Big Lead Sports Bar

4/08/2009

THE NEWS

PIC OF THE DAY"I was watching the History Channel for the show Crash: the Next Great Depression? and saw one pic of a distressed stock broker with what looks like a piece of Steelers flair." -- Joe D., Pittsburgh

LINKS
MLB/PIRATES:

--Your Buccos are now 2-1 after a 17-hit assault on the St. Louis Cardinals last night resulted in a 7-4 victory. On the plus side, Jack Wilson and Freddy Sanchez had four hits each, and Zach Duke had a strong outing. In the negative column, the Pirates left 12 on base and Albert Pujols is batting .600 in the series so far. But nonetheless, it was a nice win for the Bucs. And as Mike Wysocki added on WDVE this morning, Tony LaRussa was apparently so upset over the loss he couldn't even drink and drive home. [ESPN]

--Great news for area drunks: the Pirates have the cheapest beer in baseball! [CNBC]

--There's ample pressure on Andy LaRoche to perform well this year. And that's just from his brother. [PG]

--The Pirates' Triple-A affiliate could be bringing some smiles to Indianapolis with a talented lineup featuring a number of familiar names. [Rum Bunter]

--Lots of promotions planned for the Washington Wild Things this season. Whatever happened to their plan to sign Barry Bonds? [PG, MH]

--John Fedko sits down for an exclusive interview with former Pirate announcer Lanny Frattare to discuss Frattare's alcohol abuse and subsequent rehabilitation. [WPXI]

NHL/PENS:

--Mark Madden says Geno Malkin needs to win the scoring title. I would have to agree. [WXDX]

--Should the Pens have locked up Sid and Malkin longer? I don't know, is a 25-year contract too long? [PG]

--The Pensblog has some great videos of Stanley Cup Playoffs past to get you fired up for what lies ahead. [The Pensblog]

--Ray Shero is the key to the Penguins' playoff run, writes Bob Smizik. [Bob Smizik Blog]

--What if the Pens won the lottery and drafted Alex Ovechkin? I'm going to go out on a limb and say we probably wouldn't despise him like we currently do. [Puck Daddy]

--Christian Hanson, son of Slap Shot's Dave Hanson, scored his first NHL goal for the Maple Leafs recently. [WPXI]

NFL/STEELERS:

--More Steeler basketball games have been announced, for those of you into that kind of thing:

March 11: Riverside High School

April 11: Cornell High School

April 16: Robert Morris University

April 22: Ambridge High School

May 12: Beaver Falls


--Madden '10 cover boy possibilities have been a hot topic on the web. Locally, Ben Roethlisberger and a Troy Polamalu/Larry Fitzgerald combo are being discussed. And yes, I'm well aware that I'm 31 years old and I'm discussing who might be on the cover of a video game. My priorities are firmly in order. [Sports Pickle, Shutdown Corner]

--The Steelers brought in 6'4", 260-pound TE Richard Quinn for a thorough tire-kicking on Wednesday. Don't they already have three of those under contract? [PG]

--New Bears QB Jay "Electricity Personified" Cutler allegedly reached out to free agent/irresponsible gun owner/former Steeler Plaxico Burress about joining the Bears. You know, Chicago, the place where WR Muhsin Muhammad said it's "where wide receivers go to die." [PFT, Wikipedia]

--Meanwhile, the Bengals are doing their best to keep the criminal element in the AFC North by bringing in the never-dull Tank Johnson for their defensive line. Of course, they really didn't need to, because one of their own, CB Leon Hall, got arrested over the weekend. [ESPN, NFL.com]

PITT/COLLEGE:

--Dejuan Blair surpassed all expectations while at Pitt, says Mike White. [Varsity Blog]

--Shavonte Zellous will become Pitt's first ever WNBA first-round pick this afternoon. [PG]

MISCELLANY

--It's Pittsburgh's Bucket List: 100 things you have to do to be considered a Yinzer before you die. [PB&G]

--A 50-year-old Westmoreland County man got so mad at his 11-year-old son that he threw a cinder block at him. [WTAE]

EMAIL OF THE DAY

"Just logged on to the Post Gazette and saw Blair's quote about going pro:

"I did everything an individual can do," Blair said. "I had a heck of an individual year just like we had a heck of a team year. I got All-American. I got Big East player of the year. I was first-team everything. When you have a year like that then you don't need to come back. You could, but you could always come back and get paid for what you want to do. This smile will really be worth a million dollars. That will be cool."

I am sure you read this, but look how many 'I''s are in that sentence. This couldn't be better for Pitt's program. As much as I liked watching him play and how far he helped take this team, it seems that he had (has) one thing in mind: that million dollar smile. Let me put it this way: did Blake Griffin say anything like that? Would you ever hear Slammin Sammy Young say that? No chance. Anyway, just thought that was very interesting." -- Luke B., Philadelphia by way of Beaver County

Trust me, no one would like to see Blair back more than yours truly. It's the same way I felt about Shady McCoy. But this was the best move right now for Blair and his family. Maybe he didn't say it as eloquently as some would've liked, but in essence, he's selling high. His stock is up. There's not a lot of room for that stock to go much higher. And the longer he hangs around, the greater chance something could arise that could cause that stock to fall. Better he collect a paycheck than continue to get beat up every night in the Big East for free. As far as I know, he's not from a wealthy family, and in this day and age, I know few people who would turn their noses at a million dollars-plus a year when it's pretty much guaranteed to happen.

Blair gave it his best this year and as he pointed out, that was pretty good. He collected numerous national accolades and helped accomplish things that were never done at Pitt. While I'll miss him in the lineup next season, I wish him luck and give him a pat on the back for a great couple of years.

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4 comments:

Steve said...

I agree with Madden, Malkin needs to win the title. If he can hold off Ovechkin, it will help prove what I and other believe, that Malkin is the better player. plus, it would boost his confidence going into the playoffs, where as losing it would make him a sad and sulking Geno.

The Pens and Caps both have two games left and you know they will be feeding Ovechkin the puck like he's the only player in the NHL legally allowed to shoot it.

Malkin and Crosby need to play together for these final two games because Malkin's led the league pretty much the entire season now and to let that rat-faced jagoff steal the title at the very end would really suck.

Other than not playing like complete shit and/or getting injured, this is the Pens no. 1 priority this week.

Anonymous said...

I personally couldn't care less if Malkin wins the scoring title if the Pens win the cup.

As far as Blair is concerned, his press conference kind of says it all. If you did all there is to accomplish during a college career, including team achievements, you damn well better be saying that a week after winning a championship if you want to avoid backlash.

I wish him the best. It's too bad that I'll never see him play again, as the NBA is an absolutely unwatchable joke.

Anonymous said...

Also, on the pic of the day, I thought you meant his "420" pin after a quick glance... I was thinking, "Since when did Pittsburgh become known as a pothead haven?"

Unknown said...

Don't give Blair too much s#it. He's still a kid. Yes, he should come back to Pitt for one more year to improve his game, but the upcoming NBA draft isn't very deep with talent. Dejuan has a great chance to be a potential lottery or late mid-round pick. Hopefully, he'll hook up with a quality franchise like Detroit or Dallas where he can develop and become a quality NBA player.

Hate to see you go, Dejuan, but maybe his exit and his first-round draft status will help bring greater prospects to the Pitt program.