SMIZIK: "A CALL, SERIOUSLY, TO TRADE CROSBY"

Not only is Bob Smizik not retired, but he's still stirring the pot, today suggesting (seriously, he implies) that the Penguins deal one Sidney Crosby. Somewhere, Rob Rossi is nodding in agreement. Says Smizik:

"If he were put on the market, he’d bring a bushel of young talent, some of it not that expensive. Because he is the face of the NFL, Crosby would bring more in a trade than most players of his ability. The Penguins could get the wingers they need and if the team feels Jordan Staal is up to being the second-line center, they wouldn’t even need another center in the deal. Many needs could be addressed."

By the end of the column, Smizik realizes what he is writing and says that a trade should not be seriously discussed. But if you count Rossi and KDKA's Jory Rand, that's three Pittsburgh media members who have recently mentioned the words "Crosby" and "trade" in the same sentence.

We need to stop this right now. First of all, it's just not going to happen, period. From a purely financial standpoint, Crosby is a cash cow. He sells tickets, he sells jerseys, he's the face of the team, and he's the face of the league. You don't trade that. Second, no GM is going to want to be known as The Guy Who Traded Sidney Crosby. That's too much pressure for any one man to shoulder. It's like rolling the dice with the fate of the franchise. And finally, the guy is 21 years old and he's already won an MVP, Art Ross Trophy, and an Eastern Conference championship. Honestly, is our patience to win that short that we're even discussing this?

A call, seriously, to trade Crosby [Smizik/PG]

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

The News

--You may have noticed that little graphic on the right sidebar looking for your news tips. Rather than writing a new post each time we give away a prize, I'm just going to have a standing prize given out every Monday, with the first prize to be awarded on April 21. Everyone who sends in something suitable for The News is eligible to win. One person will be chosen at random for the prize.

But while I have you here, I'll tell you that this week's prize is a copy of Kenny Mayne's new book, An Incomplete and Inaccurate History of Sport, compliments of Random House.



If you're interested in sponsoring a future contest, just drop me a line and let me know what type of prize you have to offer the fine Mondesi readers.

And readers, don't forget to send in your news!

--The Steelers are clearing turds off the draft board. Sounds like a messy job.

--The Steelers brought in RB Jonathan Stewart of Oregon, CB Orlando Scandrick of Boise State, and RB Chris Johnson of East Carolina for a look-see.

--The Dump Truck: NOT GUILTY, costing him any chance of being a Dallas Cowboy someday.

--Should the Pirates and their fans bury the hatchet with Barry Bonds? Well, it took Boston about 22 years and two World Series titles to welcome back Bill Buckner, so I'm going to say, "not yet".

--KDKA's Jory Rand joins the wonderful world of blogging with a Penguins playoff blog.

--Much like Adam LaRoche, Joe Paterno has decided that now is not the time to talk about a contract.

--If the class of 2005 was re-drafted, the Steelers would take DE Chris Canty. But that's not going to happen, so I guess this link is just a big waste of time.

--Howard Stern sidekick Artie Lange walked off the show on Thursday after a nasty, expletive-filled altercation with his personal assistant Teddy. Audio here.

--Lauren Conrad's NHL blog is simply awesome. Or not.


--John Elway speaks out on the Jay Cutler/Brandon Marshall situation. Elway is pictured below. Cutler and Marshall are not.

--Emails reveal that gazillionaire Clay Bennett DID plan to move the Seattle Sonics after all. Wow, I never saw that one coming.

--A great season of South Park includes a recent shot at Bill Belichick:

Adam The Penn State Fan is Alive and Well

There are a handful of Pittsburghers who have gained some level of greater notoriety through the wonders of the internet and specifically this site. Penguins fan GwenJen comes to mind. And who could forget the great Ronnie Florian, my personal all-time favorite?

But one colorful character from the past seemed to have completely vanished into thin air. He was known as "Adam the Penn State Fan", he was a local high school kid, and he was best known for his blind praise of all things Penn State Nittany Lions in the Mondesi's House comment section.

Adam's partisan arguments would bait Pitt fans time and time again, and the next thing you knew, we would have a full-fledged comment war on our hands. Judging from the recent survey I conducted, I know many of you long for those days.

After visiting and commenting on the site with consistent regularity, suddenly there were no more Adam comments to be had. As hard as it was to admit for them, many of Adam's adversaries have written and wondered about his whereabouts. I'd compare it to the reaction of Steeler fans when the Browns left town; they were rivals, but they enjoyed the fight.

Well, today is a lucky day for those of you who wondered what happened to Adam. I'm happy to report that he is in fact alive and well. How do I know this? Well, another loyal Mondesi reader happened to email me this clip from a recent edition of the Sunday night KDKA/#1 Cochran Sports Showdown. Guess whose anti-Pitt email is read by Jory Rand at the 7:15 mark? That's right, Adam the Penn State Fan, who appears to have graduated to griping on television as opposed to blogs.

The #1 Cochran Sports Showdown 3/23 [KDKA]

The Relevance of Pitt vs Penn State 11/06 [Mondesishouse.com]
Ronnie Florian In-Person Encounter...With Pics 6/07 [Mondesishouse.com]
Ronnie Florian, Pittsburgh Legend 5/07 [Mondesishouse.com]
The Legend of GwenJen 2/07 [Mondesishouse.com]
GwenJen Speaks [Mondesishouse.com]

Rebuttle to Mondesi's House Penn State Article (Adam the Penn State fan's blog)

We Are!!!....Not Thrilled With That... (by Adam the Penn State Fan for Rakesofmallow.com)

We’ve Got Enough Media Hype Here, Thank You

by The Backyard Scrawler

backyardscrawl@gmail.com

There’s something oxymoronic and just plain moronic about The Week Leading Up To The Big Game. Were you at all surprised that a credentialed scribe-to-be wearing a wedding gown proposed to each team’s quarterback at Media Day? Are you at all alarmed that most of the questions were about the “hype” and the enormity of the game rather than the actual game?

Gisele's not going to be happy about this

Didn’t think so.

The farcical fodder of this football fortnight –– alliteration, can you feel it!?!? –– is trivial enough to break a threshold where it’s OK to be ashamed our own misguided sporting interests. Here’s my question: Why limit this to two weeks?

There’s enough manufactured non-stories covered in Pittsburgh during any given week, and, to a greater extent, enough call-in shows, blogs and message boards to equally blow a story out of proportion and marinate it in our cynicism for awhile.

The media set the tone for discussion and sentiments, but there aren’t enough renouncing voices to squelch every story that makes every yinzer yawn or yak over nothing at all.

So here are a few Pittsburgh musings from This Week In Sports Talk, Newspapers and Television (we’ll call it T.W.I.S.T. ‘N.A.T. –– anagrams, can you feel them!?!?!)

Exhibit A, Item #1 for the week was the Big Ben-Whines Hard controversy. Everyone has taken their side by now, but overlooked is the media’s role. Mark Madden said on his show Monday that Ed Bouchette milked Ward so much that he was probably mooing by the end of the interview.

Was Bouchette really creating The Jerry Springer Show on the pages of the Post-Gazette to keep the Steelers in the news? Not when “The Dean” of pro football writers has been known to throw a wet sopping blanket on several hot rumors and ideas. Let’s be real. Half, no, make that more than half (726 words for 55%, I counted), of that article was quoted material by Hines. Remember after Ward broke the Steelers receptions record and talked unsolicited for 20 minutes about himself during the post-game? Yeah, that’s what happened.

Edd-ie, Edd-ie!

This story should not have any legs –– or at least short, possession receiver legs –– for as long as it has. Sorry, John Fedko, this is not going to send “shockwaves” into mini-camp and even into training camp in August.

Submitted for your approval

That, by the way, was my early favorite for Mind-Numbing Exaggeration of the Week until KDKA’s Rob Pratte told FSN viewers that watching the story of “The Game” between Central Catholic and Gateway will “change your life forever.” (That’s explains why my girlfriend left me, but that dadgum hook-and-lateral play there at the end sure did get me right with Jesus again. Thanks, Rob.)

So Hines Ward is diminutive and dismissive. Here are some other musings from the week of Pittsburgh sports media:

Hey, look Pitt has two talented athletes in two different sports, and, you’ll never believe it –– this is where it gets good –– they are both FRESHMEN. Thank you, Post-Gazette, for that revelation. Oh, and you too, Tribune-Review.

Why are people so thrilled –– and in some cases appalled –– about the Pitt women’s basketball team making the front-page, above-the-fold of the P-G?

Joe Starkey has a nifty proposition for all your all-star game fans who are waxing existential.

Dejan, those people who approached you with a “curious glare” at PirateFest, they feel sorry for you being the Bucco beatwriter. If I were you I would stop answering Q&A and start writing obituaries to practice for the season.

Finally, here are my favorite calls on late-night TV sports call-in shows from the week:

Rich from Coraopolis on the Subway Nightly Sport Call claimed –– admitted, more like –– to working in the Pirates front office during the Cam Bonifay Era. He suggested the Pirates sink $5 million into training facilities in Pittsburgh rather that the Dominican Republic. Great idea, Rich, train no-talent ballplayers in the few warm months we have so they can be drafted by other teams. Latin American players are better and exempt from the draft.

Jim from Upper St. Clair, also on the Nightly Sports Call (see a pattern here), was happy to tell us about his arthritic hip and his hip replacement surgery. He suspected that Steelers LB Lawrence Timmons has the same problem after hearing about his symptoms and suggested that the Steelers were hiding something. Yeah, Jimbo, they drafted him when he was only 20-years-old because he’s quickly mutating into a middle-aged retiree from the suburbs. I wondered why Timmons was wearing that “Ask Me About My Grandchildren” shirt.

Stan from Blawnox (probably not) tried to ask newbie-host Jory Rand if the signing of Kris Beech off waivers meant there would be a fire lit under him and former love interest Sonni Abatta. Jory, without missing a beat, answered as if the caller left off the word “and Sonni Abatta” from the question.

If she married Kris, would she be "Sonni Beech"?

Finally, Mike, on the Fedko Fone Zone –– who sounded like Chris from the Family Guy and still came across more informed than the host –– asked three or four questions with the word “awesome” in it and after interrupting Fedko mid-sentence said “I gotta go, man.” You have to love a call-in show when the inmates run the asylum and the host sways back and forth with his hands in his pockets and talks to some inaudible off-camera voice that answers to “Digby.”

Is that you, Mike?

That’s all for now … I’ll hang up and listen to your comment.