Steve McNair Football

I was happily thrown into the past on Sunday afternoon. That’s right, the past; The only place I can escape to without hearing the continuous blowing of a whistle, without seeing referees slash their hands on their knees over and over, and if only to avoid James Harrison’s look in disbelief at another yellow flag falling to the grass.

Let’s add some background to this time-travel. It’s 3^rd down and 17 for the Steelers at the Pittsburgh 29. Four flags and seven runs ago, Rashard Mendenhall kicked off the drive with a 42 yard run, turning around only to see the team marching back the other way. Holding. It’s always something. Back to third down: As soon as Ben snaps the ball he’s hit with pressure. Announcer Solomon Wilcots thinks he’s already sacked. Steeler Nation knows better. #7 doesn’t go down in 3 seconds. He escapes to the outside, and he’s still looking for options. Getting chased by a bills defender, Ben darts for the first down. No one in front of him, one big Buffalo behind him, he makes 18 yards look like a mile. Instead of sliding at 17, he goes all out and smashes his way past the marker. That’s when I went back and simply forgot.

I forgot about the 163 yards in penalties that were called against the Steelers the week prior. I forgot about the unfair target the league has placed on James Harrison. I forgot all about Roger Goodell, and Mike Florio and Richard Seymour. I forgot about the “If Tom Brady we’re this” and “If Peyton Manning were that” phrases. All I could think about was Steve McNair on the Titans.

You see, back in Steve McNair’s glory days, no one could tackle that man. He’d play with a broken thumb, and bruised thigh and a black eye and you still couldn’t bring him anywhere close to the ground. Then he’d throw a block or scramble to a first down just to remind you that he wasn’t just a quarterback. He was the toughest quarterback in the league, and if you wanted to bring his team down, you had to bring him down first.

I can’t think of anyone that comes close to McNair’s playing style besides Ben Roethlisberger. His fairly consistent passing, his clutch style, his ability to avoid the sack unless you’ve got 3 linebackers hanging on him. I mean, you’ve got to surround this guy to bring him down, or he’ll make a play.

You had to do the same with McNair, or soon you’d be seeing those turned out hands on the side of his helmet, and you’d be 7 points down. I mean really, if McNair was still living, what would he have to say about all this? This guy would’ve shredded the injury report weekly if he had the chance. He was in the huddle and un-sackable no matter what. That’s football.

That 18 yard scrambled showed me how much of a football player Ben Roethlisberger continuously proves himself to be. It was such a fierce football play, that I couldn’t help but forget all the nonsense that’s been going on in this league of “transitions” and “safety concerns.” I just felt that Steve McNair would rather I didn’t ponder all that.

Variety: The Triumph of US Sports

One thing that’s clear about Americans is that we can’t stand too much of the same thing. We need trendy gadgets and internet networks to pop-up every year. We change the channel more than we watch a single television program. We make playlists to avoid listening to an artist’s entire album, and god forbid if that artist doesn’t come out with unique material ever year.

Ok, so this kind of makes our society look shallow and impatient, and this can be true at times. But when this need for variety affects American sports I’ve got nothing to complain about. Variety is our the American sports world’s best quality.

For those of you who have ever seen a sports highlights program in any other country, you know what I’m talking about. Every game showcased is the same sport. The top ten plays all go down in the same way. The stat sheets and matchups all have the same format. Soccer, soccer, soccer (and in Canada and Russia, Hockey, hockey, hockey).

You’ve got to love that we have four seasons of major professional sports here in the states. We get four exciting months of playoffs from each team, overlapping seasons, and if that’s not enough, we’ve got NCAA march madness and BCS bowl games to boot. We’re so spoiled that we tend get bored of ESPN in the summer when all we’ve got is late season baseball highlights and over-extensive coverage of NFL training camps. Come to think of it, there isn’t any better conflict for a sports fan than to have their favorite hockey team battling for first place in the east, their NFL team playing for the last wild-card spot in the playoffs, and their NBA squad starting its third home-stretch of the season-all in one day.

We have more than just a variety of sports and seasons, because each sport has their own unique and thrilling aspects. Nothing compares with Joe Montana’s fourth quarter comeback with two minutes left in the NFC championship game. I could say the same for Bill Mazeroski’s walk-off homerun in game seven of the 1960 World Series, or maybe Jordan’s jumper against the jazz to win the Bull’s sixth NBA championship. Don’t forget Wayne Gretzky’s hat trick and game winner in the ’93 NHL conference finals.

To celebrate this incredible variety, I made an up-to-date guide detailing the best way to watch each major professional sport in the states. Side note: Every sport’s final playoff game would have to be a must watch, so I’m excluding the playoffs from this guide to keep the, you know, variety.

NFL- Monday Night Football at a Local Bar

When your team is playing on Monday Night Football, there are three things assumed: 1)Your team is in the national spotlight, and the players and fans want to flex their muscles on national television. 2) The game is a rivalry or great matchup, given that ESPN chooses their matchups carefully to get big games on Monday night. 3) You don’t give a hoot about whatever is going on Tuesday. It’s Monday night football! Work/school can wait.

You may ask, why at a bar and not at the game? Hate to break it to you, but the NFL on an HD television can very easily best a stadium experience for this particular sport. In the stadium, it’s easy to get distracted by loud drunk fans, long lines and peanut gallery seats. In a bar you can see replays in HD, argue with other fans, and get your high-fives in-all while keeping warm.

MLB- A Saturday Night Ballgame in August with Post-game fireworks at your local stadium.

Baseball’s ballparks are second to none when it comes to a live experience. Comparing a stadium experience to a TV viewing is un-called for. Nothing is better than watching the home-team, eating peanuts and a hot-dog, singing “root-root-root for (insert favorite team)” during the seventh inning stretch, and watching day turn into night at the open and friendly atmosphere that is an MLB ballpark. And who can say no to free fireworks in the August night sky?

NBA- Lakers vs. Celtics, Christmas Day at home.

What’s a better Christmas present than watching the Lakers and Celtics matchup on Christmas Day? Sure, the players can’t enjoy working on the 25^th, but back and home on your new Flat screen HD TV that you opened that morning, you can’t beat watching this classic rivalry to keep your Christmas spirit lingering. NBA is better to watch at home, because arenas can be disappointing. All the fake crowd noise and music during games makes the live experience a distracted one, and besides, you don’t want to be away from your family on Christmas.

NHL-Caps vs. Pens, Winter Classic, New Years Day

The NHL is really lucky to have two young stars taking over the league and saving the sport’s popularity in the US. They’ve also got another popular trend in the annual new year’s winter classic. This year the league came up with the brilliant idea of combining the two, with Crosby and Ovechkin facing off in this year’s outdoor game. It promises to be a great game, and hockey is without a doubt the best sport to watch live. The back and forth action, the constant hustle, the big saves; I can’t imagine how great this would be outdoors. Heck, this rivalry is a must-see on any given night.

So there you have it. We’ve got four major professional sports, with their own unique qualities, and incomparable ways to watch them. Other countries can stick to their soccer highlights, because I’m basking in this US variety. If only I had four bank accounts to afford those winter classic tickets…

So....now what?

Days like Sunday's 9-0 victory over the Houston Astros are a beautiful sight for Pirates fans, if only because they don't come around very often. Games where pitching, hitting, and fielding all come together are a rare sight for a fanbase starving for a winning ballclub. In the words of the Great Lanny Frattare: "There's no doubt about it", it's been a tough past 17+ seasons for baseball's Black and Gold. Wading through players like Derek Bell, Brian Bullington, and Randall Simon, management has finally pointed to this roster, to guys like Andrew McCutchen, Pedro Alvarez, Neil Walker, and Brad Lincoln as the ones who will bring this franchise back to the glory days. They told this fanbase to wait, to have patience, that the arrival of these guys would turn things around for the Buccos. And now that the future has become the present things look, well...eerily similar to the way they did before.

The win Sunday raised the Pirates record on the season to 13-33 since the May 25th call up of Neil Walker signalled the beginning of the cavalry's coming to the big leagues. Now some might attribute this horrific record to the growing pains that are to be expected of young guys taking their first hacks in the majors, but, unfortunately, the rookies are not the ones to blame. These kids have had to grow up real quickly, carrying to the plate not only a bat on their shoulders, but the hopes of an entire city. And so far, the kids haven't disappointed. So with the prospects finally here, but the results still not arriving, I have to ask: now what?

The bulk of the well-known prospects from the minor league system has arrived in Pittsburgh, but there still are gaping holes in this team. The offense may look somewhat respectable, but the rotation is still a mess. Whether it has been a result of injuries or poor performance, this staff has been unable to find any stability since Opening Day. Outside of Paul Maholm and maybe Jeff Karstens not one of the countless starters we've used this year can honestly say they've had a successful season. And no one on this staff seems to have that "Ace" potential that all successful major league clubs have. So even if this offense is able to do what it is capable of, what do we do about the pitching? The answer seems to lie in Altoona.

The Altoona Curve, AA affiliate of the Pirates, has amassed an amazing 57-36 record through 93 games this season, and the main reason for the success has been terrific starting pitching. Tops on the team has been 22 year-old Rudy Owens. The curly haired kid (think Napoleon Dynamite or Semi-pro's Jackie Moon) has earned 8 wins while suffering 3 losses and posting a 3.00 ERA. Behind him comes Justin Wilson, another 22 year-old who has put up a 7-5 record while leading the staff with a 2.95 ERA. Also on the horizon is Bryan Morris, the key piece of the Jason Bay trade. Morris posted an eye-popping 0.60 ERA through 8 starts this season for the High-A Bradenton Marauders before his promotion to Altoona, where he is 4-4 with a 4.78 ERA. Now all three of these guys may be a year or two away from Pittsburgh, but if you want to start looking for answers in the rotation, there is a good chance this is where it's going to come from.

So even though the record may not show it, things are looking up for the Pittsburgh Pirates. Because of a young, talented offense at the top and some impressive pitching prospects not far behind, there is reason for hope in a city that for so long, when it comes to baseball, has been hopeless. So for the last few months of the season, and I know Pittsburgh fans haven't heard these words too often, enjoy Pirates' baseball. Enjoy watching Cutch fly around the bases like he's in the home stretch of the Kentucky Derby. Enjoy watching the Pine Richland kid dive for a line drive and Meek pump his fist after striking out the side. Enjoy watching Pedro send baseballs deep into that striking Pittsburgh skyline, and know that better days are ahead.

Evan Meek: All Star

Making your way through the ups and downs-mostly downs of this year’s Pirates team, you might look at Andrew McCutchen and his young cavalry for the bright spot of 2010. But with a closer look, Evan Meek and the bullpen bullies are really the surprise component of the ever-growing Buccos. And that, right there, is why Mr. Meek, is in All Star.

His name might serve only as a caveaut to Evan’s journey to success, because there is nothing resembling meek, tame, or spiritless about it. Instead, Mr. Meek’s ability to consistently battle back from adversity has made him a prime candidate for all star recognition. He might even serve as a symbol of Neil Huntington’s program of young development.

After being drafted by the Twins in the 12^th round of the 2002 draft, Meek consistently struggled with control problems in the Minnesota farm system, due to lack of confidence and largely to bad advice from minor league coaches.

And while that would be the end of the road for most pitchers, Huntington seemed to realize that the west coast big man was different. The Pirates acquired him with a rule 5 draft pick, and despite some early hurdles of injury and control, Meek battled back yet again, and continued to develop into the Pirates prime weapon in the bullpen.

Meek now has the confidence, the control, and the “stuff” that teams thirst for in the 7^th inning. And when he steps up to the mound, there’s no question that the Pirates’ chances of winning rise as well. Don’t look at the definition of his last name, but rather his game which is, by definition, all-star.

Twitterific

Okay, I think it’s time to admit it. I finally went ahead and registered. I logged onto that cool little site with the blue clouds and birdies; all you have to do is enter a username and password and you can “Discover what’s happening right now, anywhere in the world.” Not only that, but I can get “short timely messages” from just about any athlete I might want to stalk. That’s right, I got a Twitter.

You see, Twitter is probably the best thing a sportswriter could dream of. When I was younger, all I wanted was for my Penny Hardaway poster to talk back to me. Well now, I have instant access to thousands of professional athletes’ inner thoughts, opinions, suggestions, style tips, hairstyle advice…I could go on for hours. I did have some trouble getting past the teen surge of Justin Beiber appreciation, but after a little sight navigation, athlete stalking is as easy as typing “@.”

And hey, what more could athletes want? After they’re bombarded with grilling press conference questions about locker room tension and domestic issues, they get to go home and tweet about how they’re craving a Milky Way, or how they love that new Drake song or just the fact that they have so much swagger.

After browsing Shaq’s page, I’m beginning to think that the program was invented solely for the Big Aristotle himself. Shaqtus has been, without a doubt, the king of hilarious one-liners. As alias The_Real_Shaq, twitter gives him the chance to make people laugh even more. Check out this Shaq tweet I found:

“If you look up in the sky you can see stars, if you keep looking, you may even see pluto,but dats why pluto is pluto it can neva b a star”

Wait, what? What did the Big Daddy just say?

The more athletes I follow, the more hilarious it gets. Spurs rookie DeJuan Blair has his fair share of funny tweets. On May 2, DeJuan45 tweeted:

“Mortons steak house?? NAW!!!!!! Maybe 2 morrow! ROOM SERVICE? NAW too much 4 on thing!! Haha! I guess I'll eat dinner n the mini bar haha!”

Oh, right.

If there’s one tweeting trend to notice, it’s that these athletes have no care for grammar, or even making sense. But for us sports lovers, it’s the best chance to see into their lives, no matter how hard it is to actually comprehend.

Of course, Twitter can get athletes in trouble. These guys can be incomprehensible, but some things just shouldn’t be put out there for the world to see. The NFL is beginning to fine athletes for inappropriate tweets or tweets that are made during a game. Meanwhile, wide receiver Santonio Holmes was recently suspended, and subsequently traded from the Pittsburgh Steelers for tweeting drug related messages. Where was his head @?

Still, if athletes mind the rules and keep their cool, this Twitter thing is a dream for us sports admirers. I’d still give anything to have my Hardaway poster compliment me on my kicks, but I’ll take Twitter for now.

*Originally printed in The Dickinsonian

Did you recently join Twitter nation? Here's a link from Mondesi's House that provides all the twitter pages of Pittsburgh athletes, news sources, coaches, personalities, and pretty much anything else dealing with PGH sports.

Mound-umental Debuts

Last night, on his new stomping ground at Nationals Park, Steven Strasburg took his spotlight and turned it to max voltage. Behind the flashing lights and eye-popping stats is a monumental turning point for two rebuilding organizations: these teams aren't only opponents in this series-they're parallels.

The flamethrower phenom pitched 7 innings of nasty gas, striking out 14 Pirates and walking none to show the control, power, and domination of a premier pitcher in the National league. Never before has a pitcher zapped 14 batters without giving up a free base in their MLB debut. Never before has a Washington Nationals pitcher had 14 stikeouts. Never before has a MLB player taken this amount of pressure and clearly exceeded expectations.

No, the kid didn't pitch a perfect game. He didn't get a shut out either, thanks to one swing of Delwyn Young's Louisville. But given the circumstances, Steven Strasburg has answered the individual hype, unheard of in the team oriented MLB, with a magnificent performance that puts him atop the Nats' rotation and on pace to become one of the top pitchers in the NL. It was just one game, let's remember-but that stuff was N-A-s-T-y.

Hidden under all the hype, however smothered it may be by the radar gun reads and fanning bats, is the crucial middle stage of rebuilding for the Nationals and the Pirates. The Nationals have finally unveiled the centerpiece of their organization, while the Pirates are in the process of calling up the young guns to put together some of the pieces of their multi-year molding plan.

Let's not forget that these teams just drafted some incredible talent in the MLB Draft. The Nationals drafted 17 year old slugger Bryce Harper and highly touted pitcher A.J. Cole in the first and fourth rounds. The Pirates had a similarly successful outcome, snagging high school standouts in projected Ace Jameson Tallion and fastball king Stetson Allie. Who knows if these guys might have their own stunning debuts in a couple years.(more on the draft coming soon)

As for Pittsburgh, Andrew McCutchen and Neil Walker are already established (see previous article), but the night after Strasburg's debut, Pittsburgh will send out some of it's own young talent in pitcher Brad Lincoln and outfielder Jose Tabata.

Lincoln is no Strasburg, lacking the ace material and command to put on any performance similar to the kid from San Diego. Still, Lincoln has the stuff and confidence to establish himself atop the Pirates' rotation. Tabata has dominated at the plate for the Pirates' AAA team, earning him the chance to surge some offense into the Pirates' lineup.

That's not to say that tonight's game will be anywhere near as spectacular as last night's debut, but it's certainly a much more important game for the Pirates' organization. The Nationals had their turn, and now it's the Pirates' chance to see just how far they are in rebuilding to a successful franchise. These teams have a lot of talent brewing in their organizations, and watching these young prospects make their appearances in the Majors will be a quite the spectacle in the coming years.

Walker, Cutch, Maholm, Oh My!

The Pirates may have one of the worst line-ups in baseball. The Buccos are stacked with other teams’ draft busts, young players with “upside,” and middle aged players that have already established themselves as inconsistent; Jeff Clement, Andy LaRoche and Aki Iwamura serve as prime examples to this one-two-three punch. But for the first time since Aramis Ramirez’s transformation into a decent power hitter, the organization’s farm league efforts have finally come through in the majors-And it all happened with one game-winning bucco blast.

When Neil Walker smacked his first career home run over the left field wall, scoring himself and emerging star Andrew McCutchen to win their second straight game against the Cubs, fans at long last saw a glimpse of light from the organization’s minor-league labors.

The 2000’s era has been worse than dismal for the Pirates’ farm efforts. Management has watched 1^st round draft picks fail early and often, with Bryan Bullington never reaching higher than AA and John VanBenschoten producing next to nothing in the major leagues.

Regardless of the team’s lackluster lineup, the Pirates continue to build from the bottom up. They continue to fill their farm system with talented prospects through the draft and trades-the proven method for rebuilding a team without access to premium spending money.

Andrew McCutchen is undoubtedly an emerging star in the game, and he had the potential to be the leader of the team if it reaches a playoff-caliber level. Many scouts have voiced their opinion that he could be the best lead-off hitter in a year or two. His speed, consistency, and knack for occasional power hitting make him a threat to any pitcher. Ultimately, he’s the only Pirate on this year’s roster that could start on any MLB team’s roster.

Paul Maholm (drafted in 2003) has also stepped up as the team’s most consistent and reliable starting pitcher. Although he doesn’t have the power of Duke, the pitcher drafted has developed a skillful command on the mound. He also has a good combination of pitches to keep batters guessing.

And don’t discount Neil Walker’s recent emergence. The Pittsburgh native has finally reached the majors, and he’s making the best of it. Although he struggled with attitude and consistency in the minors, the Pirates were patient with him and brought him up at the right time. Now, it seems as if he’s rewarding them. He’s already proven that his promotion is a major upgrade from Aki Iwamura at second base, and his power has given McCutchen a chance to move back to the leadoff spot.

These three guys are major league signs that the buccos are beginning their ascent to decency, but it is in the minor league system that the organization is making sure that they have the players to continue this positive movement. Sure, the Pirates had the emergence of Nate McLouth and Jason Bay as of late, but the minor league depth two years ago was next to nothing compared to its current level. There is no question that the combination of current emerging talent and depth of upside prospects has this team headed in a great direction.

With Pedro Alvarez and Brad Lincoln headlining the team’s valued prospects, the Pirates will continue to bring up young players to fuel the team in the next couple of years. Neil Walker and Andrew McCutchen were only the beginning. Not only are these young prospects improving their skills in preparation, but they’re shining in their own leagues. Pitcher Tim Alderson just won the Eastern League pitcher of the week, while Brad Lincoln won a similar award just a couple weeks prior.

Maybe they won’t reach .500 this year, but 2010 will be a telling season for the Pirates. With talent popping up from the minors and young players developing in the majors, the team is moving in the right direction, and fans can finally see that fact.