Absence

Sorry, readers, for the extended absence; all hell has been and continues to break loose in my life – getting married, moving out of home in two weeks, buying a ‘new’ used car, etc etc.

What I’m hoping is I can quickly get situated and comfortable in the pad, and develop a routine.  We’ll see how that goes….

Coming Soon: Post on Event-based Science, don’t worry it’s nothing too heavy.

Finally, It’s Time for the Steelers

On the heels of the Pirates sinking ship and year once again, the Steelers began training camp yesterday, and all across Western PA and the Steelers Nation, there was a sports-related sigh of relief.

Observations so far: Tomlin was an excellent pick for head coach.  He’s young, intelligent, demanding, understanding, and focused.  For those of you keeping score at home, those are also all the character traits you want in a good football player as well (excluding the obvious athletic ability).

Tomlin has the team focused; Faneca’s a true professional and not making a scene at camp; and Troy Polamlu signed an extension.  Not bad for two days huh?

For the season, I think the Steelers will finish around the 11-5 mark.  All I know is that if they’re not close to that, it’s going to be an arduous, depressing winter in western PA.

Pirates Lost…

Sorry for the delayed response but the Pirates latest loss sent me, as I’m sure it did for Shane Youman too, into a coma of beer and disbelief.

If Youman thought being drafted in the 43rd round was a nightmare, he got a swift dose of reality the other night. At least Gorzo has company now.

Excellent Article on Steelers Coach Tomlin

I won’t reproduce the whole article, but found it to be quite illuminating and interesting.  Although I was against the hiring of Tomlin, the more I read about the guy, the more and more I like him and think he’s a good fit for the Steelers.

The thing I like most about him is that he holds everyone accountable for their actions both on and off the field.  This is a stark contrast to how Cowher ran the team last year, and was, in my opinion, the main reason for their subpar season.

Pirates Win 7-3

Since I’ve been bashing them for a while now, I think it fitting to congratulate them on the win.  Of course it was against a team – Houston – that sports a record as bad as the Pirates, but let’s just forget that for a moment and bask in the momentary warmth of winning a game……after all, it could be several weeks until it happens again.

Tom Gorzelanny Now Suicidal

Someone Playing Baseball in a Pirate Uniform – A Very Rare Sight

 

 

After last night’s loss in a fashion reminiscent of nearly every time Gorzo pitches, club officials met to discuss whether or not to put Gorzelanny on suicide watch.

In the end, it was determined that since the team (other than select members of the pitching staff) isn’t concentrarting on baseball, and won’t be anytime soon, that they could instead watch Gorzo and thus partially validate their salaries.

Although no one told Gorzo about this decision, he confided that he is enjoying “all the extra company and attention” but just wants to be left alone. Suspicious indeed.

Gary Bettman – Drunk at the Wheel…Again.

Canadian billionaire Jim Balsillie has accused NHL commissioner Gary Bettman of forcing the owner of the Nashville Predators to break off discussions about the sale of the team to Balsillie, ESPN.com has learned.

I’ve always been against Bettman (unfortunately there’s no electronic way for me to prove this), and his latest obstruction , for the sake of his unwavering vision of the NHL, is disgusting.

I won’t lie, I really don’t like Basille because of what I perceived to be his nefarious aims in buying the Penguins; however, in Nashville, he’s dealing with a completely different market and beast. Pittsburgh always sold out or came close too while Nashville has continued to be the Mobi of the NHL.

Basillie’s bid for the Nashville franchise is not only fair, it’s incredible. Why not sell to Basillie for that amount, especially if he’s got the guaranteed season ticket numbers he professes to have? At this point – low TV ratings, market ratings, etc for Nashville- why not put a floundering franchise in a market long overdue for one?

I don’t doubt there are some very passionate Thrasher fans in Atlanta, but when it comes down to it, it’s what’s best for the NHL, and in this case, moving the franchise to Canada is the best option (plus, their economy and dollar are doing better than ours is).