Roethlisberger Suspension

There was some talk that the Steelers would move Roethlisberger if they could land a talented prospect in exchange for him, but with the first round of the NFL draft having come and gone, that scenario seems less probable now. On the one hand, it isn't likely that you'll be able to get equal value when you give away a quarterback with Ben's mobility, arm, age and resume. On the other, if Steelers management is going to factor in Santonio Holmes' questionable behavior into his trade to the Jets, I don't see how they can't consider doing the same with a case involving a possible serial rapist.



Certainly, common belief is that wide receivers are replaceable, while quarterbacks - especially those of Roethlisberger's caliber - are not. Fair enough, but keeping him on the roster does nothing for a franchise that reportedly is concerned about cleaning up its image. Yet purely from a football standpoint, you can't justify moving Big Ben without getting a substantial package in return. If I'm Pittsburgh, I'm swallowing that 6 game suspension and giving Roethlisberger a chance to avoid that 3rd strike. As a fan, it's tough to continue rooting for a guy who's clearly something of a dick off the field, but who knows? Maybe having $2.8 million shaved of your salary is enough to get you to turn over a new leaf. But maybe not. I still feel that if the Steelers franchise wants to compete for titles in the future, Roethlisberger is the guy to take them there. For better or worse, that may be the bottom line.

In unrelated news, the Suns/Blazers game is getting that semi-matinee treatment on Saturday, so I'm going to be watching the game at 5:30 in the morning on Sunday down here. You do what you gotta do.

DPOY > The President

The Pittsburgh Steelers' James Harrison will again skip the team's visit to the White House. Says Harrison:

"This is how I feel - if you want to see the Pittsburgh Steelers, invite us when we don't win the Super Bowl. As far as I'm concerned, (Obama) would've invited Arizona if they had won."

Um, well yeah. That's sort of how it works, James. It was cool when he ducked the White House visit in 2006 when Bush was around, but now it's just kind of weird. I guess that maybe he just doesn't like presidents. Or perhaps he simply isn't as bright as your average linebacker.



On the other hand, I appreciate the fact that my Steelers are still finding ways to entertain me in the off-season.

Pittsburgh Steelers Champs Again

It’s funny, I was sitting at my desk taking care of some work this afternoon when one of the history teachers walked by, and in Japanese, informed me that the Steelers had won the Super Bowl. There’s something markedly strange about finding out in Japanese, at work, on a Monday, who won the big game, but the peculiarity of the situation was quickly superseded by the thrill of hearing that the Steelers had won. Despite being a lifelong sports fan, my teams have a history of not winning championships, but with two titles over the past four years, the Pittsburgh Steelers are pretty much the exception to that rule. Not being able to watch the game live was a huge bummer, especially considering that people are hailing it as one of the best Super Bowls ever, but I suppose I’ll live. Big up to Big Ben, Santonio Holmes, James Harrison, and the rest of Steel Curtain 2K8.



I was also planning on tracking down the St-Pierre/Penn fight, but I didn’t bother since it sounds like Penn lost pretty convincingly. BJ is still tops at lightweight, so that certainly counts for something, but I guess the moral of the story is that you don’t mess around with multiple weight classes. That is, uh, unless your name is Anderson Silva. Somewhat ironically, now the fight that most people want to see is the aforementioned Silva versus St-Pierre. On paper, that’s one of the few fights that could potentially top GSP/Penn in terms of hype, but you inevitably run the risk of killing a title holder’s mystique when you have these champ versus champ fights. Not that I’d be against a GSP/Silva bout, but just for the sake of keeping the title holders looking strong, it might be a good idea to restrict champions to fighting within their divisions.

Pittsburgh Steelers Back In The Super Bowl

Oh, it’s on. As luck would have it, my team makes the Super Bowl during my first year living thousands of miles away from American television. I really can’t think of a justifiable reason to sweat the Cardinals, but then again, it’s not like I’ve had the opportunity to watch them play at all this season. On paper, it looks like Arizona has the type of personnel to be effective against the Steeler defense, but I wouldn't put money on it. Hopefully Hines Ward's injury isn't too serious, but I imagine that he'll be playing regardless of what the doctors say. Having to track down the game online kind of sucks the excitement out of things, but there’s nothing quite like having your team playing on Super Bowl Sunday.

I had probably the wildest night of my life this past Saturday. I’d detail it for you, but as of right now, I’m not legitimately sure how much of it actually happened. I can’t decide whether or not that’s a good thing.

Sproles, Scifres Down Peyton Manning's Colts

Wild game. With LT injured and largely ineffective (as he usually is this time of the year), most people weren't giving the Chargers much of a chance against MVP Peyton Manning and his white hot Patriots. What followed was a gritty performance by an undermanned San Diego, and an early exit for a streaking Indianapolis team that had legitimate Super Bowl aspirations. It wasn't always pretty - the only consistently good looking things about the game were Mike Scifres' punts - but the scrappy Chargers managed to overcome Tomlinson's injury thanks to the diminutive Darren Sproles and his brisk forays into the end zone. Not bad for a .500 team.

I didn't spend all that money to fly home and sit in front of the tube, but damn, I've really missed football. On an unrelated note, I was initially planning on doing another semi-comprehensive top albums of the year list, but 2008 just really wasn't that good of a music year for me. I'll probably have a list up in some shape or form, but I simply don't have the time or energy right now to do blurbs for albums that I thought were merely pretty good. I'll see what I can muster.

Colt headed to Washington, the Hawks making some noise

The Redskins picked Brennan up in the 6th round, apparently seeing him as a project of sorts. Translation: they're going to stash him in the weight room for the next 2 seasons. Colt was the only Warrior to get drafted, but perhaps that's not all that surprising after the camps exposed the fact that our receiver corps weren't as freakishly fast as they sometimes appeared. I still figured that Davone Bess and Ryan Grice-Mullins would have gotten their numbers called, but at least most everyone ended up inking free agent deals.

I've got a bit of an unrelated sports confession to make. With the Hawks owing their 2008 draft pick to the Suns, I was naturally rooting against them all season long. Imagine my dismay when they eked into the playoffs with the worst record in the 16 team field, thus ensuring that the pick wouldn't be in the lottery. But now that the draft pick is no longer a factor, I can freely root for Joe Johnson, who along with Trix, is my favorite non-Sun in the league. You'd (still) have to be crazy to bet on the Hawks knocking out the Celtics, but it's just so, so sweet watching JJ take apart the league's top team. It simply would've been impossible financially, but sometimes I wonder what could have been had Phoenix kept that Nash, JJ, Trix, STAT core from 04-05 together.



JJ = $$$ Max Money

Brock taps, Lakers lucky, Giants win (FATALITY!)

Weekend sports musings

UFC 81 - Mir gets Lesnar to tap to a kneebar in the first round. Lesnar's strength and ridiculously massive arms really stymied Mir from securing an armbar in any shape or form, but Mir eventually managed to pick Brock's ankle and roll into the leglock for the submission. Brock looked good though, taking Mir down at will and pretty much dominating the entire fight until Mir got his ankle. I think we can chalk this one up to inexperience on Brock's part, but his raw ability is pretty frightening. There was one point in the fight when Brock secured half guard and absolutely abused Mir with a flurry of fast hammer fists (I'd hate to see what he'd to do guys in full mount). Perhaps more importantly, the typically brash Lesnar showed a ton of class after the loss, rightfully calling Mir the better fighter and just being all-around gracious. If he fully dedicates himself to fighting and takes his training seriously, Brock definitely has all the tools to be champ sometime down the line. Best of luck to him. Elsewhere on the card, Nog gets his face properly destroyed for 2 and 1/2 rounds before choking out Sylvia for the interim title. Thank God.

The Grizzlies giving Pau Gasol to the Lakers for practically nothing is pretty sickening. I hate to even consider the notion, but on paper, the Lakers could arguably be the best team in the league once Andrew Bynum comes back. The worst part is that Kobe is now surrounded by guys who are either too young (Bynum), too comfortable as sidekick (Odom), too classy (Fisher), or too passive (Gasol) to step on Bryant's toes. Meaning? In spite of the almost unfair collection of talent, the chance of team implosion is fairly minimal. I was looking forward to seeing Phoenix kick Los Angeles out of the playoffs for the third straight season, but if the Gasol experiment works out and Bynum comes back healthy, I'm not entirely sure I want a piece of the Lakers this year. We'll see.

Obligatory Super Bowl XLII thoughts: My distaste for both teams has been fairly well documented, but I have to admit that I was rooting pretty feverishly for the Giants by the time the 4th quarter was halfway through. What can I say? I enjoy seeing Brady hit the turf. I'm happy for Plaxico Burress though. He's the one guy that I wish were still a Steeler, especially in light of Roethlisberger's recent requests for a taller receiver. Oh well. In the end, I do feel a little indebted to NY for saving me from this nightmare of a season. I'm going to use a variation of the "several kicks to the groin" analogy again, because it's what I feel most accurately describes the overall experience of watching the New England Patriots nearly ruin the NFL this year. It was like the strongest, most deadly fighter in the world ruthlessly kicking you in the balls 18 times, but then for some inexplicable reason, you muster the fortitude the block his 19th kick, protect your balls, and finally, in a moment of infinite glory, you rip his heart from his chest like you're Kano and pop the thing like a f***ing zit. Indeed, the New York Giants are much like Kano; he's kind of lame and you wish it were Sub-Zero in there instead, but a win's a win. Well done.

The Next Big Thing?

It's Super Bowl weekend, but given that it's also New England vs New York, apathy doesn't even begin to describe how I feel about Sunday's game. I'm not saying that I won't watch, because Super Bowl Sunday is more or less Christmas to us sports fans. After all, you might hate your gifts, but you'd never be able to justify skipping Christmas itself right? Either way, I'm much more intrigued about Saturday's UFC 81 card, which features Brock Lesnar's debut in the octagon.



Questions about Brock's striking game aside, the more I think about his match-up with Mir, the more interesting the fight becomes. Mir is a noted Brazilian jiu-jitsu guy, but I can't help but feel that Lesnar's freakish frame and strength will make him tough to submit. He has virtually no neck to speak of, which means that it's going to be difficult to choke him out, rear-naked, guillotine, or otherwise, and if Mir attempts a triangle from his back, it's likely that Brock will simply lift him off of the ground Rampage-style and put him out via a slam. Mir is no small dude at 255, but given that Brock made a name for himself by executing absurd feats like running powerbombs on the 400+ lb Big Show, the one thing we can't question - along with his NCAA pedigree - is Brock's freakish strength. I hate to use something scripted like pro-wrestling as a basis for determining one's shoot fighting ability, but in this case, it paints an accurate picture of how legitimately strong Brock is. Throw in his speed and agility, and Lesnar is the definitive blue-chipper. He might not beat Mir on Saturday due to his inexperience, but I definitely think that Brock will eventually make some big time noise in the MMA world. Maybe it's the pro-wrestling fan in me, but I'm really pulling for him. People might question Brock's mental aptitude, and though he might not always give the most eloquent interview, I'm fairly convinced that you can't compile a 106-5 amateur wrestling record by being nothing more than a powerful idiot. At the very least, the arrival of Lesnar provides certain intrigue, something that the UFC's heavyweight division has sorely lacked after Couture's departure.

The San Diego Chargers and 3 other teams that I generally hate

My favorite LT picture. Not because it's patriotic, but because it's kind of hilarious. Speaking of which, I hope Tomlinson is ready to go and feeling particularly un-Patriotic (harhar) on Sunday, because watching the NFL this season has sort of been the equivalent of getting kicked in the groin repeatedly. To be exact, 17 times. In a row. By Tom Brady. Translation: the season has not been fun, at all. For the sake of clarity, I'm not just rooting against New England to avoid that 18th kick to the groin, but because I'm hoping in vain that San Diego will win it all. Call me crazy, but the prospect of Brady vs Favre in the Super Bowl really doesn't get me all that excited. The truth is that the Patriots and the Packers are the only two teams in the league that I've sort of conditioned myself to root against on an annual basis. Nothing against Favre, who's rightfully being hailed as a legend, but the only way I'll
begrudgingly root for Green Bay is if they're matched up against New England, the one team that I've habitually despised more than them. I won't even mention the Giants, because Eli Manning is on my short list of pro athletes who make me want to punch the television.

Yes, it's an actual list. Manning is somewhere between Devin Harris and Michelle Wie.