The Steeler nation would have to get a through a long day of football on Sunday, not to mention a long work day on Monday, before getting to see the Steelers play on Monday night. When waking up on Monday morning, us Pittsburghers were treated to a dark, windy, cold, and rainy start to the day. It was definitely a sign of things to come for the game later that night. Hey, at least it was Monday and it was a football night in Pittsburgh.
Finally done with work after a day that seemed to go by oh so slowly, and after turning down a couple opportunities to go down to Heinz Field and stand around in the monsoon I made my way to a bar in the strip to watch the game. This game was pretty highly anticipated not only because it was on national tv, but due to the fact the Steelers were coming off a bad loss the previous weekend to the Jets. We all saw the game, and the way I see it, there were a few major story lines in this game. The two things that left an impression on me and that I wanna talk about are the field and the commentators.
First up, the field; ever since Monday night all I’ve been hearing is moans and complaints about the playing surface. People are saying that it was the worst ever in the history of the NFL, people are saying we need field turf ASAP, and Art Rooney even issued a statement apologizing for the field’s condition. I mean what did you people expect after 4 WPIAL games Friday, a Pitt game on Saturday, and a torrential down pour for hours and hours on game day? I know everyone keeps saying this field needs to be improved but I am thinking, maybe not so much.
Obviously, this theory of mine is considered as the minority opinion of the masses. I also know that watching that game Monday was almost as boring as watching me kick Snack’s ass in a game of Madden on 360, but this field is the ultimate home field advantage! All the Steelers have to do is move their practice facility from the Southside over to Greenfield, namely Magee Field. Sure, Magee isn’t 100 yards long and it doesn’t have field goal posts, but practicing in that sloppy, muddy, mess of a field worked for Central Catholic, who practiced there in anticipation for a muddy field and ended up winning the AAAA championship on Friday night. (Note from Snack: As a proud Central alum, I wanna congraulate the Vikings on a great win...Even Diego's City League loving ass thought it was a helluva game) The proof is in the footage from Monday: the Dolphins couldn’t run, pass, or kick. I know what you're thinking, we couldn’t do any of those things either, but hey, we already have one game under our belt...with a little more practice Fast Willie will be effortlessly wading through that mud. Not to mention the fact that Willie did rush for 80 yards Monday, Ben went 18 for 21 passing, and "Heinz" Ward pretty much caught anything thrown in his direction.
One group I’m pretty sure would agree with me is the Steelers defense; they played one hell of a game pitching another shut out for the national audience. Honorable mention goes to Tyrone Carter who was starting in place of Troy Polamalu, he had 12 tackles in the game, 11 of those coming solo. The D also sacked Beck 4 times, pressuring him many times on the evening. The field proved to be a big ally for the defense, but it also didn’t hurt that Miami’s top 2 running backs left the game with injuries. If it would help them get a shut out every home game I’m sure the defense wouldn’t mind getting their jerseys a little dirtier on Sundays. So Art Rooney, don’t yield to the pressure given by the NFL let the field stay the way it is and let our defense handle business. Skippy will eventually boot us a game winner just like he did on Monday night.
One other quick point I wanted to touch on was a comment by the MNF announcers. Let me start by saying I do like Kornheiser, I watch PTI, he is awesome with Wilbon, and also Jaws is certainly an improvement over Joe Theisman (who Diego personally would like to punch in the face). Yet, I found myself annoyed when listening to the crew this Monday.
(Pic from thebiglead.com)
One Korny Bastard...
When talking about Ricky Williams, the three announcers were laughing and joking around about how he gave up millions just to smoke pot everyday. Point taken, Ricky is most definitely a bonehead for not being able to quit smoking ganja while he was in the NFL. The problem I had with all these comments was that Ricky was being singled out, because there are plenty of players in the NFL making far worse choices then smoking a joint. Albeit Kornheiser did rectify his previous comments when he said something along the lines of “I guess when you think about it, smoking pot is far more harmless then a lot of the other offenses some NFL players have been committing lately”. Well-spoken Kornehieser.
Now listen, I am not advocating the use of pot here, but its not like the substance is going to be enhancing a player’s performance in any way, shape, or form. Pot is a harmless drug, a lot more harmless then say having an cache of guns in your home (Tank Johnson), being arrested four times in three states (Chris Henry), taking human growth hormone (Rodney Harison), or facing felony charges in two states (Pacman). All offenses that have occurred this year and all, except Pacman, have received lesser punishments then Ricky Williams has for smoking a few doobies. In closing, I just think its dumb to suspend a player for a year for taking a drug that isn’t helping him in any way shape or form. Hey, Goodell, save the suspensions for the real criminals will ya?
(Pic from nerdgasmic.com)
It wasn't me...
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