Random Sports Thoughts
*Our sincere congratulations to Fox Chapel’s Chip Ganassi for completing the racing double by winning the Indianapolis 500 on Sunday with Dario Franchitti after winning the Daytona 500 back in February with Jamie McMurray. Winning any race is most difficult. Winning the crown jewel of either racing discipline is an achievement. Winning both in the same year is remarkable. Ganassi being a Pittsburgh guy makes it that much sweeter!
*Okay, Ben Roethlisberger was cleared by Roger Goodell to resume practicing with the Steelers during offseason workouts. But he is not even close to being in the clear. He is still staring at a six game, unpaid, suspension. No matter how this plays out, another quarterback is going to run the Steelers offense for the first quarter of the season. If the power running game returns to its former glory, the team should be okay. However, there should not be a problem with Leftwich, Dixon, or Batch at the controls. More on this as the offseason progresses.
*It’s been talked about all along. Why don’t the Pirates bring the kids up and let ‘em play? Neil Walker just took over as the starter at second base. Now, that leaves Pedro Alvarez, Jose Tabata, and Brad Lincoln. I know they need some seasoning down on the farm; however, at some point, you need to bring in the young guns and see what they have. At this stage, the present Pirates are not going anywhere. If this is indeed the future, let’s see the future now. You already have Andrew McCutchen. Might as well surround him with his young brethren and see how this ends up.
At its present course, the Pirates will mark 18 years of futility. An entire generation will have gone without seeing one winning season of Pirates baseball. I never thought I’d see the day. As magical as the 1970s were, reality has quickly set in and the franchise is in danger of perhaps seeing 20 years of non-winning baseball. Makes you appreciate what we had way back when.
*Last Saturday night, NFL Network aired a replay of Super Bowl XIV. The Steelers against the Los Angeles Rams in Pasadena, California at the Rose Bowl. This would mark the fourth Super Bowl title in six years for the Team of the 70s. It would also mark the end of a remarkable run for this franchise. The next two years the team would finish 9 – 7 and 8 – 8 respectively. During the 1982 season, a players’ strike would shorten the season. Instead of division winners, there was a seeding process. The Steelers finished 6 – 3 and hosted the San Diego Chargers. San Diego won that game and the Steelers brilliant run was officially over.
Despite all of that, Super Bowl XIV reminded me of what football was like when it was played back then and how entertaining football really was. Those Steelers were loaded, although they were aging, as the core was in their 30s or approaching their 30s. But watching that game made me appreciate how much fun football was back then. If today’s team is still trying to escape the shadow of what those teams did, don’t bother. Just appreciate being part of such a successful franchise after winning two titles in four years. The benchmark was set back in the 70s and is the measuring stick for the present and all future teams. Head Coach Mike Tomlin embraces that heritage and his players should do the same.
*The Winter Classic is coming to Pittsburgh on January 1, 2011. Heinz Field will be the setting and the Penguins will be playing the Washington Capitals. The league wants a marquee matchup and it’ll get one with Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin on the ice New Year’s Day. There is also talk of a new third jersey to be revealed by the Penguins for that game. The baby blue throwback jersey was revealed for the Winter Classic back in 2008 and remained in the wardrobe until the end of last season.
While it’s great the Classic is coming to Pittsburgh, it will be interesting to see how many tickets get sold at Heinz Field. The facility can hold around 65,000. It was thought that the game would be held at PNC Park and that would have made sense. With the city skyline as a backdrop, that would been the perfect setting for such an event. Originally, it was thought PNC Park was going to be the venue. Those plans have changed.
There probably will not be a problem with tickets selling, per se, and let’s hope there is no warming trend on New Year’s Day that prohibits a true Winter Classic to take place. If only the snow from February’s Snowmaggedon, or Snopocalypse, could’ve been saved for that event. If it turns out sunny and a high in the 50s, that would defeat the purpose of having a hockey game played outside.
Maybe if it was brutally cold and the rivers iced over, they could play the game at the confluence! Now that would be a true Winter Classic! The origins of the game are traced back to frozen fields and ponds on Canada’s frozen tundra, where kids would do their chores, then skate and play hockey for all hours of the day. Fathers would ice down their fields so their kids could play.
The pleasant dilemma of having a Winter Classic on New Year’s Day is the bowl games played on the same day. If Pitt, Penn State, West Virginia, or Ohio State is in a New Year’s Day bowl, it may be time to hook up two television sets for those events. That’s what I nearly had to do the last time this game was played and involved the Penguins. I had to exercise my thumb and change the channels every so often to see what was going on where. Probably the same problem will arise on January 1, 2011.
*I have not been able to watch the NBA since Michael Jordan hung it up when he retired from the Chicago Bulls (he played two years for the Washington Wizards). I was fortunate to be able to watch Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Dr. J – Julius Erving, Isaiah Thomas, and Michael Jordan in their heyday. Those were good days for the NBA, when it was exciting to watch and those players stressed fundamentals while delivering highlight reel plays. The league is not like that anymore.
The college game is still a better game to me. While I do not watch many college games during the regular season, I do get pumped up for the NCAA tournament and the Final Four. That is when the teams kick it up a step or two and deliver some incredible performances on the basketball court. It’s when these players go to the NBA that they end up in the abyss.
I will likely not be watching the NBA Finals, as I haven’t for a great number of years. But the matchup is an old school matchup, again. The Los Angeles Lakers, with 15 titles, and the Boston Celtics with 17 titles, will square off again for the second time in three years. This is not the matchup we witnessed in the early to middle 1980s, and even long before that. Having said that, I am going to pick the Celtics to win the title simply because most everyone I know is sick of Kobe Bryant and has a disdain for Los Angeles. The Celtics may not have a Bryant, but they know how to play defense, and that may just be enough to win this series. The pick here is Boston in six games.
*Okay, Ben Roethlisberger was cleared by Roger Goodell to resume practicing with the Steelers during offseason workouts. But he is not even close to being in the clear. He is still staring at a six game, unpaid, suspension. No matter how this plays out, another quarterback is going to run the Steelers offense for the first quarter of the season. If the power running game returns to its former glory, the team should be okay. However, there should not be a problem with Leftwich, Dixon, or Batch at the controls. More on this as the offseason progresses.
*It’s been talked about all along. Why don’t the Pirates bring the kids up and let ‘em play? Neil Walker just took over as the starter at second base. Now, that leaves Pedro Alvarez, Jose Tabata, and Brad Lincoln. I know they need some seasoning down on the farm; however, at some point, you need to bring in the young guns and see what they have. At this stage, the present Pirates are not going anywhere. If this is indeed the future, let’s see the future now. You already have Andrew McCutchen. Might as well surround him with his young brethren and see how this ends up.
At its present course, the Pirates will mark 18 years of futility. An entire generation will have gone without seeing one winning season of Pirates baseball. I never thought I’d see the day. As magical as the 1970s were, reality has quickly set in and the franchise is in danger of perhaps seeing 20 years of non-winning baseball. Makes you appreciate what we had way back when.
*Last Saturday night, NFL Network aired a replay of Super Bowl XIV. The Steelers against the Los Angeles Rams in Pasadena, California at the Rose Bowl. This would mark the fourth Super Bowl title in six years for the Team of the 70s. It would also mark the end of a remarkable run for this franchise. The next two years the team would finish 9 – 7 and 8 – 8 respectively. During the 1982 season, a players’ strike would shorten the season. Instead of division winners, there was a seeding process. The Steelers finished 6 – 3 and hosted the San Diego Chargers. San Diego won that game and the Steelers brilliant run was officially over.
Despite all of that, Super Bowl XIV reminded me of what football was like when it was played back then and how entertaining football really was. Those Steelers were loaded, although they were aging, as the core was in their 30s or approaching their 30s. But watching that game made me appreciate how much fun football was back then. If today’s team is still trying to escape the shadow of what those teams did, don’t bother. Just appreciate being part of such a successful franchise after winning two titles in four years. The benchmark was set back in the 70s and is the measuring stick for the present and all future teams. Head Coach Mike Tomlin embraces that heritage and his players should do the same.
*The Winter Classic is coming to Pittsburgh on January 1, 2011. Heinz Field will be the setting and the Penguins will be playing the Washington Capitals. The league wants a marquee matchup and it’ll get one with Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin on the ice New Year’s Day. There is also talk of a new third jersey to be revealed by the Penguins for that game. The baby blue throwback jersey was revealed for the Winter Classic back in 2008 and remained in the wardrobe until the end of last season.
While it’s great the Classic is coming to Pittsburgh, it will be interesting to see how many tickets get sold at Heinz Field. The facility can hold around 65,000. It was thought that the game would be held at PNC Park and that would have made sense. With the city skyline as a backdrop, that would been the perfect setting for such an event. Originally, it was thought PNC Park was going to be the venue. Those plans have changed.
There probably will not be a problem with tickets selling, per se, and let’s hope there is no warming trend on New Year’s Day that prohibits a true Winter Classic to take place. If only the snow from February’s Snowmaggedon, or Snopocalypse, could’ve been saved for that event. If it turns out sunny and a high in the 50s, that would defeat the purpose of having a hockey game played outside.
Maybe if it was brutally cold and the rivers iced over, they could play the game at the confluence! Now that would be a true Winter Classic! The origins of the game are traced back to frozen fields and ponds on Canada’s frozen tundra, where kids would do their chores, then skate and play hockey for all hours of the day. Fathers would ice down their fields so their kids could play.
The pleasant dilemma of having a Winter Classic on New Year’s Day is the bowl games played on the same day. If Pitt, Penn State, West Virginia, or Ohio State is in a New Year’s Day bowl, it may be time to hook up two television sets for those events. That’s what I nearly had to do the last time this game was played and involved the Penguins. I had to exercise my thumb and change the channels every so often to see what was going on where. Probably the same problem will arise on January 1, 2011.
*I have not been able to watch the NBA since Michael Jordan hung it up when he retired from the Chicago Bulls (he played two years for the Washington Wizards). I was fortunate to be able to watch Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Dr. J – Julius Erving, Isaiah Thomas, and Michael Jordan in their heyday. Those were good days for the NBA, when it was exciting to watch and those players stressed fundamentals while delivering highlight reel plays. The league is not like that anymore.
The college game is still a better game to me. While I do not watch many college games during the regular season, I do get pumped up for the NCAA tournament and the Final Four. That is when the teams kick it up a step or two and deliver some incredible performances on the basketball court. It’s when these players go to the NBA that they end up in the abyss.
I will likely not be watching the NBA Finals, as I haven’t for a great number of years. But the matchup is an old school matchup, again. The Los Angeles Lakers, with 15 titles, and the Boston Celtics with 17 titles, will square off again for the second time in three years. This is not the matchup we witnessed in the early to middle 1980s, and even long before that. Having said that, I am going to pick the Celtics to win the title simply because most everyone I know is sick of Kobe Bryant and has a disdain for Los Angeles. The Celtics may not have a Bryant, but they know how to play defense, and that may just be enough to win this series. The pick here is Boston in six games.
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