Sunday Morning Thoughts...

• Dejan Kovacevic reports in this morning's PG that sources within the Pirates tell him that John Russell will be fired after the 2010 season mercifully ends today. No surprise considering the silence coming from Frank Coonelly's office in the last month or so. If you are a regular reader, you know my thoughts on JR. I will weigh in more fully once the season comes to the end and once the axe finally falls.
• Steelers-Ravens today. All logic leading up to this point would have had the Steelers losing this one, but what the hell? Steelers over the Ravens today, a 4-0 start heading into the bye week, and Ben Roethlisberger returns in two weeks against the lousy Cleve Brownies. No one would have envisioned that six months ago, would they?
• Regardless of how well Charlie Batch may do today - and let's hope he does great! - can we dispense with the idea of some moronic talk show callers (and hosts) that Batch remain the starter when Roethlisberger comes back? Ben has given people a lot of reasons to not like him, but from a purely football point of view, he plays when he comes back. Period.
• I will respect the opinions of those people who say Ben should not be playing, ever, for the Steelers. I would also invite those folks to tell me how they will spend their Sunday afternoons the rest of the football season. I am presuming that they will stand on their principles and just quit watching the Steelers.