ESPN HATES THE STEELERS! OMG! WTF!?

Dude, ESPN, at least use newer stock photography. You did fine with Romo, so why the old pic of Ben?

Sure, your power rankings have the Steelers at #2, but I need to keep up the Joey Porter mentality of motivation through disrespect. With Tom Brady out, every "expert" is slobbering over the Steelers. I'll take any little disrespect I can find to keep this team focused.

If you still don't know what I mean, look at the 75th season patch. That was worn last season. This is what Ben looked like on Sunday:



It's not too hard ESPN. I stole that image right off your website.

Porter vs. Silverback

So who would you rather have?

Last year at this time, Steelers fans couldn't foresee the '07 team without Joey Porter. James Harrison has helped ease the transition from a Porter-led defense to a Porter-less defense.

This week, Silverback gets his chance to state his case against the guy he's helped Yinzers forget. Sure, the Dolphins are a horrible team, but we did just lose to the Jets. I'm not predicting anything.

This game s going to be eventful for the sole fact that these two guys will be going head-to-head, albeit at different time (defense doesn't play defense, duh). I'm hoping Silverback continues to build on the foundation he laid since Week 1.

If this was boxing, it'd be a heavyweight bout. Porter has had a down year by his standards, and could be past his prime, but he's still going up against his old team. Oh, and he made the All-Time team, so Silverback best be on his game. This is the perfect stage to complete the Joey-to-Silverback transition.

Game on.

Woodley Has At Least 4 Years To Learn Pittsburgh Roadways

Steelers 2nd rounder LaMarr Woodley, famous for getting lost on the streets of Pittsburgh, has signed a 4-year deal with the team. Terms were not released.

Wood's signing means that only 1st rounder Lawrence Timmons, TE Matt Spaeth and Cornerback William Gay are the last remaining draft picks to sign. A deal with Spaeth is being worked out, and Timmons is also optimistic.

Woodley is stepping into some big shoes. Not only is he switching over from defensive end to outside linebacker, but he also took over Joey Porter's number 55. PSaMP likes the ballsy decision.

Also, with the Woodley announcement coming today, there is hope that early reports of a Polamalu deal are true. Apparently, the Steelers wanted to keep the Woodley and Polamalu announcements separate so that both got the respect/publicity due.

Please Pray For Alianna Marie Haggans

I try to refrain from overly-serious posts, but this needs to be addressed. Clark Haggans, an outstanding linebacker for the Pittsburgh Steelers, is facing a possible tragedy, as his infant daughter fights for her life in Las Vegas.

Alianna Marie Haggans was born premature, and is battling complications from her birth. Haggans has been one of my favorite Steelers, although he has spent a majority of his time with the team as a backup to guys like Joey Porter and Jason Gildon (remember him?) towards the end of their years in Black and Gold.

I was born premature. I'm lucky to be here in good health, 23 years after being born a month and a half too early. My mid-August birth came as a surprise, as my parents were expecting me to arrive in late September/early October. Premature births are nothing to laugh about. Haggans and his family will be in my thoughts and prayers everyday.

Aside from the off-the-field worries, Haggans is entering the final year of his contract. Now, the Steelers are notorious for waiting until the last minute to re-sign guys, and even let guys go too early rather than too late. But I like Haggans. His blend of speed and athleticism are a great fit for the 'Burgh. However, the team did draft future linebackers in the first and second rounds of the '07 draft, and Polamalu and Roethlisberger are contract priorities. Its up to the Rooneys to keep Haggans. I respect every decision they make, because their choices are rarely wrong.

Haggans, though, can provide veteran leadership to a linebacking corps that will be loaded with youth in the coming years. PSaMP is reaching out to the Steelers organization to keep Haggans beyond '07-'08.

Pittsburgh Takes Lamarr Woodley in 2nd Round

How was Lamarr Woodley, DE from Michigan, still available at pick 46? Sure, he's no Mason Crosby, but I guess Pittsburgh fans will have to settle for a guy who anchored one of the best run defenses in the league last year at Michigan.

The Steelers have used their first 2 picks wisely. Pittsburgh not only picked up a replacement (On paper, at least) for Joey Porter in Lawrence Timmons, but a DE in Woodley who will help the team as Mike Tomlin gradually installs a 4-3 defense.

Good work so far, Pittsburgh. I'm sad that the team didn't take my advice for the 2nd round (Not really), but I'll live with the actual picks.

Some Hints To My Pick

So I'm not allowed to reveal my pick for Awful Announcing's Complete Sports Blogger's NFL Mock Draft Version 1.0. I can, however, reveal that my pick has been made. Here are some of the reasons for my pick.

With the 14th pick in the 2nd round, and 46th overall pick, the Pittsburgh
Steelers and PSaMP select not to fill the glaring needs at DE, Linebacker, DB,
or the cool-name category, but instead...will pass up a need to take the best
available player in the draft.

Furthermore, my pick:

...also survived playing...in the state of Colorado. The last three players
the Steelers drafted from the state of Colorado, Clark Haggans, Aaron Smith and
Joey Porter, have all been solid contributors. I would’ve included the last 5
players from the state, but #4 was some dude named Ryan Olson (?) and #5 was
Kordell Stewart.

So that's probably all the information I can give you. Check out AA's round 2 of the Complete Sport's Blogger's NFL Mock Draft Version 1.0. The picks should be up before the end of the work week. I'll re-print my full pick once the 2nd round finds its way to AA.

And before any feelings are hurt, I just want to say that my pick in no way reflects who the Steelers should actually take with the 46th overall pick. It was made in good fun. You may disagree mightily.

Can You Say, "First Place?"

sorry for the lack of domination the past few days (there, thats my april fools joke, a lack of posts when one would be normally expecting posts) . ive been real busy at school, because i get my b.a. in a little more than a month. oh well, lots to get to today.

last night was sweet. the pirates opened their season with a win. props to the buccos for hanging around during a game in which roy oswalt was pitching some fierce stuff (or the pirates just couldnt hit, a simpler explanation). pittsburgh knew hits were going to be hard to come by, and their patience paid off, when nate mclouth's pinch-hit homer broke the shutout, and xavier nady added to "lights-out lidge's" frustrations (remember when lidge was feared in the league, like before he threw that pitch in the 2005 nlcs to pujols? dude hasnt been the same since, even though he denies the hell out of it). jason bay hit a cool 2 run homer in the 10th, and the pirates prevailed for only the 12th time in 54 games at minute maid park (remember when it was enron field? i do, you stupid astros and your association with a criminal company that bought the naming rights to your ballpark).

pirates are in 1st place in the central! awesome. after 14 shitty seasons, i will take any moral victory. the cards and astros and cubs (good job spending a lot of money, toolbags) are all underneath us. i am imagining an anthropomorphic pirate standing over an anthropomorphic cardinal, anthropomorphic astro (what the hell? this, maybe?) and an anthropomorphic cub, and taking a giant poo on each.

here's a video of three rivers being demolished. i still almost cry when i see this.

levi jones said that joey porter waited for his 6 friends to jump levi, then came and punched mr. jones in the face. i dont care if you are right, levi jones. joey porter is cooler than you.

florida won the national championship. i was cool with chris leak and company pooing on ohio state in the football championship. i love to see ohio state lose. but i really cant stand joakim noah, and now everyone keeps talking about the gators being one of the best teams ever. go away, florida. i liked you better when you couldnt win anything and your fans kept getting pissed. however, i already picked tim tebow as my heisman front runner (hes gonna be nuts).

the pens play tonight. they better win, seeing as how the devils keep winning (and by winning, i mean axing their coach). an overtime loss will get us even atop the atlantic, but still in 5th in the conference due to nj having two more wins than the pens. we really need to get the two points tonight against the sabres, who we beat in a shootout on march 13th. pens dropped to number 7 in the espn power rankings (that doesnt mean anything to me). the game is on versus.

pirates play tonight in houston again. everytime baseball season starts, my mind gets warped and i have to adjust my brain from football/college basketball mindset (playing division opponents 2 times a year, 3 times a year max if you make the tourney) and nhl mindset (5-10 matchups a year against any division foe) to baseball mindset (3 games against a division foe within the first 3 games). here we go, ian snell! who cares if you hate pittsburgh!

i gotta go do some stuff (stuff=look for the mpotd).

ill be back, dont worry!

Pens Rule, Enough Said

last night, something that was nearly unthinkable a month ago, came to fruition in boston. the pens, aided somewhat by an undevil-like slide by the nj, moved into the top of the atlaintic division, via a win over the now-eliminated bruins. the team looked solid, with a great game by erik christensen and maf, who let a goal passed him in the opening minute, but rebounded to only allow phil kessel's mid-air swat later in the game. crosby was really seing the ice well, and added 3 assists to his league-leading scoring total. colby armstrong scored, before getting speared in the left eye, and malkin also slammed home a crosby dish. my focus over the past few months has been the pens spot in the playoffs standings, and yesterday, i got to see something that was a distant possibility only 2 months ago. nj does have a game in hand which they will play tonight, but the pens tied the devils in the all-important win column. the first tie-breaker in determining playoff seeds is the win column, and the pens accomplished that by adding their 45th win of the season. 45 is an impressive number to those of us who watched ziggy palffy and john leclair (and gonchar and t-bo, last season's other free-agent signing busts) fail to produce last year.

bit off subject, but watch this colby armstrong hit on trevor letowski. at the end of the video, the scrolling sign at the bottom says: "oakland suspends wr joey porter for four games..." it means oakland wr jerry porter, but i just found that amusing.

ill be around later