It doesn’t look like Steelers Safety Ryan Clark will play in Monday night’s road game against the Denver Broncos. In my opinion, that’s not only the right decision, it’s the only decision. As you probably know by now, after a 2007 loss in Denver, Clark was hospitalized with a serious blood disorder. Clark has the sickle-cell trait, and in that 2007 game, complications from the condition prevented oxygen from flowing into his spleen. His situation was extremely serious, and it’s not an exaggeration to say that he nearly died. Clark ended up having his spleen and gall bladder removed and lost 30 pounds. Other players with the sickle-cell trait have played in Denver without experiencing problems. That’s because Clark is also among the estimated one percent of those with the trait who experience a bad reaction after high exertion in high altitude. There was no guarantee that Clark would have faced a similar physical reaction this time around, and Clark wanted to play in this game. He received medical clearance, and his wife even gave her blessing. But ultimately, Clark and the Steelers decided to err on the side of caution. That’s a good thing. Protecting players is paramount, and it’s simply not worth the risk. The Steelers will replace Clark with a trio of players, Ty Carter, Deshea Townsend and Ryan Mundy.
I read recently that since the 1970 NFL-AFL merger, the Steelers have rushed for nearly 5000 yards more than any other team in the league. Over that span, it’s no coincidence that the top three rushers in team history, Franco Harris, Jerome Bettis and Willie Parker have led the way for the team known far and wide for its ability to run. The Steelers have won six Super Bowls with a well-documented formula for success, a dominating defense, and a mighty ground game. With that in mind, and although the Steelers aren’t “officially” at the halfway point of the regular season, there’s a discernible trend that’s worth our attention. It can be said, certainly for the moment, and maybe for the long haul, that the Steelers are a team no longer built around the run. A look at the statistics would eliminate any need for debate. After seven games, the Steelers are averaging 107 rushing yards per game. That’s not the average of their top rusher. That’s an average per game of all their rushers. 107 yards per game? Jerome Bettis would sometimes reach that total all by himself, and by halftime! By the way, the team rushing average and their 740 total rushing yards put the Steelers no better than 19th in the league. The Steelers best-performing running back is Rashard Mendenhall, and his 59.7 yards per game rushing average is no better than 16th in the NFL, and Mendenhall’s total rushing yards rank 18th. Ronnie Brown, Fred Jackson, Ahmad Bradshaw, Ray Rice and Ryan Grant, just to name a few, all rank higher on the rushing list than Mendenhall. Meanwhile, the Steelers passing stats have catapulted them near the top of the NFL list. As a team, the Steelers are fifth in both passing yards and passing yards per game, while Ben Roethlisberger is third in both categories. Is this an anomaly or are these numbers the wave of the future? Since the future is now, I’ll go with the latter.
The other half of my daily radio segment on WXDX thinks I spend too much time talking about baseball, so my apologies in advance to Whipping Boy. Maybe Whip’s right, although since tonight could be the final game of the 2009 baseball season, I feel compelled to offer a little insight as to why it won’t be the season’s final game. Don’t count out the Phillies just yet. I know, they’re down three games to two, and must win twice at Yankee Stadium. I know, one of their offensive stars, Ryan Howard, has turned invisible. I know, they’d have the face C.C. Sabathia in a seventh game. I know. I know. I know. But it would be a mistake to count out the Phillies. They can still win this series. It starts tonight with Phillies starter Pedro Martinez, the perfect pitcher, and more importantly, the perfect personality to rise above the negative energy in the new and improved version of The Bronx Zoo. Nobody likes games like this more than Pedro. In a 2004 playoff game between the Yankees and Red Sox, Pedro pitched well, but the Red Sox lost. Along the way, Martinez faced some borderline abusive behavior, including the now-famous “Who’s your Daddy?” chant from the Yankees faithful. Afterward, Pedro was asked about trying to pitch under those circumstances, and he fired back with a most honest and insightful answer. “I actually realized that I felt like somebody important, because I caught the attention of 60 thousand, plus you guys, plus the whole world, watching a guy that is, you reverse the time back 15 years ago, I was sitting under a mango tree without 50 cents to pay for a bus. And today, I was the center of attention of the whole city of New York. I thank God for that, and you know what? I don’t regret one bit what they do out there.” Say what you want about Pedro, but he definitely won’t be intimidated by the wild atmosphere of Yankee Stadium. That’s why the Phillies have a chance in tonight’s sixth game, and that’s why they can still win the series. Whip, I know you’re not a big fan of baseball. I know you think it’s boring. I know you think the season’s too long. I know you just want it to be over. I know. I know. I know. But do yourself a favor. Tune in tonight. Watch the drama unfold. Even though you’ll never admit it, you could see a classic. Why not? It’s the Fall Classic, even if the calendar says November 4th!
Why do we love sports so much? Is it the fast-paced action? The competition? The thrill that comes with a championship? How ’bout the great rivalries? The great athletes? Maybe it’s just a release from the daily grind. Or maybe it’s the tradition. It’s great to watch the drama unfold, and it’s exciting to follow the ups and downs of your favorite team. But without the deep history and the traditions of sports, it wouldn’t mean nearly as much. I started thinking about the traditions to which we’ve all grown accustomed, and with that in mind, here’s a list (off the top of my head) of some of the best traditions in sports, past and present. The traditions are not ranked in order, although the first few are my favorites. I tried to keep the listing to “general” traditions, but I did include traditions specific to two teams.
- The three medal winners on the platform at the Olympics, with the playing of the national anthem from the Gold Medal winner’s home country.
- Throwing hats on the ice after a hat trick.
- Skating around the ice with the Stanley Cup.
- The Seventh Inning Stretch/Take Me Out To The Ballgame.
- Baseball’s ceremonial First Pitch
- Cutting down the nets after a big basketball win.
- The defending champion of The Masters putting the Green Jacket on the new winner.
- The Indy 500 winner drinking milk.
- The “dotting of the I” at Ohio State football games.
- “The Terrible Towel”
- The fans pulling down the goalpost after a big football win (doesn’t happen much anymore).
- The first Saturday in May, and the rendition of My Old Kentucky Home at Churchill Downs
- A Gatorade shower for the winning coach (very overdone).
I just got back from Mellon Arena, where the Pens practiced this morning in preparation for tomorrow night’s road game with the Columbus Blue Jackets. After the workout, and before the Pens headed to the airport, Head Coach Dan Bylsma gave details of an injury to his young star, Evgeni Malkin. Malkin, the reigning NHL scoring champion and last year’s Conn Smythe winner as the playoff MVP, will miss two to three weeks with a strained right shoulder. Malkin was trying to play through the injury, but as a precaution, he’ll get some time to rest the shoulder. If Malkin is out for two weeks, he’d miss 7 games. If he’s out for a full three weeks, he’d miss 10. Bylsma said Malkin “strained his shoulder about 10 days or so ago.” He added that “a couple weeks of rest and rehab will get that thing healthy.” Malkin is currently tied with Sidney Crosby for the team lead with 14 points. Malkin’s streak of 254 consecutive regular-season games will come to an end.
The World Series starts tonight. It has all the makings of a classic matchup between baseball’s two best teams. The Phillies are trying to win their second consecutive championship, and their third overall. The Yankees, well, you know all about the Yankees. They’ve had a bit of a drought lately, but will be trying to win the World Series for the 27th time in franchise history. Whether you like ‘em or not, that’s a remarkable number. This series also gives us the chance to see watch some of the greatest stars in the game, including Derek Jeter, Chase Utley, Alex Rodriguez, Mariano Rivera, and Ryan Howard. I have a ton of respect for Jeter, and Rivera is simply the most dominant reliever in baseball history, but the player I’m most excited to see is Howard. He was the 2005 Rookie of the Year. He was the National League’s Most Valuable Player in 2006. He’s the fastest player in history to hit both 100 and 200 home runs. He’s 6 foot 4, 260 pounds, and is a threat to do something special every single time he swings the bat. Howard doesn’t hit for average, and over the last four seasons, he’s struck out a whopping 765 times, but over that same span, Howard has averaged 49.5 home runs and 143 runs batted in. He’s the modern-day Sultan of Swat, and while I admire Howard’s considerable talent, that’s only part of the reason that I’d like to see him win another World Series. Ryan Howard is a good guy, and I can say that with confidence, because I was Ryan Howard’s chauffeur! In a world filled with fiction, that’s a fact. It was 2006, and baseball’s Mid-Summer Classic was back in Pittsburgh for a fifth time. It was a Sunday night, and two days before the big game. I gave in to the pleas of my sons, and drove them to the All-Star hotel, with the hopes of grabbing some glimpses of greatness. I stayed in the car. The boys stationed themselves at the hotel entrance, but not a star was in sight. Not one. It was, by all accounts, a wasted 60 minutes, an hour that we would never get back. Suddenly, and as we were preparing to pack it in for the night, a doorman came outside calling for a cab, even though there were no taxis to be had. I knew the doorman, and to amuse myself in the midst of boredom, I offered to answer the call and serve as his taxi. I was joking, that is, until he asked me if I could give Ryan Howard a ride to A-Rod’s party at Heinz Field. I didn’t need to think about it. My sons wouldn’t let me. Howard was a National League All-Star, but at that moment, not yet a superstar. He started to climb into the backseat of our car, but I insisted that he ride shotgun. Instead, my sons sat in the back alongside a friend of Howard’s. They were completely silent, with their eyes glued on the back of Howard’s head. The ride lasted only about seven minutes, but we seemed to cover it all. Howard said he loved the hills of Pittsburgh, and talked about the beauty of PNC Park. He was also intrigued by the Allegheny River, which of course, sits almost directly on the other side of the ballpark’s right field wall. Howard offered to sign a couple baseballs, and became, almost instantly, our favorite player. He was now also the slugger we were rooting for in the Home Run Derby, which was to be held the next night. Howard offered to pay for the gas. I said that it wasn’t necessary. He asked if there was anything we needed. Instead of asking for tickets, which seemed so cliche, I told him to hit one into the river. As it turned out, he did, and he won the HR Derby, just as it must have been scripted. Howard also went on to earn MVP honors that season. He’s now among baseball’s elite, but on July 9, 2006, Howard was just a quiet 26-year-old who was looking for a lift. He may not remember that short trip to A-Rod’s All-Star bash, but my sons and I will always treasure a great baseball memory. It was the night we gave a ride to Ryan.
On June 12th of this year, just as he had in his dreams since his childhood days in Cole Harbour, Sidney Crosby hoisted the Stanley Cup. Since then, it’s been a whirlwind. On August 7th, Sid was back in his hometown, with the Cup, and celebrating his 22nd birthday. One month after that, he received his championship ring and joined the rest of the Pens on a visit to the White House. Then, earlier this month, as the Pens dropped the puck for the final season at Mellon Arena, Crosby watched with pride as his team’s third Stanley Cup banner was raised to the rafters. It doesn’t stop there. Early next year, Sid will be the centerpiece of his country’s Olympic team, and today, it was announced that Crosby will be playing a key role in another long-running pre-Olympics tradition. On November 18th, Crosby will travel to Halifax, Nova Scotia to carry the Olympic Torch in the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Torch Relay. Sid told me today that it’s been in the works for about a month, but now it’s official, and Crosby accepted the invitation with pride. It’s a great honor for one of his country’s most-gifted athletes, and one of Canada’s greatest ambassadors.
It’s time for a break. Seven regular-season games are in the books, with nine yet to be played. The Steelers are fine. Despite a shaky start, it’s all going according to plan. They head to the bye week with five wins in seven games, and only because of a week-three loss to the Bengals, slightly off the lead in the AFC North. Yesterday’s win over the Vikings was a good mid-season effort against a very solid team, and the win sends a statement that the Steelers, as expected, are one of the AFC favorites. Yesterday, the guys on the Steelers defense (remember them?) saved the day. But since, as their Head Coach likes to say, their windshield has to be bigger than their rear-view mirror, the Steelers will be best-served to keep looking forward. The next two games are critical. After a weekend of rest, the Steelers return to action with a road game against the undefeated Broncos. They’ll follow that with a critical division game at Heinz Field against the Cincinnati Bengals, the team they’re chasing. The Steelers know that their best path to the playoffs will go through the AFC North. They have nine games left. Four will be against division teams, four will be played at Heinz Field, and three will kick off in prime time. What’s been learned in seven games? Well, we know they’ve opened up their offense. Ben Roethlisberger is passing like never before, and on pace for a 4000-plus yard season. Rashard Mendenhall, while not spectacular, has been solid, and has made Willie Parker an afterthought. However, Mendenhall’s fumbles are a concern. He’s now coughed it up two games in a row in the Red Zone. The Steelers will also, undoubtedly, be dealing with injuries down the stretch. But the pieces are in place for a return to postseason. Hines Ward thinks the Steelers are “headed in the right direction.” How can anyone argue with that? It won’t be easy, but if it were easy, every team would be doing it.
Late in last year’s NFL regular season, in the final moments of the Tennessee Titans 31-14 rout of the Steelers, and to celebrate their clinching of the AFC’s top seed, three members of the Tennessee Titans made a questionable, and in retrospect, terrible decision to disrespect the single-greatest symbol of the Steelers Nation. Running Back LenDale White and Linebacker Keith Bulluck showed off for the television cameras by stomping on a Terrible Towel. The mocking didn’t stop there. Defensive End Jevon Kearse pretended to use the Towel to blow his nose. These acts of disrespect angered the Steelers and their nation of fans, and as it turned out, the desecration of the Towel may have cursed the Titans more than they thought possible. The Steelers won the rest of their games. They finished the regular season by shutting out the Browns 31-0, and followed that with playoff wins over the Chargers and Ravens. The season, of course, inished with a Super Bowl win over the Cardinals. The Titans, on the other hand, have fallen on the worst of times. One week after embarrassing the Steelers and disrespecting the Towel, the Titans were blanked by the Colts. That was followed by a home loss to the Ravens in the AFC Divisional playoff game. The Titans are now in a death spiral. Since the infamous Towel trashing, they haven’t won a single game. Zero. Zilch. Nada. The Titans have started the 2009 season with six losses, and their performance in last Sunday’s humiliating 59-0 drubbing at the hands of the Patriots can only be described as…well, terrible. Overall, the Tennessee losing streak has now reached eight games. Is this terrible turn of events just a terrible coincidence? I don’t think so. Not for a minute.
Anytime Billionaire Mark Cuban comes back to Pittsburgh, I make a point of trying to talk with him. I don’t know Cuban all that well, but we a few mutual friends and many common connections. Cuban and I went to the same high school, although I was two years behind him. As you probably know, he’s never afraid to speak his mind, and even if you don’t agree with what he says, you have top respect how honest this guy is, especially when so many people are listening. I met up with Cuban at the University of Pittsburgh, where he spoke to a group of students in the hours before Cuban’s Dallas Mavericks played the Cleveland Cavs in an exhibition game at the Petersen Events Center. Cuban says his frequent frustration with NBA officials and his public tirades are his way of bringing bad officiating to the forefront, even if it means tossing away a ton of money in fines. Cuban says he’s paid about $1.5 million in fines over the last ten years, but that he believes it’s “money well spent.” Cuban also made national, and even international news, with some controversial comments about steroids. “I will get killed for saying this…but I’m not so against steroids…we do performance-enhancing things all the time, just not steroids.” Cuban believes that athletes, under the proper supervision from doctors, could use steroids to recover from injuries, if the doctors determined that the steroids would have no long-term effects. ”If you administer them properly and fairly and set the rules strictly as long as in doing so we recognize there are no long-term health impact issues.” Cuban remains a huge fan of the Steelers and Penguins, and even the Pirates, although, he says it’s discouraging at times, and says he can still remember Sid Bream sliding across the plate to beat the Pirates in the 1992 National League Championship Series. Cuban says he’s not buying the Pirates, if only because they’re not for sale. I asked him if he’d be interested in buying the Bucs if they were for sale, to which he replied, yes, and I was seven-foot tall, I’d be playing in the NBA. If you’re looking for interesting, intriguing and insightful conversation, Cuban never disappoints.
