Sunday Morning Quick Hits.....

Pitt gets into the win column with a (as Myron Cope used to put it) desultory 20-10 win over Ohio University.  A win is a win, and Pitt surely needed one as they figure to be big underdogs the next two weeks.  However, on the entertainment meter, that game yesterday at Heinz Field scored pretty low.

On the plus side, the Ohio University marching band, The Marching 110, was terrific!  Really.

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One of the reasons for that could be due to the fact that the Pitt game was totally hijacked by the news, delivered via social media on everybody's cell phones, of the release by the Oakland Raiders of that well known Steelers former WR, Antonio BrowNarcissist. That news completely inundated the crowd at Heinz Field and completely sucked all of the air out of the game being contested between Pitt and OU on the field. 

It was, everyone agreed, a completely remarkable turn of events.

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But however crazy those turn of events were, they were, incredibly, topped only a few hours later when now free agent BrowNarcissist was signed by none other than the New England Patriots. 

I don't want to go all Oliver Stone here, but it stretches all credulity to think that there WASN'T any tampering and hinky doings going on behind he scenes among BrowNarcissist, his sleazy agent, Drew Rosenhaus, and, of course, the evil empire of Bob "Happy Endings" Kraft and Bill Belichick.  Surely the Commissioner's Office needs to look into the machinations that went into this farce.

And now tomorrow's highly anticipated nationally televised Sunday Night opener between the Steelers and the Patriots will be hijacked by constant close-ups of BrowNarcissist standing on the New England sidelines with all of his new best buds on the Patriots.  It'll be sickening.  

Of course, if the Steelers can only manage to beat the Patriots......well, how sweet would THAT be?

A Final Word on Le’Veon Bell

So, Le'Veon Bell signs a four year, $52.5 million deal with the Jets.  Last year, he turned down a five year, $70 million contract with the Steelers.  I attempted to read an article on Deadspin that purported to detail how much money was guaranteed in each contract, but halfway through it, my eyes started watering and my head started to hurt, so I quit.  I mean, who cares?

I will say this for Bell, he took a principled stand and sat out a year in order to get what he felt he was worth, so good for him.  That he acted like knucklehead during his holdout with tweets from jet-skis and strip clubs, sort of takes some of the Sam Gompers/Curt Flood like aura away from him, but still, you got to hand it to a guy who passed on 14.5 million bucks.  I am sure that the Steelers never thought it would go that far, and that, if they had it to do over, they would have traded him last summer for whatever they could have gotten (2nd round pick? 3rd round pick? a carton of jock straps?).   And don't you think that the Steelers might have used some of that $14.5 mil of cap space last year to have helped the team during the season?  Oh, well.

As it is, it certainly appears that Bell lost on the bet he made on himself.  Of course, when you sort through what the guaranteed dough was from the Steelers and is from the Jets, maybe he didn't, but I am pretty sure that he will never recover that fourteen point five large he DIDN'T get paid by the Steelers last year.

I was going to say a "Final Word" on Antonio Brown, but, really, I am just tired of that subject.  Instead, I will refer you to Joe Starkey's column in today's Post-Gazette.  Says it all:

https://www.post-gazette.com/sports/joe-starkey/2019/03/13/Joe-Starkey-Don-t-ever-forget-what-Antonio-Brown-did-to-this-team-and-its-fans/stories/201903130146

Yes, the Steelers have lost a couple of major talents in Bell and Brown, but they did play last season without Bell, and James Conner, notwithstanding a couple of devastating fumbles in key situations, pretty much replaced him without a beat.  Brown's talents may be more difficult to replace, but let us all remember a critical number:

0 - The number of Super Bowls won by the Steelers with Bell and Brown in the lineup.

On another Steelers note, I was sorry to see that TE Jesse James has elected to sign as a free agent with Detroit.  I know that the Steelers will move on from this, but I always liked James, and thought he was an asset to the team.  I wish him well, and I hope that Vance McDonald can stay healthy for sixteen games next year.

Yes, this really WAS a catch!

Sports, Money, and Morgan Freeman

Sports and money much in the news this past week......

Bryce Harper finally signed a contract this week.  It's with the Phillies for 13 years and a total of $330 million, which comes out to $25 million and change per year.  Harper will NOT be the highest played player in MLB.  That will be the Rockies Nolan Arenado at $32.5 million, and there are several others out there who make north of $25 million, including his new teammate, pitcher Jake Arietta.

There is a report out there that Harper and his agent, Scott Boras, turned down an offer from the Dodgers for four years and $180 million, which would have come out to $45 million per year.  Plus, it would have made Harper a free agent once again at the age of 30, when, assuming his career arc continues as it has over the years, he could have cashed in on yet ANOTHER mind boggling contract.

I guess it was more important to Harper (and Boras) to sign the contract with the largest total payout ($330 M) versus getting the highest single season contract ever ($45 M).  That is a real first world problem.  No wonder it took so long to hammer out a deal.  Plus, Boras gave out this memorable quote:

"It was important to Bryce to sign a contract where he knows he'll be in one place with the same team for a long period of time." (Those may not be the exact works, but that's the gist of it.)

Okay, I realize that this Phillies contract includes no-trade and no-opt-out clauses, but what are the odds that Harper will spend the entire thirteen year length of that contract with the Phillies?  I say that there is not a chance in Hell that that will happen, and I'd bet a hundred bucks to that effect.  Trouble is, that contract expires after the 2031 season, the year in which I will turn eighty, so there is a chance that if he is still with Philly then, I won't be around to see it, or to pay off or collect upon said bet.

Oh, and I can't wait to hear and see how the denizens of Citizens Bank Park are going to react the first time Harper goes into a ten game 5-for-44 slump.

However, I also know this, if the Phillies strike it rich and reach a World Series or two during the first five or six years of that contract with Harper playing a key role in their success, both the team and its fans are going to be really, really happy with the deal, and that is something that we followers of the Bob Nutting Pirates are never going to experience.

And in football, we Steelers fans are being inundated with news coverage and endless talk show bleatings about (a) negotiations of a contract extension for Ben Roethlisberger, (b) the team not "tendering" or "franchising" Le’Veon Bell, and (c), the entire Antonio Brown fiasco.

Here is what The Grandstander thinks.

(a) The QB is the most important position on the team.  They have to do this deal.  Even though Ben turns 37 today (Happy Birthday, Big Ben!), and his skills may not be what they once were.  Just don't make these negotiations turn into yet another media circus.  Fat chance.

(b) Seeya Le'Veon, and don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out.  I do admit, though, that I am interested to see where he ends up and how much money he gets.  He bet big time on himself by skipping a season last year, and he may never get back that $14.5 million that he didn't get from the Steelers last year, but we'll see.

(c) Brown is perhaps the best receiver in the NFL, maybe the best ever in Steelers history (think  about that if you will), but he is a selfish and narcissistic team killer, who quit on his coaches and teammates last season, and I hope that the door DOES hit him in the ass on his way out.  I don't care about him, and I don't care to read or hear about him anymore.  As far as AB is concerned, I refer you to the great Morgan Freeman (I know you were wondering where he came into this discussion) and this quote from "The Shawshank Redemption":

"I don't give a shit."

Random Thoughts On A Disappointing Steelers Season

After ten games in 2018, the Steelers stood at 7-2-1, held a comfortable lead in the AFC North, and they appeared to be headed towards a playoff spot and first round bye.   What then followed was a disastrous 2-4 finish that included losses to two lousy teams, the Broncos and Raiders, a loss to a very good Chargers team wherein they gave away 16 point lead at home, and a win they barely eaked out over another crummy team, the Bengals.  Oh, they did manage to get one monkey off their backs by beating the evil forces of Kraft, Bellichick, Brady, and the Patriots in that 2-4 stretch.  That was quite satisfying at the time, but when the totality of the season is considered, it turns out to have been, at best, a hollow victory.

So, yeah, this team, one that by all accounts seemed to be loaded with Super Bowl caliber talent, ends up missing the playoffs and the 2018 season can only be categorized as a disappointment (or worse!).

Some random thoughts from this section of The Grandstand....

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With perfect 20/20 hindsight, Steelers management clearly underestimated the resolve of Le'Veon Bell and his willingness to not get paid in the short term in hopes of getting a huge guaranteed contract in the long term.  Bell was certainly within his rights to do so, and, financially at least, he was the only person who "lost" anything by this strategy.   Whether he gets the big money he desires remains to be seen, but if you placed a gun to the heads of Art Rooney, Kevin Colbert, and Mike Tomlin and insisted they speak the truth, I'm willing to bet that they now wish that they would have traded Bell before the season started and gotten something, even a mid-level draft pick for him.  As it is, Bell will achieve free agent status and the team will get bupkis for him.

Of course, the Steelers could impose a franchise tag on him again next season, but please, God, spare us from that particular melodrama again.

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The newspaper today tells us that, statistically at least, the Steelers had the sixth best defense in the NFL in 2018.  Really?  When you watched this team all season, did you ever once think that you were watching a top tier defensive unit?

The defense forced only 15 turnovers all year, and had only eight interceptions, and I would have guessed that they had even fewer than that paltry number.   It was baffling to me to watch a team that just could not force turnovers on a regular basis.  This became all the more glaring and galling when in the game against the Patriots, Joe Haden DID make an interception, and off of Tom Brady, no less.  That play was critical in the Steelers winning that game, and it made the fact that they had so few throughout the season all the more frustrating.

I am not a football coach, so I won't even pretend to talk about the X's and O's of the game, but it seems to be obvious that something needs to be done with the defensive coaching staff leading into 2019.

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Special teams.  On the plus side, there was that fake field goal attempt that led to a Chris Boswell-to-Alejandro Villanueva touchdown pass, there was a blocked FG by L.J Fort, and there was, well, what other good things were there? Chris Boswell's implosion has been well documented, and did the Steelers ever have a kick off or punt return of any significance at all this season?  If they did, it's not coming to mind right now.

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Ben Roethlisberger hung some great numbers this year. Total yards, TD passes....he set team records in both categories, and he became the first Steelers QB and only the seventh NFL QB to throw for over 5,000 yards in a season.  There is still no QB I would rather see with the ball late in the fourth quarter when you need to drive a team down field with little time left on the clock to get a score to win a game.  This was demonstrated time and again this season.  The win against Jacksonville comes to mind, and even in losses to Oakland and New Orleans, Ben did what had to be done when the game was on the line.  He even finally outplayed and defeated the great Tom Brady.

He also led the league with 16 interceptions, including a terrible one in the closing seconds against Denver in the end zone when he was on the cusp of pulling off another fourth quarter, last minute comeback.

What caused this to happen?   Poor coaching and play calling? Bullheadedness on Ben's part?  Or after fifteen seasons and at age 36, is Father Time beginning to catch up to Big Ben?  Again, I'm not a coach, so I don't pretend to know the answers.  I'm glad that #7 will be back at the helm once again next year, but he can't go on forever.

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There were bright spots that need to be recognized....James Conner's performance sparked the team through that mid-season 6-0 streak and that 7-2-1 record.  He seemed to more than make up for Bell's absence.  Still, there were two critical fumbles that led directly to the Browns being able to pull off that tie in the season opener, and in another game, the exact one I cannot remember at the moment, that led to a Steelers defeat.  Plus, he missed three games due to injury down the stretch, so he has yet to be able to stay on the field for a full sixteen game schedule.

Also, T.J.Watt sure seems to be a guy on defense who was well worth that number one draft pick two years ago.

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And then there is Antonio Brown.

First off, Brown is the best WR in football.  He is also probably the best player on the Steelers team and its most valuable player (and that fact that he wasn't voted that award by his teammates appears to be quite telling in light of the events of the last week of the season).  

All that aside, the drama that he generates - and I am not going to list all of there incidents of this past season; if you follow the team, you know of them - along with the unbelievable narcissism, reached its zenith this past week leading up to the Bengals game. Skipping practices, not showing up for a final walk through the day before the game, then having his agent, not him, his agent, calling Tomlin and saying he'll play on Sunday, showing up pregame on the sideline and then leaving the Stadium at halftime, then not returning phone calls from his bosses, including the team president, all of that adds up to a guy who (a) no longer wants to be with the team, and (b) should not be with the team in the future.  His actions have led to what appears to be a breakdown in team morale, as evidenced in numerous quotes this week from unnamed players on the team, and has called into question Tomlin's ability to maintain discipline and the aforementioned morale among the team.  I know that there are salary cap implications that make it difficult to either trade or release Brown, but somehow or another, I believe that bringing Brown back to this team in 2019 is going to just allow what was apparently a real problem on the team and in the locker room to get even worse.

Antonio Brown is a great player and it won't be easy to replace him, but let's face it, the Steelers haven't won any Super Bowls, or even had a lot of post season success, WITH him on the team these last few years, have they?

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I imagine that the 2018 season post-mortem discussions that will take place among Art Rooney, Kevin Colbert, and Mike Tomlin are going to be really, really interesting these next few weeks. Oh, to be a fly on the wall.....

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Despite some highs - hey, the season was not without its great moments - and lows, in the end, the images of the 2018 Pittsburgh Steelers will forever be.......

Le'Veon Bell on a jetski in Miami, and 

Antonio Brown in a mink coat on the sidelines against the Bengals, right before he blew off his team and left Heinz Field.

On the bright side, it will be stress-free watching the NFL Playoffs without the Steelers in them this year.

Steelers 28 - Bengals 21

This is what did NOT happen to the Cincinnati Bengals this afternoon:

• They did not shoot themselves in their collective feet with cheap shot and downright dirty play.
• They did not have a running back fumble deep in their own territory when holding the ball would have assured a victory.
• QB Andy Dalton did not throw a soul crushing interception that cost his team the game.

Instead, Dalton played an error free game, didn't throw an interception, the Bengals didn't turnover the ball, they held the Steelers to field goals instead of touchdowns at critical moments, and Dalton led a beautiful two minute drill drive that put Cincy ahead 21-20 with only 1:18 remaining in the game.  And you know what?

THEY LOST TO THE STEELERS ANYWAY!!!!!

After the kickoff, the Steelers got the ball on their own 24 yard line with 1:12 left in the game.  How many times have I written in this Blog that the Steelers are never out of the game with Ben Roethlisberger at quarterback?  A couple of key completions later and the Steelers were setting themselves up for a field goal attempt to win the game when Ben hits Antonio Brown with :10 left on a slant over the middle that went for a 31 yard touchdown.  

A two point conversion later, it's 28-21, and the Steelers win.

In many ways, this was way more satisfying than all those other Bengals screw-ups over the years.  They played well, they had it almost in the bag, and they still turned out to be the Cincy Bungles.

What a satisfying win this one was.

Managed to grab a few pics from my TV set at the end...

Feel bad for them, don't you?  Nahhh.

Steelers 31 - Ravens 27

I watched the Steelers' big Christmas Day match-up with Ravens amidst the bustle of a house filled with family following a superb Christmas dinner, so it was festive atmosphere in the household, and the two teams sure gave us a whale of a contest as a Christmas gift.

By now, you all know what happened.  A 31 point fourth quarter that was an inverse of the Dallas game of a few weeks.  This time, it was the Ravens who lost a late lead, only to gain it back in the closing minutes, only to cough it up again in the closing seconds of the game on the spectacular play at the goal line by Antonio Brown pictured above.  This was the culmination of a 75 yard drive led by Ben Roethlisberger that took fifty-nine seconds to complete.  

In a game wherein Big Ben threw two almost soul-crushing interceptions, he came back in the fourth quarter to lead the Steelers on not one, not two, but THREE fourth quarter touchdown drives to pull out this come-from-behind win that clinched the AFC North for the Steelers and the third seed in the AFC playoffs.  Let's pull out all the cliches for this one...when the chips are down, when you're back is to the wall, when the cold wind blows,  when hope is gone, and your team is down, and facing long, if now impossible odds, to pull out a victory, is there any quarterback you would rather have leading your team than Ben Roethlisberger?  As great as Terry Bradshaw was, and he WAS great, if he started a game poorly, or threw a couple of critical interceptions (as Ben did yesterday), chances were that that was the Bradshaw you would have seen for the rest of the game.  Not so with Roethlisberger. As long as he is manning the controls and the game is within reach, the Steelers will have a chance to win the game.  He has done it time and again over the course of his career.

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So, here is what I had to say back on September 9 when the Steelers were about to begin the season:

In 2016, the Pittsburgh Steelers are going to win twelve games, win the AFC North Division and gain first round playoff bye, win the AFC Championship, and win the Super Bowl.  I'm not going to make a prediction as to who they will play in the Super Bowl, because, who cares?  The Steelers are going to take home that seventh Lombardi Trophy.  

If you count them up, there are five predictions in that paragraph:

1. The Steelers will win twelve games.  Okay, so the best they can do is eleven wins.  I'll take it.
2. The Steelers will win the AFC North Division.  I believe I had that.
3. The Steelers will gain a first round playoff bye.  Didn't happen, but they will be at Heinz Field in the first round against the #6 seed. Again, I'll take it.
4. The Steelers will win the AFC Championship.
5. The Steelers will win the Super Bowl.

I am standing by Numbers 4 and 5.

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Speaking of Terry Bradshaw, he was in the news again last week for his comments about Mike Tomlin who, according the Bradshaw, is just "not a very good head coach".  Is he kidding us?  Bradshaw has spent most of his post playing career making outrageous comments about Steelers coaches, and this is just the latest.  He is quite good in his role as a Fox studio analyst/talking head, but he has been at it for so long that he as become, as someone has noted, a caricature of himself, and this comment seems to support that theory.

My buddy Jim Haller has urged be to bestow one of these upon Old Number 12:

However, for all that Bradshaw has done for the Steelers as a player - there are those four Lombardi Trophies, after all - I just can't bring myself to bestow an official Grandstander  H.A. Citation upon him.  He deserves better than that, but he also deserves NOT to be taken seriously when he makes such ridiculous comments as the ones he made about Tomlin last week.

Football, Baseball, and Movies

Cleaning out the Mental In-Box.....

• The Steelers fell behind the Denver Broncos 27-10 in the first half today, and it looked like you could kiss all playoff hopes good-by.  They then proceeded to reel off 24 straight points, 21 of them in the second half, and defeated the Broncos 34-27.  It was an amazing victory, considering that a Steelers defense that resembled well-aged Swiss cheese in the first half, then came out like Vintage Steel Curtain Steelers and completely shut down the Bronco Yonkos.  Simply an amazing performance.
• And despite an inexplicable brain cramp late in the fourth quarter after the Steelers finally took the lead, all credit goes to this guy:

• Ben Roethlisberger put on yet another incredible performance teaming up with the triumvirate of Antonio Brown, Martavis Bryant, and Marcus Wheaton.  
• Two years ago I called Hines Ward the greatest Steelers wide receiver ever, but Antonio Brown is really pushing him for that title.
• It will soon be time for the Pittsbugh Post-Gazette to select the annual Dapper Dan Sportsman of the Year Award.  I see four viable candidates for the award this year: Gerrit Cole, Pat Narduzzi, Antonio Brown, and Ben Roethlisberger.  My vote, if I had one, goes to Big Ben.  

• Quote from my friend Dan Bonk from earlier in the week: "To this point I don't think the Pirates could have designed an off season to produce less excitement if they tried. Talk about an anti buzz."
• That about sums up an off season where the Pirates released their leading home run hitter, traded one of there most popular players, who also happens to be a good to very good player, brought in a couple of guys named Joe, still haven't found a lefty first baseman to platoon with Michael Morse, and, in a flourishing move to close out the pre-Christmas merriment, signed free agent pitcher Ryan Vogelsong.  Yep, you read that right. After a nine year sojourn, Ryan Vogelsong is back in a Pirates uniform.
• Still seeking left-handed help in the bullpen, can the returns of Zach Duke and/or Oliver Perez far behind?
• And while all this was going on, the division rival Cubs were signing John Lackey, David Price, and Jason Heyward.
• I keep telling myself that the Pirates don't have to play any games that matter until April, but the more I say it, the more it sounds like whistling while walking past a graveyard.
• Speaking of baseball, Commissioner Rob Manfred was in the news this week when he announced that he would not be lifting the lifetime ban that has been in effect since 1989 on, well, You Know Who.  I'm not going to type his name.  Good for Manfred, and if there is any doubt that the Hit King was completely clueless about his situation, it was dispelled quickly in his pathetic press conference the next day.
• Went to the movies this afternoon.  No, not to see "The Force Awakens", but rather to see this terrific little movie:

• The movie tells the wonderful story about a young Irish girl who emigrates to America, to Brooklyn, NY, in 1952.  How she adapts, finds a job, falls in love, and has to return to Ireland for family reasons is the story of this movie.  No spectacular visual effects, no violence, no Storm Troopers, no comic book heroes in this one.  Just a sweet and beautifully told story.  Mrs. Grandstander and I highly recommend it.
• It was funny walking through the lobby of the multi-plex amid the frenzied mobs of Star Wars fans.
• Christmas movies that we have watched over the last few days: "A Christmas Story", "The Family Stone", "The Gathering", and "Love Actually".  Traditions.
• On the subject of old movies, yesterday afternoon I watched Stanley Kramer's 1963 comedy "It's  Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World".  A crazy, silly slapstick farce with a cast of thousands and several laugh out loud moments.  The scene where Jonathon Winters destroys a gas station run by Marvin Kaplan and Arnold Stang was totally ridiculous and totally hilarious.

Steelers 42 - Bengals 21, and Other Football Thoughts

There are very few absolutes in life - the sun will rise in the east, the Pope will always pray for peace, the Yankees will always spend vast amounts of money.  That's about it, but there is another one that you can take to the bank with as close to absolute certainty as there is in professional sports, and that is this: with rare, very rare, exceptions, the Cincinnati Bengals will almost always revert to being, well, the Cincinnati Bengals.

Facing the a home game against the Steelers wherein a victory would just about put a death knell on the Steelers playoff aspirations, and increase their own playoff possibilities, the Bengals took a 21-17 lead into the fourth quarter and proceeded to allow the Steelers to score 25 straight points in the space of about nine minutes.  That ain't easy, but if any team has shown a historical propensity for such happenings, it is the Bengals.  I don't want to sell the Steelers short here.  They thoroughly earned this victory in what, for three quarters anyway, was a close, hard fought, and pretty good football game.

The Steelers are a flawed team, especially on the defensive side of the ball.  They give up too many long plays, often for scores  - it happened twice today - but the offensive unit sure seems to be peaking at the right time of the season.  Ben Roethlisberger continues having one of his best seasons ever (despite some inexplicably bad games this season), Le'Veon Bell and Antonio Brown are having Pro Bowl seasons, and the offensive line appears to be among the best in the league.  Can they make a deep run in the NFL Playoffs?  Given the weaknesses of the defense, probably not, but the trick is to get into the Playoffs.  To do that they will need to win at least two of their remaining three games, with one of those wins coming in the season finale against the Bengals.  Once you get into the Playoffs, anything can happen, as the KayCee Royals can tell you.  I know, I know, different sport, but still a good analogy.

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Because Marilyn and I went to a play this afternoon, I only watched the Steelers game via my DVR recording, beginning at around 4:45.  Did you realize that you can watch an entire NFL game in about ninety minutes or so this way?  Terrific.

Anyway, this circumstance meant that we listened to the radio broadcast of the game for the twenty or so real time minutes of the fourth quarter that transpired during our drive home.  It would take a writer much, much, MUCH better than I to describe just how incredibly bad the radio team of Bill Hillgrove, Tunch Ilkin, and, yes, Craig Wolfley is.   On the long incompletion  that Andy Dalton threw to A.J. Green with Cincy down 28-21, Hilgrove described it as, and I may not have it exactly here, but the gist is correct: "A guy came and knocked the ball away, pushed Green out of bounds and another guy almost intercepted the ball."  The two "guys" in question were, I might add, Steelers with whom, presumably, Hillgrove is familiar and should be able to identify by name.  I might also add that Tunch made no effort to step in a identify who those two Steelers defenders were.

Awful, and the Steelers and their broadcast partners should really move onto some fresh blood next season.  The glory days of "turn down the TV sound and listen to Fleming and Cope on the radio" are long gone.

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I see that the college football playoff committee has settled on Alabama, Oregon, Florida State, and Ohio State as the first ever college football final four.  I think it's a just line-up.  All the pre-weekend hype centered on whether or not TCU should be ranked ahead of Baylor if all teams held serve over the weekend.  All teams did hold serve, and all but still undefeated FSU won in blowouts, including fifth ranked Ohio State.  It seems to me, and to some knowledgeable football people out there, that as the season progressed, it became apparent that Ohio State, despite playing in a weak Big Ten, was certainly among the four best teams in the country, and maybe even the best team.  The advanced metrics crowd will surely argue that this is not the case, but they passed the "eye test" to me, and, apparently, the twelve person committee, so I like the line-up.

I also like that Alabama and Ohio State will be matched up in one of the semi-final games.  With two such cheerful, outgoing, and likable coaches like Nick Saban and Urban Meyer going head to head, gosh it's going to be tough to decide which guy you would like to win more.