What A Sports Weekend It Was!

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.

The whole thing was great to watch, and I enjoyed it immensely.

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.

Futbol and Football In The Burgh

 First, the Positive...

Pittsburgh Riverhounds Win United Soccer League Championship

A fun conversation starter among Pittsburgh sports fans is to ask "Which Pittsburgh sports teams will be the next one to win a championship in its sport?"   Had we asked 100 Pittsburghers that question back in January, I am willing to bet the number of people who said "The Riverhounds" would have numbered in the low single digits, if, indeed, anyone would have given that answer.

Lo and behold, however, on Saturday evening, the Riverhounds held FC Tulsa to a 0-0 draw in regulation and overtime, and then defeated Tulsa 5-3 in penalty kicks to claim their first USL championship in their twenty-six year history.

All hail the Champions, Pittsburgh's first professional team champions since the Penguins won the Stanley Cup in 2017, the Steelers won the Super Bowl in 2008, and the Pirates won the World Series in 1979 (that was eight Presidential Administrations ago, but who's counting?).

Unlike a celebration for a Stanley Cup or a Lombardi Trophy, the City isn't going to shut down and hold a parade for what is essentially a minor league soccer team in North America, but the Riverhounds accomplishment certainly deserves to be celebrated.

I admit to being a shameless bandwagon jumper here, but I did start watching the Riverhounds games on TV beginning with their final regular season game when the Hounds secured their USL Playoffs seeding status and their three Playoff games, culminating in Saturday's Championship victory.  I found myself getting caught up in the hunt for the title and enjoyed seeing the atmosphere created by the sellout crowds at Highmark Stadium.  And how could you not be excited in watching those games and seeing the Rivrhounds shut out each of their four opponents?   That's right. In over 500 minutes of game time, no opponent scored a single goal against Pittsburgh. Of course, and not to nitpick, in that same length of time, Pittsburgh managed to score only ONE goal, and three of those games had to be decided by penalty kicks, but hey, that's soccer for you.

Easily the most impressive performer of these games has been Hounds goalkeeper Eric Dick.

During the course of my following of the team, I learned that Dick was the USL's Most Outstanding Keeper of the 2024 season, and he was deservedly named the MVP of these just completed playoffs.  His performance on Saturday night was spectacular.

Again, CONGRATULATIONS to Pittsburgh's newest Sports Champions.

Now, the bad news....

Steelers lose to Bears, 31-28, and Fall to 6-5

It is hard to put a bow on the Steelers loss to the Bears yesterday. Once upon a time in this season, the Steelers were 4-1 and the Ravens were 1-5.  Both teams now sit at 6-5 and as of today, the Ravens hold the tie-breaks, and the Steelers would be out of the Playoffs.  All of that could change over the next six weeks, but let's be real here.  The Steelers just aren't a very good team.  They are mediocre at best, and they may stumble their way to a 9-7 record and find a spot in the playoffs, but they will certainly not be able to advance far, if at all, when playing a higher seeded Playoff team.

I'll not go over the details of the Bears game yesterday.  If your are interested enough to be reading this post, you know what happened.  Here are a couple of thoughts of mine, however.

• The coaching staff obviously has no faith in Mason Rudolph, who was playing in place of an injured Aaron Rodgers, to throw the ball downfield or over the middle.  The offensive game plan consisted of lots and lots of swing passes that gained less than ten yards.   And this was against a Bears defense that was riddled with injuries.  What's next for OC Arthur Smith?  Bringing back the single wing?
• The talk of the town all week was the devastation that tight end Darnell Washington visited upon the Cincy Bengals last week, but where was he yesterday? By my recollection, and I could be wrong, he was targeted only two times yesterday.  Why was that?
• Speaking of tight ends, Pat Freiermuth was targeted only three times yesterday.  He caught all three passes, one of them a touchdown.  So, why only three targets?

With Rodgers turning 42 next week, and Rudolph showing all the signs of being just a competent back-up, it is obvious that Steelers need to find themselves a quarterback. How badly did that training camp injury to rookie Will Howard upset their plans?  Howard never saw any game action in the pre-season, so, understandably, the coaches are not going to use him in any game action unless disaster befalls both Rodgers and Rudolph.  How far has that lack of game action for Howard set back the team as they search for a long term replacement for Ben Roethlisberger?  Howard looked awfully good last year as he led Ohio State to the CFP Championship. He looked better than Drake Maye ever did at North Carolina, and in his second NFL Season with the Patriots, he, Maye, is a serious candidate for the MVP Award this year.  Having never seen Howard play, though, will this affect what the team does in terms of drafting a QB out of college in the upcoming NFL draft?

The Steelers next six games are as follows:

• Bills
• @ Ravens
• Dolphins
• @ Lions
• @ Browns
• Ravens

As it looks today, I would guess that the Steelers would be favored in three of those games, and that could change depending on Rodgers' availability.  So, I'd say that at best, we are looking at a 9-7 season.

Mediocre.

One More Futbol Note (Non-Pittsburgh)

Yesterday afternoon, we eschewed watching the Eagles-Cryboys game and instead watched the Major League Soccer Eastern Conference semi-final playoff game between Inter Miami and Cincinnati FC.  This, of course, was prompted by our seeing Miami and its great player, Lionel Messi, last month in Nashville.  (See HERE)  Neither Miami nor Messi let us down.  They defeated Cincinnati 4-0 and Messi had a goal and two assists.  The goal was amazing, but the passes that he made in assisting on the other two goals may have been even more remarkable.

Miami will play  at least one, and possibly two more games in these MLS playoffs.  Don't miss the chance to see him play.  I am no soccer expert .and you don't have to be one either to know that when you watch Messi play, you are seeing soccer's version of Willie Mays, Jim Brown, Michael Jordan, or Wayne Gretzky.

Lionel Messi

You gotta love the pink shirts!

 

Nashville Cats, and Seeing The Great Messi

Sometime early this past summer, I made the random comment that since the greatest soccer player in the world, Lionel Messi of Argentina, was now playing in America for Inter Miami FC of Major League Soccer, that it would be cool to actually see him play in person.  However, at the point, Miami had already visited Columbus, the closest MLS city to Pittsburgh, so that was pretty much that.

Well, my birthday rolled around in September, and Linda presented me with my gift:  a  Lionel Messi Inter Miami jersey. Then she gave me an envelope containing the rest of my gift.  She had made plane and hotel reservations for a trip to Nashville that included tickets to the MLS match between Inter Miami and Nashville FC this past Saturday.  She had also purchased tickets to see a touring Broadway musical, "The Outsiders", for Friday afternoon at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center.  And she bought a Messi jersey for herself as well.

So there we were this past Saturday at Geodis Park, a soccer only stadium in Nashville to be a part of a sellout crowd (30,000+) and getting to see the greatest player in the world. 

And did he ever deliver.

Our seats were fantastic.  Seven rows up from the pitch, and with a perfect view of the goal which turned out to be the goal that Miami would be attacking in the second half.  If we were looking at a football field, our seats would have been on the 20 yard line or so.

The game itself was terrific.  Nashville led 2-1 at the half, and yes, the Miami goal was scored by Messi.  The second half was all Miami, who ended up winning 5-2, and the best part was that Messi scored three goals, including one on a penalty kick right in front of us and assisted on the other two.  Six of the seven total goals were scored at our end of the field right in front of us.  If I tried to write up a script for what I wanted to see that night, I couldn't have come up with a better one.

HERE ARE THE HIGHLIGHTS of the game showing all seven goals, including Messi's hat trick.  Here also are some photos that we took with our phones that night.

The soccer game was the main purpose of our trip, and, as I said, it could not have been scripted more perfectly.  It will go down as one of the best sports spectating experiences of my life, but the rest of our Nashville Adventure was pretty cool, too.  

We stayed, not in the heart of Nashville, where all the tourists go and the honky tonks are, but in an area called 12 South.   It is an area of about six blocks on 12th Street, south of downtown Nashville (hence, the name), consisting of fancy coffee shops, some bars and restaurants, and some upscale retail clothiers.  You want a pair of $350 jeans, this is where you'd go.  For you Pittsburghers out there, think of it as an upscale Shadyside.  Our hotel, The Gilmore, was right in the center of 12 South, and it suited us perfectly.  The area was very busy.  Lots of people, lots of tourists.  We found a cool bar called the Bottle Cap to eat and watch sports on TV, and a fancy linen tablecloth restaurant called Urban Grub for our special "birthday dinner", and a couple of cool breakfast places.

The courtyard at The Gilmore

One of those neat breakfast places

On Friday morning, we ventured into downtown Nasheville for brunch and the 1:00 performance of "The Outsiders", but before the show, we did walk along several blocks of Broadway, and "experienced" Nashville. At 11:00 on a Friday morning, the place was jumping.  Party buses all over the place, live music coming out of every doorway that you passed, and people, masses of people, everywhere.   And when we left the theater after the show and UBERed back to our hotel, the number of people had increased exponentially.  We can only imagine what it is like at night when, we understand, you sometimes have to wait two hours just to get inside a place.   It was quite the experience.

Some street scenes.

Brunch before we hit Broadway!

"Make good trouble."

The Grand Ol' Opry

Day drinkin' and music at Garth Brooks' place.

Only in Nashville, I suppose

One stop for Miss Hockey!

I must also note that seeing "The Outsiders" was also one terrific experience.  The show won several Tony Awards, including Best Musical, during it's original Broadway run, and you can see why.  Set in Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1967, it is about kids on both ends of the social spectrum  co-existing, or actually NOT co-existing.  The Greasers and the Soshes in this show could be compared to the Sharks and Jets in "West Side Story", so it is a familiar dramatic theme, but the staging in this one was really a marvel to behold.  The show in based upon the novel of the same name by S.E. Hinton, which, I understand, is the best selling young adult novel of all time.

Both the show and the theater, the Tennessee Center for the Performing Arts get Four Stars from The Grandstander.

Our last full day in Nashville was spent visiting with pal David Cicotello, who motored over from his home in Murfreesboro, TN to spend an afternoon with us.  A splendid time was had by all.

Two final comments on our trip.

One, our room at our hotel did not have a telephone in it.  How's that for a shifting paradigm?

Two, this is the first time we ever took a trip where our transportation was totally dependent on ride-sharing, UBER in our case.  In all we took six rides with UBER: to and from the airport, to and from the soccer game, and to and from downtown Nashville.  Our total costs were $186.73.  I don't believe that we could have rented a car and paid for parking over the four days we were there for less than that.  Also, after visiting downtown Nashville, that is just about the last place that I would want to be driving.

I will close with this toast to Linda and thank her for just about the most wonderful birthday gift ever!

 

Football and Futbol

THE STEELERS

The Pittsburgh Steelers defeated the Buffalo Bills 27-15 last night, and now stand at 2-0 in the NFL Practice Games season.  We all know that that and $7.95 will get you a cup of coffee at Starbuck's, but, still, winning is better that losing, and the Steelers have shown us several things about which their fans can get excited.

Foremost has been the performance of second year quarterback Kenny Pickett.

Pickett has only played three offensive series in these two games. Each of those series has resulted touchdowns for the Steelers.  He has completed nine of eleven passes for two touchdowns, and the one he threw last night, a 25 yard bullet that threaded a needle to Pat Freiermuth on the goal line was a thing of beauty.

Muuuuuuuuth!!

These are only practice games, to be sure, but last night's win over Buffalo gave us a lot to dwell on.  Among them....

• Jaylon Warren's 63 yard run from scrimmage for a TD.  Talk about great execution!
• The Steelers first unit defense stuffing Josh Allen and the Bills first unit offense in the first quarter.
• Performances by WR's George Pickens and Calvin Austin.
• The play of rookie OLB Nate Herbig.  That kid looks like he's going to be one terrific player.

Joey Jr.'s first INT

• Rookie Joey Porter Jr making his first interception and then giving the football to his Dad in the stands.  It can be seen HERE, but what isn't seen in this video is the fact that Joey Sr had a Terrible Towel stuffed in his back pocket.  Somewhere, Myron Cope was smiling.

One more practice game next thursday night in Atlanta followed by a 17 day layoff until the 49'ers come to Acrisure Stadium to open the season.  Things change when you start playing games that count, but it is hard not to be excited by what we have seen so far from the '23 Steelers.

THE WOMEN'S WORLD CUP

The Women's World Cup ended today with a 1-0 victory by Spain over England.  I claim no expertise in futbol, but I believe that I am safe in saying that the better team on the pitch today was Spain.  They dominated the game, had a tenacious defense that swarmed all over the English players when they got near the Spanish goal, and are worthy Champs.  

The most exciting play of the game, however, came when English goalkeeper Mary Earps (later named the outstanding Keeper of the entire tournament) stopped a penalty kick for Spain midway through the second half.   Earps punctuated her save with a heartfelt scream that had those of us who read her lips blushing.  Had the kick been successful, it would have effectively sealed the win for Spain.  As it was, the game remained in doubt and Spain was forced to hold off England's furious efforts to score for the remainder of the came and through over thirteen minutes of stoppage time.

If ever a 1-0 ninety-plus minute soccer game can be described as "exciting", this game certainly was.  Perhaps I am coming to understand the Beautiful Game, after all.

Much of the excitement of the World Cup for American viewers, of course,  disappeared when the defending champs and tournament favorite USA was eliminated after their first game in the knockout round.  The team managed to score all of four goals in five games, three of them coming in one game against a clearly non-competitve Viet Nam.  A tremendously disappointing performance for the squad.  I admit that I pretty much lost interest in the rest of the tourney until the Final Four games matches were played.

Earlier in the week, USWNT Manager Vlatko Andonovski announced that he was resigning his position with the team.  Resigning, yeah right.

Lionel Messi

Since his debut last month, Lionel Messi has been running roughshod through Major League Soccer.  Prior to his arrival, Miami had the worst record in all of MLS.  Since then, they have not lost a game, and Messi has been scoring goals, seemingly, at will.

This performance is surely a testimony to Messi's greatness.  No one doubts that, but does it also tell us that the MLS is a distinctly inferior brand of futbol as it is played throughout the rest of the world?  

Futbol and Football

The 2024 World Cup, oh, excuse me, the 2024 FIFA World Cup came to a thrilling conclusion yesterday when Argentina defeated France on penalty kicks (more on that in a bit) after the teams played to a 3-3 tie after 90 minutes regulation time, plus 30 minutes of overtime.  The backstories here were the final appearance on the World Cup stage by Argentina's Lionel Messi, 35, perhaps the world's best player who lacked only a World Cup championship on his resume, and his heir apparent, 24 year old Kylian Mbappe of France.

Both the match itself, and the two superstars lived up to all of the pre-match hype.  Messi scored twice, Mbappe three times.  France came back from a two goal deficit with less that 12 minutes to play in overtime.  Messi scored what looked to be the winning goal in overtime, only to see Mbappe, unbelievably, tie the game again in the final minutes of OT, which sent the game to penalty kick shootout, won by Argentina.  Not surprisingly, both Messi and Mbappe made their kicks in the shoot-out.

It has been called the greatest World Cup Final in history, and who am I to argue?  As one who finds the lack of shooting in world class soccer a detriment to the Beautiful Game, even I found this game tremendously exciting to watch.  The skill of the players is undeniable, and the efforts to score, the near misses, and the saves by both defenders and keepers were a marvel to behold.  It was as exciting a sporting event as you will see all year.  And all that said, what a shame that an athletic event so epic be decided on penalty kicks.  I get that Soccer demands a full thirty minute overtime, but why not make it sudden death instead, or sudden death after the traditional 30 minute OT period?  When the stakes are the very highest in the sport, it shouldn't end on a gimmicky outcome.  If that's me being an Ugly American, so be it.

I found myself watching more of the World Cup than I anticipated, certainly more than I ever have before, and enjoying it more than anticipated.  First, it was following the USA team, then the other elite national teams as they wended through the knockout rounds, and of course, the build up to the Messi-Mbappe confrontation made the whole thing must viewing.  Weekday games in the mornings and afternoons made for ideal viewing for this retiree, and being able to bet on the games via my FanDuel app only added to the interest levels.

Watching the tournament being staged in a nation such as Qatar, with its horrible human rights record and its blatant attempt to "sports wash" it all away, and knowing the overall corruption of FIFA did make one feel a little queasy at times.  The thrill of the competition and the skill of the athletes can make you forget all of that, but the overall stink of this backstory does stay with you.  This was best summarized by John Feinstein of the Washington Post in this column from today.

********

Back here in the USA, the NFL concluded Week 15, so let's take a look at the GPR as it stands today. 

.

1. Eagles 13-1
2. Bills 11-3
3. Chiefs 11-3
4. Bengals 10-4

Knocking at the door (alphabetically)....49'ers 10-4, Cowboys 10-4, Dolphins 8-3, Jaguars 6-8, Lions 7-7, Vikings 11-3.

Yes, I have included a 6-8 and a 7-7 team in here.  Sounds crazy, but if your favorite team was in the playoffs, would YOU like to see them playing the Lions right now?  Or Trevor Lawrence?  

The final three weeks will be fun as these playoff scenarios play themselves out.