I again didn’t feel like writing about the Steeler game this week, partly because I was out of town, partly cause I found the outcome simultaneously inevitable and bland, but I guess if I’m writing a blog about Pittsburgh sports I can’t just pout any time the Steelers lose, so here’s a quick recap. Then I’ll resume sucking my thumb and sneaking back into my crawlspace. You bunch of meanies.

Against the Bengals and Chiefs, I honestly never even entertained the thought that the Steelers might end up losing the games until the final minutes of each; much of this was straight-up naive arrogance on my part, but also, the Steelers appeared to be in control of both games, and given their extensive history of pulling off “what were you worried about?” fourth-quarter go-ahead drives at will last season, I’ve just grown spoiled with the idea that the Steelers are just going to prevail no matter what, just as the bloodied, limping Bruce Willis is always going to have the last laugh in any Die Hard movie.

Unfortunately, the past three weeks have been a different kind of Die Hard movie: A really boring one with and irritating ending. This has nothing to do with Die Hard, I’m just pissed about the game and attempted to write something more colorful than just “I’m pissed,” but ended up just regressing back to literally writing “I’m pissed.” And I am pissed.

I joked before the Ravens game that because the Ravens hadn’t been pulling their standard B.S. Ravens luck this season — they’ve actually lost several games on highly unlucky missed field goals and some lame penalty calls — that they had to have been saving up for one giant helping of Ravens luck against the Steelers. And wouldn’t you know it, Ben Roethlisberger finds out at the eleventh hour he can’t play, Charlie Batch is out for 6 weeks, and Dennis Dixon is starting his first NFL game on the road in Baltimore, has only two days to prepare, and the Steelers are missing Troy Polamalu, Chris Kemoeatu, and of course Aaron Smith, and the 2 1/2 Ravens point spread took an unsurprising leap to 7 1/2.

Random thoughts:

– Dixon ended up handling himself impressively, guiding the Steelers to a 17-14 lead and an eventual overtime, but his limitations were extremely apparent in the second half, when my cries of “throw the ball on first down!” quickly dissipated into “…oh, they can’t complete anything, can they?”

– The secondary took turns sucking, with Ike Taylor, Anthony Smith and William Gay each randomly deciding to just be terrible on a particular play here or there. We all knew Polamalu was important to the defense, but when he’s out, it’s just inconceivable how much instantly worse the individuals in the secondary appear to play.

– Rashard Mendenhall was a nice bright spot for the Steelers; he’d been productive the last couple weeks, with Bruce Arians and the offensive line both showing a sudden willingness to actually run the ball effectively. Against Baltimore, Mendenhall was hitting holes, beating guys one on one, breaking tackles, and even turned in two impressive run after catches that might end up helping Roethlisberger on blitzes in the future.

– Speaking of runs after catches, that third and 22? Whatever.

– So, the Steelers find themselves at 6-5, with games at home against Oakland, Green Bay, and Baltimore remaining, and ones on the road against Cleveland and Miami. They’ll almost certainly need to win 4 of those 5, which seems extremely plausible, as long as the injury luck turns; they should be favored in all five of them as long as Roethlisberger is playing, and there’s little reason to expect the Steelers won’t be able to pull it off.

And if they don’t, I guess Baltimore or frickin’ Jacksonville will make the playoffs, and that’s ridiculous, so I’m not giving up on anything just yet. Except maybe on Mewelde Moore’s ability to run forward.

Many people, including me, thought the Tennessee Titan’s season was over after a shocking and unpredictable 0-6 start. After 3 close losses to the Steelers, Texans, and Jets followed by 3 blowout losses to the Jaguars, Colts, and Patriots the reeling Titans went into their week 7 bye surrounded by questions and searching for answers. The solution was simply Vince Young. Yes, the same Vince Young who last year had questions swirling about his desire and his mental health, but also the same Vince Young that is a proven winner as a starter in the NFL (23-11 career record as a starter). Young has the Titans on a 5 game winning streak and is poised to make it 6 when the Titans face the Colts in week 12 (which I think is a reasonable possibility). During the 5 game winning streak Young has thrown for 4 touchdowns and ran for another while only accounting for 3 turnovers, but he has received some help from the defense and especially from MVP candidate Chris Johnson (more about Johnson soon). Young’s brightest moment in his NFL career was his game winning 99 yard drive against the Cardinals last week. Young marched down the field, spraying the ball around to many receivers and finally capped off the drive with a touchdown pass to Kenny Britt on fourth down and no time remaining on the clock. Young and the Titans look to ride their new found momentum into next week’s showdown against the Colts.   

I think the Titans have a legitimate chance at another 10 game win streak (remember they had one last year). Their last 5 games consist of 3 teams that currently have losing records and a Colts team that has looked human of late and a Chargers team that is the best example of Jekyll and Hyde. Call me crazy, but come this postseason the Titans will be lurking. 

Now, my case for who I think should be MVP, Chris Johnson. Other than the obvious things like CJ’s combination of speed and power and his great blocking ability for a guy his size, very few if anyone in the NFL means more to their team than Chris Johnson. He does it all. Here are the stats to support my argument:

• 1396 rushing yards (1st in the NFL)
• 294 receiving yards (4th among running backs in the AFC)
• 9 rushing touchdowns (2nd among running backs in the AFC)
• 10 total touchdowns (3rd among running backs in the AFC)

The stats speak for themselves.

So, I’m sitting on my couch Sunday night watching the end of the Ravens/Steelers game when, with 20 seconds left in the game, I see Joe Flacco fumble the ball at the 43 and the offense recover at the 37 yard line.   I don’t claim to know everything about football.  For instance, I don’t know why a left tackle is lined up correctly on one play, and then lines up in the exact same place the next play and is penalized for not being on the line of scrimmage.    But I do know that ever since Ken Stabler’s “Holy Roller” in San Diego, circa 1980,  that the offense can not advance a fumble in the last minute of a game.   So, after a 13 hour drive from Indiana to North Carolina and barely being able to keep my eyes open, I am watching the Ravens line up for a field goal from the 37 while texting my friend Brian that the ball should be placed on the 43.    Nobody is whispering this information to the announcers Al Michaels or Chris Collinsworth, or to the referree Ed Hockellee, who allows the kick to occur from the 37.   Now,  I used to be a huge Ed Hockellee fan.   I think all referees should have the common courtesy to bench press for an hour before officiating a nationally-televised game, but ever since the Jay Cutler debacle last year, I have not been impressed by either his refereeing skills or his triceps, which dare I say, looked a little bit flabby last night.    I just hope that, before the playoffs, Hockellee starts to curl his rulebook in between sets.

So I was drowning my sorrows after last night’s Steelers’ collapse when I met a new friend. Right there at the local watering hole, a couple of stools down, sat an older gentlemen in a Steelers’ cap nursing a beer.

 “Some game,” I offered.

 “Yagottabekidden me,” he muttered.

“Well, you can’t win ‘em all, I guess.”

“Ah’m sick’n tard a dis nonsense!”

“You didn’t really expect the Steelers to win, did you? What with Ben and Troy out?”

“Ah got nuttin’ but questions all weekund.”

We introduced ourselves. His name was Stosh Jagodzinski. What follows is my best attempt to translate Stosh’s thoughts. Any errors here are not Stosh’s. They are simply my failure to correctly decipher Stosh’s genius and insight. He said the Steelers were just one of the questions he had.

“Dey gave up de lead! Defense gave up a eddy-fur yahrd drive. If dey just dooder jobs, we wudda won!”

“That young quarterback, Dixon, played pretty well for the first time out, eh Stosh?”

“Yun fella reminds me of Kerdell Stewrt. He almost took it to da Balt-ee-more Birdies. Problem is, ya gotsta stop dem when it’s t’ird an twenty-two. Bill Cahr wudda never let dat happen! An wat was dat thing on the field?”

“What thing?

“Some fella runnin’ around in a black costume looked like a moth.”

“I think that was a Raven, Stosh.”

“Looked more like pelican or a bug.”

“So that’s your question?”

“Hell, no. Waz wid de locker room? Oh mah gersh, ders some attitudes dere dat needs swept. Hines Wahrd wuz right. What in da name a Marn Cope’s ghost wuz Ben doin’ ahta dat game?”

“I think he had a concussion, Stosh.”

“He hit his head. Big deal. Rub some dirt ahn it an’ git back in dere. In my day we solved a bad head wid a cupple tree fingers.”

“Fingers?”

Stosh jammed two fingers in the air in front of my face.

“How many fingers you see?”

“Two?”

“See? Yer fine. We ushly got two er tree chances ta git da anser right, too!”

“So you think Ben was okay.”

“How should I know? All’s I know is now dey are daht’n him. De locker room is divided. Tahmlin’s gotta make dat right!”

“What else is eatin’ at ya, Stosh?”

“Da Buccos. Fer cryin’ in da sink, ja see what dat idiot Huntington said in da paper on Friday? Ya inga bleevis! He said dey weren’t gonna bring nobody in from da outsahd. Said not to ‘spect any fahrworks in da offseason. Said it wouldn’t make da team better? Said the team didn’t have any holes ta fill. Wir talkin’ baht da Buccos, ahrn we? Dey got more holes an swiss cheese at da Jine Iggle!”

“Well, maybe he likes all the young players the Pirates have.”

“So how’s come dey lost ninety-nine games last yer? Anser me dat, smart guy. Some a doze players hafta hit da bricks.”

“Well,” I said, “they do have about 80 to 100 mill in luxury tax money coming in this year.”

“The fact of da matter is, dey ain’t gonna spendit. Gonna pockit it cuz all doze folks are gonna go aht to PNC fer da fahrworks after da games. An’ even if dey don’t, dey got all dat cash from da Yankees in dere pockit anyways! Gitdahellaht!”

“Any other questions, Stosh?”

“Sumpins up wid dat Tiger Woods!”

“Oh, you mean his accident?”

“I daht’et. Dat story don’t cut no ice! Jimminy Chrismas, if’n his story’s true, den he wuz drivin’ at cordada tree in da mornin’ all hopped up on pain meds. How’s come nobody’s bringun’ dat up? Where wuz he gonna go? Food shoppin’? Nuh-uh! Nah, dere’s morrenat to dis story. Kimm’awn, do dey tink we wuz born yesterday, n’at? Dere’s trouble in paradise, I’m tellin’ ya!”

“So you think he was fighting with the missus and got beat up by a 3-wood-flailing Swedish swimsuit model?”

“Airyago! Da media’s juz jaggin’ on us. Yinz wait en see. In-a-baht-a day or two it’ll all come aht. Den remember ya heard it from Stosh first!”

“Well, Stosh, the hour’s late an I’ve gotta work tomorrow.”

“Dat’s it, Fort Pitt! Dere gonna open da light pretty soon. I’m juz gonna finish dis ahrn.”

“You do that. Next time it’s on me.”

“Dabby great! Ah’ll hold yinz ta d’at.”

“See ya, Stosh. We’ll chat again. Hopefully you’ll get yourself some answers to those questions.

“Chawt! It’s drip dropin’ aht dere.”

And with that, I headed home. Sure the Steelers lost, but I had a new friend. I also decided that for a man with a lot of questions, he sure had a lot of answers if only someone would just listen.

(tip of the hat to Mike Royko)

A few years ago I did some research on the excellent Paul Brown Cleveland football teams of the early-mid 50’s.  While my work was Cleveland centric, I ran across a few names of other players that I thought were intriguing, often because of their success in the league despite going straight from college to volunteering to fight in World War 2, and then being discharged and joining the NFL.  What really blew my mind is how many of these guys volunteered (in the end, about 1,000 guys) to go to war instead of waiting to get drafted, and how a vast number of them ended up fighting on the front lines instead of being some sort of behind the lines support personnel.  Obviously, this was a different time: many NFL players were not particularly famous or rich, and they certainly could not expect special treatment from the War Department.  Joe Dimaggio might expect special treatment, Alex Agase could not.  It was still a sacrifice that I respect, and refreshing considering the petulant thugs that make of your average current NFL roster.

In my experience in collecting signatures, you would be hard pressed to find a group of better signers than post 80’s NFL guys.  I am not sure why, and it’s ironic since current NFL players are some of the worst signers TTM (through the mail) that you are going to find.  This goes double for guys from the 50’s and 60’s, and while some may ask for a small donation, it is still very much worth ones time to write to these guys.  At the time I was not aware of what good signers they were, and did not take this into account when I wrote a dozen or so non-Browns guys.  I was really blow away on how well I did (returns began less than a week after I started sending stuff out), but one return, from a player named Bill Dudley, was particularly exciting.

I wrote to Bill Dudley after running across his name in a list of Steelers enshrined in the HOF, and was really impressed with all that he accomplished.  The write-up I was reading made a point to mention that he was football’s last “triple crown” winner in 1946, meaning that he led the league in led the league in rushing, punt returns and interceptions. He was also tops in “lateral passing,” which was its own statistical category at the time.  Dudley was drafted #1 in the 1942 Draft by the Steelers from the University of Virginia, where he was an All-American and Maxwell Award winner.  His first year in the league was a huge success, leading the league in rushing, being voted an All-Pro and winning the Rookie of the Year Award.  In ‘42 he volunteered for the Army Air Corp (now the Air Force), where he would play on the Army All-Star Team and win MVP honors.  He was not able to rejoin the Pittsburg team until the last 4 games of the ‘45 season (we will come back to that.)   While the 46 Steelers only went 5-5, Dudley did a vast majority of the work for those 5 wins, and was named the league MVP.  Now, the football they played in ‘46 was slightly different in the one they play now:  many players played the full 60 minutes on both offense and defense, and humans had not yet evolved into the fast, 400 pound, steroids enhanced human Winnebago’s we handing out concussions today, so it is hard to compare him to any man who put on a uniform in modern times.  Since I can’t compare him to anyone, lets just look at him by the impressive numbers from that season:

• led the team in rushing (146 carries, 604 yards, 3 TDs)
• led the team in passing (32 completions, 452 yards, 2 TDs)
• led the team in interceptions (10 INTs, 242 yards, 1 TD)
• led the team in kicking (12 PATs, 2 FGs)
• led the team in punt returns (27 returns, 385 yards)
• led the team in kick returns (14 returns, 280 yards)
• led the team in scoring (48 points)
• laced fifth on the team in receiving (4 catches, 109 yards, 1 TD)

OK, sure he never murdered a guy like Ray Lewis and then paid off the witnesses to change their stories;  Yea, he never “made it rain” at a strip club and then beat up one of the strippers when they attempted to collect the money like Pacman Jones; He has not–yet–choked out Tila Tequila like Shawne Marriman; He did not hold out for four months after the war, petulantly demanding a new contract from the Steelers, like Crabtree did after the draft.  He may not be as colorful as current NFL players, but hey, what can you do.

Anyway, I wrote to him on a Monday, and by that Friday I got back my letter.  Enclosed was my index card, and two extra photos that he provided–all signed.  But was more interesting was that my letter was enclosed, with a letter written on the back from Mr. Dudley himself.

He noticed I was writing from Pearl Harbor, and it reminded him of a story of his:   after being a B-25 instructor stateside for most of the war, he was shipped to the Pacific in 1945 (more than likely in preparation to support Operation Downfall and the invasion of Japan.)  But, after only two supply missions, the Japanese surrendered and the war was over.  So now Dudley, along with just about every other serviceman in the Pacific, had to be shipped home.  Dudley might have been excited at the prospect of being home in time to play in some of the ‘45 season, but he was one of millions of people being shipped home en masse, and the logistics of such an undertaking meant he (like everyone else) was not going any place fast.  Anyway, Dudley finally made it back to Pearl Harbor and was getting ready to board a boat home–there were just not enough aircraft to fly everyone–and had resigned himself to the fact that he was just going to have to wait for the ‘46 season.  But, as luck would have it, the Hickam base commander ran across Dudley’s name on a roster and recognized him as a All-Star football player, and figured that he may be able to help him for an upcoming service game against the Marines.  He ordered him to his office and gave him a choice:  play three games on my Air Corp roster against the Marines, and I will ship him home on a plane and you get to join the Steelers in time for a portion of the ‘45 season, or, don’t and get send home on a slow boat.  Dudley at first refused–thinking it really was not fair to get any special treatment–but the commander prodded him a little and finally Dudley relented.  The games were a success–Hickam won all three–and Dudley made it home in time to join the Steelers.

Dudley is not a tough autograph to get, he is generally a willing signer and as such his secondary market value is pretty depressed.  But a letter like this is a very special treat, and hold a special place in my personal collection.   The kind of people currently playing the NFL are not role models, are not people that anyone should admire,, and for the most part I would not want any of their signatures in my collection even if they were offered (Peyton Manning and Kurt Warner not withstanding).  Bill Dudley played a game that simply does not exist anymore, and I think that is a real shame.

Article by Michael Battaglia

Despite throwing an overtime interception that allowed the Baltimore Ravens to kick a field goal and beat the Pittsburgh Steelers 20-17 on Sunday night, Dennis Dixon helped prove that third-string NFL quarterbacks aren’t necessarily terrible football players. Dixon also proved that his third-string status can overcome first-stringers, such as Jets QB Mark Sanchez, in fantasy points.  In fact, without getting too in depth, Dixon could have earned my fantasy team a whopping 13.25 points if he started over Sanchez, who gained me just over 6 points starting in place of the injured Ben Roethlisberger, my regular starter, and handed my fantasy team its sixth loss of the season (6-6). But that’s not important. What is important is that the kid can play.

Quick Profile
Dennis Dixon 6′3″ 209 lbs. Age: 24 Born: Oakland, CA
Headshot Photo Credit: ESPN

Dixon’s Yahoo! sports player ranking of 2,108 overall may be harsh but his 60.6 quarterback rating was enough to keep the Steelers in the game until the late pick by Ravens defensive lineman Paul Kruger. Dixon was 12 of 26 in his pass attempts collecting 145 yards in the air and threw one heck-of-a touchdown pass to Santonio Holmes. The OT interception was Dixon’s only pick thrown on Sunday night, but lets not forget Dixon has played under the lights before.

Dixon’s career at Oregon was astonishing to many as he threw for over 5,100 yards and 38 touchdowns in his 3+ years on the Ducks. His senior year, 2007, was really something. In 2007 Dixon threw for 2,136 yards and 20 touchdowns with just 4 interceptions. Dixon rushed 105 times for 583 yards and scored 9 touchdowns without fumbling once.

This wasn’t Dixon’s first appearance ever, he threw one pass in a fourth-quarter series against Cleveland in week 17 of 2008 and completed it for three yards with the Steelers leading 31-0. He had two rushes and lost three yards. It was mop-up time to say the least.

Look out football world, we may have another Matt Cassel on our hands here with Dixon stepping up. Oh,  I meant the good Matt Cassel. Sorry for any confusion.

If Roethlisberger’s head doesn’t clear up by next weekend I’ll be starting Dennis Dixon and dropping Mark Sanchez. Hopefully Sanchez doesn’t throw a few TDs and make me pay for dropping him.

Here’s Dixon warming up during pregame of the August 8, 2008 Steelers/Eagles game.
Photo by Rick Stewart/Getty Images North America

I am a betting man. And with the Steelers bringing in their third-string quarterback for their away game against the Ravens, I expected a blowout.

Big time.

Ben Roethlisberger had to sit out on Sunday night because of a concussion suffered last week in their loss to Kansas City. Their second string QB, Charlie Batch is out for the season with a broken wrist, leaving rookie, third-string, and former baseball playing quarterback Dennis Dixon to step in and fill the shoes for Big Ben.

And who would have thought that he could.

For the night, Dixon completed 12 or 26 passes for 145 yards with 2 touchdowns (one he rushed in from the 27 yd line).

His pass game wasn’t the best in the NFL, and his decisions under pressure were far from perfect, but Dixon held his own during the game. It wasn’t until OT when Dixon was blitzed, forcing him to throw an interception, and setting the Ravens up for a field goal and the win.

There were ups and downs for Dixon last night. After the interception in OT, Roethlisberger consoled his teammate, giving him words of encouragement. Tears came from Dixon’s eyes as he left his helmet on to hide them. I understand that he was upset for blowing the game, but he also had a lot to be proud of. In his first NFL appearance, Dixon put up a good fight against the Baltimore Ravens defense. There were big shoes to be filled, and I think he filled them.

The question now is, where does a kid with this talent go from here?

Não assisti ao Sunday Night Football de ontem, entre Baltimore Ravens e Pittsburgh Steelers, mas me surpreendi ao saber que a partida foi decidida apenas na prorrogação, com uma vitória do Ravens por 20-17. Como Ben Roethlisberger, quarterback titular de Pittsburgh, não jogou por conta de uma concussão, as chances da forte defesa de Baltimore engolir o segundo anista Dennis Dixon eram grandes. Mas com uma excelente proteção da linha ofensiva, Dixon jogava bem, porém, sua inexperiência foi crucial ao final do jogo e depois na prorrogação. Uma interceptação ainda no campo de defesa do Steelers deixou Baltimore em uma boa posição de campo, que avançou mais algumas jardas e chutou o field goal, selando a vitória.

Com o resultado, o Ravens permanece vivo na briga por uma vaga nos playoffs. Joe Flacco e cia têm um misto de jogos fáceis e outros nem tanto. Se vai a passeio até Detroit e Oakland, não vai ter vida fácil diante de Green Bay e, novamente, Pittsburgh, ambos fora de casa. Contra Chicago, tudo pode acontecer.

Já a equipe de Mike Tomlin tem uma sequência mais tranquila. Enfrenta Oakland, Cleveland e Miami, e recebe os dois adversários mais complicados, Green Bay e Baltimore, no Heinz Field tomado pelas toalhas amarelas. Uma das vagas wild card da AFC deve ficar entre esses dois times, isso é, se Cincinnati não bobear na liderança.

Para ver os melhores momentos da partida, clique aqui, e galeria de fotos, aqui.

Foto do post: Nick Wass, AP Photo.

Paul Kruger, LB/DE, Ravens. Image from baltimoreravens.com.

Thank you Steelers monkey for getting off our back. Get on back to the zoo now please!

FINALLY, the Ravens have won against the Steelers, after getting beat down 3 times last year. I really don’t care who was or was not on the field (because we were missing a key player too), we needed this win for confidence purposes. A few observations:

1. Dennis Dixon: All jokes aside, major props to Dennis Dixon. He played exceptionally well, but for the one interception. He looked sharper than many starters around the league and I hope he gets a chance to start somewhere.
2. Ravens fans: I wonder why us Ravens fans have been clamoring for the rookies to have more involvement on defense all year?? Maybe because they’re fresher, faster, and hungrier than many of the vets.
3. Lardarius Webb: WOW! Clearly *Webby* is the starting corner of our future. He was ALL over the place tonight. Incredible job.
4. Paul Kruger: WOW! WOW! Kruger’s overtime interception saved the game…no, the season. Kruger’s play was the definition of making the most of an opportunity. And that this tremendous play happened on national TV is unbelievable. Fantastic job.
5. Billy Cundiff: I don’t know why you were available so late in the season, but I am so thankful you were. When you walk on the field, you exude a confidence that is soothing. Great job on the game-tying and game-winning field goals.

GO RAVENS!!!!

About 7 this evening, Nathaniel pulled out my Ravens jersey and handed it to me.  I put it on and thanked him for reminding me that the game was on.  I then was disappointed to find out that it wasn’t on Channel 13- which comes in on my TV.

So, I listened to the game on 98 Rock since Channel 11 doesn’t come in on the TV.  It has been a very exciting game.  When it went into overtime I could  just picture John getting all animated and yelling at the TV screen… unless we were at the game in which case I can only guess he’d be out of his seat screaming… I’ve never been to a football game… or any sporting event (other than dragging him to horse shows) with John, so I’m only guessing.  Our buddy who took him to the games could tell me what he would have been doing.

After they win tonight, the first thing that comes to mind is John dancing around with Nathaniel after the Raven’s wins last season…

John & Nathaniel celebrating Ravens victory, January 10, 2009

John & Nathaniel celebrating victory, January 10, 2009

If anybody hears something that sounded like thunder… it was probably John and all of the Ravens fans jumping up and down!

As the Ravens postcard magnet that I put at John’s grave says, “Wish you were here.”  I’d much rather be sharing the moment with John whether it be watching it on TV or at the stadium.  But you know,  for right now, I’m just going to be glad that the Ravens won!!!  Especially against the Steelers.

The Village People called and they want their look back.

Almost time for the Steelers – Ratbird throwdown. The Vest has to come clean and confess that the Ratbirds are the most despicable, hated team in the NFL. This blog isn’t big enough to describe all the hate that is felt towards “Balteemore”. So, I’ll just plagarize another website and list some good Ravens jokes.

Q: What do you call 53 people sitting around a TV watching the
Super Bowl?
A: The Baltimore Ravens

Q: How do you keep a Baltimore Raven out of your yard?
A: Put up goal posts.

Q: Where do you go in Baltimore in case of a tornado?
A: M&T Stadium – they never have a touchdown there

Q: What do you call a Baltimore Raven with a Super Bowl ring?
A: An old thief.

Q: Why doesn’t Annapolis have a professional football team?
A: Because then Baltimore would want one.

Q: What’s the difference between the Baltimore Ravens & a dollar bill?
A: You can still get four quarters out of a dollar bill.

Q: What do the Baltimore Ravens and possums have in common?
A: Both play dead at home and get killed on the road!

Q: How many Baltimore Ravens does it take to win a Super Bowl?
A: Nobody knows and we may never find out.

Q: What do the Baltimore Ravens and Billy Graham have in common?
A: They both can make 70,000 people stand up and yell “Jesus Christ!”

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Tonight at 8:20 ET is the first match up between the Ravens and Steelers this season. Huge playoff implications for both teams, as this is a must win for the Ravens in order to keep their wild-card hopes alive. Good news for them, as Ben Rothlisburger is out with a concussion. A big sigh of relief from Baltimore’s secondary, who sucks ass this season (except for you Ed)

Troy Palamalu is also unlikely to play this evening, another good sign for the Ravens. Baltimore is looking for some serious redemption in this game after losing to Pittsburgh three times last season, including the AFC championship.

Baltimore has been looking solid all season, much better than their 5 and 5 record suggests. They’ve never lost a game by more than 10 points, but just can’t seem to come up with those big wins against quality teams. I’m obviously favoring the Ravens in this one, 17-10. Of course, my prediction of 17 is dependent on whether or not our kicker can make a field goal.

At the game tonight, you Pittsburgh fans need not talk shit to me, cause I don’t speak coal miner, and won’t be able to understand you.

Yerp.

Ben Roethlisberger, QB, Steelers. Image from baltimoresun.com.

Week 12 of the season and the Ravens face the Steelers for the first time. Both teams limp into this game, but the Steelers will play without Troy Polamalu, their own Ed Reed.

Supposedly, QB Ben Roethlisberger will miss the game with “concussion-like symptoms”. Do you know what causes “concussion-like symptoms”? A CONCUSSION. Having said that, I simply do not believe that Ben will miss this contest: the Steelers have played these mind games with us for too many years. When kickoff happens and I see Ben in a sweatsuit on the sidelines, then I’ll believe it.

Now don’t get me wrong, I don’t think Big Ben should play especially since this is not his first head injury. All I’m saying is I don’t trust any injury-related news from the Steelers. I only believe the news about Polamalu because he’s been out for a few weeks now.

The Ravens too are banged up, and may be without DE Terrell Suggs. Anything can happen with this game, so I’m keeping my expectations low. As always, I hope the Ravens win, but this week I have another reason for rooting for victory: if the Ravens lose this game, against a 3rd-string QB playing in the NFL for only the second time, all HELL will break loose in Ravens fandom. Really, I don’t have the energy for the whining this week, so Ravens…let’s get this thing done!

Image from spacepictures.org.

We’re minutes away from the beginning of Week 12 Sunday games, but there were 2 topics I wanted to address in relation to Week 11:

1. Baltimore Ravens versus Indianapolis Colts: For whatever reason, the Ravens’ karma is all jacked up where the Colts are concerned. The Colts may have left US in the middle of the night those many years ago, but clearly, in the eyes of the universe, Baltimore was and is wrong. Can you say 7 straight losses now to Indy? While it is true that after the Colts left, Baltimore received a team from another city, it is also true that said city—Cleveland—still retains their team name and history, which is not true in our case. We have found entirely too many ways to lose in these games, so I have now accepted that matchups against the Colts will never favor us. I’ve accepted it, but I still don’t like it.
2. The AFC North goes 0-fer: Unbelievably, the ENTIRE AFC North went defeated last week. 4 games, 4 losses. In the Ravens case, a loss wasn’t all that unexpected (see #1). But the Steelers, Bengals, and Browns faced the Chiefs, Raiders, and Lions. For the division that represented the entire AFC  in the championship game last year, this was a rather sorry showing.

where has this season gone?? my goodness, it seems like we were just preparing for the hall of fame game! but yes, it is week 12, and it is a week filled with many division games. but before we move on to week 12 sunday, we must look back at week 12 thursday…

hope everyone had a great thanksgiving! I sure did, but one thing that would have made it better is…BETTER FOOTBALL! now, i’m all for traditions…the Lions always play, the Cowboys always play, blah blah blah…how about giving them some equal opponents? Like don’t have the Lions play the Packers, where its sort of obvious who’s going to win! (Sorry Detroit fans). Also, don’t have a relatively good team like the Cowboys take on the Raiders. Do i even have to tell you who won those games? What an easy win for the Packers and Cowboys! Moving on to the Thursday night game…yes the Giants lost to the Broncos. End of story…moving on!

okay, so for all those division games….

1. NFC South (Bucs @ Falcons)
2. AFC East (Dolphins @ Bills)
3. NFC East (Redskins @ Eagles)
4. NFC West (Seahawks @ Rams)
5. AFC North (Browns @ Bengals)
6. AFC South (Colts @ Texans)
7. AFC West (Chiefs @ Chargers
8. NFC North (Bears @ Vikings)
9. AFC North (Steelers @ Ravens)

So./././ how about that? 9 division games! some less exciting than the others, but division games, nonetheless. i would say 6, 8, and 9 are the games i most looking forward to as a good game. if the Colts win today, and the Jaguars lose, then the Colts can clinch the AFC South!!

alright, i gotta cut this short, but hope everyone enjoys their football-filled sunday!

Well, it turns out that the owie that Ben got on his headspot was a little worse than expected. A couple more concussions, and the Ben will owe some brain cells. All hail Dennis Dixon.  Maybe Arians will actually incorporate a few runs into the game plan.

My head feels all "pew pew"

A Catholic take on why girls love the Twilight series.  It’s the chastity, stupid.  Via.

PittGirl has figured out how to guarentee a Steelers victory tomorow.

Terry Teachout on why some artists dry up.

Sticking with today’s unintended Steelers theme, I happened to find this gem of a NFL Films  story via The Burgh, Exposed blog. It’s the story of how the Styx song Renegade became The Steelers official fight song. I had never seen the video before so I was pretty excited to find it. Enjoy!

-jp

There was a great Pittsburgh-related article on everyone’s favorite parody news network, The Onion yesterday. Ever try and spell Roethlisberger? The parody new story plays on the fact that it’s such a hard word to spell and our insane love of everything Steelers.

“If you ask me if I would rather hire a kid from Boston with a 4.0 GPA who puts a ‘u’ after the ‘b’ in Roethlisberger, or a kid who can spell the name correctly, I’m going to hire the kid who can spell Roethlisberger,” said Pittsburgh attorney Martin Snyder, adding that clients in Southwestern Pennsylvania appreciate, above all, a lawyer with a working knowledge of how to spell the names of the entire 2005 Super Bowl team. “Anyone can go to law school and pass a bar exam, but knowing that there is a silent ‘h’ after the ‘w’ in Cowher? Well, that takes somebody special.”

“If you look at the data, our students were correctly spelling Roethlisberger only 43 percent of the time during the quarterback’s rookie season,” said Pittsburgh mayor Luke Ravenstahl, who called the 2004 statistic an embarrassment. “In just five years, we have increased that number to 92 percent. That’s 54 percent better than students in California, 35 percent better than those in Oklahoma, and 96 percent better than those in the Cleveland area, who tend to spell Roethlisberger by adding the letters ‘u,’ ‘c,’ and ‘k’ after the letter ’s.’”

“The bottom line is the Pittsburgh school system is giving its students a leg up on the competition, not only in America, but throughout the world,” Ravenstahl added. “Our kids correctly spelled Roethlisberger 12 times more often than all the students in Europe and Asia combined.”

To read the entire hilarious article, click here!

-jp

(image  from The Onion)

No use spending much time on the Black and Gold debacle of the past week. I blame myself. During my 5 days in NYC, I couldn’t leave well enough alone; I had to search me out a Steeler bar. As I posted earlier, I chose the Hybernia bar on the west side, just above Times Square. Got there about half hour before the game. Was immediately impressed by the bedspread-sized Terrible Towel near the door.

Had plenty of seats to choose from at first. One of the bartenders had a Pirates hat and an Irish brogue–give him some slack for being an immigrant and not knowing any better. Hey, if I were living in England, I very well might don the powder blue and maroon colors of West Ham United just to join the crowd, not knowing that they are the laughing-stock of the English Premier League. It could happen.

Half hour before kickoff, there were already a few people there with Steelers’ garb. It was quaint. Mrs. Carpetbagger and I grabbed some stools, settled in, and ordered a couple of Ahrn Cities. Five minutes before kickoff, the diaspora poured through the doors. The bartenders turned down the sound and pumped up the Steerlers’ Polka, with singing led by a guy in a Steelers poncho. It was a beautiful sight. Couple hundred Steeler fanatics crammed into a bar with two Jets’ fans off to the side. Of course, the opening kickoff quashed all that spirit right off the bat and set an ominous tone for the day. Still, this was one I never thought the Steelers would lose, even as it went into OT.

After the Steelers’ first touchdown, the bar pumped out YMCA. I quickly glanced around to ensure that I hadn’t unknowingly wandered into a Steelers gay bar. (Not that there’s anything wrong with that.) I was assured that the bar just had tradition of playing some audience participation songs after each score. Just like that, we scored again in the 2nd quarter and the rout was on. The bar blasted The Ramones’ “Blitzkrieg Bop.” Everyone was awesomely screaming, “Hey, Ho, Let’s Go!” with the music. Rainbows stretched across the sky and unicorns danced about. With the crowd surging and the tide turned toward a Pittsburgh romp, Mrs. Carpetbagger (who does not enjoy being jostled about by humanity) left with the camera. She also has Football Attention Disorder–she just can’t hang with it very long.

I settled in to enjoy the beating we were going to administer in the second half. Two girls from Beaver County asked to use my section of the bar to scarf down some wings. Met Tony, a Steeler fan from midtown Manhattan and his girlfriend, Vill, a closeted Cowboy fan. He said, “You shoulda seen this place for the playoffs last year. I couldn’t even get to the bathroom the whole game.”

In the second half, the rainbows were sullied and the unicorns were carried off the field on stretchers. What a puzzling and demoralizing loss. Puzzling, because we seemed to move the ball well and were able to stifle them most of the day. Demoralizing, because we had to watch some backup linebacker from Wheaton College (a little Christian school from my neck of the woods in Chicago where drinking and dancing is a sin) intercept two of Ben’s wounded duck passes, running one back for a touchdown and the other for 90 yards before he just ran out of gas so we could finally catch him. It was like the Oakland game two years ago where we just handed a horrible team a victory.

 In that game, Ben came into it concussed. In this one, that’s the way he left after taking this knee to the head.

Still, when we won the toss for OT, I was SURE we would march down and kick a game-winning field goal. Nope. We punted, and a couple of plays later they turned an 8 yard dump pass into a sixty yard gain into FG territory and won the game. Check please. The once raucous crowd began to disperse back into Manhattan from whence they came. A great day spoiled. An experience tarnished. A watering hole tainted. Sorry, Hybernia. I can’t go back. It’s not you; it’s me. It’s just too painful.

I know how you feel, young fella. Like you ate some bad knish… tasted a putrid pierogi… or watched the Pirates play. Yeah, that’s gonna leave a mark. That taste will take a few days to go away. But take heart, young yinzer, in the fact that after Bengal fans video casted their burning of a Terrible Towel last week, their team went to Oakland with their Halloween pajama uniforms and lost to the even lowlier Raiders. Yeah, we could have picked up a game on them, but just thinking about their sad little tiger-striped faces makes me smile. The Steelers are OK. Coach Tomlin needs to earn his pay and demonstrate some leadership. Rally the troops. It’s nothing a couple of wins won’t cure. But the Bengal fans angered the ghost of Myron Cope. When the Titans stomped on the towel they didn’t win a game until they apologized ten months later–all right, they didn’t apologize, but they sent a signed towel to the school that receives towel proceeds in an effort to break the very real curse! The next week, they won a game! 

Beware Bengal bastards. We await your groveling apology as you await your sorry team’s next win!

“I will be avenged!” — Myron Cope’s ghost.

I am reading about the trials and tribulations of the Steelers Quarterback Ben Roethlesberger. He apparently had a concussion on Sunday but is planning to play this Sunday. I know players have been playing hurt since the first game of ball. It is the self deception that I am hearing that is driving me crazy.

It feels that they think that by calling it something different then its not a problem. First it was ‘concussion like’ symptoms then he ‘got his bell rung’ whatever that means medically. Now they are just ignoring the fact that it was a concussion and he is practicing with the team and he is having no problems. Well of course he is having no problems! He wants to play, he is not going to notice or report any problems–DUH! This is at least his 4th severe concussion. I suppose they figure that for an athlete the brain is not an essential body part.

They may not even be doing this on purpose, but may be so culturally conditioned to get them out on the field that they may as well have blinders on. I wonder if his back up ( who is very good) was healthy –would  they take this kind of chance?  The risk is not in playing, the risk is that he will get another hit to the head that will exponentially compound the damage ( as in Theisman type damage). Furthermore, this is a game of millimeters, if his brain is not at full capacity his marvelous ability to avoid mayhem may be off just by a little bit. Just enough to get clobbered all the time.   Maybe they havent noticed that football is a wee bit punishing? unpredictably so? Who wants to be the pass rusher that inadvertently causes another more severe concussion?

They are acting like a diagnosis of concussion is an easily diagnosed exact science. Not so much. I saw his face during the game after the hit and he had that 1000 mile stare. Not good.  I hate it when great athletes get hurt ( and he is great even if I root for other teams) but it is much worse when it is preventable and unnecessary.

Black Scale’s first ever New Era collaboration will release at Major D.C. on Black Friday. They will be the only account to carry the hat. The following week Black Scale will release the hat at their flagship store in San Francisco. Check out the back of the hat after the jump. Congrats Mega the hat looks clean as FUCK.