Best Rivalry Ever?

In midst of the Penguins/Flyers game tonight, which is also a home and home series, one starts to wonder if this is the best rivalry not only in hockey, but in sports.

Where else can you find two major cities in the same state who despise each other. Let's be honest, there is no brotherly love in this series. These teams have met in the playoffs the last two years and have supplied some of the most intense games in sports.

It's not like this is a recently renewed rivalry either. Just look back to the beginning of the decade with the 5 overtime game when Ron Tugnutt made 70 saves against Philly before the Flyers netted the game winner and eventually the series.

You could argue the Red Sox/Yankees, but that has only been serious since 2004. Remember that was when Boston came back and beat the Yankees in seven games and Curt Schilling's bloody sock became the most famous sock ever. Sure the two teams hate each other, but it doesn't seem like in a pointless game in the middle of July, these fans really get into it.

Where do you want to go in the NFL? Bears/Packers? Neither team has been overly successful as of late. Is it great to watch these two teams play a game in December with the weather being frigid? Absolutely, but the intensity of the rivalry amongst the fans just is not there.

Colts/Patriots? Nah. That is just Manning vs. Brady and lets see who can score more points. Was it cool when Manning finally beat the Pats to get to the Super Bowl...I guess, but is it a rivalry? Hardly.

How about the NBA? Lakers and Celtics. Nope. Why? The Celtics essentially went George Stienbrenner to get their 'ship in 08.

These players haven't gone through seasons playing against each other. The fans, while they might not like the other team and could be impartial to the other teams' fans, they don't HATE the opponent.

This is what Pittsburgh/Philly gives you. These teams, because of their successes, mainly stay intact. Players learn to have a disliking for the other team. The fans in both situations are ridiculous. Packed arena's booing the opponents star players every time they touch the puck. Not just for the first five minutes of the game, not when the player scores a goal, or commits a penalty, but from the second they get on the ice and touch the puck in the first period, all the way through the third period.

These arenas aren't for the faint hearted. The language gets rough. Pittsburgh HATES Philly and Philly HATES Pittsburgh and that is what makes this rivalry easily the best in hockey, and one of the best in all sports.

Steelers Shuffle

There have been many famous shuffles throughout history. In chronological order: Shuffle Board, The Ickey Shuffle, more recently the Cupid Shuffle (white guys love songs that tell you how to do the dance...trust me), and now, the Steelers Shuffle.

James Walker, of espn.com, is reporting that there might be some changes in the Steelers coaching staff following the season.

Pittsburgh is in the midst of a five game losing streak, and after starting the season 6-2, are 6-7 and that beeping you are hearing from them being on playoff life support is getting louder and quicker.

The coaches that Walker identified in his piece are special teams coach Bob Ligashesky, offensive line coach Larry Zierlein, and offensive coordinator Bruce Arians. None of these names are a surprise. The special teams can't cover a bed with a blanket, the offensive line, while improving are still allowing waaaaaaay to many sacks on Roethlisberger, and who can understand the play calling.

When the Steelers are up in the 4th quarter, the play calling should go: run with Rashard, run with Rashard, play-action, more running. Instead its shotgun, Ben gets sacked, Ben gets picked, receivers drop the ball, opponents get ball and proceed to score and win in the waning seconds of the game. Cue ESPN

Cudos to Mike Tomlin for knowing that change is needed. However, I'll take those cudos right back for losing to the Chefs, Raiders, and the Brownies, who might very well be the worst team that I've ever seen. Yes, even worse than last years Lions.

Back and Better than Ever

For all of you who missed me, my apologies. I sorta-kinda got distracted from the whole blog world in pursuit of graduating.

I can proudly say that I am now a member of the hundreds of thousands of Americans who are now "unemployed". I graduated from Marietta College on Dec. 5 with a B.A. in Broadcasting and a minor in Journalism.

Before my blog was dedicated to Pittsburgh sports...now I'm going all out. Everything is fair game from the NHL to D3 sports and even Equestrian...well maybe not that far, but you get the picture.

As soon as I figure out how to make the Twitter gadget work, you will be able to see what I'm doing in 140 words or less. But for now, follow me on here and on twitter at MWashMC

FSN PITTSBURGH

Great news on my part...I've landed another internship in Pittsburgh. This time it's with Fox Sports Network Pittsburgh. I will be working in studio helping to produce some Pirate games. So for you all keeping track at home, that's two internships with Fox Sports Pittsburgh, one radio and one t.v.

I'm pretty excited as this just will further my chances of landing a job in the Pittsburgh region when I graduate from Marietta this December.

The Battery w/ Mike & Mike

New Radio Show! The Battery w/ Mike & Mike

Mike Eisenberg and I have officially kicked off our new radio show airing in southeastern Ohio (Marietta, Athens, Parkersburg) where we discuss fantasy baseball from 7-8 p.m. every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Special guests will be on the show nearly every episode. We've already scheduled Joe DiMaio (President/CEO, Fantasy Player's Edge), Jonathan Mayo (Senior Writer, MLB.com), and Andy Behrens (Yahoo! Fantasy Baseball Expert). If you can't tune into 88.3 FM or watch us at the link below, just open up iTunes and download our broadcasts free.

HOW TO EASILY DOWNLOAD THE BATTERY FREE ON ITUNES:

With iTunes open, click on ADVANCED at the top of your computer screen.
Scroll to and click on SUBSCRIBE TO PODCAST.
In the box provided, type http://thebattery.podomatic.com/rss2.xml and press OK.
The podcast will now show up under the PODCASTS bar on the left side of your iTunes.
To update, simply click REFRESH at the lower right corner of iTunes.

WATCH LIVE from 7:00-8:00 p.m. MON/WED/FRI:

Justin.tv LIVE VIDEO FEED

Pens Pummel Devils

The Pens lit up Martin Brodeur the NHL's all-time wins leader last night 6-1. It was a complete game played by the entire team, and with only 5 games remaining before the playoffs, the Penguins once again are looking like a team to be reckoned with.

How big of an acquisition has been Matt Cooke been? Brought in to replace Jarkko Ruutu, Cooke has brought the momentum changing hits with him, and a lot more offense and he doesn't take penalties all that much.

His 11th goal of the season was a beaut!

BREAKING NEWS: LEMIEUX AND JAGR TO RETURN!!!

According to nhlsnipers.com, Jags and Lemieux are joining up with Sid and Geno next season.

Breaking News: The Pittsburgh Penguins and the KHL have come to an agreement on a contract negotiation for Jaromir Jagr! The KHL will put the current contract they have with Jagr on hold for the 2009-10 season, allowing him to play in the NHL. The Pittsburgh Penguins will sign Jagr to a one-year $1.5 Million deal. Jagr will then fulfill his contract with Avangard Omsk in the KHL beginning in the 2010-11 season.

According to the source, the only way Jaromir agreed to play again for the Penguins is if Mario Lemieux would lace up the skates as well. Mario, since he is part owner of the Penguins has agreed to play for the league minimum in order to work around any potential salary cap issues. This was supposed to happen at the trade deadline, but Mario wanted the offseason to get back into hockey shape.

Pittsburgh Penguins = 2010 Stanley Cup Champions?

Imagine that powerplay: Sidney Crosby, Evengi Malkin, Mario Lemieux, Jaromir Jagr and Sergei Gonchar! Yikes that is scary.

Can you say....

APRIL FOOLS!!!!

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.

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...