"Silver Linings Playbook"

The New Year's Eve date movie is in the books.  Yeah, I know, it gets earlier and earlier each year, so hold the smart aleck comments, but at least we won't be out on the streets tonight on "amateur night."

The movie was "Silver Linings Playbook" and there is a reason it is making so many Ten Best  Lists for 2012.   Funny, sad, touching, and ultimately, uplifting.  Great performances by Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, and Robert De Niro.

All those people who told me on Facebook that we were making the right decision to see this one were absolutely correct!!

The Steelers Close It Out

Well, the Steelers win over the Browns certainly was fitting - a mediocre game between two mediocre teams.  It took them 15 games and three quarters to do it, but the Steelers defense finally was able to force turnovers and the offense was able to take advantage of them and turned a 10-10 slog into a 24-10 win, thus preventing Mike Tomlin's first losing season to finish with an 8-8 record.  Like I said, mediocre.

In summarizing the season, let's look back at what I wrote on September 9 in previewing the Steelers.

As for how they will do over the course of the season, I think that they are a good enough team to win more games than they will lose, but will they be good enough to make the playoffs from a division that sent two other teams, the Ravens and Bengals, to the playoffs last season? 

Okay, I almost got that one right.  They were 8-8, but both the Ravens and Bengals made the playoffs while the Steelers are going home.  Later in that same post, I did predict that the Steelers would not make the playoffs.

On the plus side, they have a great quarterback and a corps of very good, if not great, receivers. 

The corps of "Young Money" receivers came up way short this year.  Mike Wallace seemed to drop more passes than he caught and was caught loafing a couple of times when he needed to play defense after Roethlisberger interceptions.  He held out during training camp and demanded to be paid like Larry Fitzgerald, but he ended up playing more like Barry Fitzgerald.  He won't be back in 2013.  The absence of Hines Ward, even an over-the-hill Hines Ward, was surely felt this season.

As for Roethlisberger, he remains the teams' best player, and the guy around whom the offense must be structured, but he bears as much of the blame for the Steelers 8-8 season as anyone.  When the Steelers were at 6-3, Ben was in the conversation as a league MVP candidate.  Then the shoulder/rib injury in the Kansas City game and he was not the same QB when he came back three games later.  Critical interceptions against Cincy and Dallas when the team had the chance to win pretty much ended any hope the team had of making the post-season.  Not sure how much the injury played into that, but you certainly have to wonder.

I am also concerned with the running backs.  They are counting on Isaac Redman to replace an injured Rashard Mendenhall.  Redman has been okay as a short yardage guy and a fill in in the past, but it's still a question, in my mind anyway, if he can do it over the long haul. 

I forgot to mention Jonathan Dwyer in the season opening write-up, but no matter.  Save for three mid-season games when 100 yard games were turned in by Dwyer (2) and Redman (1), the Steelers had no running game.  The continuing insistence on stressing the run by the game planners made this all the more frustrating as the season concluded with that 2-5 record in the last seven weeks.  Finding a dependable running back has got to be a priority in this off-season.  Don't expect Mendenhall back next year, either.
On defense, younger guys need to step up to replace guys like James Farrior and Aaron Smith, while guys like James Harrison and Troy Polamalu  are another year older.

Polamalu missed nine games due to injury, and Harrison appeared to be a shadow of his former self when he returned after starting the season as inactive due to injury.  Keenan Lewis and Cortez Allen appeared to make some nice strides as defensive backs, but where are the young guys needed to replace Farrior, Smith, and, maybe soon, Casey Hampton and Brett Kiesel?

People will also continue to cite losses to teams that "we should beat" - Oakland, Tennessee, San Diego, and Cleveland - and that's true, but to rehash the tired Bill Parcells line, "You are what your record says you are", and while one, maybe two bad losses like that can happen, when FOUR of them happen in a season, maybe you are in the same class as those crummy teams that beat you.

However, the NFL is structured so that no one stays on top forever, and the Steelers have certainly shown a track record of being able to bounce back from down years.  In the end, the 2012 Steelers were not a particularly bad team, but perhaps wins over teams like the Giants, Redskins, and Ravens were done on memory rather than ability.  They just were never a particularly good team.  That's okay.  Believe it or not, and annual trip to the Super Bowl is not the Steelers' - nor their fans' - birthright.

Then there was the coaching.  I will start right off by saying that I am not qualified to judge the "X's and O's" abilities of professional football coaches.  They are a lot smarter than me, but I do feel qualified to say that the Steelers offense did not get better after Art Rooney II inserted himself into the make up of the coaching staff and forced the "retirement" of OC Bruce Ariens and the team brought in Todd Hailey after the 2011 season.  Maybe it was injuries, maybe it was age, I don't know, but that was NOT an improved offense in 2012 over 2011.

As for Mike Tomlin, I love the guy.  People who call for him to be fired (listen to The Fan and you'll hear them) are beyond ridiculous.  If anyone has earned a mulligan or two or three, it's Mike Tomlin.

Happy New Year

Please celebrate responsibly!

And thank you for continuing to visit The Grandstand in 2012.  Will be seeing you in 2013!

Free-Falling Mountaineers

In a Tri-State Area sports year that saw major second half collapses from both the Pirates and the Steelers, did any local team fall quite as far as the West Virginia Football Mountaineers?  From an offensive juggernaut that looked unstoppable, led by a sure-fire Heisman Finalist to a 6-6 team that gets pasted by 24 points in a Who Cares? Bowl by a middle of the pack Big East team.

Lots of work ahead for Dana Holgersen and his staff, I'd say.

Winter Wonderland

Check out this view from our bedroom window this morning.  Awesome (as the kids today say)!

The Books of 2012

The final tally is in.  I read 56 books in 2012.  Some old, some new, some may be out of print and only be available at your local library.  In looking back, here are the highlights and the ones that I would highly recommend.

Non-Fiction

"Destiny of the Republic" by Candice Miller - The story of the assassination and death of President James Garfield in 1881.  You will learn that it was not so much the bullet that killed the President, but the medical treatment he received in trying to save him.  You will also learn how the phrase "Ignorance is bliss" came about.

"On Hallowed Ground: The Story of Arlington National Cemetery" by Robert M. Poole - Great story about how the federal government appropriated the property of the Robert E. Lee family and turned it into the country's most hallowed ground.  Fascinating stories about how the Lee family sued the government to have their property returned (and won!), the rush job to arrange for the burial of President Kennedy, and the selections of the Unknowns from the nation's wars.

"American Triumvirate: Sam Snead, Byron Nelson, Ben Hogan and the Modern Age of Golf" by James Dodson - The title says it all.  It's great reading, but pretty much for golf fans only.

"The Best Pittsburgh Sports Arguments" by John Mehno - 100 questions raised and answered by sportswriter Mehno.  Examples: "Was the Super Bowl XXX loss really Neil O'Donnell's fault?" and "Was Barry Bonds really that bad a guy?" (Answers: No and Maybe)  Lots of fun stuff in here for the Pittsburgh sports fan.

"Over Time, My Life As A Sportswriter" by Frank Deford - A memoir covering covering the fifty year career of one of the great sportswriters of all time.

"One Shot At Forever"  by Chris Ballard - The story of a small time high school baseball team - and their unusual coach - that made it all the way to the Illinois high school championship game in the early 1970's.  A real life "Hoosiers", and a story of the impact a coach or a teacher can have on  young persons throughout their lives.

"Hellhound on His Trail" by Hampton Sides - The Story of James Earl Ray and how he stalked and killed Martin Luther King in 1968, and the FBI search to capture him.

"The Devil in the White City" by Eric Larson - The story of the World's Colombian Exposition of 1893 in Chicago and the concurrent story of a serial killer that preyed upon the city of Chicago during that Fair.

"The Johnstown Flood" by David McCullough - All about the calamity of the great Johnstown Flood.  Great "you are there" kind of reporting on an event that happened in the 19th century.

"Close-Up on Sunset Boulevard" by Sam Stiles - Terrific account of he making and the history of the classic 1950 Billy Wilder movie, "Sunset Boulevard".  Great book for movie fans and almost a must for fans of this movie in particular.

Fiction

"Cop Hater" by Ed McBain - This book was published in 1956 and is worth reading, or re-reading, because it was the first in McBain's 87th Precinct series of police procedural novels. This series was not only among the first, but perhaps the best of the genre.

"Victims" by Jonathan Kellerman - Any new entry in Kellerman's Alex Delaware series will always make my list.

"Stolen Prey" and "Mad River" by John Sandford - New entries in the Lucas Davenport and Virgil series, respectively.  Great detective/thriller/mystery yarns.

"This Is Where I Leave You" by Jonathan Tropper - The story about a thirty-something guy whose marriage is falling apart at the time of his father's death.  The Jewish family begins the seven day shiva after the death and all sorts of family secrets, problems, and peculiarities arise.  Not the sort of book I usually read, but I really enjoyed this one.

"The Racketeer" by John Grisham - This new thriller from Grisham is not up to his usual standards, but still a worthwhile read for a long plane ride or a day at the beach.

There you have it.  Right now, I am currently reading a book that I received for Christmas that I suspect will be on this same list in 2013.  It's about the Eisenhower Presidency.

Enjoy!

It's Official: The Hammer is Gone

The news reports from the weekend are now official:  the Pirates have traded Joel Hanrahan, All-Star closer, who is the victim - in the Pirates point of view - of his own success.  He performed so well that he became too expensive for the Pirates to keep.

Hanrahan and infield prospect Brock Holt are off to the Red Sox and the Pirates receive these four players in return: pitchers Mark Melancon and Stolmy Pimentel, infielder Ivan DeJesus, Jr., and 1B/OF Jerry Sands.  Here are some of my thoughts on this deal.

1. You can probably defend and make a case in defense of this deal, based upon the potential of the four players  coming here, and Neal Huntington will no doubt be spewing the Nealspiel from now until Opening Day doing just that, however...
2. ....this is yet another deal where the NHR (Neal Huntington Regime) seems to be looking towards the ever expanding and undefined "future" while not necessarily latching on to the chance to win NOW, in 2013.
3. Jerry Sands seems to be the same player as Clint Robinson and Travis Snider.  First baseman/outfielders.  Is Neal going for the throw-it-against-the-wall-and-see-what-sticks approach?
4. I am sorry to see Hanrahan go.  I liked him, but at the same time, he can and will be replaced.  Finding a closer is not all that difficult, even for a team like the Pirates. (maybe).
5. Even putting the best light on this, this deal still reeks of being a salary dump, pure and simple.
6. Even if you can make a case, baseball-wise, for this deal, given the NHR track record in such deals, how confident are you that it's going to work out for the Pirates?
7. And  I say the odds are less than 50/50 that Garrett Jones will in a Pirate uniform come Opening Day.

As always, big Pirates news are always accompanied by some great quotes from Huntington, the wacky Nealspeil we have come to know and love.  Here's one of them:

"I'm not saying that Mark's (Melancon) going to become Joel, but sometimes we get caught up in what we've done today and not necessarily take a look in how we've gotten there."

That is a quote directly from the Post-Gazette this morning.  Can anyone tell me what exactly he was trying to say there?

For the next bit of Nealspeil, I turn the stage over to my friend Fred Shugars and a comment he made on Facebook Pirate Chat this morning.  Take it away, Fred:

NH on adding Holt to the deal: "He was somebody Boston came after, and we reluctantly put him in the deal". That does make Neil sound like the bully just took his lunch money.

Thank you, Fred.  Couldn't have said it better.

If you are reading no great sense of outrage on my part, what can I say?  The Pirates have succeeded in numbing me on such matters over the course of the NHR.

But, hey, we're baseball fans, right?  Everything looks good over the Hot Stove, right?  Maybe this one will too.

Watch, but don't bet.