While it's funny that the best, most consistent team in the league is deemed by Vegas to be equal with the No. 6 seed, we seem to agree with that assessment. I wanted to say that Collins beats Flacco, but I couldn't. Can Tennessee do something to neutralize Ed Reed's interception returns -- like, not throw interceptions?

The other three games over the jump...


Ken Whisenhunt's premature gold (Gatorade) shower was a bad omen for taking the Cardinals this week. But I have a hard time giving ten points and taking a Panthers team that I'm not sold on. If our comments are any indication, TTB readers have no problem breaking the rule "don't take an underdog unless you think they have a chance to win outright." But I actually wouldn't be shocked by a Cardinals win.



This is my Bill Clinton waffle special. I went back and forth eight times this week and settled on the Giants. While Philly is "hot", maybe we need to inspect the source of the heat: they finished strong over a Cowboys team that couldn't get out of its own way and, if not for another crazy Westbrook screen pass, would have been in trouble against a mediocre Vikings squad.

The Giants aren't the Cowboys or Vikings. As much as we're trying to forget about it, New York is still very good.



Ahh, the heads vs. hearts special. We'll never be able to fully calculate how many people are convinced the Steelers will cover and how many simply won't put their loyalties aside. I'm in the second camp. As much as I'd like to be '08-'09 Terrible Challenge, I couldn't do it.

So the word around the hot stove (which has been shut off by the Pirates to save money) is that Opie (Huntington) asked the Yankees about reacquiring not so long gone outfielder Xavier Nady.

Nady, as you'll remember was part of the best offensive outfield in baseball, before Sheriff Andy (Nutting) came home and told Opie he'd need to send him away, along with his friend Jason. Seems
Aunt Bee (Coonelly) thought if Opie kept playing with such a high powered outfield, he'd go blind.

So Opie, snuck behind Sheriff Andy and Aunt Bee this week and asked the big, bad Yankees if his friend Xavier could return. He's been saving his allowance a really long time and he thinks he can afford to bring his friend back. Turns out it was just another case of Opie sneaking a read of his comic book under the covers after bed time. When Sheriff Andy found out, golly gee he sure got mad. He told Opie that Xavier will never be allowed to come back.

A tough week for Opie. His friend Rocco (Baldelli), the kid from his school that always seems to be sick, said he couldn't play for his little league team either. Sheriff Andy and Aunt Bee explained to Opie that you can't win them all -- sometimes life just isn't fair -- sometimes for up to 17 years.

In other Mayberry News, Sheriff Andy's cousin Gomer Pyle (McClatchy) sold his shares of Mayberry's favorite team to Sheriff Andy. Sheriff Andy gave Gomer one of Aunt Bee's famous sweet potato pies and a swell new tackle box in the exchange. Oh boy!

Baltimore winning in Tennessee in just a few hours (4:30 ET) would give the Steelers (and the Chargers, for that matter) a crack at playing the AFC Championship game at home. Still, try as I might, I can't muster the spirit to root for the Ravens to win.

If you compare the two possibilities -- either playing Baltimore at home or Tennessee on the road -- I think both match up are tough and similar. Both teams have exceptional defenses and offenses predicated on running the ball with an eye towards breaking a big one and play action passing. The Steelers have faced both teams, but I don't put any stock in the cliche that "you can't beat a team three times in the same season" -- we've seen it happen and we've seen it not happen, every game is it's own separate entity.

So, what do you think? Are you rooting for the Ravens? Can you bring yourself to root for the Ravens? I suppose I would like them to win. But "rooting" probably isn't the right word for it.

Still to come today: The Terrible Challenge Picks and much more.

This quote from a Hockey News interview that I peeped from our role models over at Pens Blog:

“I was thinking about it and if Mario would call me and say, ‘I’d like you to play for our team,’ I would think about it a lot,” Jagr said in a telephone interview from Moscow where the Kontinental League will hold its inaugural All-Star Game outdoors at Red Square Saturday. “I would play for the minimum salary. I would play for $350,000 just for him because I owe him my hockey life. I want to pay him back because he has made me what I am…besides my parents.”

more after les jumpe


Ok, I may not be the guy to get an opinion on this developing situation from. I am the king of hockey nostalgia. This would be one of those events comperable with Dec 27, 2000, the night 66 laced em up again. I want everyone who boos one of the greatest players in the history of our team to take a good look at the state of this team and tell me how this ISN'T the perfect storm? Imagine a line with Sidney Crosby, Petr Sykora and 68 on it? which makes Line 2 Malkin/Staal/Fedotenko or something in that vicinity, which then enables you to make Max Talbot a 3rd line center, which frankly is what he needs to be at ALL times. Add Sarge to the mix at playoff time and we got something cookin'

I just hope 66 is taking a nice, long, hot, sweaty look at this...

Save us 68, you're our only hope.

As you can see, I have bought into this hook, line and sinker, so when it doesn't happen, feel free to prod me until I vomit.

Darren Sproles has never made an NFL start. Never. So why are both the national media and local media treating Gary Coleman in pads like he's a combination of Barry Sanders, Emmitt Smith and, well, LaDanian Tomlinson?

Because that's what they do. They take a guy in the spotlight and either pump him up or tear him down. There is never any gray area.

Let's look at a few stats:

• Sproles has 544 career regular season rushing yards and 321 of those yards came in just three games against the Broncos and the Lions.
  

• His "monster" game came against Indy last Saturday. In that game, he had just 22 carries for 83 yards before he broke off the 22 yard game winner against a demoralized Colts defense. (Demoralized by the ticky tack penalties, not Sproles and Co.) That was an average of just 3.78 yards per carry. Slighty worse than FWP, who has had a very bad year.
  

• All purpose yards are a made-up stat...and a total crock of crap. Sproles had 328 APYs on Saturday. That's impressive. However you have to consider the fact that almost no starting NFL running back returns kicks and, thus, there are very few players that even have a chance to approach that mark.
  

• The real puzzling thing is how many analysts are talking like Sproles is an upgrade over a healthy Tomlinson. Really? Overreact a little, why don't we? They say he is the kind of guy who can duck down and squirt between linebackers. How many guys have you seen squirt through the Steelers defensive line and when how often has he really done that?

• Sproles might be dangerous in open field -- on screens and flair passes, but who isn't? "He's dangerous when he gets into open field" is the new, overused and overobvious cliche. Give me the ball and even I would be dangerous in open field until someone got to me.

Dick LeBeau has lost no sleep thinking about how to contain Sproles. (Although, I don't think LeBeau sleeps. He sits in a chair and designs blitz packages with his eyes closed for a few hours each night.)

If the Chargers have an area where they can expose the Steelers D, it will be in the passing game -- specifically with Gates, if he's healthy enough. He's the kind of target that is almost impossible to matchup with and he'll allow Rivers to get the ball out of his hands quickly.

Sproles is, however an inspirational person -- one who stutters when he speaks, studied speech pathology at school and still gets in front of a camera. For that he should be commended.

On the field, though, Sproles is what he is. He's a solid backup with nifty moves. But he's not Tomlinson and he's not Turner. And if the Steelers have any big problems on Sunday, he won't be the reason.

(Photo Credit:  Frederick Breddon/AP)

OK, enough of my beloved hockey club. As covered last night on the 'Blog by Sonny, Shady McCoy told the world, "sike!" and is actually going into the draft next season. I agree 100% with his call.. cash in now kid, who knows what could happen 1 more season in the NCAA.

Before I leave you with WIWUT, just a quick housekeeping note. I will out of town from today to next Thursday for work and sadly, will be in meetings the entire time and not posting on our site. I will pitch in when I get time, but don't expect it. So, until next Friday.. enjoy the week, and let's go Steelers.

The PG: A look at the disaster in Nashville last night..

ESPN:  Interesting note from the final NCAA Football AP poll..  yea, Florida is number 1..  but Utah is number 2.

The PG:  A Pittsburgh defense family portrait..  this is a video, and trust me.. you will like it.

Dallas Morning News:  Pacman Jones is suing ESPN..

Maxim:  The top 10 UFC fights of 2008.

According to Paul Zeise of the PG, Shady is going to the NFL.

This isn't going to be one of those cases where he gets bashed for going back on his word or people whine about how he's grabbing the money. Shady is making the right decision.

The NFL draft advisory board told McCoy he would go in the first two rounds. As Offord said to me earlier, "That means Mendenhall-type money". How can you blame him? Another season of highlights and a mid-level bowl game weren't going to advance him and he wasn't going to be a Heisman candidate.

Earlier this week on "The Drive" with Paulson, Crow and Logan, I heard them talking about how McCoy's mom said something to the effect that Shady loves Pitt, but Shady is only 20-years-old and at 20 you don't always know what's best for you.

Momma usually knows best.

No doubt, Offord will WIWUT this in the morning, too.

Coming Friday: WIWUT, The Myth of Darren Sproles and much more....

I love Steeler fans! We can loudly bellow for the best Quarterback we’ve ever had (that didn’t win 4 Super Bowls) to be pulled from a game even though he has shown time and time again that he can shake off early mistakes and still lead us to a late victory. We can start thinking about draft day midway through a season even if the Steelers are 6-2 and headed for the playoffs. We can watch replacement long snapper James Harrison send a snap into the end zone and wish we still had Mike Schneck on the payroll. But mostly, no matter how great things appear, we can worry.

More after the jump...

I’d have to be a fool to worry about one of the best Steeler Defenses to ever play the game, especially with Dick LeBeau calling the shots. I’d worry about the offense, but I’ve been doing that all season. Besides, as Turrible pointed out, we have been playing some pretty good defenses. I have decided to focus all of my nervous energy on the Steeler’s Special Teams.

Am I worried that Mitch Berger averaged a paltry 41.3 yards per punt this year? No, he has averaged 45 yards per punt in the last 2 games…perhaps the hammys are feeling better? Am I concerned that Jeff Reed has missed a few kicks this year that are usually so automatic I go to the john before he even lines them up? Not really…I figure his kicking motion was off due to his shave job and that by now he’s surely rocking the winter pubes like the rest of us. Maybe I’m worried that The Steelers ranked 29th in the NFL in kickoff return average (20.3 yards) and 31st in punt return average (6.0 yards) during the regular season. For some reason this doesn’t even worry me. Now don’t get me wrong, I’d love to have Randel El back there as a return man, but the Steelers are wise not to overpay their role players.-the $800 million that Max Starks got to start the season as a back up Tackle must be ignored here…

So what’s left? I must be worried that Santonio will muff another punt or 2 as he has done in the past. Actually no. I have it on good authority that he only did that because he was having vision problems – apparently the Pittsburgh Police confiscated his glaucoma medication. And at least it’s not Ricardo Colclough back there. What truly concerns me this week is the one area of the Special Teams where we have been terrific all season, our kick coverage units. I know this seems completely ridiculous, especially since we were 1st in kickoff coverage and 4th in punt coverage. But I have 2 reasons for my fear…history and Darren Sproles.

Sproles is fast, elusive, and he just torched the Colts for 178 yards on kick returns last week. That, combined with his diminutive stature and the fact that I just watched Bad Santa and I just can’t trust him. And historically the Steelers have surprised me in the ways that they’ve had their best teams been eliminated from the postseason time after time. After throwing only 7 interception in the regular season, Neil O’Donnell somehow manages to throw 2 in SB XXX, with not a Steeler receiver in sight. A few years later the Steelers forget that they have the greatest short yardage RB in the history of the game and decide that once we get into the red zone it’s time to put the game in the hands of Kordell Stewart. Myself and Bill Romanowski would agree, that’s a bonehead move. Fast forward to the inaugural year of Heinz field and the miserable year that Kris Brown had kicking there. I expected him to miss a field goal or two in the playoffs but not to have one blocked and returned for a TD to complement a Troy Brown punt return also returned for a score.

So yeah, I’m a bit worried this week…but I’m also cautiously optimistic. After all, I’m rarely ever right about things, especially when they pertain to either women or football. Here’s to hoping that my history trumps that of the Steelers this year. Go Steelers!

According to Shelly Anderson at the PG and ESPN, the Penguins just resigned Jordan Staal to a 4 year, $16 million dollar contract.

I am not Ray Shero, so I have no clue what this means for the pending rumors of trading Staal to get a winger for Sid. But, this does line up to last year's Shero quote where he said he planned on keeping Sid, Geno, Marc-Andre and Staal no matter what.

So far this season Staal has been under performing in my eyes, with 11 goals and 10 assists through 41 games.

(Photo Credit:  sneakerboxx.files.wordpress.com)

Good morning everybody.. after a surprise break from yesterday’s WIWUT, trust me, it wasn’t planned.. I am glad to return this snowy, cold Thursday morning.

Of all the stories that popped up yesterday.. from the Pat Quinn rumors to well, everything else.. one stood out to me as the funniest..

Pacman “Little Adam” Jones got cut loose from the Cowboys. It was only yesterday I remember laughing hysterically at the idea of Jerry Jones and Pacman giving each other running chest bumps after his deal was signed. Remember folks, Pacman does have local ties here.. from WVU, where he was a piece of garbage then too..

After the jump I dive right into his.. well.. his professional highlights, and what I woke up to..

We are going to throw the WIWUT quickly to urbandictionary.com..

Making It Rain

One of my favorite moments of wild card weekend was laughing at the Arizona Cardinals when they snuck up on Whisenhunt and gave him the Gatorade bath. It wasn't that the Cardinals didn't deserve to be happy, but gimme a break, you won a home game against a team that won four games last year. Has anything ever screamed, "This is the end of our playoff run," louder?

Unfortunately, the Chargers don't have that "happy to be there" vibe. But they also don't really have anything interesting to say.

After days of scouring the San Diego Union Tribune and some really awful Chargers blogs, it seems that everyone agrees that Vincent Jackson will play, LT is really hurt and that Darren Sproles is small.

Honestly, does the SD U-T have a position open? I could cover this team better from Oakmont. Didn't Rivers throw an awful pick in the end zone that he could be harassed about? Shouldn't someone be getting comment about whether Tomlinson is in their long-term plans? Shouldn't someone be doing a sit-down retrospective with Dennis Gibson?

Quick thoughts:

• People need to stop being indignant about Jackson's DUI and the fact that he's going to play. Yeah, Holmes sat out the Giants game after his citation for marijuana possession, but it would be a very different story if that was a playoff game. Plus, Jackson hasn't even been charged yet, so the Chargers aren't likely to sit him just for being stupid.

• Speaking of Holmes, his lack of expected production is the single biggest factor in the failure of the offense. There is no better and quicker path to redemption than the playoffs.

• I'm a little nervous. I've done way too much bashing of Norv Turner in print to have him end the Steeler's season.

• Speaking of "in print", here's my CBSSportsline column this week. It is a little piece of time travel back to the 2004 NFL Draft, where myself Turrible and Jim Dunn took a long strange trip.

Word around the campfire (Mark Madden's radio show) is that Therrien is about to get the boot.. and be replaced by coaching vet Pat Quinn. Rumors are that Therrien has been very hard to deal with, and had issues with management and players (namely, Flower)..

Wow, this is something. Is Therrien really the only reason for the Pen's free fall?

I'd like to say no, and I get the feeling that changing coaches is not what the Penguins need.. remember kids, he had us 2 games away from the Cup last season.

Not enough time to do a full post tonight, so expect a real recap tomorrow with what I woke up to.

But, the Penguins defeated the Atlanta Thrashers 3-1.. Scored 2 Power Play goals and Colby Armstrong injured Ruslan Fedotenko's hand with his face.

So much for laying it on the line to lock up the #1 seed, right? Both No. 2 seeds are sizable favorites while the No. 1's have spreads that indicate that they aren't even better than their opponents.

The Terrible Challenge enters the second week with moi in the lead and Aaron and Arden nipping at my heels. Here are the standings...... and here are this week's lines:

Baltimore at Tennessee (-3)
Arizona at Carolina (-10)
Philadelphia at New York Giants (-4)
San Diego at Pittsburgh (-6)

Make your picks in the comments. Just list the teams you think will cover and talk as much trash as you want.

Here's an example from Jim Dunn:

when the masses jumps on a bandwagon (like Philly's) I go the other way. A turnover a 60 yard TD run by AP and that's that. I think you are putting too much stock into our Madden 09 contest on Sunday.

oh and Arizona is AWFULLLLLLLLLL, any other team I take over Atlanta, but not them.

Something like that, but improve on it....

(Photo Credit:  herald.com)

Just kidding, he got a DUI last night at 2 AM.

Link goes to ESPN's story.

ESPN: "Charger WR Jackson is a retard"

(Photo Credit:  scout.com)

Who's got two thumbs and is leading the Terrible Challenge? This guy!

Okay, that's Bobby Bowden, not me. But seriously, Atlanta and Indy? What flavor was the Kool Aid? Purplesaurus Rex I hope (Grape and Lemonade -- delicious).

And, yes, I know that if Tavaris doesn't throw a pick-six, the Vikings could have covered. But check the depth chart guys, he was the starter all week, wasn't he?

4-0: Sonny, MattyHu
3-1: Aaron, Arden
2-2: Turrible, Tony, Jim, Dave, Signor, JB, Dame
1-3: Larry
0-4: Herrmann

I'll put up the spreads tomorrow so you guys can play catchup.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
What else is up tonight? (You can scroll down, too)

• Turrible waxes nostaglic about how Pitt hoops teams of the past got them to where they are today.
  
• Dave rants about the Pens and their 4-0 loss at NYR. Remember when "slumping" was losing a game in a shootout?
• Coming this week: Why San Diego is Better Than You Think.; The Darren Sproles Story, The Terrible Challenge Line and Picks; Reminders That Pitt Remains No. 1 and Plenty of WIWUT fun.

Pretty much all the glee and happiness from the Pitt Panther posts the past few days are about to be wiped away.. as I bring you something scary.

I call it, "What the Pens have done since December 3rd".  After the goddamn jump..

On December 3, 2008 the Penguins ventured to Madison Square Garden.. the "world's most famous arena". The outcome? Just like tonight.. a loss. 3-2 in a shoot out. The power play? 0-3. You will see a trend here...

Including that game on the 3rd, the Pens have played 17 games since. Their record?

5-11-1.

OK, so they are slumping.. maybe it's a series of bad breaks? Maybe a series of, "awe shucks.. almost..". Let's find out..

• In these 17 games.. the Pens have been outscored 46 to 61.
  


• Throw out the Pens victory over the Islanders, which was 9-2.. and the Pens have been outscored 37 to 59. Ouch.


• The Power Play in these 17 games? 12 of 74.. which is 16%...  The league leader? Detroit at 28%.


• The Pens have lost 5 straight after tonight's game.. 6 of the last 7.. 7 of the last 9.


• Malkin and Sid were 1-2 in the NHL scoring race, and Geno has had his lead shrink down to 7 points... Sid is now in 3rd place. (Ovechkin - 53 points)


• The worst stat of all? The Pens have gone from 2nd place in the Eastern Conference.. to 9th. OUT OF THE PLAYOFFS.

So yea.. this is driving me crazy.  What could possible be causing this douche-chill enducing slump?

Was losing Malone and Hossa that big of a deal?  I know Malone has done jack squat this year..  but exactly how important was the chemistry he brought to the Pens?  Is it Gonchar being off?  Is it the coach?  Sid?  Satan?  

I'll be back tomorrow morning with news and views on King Pryor's big Bowl game.. more on the Steelers/Chargers... with what else I will wake up to..

This isn’t your regular MMBUDL post that you have grown accustomed to seeing after a Steelers game over the past five weeks. And while Turrible wasn’t planning on making a post as of yesterday afternoon…something magical took place last night in Chapel Hill, NC that has compelled a long suffering Panther fan to take a mental dump onto his keyboard for the entire world to see. Hopefully, he will remember to wipe when he’s done.

I grew up in the era of Paul Evans and Ralph Willard. My boyhood heroes were Sean Miller, Jason Matthews, Darelle Porter, Demetrius Gore, Charles Smith, Jerome Lane, Curtis Aiken, Brian Shorter, Bobby Martin, Eric Mobley and Jerry McCullough. When the University of Pittsburgh concocted some half-baked scheme to bring another system Coach in that wasn’t from the northeast and had a bunch of underachieving honkies thrusting up 3-pointers at a record pace…I was less than enthusiastic. That dude was Ben Howland. He brought Jamie Dixon. They made players out of Brandin Knight. Onterrio Lett. Julius Page. Jaron Brown. Ricardo Greer. Chevy Troutman. They brought Pitt a Big East basketball championship and some new found respect.

Now, for the first time in the 101 year history of the University of Pittsburgh’s men’s basketball program, the Panthers sit atop the media polls as the by-god #1 team in the country. On message boards and in instant-columns everywhere today, nay-sayers have been crapping all over the Pitt parade by writing that it doesn’t matter unless you are on top of the poll in March. For a team who’s meager list of highlights include one shattered backboard and plenty of upsets and disappointments, believe me…it matters. (Pitt Basketball Positive Historical Highlights Reel, Take 1):



It matters because I had to watch Darren Morningstar get abused routinely by Alonzo Mourning and wonder why a man who had both “morning” and “star” in his name was such a stiff. It matters because I had to watch Sotiris Aggelou. It matters because Jim Boeheim and Jim Calhoun and Rick Pitino were the first people I ever wanted to throw projectiles at…and I didn’t even know what the word projectile meant at the time. It matters because I am going to get to hear that short little man and his old, beloved, gravelly-voiced sidekick that I listened to on my dad’s old clock radio while dunking on a Nerf hoop talk about their top-ranked basketball team.

I haven’t seen this anywhere else yet…but on behalf of the boy living inside of a TurribleWriter’s body…I just want to say thank you to the Panthers’ coaches and players, past and present, that made this dream an absolute reality. HAIL TO PITT!!!

Here is what we have been waiting for..

The PG: Ed Bouchette begins his week long Steelers/Chargers preview, great stuff as always.

The PG:  "No trades for now" Ray Shero.

ESPN:  Besides having a brand new page design, ESPN has a great story about DeJuan Blair..

NHL:  The .com's preview of Pens/Rangers from the Garden tonight..

Deadspin:  A USC player's dream of getting on Erin Andrews sorta becomes a creepy reality.

Youtube:  Sidney Crosby gets in a fight..  and everyone is pissed about how.. to me, it was awesome..  but apparently that's the homer in me talking.

Boston College is still a bunch of scheming money-grabbing, turncoat, weasels that ran to the big football money of the ACC instead of staying in the Big East where they belong. But for one day, anyway, let's praise them for going to Chapel Hill and smacking around previously unbeaten and uber-hyped North Carolina on Sunday.

Because of it, Pitt will be your No. 1 team in the nation when the rankings come out today.

I'll do some research to confirm, but I think the Panthers have been No. 2 a few times, including for a stretch at the beginning of the '06-'07 season.

The fun chain of events that put Pitt on top of the mountain were as follows:

1. Georgetown creamed Boston College on Monday night, causing Jim Calhoun, who looks like everyone's uncle, to sound like everyone's bitter angry uncle at the press conference.
2. Pitt dominated Georgetown on Saturday like they were, oh I don't know, the Penguins, and solidified at least a jump up to No. 2.
3. Tyrese Rice, who owns North Carloina, did it again for BC. For some reason, the deep Tar Heels had no answer for Rice, who had 25 today after 46 in a game last season.

Pitt hoops is No. 1, the Steelers are hosting a divisional playoff game and the Penguins have some time to figure things out.

Terrible Nation -- this is the most wonderful time of the year.

Wow.. this means.... the Pittsburgh Panthers will be the number 1 team in the country. The polls come out tomorrow, so expect more coverage then.

Holy hell.

Congrats to Coach Dixon and the boys. Pitt has never been number 1 before, this is HUGE.

Has-been, probably never-will-be again All-Star Derrick Turnbow saved the Pirates from themselves last week by choosing to sign a minor league contract with the Texas Rangers.

If he makes the big league team, he makes $925,000 plus lots of incentives. Turnbow, who was formerly an All-Star and will forever be known as the first MLB player to test positive for a banned substance, way back in 2003, turned down overtures from the Bucs and the Marlins. The good news to Pirates fans is that we don't have to bitch and complain about the Pirates signing another former All-Star in decline (read: Ramon Martinez, Derek Bell, Raul Mondesi et al). Also ski fans can rejoice, because that's another $2 million (oh yeah, you know the Bucs would pay at least double to highest offer for a broken down pitcher) Bob "Money for Nutting" can put into ski lift maintenance at Seven Springs.

The Pirates home page touts that the Bucs have stood pat this offseason, which is what you want when you're coming off a 67-95 record and you're staring down your record-setting 17th losing season. Among the moves they've made, or reported to have been looking at (hat tip PGs Dejan Kovacevic, the best beat writer in baseball):

- Picked up pitcher Donnie Veal from the Cubs in the Rule V draft: he is Kevin Johnson's son at least (yeah that KJ).
- Signed Ranger utilityman Ramon Vazquez: will make a run at Dave Wannstedts best poststasche in Pittsburgh title.
- Made overtures to former Pirate failure Ty "wiggity, wiggity wiggity wack" Wiggington: he turned them down.
- Feigned interest in the charred remains of Pedro Martinez.
- Spoke with the charred remains of Butler native Matt Clement: he signed with the Jays.
- Expressed interest in former Ray All-Star Rocco Baldelli: he suffers from a yet to be diagnosed muscular disease that has kept him out of baseball for nearly two seasons.

On the bright side, despite some likely due dilligence by the a-front office, they've been yet to find another LaRoche brother to come in and strike out 150 times a season; so we'll have to be satisfied with the two we have.

Stay tuned for the signings of Ted Power, Neal Heaton and Rod Scurry's corpse.

With the Ravens spanking the Dolphins 27-9 in Miami today and the Chargers knocking out their arch enemies, the Colts, the Steelers will host San Diego Sunday at 4:30.

Baltimore looked every bit as good as they have the past couple months. Which has been, arguably, better than anyone in the AFC. And Terrible Little Sis reports from a bar in Baltimore that Ravens fans are already pumped for a "Round 3" match-up. Hold your horses, there, Flacco Whackos. Still some business in Tennessee ahead.

San Diego, on the other hand, has won six straight but limps across country with both LT and Gates hurt. Mighty midget Darren Sproles will be they guy that LeBeau has his sites on this week.

More to come, including a wrap up of the first week of The Terrible Challenge. Um, let's face it, I don't want to win a free ranting post (I can do that whenever I want) or anything random from my desk (it's already mine). However, I am 3-0 going into Minnesota/Philly. This is why I need a bookie.