Blog category: Pittsburgh Steelers
Ah Well | January 3rd, 2010
I declared it over prematurely a few weeks ago, but in the end I was right anyway. This post-Super Bowl = no playoffs pattern is a pretty bizarre one, but this is officially the third time the Steelers have pulled it off. (See also 2006 and 1980.)
The team felt out of Pittsburgh-style balance a lot this year – poor running performance in many games, and even stranger, poor defense. (Aaron Smith’s and Troy Polamalu’s injuries clearly played into that, but can’t explain all of the defense’s frequent fourth-quarter collapses.)
I’ll wait to see how things look in the off-season, but they have a lot of aging players these days, and that makes me nervous for 2010. Regardless, Pittsburgh sports don’t get much better than 2009, and now’s the time of year to become a full-time hockey fan again.
While slight, there’s still a shot for the playoffs. It’s pretty pathetic that the Super Bowl champs are one of those “Denver has to lose, then New York has to lose, and maybe Houston or Baltimore … and THEN we might get in” teams, yet that’s where we are. A dude can hope.
I’m obviously pulling for the Steelers next weekend, but shoutout to Miami’s two (!) Woodland Hills H.S. grads in the lineup — Jason Taylor and Lou Polite.
Big ups to my favorite NFL player from back in the day, Rod Woodson, who was inducted yesterday into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. (Which is, as Tom Landry used to inexplicably say in the commercials, in “Canton, Ho-i-oh”.)
When I was 10 or so, I used to mail off baseball/football/hockey cards and player photos now and then in hopes that one would come back with an autograph. I have to wonder if kids still do this, but I hope so, because it’s a lot more successful than standing outside the players’ entryway in a giant cluster and waiting for someone to walk by. I sent a team photo of the 1989 Steelers to Rod, and lucky me, a few weeks later it showed back up at my house signed “Rod Woodson #26″. It was tacked to my wall for many years, so in my mind, Rod Woodson has always been a chill dude. That was true even though the nachos at Woodson’s All-Star Grille were nothing to write home about — I’d say he was more cut out for interceptions than the restaurateur life.
What an ugly win! At least until the fourth quarter! And yet what a win! More later! Woo!
XLIII! | January 19th, 2009
They committed way too many penalties, they couldn’t run against Baltimore, the refs made some horrendous calls, and yet the defense still dominated this one enough to take it in the end. The Steel Curtain shuts it down again!
Vielen danke aus Anselm Feuerbach. I would retitle this “Sunday, January 18, 2009″.
After all, what team beat the ‘Skins to continue the Washington pro football presidential-prediction index?
Truly the Steeler Nation has powers that cannot be comprehended by mere humans. A certain individual would be wise to switch over from the Chicago Bears.
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