Steelers vs. Giants

Plenty of interesting angles to this Sunday's game at Heinz Field vs. the Super Bowl Champion New York Giants.

Will the Steelers be able to protect Ben Roethlisberger from the Giants' fierce pass rush featuring Justin Tuck, Matthias Kiwanuka. etc., plus an aggressive and effective linebacking corps? Will Willie Colon (and others) be able to contain Tuck, who has seven sacks in seven games?

Should the Steelers run right at the mobile Tuck at defensive end? The Browns did, a couple weeks ago, with some success.

Will the Steelers run defense be able to get off the field on third down? To do so, they must not only limit the Giants' passing game featuring QB Eli Manning, Super MVP and emerging star, and a very deep corps of receivers, -- but, more importantly, they must contain the Giants' powerful running game featuring 270-pound battering ram Brandon Jacobs (pictured above), the slashing Derrick Ward and the mercurial Ahmad Bradshaw. The Giants have the best running game in the NFL.

Will the Steelers' receivers be able to get off the line of scrimmage and into their routes quickly? This will be key to the success of the Steelers' recent strategy for protecting Big Ben from getting sacked, hurried and knocked down. With Big Ben taking short, three-step drops and hitting quick outs more often than ever before, the receivers will have to quickly work around the Giants' physical corners, who play an in-your-face bump-and-run style.

All in all, the Giants' secondary has been playing extremely well, including physical play by their corners and rangy, ball-hawking coverage by their emerging stars at safety, Michael Johnson (who had two interceptions last Sunday against San Francisco), James Butler and prized first-round rookie Kenny Phillips, who's been getting considerable playing time in nickel and dime defenses. Joey Porter's Pit Bulls advocated/predicted the Steelers should/would draft Phillips in the first round of April's draft, for a number of reasons that seemed to make sense at the time (not to quibble with the selection of Rashard Mendenhall, who we thought would be long gone by the time the Steelers turn to pick came up on the board). Mendenhall will be a fine player in this league (as will Phillips), and we're looking forward to his return next season. We're glad Mendenhall is a Steeler -- selecting him was a no-brainer -- but it will be interesting to watch Phillips in action on Sunday. Ever since training camp, New York media have been raving about his heady play, closing speed and coverage abilities.

Also interesting to watch will be the performance of former Steeler wide receiver Plaxico Burress, an enigmatic diva but also a formidable player. The Manning-Burress combination has produced more touchdowns than any other QB-receiver tandem since Burress joined the Giants after the 2004 season. He tends to perform especially well when motivated, and when he feels slighted; and he supposedly has always felt the Steelers organization and fans here in Pittsburgh never appreciated him. No doubt, he will be out to prove something on Sunday -- not that he has anything to prove, having made the last-minute winning catch in the Super Bowl and, as we said, having established himself as a go-to, big-time player in New York. Still, controversy dogs him -- Coughlin suspended him for a game (without pay) this season, and it's been estimated that Giants' management has fined Burress upwards of 50 times for various infractions since he joined the Giants. New York media have pegged him as being a self-absorbed, me-first type of player, a reputation that's dogged him throughout his career. Countering that perception, ironically enough is that he's proven himself to a tough player, he plays hurt, and he's productive, so the Giants must figure he's worth the trouble, even if he's had a reputation (before last year) of disappearing in big games -- a reputation he developed as a member of the Steelers. So, it will be interesting to see how he plays in the caldron of Heinz Field on Sunday. We wouldn't bet against him coming up big. Frankly, however, we're tired of the media focus on Burress ... and we're more worried about the Giants' running game and pass rush.

Links Worth Checking Out

The daily must-read One for the Other Thumb has an excellent Q&A with John Woods, a staff editor with The New York Times and regular contributor to the NYT's football blog, The Fifth Down. As Cotter notes, he's also a Steelers fan -- and offers a number of insightful observations about Plaxico Burress, Tom Coughlin, the Giants' pass rush and other factors likely to come into play when the Steelers host the Giants late Sunday afternoon.

The Giants' pass rush (Justin Tuck, Fred Robbins, et al) is extremely worrisome, so it may be worth taking a look at how the Browns (?!) neutralized it a week ago Monday night. AOL Fanhouse does just that, with an in-depth analysis of how the Browns prevented the Giants from sacking QB Derek Anderson even once.

The ever-excellent Nice Pick, Cowher has a typically astute take on the drumbeat in Dallas calling for Bill Cowher to become next head coach of the Cowboys. Hint: Not likely to happen as long as Cowher and Dallas owner/general manager/player personnel director/grand poobah Jerry Jones both remain control freaks (which will be forever).

From NFL.com:

Matchup	Storyline	Did you know?
Series leader: Giants, 43-28-3, in a series that dates back to a 23-2 Giants win over the Pittsburgh Pirates in the very first game in Steelers team history in 1933. Streaks: The Steelers have won two of the past three matchups, including a 33-30 win over the Giants on Dec. 18, 2004 in a game that featured seven lead changes.	An unstoppable force collides with an immovable object when the Giants' top-ranked rushing offense meets the NFL's top-ranked defense.	When RB Brandon Jacobs has 100-plus yards, the Giants are 6-1. When Jacobs has 10-plus carries, the Giants are 19-4. ... Giants WR Plaxico Burress will be playing his first game against his former team (Burress played for the Steelers from 2000 to 2004). ... The Steelers are going for a 10th consecutive win over an NFC opponent at Heinz Field. ... Steelers LB LaMarr Woodley -- who is up for GMC Sierra Defensive Player of the Week honors -- is going for a fifth consecutive game with a sack.

Hi-yo Silver(back)!

The Steelers continue to forge their identity as a ferocious, violent football squad. Good.

From Hines Ward's clean block of prized first-round pick Keith Rivers on the fourth snap of the game to the continually excellent play of the linebacker corps, the Steelers rocked the Bungles yet again in anticipation of the next game vs the Super Bowl Champion New York Giants.

On to the meat of the schedule. Now it gets interesting.

Huh? You're not??

Ever-quotable Bengals wide receiver Chad “Ocho Cinco” Johnson, whom the Steelers face on Sunday, had this to say during yesterday’s conference call with the Pittsburgh media:

"Now the reason for us not being successful, I'm not Dr. Seuss (?) but I know damn well we shouldn't be losing the way we are with what we have. It all comes down to us however you want to look at it."

Well, Dr. Seuss Ocho Cinco here’s how Joey Porter’s Pit Bulls look at it: You suck!

And so does the rest of your cretinous, verminous “team.”

Oh, and good luck on Sunday getting the ball from backup quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick (Patrick FitzRyan?).

Oh, yeah, this should go well for you.

And what's Dr. Seuss got to do with this anyway?

Also, check out some awesome alternative nicknames for Chad Johnson, along with some wonderful PhotoShop goodness over at Nice Pick Cowher.

A Pilgrimage to Mecca, Pirate Style

Joining a couple of hundred other devoted Pirates' fans, Joey Porter's Pit Bulls made the pilgrimage yesterday to the Forbes Field Wall to celebrate the 48th anniversary of Bill Mazeroski's legendary home run to clinch the Buccos' epic 10 to 9 victory over the Yankees in the seventh game of the 1960 World Series.

The image above shows the scene, which included a re-broadcast of the game in near-live time; some of the Pirates' players who played in the game; fans in lawn chairs with little "shrines" spread before them; loud cheering and applause at key moments of the game, such as Hal Smith's three-run homer in the seventh inning; and even a lone New York fan wearing a Yankees cap.

It was a lot of fun and ... well, I'm not going to tell the Pirates' management hierarchy what to do, but if they're not involved in this, they should be.

"Sufferin' Catfish! You Can Kiss it Goodbye!!!"

"Merry Christmas and Happy New Year," were the words with which Pirate's broadcaster Jim "Possum" Woods concluded the radio broadcast of the Bucs' epic 10 to 9 victory over the Yankees in the 1960 World Series. It happened on this date, Oct. 13, 1960.

Granted, today we're nothing like the contemporary big-budget Yankees, and we never will be. But, like Casablanca's Humphrey Bogart (Rick) and Ingrid Bergman (Ilsa Lund) will always have Paris, we will always have 1960.

Talk about living in the past. Sheesh.

Still, if you're going to have one landmark, highlight-of-highlights moment, Maz's homer is a great one to have; arguably the greatest, most dramatic World Series moment ever.

And the greatest baseball game ever played. Indeedy.

The greatest baseball game ever played. And one of the wackiest World Series ever.

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A Painful Memory for the Yanks

by Mike Vaccarro, New York Post

"In the first six games (of the 1960 World Series), the Yankees won three games by a total score of 38-3; but the Pirates also won three, those by a maddening score of 14-8.

"Then, of course, came the one word that continues to haunt just about every Yankee fan over the age of 55 or so: Mazeroski.

"Actually, Bill Mazeroski's ninth-inning blast capped what may well have been the greatest World Series game of all time, a 10-9 epic in which the Yankees trailed 4-0 after two innings, led 7-4 after seven innings, trailed 9-7 heading into the ninth and ultimately tied, 9-9, after a Yogi Berra RBI groundout that nearly trapped Mickey Mantle off first for the series-ending out.

"In a talk-radio world, they might still be talking about that one, because of all the twists and turns, all the iffy managerial decisions (in addition to everything else, it was Casey Stengel's last game as Yankees manager, and his performance in this game helped push that decision along). In 1960, it was enough to know that the game made Mickey Mantle, hero to millions, cry.

"I don't ever remember crying after any other game I ever played," Mickey Mantle said in a 1985 interview published in The Post, the 25th anniversary of that epic, awful Series, "but I cried my eyes out in Pittsburgh. Thinking about it today, I still want to cry."

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In 1960, a Series to Remember (or Forget)

By Sean D. Hammill, The New York Times

Coming into the 1960 Series, the Pirates were widely seen as the sacrificial lamb on the altar of a Yankee dynasty that was in the process of winning 10 of 16 World Series from 1947 to 1962.

“The sportswriters, especially those guys from New York, never gave us a chance,” said Bill Virdon, the Pirates’ fleet-footed center fielder on the 1960 team. “They didn’t bother to look at how we got there.”

While the Yankees, led by Mantle, Moose Skowron and the newly acquired Roger Maris, lighted up the American League, hitting a league-record 193 homers and winning 97 games, the Pirates were winning 95 games the hard way.

“This was a team that came from behind from the seventh inning on 40 times during the season,” said Groat, the Pirates’ shortstop and the 1960 league most valuable player. “We just didn’t think we could lose. And we just rode that into the World Series.”

The Yankees won Games 2, 3 and 6 by scores of 16-3, 10-0 and 12-0, while the Pirates eked out their wins by 6-4, 3-2 and 5-2, setting up the Game 7 slugfest.

As Mazeroski tells it, when he led off the bottom of the ninth inning with the score tied, 9-9, his goal was simply “to hit it hard, get on and get us started.”

Yankee pitcher Ralph Terry's first pitch, a fastball, was a ball, high in the zone. His next pitch was down a bit lower — right in Mazeroski’s power zone.

“He said it was a breaking ball, but it didn’t break too much,” Mazeroski said. “And this one came in chest high.”

It left the ballpark, soaring over Yankees left fielder Yogi Berra and the 406-foot sign, into the grass and woods behind the 12-foot wall, sending the Yankees into despair, the Pirates into euphoria, and turning Mazeroski into Pittsburgh’s hero. “Somehow, it just did something to the city,” Mazeroski said, “and they just can’t forget it."

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Check out this fantastic recap of the game at The Green Weenie.

It happens every year on this date. Fans gather at the still-standing section of the wall over which Maz's homer sailed, to celebrate the occasion. The celebration gets bigger and bigger each year. Check out the coverage in the Post-Gazette.

Also, check out a couple of nice photos in today's Post-Gazette, of the Forbes Field Wall and a fan at Home Plate under glass in the University of Pittsburgh's Posvar Hall:
http://www.post-gazette.com/localnews/panorama/

Sarah Palin as Trojan Horse, End of Days and The Nuclear Trigger

Gotta admit, the "Sarah Palin/Hillary Clinton" opening bit on Saturday Night Live over the weekend was funny and spot on. Tina Fey not only looks like Sarah Palin, she has her vocal inflections and facial tics (wink) down.

My favorite exchange from the debate:

Hillary: "I believe diplomacy must be the foundation of our foreign policy."
Palin: "And I can see Russia from my home."

Well, you gottta laugh. Even if it's nervous laughter.

Because ... we wonder who is really the Republican candidate for president this year. Is John McCain just a straw man ... and Sarah Palin the real candidate installed by the shadowy, evangelical radical right in the back rooms? Hey, just asking.

Sarah Palin isn't a pit bull with lipstick. She's a Trojan Horse.

After all, McCain's 72 years old, a cancer survivor and, let's face it, hasn't looked too sharp lately. In fact, he looks downright out of it. He looks old.

If he is elected (God forbid) and dies in office (God forbid) or wins the election and dies before the inauguration (God FORBID!), we will be looking at President Sarah Palin. Good luck with those negotiations with Vladimir Putin, President Sarah. Good luck with an increasingly belligerent Iran. Good luck with the disaster that is the economy. Just, good luck.

And God help us all.

Because, here's the thing. Sarah Palin was a practing Pentecostalist for 20 years, and who knows what she truly believes now. It's not so much that Pentecostalists speak in tongues (good for them!). It's not so much that she would do away with sex education completely (look how well that worked out for her daughter). It's not so much that she believes a $30 billion gas pipeline in Alaska was "God’s will" and that the war in Iraq was a "task that is from God."

What worries me is that most, if not all, Pentecostalists believe in "End of Days," an apocalyptic belief in "The Rapture" whereby the good and righteous will be swept into heaven and everybody else will be left behind for the devil to torture and eventually sweep into hell.

But here's the key, and why we should all be worried that a possible "end days" believer and advocate might advance to the White House:

• Many End of Days believers not only believe in the concept, they want to accelerate the process. That's because they want a shortcut to heaven; they want to get there as soon as possible, and everybody else be damned, literally.

Now, can you imagine somebody like that with her finger on the nuclear button?

Well, if you believe in End of Days and The Rapture comes, can I have your car?

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Footnote: This was a bye week and we didn't have anything else to write about. Hey, cut me a break! It's been almost a month since I wrote about politics, not that the presidential election is important or anything like that. Back to football soon.

It's All Doom and Gloom

No, not really.

Just a note that we're always looking forward. Joey Porter's Pit Bulls have already moved on.

Yes, that was a noble and heroic effort last night. We get a bye week this week. Then the Bengals, who played the Cowboys very tough on Sunday.

What really counted about last night's game was the forging of identity. This team is forging an identity. Of toughness. Fortitude. Resilience. Physicality (violence). That's going to be the key going forward.

The schedule doesn't get any easier. The Bengals are 0-5, and they have a pussy quarterback, but they're a division rival -- and we need to take them seriously.

Then it gets even tougher.

Moving forward.

Violence Is Our Game

They'd better be. Violent, that is.

As this team forges its identity and as one player after another suffers one injury after another, the only way the Steelers will survive their brutal schedule will be by being more "physical" (violent) than the other team. If last Monday night's slugfest against Baltimore was any indicator, the Steelers are capable of doing just that. And they'd better continue to be up to the task, because it won't get any easier in Jacksonville on Sunday night.

The best players set the tone. For all his impetuous brilliance, Ben Rothelisberger is a tough guy. He's played through injuries all though his pro career, and he sets an example. Now, it's up to lesser players, backups, to do the same. We're looking at you, Trai Essex, who has had a reputation as a "soft" player. Mewelde Moore, playing in place of Willie Parker ... and who has yet to make a single block, so far as can see ... is another.

It doesn't get any easier. But if the Steelers are going to forge an identity, it's going to be that of a tough, "physical" football team. In other words, brutally violent.

Footnote: The photos are of James Harrison tackling a drunk Browns fan who ran onto the field a couple years ago, and of New York Giants quarterback Y. A. Tittle, who ran into bad times against a bad Steelers defense at Pitt Stadium in the nineteen sixties. Now that's what we're talking about.

Looking forward ...

Okay. Looking foward: Running back. With Fast Willie Parler sidelined with a sprained knee, and injuries also to ALL the backups, this sounds crazy, but please, can we just settle down. And, please, let's run the ball. Run, run, run. 45-50 runs this week. We don't care who's carrying the ball -- preferably Gary Russell (for some reason Joey Porter's Pit Bulls has faith in this guy, just like we have done every step of the way with Fast Willie) -- but just run the ball.

The offensive line has shown already that it has pass protection issues. We have a $102 million quarterback who is injured. Just run the ball.

And, I don't know if this is worth writing about, but Crazy Joey Porter backed up his pre-game talk-fest last week against the loathesome Patriots and, for what it's worth, was just credited with four sacks against the beyotch QB Matt Cassell. Joey Porter's crazy. But he's not insane.

That photo, by the way, is of Shania Twain, at Mellon Arena in Pittsburgh. Just because. She fine.

Speaking of weird ...

Could Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis get any weirder?

"Darth Raider" had a news conference last night to announce the firing of head coach Lane Kiffin, who, despite his girly name, seems like an okay guy and a standup citizen. Anyway, it was clear that Darth Raider (Al Davis) has issues -- he's psychotic -- and he's also cheap, really cheap. He is trying to fire poor Lane Kiffin "for cause" and get out of paying him the approximately (not even) $2 million left on his contract.

Listen, Al, you made a hire, it didn't work out the way you wanted it to, pay the man off. It's not that much money. Not to you.

By the way, if you want any insight into Al Davis, look up and read any number of classic, incredible articles in Rolling Stone by the late, great Hunter S. Thompson. He was one of the best writers, ever, and he inspired Joey Porter's Pit Bulls into a way of life and a stark style of writing for which we can only find hope and a way of peering far into the horizon, however darkly.

Anyway, back to Al Davis: Thank God for the Rooneys. It make you appreciate class. Irish class. Brawling boxers at heart, but generous, classy, rough-hewn and down to earth -- the kind of people who take care of other people.