Clash of the Titans

The NFL has announced the prime time games for the upcoming season and it starts on Thursday, September 10th with the defending Super Bowl champion Steelers taking on the Tennessee Titans. As many remember the Titans were ousted by the Ravens in the Division Playoffs.

The Steelers will have a lot to defend in this game. Not only will they start their reign as champs, but they will be looking to make the Titans, especially LenDale White, to respect the Towel!


Look LenDale, I know that day the Titans got the upper hand, but why the disrespect? I mean at least be creative if you're going to dis the Steelers. Here's an idea. why not take the towel and clean your Super Bowl trophies...Oh wait, thats right...you don't have any! All I can say is you better buckle your chin strap because the Steelers never forget and once they are done with you, you might not remember anything.

How Sweet It Is?

Pitt has advanced to yet another Sweet 16 after withstanding the Oklahoma St. Cowboys. It is for the fifth time in the last eight seasons that the Panthers have made it this far...however they have never been Elite in those years.

Pitt surely hasn't looked good in the first two games, but they are still dancing, now they will face Xaiver of the A-10. The Musketeers are led by head coach Sean Miller, who played at Pitt and has the most famous assist in school history. Jerome Lane anybody?

Getting to know me a little better...

So this video was made as a project for school, but it gives you a great insight to my life. It was edited my my good friend Mike Eisenberg, who has an awesome movie blog at eisentower30.com

Here it is...enjoy!!!

New Lines

With all the trades over, this is how I see the lines shaping out.

Line 1



LW Ruslan Fedotenko
C Sidney Crosby
RW Bill Guerin

Line 2



LW Chris Kunitz
C Evgeni Malkin
RW Petr Sykora

Line 3



LW Matt Cooke
C Jordan Staal
RW Tyler Kennedy

Line 4



LW Pascal Dupuis
C Max Talbot
RW Craig Adams

D 1 Brooks Orpik-Sergei Gonchar



D 2 Mark Eaton- Kris Letang



D 3 Rob Scuderi- Hal Gill



Goalies
Marc-Andre Fleury



Mathieu Garon

Trade Deadline Recap

Ok kiddies, the biggest sporting event since the Super Bowl has come and gone, so let's recap, shall we?

The Pens started the wheeling and dealing on Feb. 26 when they acquired winger Chris Kunitz and prospect Eric Tangradi of the Ducks for defenseman Ryan Whitney. Kunitz has been stellar so far in a Penguins uniform recording three goals in three games (all victories).

They were quiet until earlier today when they plucked RW Craig Adams off of the waiver wire from the Blackhawks. The 31 year old has 2 goals, but brings toughness as well as playoff experience. (Won the Cup with the Carolina Hurricanes in 2006.)

Shortly before they sent Bill Thomas to the Baby Pens.

Next, Shero made a minor league move. He acquired St. Louis Blues defenseman Andy Wozniewski for Danny Richardson. Wozniewski will start at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, but is capable of playing in the NHL. We could see him up before the end of the season.

Next came the biggest move of the day, Shero was able to steal Islanders captain Bill Guerin for a conditional draft pick. This is how it works...If the Pens fail to make the playoffs, the Isles recieve a 5th round pick. If the Pens make the playoffs, then they would give up a 4th round pick. Lastly, if the Pens make it out of the 1st round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, then Shero would send over their 3rd round pick. So at worst, the Pens give a 3rd round pick for a top line winger that is a proven goal scorer, and someone who has also won a Stanley Cup. (1995 with New Jersey)

The day ended quietly with Miro Satan being assigned to the Baby Pens after clearing waivers.

Trade deadline update: Marian Gaborik

No its not Hossa, but Gaborik is now available according to NHL Live. The Minnesota Wild are shopping the injury prone winger. When healthy, he can score with the best of them. I know Shero just dealt for Guerin, but I'd like to see him go after Gaborik as well. Trade Pascal Dupuis and a draft pick for him because a line of Crosby, Guerin, and Gaborik would be sweet.

Trade deadline update: Bill Guerin

According to nhl.com and their online stream of NHL Live, the Penguins have acquired Bill Guerin. It is not official yet, but it seems like it will happen. This adds the some grit and scoring to the squad. It has just been reported that Shero will only have to give up a conditional draft pick...and if thats the case, GREAT MOVE!

Some other minor moves made by the Penguins today: They claim winger Craig Adams off of the waiver wire from the Chicago Blackhawks. With Adams and now Guerin, it is evident that Shero and Penguins brass were not pleased with the physicality of the team. It was also reported that they were trying to reacquire agitator and fan favorite Jarkko Ruutu, but that most likely won't happen.

According to the Post Gazette:

Speaking of waivers, Miro Satan cleared so he could stay with the big league club or go down and play for the Baby Pens.

They acquired Andy Wozniewski from the Blues for minor league defender Danny Richmond.

Trade deadline update: Satan released

Well lets just say it wasn't one of Shero's most successful acquisitions. Miroslav Satan, who was brought in to replace Marian Hossa on Crosby's wing, has been released today. According to NHL.com,"Now, he is being waived to make salary-cap space, about $900,000."

So anyone keeping a running tab of waived Penguins, we have : Chris Minard (cleared and in Wilkes Barre/Scranton), Bill Thomas (cleared at 12:00 today and remains with the Pens), and now Satan.

I would not expect Satan to be back with the Pens even if he clears waivers. He was a liablility in the defensive zone, shyed away from contact, and even though he had 17 goals, he was very inconsistant.

By the way, Crosby is out yet another game, tonight against the Penguins of the south (Lightning).

Trade deadline update

Ok, so no trade has officially gone down, but the Penguins did place forward Bill Thomas on waivers. If he clears, it is very likely that the Pens will reassign him to Wilks-Barre/Scranton.

However, why would they place him on waivers? Sure Crosby is ready to be activated again, but he was never on injured reserve, meaning that a player did not take his roster spot.

So with Thomas on waivers, the Penguins now have two roster spots open. Sean Avery is on re-entry waivers. Could the Pens be eying him? Or is there a larger deal in the works? The trade deadline is on Wednesday and with the Penguins hanging on to 8th place in the Eastern Conference, I would not be surprised if Shero made another move to bolster their offense.

Bucco Ball

The Penguins aren't the only ones who have been winning lately. The Pirates have gotten off to a hot start even though its only spring. They are 3-1 with wins over the Phillies, Red Sox, and Astros.

The Bucs have also been getting the balong ll. They ripped four against the Astros and three of them came from players who are battling for bench spots. Craig Monroe, who received a minor league contract this off-season, is my pick to be the fourth outfielder, over Jeff Salazar. Jason Jaramillo should have the upper hand over Robinson Diaz as the backup catcher to Ryan Doumit.

Two players who have impressed so far who were considered long shots to make the team out of spring training are: second baseman Shelby Ford and Rule 5 draft pick Donnie Veal. I personally wouldn't mind seeing the Pirates front office try to trade Freddy Sanchez and let Ford take over, especially since they are still "rebuilding" and Sanchez hasn't done a whole lot since winnning the batting title in 2006.

I'm BAAAAAAAACCCCCCKKKKK

Yes, yes, yes I'm back and better than ever. I apologize for my two week disappearance, so lets get caught up.

The Penguins are winning again and made a fairly significant trade that sent Ryan Whitney to the Ducks for Chris Kunitz and Eric Tangradi, the second best prospect in the Ducks system.

This trade works for the Penguins. They are in desperate need of a good scoring winger and with their abundance of offensive defensemen(Sergei Gonchar, Kris Letang, Alex Goligoski, and Ben Lovejoy(in Wilks-Barre), Whitney became expendable. It didn't take long for Kunitz to get used to the Penguins as he recorded a goal and an assist in a win on Friday.

As for Tangradi, it gives the Pens a couple of options of what to do with him. They could keep him in the minors to help rebuild their farm system or they could use him as trade bait. Many teams want a top prospect, something the Penguins have lacked recently due to trades in past years. If they keep Tangradi, he has been compared to Keith Primeau. So this kid seems legit.

With the trade deadline on Wednesday, I expect GM Ray Shero to make some more trades, although this may be the most signifcant one he makes. With the Pens inching closer to the playoffs, Wednesday becomes that much more interesting.