. "That's all [there is] to it. Playmakers make plays. Ben gave me a shot, I've got to come up with it."
WHY TOMLIN DIDN'T PULL BEN
Steelers coach Mike Tomlin on why he left QB Ben Roethlisberger in the game:
"I didn't say the game was out of hand," Tomlin said when asked why he didn't pull his starting quarterback despite not attempting two-point conversions in the second half. "I said that I was going to hold [our two-point plays] until I saw signs of us being capable of stopping them. We're competitors, as [Ben] is. We're going to allow competitors to compete."
WHY TOMLIN NEVER WENT FOR A TWO-POINT CONVERSION
Upon falling behind 27-3 to San Diego in the 3rd quarter, the Pittsburgh Steelers twice scored TDs to pull within 18-points with a conversion pending. ??The first came with 2:33 left in the 3rd quarter (and also featured the Chargers being caught with a 12-men on the field penalty on the extra point), and the second with 6:07 remaining in the game. ??On both such occasions, Steelers coach Mike Tomlin decided to just kick an extra point, keeping the game a three-score deficit. ??Tomlin said afterwards he never considered going for the two-point try.
??"Until we stopped them it was going to be insignificant," said Tomlin. "I was holding the two-point plays for that reason and that reason only. Now, we still have them in our hip pocket. Those specialty plays we didn't want to put on tape unless we had an opportunity to close the gap. As you can see, we didn't"
PER-PLAXING
QB Ben Roethlisberger was asked why we didn't see Plaxico Burress more after his 18-yard catch on 3rd down: "Did you ask coach that?"
NORV!
Chargers coach Norv Turner said he gave his two OTs Kevin Haslam and Reggie Wells game balls. "Reggie got here Monday or Tuesday I believe. They played well and again we won the game today and that means a lot to me. Every week you don't catch a team at their best. I think we did things to shut Pittsburgh down and they may not have played as well as some other teams we've played."
On WR Michael Spurlock's 7 catches & 4 3rd-down conversions:
"He had a great matchup and he's a good underneath route-runner. He did a good job catching the ball. I think they were concerned about our two outside receivers and they should have been. Danario Alexander had a couple of drops, but he's shown that he has big play ability. He beats you on a double move. They're playing coverage doubling the outside guys and the inside guys are getting single coverage."
LARRY FOOTE'S LOCKER
"That was ugly. That was uncharted waters, especially in here. Just kept trying to fight, but you saw third-downs, where we've been getting strong the last month, we gave it up today. At the end of the day, it was a good 'ol take 'em out back butt whooping. They beat us. We got a hold of the run, but they were out-executing us."
Do you still feel good about this team?
"Absolutely. If we've got a chance, I'm excited. Our goals are big. We can't be happy just because other teams lost and we're still in it. Starting tomorrow we've got to correct this thing and start making a committment. It's going to be one of those gut-checking times. We are who we are, we're 7-6. We've got to turn it around. We just got whooped today, whatever the excuse is, whatever the reason. They had a whole new offensive line, and they out-executed us."
THE CORNER DELI
KEENAN LEWIS:
"It was tough, man. Got our number one corner out, young guys stepping in. As a secondary we gave up a lot of third downs today that kept drives going. But we're going to fix it. We've got good young guys and myself, we have to get in there and watch more film, make sure we minimize that in Dallas."
Do you still believe in this team?
"Yeah definitely, why not? Over one game? Y'all can't base this off [just] one game. If you do that, you're acting like a true fan."
How do you explain losing to several sub-.500 teams?
"They just plain out-executed us that day. Somedays you're hot, some days you're not. And today we were not. We didn't come out and play our best ball. We've got to stop doing that when we're playing great teams like the Giants and all those, we're fired up. When we play the teams with the lower records we've got to find a way to play with that same intensity and come out and play."
CORTEZ ALLEN
"They had a good gameplan going. We've just got to do a better job getting pressure, got to do a better job covering, a better job as a whole on defense. We'll watch the film and make our corrections. I feel like our enthusiasm wasn't as high, our excitement, intensity wasn't as high as it was previously in previous games. We can't let that happen, we can't have that and be successful. That's what we showed. I can't put a finger on it."
THE RYAN CLARK BAR
On Cincinnati and Baltimore losing:
"It says a lot of other teams are playing bad football too, giving us the opportunity. But you wanted to win today to capitalize on it. You can't look up at the board and be excited about Cincinnati and Baltimore losing when they both outplayed you today. It's about the Pittsburgh Steelers getting better. We control our own destiny, and we've known that the whole time. We know if we win out we'll be in the playoffs. We can't do it like playing today. That game looked like it was supposed to look. They were kicking our butts on the field, and it showed on the scoreboard."
Did you see this coming
"I am a true Steelers idiot. I feel like we're always going to perform well. I feel like we're always going to make that play. Today we didn't do it. We didn't have it anywhere. The offense started getting it going late, but we didn't make enough plays to keep it close for those things to matter."
08 Dec
published in category: Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday, December 8th, 2012 – 12:08 pm
Sidney Crosby claimed to be "devastated" after the latest labor negotiation meetings ended worse than they began. Owners from several teams commented yesterday after two incredibly long meetings in New York, and each seemed thoroughly disappointed. Day 83 of the lockout feels as if Day 1 never ended. A reoccurring real-life nightmare of empty seats, outsourcing players to other countries, and continuous disagreement between the two parties involved: The NHPA and NHL team owners.
The latest meetings saw a new approach as owners from six teams sat with players and discussed salaries, and lasted several hours. After the first meeting, fans and media seemed optimistic of a new deal. But, after the third day and a proposal rejection, the future looks bleak for the NHL season.
One of the latest problems remaining pertains to contract length, as the players proposed an 8-year CBA with 6-year option, and the owners countered with a 10-year CBA with a mutual 8-year option. In this case, the owners have the right idea because sponsors do not want to waste their money on a product that locks out every five to eight years. I think players also need to consider their own careers, and how much time they lose for stats and big money. They clearly need to make the contract last more than five years, but players may never accept 10 years.
With no talks scheduled, Crosby undoubtedly considers European hockey daily. His teammate Evgeni Malkin plays in the KHL, and he gets to participate at a high level while Sid plays around in Colorado and Arizona waiting for positive news. Positive news seems out of sight at this point, and the league will most likely cancel games beyond December 15 very soon.
The players in the league who sat through the last lockout in 2005 probably lose the most of everyone. Two years of stats, championships, and money failing to exist, while their careers dwindle down. Players on average play 3-4 years in the league, so an entire year's paycheck down the drain seems like a lot to lose.
Everyone talks about the fans in the NHL, and that they lose the most in all of this. But, owners lost millions in revenue, and many players lost millions in salary and possibly some skill from aging and missing a season or two. Now that Penguins' owner Ron Burkle, along with the five other owners, left New York, a season seems unlikely. Prepare for a full season cancellation very soon, because it surely seems inevitable at this point.