NEWS AND NOTES

--The Penguins' first game sans Geno Malkin comes tonight at Columbus, and they'll also be without the injured Tyler Kennedy. All of a sudden, when you consider the missing Max Talbot and Sergei Gonchar, this is a team that's been chomped by the injury bug. Time for Jordan Staal to raise his game a notch. [PG]

--This is the greatest Limas Sweed auction ever. Period. An excerpt from the eBay listing:

In 2008, in an attempt to NOT be like every yinzer with a Ward or Roethlisberger jersey, I went with 2nd round pick, wide receiver Limas Sweed. Whoops

In his NFL career, Limas has 7 catches for 69 yards and no less than 3 dropped touchdowns. He has astigmatism and finished 4th in the 100m hurdles at a UIL State track meet as a senior in high school.

I endured a lot of grief from co-workers, friends, family, and bartenders while wearing this jersey, and it has made me a stronger person. I have become so resilient, that it is time to pass on the opportunity to someone else. So if you are interested in boosting your ability to take criticism, by all means, bid away.

The winner of this auction receives:

- An authentic black #14 Sweed jersey, size 52 (pictured). Stitched name and numbers bearing all appropriate logos.
- One (1) paper bag (no eye holes) to shield your face when wearing the jersey in public
- One (1) seam ripper (should you decide to tear the name off of the jersey -- or just the "S")
- A piece of paper with the correct spelling of Neil O'Donnell's last name
- Ownership of the "I Own a Limas Sweed Jersey" Facebook group, currently with 7 members (Limas is no longer a member of this group, presumably because he no longer has a jersey).
- A significant portion of my dignity

--Here's an awesome recap of all the Steeler gear currently on display in the Football Hall of Fame [Blog & Gold]

--The Dawg Pound is planning a protest on November 16. Take it from a town that tried this with their equally-inept baseball franchise: it doesn't work. [ESPN]

--The newest collectible: Jeff Reed signed towel dispensers. [The Pittsburgh Channel]

--Gene Collier jumps in on the Pitt-Penn State bowl discussion and says it's a pipe dream. Of course, he also said the Penguins' season was over in February last season, so his word isn't always absolute.[PG]

--Through his first two regular-season NBA games, Dejuan Blair is averaging 10 points and 7.5 rebounds per game...in 17.5 minutes per game. [ESPN]

--The resurrected Avella HS football program gets a lengthy writeup in the NY Times. Of course, one of their wins was over my alma mater, Geibel, which is probably why I was sent the article in the first place - to rub it in. [NY Times]

--Mark Madden checks in on the story that Bill Stull's parents can't watch him play at Heinz Field because of the boo birds and gives the QB (and his family) a memo. [WXDX/Mark Madden]

--Here's the official Jeff Reed decision making flow chart, from the awesomely named blog "Free Tank Carter".

--Iron City is rolling out a new website to "certify" bars around the country that carry their products and display Pittsburgh colors, and here are the details. [PB&G]

--Here are the official pictures from the Pirates' Halloween party. Well, not official. But this is probably what they'd look like. [Rum Bunter]

--Who are the five players most responsible for Pitt's success this season? This link answers that question. [The Unsportsmanlikes]

--And in honor of Halloween, here's a list of the best horror movies of all time. Not including the Pittsburgh Pirates' 2009 highlight video. [Moviefone.com]

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THE STEELERS, THE NFL, AND THE BYE WEEK

With the bye week upon us and the Steelers granted some time off from Coach Tomlin, I thought now would be a good time to look back at what's happened to the near-midpoint in the season and what could happen the rest of the way. And in a truly rare moment, I will remove my Pittsburgh-only bias and -gasp- talk about the rest of the league. It's a groundbreaking concept. Anyway, to the bullet points:

In the "team" category: these aren't knee-jerk power rankings per se, but more of a long-term look at the league and how I see each team's chances to win it all.

Super Bowl Contenders: the top 5 (in no particular order)

Pittsburgh - If healthy and focused, they're always in the discussion.

Minnesota - Brett Favre's durability will be a question mark as the season goes on.

New Orleans - As I always point out, Drew Brees has won one playoff game in his career.

Indianapolis - Hot starts are nothing new for this team; hot finishes have been tougher to come by in Indy.

Denver - A nation remains mostly skeptical, but the D is averaging 11 points a game. And who doesn't want to watch Josh McDaniels celebrate again?

Next 5: wouldn't be surprised to see one of these teams in the Super Bowl, but I'm betting against it:

NY Giants - A team that's been to the promised land, but needs to tie up some loose ends. On the good side, no one's shot themselves in the leg this year. Yet.

New England - Not the same Pats as years past, but to use the cliche, any Belichick/Brady team is automatically a contender. That's an NFL by-law.

Arizona - Starting to heat up in a weak division. And who saw that road win at New York coming?

Philadelphia - As Peter King pointed out recently, Andy Reid is basically Bill Cowher before he won the Super Bowl. Unfortunately for the Eagles, I don't see this as the team that gets Reid that first ring.

Baltimore - Fading fast, but I hesitate to count these guys out. I'd sure like to watch them lose three to the Steelers again in 2009.

Playoffs likely, but I don't see this team realistically winning a championship:

Cincinnati - Sorry, but I can't ignore past results; something is bound to go wrong, like an anvil falling on Carson Palmer's head the night before a Super Bowl. It's like Blake Griffin's injury with the Clippers. You just knew it was coming.

Atlanta - I like Matt Ryan, but this team needs to get Michael Turner straightened out this year after that 376-carry monster workload in 2008.

Dallas - In no way could I imagine Wade Phillips hoisting the Lombardi Trophy. None.

NY Jets - Mark Sanchez is not ready to win a championship, but the defense will make things interesting. At least he gave the world a hot dog scandal to pass the time.

Green Bay - Not thrilled with their offensive line, but then again, few were thrilled with the Steelers' last year

On the bubble: probably going to take a good run and some help for these teams to reach the postseason:

Houston - Master of the mediocre; probably will finish somewhere between 7-9 wins. Their last two seasons? How about 8-8 and 8-8. At least they're consistently mediocre.

Chicago - They need a few more weapons to make Sad Jay Cutler happy beyond Johnny Knox and a converted kick returner.

San Diego - Repeat the thought on Dallas, and replace "Wade Phillips" with "Norv Turner."

Jacksonville - Seemed so close after they knocked out the Steelers in '07-08. What happened since?

San Francisco - Will be interesting to see the effect of switching to Alex Smith, who worked out a lot with the now-paid-in-full Michael Crabtree.

Miami - For any Steeler fan who feels bad about Limas Sweed, check out Ted Ginn's game tape from Sunday, and just think: at least the Steelers didn't spend a first-round pick and first-round money on Sweed.

Start planning for the 2010 draft: the awful 11

Buffalo: Terrell Owens is averaging 2.6 catches and 34.6 yards per game. At least he's behaving.

Tennessee: Hoping for comedy purposes that they pull the trigger on Vince Young: Act II. Speaking of comedy purposes, that Jeff Fisher-wearing-a-Colts-jersey gag went over worse with their fans than Big Ben's foray into wrestling went over in Pittsburgh.

Seattle: Quietly 6-16 in their last 22. Is it me, or have they been completely uninteresting even when they were winning?

Carolina: Setting the stage for Bill Cowher: Act II. And just think, $42.5 million/$20M guaranteed for Jake Delhomme. That's some quality general managing.

Washington: Basically the Raiders with more money. At full-blown "embarrassment to the NFL" stage. And that was before they banned fan signs from their stadium for security purposes.

St. Louis: Some mind-blowing Rams numbers: 5-34 in their last 39; haven't won since October 19...2008; losers of 17 in a row. What happened to the Greatest Show on Turf? Where have you gone, Az-zahir Hakim?

Detroit: They've won one of their last 22. But they got rid of Matt Millen!

Oakland: If Washington is Oakland with more money, the Raiders are the NFL's answer to the Isiah Thomas Knicks. Ridiculous front office and ownership, tons of bad contracts, and an infectious negative vibe to all those who enter. Lost 11 or more every year since 2003.

Kansas City: They've won seven of their last 40. And they gave $63 million ($28M guaranteed) to Matt Cassel. On the bright side....Larry Johnson, everyone! That was another wise investment ($43 million/$20M guaranteed).

Tampa Bay: Actually a winning team the last two years, but that was before they hired Raheem Morris, who is absolutely not Mike Tomlin 2.0.

Cleveland: For those with short memories, this was the team that NFL analysts liked to win the AFC North in 2008. Which is reason #17,894 why you shouldn't put too much stock in NFL analysts.

The MVP Watch (again, in no particular order):

Peyton Manning, Colts - looks like he doesn't miss Tony Dungy too much. Almost robotic in his dissection of NFL defenses.

Drew Brees, Saints - nice stats and not much else to this point in his career; is he morphing into this generation's Marino? Then again, Dan played in a Super Bowl in his second season.

Ben Roethlisberger, Steelers - probably about time he gets some consideration. All it took was 2 Super Bowl rings to catch people's eye. Completing nearly 71% of his passes in 2009.

Adrian Peterson, Vikings - The most enjoyable running back to watch in the game. That being said, it was nice to see him held under 100 yards on Sunday.

Elvis Dumervil, Broncos - Six games, 10 sacks, one major impact.

Rookie of the Year Watch

Percy Harvin, Vikings - appears to be worth the risk - so far

Austin Collie, Colts - leading rookies in catches and receiving TDs

Mike Wallace, Steelers - leading all rookies in yards, and doing it on a veteran team in the hunt

Johnny Knox, Bears - tied for the rookie lead with four TDs; I know him much better after what he did to the Steelers.

Brian Cushing, Texans - 56 tackles, 2 forced fumbles, and an INT in the first seven games

Knowshon Moreno, Broncos - 381 yards leads all rookie RBs

Mark Sanchez, Jets - was probably going to run away with it based on the first month; then, things went a little sideways. Gotta raise that 61 QB rating.

Most Disappointing Offensive Player Watch

Terrell Owens, Buffalo - See the "Awful 11" section

Jamarcus Russell, Oakland - Completing 46% of his passes. But somehow has not been caught eating a hot dog on the sidelines.

Matt Cassel, KC - It's been seven games and he still hasn't cracked 1,000 yards passing for the season.

Larry Johnson, KC - 2.7 yards per carry and two slurs. The ever so hard to attain on-field/off-field disaster.

Willie Parker, Steelers - 187 yards rushing, 3.1 YPC, no rushing TDs, and one lost starting job. If things don't change soon, it will be a sad end to the career of this SBXL hero.

Jeff Reed, Steelers - a post-season arrest, an in-season citation, several key missed field goals and a whiff on a Percy Harvin kick return that went for a touchdown. Probably should've taken that contract when the Steelers offered it.

Darren McFadden, Raiders - another high draft pick that the Raiders have mangled. 146 yards rushing, 3.1 YPC.

Roy Williams, Dallas - has now managed to lose the go-to job to Miles Austin. 12 catches in five games. All he cost Dallas was $45 million/$20M guaranteed, plus a first, third, sixth, and seventh rounder. I wish Jerry Jones would trade with the Steelers once in a while.

Edgerrin James, Seahawks - just had to get out of Arizona. Now he's in Seattle and getting 2.7 yards a crack. The end is near, dear Edge.

Kerry Collins, Titans - on the heels of his overachieving 2008, he's crashed back to Earth with a QB rating of 62 and an 0-6 record. When Vince Young is warming up in the bullpen, that's a bad sign.

Michael Vick, Eagles - 6 yards passing, 22 yards rushing. Was he worth it for all that came with him?

Steve Smith, Panthers - Has unofficially become "the other Steve Smith", which is saying something for a guy with five 1,000-yard seasons under his belt.

------

So there you have it. The first actual, research-heavy, non-Steeler-wrapup column I've written in quite a while. Think of it as a palate cleanser after two full days of Pitt vs. Penn State, which was compounded by the fact that my modem crashed and my internet access was nil until Wednesday night.

We'll be back on a regular schedule for the rest of the week, including "Treats from the Inbox", coming very soon. Which reminds me, get your pictures and stories in!

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NEWS AND NOTES

--Here's the scenario that has to play out for our dream matchup: Pitt and Penn State in the Fiesta Bowl. Please, please, college football Gods, make this happen. [Altoona Mirror]

--There was a long article about JoePa in this week's SI. As you know, PSU isn't really my cup of tea, but I'm doing a good deed and passing this along in case you Nittany Lion fans haven't seen it yet. Forgive me, Panther fans. [SI.com]

--Passing along a press release of interest to many of you from the NFL...I know I will be watching:

Styx's "RENEGADE" has become a Steelers Nation fight song. . .how did it happen? Find out this week, as "NFL Films Presents" tells the true story of the “birth of Renegade”. . .featuring interviews with Mike Tomlin, Ben Roethlisberger and "Renegade" song-writer, Styx's own Tommy Shaw.

Airdates as follows:

NFL FILMS PRESENTS

Hosted by Steve Sabol

"Renegade"

ESPN2

10/27 @ 1am ET

ESPN2

10/28 @ 2:30pm ET

NFL NETWORK

10/29 @ 4:30pm ET

10/31 @ 9am & 10:30am ET

--Sony bought the rights to the story of Rinku and Dinesh, which means a real Pirates movie is probably going to be made. [CNBC]

--Maybe someday a movie will be made about Andrew McCutchen. But for now, he'll have to settle for the 2009 Baseball America Rookie of the Year award. [PG]

--Speaking of Pirate movies, what would Where the Wild Things Are look like if it were cast with Buccos? [Rum Bunter]

--The Denver Broncos must truly be desperate for a punter, because they just ordered a MitchBerger. [CBS]

--ESPN's Colin Cowherd makes the case for a Bill Cowher-Carolina Panthers marriage. Where would that leave Kaye? [The Herd's Word]

--Here's the case for Pittsburgh to be the home field for US Soccer. Hey, we can pull off G-20, you bet we can do soccer. [Association Football]

--So is Ryan Clark going to play in Denver this time or not? The answer is...no one knows. [ESPN[

--Any chance Chris Kunitz loses his gig as Sid's left wing? Dave Molinari's got your answer. [PG]

--Max & Erma's filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in Pittsburgh, with between $1 million-$10 million in debts. I assume that's because everyone eats nothing but Primanti's sandwiches all the time, right? [WPXI]

--Here's an entire article telling us how hard life is for a Cleveland Browns fan. You could pretty much replace all the times he says "Browns" with "Pirates" and get the same effect. [ESPN]

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ALL IN ALL, A GOOD WEEKEND FOR PITTSBURGH

STEELERS (5-2) 27
VIKINGS (6-1) 17
ROETHLISBERGER 14-26, 175 YDS, 1 TD
MENDENHALL 10-69
WALLACE 3-72, 1 TD

This weekend featured two Pens games, a big Pitt homecoming game, and one of the marquee matchups of the 2009 NFL schedule. I think we can all say that a 3-1 record for our teams was an enjoyable and acceptable showing. Thoughts? Oh, I've got some thoughts.

1.This was the game everyone was waiting for from the Steelers' defense. We've been getting used to watching Ben Roethlisberger save the day, but to witness what the D did in the fourth quarter on Sunday was downright awesome, especially given the fact that A. they've been horrible in the fourth all season, B. they were missing Aaron Smith, Lawrence Timmons, and Travis Kirschke at the time, and C. they awoke from their season-long funk against an offense that features the best running back in the game and one of the best signal-callers of all time. This was a statement by the men on that side of the ball that the Steelers' defense is still a unit to fear.

2. That being said, I don't think Adrian Peterson got the memo about fearing the defense. In fact, if anyone's going to have nightmares, it's going to be William Gay. But I'm sure the rest of the league will fear the Steelers' defense.

3. As expected, this game came down to the final 15 minutes. There were 23 points scored in the first three quarters combined and 21 scored in the fourth alone. But if I would've told you that the touchdowns would've all been between 77 and 88 yards and scored only by the defense and special teams, I'm guessing few would've believed me.

4. One of the potential goats had the game gone differently was kicker Jeff Reed, whose ole' on the Percy Harvin kick return TD was a bad tackle attempt even by kicker standards. The Fox TV announcers were killing Reed for his lack of effort, and based on an in-person account from reader Eric, it wasn't much better for Skippy inside the stadium:

"I was at the game today sitting right behind the Steelers bench, right after Skippy kicked a short one to Harvin, then attempted the lamest kicker tackle ever as Harvin streaked to the end zone. I watched him go the bench and it was like the plague was coming, because all his teammates were avoiding him. All, except for one...

Casey Hampton rushed over to him and began to verbally tear chunks of flesh from Skippy's burnt carcass. I couldn't hear what was said, but it was obvious that Big Snack thought Skippy could have shown a bit more effort."

Is this one of the worst contract years ever by a player? Yes, it is one of the worst contract years ever by a player.

5. Speaking of bad contract years, all signs point to Willie Parker's time in Pittsburgh coming to an end after the season. The two-time Pro Bowler, who had over 1,700 yards of offense and 16 TDs in 2006, had one carry for two yards on Sunday and was basically an afterthought.

6. And speaking of afterthoughts, has anyone seen Hines Ward? How does the league's leading receiver get only three targets and one catch in a big game like this?

7. Yes, Limas Sweed has been a massive disappointment, but the Steelers appear to have hit a grand slam with Mike Wallace, who was invaluable on Sunday with some yuuuuge plays, including grabs of 40 and 22 yards and his second career TD. The quick emergence of Wallace, who should be an Offensive ROY candidate, more than makes up for the Sweed whiff in 2008.

8. We've also got to give some love to the much-maligned and much-improved Steeler offensive line. Going against the likes of the Williams Wall and Jared Allen on Sunday, they held their own, giving Roethlisberger adequate time to throw and opening enough holes to give Rashard Mendenhall a 6.9 YPC average.

9. To give you a little perspective on how great Vikings WR Sidney Rice played on Sunday, here are the top wide receivers' yardage totals for each Steeler opponent this season:

Kenny Britt (TN) 85, Johnny Knox (CHI) 70, Chad Ochocinco (CIN) 54, Vincent Jackson (SD) 56, Dennis Northcutt (DET) 70, and Mohamed Massaquoi (CLE) 83.

Again, here are Rice's stats against the Steelers: 14 targets, 11 catches, 136 yards, and a long of 34 yards. As Peter King would say, "Good numbers. Lofty numbers."

10. We've already gone through nine points and I haven't talked much about Big Ben, probably because he was held mostly in check (at least by his 2009 standards) with a mortal 14 completions and 175 yards on Sunday. Brett Favre nearly doubled Roethlisberger's yardage (334-175), but Favre also had two killer turnovers to Roethlisberger's zero. I wonder if Ben ended up getting Brett's jersey, like he talked about?

11. You know who had a great game on Sunday? James Farrior. 15 tackles, 1 sack, 1 tackle for a loss, 1 pass deflection, and a QB hit. The only defensive stat he didn't get was a touchdown.

12. James Harrison also had a solid game, with two sacks and three hits on Lord Favre. That's at least two sacks in three of the last four games for Silverback after notching just one through his first three games. Not coincidentally, the Steelers are 4-0 in those last four games and 1-2 in the first three.

13. Lamarr Woodley had 11.5 sacks last year and is on pace for just five this season. I'm sure he would tell you he wished those numbers were higher. But his first career touchdown on Sunday would probably rank right behind his sack of Kurt Warner at the end of the Super Bowl as one of his career highlights.

14. Fourth quarter heroics aside, one of the greatest moments from the defense on Sunday was their goal-line stand against the Vikes in the third quarter, saving four points when they forced Chilly Childress' hand into kicking a field goal. That series would probably be one of the little nuggets of confidence that would set up their fantastic performance in the final quarter.

15. The defense has once again gotten into the fantastic rut of not allowing 100-yard rushers. We're at 25 games and counting, with Peterson being limited to 69 yards on Sunday. And again, that's sans Aaron Smith. This was the game everyone pointed to as a time when the Steelers would truly miss him, but they really held up quite well in his absence.

16. I would not consider myself a Brett Favre fan. At all. His ritualistic waffling each offseason has become beyond bearable, as the franchise he's under contract to is kept in limbo at the most critical position on the football team. But for one afternoon, he added a healthy dose of excitement to what would've been an otherwise uneventful Steelers-Vikings interdivision game in October. Does Heinz Field get packed to a record number of fans with Sage Rosenfels or Tarvaris Jackson at QB? And is it a more satisfying win if it comes over Rosenfels or Jackson? I'm guessing the answers are no and no.

It's OK to admit that Favre brings something to the NFL. I think it's his offseasons and the media's infatuation with him that make Favre a tiresome storyline most of the time.

17. Other than the Steeler game, the coolest thing I saw on Sunday was an ESPN feature on the post-Super Bowl IX "Superstars" matchup between the Steelers and Vikings, a best-of-seven series of non-football feats of strength culminating in an epic 16-minute tug of war that left both teams exhausted on the Waikiki sand. ESPN's Page 2 has an accompanying story, and I highly encourage you to check it out.

18. The Steelers have an always-welcome bye week next on the schedule, and won't play again until November 9, a Monday-nighter with Denver. That means there are two Sundays where things might get done (other than watching football) in Pittsburgh. By the time that game finally does roll around, Steeler fans may be in full black and gold withdrawal. Emergency rooms will be full of Yinzers with something other than the swine flu.

The Broncos will be either 6-1 or 7-0 at that time, so it will be every bit as big of a game as we saw on Sunday. Looking a little further down the road, the Steelers have a rematch with the Bengals on 11/16, their only home game in the month of November. They don't return to the Big Ketchup Bottle until December 6 against the always-entertaining Oakland Raiders. And in a season where we saw a rare trip by Brett Favre to Pittsburgh, how great would it be to see Al Davis and his black jumpsuit at Heinz Field?

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PITT ENTERS THE TOP 20

Pitt is off to their best start since going 7-1 back in the days of Dan Marino, and the nation is starting to take notice, as witnessed by the Panthers gracing the front page of ESPN.com yesterday and a full page article in this week's SI on freshman phenom Dion Lewis.

On the heels of yesterday's surprisingly easy homecoming domination of South Florida, Dave Wannstedt's team has entered the AP Top 20 for the first time since Week 15 of last season. Their current ranking of 16 is the high-water mark under Wanny and the highest as a team since being ranked 9th in 2003.

Of local interest, the WVU Mountaineers and PSU Nittany Lions also join the Panthers in the Top 20. Penn State is 7-1 and ranked 12th in the AP after their 35-10 victory at The Big House yesterday. West Virginia has quietly run their record to 6-1 following an emotional 28-24 win over UConn on Saturday.

The USA Today poll has Penn State 10th, Pitt 17th, and West Virginia 20th. The BCS rankings will be released later today. Last week's computerized rankings placed Penn State 13th, Pitt 20th, and West Virginia 23rd.

Pitt resumes play on November 7 with a home contest against Greg Paulus and 3-4 Syracuse; WVU travels to South Florida for a TV game this Friday on ESPN2, while the Nittany Lions travel to Northwestern for a 4:30 game on Halloween.

NCAA College Football Rankings Week 9 [ESPN.com]

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ROETHLISBERGER DOESN'T SOUND LIKE A TRENT DILFER FAN

Game Manager-turned-talking head Trent Dilfer made headlines on this site earlier this season when he ranked the NFL quarterbacks as he saw them and omitted Ben Roethlisberger from his "elite" and "superstar" categories, much to the predictable outrage of myself and many of you.

But after his latest little "rankings" project, Dilfer's drawn the ire of a much larger figure - Ben Roethlisberger himself. You see, the ESPN employee just ranked his top five 2009 QBs on Tuesday, and the list looked like this:

1. Peyton Manning
2. Drew Brees
3. Eli Manning
4. Brett Favre
5. Kyle Orton

Supposedly, this was a list based on winning and nothing else. Which begs the question of why to bother making a list in the first place and not just rank the league's best quarterback W-L records. But the story here is not my umpteenth post on this dead horse or why we would care what Trent Dilfer says in the first place. It's about what Roethlisberger said today in so many words as captured by Scout.com's Jim Wexell on Friday.

From the middle of a mob of reporters, someone asked Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger why his pump fake has been so effective this year.

"I have no idea," said Roethlisberger.

It was a surprisingly terse answer from a guy who's become more thoughtful with the media as he's come of age as a team leader.

As the mob dissipated, the reporter told Roethlisberger that he's from ESPN.

"I know you are," Roethlisberger said as he walked away. "And tell Trent Dilfer to get his stuff together."

This should be evidence for all the people out there who believe that the players live in some sort of soundproof bubble in which they don't hear what's spoken about them. They do. They read newspapers, they watch ESPN, they scan the net, they listen to talk shows. It would be hard for anyone to ignore all the football talk, especially in a city like Pittsburgh, because news on the team is everywhere.

But honestly, I'm glad to hear about this rare look behind the Big Ben Curtain. Different players are motivated by different things - namely money (most guys in a contract year), revenge (the QB facing the Steelers on Sunday), and/or proving people wrong (HINES WARD!)

This little story would seem to at least place some portion of Big Ben's motivational forces into the third category, which is fine by me. And as long as a voice exists to tell Roethlisberger that he's not the league's top dog, I hope that means we can expect more of what we've seen. In fact, along with hard work and good coaching, that's probably been one of the contributing factors to his enormous success to this point in his career. So to Trent Dilfer, Peter King, and everyone else I've quoted over the last few years, I say to keep it up. You're only helping to fuel the fire.

**HUGE tip of the cap to the always-on Big Ben News for the heads up.
They are the Ben Roethlisberger of Ben Roethlisberger websites.

BREAKING: BIG BEN NOT AN ELITE QB [MH]

Kyle Orton better than Tom Brady and Ben Roethlisberger? So far in '09, that's the case [USA Today]

Red-hot Roethlisberger in rarified air [Scout.com/Steel City Insider]

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PREPARE YOURSELVES FOR THE BLUE OUT

Once again, we're looking at a busy weekend in the Pittsburgh sports world. Two Pens games, including a big one tonight for all you Brent Johnson fans; a little matchup on Sunday between the Steelers and Vikings; and in the college world, tomorrow's Pitt-South Florida showdown, at Heinz Field, featuring the school's first-ever "Blue Out".

The idea to coordinate the clothing of everyone in attendance is certainly not a new one in sports, lest we forget the numerous white-outs which have populated Penguin and Nittany Lion games, among others. But at Pitt, it's a new concept, one that AD Steve Pederson has fully embraced:

"A couple of weeks ago I got a letter from some of our students who said they thought it would be fun to turn the stadium blue," Pederson said. "And so we'll ask not only all the students, but all of our fans to come in blue to the game and celebrate and have fun together, and homecoming is a good time to do that."

As a part of the athletic department's target-audience-based initiatives, Pederson cites other recently-implemented suggestions, such as "a Fanfest-like atmosphere outside the stadium, a student tailgate on the Great Lawn and, among other things, the singing of "Sweet Caroline" at the end of the third quarter."

Pederson's a smart dude. He knows that he's competing with two extremely successful fall/winter sports teams for the ever-competitive Pittsburgh dollar. If playing "Sweet Caroline" brings more people to the game or enhances their experience, he's all for it. I don't get the particular connection between Pitt and that song, but that's beside the point. Pederson's listening to his customers, and that is usually good for business (as long as you're also winning in this particular business). Now if he listens to the faction of Panther fans that's been clamoring for the return of the script logo, he'll really be making a lot of customers happy, even more than hearing "Sweet Caroline".

Pitt Notebook: Panthers' fans feeling 'blue' [PG]

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NEWS AND NOTES

--Let's get this straight: Perry Hill still wants to coach. Just not for the Pirates. [PBC Blog]

--Everyone has an opinion on Terrelle Pryor's problems, including former HS coach Ray Reitz and Cleveland Cav Lebron James. If things don't change, could a trade be in the works? [ESPN.com]

--Pitt has the chance to be a surprise in the Big East this season, because the preseason poll puts them ninth in the league. [PG]

--Mario Lemieux checks in at #16 and Ben Roethlisberger #35 on a list of the top 150 athlete-golfers. I'm sure there's a joke in here somewhere about rankings and Roethlisberger and me complaining about them. [Golf Digest]

--Jeff Reed is a hot story among blogs, and today's latest is Three Tips for Improving Reed's Quality of Life. [WQED/Pulling no Punches]

--Big news: two Giant Eagles in the area are going to be selling beer. Remember, drink responsibly, don't urinate near SUVs, and don't put up your dukes to the cops. [WPXI]

--Here's video of a devoted kid who spends his free time re-creating 2009 Pirate batting stances. [Pirates Property]

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SKIPPY'S GOT NOTHIN ON THIS GUY

Sorry, Jeff Reed. The bar for your clever t-shirts has just been raised by a guy who played for the team 30 years ago. Maybe you should take a page out of his book, wear this the next time you hit a club, and watch in amazement as everyone leaves you alone.

By the way, thanks to Big Ben's head for making this suitable for all audiences.

*Major thanks to a west coast MH reader for the pic

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SKIPPY, SPAETH APOLOGIZE TO STEELER NATION

From the Trib:

Making his first public comments since a confrontation with police last Sunday night, Reed said, "I have the utmost respect for this community, this team this organization. I apologize it for being a distraction to this team."

When asked what he would say to fans following his second run-in with the law in the last eight months, Reed said, "I went to the (Penguins) game last night and everybody was real complimentary and real nice to me. They know that I love this community and I love Steelers Nation so if I need to apologize to them I do apologize to them and I would never let this city down."

Public tinkler/tight end Matt Spaeth also apologized for his distraction, which has flown mostly under the radar due to the fact that he wasn't the one who beat up a Sheetz towel dispenser earlier this year.

Going forward, I'm sure most of Steeler Nation will be in a forgiving mood on Sunday - given that Reed and Spaeth can help the team hand Minnesota their first loss of the season. Right or wrong, sadly, that's just the way it is, lest we forget the two players who helped the team win a Super Bowl that had some legal problems of their own in 2008.

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GONCHAR GONE 4-6 WEEKS

The whispers around the net were confirmed this afternoon by the team: Sergei Gonchar will miss the next 4-6 weeks with a broken wrist. Time to spring for that Martin Skoula replica jersey you've been eyeing up. [PittsburghPenguins.com]

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NEWS AND NOTES

--While I've been busy gushing about the statistical greatness of the Steelers and Panthers, the Penguins have run their record to 8-1, with Marc-Andre Fleury sporting a league-best 8-0 mark.

The boys of winter won another one last night in a solid performance, topping the St. Louis Blues 5-1 at Mellon Arena. Penguin goals came from Tyler Kennedy (his fifth), Evgeni Malkin (4, PP), Ruslan Fedotenko (2, PP), Matt Cooke (2) and Alex Goligoski (2). You've gotta love the games where the team scores five goals and only one is from the Malkin/Crosby camp. That defines a team effort.

The bad news, however, is that it might have been a costly victory - Sergei Gonchar could have a broken hand (or wrist). There's no official word yet from the team, but I'm not overly optimistic. Stay tuned on that one. It could be Martin Skoula time. [PG]

--At the Pete, Cleveland rolled to a 96-66 win against Dallas last night, Shaq was wearing a Big Ben throwback jersey after the game, and Mark Cuban made the case for steroids in sports. In other words, no surprises. [PG]

--Dejuan Blair had 17 and 10 in 15 minutes off the bench for the Spurs last night in their 119-102 win over Oklahoma City. To remind everyone, he was a second-round pick. Gotta love NBA GMs. [ESPN]

--Is Pittsburgh the most haunted city in the US? Outside of baseball, I mean? [PB&G]

--Speaking of baseball, the Pirates dumped Chris Bootcheck, Denny Bautista, and Craig Hansen (he of the Jason Bay trade) from the 40-man roster. They will be greatly missed. By opposing hitters. [PBC Blog]

--A Pittsburgher will be appearing on Jeopardy! tonight. Get your TiVos ready. [WPXI]

--Bob Smizik says the Steelers made the right call on Jeff Reed. That's gotta be crushing news for those of you looking for a Piotr Czech endorsement. [Bob Smizik Blog]

--Meanwhile, Joe Starkey takes the opposite stance and calls out the Tomlin "timing" excuse. [Trib]

--And Mark Madden says the Skipster needs to stop drinking. That's gotta be crushing news for Pittsburgh-area drinking establishments. [Mark Madden/WXDX]

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SKIPPY WILL PLAY

Mike Tomlin wrapped his Tuesday press conference, and the big news is that Jeff Reed will be kicking on Sunday. One might wonder why Reed seemingly got a pass while Santonio Holmes was forced to sit a week after his marijuana possession arrest last season, and Tomlin's got an answer for those people:

In describing the differences, Tomlin said the Holmes incident was a possible distraction because it occurred later in the week and he deactivated him to minimize the distraction. He said it was "not punitive". Because Reed's incident happened on Sunday, they have "an opportunity to address it," Tomlin said.

Or, Tomlin could say that the Steelers only have one kicker on the roster and didn't want to fumble around with finding a replacement days before the biggest game of the year so far. Probably would have confused less people.

While Skippy might not officially be in the Steeler doghouse, he couldn't escape the wrath of Ron Cook as well as a number of fans who have tired of his act. To say his contract year has not played out well might be the understatement of all time. But you have to admit, that picture above is just awesome.

On the brighter side, Rashard Mendenhall's career has taken a turn for the better over the last few weeks, and Tomlin said that Mendenhall will get "a majority of the snaps" on Sunday. That's not good news for another guy in the last year of his contract (Willie Parker), but it's clearly the move that makes the most sense at this time for the team.

More good news: with the obvious exception of Aaron Smith, the team is relatively healthy going into the Minnesota game. LB Andre Frazier (quad) and RB Rashard Mendenhall (knee bruise) may be limited in the early part of week in practice, as will S Troy Polamalu. But six weeks into the season, that's not too shabby.

Reed will play in Steelers game Sunday [PG]
Mendenhall to get 'majority of snaps' [WPXI]
Reed's latest incident embarrassment to Steelers [PG]

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WHAT'S WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE?

You know, delivering the same message for the 1,500th time starts to get old. So I've tried to cut back on the Roethlisberger propaganda. But when you see things like this, I think by law I must point them out. And in case you think this is dated, it's not. It's from ESPN.com. Today.

Thanks to Mike V. for the heads up and screen shot

UPDATE:

ESPN has changed the poll to "Which Unbeaten QB is the best in the NFL". We can all calm down. Not a good week on the web for errors, though. First Pirate playoff ticket offers, and now this.

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LEBRON BRINGS SWINE FLU, SHAQ TO PITTSBURGH

If you're a germophobe, you'll probably be skipping tonight's Cleveland-Dallas exhibition game at the Pete, which features a swine-flu-infected Lebron James, Steeler fan Shaquille O'Neal, and attention fan Mark Cuban, among others. In addition to appearing at tonight's game, Cuban will also be speaking at Pitt at 3:30 today; maybe someone will bring up the topic of his recent Twitter war with Peter King, which delighted many.

As for tonight's game, it's the next-to-last tuneup in the preseason for the Cavs, who wrap things up tomorrow night against Boston at Columbus, Ohio's Schottenstein Center. 3-3 Cleveland just lost to the 4-1 Mavs on Saturday night, while resting James, O'Neal, and Mo Williams. Which means tonight's games qualifies as a preseason grudge match, if such a thing exists (this just in: it doesn't). Nonetheless, I'm sure there will be a playoff-like atmosphere in the air.

James, who took a whole two days to recover from the epidemic that is sweeping the nation, played 19 minutes against Dejuan Blair and San Antonio on Friday night, scoring 22 points. It sounds to me like he read the tremendous article on the myth of swine flu from Maddox and has no fear for it. Maybe he's just the man to sneeze in Maddox's face. Or he can sneeze in your face if you get the right seat. Tipoff is at 7:30.

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STEELERS' PASSING GAME FARING QUITE WELL

Now here's a sight you don't see every day - Steelers leading the league in passing and receiving yards. And not only is Hines Ward #1 in that category, but Santonio Holmes joins him in the top 10 at #8.

Not to be a killjoy, but Ben does have a game on Peyton Manning, who holds the slight lead in yards per game (329.0-314.5). But 314.5? For a Steeler QB? I thought I'd never see the day. He's on pace for an unheard of 5,032 yards for the season. Just for a little perspective, his career high is 3,513 yards, in 2006. And Terry Bradshaw's best was 3,724, in 1979. How about 2002, when Tommy Maddox was throwing the ball all over the yard? He finished with 3,414. So as you can see, we're (or should I say, Ben) is headed for uncharted territory here. Maybe this will be the year that Roethlisberger finally gets some consideration for the MVP.

And how about #86? Not only is he leading the league in yards, but he's tied for the league lead in catches (41) with the Giants' Steve Smith. Ward's also grabbing 99.8 yards per game, which puts him on a 1,600 yard pace. That would shatter his career-high of 1,329 in 2002.

The third head of the pass-catching monster, Heath Miller, also is among the league leaders with 34 catches, 8th among all players and just one behind Indy's Dallas Clark for the league lead among tight ends. Speaking of overdue accolades, maybe this is the year Miller finally gets that invitation to the Pro Bowl.

Combine those numbers with the Pitt Panthers, who feature the nation's #2 rusher (Dion Lewis), #8 passer (Bill Stull) and the nation's co-leader in receiving touchdowns (Dorin Dickerson), and we're being treated to some Zambelli-quality offensive fireworks each weekend here in Pittsburgh. And I like it. Especially because these teams are both winning, which is the most important stat of all.

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CONTRARY TO WHAT STUBHUB TELLS YOU, THE PIRATES ARE NOT IN THE PLAYOFFS

In the past five minutes, two different readers just sent over copies of an email they received from secondary ticket source Stubhub offering to sell them Pittsburgh Pirate playoff tickets. Maybe this ticket is dated from sometime in the future, because 99-loss teams usually don't qualify for the playoffs, at least not yet in Bud Selig's interpretation of MLB.

The site later rectified their error with an apology email, stating how sorry they were for the inconvenience or confusion this caused. You know, for all the people so into baseball that they didn't know the Pirates were out of it, yet were planning on buying playoff tickets.

Apparently it was an epidemic, because Deadspin also had reports of tickets being peddled for the Mets, Cubs, and Nationals. What, no Royals ticket offers?

Thanks to William and Frank for the heads up

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POTENT

STEELERS (4-2) 27
BROWNS (1-5) 14
ROETHLISBERGER 23-35, 417 YDS, 2 TD, 1 INT
MENDENHALL 17-62, 1 TD
WARD 8-159, 1 TD

Thoughts from the 12th consecutive victory of Hammer over Nail:

1. I realize it was "only" the Browns, but Ben Roethlisberger's grasp of the offense is bordering on scary right now. Even fantasy football fans have fallen for the big guy, who threw for 417 yards, 3rd all-time for a single game in Steeler history, on Sunday. In case you were wondering, the top two: Tommy Maddox's 473 in 2002's "The Tie" against Atlanta, and Roethlisberger's 433 in 2006 against Denver.

2. Just to give you an idea of how accurate Roethlisberger has been throwing the ball, his 73.8 completion percentage is 10.4% above his career average of 63.4. For comparison's sake, Derek Anderson is completing 46.4% of his passes, which probably has something to do with the fact that his team has one win.

3. Hines Ward had another monster day, with eight catches, 159 yards, a touchdown, and another touchdown taken off the board. Through six games, he remains on pace for 109 catches. By the way, Terrell Owens, who got the key to the city upon his arrival in Buffalo, is on pace for 40 catches. Just thought that was worth a mention.

4. One thing that was disappointing: the sloppy sequence of hot potato when the Steelers and Browns kept trying to prove who wanted the ball less. Five fumbles in five straight possessions was nothing but bad football. If anything, it proves that the Steelers, despite a 4-2 record, have yet to play their best game.

5. Another minor disappointment: the Browns came into the game allowing a league-worst 170 yards a game on the ground, and the Steelers came up with 140. That's nitpicking when your QB throws for 417, but the Steeler rushing attack was nothing special on Sunday. The first look at the revised Parker-Mendenhall combo resulted in a total of 88 yards on 24 carries (3.7 per). That gets a "meh" against a bad Browns rush D playing without Kam Wimbley.

6. As for the Steelers' defense, they got high marks by holding the Browns below 200 yards and keeping Anderson to single-digit completions for the second straight week. Their only weapons (and I use that phrase loosely) appear to be WR Mohamed Massaquoi, who broke out with 148 yards against Cincinnati a few weeks ago, and Josh Cribbs, who burned the Steelers for his third career kick return TD today (with help from an uncalled hold on Keiwan Ratliff).

7. Jamal Lewis looked like Jamal Lewis usually looks against the Steelers, and that's not good. Counting today, here's his games against the Steelers while with the Browns: 21, 94, 38, 35, and 35 yards. Hard to believe that he once ran for 2,000 yards in a season. Harder to believe that a guy in my fantasy league paid $21 in real American dollars for him last week. For one game, that's a dollar a yard. What's that make Adrian Peterson worth?

8. Santonio Holmes broke out of his mini-funk with his first 100-yard game since week one, which was the last time he found the end zone. But he had some key plays and nice YAC work on Sunday. Plus, he had a pass intended for him intercepted by Hines Ward, illustrated above.

9. There are many candidates for the worst team in the NFL these days, and Cleveland has to be right in the thick of that race. Head coach that nobody seems happy with? Check. Dumpster fire at quarterback? Check. Lack of consistent playmakers on offense? You know it. Lack of consistent playmakers on defense? Check, unless you consider the worst rush defense in the league as a positive. And the one guy that have that makes plays on the team (Josh Cribbs) is unhappy.

In short, there's a loooooong way to go before they will be ready to compete for anything other than a high draft pick.

10. The officiating, much like the officiating across all sports these days, was not good. I'm still wondering how the Steelers got a first down on a spot that at least appeared from the TV angle to be short. As previously stated, Cleveland got away with a hold on the Cribbs TD. And the overturned Hines Ward TD could have been interpreted either way. That being said, the refs still aren't as bad as what I've seen in the baseball playoffs.

11. Was that a Hank Poteat sighting on Sunday? Yes it was. Somehow, the Pitt product who was cut by the Steelers back in 2003 has managed not only to score a Super Bowl ring (New England, Super Bowl XXXIX), but play 10 seasons in the league. His journey has taken him from Pittsburgh (2000–2002) to Tampa Bay (2003), New England (2004–2006), the New York Jets (2006–2008), and now, Cleveland (2009–present).

12. Nice to see Troy Polamalu back to his playmaking self with an interception and four tackles in his first game since week one. And on the topic of injuries, I thought the run defense handled themselves well on Sunday, keeping the level of competition in mind. Next week against Adrian Peterson and Minnesota will be as big of a test that exists in the NFL.

13. Celebrity fans at the game on Sunday included a rare appearance by Mario Lemieux as well as former Steeler Kimo von Oelhoffen, who successfully pulled off his plan to destroy the Bengals' franchise in 2006. Or so their fans would have you believe.

14. Looking down the road: prepare for a week of hype, because Peterson, Brett Favre, and Jared Allen will be in the Steel City for a 1 PM game next Sunday on Fox. Following a bye week in Week Eight, it's a Monday nighter at Denver and a rematch with Cincy on November 15. Buckle your chinstraps. The time to be in midseason form is rapidly approaching. A big month lies ahead.

UPDATE:

15. As you've probably heard by now, Jeff Reed was cited for disorderly conduct at McFadden's bar on the North Shore around 9 PM last night. It's kind of a "been there, done that" moment for Steeler fans at this point, and for Reed, he's obviously learned no lesson from previous incidents, be them internet embarrassments or his famous run-in with a towel dispenser at Sheetz. It will be interesting to see if the team (or the league) takes any disciplinary measures against the fun-loving kicker.

UPDATE II:

16. Turns out that Matt Spaeth was in on the fun, too. From TMZ:

It all went down at a bar right near the stadium where the Steelers played just a few hours earlier -- cops say they saw a man in the parking lot peeing next to a white SUV. The man turned out to be Steelers back up tight end Matt Spaeth.

When officers approached Spaeth, cops say Steeler's kicker Jeff Reed got out of the SUV to defend his teammate and "curled his fists" at the cops. Bad move.

Reed was placed in cuffs and charged with assault and resisting arrest -- as well as disorderly conduct and public intoxication. He was released to a family member at the scene.

Spaeth was cited for urinating in public and released.

This story just got a lot more interesting. Stay tuned.

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PITT JOINS THE TOP 25

On the heels of Friday's win over Rutgers comes another bit of good news for the 6-1 Pitt Panthers: they're ranked in both major national polls for the first time this season, as well as the BCS rankings.

The Panthers are ranked #20 in the BCS, 20th in the AP, and 19th in the USA Today. The last time Pitt was ranked would be prior to the 2008 Sun Bowl, when they were 18th in the AP Poll. Their high point in the 2008 rankings was week eight, when they were 17th in both the AP and BCS.

The Panthers are one of three Big East schools ranked in the top 25 this week, joining Cincinnati (#5 AP, #6 USA Today, #6 BCS) and WVU (#22, #22, 22). Which means the conference is finally getting at least some measure of respectability from the rest of the country.

Of interest to many of you, 6-1 Penn State is ranked 13/11/11 following their 20-0 win over Minnesota on Saturday. Terrelle Pryor's Ohio State Buckeyes, despite a lethargic offense and a loss to previously 1-5 Purdue, are ranked 18/17/17 with a 5-2 record.

In the coming week, Pitt takes on South Florida, West Virginia hosts UConn, and Penn State travels to Michigan for a meeting of the minds with Rich Rodriguez. Which means a lot of us will be pretty much useless next Saturday due to the abundance of important football games on the tube.

NCAA College Football Polls [ESPN]

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DION LEWIS, DION LEWIS, DION LEWIS

I couldn't have imagined watching last night's nationally broadcast Pitt-Rutgers game as a Rutgers fan, because the ESPN announcers were gushing over Dion Lewis in a way that would put John Madden-Brett Favre to shame.

The freshman phenom, who's leading the nation in rushing (as they mentioned about a dozen times), once again led the charge for the Panthers, to the tune of 180 yards and two touchdowns. And yes, the announcers did mention his name in the Heisman race. I'm not making this up.

Individual performances aside, the Panthers did win the game, beating Rutgers 24-17 and gaining their first win over the school since roughly 1862. OK, I'm exaggerating. It was actually 2003 when the Panthers last beat the Scarlet Knights. Let's just say it seemed like it hadn't happened since 1862.

There were many things to like about Pitt's performance, starting with Lewis and extending to Dorin Dickerson, who's finally found his niche in his senior season with his eighth touchdown of the season. Better late than never, I suppose. I also liked what I saw from Henry Hynoski out of the backfield. A lot. Bill Stull played well for the most part, although he did cough the ball up in the fourth quarter, leading to a Rutgers TD that brought them back into the game late. And the defense did a good job keeping the Rutgers offense in check, allowing two touchdowns on short fields of 11 and 49 yards, and limiting the Scarlet Knights to 38 yards rushing on 20 carries.

On the other side, there were things not to like as well. For one, OC Frank Cignetti's got to find a way to get Jonathan Baldwin the ball more than one time in a game. He's just too explosive. Second, I don't know if kicker Dan Hutchins was having a bad day, but his two missed field goals could've really come back to bite the Panthers. Third, I think the offense needs to be mixed up a little bit. I love Lewis, and how can you not? But 31 carries is a lot on his frame, especially when Ray Graham only touched the ball twice. Finally, teams in this town seem to have a growing problem closing out opponents of late. The Steelers have struggled with it all year. The Pens blew a two-goal lead in the third period the other night against Carolina. Even Pitt gift-wrapped a game to NC State by allowing 14 points in the fourth quarter. That game last night could've easily gone south in the final quarter, but the Panthers eventually rose to the occasion, as good teams have to do. Like I often say, it's more about the position you put your team in, and when the lead is only seven points late, you've set yourself up for a situation where one play could change the game - in a bad way.

Excuse my slightly negative tone despite the win, because it's managed to happen yet again. I've bought back in to the Pitt Panthers, and recent history has proven that this team can rip your heart out at the most inopportune times (although, is there ever a good time to have your heart ripped out?). The Staches are now 3-0 and in first place in the Big East, with a 6-1 record and probable spot in the Top 25 tomorrow. I'm officially excited. And if Pitt can take down South Florida in a yuuuuuge game next Saturday, they would be three wins away from a BCS bid, with one of those games being Syracuse. What a batch of Wannstache Kool-Aid that could be.

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NEWS AND NOTES

--Pirate pitcher Charlie Morton's a musician? Who knew we had a budding Bronson Arroyo on our hands? [Myspace]

--Rashard Mendenhall, sick and sent home from practice on Thursday, returned today and expects to play on Sunday. But only if he promises to cough on some Browns during the game. [Trib]

--Dave Dameshek's been knocking it out of the park with these weekend football previews for Page 2, and here's this week's edition. [ESPN.com]

--Breaking news: there's a tailgating ban in effect for this weekend's Penn State game. Re-adjust your partying accordingly. [CentreDaily.com]

--Don't forget, this week's Pitt game will be played tonight on ESPN at 8 PM. The Wannstache looks for his first win over the Scarlet Knights, and the Panthers are 3.5 point favorites on the road. Time to seize the opportunity, boys. [PG]

--Joe Starkey rightly cites Bud Selig's BS in his repeated statements that MLB has parity. If I hear Bud cite those 2005-2008 numbers during one more interview, I think I'm going to throw something. [Trib]

--If you're looking for the answer as to why there's a picture of a Donald Duck tattoo and a link to a Pittsburgh foodie blog, the answer lies in the accompanying story: a thank-you to the awesome hospitals in the Pittsburgh area. [Snickie]

--In the "yesterday's news" category (since I failed to link it yesterday), former Nittany Lion RB Austin Scott is suing Penn State. [The Morning Call]

--Three Pirate prospects will be facing uberpitcher Stephen Strasburg tonight in an Arizona Fall League game. See, the Pirates do play in October! [Raise the Jolly Roger]

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TREATS FROM THE INBOX: PHOTO EDITION

It's time for the randomly-scheduled feature where YOU are the star, "Treats From the Inbox". Being that I received so many great submissions this week, I'm breaking this feature into a few parts. As you can see, this is the photo edition. From these, I can draw a few conclusions:

1. You guys go on some really interesting vacations

2. The level of Pittsburgh loyalty among those scattered around the globe is off-the-charts. You can take the Yinzer out of Pittsburgh, but you can't take the Pittsburgh out of the Yinzer.

3. Pittsburgh absolutely deserved that #1 ranking as the top sports town from the Sporting News. To say there's an unhealthy obsession with our sports teams would be an injustice to the phrase "unhealthy obsession".

That being said, on to the evidence...

PICS OF THE WEEK

"Just thought I'd pass on some pics from my wedding last month, which had a decidedly black-n-gold feel. Our favor was a custom-made "Terrible Tighes" towel. The wedding party was introduced (in jerseys, of course) to the Pens' "Boys of Winter" theme. My lovely new bride, Tracy and I came out to "Here We Go," and we even had our friends Kenny Wregget & his beautiful fiancee Cindy on hand as well. We took our Terrible Tighes towel on the honeymoon to Cancun, so there are now a bunch of the extras floating around Mexican bars." --
Mr. & Mrs. Steve Tighe



"Don't know if you've seen pics from this place before, but it's called Steel City Pizza and it's a Pittsburgh sports themed pizzeria located in The Woodlands, TX (a suburb of Houston). It never ceases to amaze me how far Steeler Nation extends" -- Mandy S.


"This is a picture of James Harrison and I the weekend before the Superbowl down on the Southside. I had already had more than a few beers and several shots of saki when I decided to approach him….after I asked him for a picture, I then proceeded to: make fun of him for not being able to work my camera phone with his giant fingers (God knows I couldn’t do it myself); lecture him on the significance of the then upcoming Super Bowl; give a speech about the proud tradition of Steeler linebackers that he needed to uphold; and then topped it all off with a rant about how important the Steelers are to the city of Pittsburgh and the fans. Much to the credit of James and his friends, they put up with me and were all great sports throughout the whole thing. Seriously – who actually walks away intact from an encounter like that?

To this day I still:

1) can’t believe that he’s actually smiling. (yes, he is, believe it or not)

2) can’t believe that I’m still alive and he didn’t wrap those giant hands around my throat

3) totally believe that my words were in his head as he fought for the final few yards of the longest touchdown in Superbowl history (“this drunk guy on the Southside told me how important this game was…”)" -- Jay N.


"Here are a couple of Steelers-related skiing pics. The first is me in Chamonix, France, proudly displaying a package of Big Ben's Beef Jerky after the Steelers won Superbowl XL. The second is me in Zermatt, Switzerland, Ben's homeland. This was taken on the day the Steelers beat Dallas last season, and that's the Matterhorn in the background." -- Greg




"Here are a couple pics with Pittsburgh celebrities and some Terrible Towel pics you might like, although they are a little bit dated. I've got a pic of me and Kevin Stevens, my childhood hero, who I met at the Stanley Cup Finals last year. I was also lucky enough to attend the Winter Classic last year in Chicago, and made sure to bring my Terrible Towel. I've got one picture of me in front of Wrigley Field (although you can barely see me) with the towel, and one in Harry Carry's. Hope you like them!" -- Mark A.


"One of my favorite pictures from my trip to East Africa last month...
this shot of me was taken last month in Ngorongoro Crater in northern
Tanzania." -- Sam S.


"Here is a picture of myself with a Terrible Towel from Ecuador. My wife is from there and we were visiting her family. This was the day of the season opener against Tennessee. Usually, nationally televised games are on TV down there, but the game ended up getting preempted by U.S. Open Tennis. I didn't find out the score until the next day. Every time I go down there I take Terrible Towels with me and hand them out to her family members as a little piece of Pittsburgh.

Another interesting story, one time when down there, I was walking past a store with a guy working at a desk near the window. He had a Mario Lemieux starting lineup figurine on top of his computer. I stopped and asked him why he had it and he told me how much he loved hockey, even though he had never been on ice before, and that Mario was his favorite player. He was beside himself when I told him I was from Pittsburgh and had seen Mario play in person before." -- Ben A.

"It is hard to see me in the picture but that is me in Moscow." -- Justin H.



"The first pic is me and my brother Jeremy ( a Yinzer undercover who lives in Boston) last week downtown at the city county building. The second is from the top of Mt. Washington, NH with my brother Chuck right before he deployed for a tour in Iraq. (where he currently is reppin the steelers nation) and family. Third is me and my friend Aaron in Lima, Peru." -- Doug

"I was recently in Beijing working at the China Open tennis tournament and had a free day to do some site seeing. Decided to go to The Great Wall. I was there last year but forgot my towel so I made it a point to bring it this year and return for a picture. I've been living in Miami for the past 13 years. Work requires me to travel a lot but rarely do I get to come home. I miss the Burgh." -- Justin M., Miami

"A zombie with the Stanley Cup. You can tell Pittsburgh won." -- Joe W.

Great pic of Mario at the banner raising from Matthew W.

"I read your blog on the regular and one thing I love the most is when you put up the pictures from all over the world that have the Pittsburgh sports theme. I had this one for a while and couldn't think of a someone or some site that would appreciate it anymore. This was taken at a Phish show in East Troy, WI this past summer. The way this individual was walking through the crowds with that trophy made me extremely proud to be from Pittsburgh and more importantly a die hard Pens fan." -- Andy A.


Nipsy at the recent Max Talbot K-Mart signing:

"I did get a shirt signed. Everyone was allowed 1 free autograph, or one free picture with Max. But they pretty much cut out the photo ops just to get the line moving. Max was really cordial with everyone and fashionable as usual, as you can see. Apparently, he was even breaking the rules by giving in and signing more than one autograph per person than he was supposed to. It was ironic because one guy started complaining to a K-Mart employee that, basically, Max was taking too much time meeting with people to sign their items and the whole thing was moving too slow. I guess it's a fine line.....be cordial with a few people or ignore everyone while signing. Not sure how it turned out though, because I got through at about 2:15 and I figured I was at the 40-50% mark when it started. And there were at least a few hundred people behind me to squeeze in by 3:00."

Ed. Note: (By the way, since I always get asked, you can get the Max shirt here).

"I just got back from a week visiting Tokyo. Even in Japan, the Pirates are total losers." --
Tom C., California

"Taken before Patrick’s first Steeler game – 4 yrs old." -- Blair D.


"Not sure if this has ever been mentioned, but have you ever noticed the uncanny resemblance of Flyers' clown Scott Hartnell and Slap Shot hooligan Ogie Ogilthorpe????"-- Joe C., Blawnox, PA

"I told my wife if we were to get a mini van, I'd get a vanity plate! She did..." -Jonathan K., Concord, NH

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If you'd like to join in the fun for the next episode, here's what we're looking for:

-Personal photos and/or stories with Pittsburgh celebrities and athletes
-Terrible Towel shots from unusual locales
-Pittsburgh-centric license plates
-Pictures of Steeler/Pirate/Penguin jerseys in random places
-Well-written or thought-provoking emails
-Personal Burgh-sports stories
-Amusing Western PA-related links

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