THE NEWS

PIC OF THE DAY

"I'm from Ligonier, but I live in the UK now, and my buddy Merlin took this while we were skiing in France the day before the Super Bowl. It's no Laurel Mountain, but it's kind of a cool shot." -- Pat T.

LINKS

NHL/PENS:

--Bob Pompeani locked up the first interview with Michel Therrien post-firing. That Pomps is always on his game. [KDKA]

--And Mark Madden's on his game as well, snaring a radio interview with incoming coach "Disco" Dan Bylsma. [WXDX.com]

--Speaking of Bylsma, he's trying to instill an "agressive" attitude in his new team [PittsburghPenguins.com]

--The Penguins take on Montreal tonight (preview), a team that's currently Keyshawning Alexei Kovalev. [Empty Netters, National Post]

--Marian Hossa (and Johan Franzen) are both likely to return to Detroit next season. Sure, I'd definitely believe Marian Hossa. He never changes his mind. [Freep.com]

COLLEGE/PITT/PSU:

--It's official: Frank Cignetti Jr. has been hired to run the Pitt offense. I would've had a full post about it, but considering the last two posts on the topic have generated a grand total of zero comments, I got the hint that you weren't nearly as interested in this story as I was. [ESPN]

--Incoming superstar Dante Taylor is Pitt's first McDonald's All-American since Brian Shorter and Bobby Martin in 1987. To celebrate, Jamie Dixon's going to use the McRib locator and take his entire team for some processed pork. [PG]

--Bob Smizik picks four Pitt basketball All-Time Teams. Discuss. [PG]

--I somehow missed the 38-33 shootout between Penn State and Illinois last night. That's right, 38-33. In basketball. Men's basketball. Men's college basketball. [SPORTSbyBROOKS]

NFL/STEELERS:

--I never knew Chris Kemoeatu was one of the better guards in the league, but apparently he is. That's according to his agent, who has no vested interest whatsoever. [FanHouse]

--Anthony Anderson's 1979 Steelers Super Bowl ring closed at $25,000 on eBay. Which means you could buy three of these for the price of Santonio's gloves.

--Speaking of Super Bowl rings, Mean Joe Greene's got six of 'em. [Steelers.com]

--Donnie Shell, Super Steeler and director of the Carolina Panthers' player development program for 15 years, officially calls it a career. [Panthers.com]

--UFC fighter Josh Koscheck is a Steeler fan, joining Snoop Dogg, Hank Williams Jr., and Bret Michaels in the Celebrity Steeler Fan category. [UFC.com]

MLB/PIRATES:

--Jack Wilson's back for his third consecutive final spring training with the Pirates. [Beaver County Times]

--Chuck Finder reports from Spring Training. I'm guessing it's not snowing there today. [PBC Blog]

--John Perrotto thinks that Nate the Great is worth the money. [Pirates Report]

--Jesse Ventura sums up the steroid situation in a neat little package. [Yahoo!]

--One of the first baseball cards ever produced just sold for $64,073 at auction, making one old lady very happy in the process. [Big League Stew]

--A-Rod and Andy Pettitte are teaching a younger generation of Yankees how to apologize for steroids. [Sports Pickle]

--It's an in-depth look at Brandon Moss: the man, the myth, the legend. Well, actually it's just an article about how he's trying to improve on his .222 average last year. [MLB.com]

--Looks like Bud Selig is cleanin' house. [Major League Jerk]

--Does the new Yankee Stadium have hidden locker rooms? [SPORTSbyBROOKS]

MISCELLANY:

--The boys at 96.1 made a Snuggie rap video that sounds kinda T-Pain-ish. [YouTube]

--ESPN Radio's Colin Cowherd launched his own website, with a URL that for some reason he refused to give out on the air. [Theherdsword.com]

--Shane Battier is the NBA equivalent of the Moneyball player. What a can of worms we're opening... [NY Times]

--Tiger Woods baby photos! [Deadspin]

RANDOM THOUGHTS FROM MY INBOX WORTH MENTIONING

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.

--"As a Pitt fan, I looked into both Mazzone and Cignetti. Mazzone's job turnovers were b/c he was and fired for the most part. One of his changes came b/c of a head coaching change. The offensive numbers notoriously fell each year he was at a given program. He was fired after the first year in a 3 year contract in his last stint as an OC.

Cignetti's turnovers, however, can be explained rather easily. In 04, his last year at Fresno, he was completing a 3-5 year stint as there OC with prolific offenses in almost each of those years.. He then took the UNC OC job, considered by him and many others a promotion.. However, after 1 year at UNC, he fell victim to a head coach change (Bunting to Davis).. Davis brought his own staff with him.. He then took the QB coach job at San Fran as he was out of work.. A year later, he was again offered a OC job in a major college program, this time Cal, working with Tedford, a very good offensive coach.. He is now being offered the Pitt OC job, and while it may be looked at as a lateral move in the profession, I'd guess that Pitt would give him complete control in the offense (which he didn't have at Cal) and a hefty pay raise..

So I would guess that his 4 jobs in 4 years is more by coincidence and changing circumstances rather then being ineffective at those 4 positions." -- Mike T., Pittsburgh

--"Keith Butler WAS given permission to talk to the Cardinals, but turned it down. Does this mean LeBeau is contemplating retiring in the next year or two (I'm assuming Keith Butler is the heir apparent)?" -- Josh M.

--"One question about DeJuan Blair… What is going on with his ESPN player photo? Have you ever noticed that when you watch a Pitt game on ESPN, everyone else's photos are crystal clear and in that typically stunning ESPN HD, but for some reason Blair's looks like it is of maybe 1/3 the pixel quality. He winds up looking like a burn victim because they have his face various different shades of colors and his eyes are barely visible as well. Not sure why that is.

For this reason, despite how cool his real name is. I think he needs a nickname." -- Matthew E.

--"Bylsma is the Penguins 19th head coach since 1969 (or 22nd head coach, if you separately count multiple stints like Eddie Johnston's). That's a pretty funny contrast to the Steelers and their grand total of 3 head coaches since 1969. " -- Sam S.

FEBRUARY MADNESS

The NCAA tournament is around the corner, so Sean's Ramblings put together a 32-blog bracket of the best Pittsburgh sports blogs. Mondesi's House is a #1 seed, so in the true spirit of Pitt, I'm hoping only to reach the Sweet 16. I'm saving my real run for the Big East Blog Tournament.

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