THERRIEN FIRED!!!

The Penguins have gone Donald Trump on their head coach. The Penguins, who are currently in 10th place in the Eastern Conference and 5 points out of the 8th and final playoff spot have fired Michel Therrien.

GM Ray Shero said, "We believe we need a change in direction and, with 25 games remaining in the regular season, our goal remains to finish strong and qualify for the Stanley Cup playoffs." There is so much parody in the NHL these days. Less than one year ago the Penguins were in the Stanley Cup Finals and fans were outraged the Therrien did not win the Coach of the Year award. Now he gets fired for an underachieving team who is still two games over .500.

Hmm...if the Pens fired Therrien for having his club only two games over .500, can you imagine the string of coaches the Pirates would be going through. I mean, they would go through more coaches than most people go through clean underwear...

Anyway, back to reality, and that is Therrien is out and Dan Blysma is in. Blysma had got the promotion from the Wilkes-Barre Baby Penguins.

Now understand that this firing wasn't solely because of bad coaching from Therrien rather the Penguins front office trying to light some sort of fire under the team to propel them into the post-season.

Reed's Terrible Towel Experience

Well the Steelers finally have some negative publicity to fend off. Jeff Reed, yes the kicker, was cited around 2:50 in the morning, for beating up a TOWEL DISPENSER at a local Sheetz. (There it is again...if you're a public figure, you shouldn't be out after midnight.)

According to reports he was upset that there were not paper towels to dry his hands after using the bathroom. He went on to use abusive language and was fined for disorderly conduct. While this isn't the best news, it sure is hilarious!!!

As soon as I heard this, I immediately thought of this.

I mean if you can't laugh at a kicker getting pissed at a towel dispenser, then there really isn't anything that funny...


I heard he did it after taking this picture...

Hossa has no regrets, no duh!

Ron Cook of the Pittsburgh Post Gazette recently wrote an article about how Marian Hossa has no regrets leaving the Penguins to play for the Detroit Red Wings.

Looking back on it, I would doubt if any of the current Penguins would regret playing for the Red Wings if given the chance. Detroit is second in the Western Conference while the Penguins are in tenth in the Eastern Conference, meaning that if the season ends today (which luckily for Penguins fans it doesn't) Pittsburgh would be out of the playoffs.

Everyone made a big deal that Hossa wouldn't be able to produce as well without Crosby, well its kind of been the other way around. While Sid and Hossa have both gotten their points, Crosby isn't the same player he was with Hossa. Marian is a sniper, a true goal scorer, so regardless of who is feeding him the puck, he can still find twine. Crosby on the other hand, has some of the best vision in the game and can thread a puck through any defense, but he doesn't have a bonifide scorer to finish.

Penguins fans have to hope that their club can find away into the playoffs, otherwise they will have to turn their attention to the Pirates for about three weeks before they realize that another losing season in upon them, and that Steelers training camp doesn't start until August, thus making for a very long summer.

My Birthday

In lieu of my 21st birthday which was yesterday, I decided to dig up the famous #21's in Pittsburgh sports history.

If there was a ever a number that had so much history, it's that one. Let's start with the six time NFL champion Steelers.

There have been 19 players to dawn the number 21. The most recent being backup running back Mewelde Moore. Signed in the off-season from the Minnesota Vikings, Moore was supposed to be primarily a third down back. But once starter Willie Parker went down with and injury and rookie Rashard Mendenhall got knocked out for the year, Moore became the started and filled in admirably. He rushed for 589 yards and scored 5 touchdowns and helped the Steelers capture their 6th Super Bowl title.

The most famous Steeler to wear the number 21 is Tony Dungy. The Steelers cornerback played two years for the Steelers from 1977-78. In that time he appeared in 30 games and had 9 interceptions, six of those coming in 1978.

The Pittsburgh Penguins only had two players to ever wear the number 21. The second player, Michel Briere, was clearly the best. He debuted for the Penguins as a rookie in the 1969-70 season. That year he scored 12 goals and added 32 assists as the Pens advanced to the second round of the playoffs. He was the Penguins' rookie of the year. In a year that showed so much promise, Briere's life took a tragic turn when he was involved in a car accident. He spent 11 months in a coma before passing away. Briere's number 21 was never worn again and now hangs in the rafters along with Mario Lemieux's number 66, the only two numbers to be retired by the Penguins.

Last but certainly not least is the Pirates number 21. There was no debate in who would get this honor. Roberto Clemente, arguably the best right fielder to ever play the game sported the number 21 for the Buccos from 1955-1972. During that time he amassed exactly 3,000 career hits, 240 home runs, and was a career .317 hitter. He led the Pirates to two World Series Championships and was a 12 time All-Star. Like Briere, Clemente's life ended tragically in 1972 when his airplane crashed en route to Nicaragua to send supplies to the earthquake torn country.

Clemente would be inducted into the Hall of Fame the next year after the Baseball Writers Association of America waved the five year waiting period. His number is one of 10 retired by the Pirates and efforts have been made to have his 21 retired throughout all of baseball.

More than just a player, he was and is an inspiration to all. I encourage you all to check out this video of him.

SIX PACK

It's over ladies and gentlemen. The Pittsburgh Steelers have become the first football franchise to win six Super Bowls.

It wasn't easy, but Ben Roethlisberger orchestrated one of the best drives capped off by a miraculous catch by Santonio Holmes with 35 seconds left in the game.

So, to all you Steelers fans out there, its time to crack open an Iron City, and congratulations for
your Steelers are Super Bowl Champs!

Steelers let the (Wild)cat out of the bag

One of the most insignificant plays of the Super Bowl is significant for another reason. For the first time the Steelers ran a play out of the wildcat formation. The wildcat, has a running back lined up in the shotgun in the place of the quarterback and at the snap, the runner just takes off.

For a franchise who recently has been noted for running gadget plays in recent years, the wildcat has never surfaced…until the Super Bowl. The play went for no gain and that should be the last time offensive coordinator Bruce Arians ever calls that play for the black and gold. While some teams in the NFL have had some success, most notably the Miami Dolphins, running out of that formation, the Steelers should not revert to this collegiate formation.

People may argue that it works so well in college, so why not implement it in NFL playbooks. Well, for starters, the kids who run it in college are exceptional athletes. Take former Arkansas running back Darren McFadden. This kid has exceptional speed, shiftiness, and isn’t that bad at throwing the ball either. In college, he was something special. Defenses could not keep up with him, thus allowing him to take the snap directly gave the Razorbacks an added advantage. In the NFL however, everyone is something special. While some players may be faster than others, defenses are smarter and quicker than in college. Also, in the Steelers’ case, their most success running the ball comes out of a power formation, with either a fullback leading the blocking or with two tight ends to seal off the outside rusher.

The reward was bigger than the risk, assuming that Willie Parker could use his speed to get to the outside and the possibly up the sidelines for a monster gain. However, Parker had to use extra efforts just get back to the line of scrimmage. The Steelers tried it, it didn’t work, and that should be that. Let the superior college kids continue to showcase their talents on Saturday, but when it comes to Sundays, please, keep the cat in the bag.

Max-a-Million

Max Starks, the Steelers left tackle, received a great deal of criticism this offseason when the Steelers signed him for 1 year, $6.9 million with the transition tag. The fans thinking was, why spend nearly seven million dollars for a player who will ride the pine?

Well, that doesn't seem like too heafty of a price now does it. Starks has started the past 13 games for Marvel Smith who is done for the season. Max has been an anchor on a young, inexperience O-line. He has done a decent job protecting Big Ben's weakside as well.

Max catches a lot of heat from everyone, but if you look at his resume, when he was the full time starter in 05, what happened...oh ya the Steelers won the Super Bowl. And he had the block to spring Willie Parker on his 75 yard touchdown run. So if you're one of the fans who was bitter about the Steelers signing a backup for that much money, swallow you're pride, cause this kid is winner. Plain and simple.

Holme(s) Boy

We are T-minus five hours from the start of the Super Bowl. People up here in the 'Etta are bleeding the black and gold! I've been told I'm acting like a six year old on Christmas, but this game is much bigger than Christmas.

Bob Labriola of Steelers.com comprised a list of the top match-ups for the Super Bowl. As always, Labs does not disappoint. The big one that he hit on was Santonio Holmes. I believe that he along with Heath Miller will have to be the catalysts in the passing offense. Miller might have to stay on the line to help block, so therefore, Holmes is my man for this game.

He's come up huge in the post-season, especially in the AFC Championship game after Hines went out with an injury. Holmes has the ablilty to stretch the field which is always nice for a big play, but even more importantly, he should pull one of the Cards safeties with him, Adrian Wilson or Antrel Rolle. That will open up the middle of the field for Big Ben to find Heath or Hines.

I'm thinking that Holmes with come up big and take home the honor of Super Bowl MVP.