The lead photo of the post is, of course, the Steelers 27-22 win over the Ravens yesterday, and more on that a bit later, but first, let's take this past weekend's sports happenings in order.
Robert Morris Basketball
The RMU Colonials went on the road to open their Horizon League season and went 1-1. A late 15-3 run to end the game earned RMU a 80-78 win against UW-Green Bay on Thursday, and an are-you-kidding-me buzzer beater by UW-Milwaukee resulted in a 74-72 loss. Both were highly entertaining and competitive games. The Colonials appear to have a pretty good team this season. They play excellent defense, but are streaky when it comes to shooting from beyond the three point arc. I think it's going to be a good season for the Colonial Cagers. (And when was the last time you saw someone refer to basketball players as "cagers"?)
Inter Miami Wins MLS Cup
Miami defeated Vancouver 3-1 to win the Major League Soccer championship. While he didn't score a goal, Lionel Messi assisted on two of the three goals (the other goal was an Own Goal that bounced off of a Vancouver player into the goal). Ever since we saw Miami defeat Nashville and saw Messi score a hat trick that night, we have been following Messi and Miami as they have advanced through the MLS playoffs, right up to their ultimate victory on Saturday.
It has been an enjoyable ride.
College Football
It was Conference Championship Saturday, and I focused on two of those games.
Georgia defeated Alabama handily, 28-7, and the game was never really in doubt. The Bulldogs are my pick to go all the way in the CFP.
Then there was the Big Ten Championship, Indiana 13 - Ohio State 10.
The game was as close and as hard fought as the score indicated, and it ended an amazing season for the Hoosiers, who finished 13-0 and won their first Big Ten Championship since Lyndon Johnson resided in the White House. It probably secured the Heisman Trophy for their QB Fernando Mendoza, and it earned them the Number One seed in the College Football Playoff tournament that begins next week.
And in spite of all of this, no one was able to catch a glimpse of IU head coach Curt Cignetti cracking a smile. I was cheering for Indiana, but like so many in his profession, Cignetti is a hard guy to like.
I was going to write about the machinations of the CFP committee, their selections and seedings, their selecting Miami over Notre Dame, and Notre Dame's subsequent decision to take their ball and go home, but in the end I decided that there has been more than enough navel gazing on that topic. Instead, I decided that I am just going to enjoy all of the games as the CFP unfolds.
I will conclude, though, with this: I have absolutely loved Fox's Gus Johnson on the play-by-play calls of these B1G games all season long. He's the best.
Steelers 27 - Ravens 22
After back-to-back terrible losses to the Bears and the Bills, I came to the conclusion that the Steelers are a middling if not downright mediocre team, and that at this point, it would probably the best for the long term future of the team that they not make the playoffs; that they, in fact, would probably be better off losing games so as to better their position in the draft and begin reshaping the team for the long haul, especially at the quarterback position, and, possibly, in the position of the Head Coach.
Yes, intellectually, I can understand all of that, but when it comes to sitting down and watching a game, especially a game against the Ravens, well, you want your team to, you know, WIN THE DAMN GAME!
And that the Steelers did yesterday, and this version of this Rivalry lived up to all of the excitement of the games that have preceded it over the last 15 to 20 years. We even got to see Aaron Rodgers, five days after his 42nd birthday, bootleg around left end and score a touchdown, and even give it his "discount double check" schtick.
Oh, the Ravens' touchdown catch that wasn't a catch. When I watched in real time my thought was "Aw shit, touchdown, there goes the game." Then the ruling. Later that night, I texted my friend Jerry who is a retired NFL official, and asked him what that was all about. His reply: "By rule, it was an incomplete pass, but it sure looked like a catch to me as I watched it."
Ravens fans are pissed, and rightfully so. Steelers fans are invoking the phrase "Jesse James against the Patriots" and saying that Karma owed us one. The Suits from the NFL offices are once again having to go into lengthy dissertations on what exactly is and is not a "catch". The rule was correctly enforced, but it's a crummy rule.
So the Steelers are now in first place in the AFC North and "control their own destiny" in regard to the division and a path to the Playoffs. I'm going to sit back and enjoy these last four weeks of the season, and will worry about the long range implications of them once they are all over.
The Pirates and The Password
The Password
Even the Pirates were in the news this weekend when they made a trade that could actually be of significance for the team. They sent pitcher Johan Oviedo to the Red Sox for outfielder Jhostynxon Garcia. Garcia is 23 years old and a highly regarded prospect who was blocked in the Boston system (he had only 7 AB's for the Sox last year). If he can play like everyone says he has the potential to play, he will fill an immediate void that currently exists in left field for the Pirates.
Best of all, though, is his nickname. Yes, JHOSTYNXON is his first name, and no, I have no idea how to pronounce it, but teammates in the Sox system christened him with the nickname of "Password", and while it isn't as good a nickname as "The Big Dumper", it's pretty good. Or at least it will remain a cool nickname until Greg Brown thoroughly beats it to death.
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