Big Lead Sports Bar

1/13/2009

THE NEWS

PHOTO OF THE DAY:
Really, is any comment necessary?

JERSEY OF THE DAY:

Is that Brian Jackson?

VIDEO OF THE DAY:

Riley Cote and Eric Godard square off during the Pens 4-2 win over Philly on Tuesday night.

Kennedy, Malkin, Staal and Cooke provided the offensive fireworks for the Pens, who ended the Flyers' eight-game home winning streak. Ovechkin, Semin, and the Capitals loom large on Wednesday night.

STEELERS/NFL:

--We have the answer as to why Troy Polamalu wasn't announced with the starters on Sunday: his calf injury was so bad that there was some uncertainty concerning his ability to play. He's on a light workload this week, as is Justin Hartwig. So much for the Steelers being totallly injury-free. [SI]

--A fatal auto accident occurs, and the widow is arrested for stealing Steelers novelties that scattered at the scene. Nice. [PennLive]

--Since the merger in 1970, teams attempting a three-game sweep in the NFL are 11-7. So much for the notion that it can't be done. [Dallas Morning News]

--PASuperBowl.com is pretty straight forward: you vote for either the Steelers or Eagles to win the Super Bowl. The only problem as I see it is that neither has qualified, but I suppose that's just a minor inconvenience. [PASuperBowl.com]

--"The 15 highest-rated television shows in the local market in 2008 were Steelers games, according to N.F.L. and Nielsen Media Research. The only reason there weren’t 16 games is because the September 14 game at Cleveland was not rated because of Hurricane Ike."

Translation: the entire region shuts down when a Steeler game, any Steeler game, is on.

[NY Times Freakonomics]

--Albert Haynesworth says the Ravens' offense is weak, and who am I to argue with a guy who's been known to step on a head here and there? [ESPN Blog Network]

--The Mayor of Baltimore's rap sheet includes four counts of perjury, three counts of theft, and three counts of fraudulent misappropriation by a fiduciary and two counts of misconduct. As Wikipedia adds, "The charges stem partly from incidents in which she allegedly misappropriated gift cards intended for the poor." [Baltimore Sun]



--OK, what's the story behind this photo? The Browns ready to start acquiring real athletes? [The Big Lead]



PENS/NHL:

--Jaromir Jagr recently talked glowingly about a return to Pittsburgh, and while that may happen someday, right now he's busy with the KHL All Star Game, played outdoors in Red Square. Come to think of it, this probably a makes a better photo than Ed Rendell. [Fanhouse]



"Freeze out: Ovechkin, Malkin friendship grows cold". OK, you've got my attention... [Yahoo!]

--Here's an always-intriguing matchup: Evgeni Malkin vs. the English Language (with video!) [Puck Daddy]

COLLEGE HOOPS:

--As you may have heard, Pitt landed the #8 point guard in the nation, Plainfield (N.J.) junior Isaiah Epps, over the weekend. The rich appear to be getting richer. [Trib]

--Sure, Pitt's #1 in the nation, but more importantly, they're a #1 seed in this week's Bracketology. [ESPN]

--Of course, Doug Gottlieb is not one of those who thinks Pitt is #1. No one is surprised. [ESPN - Insider required]

COLLEGE FOOTBALL/PITT/PSU:

--Not to be outdone by Jamie Dixon, the Wannstache landed two recruits of his own over the weekend: Cypress Falls (Houston, Texas) quarterback Kolby Gray and Hudson Catholic (Jersey City, N.J.) running back/defensive back Jason Hendricks. [PG]

--Could the Nittany Lions lose Larry Johnson to Ron Zook and Illinois? [Penn Live]

PIRATES/MLB:

--Doug Mientkiewicz a Pirate next year? As Baba Booey would say, "Yeah, no". [PittsburghPirates.com]

--But on the bright side, we have the .202-hitting Craig Monroe signed up! How much for full season tickets again? [PittsburghPirates.com]

--Jason Bay jerseys for $7.97? Thanks, I'll pass. [MLB.com]

--The Red Sox are stockpiling broken down white guys. Sure looks like it, no? [Major League Jerk]

HIGH SCHOOL:

--Bethel Park State Champs shirts? How were these not sent a third-world country? [PG Varsity Blog]


MEDIA:

--A bizarre list of the 50 Greatest Sportscasters of All Time was released. Myron Cope? No. Bill Walton? Yes. Mike Lange? No. Chris Berman? Yes. [Deadspin]

--The Great Pittsburgh Sports Debate happened last week, and I totally whiffed on it. But here's 172 photos from the event, although most of you will probably skip to the ones featuring Sally Wiggin. [WDVE]

--Want to see the documentary of the Steve is Live campaign, featuring Pittsburgh's own Steve Braband? Of course you do! [East Pleasant]

--The Ombudswoman chastises ESPN for becoming the story. What's really scary is how many recent examples she uses to support her point. [ESPN]

--A rare look behind the scenes with my buddy Dave Dameshek! Looks like he's working very hard. [ESPN/Dameshek]



MISCELLANY:

--Can the Government (specifically Ed Rendell) bail out Boscov's? Straight Outta Johnstown investigates. [SOJ]

--Should fans be able to get a refund for season tickets during a season? Sports by Brooks digs into this meaty topic. Could be a precedent-setter for the Pirates, who would owe money to about 16 years worth of people. [SbB]

--There's life in Pittsburgh after steel, says the New York Times. We've got a Dave and Buster's and everything.

--A guy in Houston drank 39,000 cans of beer over 18 years and built a house out of the cans. Could the City of Pittsburgh follow this example? [Pittsburgh's Black and Gold]



--From the Headline Says It All Department:

Guy Gets Back Stolen Car and Phone by Texting Thieves He's Got Hot Girls and Drugs [Gizmodo]

LISTS

The Top 50 Figures in Pittsburgh History
[WPXI]

The final Rivals 100 Football Prospect Rankings for 2009 [Rivals]

The worst teams to make the Super Bowl
[Real Clear Sports]

The Top 10 Movie Coaches [World of Isaac]

Top 5 Albums of 2008 [This is Getting Old]

The 5 most ridiculous appearances by sports stars in a comic book [Betfair]



RANDOM THOUGHTS WORTH MENTIONING IN MY INBOX:

I get lots of email, and there's only so many hours in the day to try and tackle it. Some of the better ones will be featured here.

"I haven't heard anyone mention after the Titans loss this weekend as being affiliated with the 'Curse of the Terrible Towel.'" -- Mike H. in Pittsburgh

"Was Baltimore's win at Tennessee really all that surprising? Sure, Jeff Fisher's crew had a great run in 1999 and went to the Super Bowl ... what else has he done in the 15 years with the franchise? [He] has only qualified for the playoffs 6 times ... and only has 5 career playoff wins (3 in 1999 / the other 2 span 14 years). Fisher just can't get it done when the stakes are raised. Let's hope we're seeing a different trend with Tomlin this year." - David M. in Louisiana

"If I were the Ravens, I'd be designing my whole offensive game next week around Ike Taylor. As in, wherever Ike is, that's were we're moving the ball. That guy makes me wish for the return of Dewayne Washington. Ike can't tackle, can't pass defend and can't catch the ball if thrown right at him and our secondary suffers two-fold because of it since Troy has to spend most plays baby-sitting him which means he can't be called on to defend more against the underneath stuff and support stopping the run. If Sweed weren't the no-brainer choice, Taylor would be the worst Steeler on the field, bench players and Steely McBeam included." - Steve B. in Pittsburgh

"Came across this dandy of a site, which, apparently, sells authentic (stitched on numbers, the ones you pay $300 for on the steelers website) jerseys for all NFL teams, some MLB and a few NHL jerseys at way below market value. I haven't ordered anything yet from the site, mostly because they are always sold out of the Steelers jersey I want that is in my size (old school Roethlisberger or Ward, or Joe Greene). The one jersey I never find to be sold out? You guessed it, Limas Sweed. you can get your own Sweed jersey for a measly cost of $17.99! (also, Farrior, Miller, Mendenhall and some others aren't sold out either)." - Luke B. in Philadelphia via Mt. Washington & Beaver County

"I just wanted to let you know that I went to college in South Central PA, and while I’m sure the population hailing from the Baltimore area was somewhere around 10-20% (if that), it felt like about 60%. Their fans really display a sense of entitlement and accomplishment for a team that has one title all-time. While I think they definitely deserve to be in the AFC Championship, as they are undoubtedly one of the top two (if not the best) teams in the NFL, I think even before Sunday, the Baltimore Ravens have established themselves as the ultimate villain in the tale of Pittsburgh sports.

In addition, an alarming trend that runs rampant among dudes from Baltimore: None of them own jeans. Really. Not that they don’t wear them, they don’t even own them. It’s all khakis, seersucker, or those salmon-colored pants with little whales or ducks embroidered on them. Talk about a city and a population that doesn’t deserve a hard-hitting, hard-nosed, defensive-minded football team to root for. " - Matt E.

"Came across your site for first time while trying to find a video clip of Styx performing Anthem at game last Sunday. Do you have one? My brother in Las Vegas is a friend of Tommy Shaw's (Brian works at Mirage and Shaw's wife likes to gamble!!) Anyhow, help me out if you find one."- Mary S. , Bethany, WV

--"Because I think you are a fan of irony, here is a link to a story on the Huffington Post about the cops beating up Josh Brolin. The great part is the ad at the end of the article for classes to become a “Community Hero in law enforcement.” - Jason B.

--"Well, I'm in Sheetz the other day, saw this picture, and had to do a double take. I asked the teenager at the counter if anyone had caught the obvious double meaning of the letters they used. He responded that he didn't think that anyone in the management had caught it, but that he gets comments similar to mine ALL THE TIME. " - Jason M. in Tarentum

--"I wanted to let you know that here in West Texas the local sports anchor for the CBS station is a Brown's fan. Back in May we made a bet that if the Browns win the division I had to wear her Brady Quinn jersey to work and on appointments I had during that day. My side of the bet was if the Steelers win the division she had to wear my Roethlisberger jersey live on air for a broadcast. Turns out she's not allowed to do that, however they film a sports show every Friday that is aired on Sunday nights...and she's wearing the jersey for that...and it will be today! If the timing is right, and the Steelers win this Sunday she'll be on right after the game is over...sitting there wearing a Steelers jersey. It will be beautiful. I'm going to try to get a terrible towel into the shot and I'll be taking some pictures." - Charlie H. in Texas


Send your news, tips, and links to Mondesishouse@gmail.com.

PS -Addendum coming later today with a few more things that came in overnight

9 comments:

getfreshdesigns said...

The Sheetz picture? you going to post that??

Broke But Still Drinking said...

*Sniff*
*Sniff*

That house is the most beautiful thing these eyes have ever seen.

...and why is Rendell such a fan of Pittsburgh come tax time?

AJ said...

With all that is great in the world of Pittsburgh sports this morning... there is a Pirates link that pisses all over your cornflakes.

Doug Mientkiewicz is the ONE player on that team that actually appears to give a crap... so management makes no effort to sign him. Guess we can't have a desire to win getting in the way of bobble head night.

I'd start my own blog over this... but nobody would ever spell Mientkiewicz's House correctly in their browser.

BurressWithButterflywings said...

Who else remembers Fast Eddie Rendell standing at the Steelers rally waving a Towel Towel after our SB XL win?

Brother Anthony said...

That ESPN Ombudsman piece is the most interesting and accurate thing they've ever written.

D. C. said...

I whole heartily disagree with the analysis of Ike Taylor. I can't argue against his ability to catch a friggin ball, but I think he is definitely a shutdown corner. He didn't have his best game on Sunday. But he didn't have any help over top on Jackson's TD. Jackson had a 1,000 yard season and 7 TDs, he is a decent receiver. I think the safeties played up a lot to guard against a big run by Sproles. If Taylor catches half of the interceptions he should have, I think he makes the pro bowl.

mondesishouse said...

Sorry - screwed up the Sheetz picture. Went back and added the link. My apologies.

Anonymous said...

Riley Cote is supposed to be one of the heavyweights of the NHL, right? Maybe it's me, but doesn't he ALWAYS get his ass beat. I rarely watch games the Pens aren't playing in, but whenever he fights a Pen, whether it's Laraque, Roberts or now Godard, he's gets his ass kicked every time. Not to mention he looks like a homeless guy that philly recruited from bumfights or something.

Chip said...

Multiple comments:

1) The Bay jersey is a baby's nappy. Thanks for getting me excited over nothing. I'd totally buy a discounted Bay jersey. He's the last decent player the Pirates will have until Alvarez comes up.

2) Call me Unamerican but the Red Square All-Star game is a cooler sight than either the NHL version or the Winter classic.

3) Bruno definitely should have something important named after him. He's up there with Clemente/Lemeiux/Greene-Lambert in the Pittsburgh Sports Pantheon. Give the guy a bridge or a section of the Parkway or something. Geez.