Well folks, I have another rant against the N F L......its officiating crew and those who are employed to run the League. Remember: the N F L is made up by teams, 32 of them. The owners of these various teams meet at certain times throughout the year to determine what is and what is not penalties on the field; they also determine certain codes of conduct of ALL personnel within the League. During these meetings they have "elected" personnel to run the League in day to day operations. This is simplified, but it is how the League operates....with an "Executive Director", called the Commissioner who is "in charge". He and his "underlings" hire everyone else, from the secretaries, personnel directors and the officiating crews. There is more to it, but..........

Now to my rant.................They should now change the name of the N F L (National Football League) to the N F L (Neverending Fine League)....Jerry Granville used to call it the No Fun League, which was true...still is, but this new name fits more aptly. Why, you may, or  not, ask........because things have gotten out of hand, from the officiating at the games to the fines that have been levied. There has been so many BAD noncalls and calls of late (only 6 games into the season) that I begin to wonder 1. Are the Officials being paid off.   2. Are the Officials really competent.  3. Do the Officials need more Officials on the field of play. 4. Do the Officials need to be retrained.  5. Do the Officials need to be issued good eyeglasses so that they can see what we see during the game.

I bring this up for several reasons, not the least of which is the fines being imposed by the LEAGUE even though during a game, no flags were thrown...........the OFFENDENT never even know he had done something wrong.....no yellow hanky was thrown (and you know they do this quite readily); the Offendent only becomes aware of the infraction when he receives a letter....in the mail....containing the BAD news AND a fine. The latest victim, er, Offendent has been identified as Pittsburgh's own,  Hines Ward..........His latest "gaffe" was "Uneccessary Roughness" . For this....his second ALLEDGED penalty.......he is being fined 10 thousand dollars...the first "offense" cost him 5 grand. One coach...don't remember which ####...calls Ward a dirty player, however not many really do that........AND he has not, to date, INJURED any other player. He is, without a doubt, the premier blocking Wideout in the NFL, but dirty...no.

Now, before one begans to call me a "homer" and prejudice, allow me to explain....Ward's case and fines are the only ones I am aware of....there are others, maybe, I don't know. Point is: Ward was not flagged by Officials at the games, no one threw a yellow hanky at him...whomever he blocked or whatever did not complain.............NO ONE complained, not even the guys broadcasting the game, you know how they love to do that!

By the way.....there are plenty of late hits on Quarterbacks of late, some are called...most are not. There is, do I have this right, a one step rule..no flag if the tackler is within one step of the QB. I've seen Big Ben hit, pounded into the ground "long" after the ball was released...no flag. I have seen him driven into the ground time after time, the latest caused a "minor" separation to his right shoulder...no flags. AND these players never received a letter from the N F L. The same has occured in other games I have watched...QB'#### late, QB's driven into the ground...no flags, no fines. There are "vicious" blocks in the back, no flags, no fines, so.....................?? Doesn't that make the rest of you wonder. Where the hell is the League going? What the hell is Dodger Goodell doing?? His minions are acting like they are gods....one cannot even question the dingbat Officials, you WILL receive a fine.

I think it is time for the N F L to let the players play...if it is a blatant hit, throw the damn flag and fine the guy, otherwise......One further thing watch for the REAL late hits on all players...there are plenty to go around.

Finally...get someone to "police" the "hired help" that is what Dodger and his organization is after all. THE TEAMS ARE THE N F L..........not Goodell and his people, time for him to realize this.

Before everyone gets bent out of shape....this is tied into sports, all sports.

Everyone has been watching the meltdown of Wall Street recently; many people have been affected, one way or another; many have lost their homes, their jobs, their pensions and many who can afford to buy items on credit can't. It seems that the only ones NOT affected by the meltdown are POLITICIANS AND PROFESSIONAL ATHLETES.

These persons continue to draw their high salaries, basically paid by us. Taxpayers pay the elected POLITICIANS salaries and all their benefits. Fans pay the ATHLETES salaries and benefits by paying admission prices and buying things that are advertised, one way or another during the athletic contests; of course the companies that sell these things pay huge money in order advertise their products during these contests. Of course we pay for this advertising in the end...ever increasing prices of food, automobiles, housing...whatever.

Not one of the POLITICIANS or ATHLETES care to reduce THEIR salaries or benefits; at least the athletes are not blaming each other for the economical debacle that is unfolding before our eyes. However ALL the politicians are blaming each other. AND the majority are blaming the Bush Presidency for the current debacle. Obama claims that Bush and his cronies caused this; McCain is blaming the Democrats. I wonder......does anyone know who is at fault? Are any of you thinking how this came about? I have.

I believe the debacle came about because of the banking industry's proclivity of granting loans to persons and businesses who, in the end, could not afford to make the required payments. The loans were offered at low rates to draw customers in; the drawback was that they were "adjustable interest" loans. After a "short" period the loan interest began to rise to what the market dictated, since the loan rate was not "fixed" payments rose to a point that customers began to default. Foreclosures began, causing a glut of real estate on the market, lowering the value of the property in question. With banks not being able to "unload" these properties to recover the loss, banks began to fail. Bigger banks began to fail for the same reason, their money was tied up in loans to smaller banks; all were based on real estate purchased at "overvalued" prices.

So..........banks refused to offer credit, even to those well able to afford the cost of interest; thus we started down the slippery slope. Since the availability of credit controls everything, businesses had not enough money to perform; layoffs began, businesses lost money. The value of businesses went down, so investers began to unload their stock..causing the value to go even lower with more and more "selldowns". The panic began and will continue, until people with faith in the "system" begin buying stock, which will cause the price of stock to rise; but the "profit takers" will do this....buy low and sell high.

Of course I simplified what has occured, there is more; but panic selling has always ruined the economy...look at the '29 crash, the panic selloff bankrupted the Nation and the world. Of course there was no money behind the stocks that crashed then, one could purchase and own stocks for 10 cents on the dollar, without ever putting any more money in the stock. My aunts and uncles lost "fortunes" in the '29 crash, of course it was only paper money.....their "fortunes" were only on paper, no "real" money behind it.

Tie this into sports....the Jerry Jones', the Rooneys' and other owners have investments that enable them to survive; they also rely on adverising fees and profit sharing to afford the salaries paid. What happens when some businesses "refuse" to pay those fees? What happens when those businesses fail? Where is the money going to come from? Will the players take cuts in salaries to aid the team? Will owners cut their losses and just fold? IT COULD HAPPEN. Think about it.

On another Fox site....the Steelers page of Fox Sports....I have been reading reader comments by a few fans. Some are calling others, in jest, latent ####s. The thought occured to me, given the late antics of the Steelers............

Do we now have a "Latent Offensive Line"?? Now everyone should know what "latent" means: it actually means "hidden", sometimes "denied"; but mostly "hidden," as in what police investigators call "latent fingerprints", brought out only by "dusting". Oils left behind when an object is touched reveal prints when dusted with the proper material.

Now, can we get some material and dust Arians to discover any "latent offensive talent"; or can we dust the Steelers Offensive Line to discover any "latent talent", that is, hidden talent not shown yet? Hmmm, I wonder........Maybe the game at Jacksonville will be the dust to reveal what the Steelers have........Do they have the desire and the heart to reveal their talent? We shall see Sunday night on national telelvision.

By the way, I do support the Steelers, win or lose; I would consider a loss at Jax a win, if the Steelers play well and escape with no injuries, that is, NO further injuries.

THAT IS MY OPINION, WHAT IS YOURS?

Three, just three, games into the season and some fans are already calling the Steelers done for the season......because of a loss to the Eagles???  Give me a break!! Them too!

Sure they lost to a great team; I knew they would either lose or win by a slim margin. Turns out they lost by 9 points......BIG DEAL!!  They couldn't or wouldn't adjust to the blitz packages the Eagles threw at them. They started to run blitz, taking out Willie Parker, the Coaches did not adjust....instead they started to pass; the Eagles pinned their collective ears back and blitzed anywhere with 6, 7, even 8 men. Big Ben had no time to even check for a hot receiver to counter, so.............he got sacked, then sacked, then sacked!

Still, the Defense kept them in the game, even to the Fourth Quarter. The Steeler Defense played well, having to be careful because McNabb is just too good at finding his receivers under pressure, just as he did for the Eagles lone Touchdown. Does that make the Steelers a bad or done team?? No, a bad team will not adjust for the next game, I believe the Steelers will....they will have "hot receivers" to defeat the blitz when in passing plays...hopefully Ben will not have to look for them...just throw to the area they are to be in, ala Dan Fouts.

The other item that further the Eagles cause was their Punter.....how many times did he bury the ball so close to the Goalline?? How many times did his punts leave no chance for a return man to return it, even catch the thing?? Well....I don't think there are too many teams that can do what the Eagles did, except the Giants. Most teams that will now play the Steelers will attempt the same Defense....it may work, it may not....other teams, especially in our Division cannot do what the Eagles can do..........Number One, they don't have Jim Johnson, Number Two, they don't have a Donovan McNabb; finally they cannot all handle the Defense of the Steelers, hungry to prove that they are not "washed up".

I look for the Steelers to rebound and learn from the mental errors committed in the loss to the Eagles. At the very least they WILL win the Division, quite possibly the entire AFC. I don't necessarily see the Steelers in the Super Bowl (unless they take the AFC crown), but I do see either the Eagles or the Cowboys in the Super Bowl...the black horse will be the Giants this year....they could also make it.

Remember folks, there are 16 regular games in a season...only 3 have been played, so don't count anyone out until the FAT LADY sings!! I look for Ariens (whom I never liked) and the O line coach to make major adjustments. AND....GO STEELERS!!!!

I am going to try this one more time/other post disappeared:    I finished reading my friend, Dwindy1's post about where the money is going to come from in the future. I wish to expand and expound on HIS post.....true, things have gotten out of hand...........can we afford to go to the games, even watch them on the telly anymore??

The saying "money is the root of all evil" is always given for the reason for all ills....BUT even this is misquoted. The quote should be and is "The LOVE of money is the root of all evil". I have always believed this quote came from the Bible and came from Jesus..............I don't  know anymore, but I do believe even this is wrong; it should state "GREED IS THE ROOT OF ALL EVIL". Greed is not love, it is never being satisfied with what one has, whether it be love, money, land, autos or any other material possessions.....humans always have and always will want more.....danm the cost!!

Prime exanmple of this GREED is the salaries paid and demanded by professional athletes. Wide Receivers and Quarterbacks, Pitchers and Hitters, Point Guards and Power Forwards receive more money than the Gross National Product of some nations. Since Free Agency it has gotten completely out of hand; salaries have gone from "next to nothing" to "Oh my God, he is being paid what!?". Another example is the amounts of money being thrown a draft picks, who have never even played a quarter, an inning or a period. Look at Atlanta's recent pick...Ryan might be the highest paid QB who hasn't done nothing yet....at least til next draft. Course, one can't totally blame playerseither...all the owners are complicit in this also.....they are always bidding and outbidding each other for the talents of the players they think will be the ones to lead them to victory, damn the cost!!

I have no real problem with Free Agency as a rule.....previous to it players received the least the owners could pay............most were real cheapskates in all areas. Now, most owners seem to have more money than brains, or, they find a way to pass the costs on to us, the fans, one way or another. Try to get a cheap hotdog and a beer at any stadium in the Nation; just try!! Add in the prices of the various clothing items we buy under the au####es of the MLB, NFL, NBA or the NHL!! You see where this is leading??

Point is, can we blame the players?? Yes and no. It is human nature to be greedy...we want what others have, no, that is not true; we want more than what the others have. Keeping up with the Joneses is a human past-time, from the lowiest illegal alien strawberry picker in California to the highest paid CEO in a New York City Boardroom. Greed has led to the majority of most wars, also the world expansion of the human race.

Witness the "discovery" of the New World by Columbus. He was searching for a sea route to the East Indies so that he and the King and Queen of Spain could profit from the ####e Trade. We all know that Columbus died broke, but Spain, after gold was found in the Americas became wealthy....greed killed off the Incas and Aztecs eventually. Then the French and English became jealous of Spain's wealth, we know the outcome of that....eventually. Even the settlement of Jamestown, Virginia was brought about by greed, the Virginia Company was hoping to find gold, thus profiting mightily,

So, you see, GREED is the root of all evil....human nature has brought us to the point that we can't even afford ourselves.....it affects us all, from the price of gasoline to the price of the strawberries picked by that lowly illegal alien in California.

Did y'all see some posts out there that one expresses his or her opinion and other commentors make disparaging remarks on that blog post?? Why is that?? We write to express mostly our opinions, don't we??

I would like to know who has declared open season on bloggers.  Who has given another permission to became irate, abusive...calling people morons and the like,,,or worse, ala Steve Wilkos?? While these blogs do offer the opportunity to share opinions, facts, knowledge and other types of information, why do some think that gives them permission to comment with nasty or worse printed language; just because they are "hiding" behind their computers' keyboard??

I would like to meet some of the ones who are guilty of these types of comments...really to see if they have the intestinal fortitude to do this in person. From my long experience in law enforcement, they do not. It is the same in mob violence (riots and the like) anonymity gives one "guts" they would not have in person..even in crowds at sports contests...they feel safe to do whatever they wish.

It is time for all to use some common sense  also when composing a post...try not to create controversy, at least not on purpose. Remember the fool or #### who uses derisive and profane comments in responding are proving that they are fools and idiots...one can either delete the comment...or better yet, let the comment stand as evidence.

You may or may not ask what I am tired of. Whether you want to know or not, I am going to tell you what I am tired of and whom I am tired of.

I am sooooo tired of overpaid professional athletes who "earn" millions of dollars for entertaining the masses and then complain that it is not enough money. I am also tired of the professional sport team owners who have no guts and continue to pay the athletes the zillions of dollars; owners, to stroke their own egos, bid and outbid each other to gain athletes in their "stables".

I am sooooo tired of overpaid and underworked politicians who claim to have the best interests of the public at heart while they line their pockets with lobbyist's money and various perks. They cowtow to the lobbyists and other special interest groups to the detriment of the public......then become involved in private entities like Major League Baseball and professional football, claiming THESE organizations are corrupt, crime ridden, steroid using and drug infested miscreants. I think they should clean their own houses first; ah but the public will say "what a fine job they are doing, cleaning up our sports".

I am sooooo tired of SOME overpaid and underworked schoolteachers who claim they are overworked.............They evidently do not realize...more to the point......they DON'T CARE that they, like our elected officials, are paid by the taxpayers. They work in usually safe environs, free from the dangers of soldiers, police officers, corrections officers who are paid much, much less. Most of the ones complaining do just enough to keep their jobs, they would not have been worth a darn in my time. I remember when teachers taught...they also worked part-time jobs after school and during the summer to make ends meet. They cared.

I am sooooo tired of BIG BUSINESS continually taking advantage of the public. To reduce costs, they have outsourced manufacturing to foreign countries, while not reducing the prices of the products, all in the pursuit of bigger and bigger profits for greedy stockholders and CEO's. We, the public follow like sheep....continue to let them "shaft" us.

Basically though..............I am sooooo tired of the whole "entertainment" complex in the United States.............millions upon millions of dollars being expended on athletes, movie stars, TV stars to do nothing more than entertain us, to give us some minor respite from our alledgedly humdrum, hohum existence. We are fast approching the day of 300 dollar general admission tickets to baseball/football games, 10 dollar beers and hotdogs.

Isn't it about time we woke up.....................Take control of our lives and live as the Founding Fathers thought we would..................decently, with no one having a real unfair advantage?

I tried posting this some time ago. After slaving over it for almost an hour, I had said JUST what I wanted to say. I hit "post comment", but you know what happened, "SERVICE UNAVAILABLE" appeared like magic on my screen!! I hit the back arrow immediately, hoping that I could save the post. Ahh,  twas not to be; now I will have to attempt to redo the whole thing all over again, although the masterpiece of prose I wrote previously will not appear; you see I write and edit at the same time, and by the "seat of my pants" so my thoughts are oft lost after putting them down, unless there is hard copy available. So, with no further adieu, here we go

Why, oh why, do we do it! What you MAY ask. Why do we place mere mortals on pedestals; they are only men or women or........ They are humans, #### sapiens, only a few steps above the apes that some say we evolved from. They are not gods, just God's creation. So....why do we treat our sports' figures like gods, place them on pedestals, hero worship them like they hold all the answers to all the questions. WHY?!? At some point, a few, even more, will make an ERROR in judgement, unintentionally break a law, OR outrightly snub the nose at the law and commit a crime! Thus, my friends those who do thus[y, will fall off that pedestal, a fall from grace if you will, and the public will OUTRAGED! How could he (or she) do that?! He was a role model for our children, he, he, he,..............was MY hero, I worshipped him from afar. Next, one will be calling for that icon of virtue, that "god" to be axed from his (or her) team and locked up, why?? Because he or she let you down?? Why did you, us really, place that person up in that rarified air, anyway? Just because he could throw a football, catch a football, shoot a basket, hit a pitched 200 mph fastball or throw one? That is no reason, the person is still flesh and bone, still a human being with flaws, faults and foibles.

Now a history lesson: George Washington, Father of our Country, Abraham Lincoln, the Great Emancipator, Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Jackson, Benjamin Franklin and many, many more are real heroes. But.....dear hearts..they all had serious flaws in character, they too made errors, cheated, lied and carried on with "wonted" women. Jefferson dallied with his houseslave, who bore him children, Jackson is alleged to have committed bigamy (still a crime in the US) which nearly cost him an election AND he killed a person over the accusation, Franklin had an illegitimate son, who happened to be the Royal Governor of New Jersey at the outbreak of the Revolutionary War; while an emmisary to France, Franklin engaged in more than one dalliance, and finally, it has been noted that both Washington and Lincoln did things....well a little different, The biggest thing of Lincoln was that he freed the slaves, correct? Read the Proclamation, you will be surprised as to whom he freed, then read history behind it, you will see WHY they were freed. These people were, WHAT? Human beings! They #### up, too; just like the rest of us #### Sapiens!

Next comes the politicos, who have been placed onto the rarified pedestals of hero worship. Franklin D. Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy, Dwight David Eisenhower, Ronald Reagan,  Lyndon Baines Johnson; to name a few who happened to be President. And of course, before they fell of that damn pedestal, there was William Jefferson Clinton, Richard Milhous Nixon, Spiro T. Agnew, George W. Bush and Gerald R. Ford (for pardoning Nixon). These guys lied, cheated, twisted the law to their own advantage, some had dalliances outside thier marriages for which great pains were taken to cover it up. There is some evidence that FDR "forced" Japan to go to war with the U.S. and that the attack on Pearl Harbor was really known about. JFK was really reluctant to send Federal Troops to enforce desegradation in the Sout, Bobby had to convince him it was the right thing to do, JFK was worried about losing the South in the next election. Point is, these guys are up there, but they #### up, just like us. They were all to human, conniving, cheating, lying #### Sapiens.

Next are our religious leaders, those icons of morality and godliness, God fearing Christians all! Course we all know about the Roman Catholic and Catholic Priests, so I won't go into that. But....we have Martin Luther King, Jr., Reverends Jimmy Swaggart, #### Roberts, James Baker (founder of the PTL Ministry) and others of recent infamy that have been also documented. ALL of these were good, decent men placed on pedestals by us for various reasons. Of course the best of them all was the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., who is still a personal hero of mine, no matter what! They, again, made errors in judgement, had affairs outside their marriages or "dipped" into funds when they should not have. Thus their iconic stature became somewhat tarnished. WHY? Because WE placed them on that damn pedestal again, believed they were somehow untaintable, more than us, more than any of us. But..............they were/are humans, after all.

LASTLY (and aren't you glad) come the athletes. Professional players of games of entertainment. These guys cannot be compared to the aforementioned for the simple reason: they PLAY GAMES! Just because they do something most of us cannot do is no reason to put them up there with the others I have mentioned. The others have "saved" the world, saved our souls, created a new Nation, saved a Nation; did something that REALLY MATTERED! We put Babe Ruth, Roger Clemens, Mark McGuire, Sammy Sousa, Pete Rose, Johnny Bench, Joe Dimaggio, Lou Gehrig (a brave man), Joe Namath, Terry Bradshaw, Rocky Bleir(a REALLY brave person), Franco Harris, even Barry Bonds up on that damn pedestal because, mostly, they did well in theirarea of sports They could pitch, catch and throw better than anyone, especially us "mere" mortals. Just one thing: we forgot they are only human; some have already outraged us because they fell from the pedestal and from grace. How could they do that, we ask; they are role models for our children for God's sake, he....he... he was my hero...how could he do this TO ME!? Face it!! These people are only too human also, they have their flaws, faults and foibles too. Only thing, they get more offers to do something "wrong" than we do, or ever will. We want them to perform better, block and run harder, throw the ball longer, harder, faster.....whatever, to do what? Entertain us!! Just don't expect them to stay up ther on that pedestal too long, some will, some won't.

Remember these words of wisdom friends: It is not always the swiftest who wins the race. AND   It is always true: All is NOT fair in love and war, nothing is ever completely fair or unfair, even though there are those who wish it so.  Fuzzboss

BEFORE ANYONE GETS THEIR PANTS ALL UP IN A #### OVER THIS, I SAY THIS: I DO NOT CONDONE, NOR EVER DID CONDONE NOR WILL EVER CONDONE DOMESTIC VIOLENCE, PHYSICAL VIOLENCE, BY EITHER PARTY IN A "SPOUSAL TYPE" RELATIONSHIP. BY THAT I MEAN "STRAIGHT" RELATIONSHIPS, SAME SEX RELATIONSHIPS OR WHATEVER KIND OF RELATIONSHIP ONE HAPPENS TO BE IN.

That said, I offer this OPINION for your perusal: The Steelers did not operate on a DOUBLE STANDARD when they fired Cedric Wilson recently, while retaining James Harrison. Not that it matters, but Harrison's incident occured prior to this latest "gaffe" by Wilson. No one knows what the Steeler organization whould have done, had Harrison involved himself in a domestic violence incident AFTER Wilson's latest involvement in one.

Wilson was involved in a domestic dispute that turned violent previously; this incident led to his girlfriend firing a weapon inside Wilson's residence, Wilson was not there, and an 11 or 12 hour standoff with the police. She is still facing charges for weapons violations. One can surmise that Wilson did SOMETHING that led to all this incident entailed, nothing is ever just one's persons fault all the time. The entire matter was dutifully handled by the police, evidence and statements gathered, charges filed. The entire incident was reported thoroughly by the various medias. Wilson did not get fired; he was put on notice by the Steeler organization not to involve himself in a situation such as this again.

Wilson was given a SECOND CHANCE! He apologized, filed a "Protection from Abuse" petition, that was granted. The Steelers gave him that precious SECOND CHANCE, and what did he do? He went to an eatery where his estranged girlfriend sat at the bar, hit her on her shoulder AND AS SHE TURNED AROUND, punched her in the face. Reports indicated that he immedilately left the establishment and was later taken into custody by police officials. Witnesses at the scene reported that they saw the assault and that it was unprovoked. BOTTOM LINE:  Wilson had been given that precious SECOND CHANCE and blew it by seeking out his estranged girlfriend and punched her while in public. As a side note the woman is now claiming Wilson did not punch her.

NOW, remember, Wilson was given that SECOND CHANCE, was he not? He did not take advantage of it, did he? So, he is gone. Now people are saying by not cutting Harrison, this is a double standard. How so?? Wilson was given a SECOND CHANCE, was he not? Why deny that same SECOND CHANCE to Harrison?? Would it be fair to offer Wilson something and not Harrison? Again, I think not. Maybe neither deserved a SECOND CHANCE, but one was granted one; I think the other (Harrison) should be offered that same SECOND CHANCE!! Harrison has been put on notice, he is getting that SECOND CHANCE, I think it is only fair to do so.

AGAIN, I REPEAT, I DO NOT, DID NOT, NOR WILL I, CONDONE PHYSICAL DOMESTIC VIOLENCE BY EITHER OF THE SEXES.

Today I was reading a post on another "network" by a brother blogger. The post was about Brett Favre, his retirement and the impending installation of Rodgers as Green Bay's starting Quarterback, if Brett doesn't change his mind and return for another season.

This gave me pause about Quarterbacks. If the team does poorly, who gets blamed? You got it! The Quarterback. It matters not that the Offensive Line is offensive and porous as a spaghetti draining collander. It matters not that his receivers have hands of stones and cannot catch a five yard pass with no defender around him, IN PRACTICE! And it matters not that his Running Back is about as effective as a jellyfish in breaking hand tackles. It is always the QB's fault; even though his Offensive Co-ordinator couldn't draw up a play for a sandlot team of pickup!

Favre has retired, now Rodgers will have big shoes to fill; if he does not do well in his first outing as starter I can guarantee the Cheeseheads reaction: "bring back Brett!" There is going to be a search for identity; who will be the face of Green Bay?

This is true for all the teams in the NFL; Brady is the face of the Patriots, Anderson the Browns. However, some teams' Quarterback IS NOT the face of the team, yet! Why? The team has not found it's identity after losing an all-pro QB or RB, or there is problems with cohesion in the ranks, whatever. And all the fans can do is scream at the current QB.

This is true for Atlanta, Oakland, Washington, Jacksonville, even Pittsburgh. The Steelers have been looking for a replacement for Terry Bradshaw since he retired. They tried Stoudt, O'Donnell, the one that looked like Tom Sellock, Stewart, Maddox, Brister; now they are going with Big Ben. The problem is, he hasn't taken on the mantle of LEADER, yet!!  The team looked on Bettis as the leader (not Maddox), when Jerome left, no one took over the role of leader, not even Ben! The ship was without a rudder.

This is also true of other teams. Teams cannot win while continuing the merry-go-round of selecting and firing Quarterbacks, Wideouts, Running Backs in the search of winners. There has to be cohesion in the ranks, a TEAM spirit if you will. When it comes down to it, it IS a TEAM sport; there is no I in TEAM. But...... the team still needs a leader. Does it always have to be the Quarterback?? If there is no LEADER, why blame the QB......? Well, he is the FACE of the team, isn't he, isn't he supposed to be??  Hmm Ha, I wonder.

Today I was perusing the net and came across a report by Glazer that the Steelers have signed Big Ben to a multi-year contract extension. This seemed to rankle a lot of non-Steeler fans for some reason. These "intelligent" fans wrote all kind of abuse on Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh fans and the Steelers in particular.

It always amuses me and ticks me off too; all the hate and venom that come from these types. Why? Is it jealousy; is it anger (cause their teams lose........all the time); is it because they cannot think of anything intelligent to write; or is it because they did not get enough love growing up?? I wonder.

People, the season was over loooong ago, time to move on and await the new season. All teams are now engaged in things to improve their play and to become more competative, it will work, or not. Why cannot we wait until the season begins?? The Browns have selected some players who they believe will do much to improve the team, let us hope so, cause a hard fought game is more entertaining, even though I like to see my Steelers "blow out" the opposing team.

The draft isn't even here yet, so why not wait to see who the teams select at least? Then you have to wait until training camp and see who makes the team. AND then, comes pre-season, followed by the REAL deal. When it comes down to it, the only thing one can say is "we shall see".

Finally, get over the fact that your team won, or lost, that is now history! Time to move on cause if you do not learn from history you are bound to repeat it. And it seems that many fans have not learned that yet; they still think the Steelers did not win that Super Bowl; win or lose, they did something well nigh impossible to reach that goal.

Hopefully all teams will make do with what they garner in trades, drafts and free agency; allowing us to witness a glorious NFL season! Good luck to all, cause IT IS ONLY A GAME, AFTER ALL!

Just learned that longtime voice of the Pittsburgh Steelers, Myron Cope, has passed from this life. Myron, his screeching voice rising and falling did "color" for the Steelers until a few years ago when failing health forced him to retire after a throat operation.

His colorful language with the yoy's and so on both ticked fans off and amused them at the same time. I found myself, more times than not, turning on the radio to listen to Myron and Bill Hilgrove give the play by play as the Steelers waged war on an opposing team. 

I also enjoyed watching him do the sports from time to time on WTAE, Channel Four Pittsburgh, an ABC Network affiliate. Myron Cope will be missed greatly by the people of Pittsburgh.

Myron Cope was also the originator and inventor of Pittsburgh's "Terrible Towel".  He will be missed.