Who am I, and what have I done with Mike?
The Steelers are 1-2 heading into their bye week, and they way they've been playing, in all phases of the game, leads me to believe that things aren't going to get better right away. Normally, I'd be worried sick, but I'm not. I'm not nearly as hungry for a Superbowl repeat as many Steeler fans are. Did I just invest way too much energy in them last year, and now that I've seen one title, I'm fine with whatever happens this year, so long as New England, Dallas, or San Francisco (chuckle) don't win the big one?
The Penguins have lost Malkin for the first month or so of what I think will be the Penguins' final season in the Steel City, but I don't think the team will be much worse without him. After all, the defense has shown minimal signs of improvement, and Malkin, Crosby, or any Penguin, will be hard-pressed to score from their own blue line. However, two wins against the Flyers, whether they count or not, is still enough to make one happy. I hope the Penguins are able to make things interesting late in the season for the final playoff spot, but I think they'll only be slightly better as they won't start with nine consecutive losses like last season. If I can make any guarantee about this team, it is that.
The Pitt Panthers appear to have an offense when you just look at the final scores of games. Then you remember their head coach is stuck in those days just before the advent of the West Coast Offense when power running ruled the day. Then you recall that they've played three teams who've won a combined two games, and a 3-1 Michigan State squad (who should be 4-0) whom they were trailing 38-10 well into the 4th quarter before scoring a couple of garbage touchdowns. This tells me that Pitt is good enough to keep themselves out of embarrassing depths, but nowhere near a level where they will withstand the season-ending 1-2 punch of West Virginia and Louisville. Rutgers may even be a stretch. The only advantage they'll have in each case is the home field one. Of course, that won't account for much, except maybe the games won't be out of reach after one quarter of play.
And how about Louisville? They seem to be losing a "key player" every other game, but continue to score regularly enough win convincingly. Head Coach Bobby Petrino may be an arrogant S.O.B., but he can assess talent.
And the Buccos. After doing so well (relatively speaking) after the All-Star Break, they're showing their true colors again at the end of the season, currently in the middle of a 6-game losing streak. On the verge of re-entering the cellar to stay with the Cubs only one-half game behind. Part of me says they deserve to be there anyway, so just let it be...the Cubs would not ever have been in the cellar had it not been for egregious injuries to many a key player. Of course, the Pirates might not have been so bad had Freddy Sanchez started the season at third (which I'd argued for in this thread on burghsportsguys.com around New Years), and the Burnitz signing never happened. Of course, I was ok with that signing at the time. I don't know how many people thought he'd hit the wall quite as hard as he did after donning the black and gold.
Am I just not a fan anymore, or am I beginning to adopt that partial "journalistic objectivity" that I'm going to need down the road? Either way, it's a very odd feeling.
===
In other "news", my spoof "Bad Team" was picked up on by the New York Daily News.
The Penguins have lost Malkin for the first month or so of what I think will be the Penguins' final season in the Steel City, but I don't think the team will be much worse without him. After all, the defense has shown minimal signs of improvement, and Malkin, Crosby, or any Penguin, will be hard-pressed to score from their own blue line. However, two wins against the Flyers, whether they count or not, is still enough to make one happy. I hope the Penguins are able to make things interesting late in the season for the final playoff spot, but I think they'll only be slightly better as they won't start with nine consecutive losses like last season. If I can make any guarantee about this team, it is that.
The Pitt Panthers appear to have an offense when you just look at the final scores of games. Then you remember their head coach is stuck in those days just before the advent of the West Coast Offense when power running ruled the day. Then you recall that they've played three teams who've won a combined two games, and a 3-1 Michigan State squad (who should be 4-0) whom they were trailing 38-10 well into the 4th quarter before scoring a couple of garbage touchdowns. This tells me that Pitt is good enough to keep themselves out of embarrassing depths, but nowhere near a level where they will withstand the season-ending 1-2 punch of West Virginia and Louisville. Rutgers may even be a stretch. The only advantage they'll have in each case is the home field one. Of course, that won't account for much, except maybe the games won't be out of reach after one quarter of play.
And how about Louisville? They seem to be losing a "key player" every other game, but continue to score regularly enough win convincingly. Head Coach Bobby Petrino may be an arrogant S.O.B., but he can assess talent.
And the Buccos. After doing so well (relatively speaking) after the All-Star Break, they're showing their true colors again at the end of the season, currently in the middle of a 6-game losing streak. On the verge of re-entering the cellar to stay with the Cubs only one-half game behind. Part of me says they deserve to be there anyway, so just let it be...the Cubs would not ever have been in the cellar had it not been for egregious injuries to many a key player. Of course, the Pirates might not have been so bad had Freddy Sanchez started the season at third (which I'd argued for in this thread on burghsportsguys.com around New Years), and the Burnitz signing never happened. Of course, I was ok with that signing at the time. I don't know how many people thought he'd hit the wall quite as hard as he did after donning the black and gold.
Am I just not a fan anymore, or am I beginning to adopt that partial "journalistic objectivity" that I'm going to need down the road? Either way, it's a very odd feeling.
===
In other "news", my spoof "Bad Team" was picked up on by the New York Daily News.
posted by Steeltown Mike at 1:29 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home