Wake of the Flood

Subway platform in Lower Manhattan

Steelers vs. Giants:  Game on. Kickoff at 4:25 p.m. Sunday.  It seems ill-advised; it seems wrong; but it's on, whether it makes sense or not.

It doesn't make sense.  They shouldn't play this game tomorrow.  Postpone it.  Make it an emergency bye week for both teams.  Something.  Anything.

Vast areas of New Jersey and New York --hundreds of thousands of people -- may not have electricity, heat or clean water.  The trains and subways may not be running, gasoline may not be available for cars and generators, and even emergency personnel may not be able to get to the stadium, let alone ticket-holders.  Yet the game is on.

Maybe watching the game on TV will be good for the people of New Jersey and New York -- those who have electricity and can watch the game, and don't have anything else to worry about.  Hundreds of thousands of people won't be watching TV, whether they want to or not.  They won't have electricity.

At this point, it seems almost superficial to consider the Xs and Os of the game -- how the Giants and Steelers match up.  We should be psyched about this game, but ... it's tough.  Looting continues.  Funeral arrangements are still being made for storm victims who perished just a few days ago.

 What's wrong with this picture? Something's out of place.

As for what's going to happen on the field: This should be a uniquely interesting game to watch.  Historically interesting.  It's reasonable to expect the Giants will enter this game intense, sky-high, on a mission to absolutely dominate, impose their will and achieve total victory.  The Giants have already had a general -- the U.S. Army Chief of Staff, no less -- give them a pep talk.

Will the Steelers match that intensity?  Would they be better to keep cool and focus on the little things: blocking technique, wrapping up tackles, coverage schemes, kickoff lanes, etc.?  Yeah, probably.  We shall watch with interest, but ....

Somehow, we suspect the people in New York and New Jersey have other things on their minds.

The NFL?  What's the NFL thinking?  Its lawyers, advertisers and risk analysts have made up their minds, as has Gov. Chris Christie.  What's he thinking?  What's his motivation?  It's a fair question.

As Mike Freeman at CBS Sportsline rightly notes:

"Imagine a stadium lit up with electricity just a few miles from millions of people still huddling in the dark. Isn't that just as arrogant as the marathon organizers?  Tens of thousands using gas that remains a precious resource?  Chris Christie, the heroic governor of New Jersey, reassured NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell that no resources would be used for the game that would be used for ordinary citizens. That's just nonsense. That's impossible."

Still the game is on.  Somehow, Joey Porter's Pit Bulls can't help but think of the old adage ... 
"When they say it's not about the money, it's about the money."

Blogging is so-o-o 2006: On this date in blog history ....

Happy Birthday!

Six years ago today, in a feckless fit of picaresque jocularity, Joey Porter's Pit Bulls debuted with this inaugural entry on Nov. 3, 2006.

The  flippant, devil-may-care insouciance of that first posting in a land so far away and long ago did anything but foreshadow any sort of longevity.  Six years it's been, however; 2,192 days ... one blundering foot in front of the other.

"Such is life," Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said just this week.  Every second is a blessing*, and we're grateful to be here and for everything that's happened.

Six years is longer than many jobs, significant relationships and some lives.  A lot has changed.  Six years?  A lot has changed in the past six days.  Just look at our friends in New York, New Jersey and anybody else affected by Hurricane Sandy or, for that matter, by death and life, by all manner of  loss and gain, rebirth and hope.

Does anybody even blog anymore?  Of course they do, and many do it better than Joey Porter's Pit Bulls.  It takes time and effort, and stubborn, dogged persistence -- and we don't do it full-time or try to make money from it.  It's a hobby; it's a goof; it's fun.

For most people, Twitter, texting and Facebook are easier and more immediate.
  
Well, to quote the character Raylan Givens in our favorite TV show, Justified:  "It ain't easier I'm after."

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*Click below ("Read More") for the jump to the full quote from the late Jessica Redfield. -- it's worth reading ...