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.

The Path For The Steelers

So I'm working at The Caring Place last night and early in the evening a buddy and I are discussing what the Steelers need to do in the second half of the season to position themselves for a run into the playoffs and, we hope, a trip to the Super Bowl.  Here's what we came up with:

Of the eight remaining games, four are with what we would call Good Teams: Panthers, Chargers, Saints, Patriots.  The other four are with Not-So-Good Teams:  Jaguars, Raiders, Broncos, Bengals.  (Okay, maybe you could say that the Bengals should be considered a "Good" team, but, c'mon, they're the Bengals.  Also, we know that the Jags did to the Steelers last year, but they've kind of hit the skids in recent weeks.)  So we figure that the Steelers need to split the four games against the Good Teams and go 3-1 against the Not-So-Good Teams.  We figure that each of those goals is doable.  That makes them 10-5-1 which should win the AFC North and get them into the Playoffs where as we all know, it's a "crap shoot" and "anything can happen" (sounds like Neal Huntington, doesn't it?).

So, there's the formula, Mike Tomlin.  Now it's to you and your players to, you know, execute it.

Like I said, that discussion took place early in the evening, and when I got in the car to come home last night, I hear the mellifluous tones of Billy, Tunch, and Wolf describe James Conner's two yard run for a touchdown  to put the Steelers up 21-7. In the first quarter.  I get home in time to watch the remainder of that 52-21 dissection that the Steelers put on the Carolina Panthers, yes, one of the aforementioned "Good Teams", last night.

Jesse James Scores

He was one of seven Steelers to score a TD,  and one of 

nine different Steelers to catch a Ben Roethlisberger 

pass in that game last night

No team is as good as it looks on its very best day, and let's face it, that performance that Rooney U put on last night was one of the best all around performances I've seen in years, but after a shaky 1-2-1 start, the team has won five straight games and has looked awfully good in doing so.  It was hard to find fault with anything that they did last night.

Could be a fun ride the rest of the way for this team.

A subject that I have pretty much avoided in this space all season is the holdout of Le'Veon Bell and all the drama that has surrounded it. It now appears that he will report to the team on Tuesday.   I certainly have my opinions on that subject, which I shall share with you when his rejoining the team becomes a fait accompli.

Until then, #herewegosteelersherewego

A No Football Weekend

No Pitt football yesterday, no Steelers football today.  Talk about a lost weekend, but it prompts some Random Thoughts from The Grandstander.....

At the beginning of the season, you would certainly signed up for a 6-2 first half of the season from the Steelers, although you would have never predicted that those two losses would be to the Bears and the Jaguars.  Still, with five of the remaining games at home, the schedule looks to be much in the Steelers favor, to the extent that a twelve win season looks to be attainable.

One thing that needs to be reversed in this second half is better, and I hate to use this term, Red Zone Production.  How many times have the Steelers been in First and Goal situations and have had to settle for field goals instead of touchdowns?  Seems like about a million times, right?  That trend really needs to change.

I am also concerned about Ben Roethlisberger's performance this year.  It's not that he's been bad (throw out that freak five interception game aberration against Jacksonville), but he has just appeared to be just a bit "off" from his past seasons' capabilities.  One can hope that he can shake it off, but there is a fine line between being great and being ordinary, and perhaps at age 35 and in his 14th NFL season, Ben has come up to that line.  He spoke of retirement after last season, and maybe the end is coming.  Steelers fans can hope that both he and the team can summon in all up over these last eight games and make a run to the Super Bowl, which I predicted and I will stand by that prediction here at the halfway mark.

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Pitt now sits at 4-6 and needs to go 2-1 (North Carolina, @Virginia Tech, Miami) in order to go 6-6 and be bowl eligible.  Personally, at this point in the Narduzzi Era, I was hoping for more than merely scraping to go 6-6 and getting an invitation to some WhoCares Bowl.  I was also disappointed to see that Pat Narduzzi found it necessary to take a shot via Twitter last week after Penn State's loss to Ohio State last week.  Seems that HCPN should be tending to his own team, and at least contending for the championship of his own conference  before engaging in such schoolyard behavior.

As for that bowl eligibility, I see a win over NorthCarolina and loss to Virginia Tech.  It will all come down to that final home game against currently undefeated Miami.  I'm thinking that Pitt does not go bowling this year.  There goes those vitally important 15 extra practice sessions that coached love so much.

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Speaking of boorish behavior among coaches, Penn State got dealt a dose of humility with its second consecutive loss yesterday, this time to Michigan State.  I see in the paper this morning that James Franklin stated that perhaps his team was too concerned with things like national rankings and getting into the College Football Playoffs, and that maybe they weren't "mature enough" to handle things.  Since he, Franklin, was foremost in voicing such opinions, I hope that he was including himself among those not being mature enough to handle it, but he probably wasn't.

Franklin has convinced me that he is a pretty good football coach, but like many such coaches, he's not an easy guy to like, unless he coaches "your" team.  As such, not a lot of people outside of central Pennsylvania are going to feel too bad about this sudden two game losing streak for Franklin's Lions.

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And speaking of unlikeable coaches, how about Urban Meyer and  Ohio State getting pasted in Iowa yesterday?  With this second loss of the season, this should take Ohio State out of any talk of being one of the four teams in the CFP this year.   The Committee seemed to automatically include Ohio State int e Playoff last year, and that was wrong (and, yes, the team that should have been there was Penn State).  It is not Ohio State's birthright to be there, and it looks like they won't be this year.  Although, I guess that the Buckeyes could still win the Big Ten Championship, so who knows?

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Right now it appears that all signs are pointing to the SEC Championship Game, most likely between Alabama and Georgia, as the Game of the Year.  Both are undefeated and are ranked 1 and 2.  Unless that game is a rout for the winner, it is likely that both teams will make the CFP, and a rematch will be possible in the playoffs.  That never usually works out well.

Stadium Politics

Earlier this week, a gentleman named Gary Rector made the following "This Date In History"-type post on Jim Haller's "Corsair Tales" Facebook group:

Nov. 14, 1956 The Pirates threaten to move the franchise from Pittsburgh unless a new municipal stadium is built to replace Forbes Field. The second division club drew 949,878 fans, the fifth best total of the eight National League teams.

This led to a number of comments along the lines of "well this is how far back corporate and municipal blackmail by sports teams went".  I also made the following comment to Mr. Rector's post:

PNC Park just completed its 16th season. Three Rivers Stadium lasted for 31 seasons, and the discontent with the place began well before then. The Braves and the Rangers have already shown us that the shelf life of "state of the art" ball parks is about twenty years. Nothing coming from 115 Federal Street in the next five years or so about this issue will surprise me. Nothing.

I could add to that that I would be even less surprised if such rumblings emanated from the Steelers' corporate offices expressing discontent with Heinz Field. In fact, such rumblings appeared three or four years ago, and that led to the construction of those 3,000 new "club level" seats at Heinz Field.

It will be interesting to see how the ownership  groups of both the Pirates and Steelers act about their respective stadiums in three or four more years when this facilities begin their third decade of operations. As I said, nothing will surprise me.

Farewell, Heath Miller

The biggest sports news to hit Pittsburgh while I was away in Florida last week was the announcement  by Steelers tight end Heath Miller that he was retiring from football after an eleven year career.  As John Mehno put it in his Sunday column, if, as the Steelers fanatics believe, there really is a "Steelers Way", then Heath Miller was the embodiment of it.  Never flashy, never a showboat, never looking out for anything other than what was best for the team, Miller is undeniably the greatest tight end in Steelers history.  In fact, only Hines Ward has caught more passes in all of Steelers history.  Think about that for a minute or two.

And even in his last act as a player, Miller informed the team of his plans to retire early in the off season so that the team could structure their draft and free agency plans knowing that he would no longer be a part of the team.  Classy.

I would highly recommend that you read this piece by Bob Labriola that perfectly sums up the career of Heath Miller.  It says it all.

http://www.steelers.com/news/labriola-on/article-1/Labriola-on-Heath-Miller/acb3e647-e8be-48d7-bc6a-3a1513767a0c

So, farewell to Heath Miller, a two time Super Bowl Champion.

Sunday Morning Football Thoughts

Pitt's 31-13 victory over Pitt yesterday was an impressive one and an important one.  It boosted their record to 7-3 and kept their hopes alive, however dim they may be, to capture the ACC Coastal Division and getting a chance to play in the ACC Championship Game.  It also proved that they could beat a pretty good team on the road, and do it in fairly convincing fashion.  With two home games remaining, it is not unreasonable to think that Pitt can fashion and 8-4 or even a 9-3 season, and a chance to play in an upper echelon Between-Christmas-and-New-Year's-Day bowl game.

Who saw that coming last December when yet another Pitt coach was fleeing Oakland to take yet another dream job, and the new guy would be coming in and reaping a less than complete recruiting class for his first season?  I should probably wait until the after the final game to see this, but I say that Pat Narduzzi now becomes one of the leading candidates for the Dapper Dan Man of the Year Award for 2015.

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On the Pro Side of the House, the Steelers take on the Hated Browns today.  By all rights, this one should be an easy W for Rooney U., but for the following reasons, it could also end up in disaster.  First and foremost, Ben Roethlisberger will be sitting out this one due to that injured foot, and secondly, the Steelers in recent years have shown an uncanny ability to lose to crummy teams, including these same Browns last year.  If you haven't already done so, I recommend Gene Collier's column in this morning's Post-Gazette, who spells out, in his usual entertaining manner, how this could be one big pitfall for the Steelers.

We will see how it unfolds on the Heinz Field greensward this afternoon.  In any event, the annual tilts with the Brownies are always fun to watch.

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Speaking of the Browns, for even the most hardened Steelers fans who harbor a lifelong dislike for the Cleveland football team, I am guessing that most of those people would concede that the Browns always had a classic uniform, as modeled by this guy:

As has become the case these days throughout  all sports, especially in the NCAA and now the NFL, the Browns went to new uniforms for 2015, and can we all agree that they are absolutely hideous?

I know it's all about marketing, and selling jerseys to the suckers fans who continue to put down big bucks for these rags.  The Steelers get criticized all the time for those bumblebee throwbacks that they wear, but at least they only pull those out for two games a year, and  the classic Black-and-Gold uni remains unchanged, although I do wish that they would go back to the "block" font for the numerals ("Hey, you kids, get off my lawn!")  Lifelong, die-hard Browns fans, and I know many of them, after having watched years of incompetence since the franchise came back into the NFL, have to really be sickened by this aesthetic nightmare of a uniform.

Ravens 23 - Steelers 20; The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

Well, if you care at all about it, you already know what happened at Heinz Field last night, so let's just break it down as follows:

The Good

• The Steelers defense was going to be the downfall of the team this year, everybody said, but since being torched by Brady and the Pats in Week 1, that unit has turned in three very respectful performances.   Granted, the 49'ers, Rams, and Ravens may turn out to be bad teams, but you can only play the teams the schedule puts out in front of you.
• Le'Veon Bell is back and appears to be as good or better than ever.
• At least it didn't rain and turn the Heinz Field turf into a quagmire that would have been an embarrassment on national television.

The Bad

• The offensive playbook seemed to have been dumbed-down for new QB Mike Vick, but why?  It seemed like the Steelers were afraid to let Vick even try to throw down field.  As a result, we got a lot of screen passes that gained six yards in third-and-eight-type situations.  Is it because....
• ...Vick just isn't any good anymore?  Time was, Vick was an all-pro QB who could run, and, just as importantly, sling the ball all over the place.  Vick is only two years older than Ben Roethlisberger, and three years younger than Tom Brady, so I am guessing that there ability is still in there, so the Steelers offensive game planners may need to let him loosen up a bit.  
• Or, perhaps I'm wrong on that, and Vick really is over the hill, in which case, that Big Ben injury really is going to take down this whole season for the Steelers.

The Ugly

• Do I really have to say it?  All I'm thinking is that Kevin Colbert has been on the phone all day looking up out of work place kickers.
• Because of Josh Scobee's performance, I will NOT criticize Mike Tomlin for going for first down in the overtime.  I wouldn't have either.  
• If I will be critical of Tomlin, it will be for attempting a FG on fourth and four near the end of regulation after Scobee missed a FG attempt earlier.  (A) The Steelers might have made the first down, which would have clinched the game, (B) even if they didn't make it, it would have bled some time off the clock, and (C) it would have caused Baltimore to start seven yards deeper than they did after the missed FG; those yards could have made a big difference.

I will close it out with this meme seen on Facebook this morning, which I thought was pretty funny:

Catching Up - Mostly Sports Stuff

It's been awhile, so it is now time to clean out the Mental In-Box.....

• The horror show for the Pirates that is the NL Central Division continues as the Bucs drop the first two games of a series in Milwaukee.  The Pirates have run roughshod over the NL East and NL West, but their record in the Central now sits at 21-31.  This is the same bug-a-boo that haunted them in 2014, and it continues, almost inexplicably, deep into 2015.
• Twenty-three of the Pirates remaining thirty games are against Central opponents.  They better figure something out, and quickly, starting tonight in Milwaukee.
• Have you caught the trailer for the movie, "Concussion", that will be released in December?  This looks like a "must see" movie, Will Smith looks like a lock for an Oscar nomination, and it looks like the NFL will be putting its massive PR machinery into high gear to discredit this one.  What I am looking forward to seeing is whether or not the network television partners of the NFL will do the League's bidding in attempting to quash this movie as well.  (See trailer at the end of this post.)
• Speaking of the NFL, the federal judge in New York City is due to hand down his ruling on this deflated footballs nonsense tomorrow.  I want to go on record today and predict that Tom Brady will not miss a game this year as a result of his draconian suspension handed down by Czar Roger.  At the very least, he will be playing next Thursday night in the opener against the Steelers.
• Speaking of the Steelers, based on very limited viewing of their practice games this summer, it appears that they will be involved in a lot of games that will end up with scores like 47-42 and 38-35.  One can only hope that they will be on the positive sides of those scores more often than not.
• Also, the Steelers had better hope that Ben Roethlisberger can stay healthy for 16 games. Without him directing the offense, and given the nature of the defense that they appear to have, they won't be going anywhere in 2015.
• And how about that Martavis Bryant?  It has been pointed out that, at least where marijuana is concerned, that it is very difficult for an NFL player to screw up so badly that he gets suspended for marijuana use, but somehow some way, our guy Martavis managed to do it.  For that effort, let us bestow the coveted H.A. Citation upon Steelers wide receiver Martavis Bryant.  This one's for you, Martavis!

(Photo courtesy of Dan Bonk  Enterprises)

• Pirate Chat Night at PNC Park took place three weeks ago, and the game lasted over five hours and fifteen innings.  For all that, it was a terrific night.  During the tense extra innings of that ball game, the pre-recorded organ music treated us to such toe tapping melodies as "Mexican Hat Dance", "Turkey in the Straw", and I am drawing a blank on some of the other equally irrelevant tunes that were rained upon us.  Did I mention that this organ music is pre-recorded?  Vince Lascheid, God rest his soul, has been dead since 2009, and the Pirates have long since jettisoned his Wurlitzer (probably to make space for yet another bar area at PNC Park), so I think it is long past time to can the canned organ music.
• I hope, at the very least, that the Pirates are paying some kind of royalties to Lascheid's family for the continued use of this stuff.
• Pitt Football opens yet another "new era" this Saturday against the mighty Youngstown State Penguins, who carry a one game winning streak against the Panthers.  Leaving no cliche unturned, HC Pat Narduzzi said that come Saturday it will be up to "the players to play, the coaches to coach, and the officials to officiate."  YEAH!!!
• BY all rights, Pitt should roll over YSU on Saturday, but we all know what happened three years ago, don't we?  Also, YSU has a new coach too, and it is an experienced and "big time" guy, Bo Pelini.  Hope the Panthers don't take this one lightly.
• Wisconsin, under their new HC Paul Chryst open up this week against Alabama.  Good luck with that, Paul.
• While driving on Saturday afternoon, I listened to part of the Steelers radio broadcast.  On one play, our boy Billy Hillgrove went into ecstasy over a terrific catch made by Antonio Brown, only to be advised by his spotters that it was actually DeAngelo Williams who made the catch.  Oops.
• You can say that there are five major sports "franchises" in the Pittsburgh market: Pirates, Steelers, Penguins, Pitt Football, and Pitt Basketball.  The play-by-play radio duties are handled by the same guy, Hillgrove, for three of those five.  That must be a tough pill to swallow for younger up-and-coming play-by-play guys.

I thought that I would close with a a clip of the trailer for the movie alluded to above, "Concussion".

Some Football Thoughts......

Some pigskin thoughts....

• The Steelers season came to a practical end with that loss to the Dolphins on Sunday, although the NFL PR machine will still churn out the fact that they are still mathematically in the hunt.  
• The Steelers of 2013 are most certainly not a very good team, but you can't say that their games have not been entertaining.  You've got to give them credit for that.
• In trying to find some positives, I will say that Le'Veon Bell looks like he will be a good to quite good NFL running back, that Cameron Heyward is starting to look like he was worth that first round pick, and that Ben Roethlisberger remains an elite NFL quarterback.
• In the comments made by readers to Bob Smizik's blog post following Sunday's game, a reader stated that he "will never forgive" Antonio Brown for stepping out of bounds on that final wacky play of the game.  I feel sorry for a person like that.  He must have a pretty empty life.
• In the beginning of the season, I said that the Steelers would be somewhere in the range of a 7-9 to 9-7 team.  At 5-8 with three to play against the Bengals, Packers and Browns, I'm thinking 7-9 would be an achievement at this point.
• End zone dances and celebrations after touchdowns by players don't usually bother me, but I can do without the histrionics after a routine first down.
• Pitt is going to the Little Caesar's Pizza Bowl in Detroit on December 26 against Bowling Green.  It's easy to make fun of this, but what the hell?  As friend John Kraemer noted recently on the Facebook W. PA Football Huddle page, since the only "meaningful" bowl game will be the BCS Title game between Auburn and Florida State, then every other bowl game played, even the biggies on New Year's Day, are every bit as "meaningless" as is Pitt's contest with BG.  So enjoy the game if you are so inclined.  No one is forcing anyone to watch a single one of these contests.
• However, spare me the rhetoric of the importance of the extra fifteen practice sessions that schools gain by playing in a Bowl Game.  This will be the sixth year in a row that Pitt has had these fifteen extra practices and they have enabled them to put together two back-to-back 6-6 seasons.
• When I was a high school student, the Catholic High Schools did not belong to the WPIAL or PIAA.  They competed in a Catholic League.  Well, the number of Catholic Schools have diminished, and schools such as one time fierce rivals Central Catholic and North Catholic compete on different levels in the WPIAL and do not play each other any more.  I think that that is a shame, but I know that I am in the minority on that.  In any event, both Central and North will be playing for State Championship football titles this weekend in Hershey, so good luck to them both.  It allows some of us old-timers to reflect upon the old days of the Catholic League.

Fish Fries and Other Random Thoughts for a Sunday Morning

Yes, we continue to explore the various Church Fish Fries each Friday night during Lent. So far this year we have visited St. Theresa of Avila in Perrysville and St. Alexis in McCandless,  Both parishes have been at the Fish Fry game for years and years and both put on a great event.  Good fish sandwiches and both also serve a mean bowl of clam chowder.   We have three Fridays remaining between now and Good Friday, and we have two "definites" penciled in:  Howard's Tavern in West View (not a Church, true, but owned and operated by fellow St. John Neumann parishioners), and the Serbian Club on the South Side.  This one benefits our neighbors and friends, George and Barb Topich's Serbian Orthodox Church.  That leaves one upcoming Friday in the "TBD" column.

A word of warning.  Our friends Fred and Susan Shugars had a not-so-great experience by opting for take-out at St. Alexis this past Friday, so you may want to consider eating in, which is what we did.  When it comes to take-out, always remember what Joe Pesci said about going through the drive-through (or, take-out window, in this case) in "Lethal Weapon 2".



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Congratulations to the Robert Morris University basketball team for their first place finish in the Northeast Conference this season.  This means home court advantage throughout the NEC Tournament.  It also means that March Madness begins this coming Wednesday night when RMU takes on St. Francis (NY) in the opening round game.  Survive and Advance.  Be there!

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The Pirates now stand at 2-7 in Grapefruit League play.  So, who cares, these are exhibition games.

On the other hand, Starling Marte is now hitting .417 in grapefruit League Play.  Now THAT is something to get excited about. 

This is what is great about Spring Training.  You get to pick-and-choose what's important.

Speaking of the Pirates, their game this past Friday was televised and it was great to watch some Pirates baseball.  Catching for the Bucs that night was Lucas May.  Now, I like to think that I keep close track on my favorite ball club, but I have to tell you, I had NEVER heard of Lucas May.

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The stories about the "fractured" Steelers locker room this past season that are now coming out are sort of interesting, but, to be honest, I'm not putting a lot of credence in them, nor am I paying too much attention.  However, one item that did catch my eye was the retired Hines Ward talking about too much "finger pointing" taking place among the team this year, a team, by the way, that, lest we forget, Ward was not a part of.  This is coming from the same Hines Ward who a few years back accused Ben Roethlisberger of dogging it for not playing when he had a concussion.

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It's High School Musical season.  We took in Seneca Valley's production of "Annie" last Friday.  In two weeks, it'll be North Allegheny doing "Footloose", and next month it will be "Legally Blonde" at Montour.  Few things make you feel better than seeing the energy, talent, and just plain fun of these kids - cast, orchestra, and crew - putting on a show.

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So Mayor Luke has decided not to seek re-election as Mayor of Pittsburgh.  In his column today, John Mehno talked about the "frat-boy sensibility" that the Boy Mayor has brought to the office, and that was certainly reinforced when you read Luke's Mayoral "timeline" in the PG the other day, and saw about Luke's Seven Springs birthday party, crashing a party to meet Tiger Woods, attending concerts at Star Lake in city vehicles, airplane rides with Mario Lemieux, appearance in the Batman movie, and you could go on and on..

Davey Lawrence, he wasn't.

*****

A DVR Alert for tonight, Sunday:  "Annie Hall" is on TCM at 8:00 PM.  One of Woody Allen's very best.  Oscars for Best Picture, Actress (Dianne Keaton), and Director and Screenplay (Allen).  Terrific movie.

Do You Feel Sorry for Either Party Here?

Interesting story in the Post-Gazette this morning about the Steelers' planned addition of 3,000 seats to Heinz Field for the 2013 season.  

My own feeling on this is that adding these seats will take away the one design feature of Heinz Field that makes it unique - the open ended south end of the Stadium that gives one a view of the riverfront and the city.  The Steelers say that that will not be lost in the redesign. We'll see.

Anyway, it seems that the Sports and Exhibition Authority (SEA) has not given the final rubber stamp on this that would enable construction to begin and be completed by the opening of the 2013 season.  The SEA is saying financing has not been finalized.  One financing feature being proposed is a $2 or $3 surcharge for parking at the Heinz Field lots.  Parking czar Merrill Stabile says that this is "unfair" to the public.  Oh, by the way, Stabile also mentioned that he is considering an increase in the parking price for Steelers game anyway.  Last time I heard, it already cost $35 to park for a Steelers game.

The Steelers have also proposed that they, the team, will finance the construction.  How are they going to do this?  You guessed it - seat licenses and an additional surcharge on all tickets.  In other words, the ticket buyers, not the Steelers, are paying for this.  The Steelers will also tell you that they want to add these seats for "the fans", especially those people who have been on the waiting list for so long.  The fact that these seats will bring in another $2.4 million a year (and that includes the two practice games that they force on you) has little to do with it as far as the altruistic Art Rooney II is concerned.

So who do you sympathize with the most here?  Art II or Merrill Stabile?  I'm just gald that they both have the public's interest at heart here.