A BIG DAY

What happens in the next 24 hours will shape the Steelers for a very long time. Gut instinct? I think they hold on to Ben Roethlisberger, go the therapy/counseling/"he needs help" angle, and try to tackle the very tall task of mending fences with fans and teammates. 

NEWS AND NOTES

--Happy birthday, Sidney. [PG]

Max Talbot and Kris Letang took the Cup to a club in Montreal. I'm sure nothing was sipped from it at any point in the evening.

--The Pirates lost a 12-inning game by five runs, which is not easy to do. The lack of leadership is becoming an issue. Yep, that's what's been wrong with the Pirates over the past 17 years. No leadership. [PBC Blog]

--Rod Woodson will become the 20th NFL Hall of Famer with Steeler ties. As I always said, In Rod We Trust. [Trib]

--Pitt has released their 2009-10 basketball non-conference schedule. Plan your life accordingly. [KDKA/PSI]

--Troy Polamalu is the cover boy for this month's Pittsburgh Magazine, complete with a lengthy interview where you learn all about Troy's garden. Tomatoes, broccoli, sunflower seeds, oregano, basil, sage, AND peppermint? Where does he find the time? [Pittsburgh Magazine]

--Darnell Stapleton is lost for an undetermined amount of time, as he is having knee surgery this morning. For his rehab, he will tend to Troy Polamalu's garden. [Trib]

--Tim Tebow was left off one ballot for the preseason All-Big East Team. And who did that vote go to? [Sports Pickle]

--Bill Simmons attended the recent National Sports Collector's Convention, an event near and dear to my heart. Be sure to check out his exquisite photo essay, 20 pages deep. Photos like this sure do bring back memories and summarize the experience in a way words can't. [ESPN.com]
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The News

--Thanks again to the guys at DVE for another fun appearance on Thursday. What other show offers you a guest list as diverse as Jerry Springer followed by that guy from Mondesi's House?

--Pitt breaks West Virginia's heart yet again, as Ronald Ramon hits a 3-pointer at the buzzer, resulting in a 55-54 Panther win. Lots more to talk about on this game.

--Pens 4, Islanders 3 at the Igloo. Whipping Boy Whitney contributes half of the goals, so get off his back.

--Who's crazier: Brian McNamee or Roger Clemens? And ESPN, when you're talking about Roger Clemens and performance-enhancing drugs, can you get some new stock footage? I'll bet I've seen that clip of Roger catching a football about 1500 times.

--The writers behind Fire Joe Morgan finally reveal themselves.

--At long last, the Mike and Mike Ombudsman has arrived. It's about time.

--Steve Spagnuolo is staying with the Giants. And for the last time, he's not related to me.

--Move over Psychic Friends... catch the Plaxico Friends Network for your sports related predictions.

--Why did the Pirates retire the number of Billy Meyer?

--Meet Kurt William Havelock, the would-be restauratuer who planned to "shed the blood of the innocent" at the Super Bowl. Sounds like a reasonable fellow.

--SI's Dr. Z. grades all of the NFL analyst teams. If your name is Tony Kornheiser, Ron Jaworski, or Mike Tirico, you probably don't want to click this link.

--It's the first in a series: Be Like Tike's Pirate Snapshots of Futility. To lead off, 2000 position players.

--Breaking down the big Shaq-Shawn Marion trade.

--The name of this post says it all: "Tim Tebow Tim Tebow Tim Tebow Tim Tebow"

--Kirsten Dunst joins Eva Mendes in the crowded celebrity rehab world.

--ESPN SportsCenter used to be a heaven of sports highlights and nothing else. Then a portion of the show slowly morphed into boring staged debate mode. And the decay of the network's signature program hit rock bottom with this recent clip of Sean Salisbury calling John Clayton "The Cryptkeeper".

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Jim Tressel Should Have Voted for Michigan

I'm thinking The Vested One wishes he was facing the Wolverines on Monday night, because his team didn't look ready to play the NCAA Sports-dominating Florida Gators. I'm sure you haven't forgotten the fact that Coach Tressel decided to abstain from the final USA Today coaches' poll, citing a "conflict of interest". Of course, that didn't stop him from voting, or at least pretending to vote, the rest of the season.

Ohio State was representing the vaunted Big 10 conference, which is always a topic of discussion on this site. Some enjoy praising their beloved Big 10 at the expense of the Big East, which is their absolute right. But after that game, as I see it, the Big East (5-0) did quite well in the postseason, while the Big 10 was largely embarrassed.

Ohio State and Michigan were totally manhandled in the National Championship and Rose Bowl, respectively. Minnesota blew a 31-point lead and lost to Texas Tech in a loss so bad that they fired their coach. Iowa frittered away a 14-0 lead in a loss to Texas. Purdue lost to Maryland, 24-7. Yes, the conference did manage two wins: Wisconsin's 17-14 victory over Arkansas and Penn State's 20-10 W over Tennessee. But is a 2-5 record enough fodder to talk trash about how bad another conference is?

In comparison, the Big East's Louisville topped Wake, 24-13, in the Orange Bowl; Rutgers dominated Kansas State, 37-10, in the Texas Bowl; and WVU beat Georgia Tech, 38-35, in the Gator Bowl (despite their fans soiling the GT band section). Heck, even South Florida and Cincinnati won their bowl games.

But I can hear the Big 10 fans typing their rebuttals already: "Yeah, well we played USC and Florida, while you were playing Wake Forest and Kansas State. We're still better."

The reason the Big East was playing such teams is because of the anti-Big East bias that existed for most of the season. I think that has finally started to fade away, mostly because of how silly it looks in retrospect. But come on, couldn't they do Rutgers better than an invite to the Texas Bowl against a 7-5 Kansas State team? The truth is, the Scarlet Knights should have been playing in the Sugar Bowl instead of Notre Dame. Ever wonder why the Irish have lost nine straight bowl games? It's because they're invited to games they should not be playing in. They're a ticket and TV draw, and that's fantastic, but they're outclassed in those games. Don't argue with me, argue with reality. It's not a coincidence. And it will continue.

The Big East did have an easier path to a 5-0 bowl record, and I don't think they would be 5-0 if they faced the likes of USC or OSU. But if they play in more games along the lines of where they should be, that 5-0 record will work itself back to reality.

But I digress. This is supposed to be about the National Championship. And with the win tonight, Florida becomes the first school to hold both the D-I titles in both basketball and football at the same time. So congrats to them, because that's pretty amazing.

The Gators re-load for 2007, with Tim Tebow back, this time as the full-time starter. So expect to see them ranked right up there with the USCs of the world when the initial rankings are released. Ohio State loses Troy Smith and will probably lose Ted Ginn and Antonio Pittman, but they have a friendly non-conference schedule in '07: Youngstown State, Akron, Kent State, and Washington. So they'll be in the hunt as well. I can only wonder where Coach Tressel will vote his team in the opening poll.

Monday Morning Wrapup

Penn State 12, Purdue 0- Another exciting Saturday afternoon of Big 10 football. And in Pittsburgh, we were treated to four of the five conference games on TV. A lineup like that is what inspired me to watch the Maloof Bros/Matt Damon horror flick Feast on DVD instead.

Bears 41, 49ers 10- Why does every good Bears team get compared to the 1985 team? And if the 1985 team was so incredible, why did they only win one title? In 20 years, will a good Ravens team be compared to the 2000 team?

Falcons 29, Bengals 27- How does the NFL uniform police even allow Chad Johnson to wear his faux "Ocho Sinco" on the back of his jersey for warmups? Is Michael Vick going to send a Christmas card to the NFL for scheduling these games against the AFC North?

Jags 13, Eagles 6- Byron Leftwich is too immobile, so he gets benched for Tim Tebow, and the Jaguars are relevant again, at least in their minds. Donovan McNabb manages not to vomit on camera as the Eagles fall to 4-4. By the way, did you know they make cheesesteaks in Philadelphia? I just thought I'd drop that in, as broadcasters do each and every week that the Eagles play at home.

Ravens 35, Saints 22- The Spirit of New Orleans, which always gets a lift following a Saints win, must be devastated tonight. "Savior of the City" Reggie Bush's line: 5 carries, 16 yards; 4 catches, 5 yards; one back-breaking interception in the end zone. Tomorrow, Drew Brees gets booed when he goes to Emeril's.

Chiefs 35, Seahawks 28- The Chiefs continue to play well when not attending Passion Parties the night before. Larry Johnson's 155 yards and 4 TDs pull fantasy leaguers who chose him #1 overall off the ledge for one week.

Chargers 38, Rams 24- If Marty Schottenheimer's Chargers and Peyton Manning's Colts met in the playoffs, is there a scenario where they could somehow both lose?

Colts 34, Broncos 31- Paging Mercury Morris for the annual "call me when they're in our neighborhood" interview.

Browns 20, Jets 13- Cleveland prohibits the Jets moving to 5-3 and starting the unnecessary playoff discussion. Meanwhile, Chad Pennington is back to sucking again, as his 108-yard, 2-INT performance will attest to.

Cowboys 35, Panthers 14 - Just one start, and John Madden has already compared Tony Romo to Joe Montana. Notice, he did not say Brett Favre. That would take at least two starts.