I love raucous crowds at sporting events. I love the noise. I love feeling the rumble as the stands shake and rattle under stomping feet, and there’s nothing better than seeing the home team feed off that energy. That’s what playing at home is all about. That is, until the fanatics turn into lunatics. What happened Wednesday night in Morgantown was a glimpse of the worst that the fans of sport have to offer. The scene in the WVU Coliseum was well beyond bad. It was despicable. The entire crowd (most well-behaved) shouldn’t be blamed for the shameful actions of a few, but unfortunately, the viewer at home only remembers the ugly, and the incidents were an embarassment to West Virginia University. The first sign of trouble came when a number of fans threw debris on the court after a travelling call against the Mountaineers. WVU Head Coach Bob Huggins, to his credit, grabbed the public address microphone and tried to take control of the situation by scolding the unruly fans. Later on, after a near-brawl on the court, someone threw a coin, reportedly a quarter, and hit Pitt assistant coach Tom Herrion in the head. The coin grazed Herrion on the left side of his face, only about an inch away from a direct hit on his eye. An ESPN talk show host suggested that no West Virginia fans should be allowed to attend Monday’s game with second-ranked Villanova, meaning the Mountaineers would have to play in an empty arena. That’s obviously a bit harsh, but something has to be done! The guilty fans need to know that these rude and classless disruptions cannot and will not be tolerated. It’s like Chuck Noll used to tell his players after ridiculous and overdone end zone celebrations…“act like you’ve been there before.”
One full year has passed since the touchdown pass that gave the Steelers their sixth Vince Lombardi Trophy. Hard as it is to believe, it was one year ago today that the Steelers completed their six-pack. You’ll always remember where you watched the dramatic finish to Super Bowl XLIII, but time will make that memory fade. 365 days have come and gone since the celebration on the field at Raymond James Stadium, and so much has happened since. Less than two months after the Super Bowl, a season of expectations ended for the Pitt basketball Panthers with a stunning loss to Villanova. About 4 1/2 months after the Steelers win in Tampa, the Pens won their third Stanley Cup by beating the Red Wings in a dramatic Game 7, and about eight months after the win in Tampa, the Pirates clinched not a playoff spot, but their 17th consecutive losing season. So much else has happened in a year. In the 12 months since Super Bowl XLIII, Paul Harvey, Michael Jackson and Ted Kennedy all died. In their encore season to their sixth championship, the Steelers failed to even make the playoffs. In six days, a new champion will be crowned, and the Steelers’ remarkable achievement will fall deeper into the pages of the NFL history book. On February 1st, 2009, the Steelers gave Pittsburgh a new set of memories, but one year later, the sights and sounds of that championship have become distant memories.
On the radio segment today, Whipping Boy and I started talking about what’s intriguing, and what’s not, in local sports. The Steelers, despite their sub-par performance this season, are still number one (by a landslide) in the minds of Pittsburgh sports fans. The defending Stanley Cup champion Penguins, with their long list of young stars and their impressive sellout streak and monster radio and tv ratings, have cut into the lead a bit. And who says Pittsburgh’s not a basketball town…the Pitt basketball team is hot. But what are the other teams that captivate the fans of western Pennsylvania? Here’s my list:
1. Steelers
2. Penguins
3. Pitt Basketball
4. Pitt Football
5. Penn State Football
6. Pirates
7. Duquesne Basketball
8. West Virginia Basketball
9. West Virginia Football
10. Washington Wild Things
It’s usually the case that someone’s greatest strength happens to also be their greatest weakness. I think that may be the case with Brett Favre, who obviosuly ranks as one of the best and toughest quarterbacks in the history of football. Moments befopre Favre threw an interception near the end of regulation, I said out loud, “For all his greatness, Favre is prone to throwing interceptions.” Well maybe it didn’t sound that profound, but the point is, I could feel it coming. Favre has built a Hall of Fame career on being a gunslinger. He’s never afraid to throw the football. That’s a tremendous strength. But sometimes, the best pass is the one that a quarterback doesn’t throw. All Favre had to do was run the ball. Maybe he was thinking of his bad ankle, maybe he didn’t realize there was that much open field in front of him, maybe he never saw the defender, or maybe he just thought he could fire a strike for a completion. He threw against his body back to the middle of the field. Favre would love to have that one back. Be that as it may, Favre had a great season and brought the Vikings that close to the Super Bowl. I think most people were rooting for him, but there’s a great storyline on the other side as well. It’s tough not to feel good for the fans in the city of New Orleans, a place that took such a beating less than five years ago. Now they have something to cheer about. They’re no longer the ain’ts. Peyton Manning, meanwhile, will be trying to win his second Super Bowl against his father’s old team. From the Ox Talks Fun Facts File: Three Super Bowls were played on this date in history. The Raiders beat the Eagles to win Super Bowl XV, the Giants beat the Broncos to win Super Bowl XXI, and the Broncos beat the Packers to win Super Bowl XXXII. Now that’s a good dose of useless information!
When the new college basketball polls are released on Monday, there will be not one, not two, but three teams in the top ten with the same nickname. At the moment, the Wildcats seem to be the most popular nickname among the elite of college hoop. Barring an upset this weekend, the Kentucky Wildcats should sit atop the new rankings, followed in the top five by the Villanova Wildcats, and a few spots below that by the Kansas State Wildcats. Kentucky’s unbeaten, and the three Wildcats have a combined 51-3 record. If only Arizona and Northwestern could get it together! A quick peek at wikipedia will tell you that there are 27 college teams that call themselves the Wildcats. Also included on that list: Abilene Christian, Baker University, Bethune-Cookman, Culver-Stockton College, Davidson, Fort Valley State, Indiana Wesleyan, New Hampshire, Northern Michigan, Weber State and the SUNY INstitute of Technology! Pitt fans will be happy to know that there are 19 college teams with the Panthers as their nickname. Penn State fans will be ecstatic to know that they are the only college team called the Nittany Lions. There are 14 schools that use the Lions, but only one Nittany Lion. Leading the list of my favorite college nicknames: the Nebraska Wesleyan Prairie Wolves. That nickname has a special significance because the Prairie Wolf is now extinct. Speaking of wolves, we can’t forget the Stony Brook Seawolves. How ’bout the Wright State Raiders? Not to be confused with the Texas Tech Red Raiders. There’s also the Wooster Fighting Scots, and finally, the Transylvania Pioneers. I could go on and on, but I think it’s time to stop. Have a great weekend.
Happy 70th birthday to Jack Nicklaus. With all the recent attention (golf and otherwise) going to Tiger Woods, some people forget what an incredible golfer Nicklaus was. Tiger Woods is an amazing player, and may very well overtake Nicklaus at some point. But for now, it’s hard to argue that Nicklaus was the best golfer in history. Everyone always points out Jack’s 18 majors, but here’s an even more incredible statistic. In his career, Nicklaus finished either first or second in major championships an astonishing 36 times! Here’s a rundown of his win totals.
- PGA Tour: 73 wins (second all-time to Sam Snead)
- Champions Tour: 10 wins
- Other: 32 (some early wins by Nicklaus came in events that weren’t yet part of the PGA Tour
- Majors: 18 (first all-time) 6 Masters, 4 US Opens, 3 British Opens, 5 PGA Championships
Nicklaus also won two US Amateur titles. He’s a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame and is a Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient. He was the Athlete of the Decade for the 1970s, and received the PGA Tour Lifetime Achievement Award. He is truely a remarkable athlete.
At the end of today’s radio segment (The X @105.9), I mentioned to Whipping Boy noting that I thought this was an anniversary of a Steelers Super Bowl. My memory was correct. This is actually the 31st anniversary of Super Bowl XIII, when the Steelers beat the Dallas Cowboys 35-31. All three Super Bowls between the Steelers and Cowboys were great games.
The Steelers have hired Al Everest as their new Special Teams Coordinator. Everest replaces Bob Ligashesky. Everest will enter his 14th season as an NFL special teams coach. He’s also coached special teams with the 49ers (2007-2009), Saints (2000-2005) and Cardinals (1996-1999). All told, Everest has more than 37 years of NFL coaching experience.
Ben Roethlisberger has turned down the opportunity to replace Tom Brady in the Pro Bowl. Ben, the AFC’s first alternate at quarterback, wants to rest his injured right shoulder. Ben hurt his shoulder in the season-ending win over the Miami Dolphins. Skipping the Pro Bowl is a great decision. As is the case with all-star games, the Pro Bowl is very overrated, especially when a player gets on the roster because of an injury to another player.
The Pens will host the Capitals tonight. It’s no more or no less important than any other regular season game, so don’t be disappointed if there’s not a carry-over from last year’s playoffs. This game does, however, include one of the greatest player vs player rivalries in sports. Crosby will face Ovechkin for the first time this season. Not bad. Too bad Lebron and Kobe play tonight, because the Pens and Caps might get pushed to the second segment on SportsCenter. Brent Johnson will start in goal. Marc-Andre Fleury could be available with the new-and-improved glove that will protect his broken finger. Neither Max Talbot nor Pascal Dupuis will play.
I spent my Sunday watching the highest-ranked team in the Big East notch up a win against another one of the Conference’s powers (below left is a sample of my expert still photography skills). To say it was an electric atmosphere at the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia would be a huge understatement. This is a scene that plays out two and three times every week in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Washington, DC and beyond. It’s a sample of what the country’s best conference has to offer. 
There’s no longer a need for debate. When it comes to basketball, the Big East is a beast, and no other conference even comes close. In the latest Associated Press rankings, Villanova holds on to the 4th spot in the country, followed by four other Big East Teams, Syracuse (5th), Pitt (9th), West Virginia (11th), and Georgetown (12th). In the coaches poll, a sixth Big East team, Connecticut, comes in this week at 21st, while three other teams from the conference, Marquette, Notre Dame and Cincinnati, have either been ranked, or have flirted with the top 25 at some point this season. The Big East is also home to some of the best players in the country, including Notre Dame’s Luke Harangody, Syracuse’s Wesley Johnson and Villanova’s Scottie Reynolds, just to name three. The Villanova Wildcats (the Big East preseason #1 pick) appear to be the best of the bunch, but Syracuse has stayed on their heels, giving the conference a legitimate chance at two # 1 seeds. Pitt has been a huge surprise. Three consecutive conference road wins and a home win over Louisville have catapulted the Panthers into the top ten, and Jamie Dixon is being mentioned as a candidate for national Coach-of-the-Year. This was supposed to be a bit of a “down” year for the Big East, but once again, it has emerged as the premier conference in college basketball. March Madness is right around the corner. It can’t come soon enough for me.
If my math is correct, it was nearly 13,000 days ago, but I can still see and hear the sights and sounds, and can even smell the aroma of January 12, 1975. If you were more than 10-years-old on that day, I bet you’ll be able to do the same. 35 year ago today, the Steelers won their first Super Bowl! Pittsburghers will never forget it, and why not. This was our city’s “coming out” party. Super Bowl IX was played at Tulane Stadium. It pitted the Steel Curtain against the Purple People Eaters! The sight of Dwight White touching Fran Tarkenton in the end zone is burned in my mind. White earned the credit for the Steelers’ first points in a Super Bowl. I’ll never forget Franco Harris rumbling in from nine yards out for the Steelers’ first Super Bowl touchdown. I watched the game at the home of some good family friends, and I can still hear the cheers that drowned out any other sounds in the small room where we all witnessed Pittsburgh history. I can still smell the sausage and popcorn. It seemed like 25 people had been crammed into a room that intended to hold five or six. The game ended, but the party was just getting started. The kids all poured out onto the street, where a Sunday winter storm had dropped a few inches of fresh snow. We went sled riding. We threw snowballs. In our minds, they’d have no choice but to cancel school the next day. At the very least, we thought the occasion would give us a delay. We slid up and down the streets, going nowhere in particular, just watching the growing traffic jam and listening to car horns filling up the night as the spontaneous celebration took on a life of its own. Who would have ever known that this would be the first of six Super Bowl celebrations! It all happened on this date, 35 years ago! It really does seem like yesterday.
Omar Khan, the Steelers’ Business and Football Administration Coordinator, is a candidate for the Seahawks’ General Manager Job. In his current position with the Steelers, Khan is the lead negotiator on all contracts, and is an important behind-the-scenes player in all important business phases of the team. Khan is 32, and just completed his ninth year with the Steelers. He’s not only a solid guy, but he’s a key component to the defending Super Bowl champions. His strength has been more along number-crunching than in talent evaluating. Pete Carroll will be the Seahawks’ Head Coach, and presumably, will have a great deal of influence in the ares of scouting, drafting and player personnel, although the Seahawks say Carroll’s primary responsibility will be the 53-man roster. That would mean, if what they say is true, that the new GM would have a plethora of football and financial issues to deal with. Getting Khan on board would certainly give them the numbers guy to pull it all together. Khan will interview with the Seahawks early this week. We’ll see what happens, but one thing’s for sure, if Khan leaves, then Seattle’s gain would be a big loss for the Steelers.
