Big Lead Sports Bar

5/14/2009

THE NEWS

PICS OF THE WEEK
"A few weeks ago I was in Pittsburgh for my birthday so and girlfriend decided to go to the Pirates game on Saturday night, we had great seats right behind the Reds dugout. While watching BP I saw this large bear like man with a Pens jersey on trying to snag an autograph from a bench coach. This story could keep going on and on so ill just let the pictures tell the rest." -- Mike C.


"Me and my brother (both from Greensburg
originally) went to the Super Bowl to watch the Steelers beat the
cardinals. Then, later that month climbed Cardinal Pinnacle in the
Sierra Nevada Mountains and brought our towels up to show the Steeler
dominance." -- Nick P., Las Vegas via Greensburg

VIDEO OF THE WEEK
This might never get old. Ever.

LINKS

NHL/PENS:

--Pens-Caps Part VII was the highest rated NHL game in FSN Pittsburgh history. Two words: Dan Potash. [96.1 Morning Freak Show]

--"Playoff goaltending isn't about stats. It's about big saves at big moments." Mark Madden said it, and Marc-Andre Fleury proved him right. [WXDX, YouTube]

--Meanwhile, the NHL is getting slammed for its Game Seven coverage on Thursday night. I believe the phrase is, "One step forward, two steps back." [Puck Daddy]

--Pending free agent Rob Scuderi is a rising stock. Maybe Tampa Bay will sign him. [PG]

-Here's an in-person account of ESPN 1250's Lunch with a Legend featuring Barry Melrose and Steve Levy. [PB&G]

--A plea to give hockey one more shot. You won't have to sell anyone in these parts. [Time]

MLB/PIRATES:

--12 hits, one run. Thus ends the Pirates' two-game winning streak, with a 5-1 loss to St. Louis. Adam LaRoche, hitting .234, led the way with 6 LOB. Good to see he's back to the old Adam LaRoche again. [ESPN.com]

--Pics from the Raul Mondesi Softball Classic! He lives! [Busted Coverage]

--If you've ever wanted the chance to bowl with the Pirates, you'll probably want to click this link. [PittsburghPirates.com]

NFL/STEELERS:

--Big Ben does not have a Facebook, Myspace, or Twitter page. He's too busy winning rings. [Big Ben News]

--Speaking of #7, will all the sacks he takes shorten his career? [Pro Football Reference blog]

--John Clayton examines the 10 best offseasons in the NFL. Sorry, but Washington keeping DeAngelo Hall for $54 million is not a good thing, Mr. Clayton. [ESPN.com]

--Breaking down the 2009 Steelers roster: defensive line edition. [Behind the Steel Curtain]

--The Bengals will be the subject of this year's HBO Hard Knocks program, so you can get a first-hand look at how a horrible organization does things. [Awful Announcing]

--Fantastic news: you can finally buy a Chad Ochocinco jersey this year. [PFT]

--Should the Steelers sign Favre? Oh, absolutely. [Sean's Ramblings]

--Woodland Hills' Jason Taylor, back from a year of Dancing with the Stars-induced purgatory,
returns to the Miami Dolphins. And once again, Bill Parcells gets a useful player for next to nothing, while Washington surrendered a 2nd-round draft pick in '09 and 6th in '10 for one year of misuse. [ESPN]

COLLEGE:

--Hey, Adam Gunn got tasered outside Club Zen! That's a nice offseason you're having there, Wanny. [PG]

--Sam Young got a screw from a vertical-leap pole stuck in his arm during a workout. That's only mildly disgusting. [SPORTSbyBROOKS]

--Looks like King Pryor might be in line for a huge season. That would be great news if I rooted for Ohio State. Unfortunately, my team is busy getting tasered and allegedly groping female behinds. [SI.com]

--Jamie Dixon is on Twitter, too. [Twitter]

--JoePa lookalike! [Totallylookslike.com]



--Pitt fans are surely salivating at the chance to take their shots at incoming Syracuse QB and former Dookie Greg Paulus. [Deadspin]

MISCELLANY:

--Mark Cuban is hurrying the launch of HDoucheNet. [Sports Pickle]

--A 9-year-old made a YouTube plea to preserve a kickball lot behind Parkway Center Mall. [WPXI]

Email: Mondesishouse@gmail.com Twitter: twitter.com/mondesishouse Facebook: Facebook Group

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

why they didn't make the Ovechkin hit on Backstrom the Subway sandwich of the game is beyond me.

Billkamm said...

@#1: They had already given out the Subway Sandwich of the game before that play occurred.

okel dokel said...

Bring on the Canes; should be a tough one. They are experienced at playoff hockey unlike the Craps and Cryers.

By the way it looks like the 'Stache has to start laying down the law.

SantoGold said...

"Playoff goaltending is about big saves, not stats.." is just Madden's way of finding a reason to praise a favorite player of his.

Too much group-think conclusions are being repeated about Fleury's stop on Ovechkin early in Game 7. For sure it was a great save, but to claim a save made at the 1 minute mark of first period made all the difference in the game is nonsense. For all we know, the only difference if he had not made that save was that the final score would have been 6-3 instead of 6-2.

On average, Fleury is playing good but not great in goal. You can't just look at the great saves he has made and pretend all of the soft goals don't matter. He's capable of some truly amazing performances (game 4 against the Flyers) as well as some bad games (game 6 against the Caps).
He has great athletic ability which frequently saves his bacon, but he needs to be more committed to technique in order to develop the consistency that he needs.

Steve said...

Fleury needs to refrain from leaving the crease anymore unless he really has to. His happy feet have led to too many costly mistakes playing the puck behind the net, especially when a defensemen was close enough to handle it himself.

Maybe they can put a shock collar on him that gives him a jolt whenever he strays too far from the crease.

Jeff_King_Fan said...

PENS in 4? 5? 6? 7?

BurressWithButterflywings said...

I agree with the statements about Fleury, he has an abundance of raw talent but I am not so certain that his focus is always sharp as it could be.We need more out of him than we got against the Craps. He makes some ridiculous saves, but a lot of time it's because he is out of position. He does seem to step it up at the right times and there are a lot more factors than just his play that go into the other team scoring.

He reminds me of a cartoon.

jmarinara said...

Fluery playing the puck behind the net is what Goaltenders are supposed to do. He's just not particularly good at it.

He should get better at it, not stop doing it.

Fluery has helped to get us this far, he comes up big in big games, and he is a premiere goalie in the NHL.

Is he the best, right now, or overall in the league, or ever?? No. Is he going through a bit of a rough patch (I stress a "BIT")? Yes. But that's hockey.

He'll be fine, we'll be fine, and the next series will NOT be lost on Goaltending alone. Plus, I think Fluery might be better than Ward for a game or two. Lest we forget Game 5 against Detroit.

Go Pens.