Sporting Thoughts

A scattershot look from The Grandstand at recent happenings in the World of Sports.

Steelers 28 - Washington Football Team 27

Najee rumbles

George Pickens does magic

Russ drops one down the 

chimney to Mike Williams

In a week that can be described as "depressing" for some of us sitting in the Grandstand, the Steelers road win on Sunday over the Washington Commanders can be rightly described as "euphoric".  The Steelers were coming off a bye week and were 6-2, and the Commanders with their terrific rookie QB Jaydon Daniels were the surprise of the league at  7-2.  In all honesty, I was expecting a Steelers loss on Sunday.   The nature of the win....a Steelers defense severely limiting Daniels, overcoming a double digit second half deficit, and the dime that Russell Wilson dropped to newly acquired Mike Williams with a little over two minutes to play for the go ahead touchdown....it was, well...euphoric!

I have not written much about the Steelers or the NFL so far this season, so let's reflect a bit.  Sunday's win gives the Steelers a 7-2 record and a half game lead over the 7-3 Ravens, and sets ups a BIG GAME this Sunday when Baltimore comes to Pittsburgh.  It will be the first divisional game that the Steelers will play and the stakes are, well, big.  First place in the division, tie-breaker advantages, and blah blah blah.  At the beginning of the year, I felt that Baltimore would be in the Super Bowl, and Lamar Jackson is playing at a level that will probably bring him a third MVP Award.  However, the Ravens have shown some defensive vulnerability and a strange propensity for blowing leads late in games.  I have often said that there is no better rivalry in the NFL over the last 15 or so years than Steelers-Ravens, and this week should prove to add to the luster of these games.  And expect to hear the TV announcers trot out the Mike Tomlin-John Harbaugh to George Halas-Curly Lambeau comparisons.

After that 6-2 start, the Steelers post-bye schedule appeared, and still does appear, to be a brutal one:  all six divisional games, plus the Commanders, Eagles, and Chiefs.  They already have notched one W from that gauntlet.  The rest of the way won't be any easier, but with how the team looked against the WFT, I am anxiously awaiting the next eight weeks, but, of course, I'll be taking them all one game at a time.

Grandstander Power Rankings

Not sure how regularly I'm going to do this, but here is my first GPR of the season, submitted without comment:

1. Lions 8-1
2. Chiefs 9-0
3. Bills 8-2
4. Ravens 7-3
5. Steelers 7-2
6. Eagles 7-2
7. Commanders 7-2
8. Vikings 7-2
9. Falcons 6-4
10. Cardinals 6-4

Others receiving consideration: Bengals 4-6, Broncos 5-5, Chargers 6-3, Texans 6-4.

Dodgers Win World Series

The Dodgers five game World Series win over the Yankees was just a little over two weeks ago, yet it already feels like so long ago, so I don't want to let it recede into the mists of history without a few comments.

First off, a Dodgers-Yankees face off was an exciting prospect, because it would pit the two greatest offensive players in the game today in a showdown against each other, Shohei Ohtani of the Dodgers and Aaron Judge of the Yankees.  That was going to cause fireworks like we hadn't seen since Reggie Jackson turned into Mr. October.  Well, it didn't turn out that way.  Over the 162 game season, Ohtani and Judge combined to hit .315 with 112 home runs and 274 runs batted in.  In the five game series, they combined to hit .162 (6-for-37) with 1 HR and 3 RBI.

And then there was that fifth game.  After four innings the Yanks led 5-0, Gerrit Cole hadn't surrendered a hit through four innings, Judge had hit a home run, and the Yankees appeared to be cruising to a win that would extend the Series to a sixth game.  Then it all fell apart in a way that only baseball can deliver to us.  Aaron Judge, who hadn't committed an error all season (you can look it up), dropped a routine fly ball in center, short stop Anthony Volpe made a throwing error, and then, inexplicably, Cole failed to cover first base on a ground ball to first, and BOOM, the Dodgers had tied it 5-5 and were on their way to a 7-6 win in Game 5 and a World Series Championship.  Overall, perhaps it won't go down as one of the Great World Series of our time, but that fifth game, and especially that fifth inning, will make it a memorable one for sure.

Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman, playing with an injured ankle that would probably have put him on the injured list in the regular season, was the Most Valuable Player of the Series.  He batted .300, had a Series record tying 12 RBI, and hit 4 home runs.  The first of those was an extra innings walk off grand slam that, in retrospect, may have effectively ended the Series right then and there.   The MVP Award for this Series was never in doubt.

Freeman came to the majors full time with the Braves in 2011.  In those days I was still playing fantasy baseball, and I always coveted him for my team, but he always got drafted by someone else before I had the chance to nab him.  From the start he was, as my Dad would have put it, "a nice looking ball player."  He was a good player from the start, and he seems to be a likable guy as well.  He always seems to chat up and laugh with other players whenever they reach first base, which I think is kind of cool to see.  Through 15 seasons, he has hit .300 with 343 HR and over 1,200 RBI.  Next year will be his age 35 season, and he appears to still have gas in the tank, so an eventual landing spot in Cooperstown is not hard to imagine.  I will look forward to still watching him play.

College Football

What with conference realignments, NIL money, the transfer portal, and a twelve team Playoff, the business model of college football is well on the way to becoming Major League Baseball.  If you follow the sport, you know exactly what I am talking about, so I needn't spell it out for you here.  Whether this is a good thing or a bad thing is still TBD, but one thing for sure is that this 2024 season has produced some absolutely terrific match-ups and games, and seems to be doing it on weekly basis.  I cannot recall a season where I have looked forward to at least one game every single weekend as much as I have this season, and it shows no signs of stopping right up on through the conclusion of the CFP Championship game on January 20, so at least there will be one good thing that will happen on that day.

Russ Cooks. and Other Sporting Thoughts

The talk all last week among the sporting cognoscenti here in The Burgh was Mike Tomlin's not so secret decision to start Russell Wilson at quarterback over Justin Fields.  You could make an argument in favor of fields, who had led the Steelers to a 4-2 record and seemed to be improving each week.  Personally, I was not totally sold on Fields, for whatever my opinion might be worth, and I figured that Tomlin gets paid big money to make these decisions, and if he goes with Wilson, well, then let's just see how it will all play out.

After a first half in which Wilson's performance could be charitably described as "shaky", Tomlin apparently spray coated Russ down with a can of Rustoleum to remove whatever rust had accumulated on him, and both Wilson and the Steelers proceeded to kick the collective asses of the New York J-E-T-S Jets Jets Jets. 

 As I usually do, I stayed off of social media as I watched the game last night, so it was with a wry sense of delight that I looked at my Facebook feed after the game and saw all of the posts that were made throughout the first half of the game (New York led 15-6 at halftime).  Tomlin was being crucified by all the armchair GM's out there.  My favorite was some one who stated that by starting an obviously over-the-hill Wilson in place of Fields, "the Steelers have become the Pirates."  It was quite amusing, actually.   I haven't checked yet today to see if any of those experts retracted any of their statements.

Under Wilson's hand, the Steelers scored four touchdowns in a game for the first time since November of 2022.  They sit at 5-2 and should be considered in the second tier of teams, behind Kansas City and Baltimore, in the AFC.  We will see how it goes with Wilson as the season wears on, but he was throwing the kinds of passes last night that we haven't seen from Fields so far this year, and certainly unlike anything we saw all of last season.

One other Steelers note.  The team had its "Alumni Weekend" where they honored the 1974 team on the fiftieth anniversary of their first Super Bowl Championship team.  

Nice team picture, ain't it?  To observe the occasion, the team wore "throwback" jerseys that featured the block numerals that they wore throughout the 1970's and into the 1990's.    This begs the question:  When will they return to the block numerals permanently?  I don't know of a single Steelers fan anywhere who would not be in favor of that.

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In other sports news....

In the fifth and final game of the WNBA Championship Series, the New York Liberty defeated the Minnesota Lynx to claim their first ever WNBA title.  The final game went into overtime, the second OT of the series, and was a thrilling game right until the final buzzer.  In fact , four of the five games were all decided by razor thin margins.  The competition was thrilling and terrific sports theater.  If you are a basketball fan, but chose not to watch the Playoffs, you deprived yourself of some damn exciting hoops watching.

If it had not attained such status prior to 2024, this year marked the occasion when, I believe, the WNBA has arrived as a full fledged "major league" sport in America.  Many people came to the sport because of Caitlin Clark, but once they arrived, I think that eyes were opened as to just how good and enjoyable the women's game is.  I, for one, will be looking forward to next season.

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In one other event of significance last night, the Dodgers defeated the Mets 10-4 in the sixth and final game of the NLCS, thus setting up a "traditional" World Series between the Dodgers and the Yankees.  That is, if you consider something that hasn't happened in forty-three years a tradition.  

In that deciding game last night, both teams used seven pitchers, continuing a trend that I lamented in my most recent Grandstander post.  As friend Dave Glass noted on social media this morning, a Dodgers win 

"..will be the first time recent memory (and I'd bet ever) that a team won with basically zero starting pitching. Call me an old man but I think baseball is better when the starters matter at least a little.  I don't need Bob Gibson, but 6 or 7 innings maybe?"

Couldn't have said it better, Dave.

One intriguing thing that this World Series does give us it a head to head matchup of the two best hitters in the game today, Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge, and I most certainly do look forward to that.

I'll predict a Yankees victory and hope that it goes seven games.

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I know that many of you are probably asking, "But, Bob, the Jets-Steelers, Lynx- Liberty, and Mets-Dodgers were all on at the same time. How could possibly have taken all of that in last night?"

Well, when your various television sets are no longer tethered to cable boxes, a little unplugging and moving around can turn any living room into your personal Sports Bar.

This solved the problem of the 8:00 PM conflicts, but also came in handy when watching the Penguins in the afternoon up against the 1:00 NFL games, and I even caught some of the Liverpool-Chelsea EPL match game in the late morning.

You may say that you feel sorry for my wife for putting up with this, but actually, movies the two other sets into the living room was her idea.  Those other two sets were returned to the bedroom and the office earlier this morning.

A Bombshell from the Steelers

The Steelers held their formal press conference yesterday to make official the signing of Russell Wilson as a free agent and to make official the Russell Wilson Era, as described in this piece four days ago.  That wasn't the bombshell, however.  That exploded a few hours later with this news:

No one new that the beginning of the Wilson Era would mean the end of the Kenny Pickett Era.  It has been hinted in the media that Pickett's reaction to the Wilson signing was not at all positive.  Not unexpected, of course, but it apparently went even beyond competitive issues, and it makes one believe that keeping Pickett would not have been a good thing for the chemistry in the locker room.  So, the team made this move and sent the Number One draft choice of just two years ago to the Eagles for a couple of draft picks.  

Coupled wth the release earlier in the off season of Mitch Trubisky and Mason Rudolph's signing as a free agent with the Titans this week, the Steelers now have one QB on the roster.  It seems critical now that the team draft a QB in this year's draft, someone who could be groomed as the 36 year old Wilson's heir apparant and probably sign a mid-level experienced QB (Ryan Tannehill?) to back up Wilson.  They will also no doubt bring in a Duck Hodges-type as an extra arm for training camp.   Speculation also hangs over the whole thing that the Bears may still be shopping Justin Fields, and might he be the Steelers long range answer for the QB spot?

In other Steelers news, former Ravens linebacker Patrick Queen was signed as free agent, and he too was introduced at that Steelers presser yesterday.   The Steelers have yet to adequately fill the spot left open due to Ryan Shazier's injury of a few years back, and this signing can only be a positive for the team.

The team also made a trade with Miami, and received defensive back DeShon Elliott in exchange for WR Dionte Johnson.  One report stated that the team wanted to shed themselves of Johnson so that his diva tendencies would not rub off on George Pickens.  Sort of Branch Rickey's old "addition by subtraction" adage.

I have written extensively of Pickett over the years, dating back to  his Pitt years.  How great a story it would have been had it worked out the way that everyone hoped.  I wish him well in Philly where he will be behind Jalen Hurts on the Eagles depth chart, and Hurts, we know, is no Mitch Trubisky, so we can't expect to see Pickett play a lot in Philly.

Oh, and here is a picture from today holding my birthday present from two years ago.  It was gift that Linda was excited to give me, and I was a most enthusiastic recipient.  Ashes to ashes, dust to dust....

Say Hello to the Russell Wilson Era

The shocking news broke yesterday - it will become official tomorrow - that the Steelers will be signing free agent Russell Wilson to "compete" for the quarterback job with incumbent Kenny Pickett is 2024.

I say "shocking" because if you are a long time fan of the Pittsburgh Steelers you know that a move like this has definitely NOT been the Steelers Way in the past.  Wilson's credentials are well known: a multiple All-Pro in Seattle, where he twice took the Seahawks to the Super Bowl, winning it once.  His last two years in Denver have been rocky, some of the blame for which can be placed on Denver's coaches, but despite being benched last year, he produced 26 TD passes and only 8 interceptions, and his stats in the Red Zone have been great (you can look them up).  I can also remember a game at Heinz Field a few years ago where the Seahawks beat the Steelers solely on the skills of Russell Wilson.  Because of contractual complexities, almost all of Wilson's salary will be paid by the Broncos, so the financial risk to the Steelers is minimal, so maybe this isn't so shocking after all.

What I was not aware of is that Wilson has the reputation of being a diva and not a "good guy to have in the locker room."  Mike Tomlin, it should be noted, got more out of guys like Antonio Brown and Le'Veon Bell than any other NFL coach ever did, so I'm thinking that Russell Wilson won't be too much for him to handle.

The Steelers and Tomlin have stressed that there will be a "competition" for the #1 QB job with Pickett being the incumbent, but you have to believe that Wilson will be the first among equals when they all report to St. Vincent's in July.

As for Pickett, I wrote THIS PIECE about him back in November, wherein I stated that I felt that there was rush to judgement among fans, columnists, talk radio gas bags, and ESPN talking heads that said Pickett was done, that he would never be a great, or even a very good, NFL quarterback, and that I thought it was way too soon to assign him to the "scrapheap of mediocrity."   Apparently, the Steelers brain trust have also had some doubts, hence the move to sign Wilson.  As someone who followed Pickett in his years at Pitt, I really want him to make it and make it with the Steelers.   2024, though, is shaping up to be a make it or break it year for Pickett as a Steeler.

Russell is 35 years old, so who knows how much he has left in the tank.   The Steelers obviously feel that he is worth the risk.  Can he help produce  10-12 wins and a run in the Playoffs next year?  We can sure hope.  

By the way, Wilson announced his intentions on his social media platforms by showing Steelers highlights with "Renegade" playing over top of them.  If nothing else, he is savvy to his new audience.

One wag on Facebook posted that if it doesn't work with the Steelers, Wilson, once a highly touted baseball prospect, could take his talents to the Pirates, where he probably wouldn't be any worse than the 5th or 6th best player on the team.   I'd laugh if that wasn't so close to being true.

Finally, some shots of two Wisconsin Badgers who will now be teammates.

Quick Hit Thoughts On A Great Sports Weekend

If you are a sports fan, you had to love the weekend just completed.  There was something for everyone.  

The Steelers 26-21 win over Denver yesterday is being categorized as an "ugly win" by most of the pundits in its aftermath.  Maybe so, and for sure it never should have been as close as it ended up being, but here is something that wasn't ugly - that 84 yard bomb from Ben to rookie Chase Claypool for a touchdown in the second quarter.  That was a jaw dropper.

And as they say in golf, "It's a scorecard, not a post card", and the Steelers are now 2-0.

On Friday night Pirates pitcher Mitch Keller no-hit the Cardinals for six innings and was then pulled after throwing 84 pitches.  He left with a 2-0 lead, which was expanded to 4-0 in the Pirates half of the sixth inning.  The Pirates bullpen then proceeded to give up five runs in the seventh with an assortment of walks, hit batsmen, and hits that plated five runs in what seemed to be the blink of an eye.  The Bucs ended up losing 5-4.

The predictable uproar of "they should have left him in to go for a no-hitter" arose almost immediately, but putting Keller on a strict pitch count and pulling him when he reached it was absolutely the right thing to do.  He remains the #1 pitching prospect that the Pirates have, despite some mixed results in his time with the Big Club.  He has also shown some "china doll" proclivities insofar as injuries are concerned.  Friday was only his second start since spending a few weeks on the injured list in this shortened season.  Maybe leaving Keller in would have yielded a no-hitter, or, at best, would have prevented another Pirates loss, which would mean finishing the season with 16 wins instead of only 15.  Big deal.  The Pirates need a healthy Keller for 2021 and beyond.  His six innings on Friday showed great promise for the future, and insofar as the Pirates are concerned, that is all that matters in 2020.

Speaking of the Pirates, a note in the paper this morning said that on his radio show yesterday, GMBC indicated that the complete lack of box office and in-stadium revenues in 2020 means that teams will have to readjust their way of thinking in terms of spending money in the pursuit free agents in the coming off season.  By "teams", of course, he meant "the Pirates", so really nothing will change much in the S.O.P. of our Pittsburgh Pirates as we head towards the 2021 season.

Golf's United States Open was head this weekend and was won by Bryson DeChambeau.  He shot six under par and was the only golfer to finish in red numbers for the tournament.  He deserved the win, no question about it, so congratulations to him.  He also comes across, and maybe I'm wrong about this, as a guy who feels that he is the smartest guy out there on the course with his extensive use of analytics in planning his on course strategy, and other golfers don't seem to like him.  He also takes FOREVER between shots, especially putts, by constantly consulting that little notebook he carries and pulls out of his back pocket on, it seems, every shot.  Maybe that does make him the smartest guy out there, and his way will be the norm for every golfer on tour within the next five years.  Then golf will become populated with a bunch of analytical mumbo-jumbo, just like Major League Baseball has.  Won't that be fun?

I made some comments on social media over the weekend about the USGA's tendency to trick up their US Open courses so as to provide a "true test of golf."  You saw the results: one guy finishes under par, and the best golfers in the world hack it out of the hay for four days and slog in at eight or nine or double digits over par.  I don't like it, but apparently a lot of people do.  If that's what the Blue Jacketed Stuffed Shirts from Far Hills, NJ want, so be it, but I'd hate to see that week after week on Tour.  

To those of you who beat the shit out of me on Facebook over the weekend for this opinion, no need to do it again.  I just managed to stop the bleeding.

With no NBA presence in Pittsburgh, I don't often write about it, but the Association is currently in the midst of its Conference Championships, and there have been some pretty good stories in this little bit of sports theater.  Foremost has been the Denver Nuggets twice coming back from 1-3 deficits against heavily favored teams to reach the Western Finals.  They currently trail the LeBron James/Anthony Davis Lakers two games to zero, but both games have been close, and would you be willing to count them out?  Not me.

In the East, the Miami Heat lead the Boston Celtics two games to one, and they are led by Jimmy Butler.  I have listened to Michael Wilbon sing the praises of Jimmy Butler seemingly forever to the point where I'm saying, "yeah, right", but in watching some of these games, I have to say that Wilbon is 100% correct.  Butler is and has been the driving force behind the Heat reaching this point, and he is the best player on the court when he is out there.  He is a really fun player to watch.

Finally, I stayed to the end of last night's Seattle - New England game, won by the Seahawks, 35-30.  I hope that you did too, because that was one terrific football game.  I won't recap it here, you can look it up, and then the picture I posted above will have some context for you.  I will leave you with just two conclusions:  (1) Russell Wilson is absolutely fantastic, and (2) don't count out the Patriots just because the Golden Boy is no longer at QB for them; they're still good.  Oh, and here's a third conclusion: (3) Julian Edelman is amazing; it wasn't just Tom Brady that made his so good. 

May the coming week in sports give us as much as this week just concluded has.