Tree of Life

28 Aug

UPDATE ON STEELERS INJURIES

published in category: Pittsburgh Steelers, Sports Talk Radio on Sunday, August 28th, 2011 – 2:07 pm

Steelers Center Maurkice Pouncey sprained his ankle but should be ok for season opener against Baltimore. Steelers backup quarterback Byron Leftwich has a broken upper left arm and likely will go on injured reserve, ending his season. No word yet on Keenan Lewis who left the game with a knee injury after playing his best football in a Steelers uniform, Lewis looked impressive against Roddy White, one of the best wide receivers in the NFL. With Bryant McFadden still nursing his injured hamstring, any time Lewis has to miss will hurt Pittsburgh's already thin secondary. With Leftwich out for the season, Charlie Batch and Dennis Dixon will compete for the backup spot, a vital position for any team but especially for the Steelers, considering the offensive line play and Ben Roethlisberger's insistence on holding the ball for as long as possible. Pro Bowl Center Pouncey is absolutely key to the Steelers running game, are we starting to see an injury prone player at a very young age?

Monday on TribLIVE Radio-Steelers Interviews at 9am, Dave Wannstedt live at 10am, Weekend Top 5 at 10:30am as Ken Laird and Guy Junker count down the five biggest stories of the weekend, Dejan Kovacevic live at 11:30am and John Fedko hosts 1pm-2pm.

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Posted in Pittsburgh Steelers, Sports Talk Radio

 

26 Aug

Pryor Signs Deal with the Raiders by Abby Geisel

published in category: Pittsburgh Penguins, Pittsburgh Steelers on Friday, August 26th, 2011 – 11:47 am

Former Jeannette and Ohio State standout QB Terrelle Pryor will finally get his shot in the NFL, signing a 4-year, $2.7 million deal with the Oakland Raiders. But don't get too excited. He won't be playing in any regular season games just yet, as he must serve a five-game suspension handed down by Commissioner Roger Goodell. Pryor is allowed to practice with the Raiders starting today, and would be able to play in the Raiders' third pre-season game against New Orleans, yet it is very doubtful that he will actually get on the field. Then he must serve a suspension similar to that of Ben Roethlisberger's where he cannot practice or play in any games.

For those unfamiliar with Pryor's situation here's a quick rundown:
-He led Jeannette to a perfect season and AA State Football Championship in 2007 and subsequently signed with Ohio State.
-He played for Ohio State from 2008-2010, having arguably his best season last year where he threw for 2,772 yards and ran for 754 yards, leading the Buckeyes to a Sugar Bowl victory.
-In the Spring of 2011, news broke that Pryor was involved in an NCAA investigation after being accused of trading signed Ohio State memorabilia for tattoos and other incentives.
-In light of the scandal, Pryor forfeited his senior season, which made him eligible for the NFL's supplemental draft. Oakland selected him in the third round. His suspension in the NFL is the same suspension that he would have served for the NCAA had he remained at Ohio State.

Will Pryor be successful and truly make an impact after returning from suspension? Is Oakland a good fit for him? Personally, I don't think that he is going to find the mentor that he desperately needs. We saw it before with Roethlisberger, and we may just see it again with Pryor. Roethlisberger came into the league and was extremely successful very quickly. Then, he had a string of unfortunate events and poor choices that showed his immaturity and lack of guidance. On the other hand, Pryor is accustomed to success- first at Jeannette and then at Ohio State. Right now, I just don't see the mentor that he has to have at Oakland. Currently the Raiders' rostered quarterbacks include Jason Campbell, Kyle Boller and Trent Edwards- none of which have been particularly successful. Campbell was with Washington and has struggled since arriving at Oakland (remember last year's Steelrs demolition of the Raiders?) and Boller played some time with the Ravens and St. Louis but never really made a great impact. Edwards played for the Bills from 2007 to 2010, and then for the Jaguars, but didn't have the kind of success and experience that would lead him to be a suitable role model for Pryor.

Pryor says he will appeal his suspension, but it is highly unlikely that Commissioner Goodell will overturn or shorten it. Maybe five games on the bench will give Terrelle Pryor some perspective and allow him to enter the NFL with a positive outlook and good decision-making skills.

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Posted in Pittsburgh Penguins, Pittsburgh Steelers

 

24 Aug

A Conversation With Steelers Offensive Coordinator Bruce Arians

published in category: Pittsburgh Steelers on Wednesday, August 24th, 2011 – 8:27 pm

On Wednesday leading up to the Steelers third preseason game with the Atlanta Falcons, offensive coordinator Bruce Arians had a candid chat with the media regarding a number of topics. Here were his responses:

On the team's greater success on 3rd downs in the second half of last season compared to the first half:

"Yeah, number seven was playing quarterback [laughs]. That's it, I mean the month of September we were struggling a little bit with it and as soon as he got back in there the percentages were really, really high and that got us back up where we're normally at, you know 6th, 7th in the league. We always try to be in the top 5 on 3rd downs. [We put] a ton [of emphasis on it]. Situational football: 3rd down, red zone, two minute, short yardage, goal line; the situational areas are the major focus of everything we do."

On the team's 3rd down success in Preseason Game #2 at 10 for 17:

"We were so poor against Washington [in Preseason Game #1] because we dropped five balls. We want to shoot for 55 to 60 %. The first half [in Game #2] was awesome. It was a nice comeback and that's one of our goals this week, to see if we can do it two weeks in a row against quality defenses.

On whether Heath Miller was a 'marked man' last year:

"No. With Ben out in September [Heath] missed [out on] a lot of balls there and he missed two ballgames. It's just one of those things. When you miss ballgames your numbers aren't going to be the same, and you don't have your quarterback it's really six games."

On Heath being the 13th ranked TE on ESPN.com's recent rankings:

"Everybody goes by the number of passes they catch. Most of those guys [ahead of him] are not tight ends, they're wide receivers. They don't block anybody, they can't block anybody. I mean, he's a pure tight end. I think he's the best pure tight end in the league. I think [Brandon] Pettigrew in Detroit is another quality pure tight end. The rest of those guys that are in the Pro Bowl and probably who are ranked there are just glorified wide receivers."

On whether David Johnson could be the team's #2 tight end:

"He is number 2. Has been. Never a doubt in my mind. He's a quality blocker on the line of scrimmage and in the backfield. He's improving as a receiver. I have all the confidence in the world of him blocking whoever he's got to block. They switch between personnel groups, he and Heath, whether they're the the tight end or the H-back."

On the battle for the team's 3rd tight end:

"That's a whole 'nother ballgame [laughs]. A whole lot of bodies fighting for that one. The guy who can play fullback is an added dimension and if he can do that his stock rises. Heath is the true tight end, and David [Johnson] can play true tight end there's not a problem with that. He also gives you the nice ability to go in the backfield. The rest of those guys are fighting it out to find those roles, whether they're strictly line of scrimmage guys or what all they can do. Are they more receiver? Are they more blocker? We'd kind of like to have another total package. Don't see one out there right now but they're working on it, they're working real hard."

On TE Weslye Saunders:

"He's getting there. He has so much to learn. He's gotten better each day. He really suffered with all the missed practice time because it was a change of offense for him being basically a wide receiver at South Carolina. But I've been real pleased with his effort blocking and he's got a nice future."

On whether Arians will have enough footballs to spread to all his targets:

"That's the key with our offense right now, you cannot get selfish. You've got to wipe selfishness out of it because there are not enough balls. The quarterback is not pressed to throw to one guy. Just take the open guy and let's roll. As long as everybody stays with that and contracts and everything else don't get in the way we could be pretty solid but the minute selfishness creeps in it can tear you down real quick."

On his collection of wide receivers:

"This is the best group we've had since I've been here. There's some great competition for 4, 5, and 6. And they can all play. It's nice to see that many guys out there, and [we'll] try to find ways to get them all involved."

On the temptation to go with true five-WR packages:

"Yeah, we did a little bit of that last year when the two young guys [Emmanuel Sanders and Antonio Brown] could handle it at the end of the season and right now to be that 5th guy there's three guys fighting for that spot and they're all quality. [Whether we keep a 6th] will all depend on special teams. That's where those 4, 5, and 6 they've got to separate themselves by either being a return man, cover guy, or someone else on special teams to get their 'hat' on Sunday. You can have six on the roster but if they can't help you on special teams, you're not going to dress six."

On what role he envisions for Trai Essex:

"Both tackle and guard. They beauty is that he's always had is position flexibility. He's also our third center. Just get him back up to speed 'cause there's a lot of rust on him right now."

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Posted in Pittsburgh Steelers

 

23 Aug

Steelers Ink Timmons to Six Year Deal by Jon Pennline

published in category: Pittsburgh Steelers on Tuesday, August 23rd, 2011 – 2:16 pm

It was announced, today, that the Pittsburgh Steelers re-signed their playmaking inside linebacker, Lawrence Timmons, to a six year $50 million contract extension. This coming just two short weeks after outside linebacker Lamarr Woodley signed a six year $61.5 million contract. Timmons and Woodley were drafted in the first and second rounds, respectively, by the Steelers in the 2007 NFL Draft and are just coming into the prime of their careers. In April of 2009, the Steelers extended the contract of James Harrison for six years $51.175 million. Now, the Steelers have tied up three of the best linebackers in the NFL for a combined $162.675 million over the next six years with part of Harrison's contract already paid to both he and Roger Goodell.

Lawrence Timmons, 25, set career highs last year in interceptions (2), passes defensed (9), and tackles (135). He is rapidly becoming the playmaker for football's best defense with room to get better. As he continues to be used as a free-roaming linebacker, it allows Troy Polamalu to be used more in coverage.

Speaking of Troy Polamalu, the Steelers stated they were done giving contracts this season which leaves Polamalu with the remaining year on his contract. It's entirely possible he will re-sign after this season, but it is also possible his contract status depends on his ability to stay healthy. In the past two seasons, Polamalu has missed 13 games with knee and Achilles injuries. Despite missing time last year with the Achilles injury, Polamalu tied a career high in interceptions with seven. However, in the playoffs, he was not at 100%, missing tackles and no picks.

Signing Timmons over Polamalu was the right move by GM Kevin Colbert. Polamalu is getting into the twilight of his career while Timmons is just starting to tap into his potential. While the linebacking core is extremely deep and the secondary is extremely shallow, the Steelers would be better off with a player of Timmons' caliber who has a history of staying on the field week in, week out. Again, I still see the Steelers re-signing Polamalu in the 2012 offseason, but for now signing Timmons is the better move.

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Posted in Pittsburgh Steelers

 

22 Aug

Numbers Aren't Everything; Cole versus Bauer by Jon Pennline

published in category: Pittsburgh Pirates on Monday, August 22nd, 2011 – 2:05 pm

When the Pirates elected to take Gerrit Cole in the first round of this year's draft, much of Pittsburgh, including myself, seemed skeptical of the pick. One reason was that the Pirates had already loaded up on right-handed pitchers last year. They selected Jameson Taillon, a prep player from Texas who had the size, strength and talent to be the future Ace of the Pirates. The Pirates also selected Stetson Allie, a major work in progress as far as pitching, but arguably the best pure stuff in the 2010 draft class. Another point of skepticism, was that Cole had mediocre numbers for a first overall pick in comparison to his UCLA teammate, Trevor Bauer.

Cole finished his Junior season 6-8 with a 3.31 ERA 119 K's 24 BB's in 114.1 innings. His teammate Bauer, who was selected two picks later by the Arizona Diamondbacks, went 13-2 with a 1.25 ERA 203 K's 36 BB's in 131 innings. The disparity in ERA and strikeouts is so vast, it would appear drafting Cole was the wrong decision and, to be fair, that hypothesis could be correct. The baseball draft is a crap shoot more than anything. Taking one pitcher over another could reap benefits for both teams if they both maximize their potential. But, in the same vein, one arm injury could dictate the career and fate of a franchise. While Bauer pitched better in college, Cole is more projectable given his size and arm strength. When selecting players at the top of the draft, there has to be a focus on what can he do rather than what he did do.

Here's an example of two teammates who played college ball back in the early 2000's:

Player A 7-6 3.49 ERA 151 K's 43 BB's

Player B 6-2 2.29 ERA 99 K's 21 BB's.

Player A was selected with the second pick of the 2004 draft. That player was Justin Verlander. Player B, Donnie Smith, was selected in the fourth round by the St. Louis Cardinals. Verlander, standing at 6'5 230 pounds, had more size and stuff than his teammate, Smith who had converted from catching to pitching two years earlier. Verlander is on the verge of winning his first Cy Young while Smith is playing in the Independent League. His pitchability is poor in comparison to Trevor Bauer, but the numbers Smith put up at Old Dominion were convincing.

Bauer, whose fastball sits at 93-94 mph, is 6'1 175 lbs with a maximum effort delivery. He tries his best to not only pitch like Tim Lincecum, but resemble everything he does. To me, that's a little risky, considering players like Tiny Tim don't grow on trees. With that size, durability is always going to come into question especially since Bauer already threw 136 innings this year in college.

Looking at Gerrit Cole, 6'4 220 with a fastball that sits in the upper 90's through all nine innings, the stuff is better with the assumption that he can stay healthy. Cole's biggest problem, this year, was that he was catching too much of the plate with his pitches and that is offspeed was coming in flat. A slight tweak in his mechanics could correct those problems. He has a plus slider and a plus-plus changeup, a pitch that usually takes the longest to develop for amateur pitchers.

Looking beyond the numbers is key to deciphering top round talent such as Cole versus Bauer. Just looking at the numbers, Cole had a lower walk rate and ERA while pitching in a significantly better conference (Cole: Pac 10, Verlander CAA) than Justin Verlander. While Cole lacks the devastating breaking ball that has racked up hundreds of strikeouts for Verlander, he still has the stuff to become an elite level pitcher. There is still plenty of time for speculation as to whether or not either Cole or Bauer will become front line starters, as their respective teams are hoping, because they have so much to learn. The Pirates are asking for 200+ innings from Cole each year in the majors, hoping that he can become an elite level pitcher as icing on the cake.

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Posted in Pittsburgh Pirates

 

21 Aug

Steelers O-Line: Should We Be Worried? by Abby Geisel

published in category: Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday, August 21st, 2011 – 8:13 pm

Growing up near Philadelphia, I would get an obnoxious earful from the locals about how this year is going to be different just about every season. You just watch, they'd say. I was berated every Monday for wearing my #83 Heath Miller jersey with black and gold knee socks paired with some awesome tie-dye Steeler sneakers. Oh and did they really run their mouths this year about the "Dream Team" with talent, especially on defense, that was scary good.

Well, so much for that touted Philadelphia "Dream Team."

The Pittsburgh Steelers may have had a sub-par performance against Washington in their first pre-season game, but they sure have people talking after Thursday night's rout of the Eagles. Offense looked great. Defense looked equally as potent. Even our second string looked better than Philly's first teamers. Watching Ben Roethlisberger hook Pro Bowl corner, Asante Samuel, on a pump fake that allowed Antonio Brown to sit wide open in the end zone for a 29-yard strike, brought tears of joy to my eyes.

Yet, despite the sheer pleasure of really whopping the Eagles, I couldn't help but notice a problem that seems to keep creeping back season after season for the Steelers- the durability of that offensive line. How long will it be able to hold up before it crumbles? Every die-hard Steel City fan knows exactly what I'm talking about. Is it possible to make it through just one season with few injuries to the O-Line?

On the very first play from scrimmage, left tackle, Jonathan Scott went down and was shortly followed off the field by his replacement, rookie, Marcus Gilbert, a second round pick out of Florida. Both are said to have hyperextended knees and should be back in no time. However, this still has me wondering about the longevity of a line that has taken quite a hit on the injury front in the past two years. Last year, center Maurkice Pouncey made it through the entire regular season as one of two linemen to start every game, only to sprain his ankle in the AFC title game and miss the Super Bowl. Former tackle Max Starks had to have neck surgery in November, and Pittsburgh's other starting tackle, Willie Colon, was pronounced out for all of last season due to a ruptured Achilles tendon sustained in June at OTA's.

The injury plague has seemed to carry over to this season too with Chris Kemoeatu starting the year on the PUP list (knee). His rehab seems to be going well, as he was activated to practice last week, but he didn't play against Philadelphia, so who knows when he will be game-ready.

Only time will tell if I'm jumping the gun, but I have an eerie feeling that Scott and Gilbert are only foreshadowing what seems to be the inevitable for the Steelers offensive line.

On the upside, I did get to walk around at home today in my Stiller gear, surrounded by dismal looks and shaking heads. In fact, there was silence, a first. Sheer embarrassment forced typically chatty Eagles fans to insert-feet-in-mouths. It was wonderful!

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Posted in Pittsburgh Steelers

 

19 Aug

Teagan Presley and Alexis Texas Live in Studio

published in category: Pittsburgh Pirates on Friday, August 19th, 2011 – 7:25 pm

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Posted in Pittsburgh Pirates

 

17 Aug

Nutting Haters: Put Your Swords Away by Jon Pennline

published in category: Pittsburgh Pirates on Wednesday, August 17th, 2011 – 8:33 am

Bob Nutting haters. Go ahead. Call me an apologist for a front office that is commanding the worst run franchise in the last two decades. I constantly state that the Pirates care about winning and that they see a playoff run in the near future. Call me delusional for saying Bob Nutting is not trying to pocket the profits of a struggling franchise.

While you're at it, call me right.

The Pittsburgh Pirates have stated numerous times that they have an objective to build talent through the draft and create an atmosphere where they can win by building from within. I know, I know. We've heard it all before from the Cam Bonifay/David Littlefield era. The difference between this regime and its predecessors, these guys are doing it right. Whether or not Josh Bell, Gerrit Cole, Jameson Taillon, Luis Heredia carry this team to its first World Series since 1979, the front office has done their job in drafting and signing the players they are supposed to. While the development of these young talents has an incomplete grade, remember Greg Smith learned from the development staff in Cleveland during their stint of competitiveness in the mid 2000s. With the amount of draft picks they have signed (including all ten picks in the first ten rounds) this year, the Pirates are increasing their odds to hit on at least a few of those players down the road. When it came time to spend money in the most important phase of this franchise's current state, the Pirates wrote $17 million collective checks for draft spending, $5 million more than the previous record held by the Washington Nationals a year ago.

After this year's draft spending, the Pirates have spent more money than any team in baseball over the last four years in amateur players. At the same time, the current big league staff is playing at an encouraging level. The excitement of this season means an increase in attendance, an increase in ticket sales, and eventually more money to re-sign their rising stars; McCutchen, Walker, Alvarez, Tabata. Historically the Pirates have never been a team with an intimidating rotation. The additions of Gerrit Cole, Jameson Taillon, Luis Heredia and Stetson Allie set to change 125 years of Pirates baseball. The health of those pitchers seems to be promising as the team has only had one player require major arm surgery-Donnie Veal, a rule 5 pick- since the new scouting/development staff took over in 2008.

Are you still mad the Pirates wont spend on big money free agents? Good luck trying to acquire top free agent talent for a franchise that hasn't won since "End of the Road" by Boyz II Men was a #1 hit single. If anything, the $5 million required to sign Lyle Overbay in the winter is a big enough indicator on how hard it was for the Pirates to add a significant bat. Again, the only way this franchise is going to become competitive is through the amateur draft and international signings. Believe it or not, as much money as athletes command, they still want to compete for a winning team in October. The Pirates are not there yet.

I understand the frustration of seeing this franchise become the laughing stock of Major League Baseball year after year. But hitting the panic button on everything this group does is extreme. If Bob Nutting had been running the franchise since 1993, I would agree with your pessimism and angst. However, he's only owned this team for three years. Maybe Bob isn't the most popular guy because he didn't inherit a team that had won four Super Bowls in six years with people banging down the door to manage his franchise. And maybe he didn't win two Stanley Cups and keep the team in Pittsburgh-on three separate ocassions- long enough to land once in a generation type players.

For the record I'm not asking for you to build a golden shrine dedicated to his existence.

But the truth is, Nutting is a fan of his product and he wants to see them become successful. Since the Pirates have completely rejuvenated their farm system in hopes that it will payoff in the long run, rather than go half on the draft and half in free agency -I'm looking at you Jeromy Burnitz/Joe Randa signings-, maybe we should put our trust in someone who is facing the team in the right direction. After all, the Pirates have never had a system ranked in the top 10 by Baseball America since the talent rankings were first posted ten years ago. It would be a surprise if they didn't buck the trend heading into next year.

Have faith in this group. If they sell Andrew McCutchen off for a bag of baseballs, come back to this blog and I'll admit I was wrong. But don't count on that happening any time soon.

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Posted in Pittsburgh Pirates

 



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