John Fedko Hasn't Given Up Hope

During my usual late-night chat with my dad over the state of our respective teams, he told me that WPXI's John Fedko went on a five-minute rant about how the Steelers are still alive. My dad said that Fedko claimed the Steelers could still win the division with a 9-7 record. That would require a team that has played 2-6 ball to finish 7-1 down the stretch against the likes of Baltimore (twice), Cincinnati, New Orleans, and Carolina.

Submitted for your approval: John Fedko's sanity

Why commentators such as Fedko are making such outlandish claims is beyond me. How anyone can look at this team and think it can flick a switch is ridiculous. This isn't Shaq playing harder once the playoffs come around; this is a complete team collapse: offense, defense, special teams, and coaching. Anyone saying the Steelers still have a chance is just hurting their own credibility.

The Monday Night game tonight actually further illustrated the Steelers' sorry plight. I still cannot fathom the fact that they lost to the Raiders. Cannot, cannot, cannot believe it. Honestly, tonight Oakland looked like they don't even belong in the NFL. Their offense hasn't scored a touchdown since Randy Moss reeled in a 32-yarder in the first quarter against Arizona on October 22. That's 11 quarters without an offensive TD, for those of you counting at home. QB Andrew Walter was sacked nine times. His body language screamed of a beaten man. At least he managed not to throw any INTs. Their offensive line is ridiculously bad. Lamont Jordan had just nine carries. If I'd ever seen a hopless team, this was it. Forget talk about the Denver loss ending the season. The Oakland loss was the last nail in the coffin of the 2006 Steelers.

Seperated at Birth: Andrew Walter and Office Space's Ron Livingston

After watching a full half of the Raiders-Seahawks debacle, it was time for some hockey. The Pens took on the Anaheim "Don't Call Us Mighty" Ducks with a 10 PM EST start. For some reason, Mad Mike Therrien chose tonight to give Jocelyn Thibault his first start of the season. He managed to stop 37 shots (Thibault, not Therrien), but had me nervous on more than one occasion, with the Ducks having at least two more potential goals hit the post. But the Pens hung tough and managed to steal a point by taking the Ducks to OT. The highlight of the night had to be Nils Ekman's series of uppercuts on a Duck in front of the net with about 5 minutes left in regulation. Ekman was then tackled by Chris Pronger, who was tackled by Maxime Talbot, who was tackled by yet another Duck. Unfortunately, a questionable tripping call in OT to Noah Welch gave the Ducks one last power play, and Teemu Selanne (he of the golf course in his front yard) ended this one just 21 seconds into the extra frame. Next up is Tampa on Wednesday night. Hopefully Dan Potash didn't tire the guys out too much in California.

Sports aside, the high point of my evening was a 7 PM showing of Borat at the Destinta Theater in scenic Bridgeville, one of the 837 chosen theaters for the first week of release. There was a pretty strong turnout, considering this was a Monday night and we were in Bridgeville. I was actually carded upon buying my tickets, which is amazing considering I'll be 30 next year. And believe it or not, this theater did not have anyone taking your tickets. You could have virtually walked right in and no one would have noticed. But I recommend you pay. Because this movie was worth every penny and then some. No spoilers here, though. I will give you a great read: the "real" Borat and his frustrating story.
The "real" Borat is confused

Update on a few stories

Last Thursday I wrote a piece on the lack of respect Big Ben was getting from SI.com's Phil Taylor. Well, today we can add ESPN Radio's Colin Cowherd to the list of Ben Haters. While interviewing former DB Eric Allen on his daily talk show, Cowherd brought up the play of Bears QB Rex Grossman. To gauge the level of play Grossman was at, Cowherd asked Allen who he would rather have instead of Grossman, and together they went through 15 quarterbacks...15!!...without even mentioning Roethlisberger. OK, he's had two bad games. I guess that immediately erases the start to his career and his Super Bowl win.

The list went something like this (although not in order): Brady, Manning, Palmer, Brees, McNabb, Hasselbeck, Delhomme, Favre, Leftwich, Vick, Brad Johnson, Eli Manning, Plummer, McNair, and Grossman. What, no Alex Smith or Andrew Walter? Of course, this is the same clown that still refuses to recognize the Steelers as Super Bowl champs.

Also, on my Monday Morning Wrapup, I called the Chargers the best 2-1 team in the league. Right on cue, ESPN2's Cold Pizza "analyst" Skip Bayless called them the team to beat in the AFC. You'd think that a team that has continued to find ways to lose close games the last two seasons would eventually have some bandwagoneers jump off, but no, that's not the case.