On the Steelers, Clint Hurdle, and Agnus Berenato

Well, that was one Grade A, Extra Large egg laid by the Steelers at Heinz Field last night on national TV, wouldn't you say? As the first half ended with the Patriots up 10-3, my thought was that there was no way the Steelers should be within one score of New England, and in the second half, the Pats and Tom Brady stopped fooling around and just thoroughly dominated in winning this one.

While Brady seemed to have been able to sit in a rocking chair and pilot the Pats, Ben Roethlisberger never, not once, seemed to have any kind of time at all to make any plays, and receivers who couldn't seem to hold on to the hog bladder until fourth quarter garbage time weren't helping. As for the Steelers defense, where were they? Brady made it seem as if he were playing against the Little Sisters of the Poor last night. I know what the statistics say about the Steelers defense, but in these last several weeks, even in games that they have won (Browns, Dolphins, Bengals), they have not looked good. For some reason, no one ever will get on the case of Dick LeBeau, but if you didn't have cause for concern before last night's game, you surely must be concerned now.




Elsewhere on the Pittsburgh sports scene, the Buccos made it official by naming Clint Hurdle as their new manager today. I heard a couple of interviews with him on the radio today, and he certainly seemed to make a good impression. Seems excited and passionate about the job at hand (and not to beat a dead horse, but were the words "excited" and "passionate" EVER used to describe John Russell?), which is certainly a good thing. He also knows what lies ahead. If he can coax 70 wins from this team, I would make him an early candidate for Manager if the Year in the National League for next year.

While volunteering at the Heinz History Center today for a "Sportsmanship Summit" sponsored by the WPIAL for over 600 local high school athletes, I was able to meet and chat a bit with Pitt women's basketball coach Agnus Berenato, who was there as the special guest speaker. What an impressive woman! Very nice to talk with one-on-one, and terrific in her address to the kids in attendance. I am now a big fan of Coach Agnus! Here's hoping for a big season from the Lady Panthers!