OK boys and girls, not much to say about the Pens losing 4-2 to the Isles last night...We looked like crap all around, from Sabby letting in 4 goals to Malkin being lazy and setting one up...it just wasn't pretty...
I hope we finally do the right thing and get a winger who can score and a goalie who can stop pucks...that'd be a sweet gift for Christmas, but you know as well as I do it won't happen...How's that for a lump of coal in your stocking?
Until lata...
All I can say about last night is WOW...Three big games for our local teams and three huge victories...Snack's penthouse loft was bumpin all night long, and the celebration will undoubtedly go on all weekend...
First off, the Steelers beat the Rams 41-24...It was nice to get a road win, and it definitely helps us as far as the playoffs go, but we lost Fast Willie for the season to a broken fibula...Dookie Davenport filled in admirable, and Carey Davis didn't play too bad, but they'll both have to step their game up another notch if we wanna make any kind of run...Kudos also go to Big Ben, who threw 3 TD's and had a perfect passer rating...Good job boys...
The Pens also beat the Bruins 5-4 in a shootout...Sid the Kid had his first "Gordie Howe hatrick", scoring a goal, assisting on two others, AND busting up Andrew Ferrence in a fight...Way to go Sid, I love that the first guy you maul in the NHL used to be a Penguin...very fitting...Am I crazy or did I see some blood coming from Ferrence's face?...Way to go Sid the Slasher, way to go...
And finally, in what was probably the biggest upset of the night, Pitt beat Duke in OT, 65-64...Levance Fields hit a 3 with 4 seconds left, and Dejuan Blair had 20 rebounds in this huge victory...this may even pop us into the top 5 in the polls, but we'll see...The bad news is that it appears Mike Cook is done forever, as he fell pretty damn hard and couldn't put any weight on his knee at all...Coach Dixon was almost in tears talking about him after the game, which is never a good sign...
Until lata...
Well it looks like today will be busier than expected for PNA, as I am coming to you live from Three Rivers Ortheopedics in Aspinwall...So I figured while I wait for my great aunt to be X-rayed, I'd bring some links to yinz that you may enjoy...and don't forget to comment on our Gary Roberts post, as he will hunt you down and murder you if you don't...
Britney Spears' sister is preggo...Nice, just when you thought this family couldn't get any trashier, she goes ahead and does this...Oh yea, did I mention she's 16 and the father is 19...that's a crime in some states...And she has her own show on Nick too...I know I shouldn't laugh at others' misfortune but come on, this is priceless....
In local news, Jake at BuccoBlog has sold his site to some jagoffs from NY...He's now going to be working as a consultant...Congrats buddy, you deserve it, and you definitely know your stuff,but if your site becomes a pile of dog crap I'm going to hunt you down like the dog you are...
And finally, Bobby Bowden is sitting 25 players for their bowl game because they cheated on tests so they could pass and play...So let me get this straight...these jagoffs don't have to pass their tests on their own and they're STILL not a good football team...not an elite one anymore at least...It's time to hang them up Bobby, your old ass just can't cut it with today's dumb ass athletes...
Until lata...
Buccos have hired a few coaches from the Minor Leagues, including including former second basemen Carlos Garcia.
Looks like Littlefield got himself a j-o-b.
King Henri and the Rangers blanked the Pens 4-0 last night...
Five Steelers will be making the trip to Hawaii to play in the most pointless (and boring) game in the history of football...
(Pic from pandaonline.com)
I'd rather watch American Gladiator reruns...
Doesn’t say a whole lot for the Steelers 2007 draft class when the punter is winning rookie of the year for them...
Anthony Smith is going back to the bench and no one cares what he has to say about it...
(Pic from 10000takes.com)
Remind me why he wasn't starting in the first place?
Penn State defensive coordinator Tom Bradley is being considered for the vacant West Virginia coaching job. Can’t really blame him seeing as how he’s been waiting 29 years for JoePa to finally retire.
Speaking of Penn State, word on the street is the Pens and Flyers might play an outdoor game there sometime in 2009.
Big night for Pittsburgh sports tomorrow night as #9 Pitt takes on #7 Duke in Madison Square Garden; teams are a combined 19-0 so far this year. Tip off is 7PM on ESPN. We've also got the Pens playing in Boston against the Bruins which also starts at 7PM on Fox Sports. Lastly, we've got the Steelers looking to bounce back from two losses traveling to St. Louis to face the Greenfield Rocket aka Marc Bulger at 8:15.
Diego’s Notes
Be sure to have plenty of IC Light, nacho’s, and chicken wings stock piled for tomorrow. Don’t forget to do some exercises to warm up that remote control thumb; you wouldn’t wanna pull a muscle half way through the night. Also I’m gonna go ahead and get all Anthony Smith on ya and predict, no scratch that, guarantee a 3 and 0 night for the Burgh, an early X-mas gift from our hometown boy’s…
Diego is neglecting his X-mas shopping and many other responsibilities, and is calling off work and heading up to 7 Springs to snowboard on Thursday. So therefore, all recapping and posting responsibilities will fall exclusively on the shoulders of the Snack. Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by Big Snack are in no way, shape, or form condoned, shared, or agreed upon by Diego. Any rebroadcasting, retransmitting, or repeating of any of Diego’s articles, opinions, rants, and jokes is prohibited and will result in Diego giving you a swift punch right to the face. Diego also reserves the right to kick you in the nuts.
Look for the brand spankin new Piergoisnat.com bumper stickers to be invading a neighborhood or bar near you soon. Also, our new logo is going to be getting here real soon courtesy of my main man J. Gallagher. (it’s Gary Robert’s approved don’t worry) So keep your eyes open as Pierogisnat.com should be rolling out a new look for the New Year.
Note from Snack...this is our 100th post...thanks to everyone who has helped us out...we're at 9500 hits, which isn't too bad at all...We'll be sure to remember all of you when PNA is bigger than Jesus...(no offense, God)
OK boys and girls, here's a quick lil recap of the Pens game last night, and look for Diego's links in a little bit, as today's kinda hectic for your boy Snack...
The Pens lost 4-0 last night to the Rangers, getting only 18 shots on net...We looked good for a minute there, then we reverted back to this "we suck at life" stage that we continue to go into...
The only good thing for the Pens yesterday was that goon Chris Simon got the longst suspension (30 games) in NHL history for trying to impale Jarko Ruutu with his skate...screw that a-hole, he's been a punk for years who has absolutely no skills other then being a cheap shot artist...He can't even fight, hell Snack himself thinks he can take him...all his worthless ass can do is hit people when they're not looking and use his stick as a weapon...I hope he never plays the game again, as the NHL is a lot better off without people like him in the game...And you wonder why they say hockey is a game of thugs with no athletic talent?
Until I get back lata and post Diego's stuff...
Ok boys and girls, here's a lil' something Diego and I decided to do while drinking our faces off at the wonderful Cyrstal's in the Strip...Gary Roberts is one of the most feared players in the NHL (in our minds), and is bar none the most badass on our team (sorry big Georges, Gary's a pimp and playa...So here's some random facts we found out about Gary Roberts, and feel free to add your own in the comments section...The best ones will be posted in our bi-weekly Gary Roberts post, as well as the ones that us geniuses concoct...
(Pic from postgazette.com)
Don't let his calm demeanor fool you...
Gary Roberts' body temperature is 32 degrees, he is literally cold as ice...
Gary Roberts has no soul... he takes other people's
Gary Roberts doesn't use fabric softner because he likes the pain...
Gary Roberts will eat your kids...
When President Bush is in a quandry he calls Gary Roberts and asks him how he would handle the situation. The answer is always the same, "kick some serious a$$" (this is how the Iraq war really started)
Gary Roberts takes sh*ts that are bigger than you...
Gary Roberts has never wrote a check with his mouth that his a$$ couldn't cash...
Gary Roberts has never had a hat trick.. because no person, place, or thing can trick Gary Roberts. I mean no one!!
Gary Roberts can do enough sit ups to power the Mellon arena for the entire year...
If you look directly into Gary Roberts' eyes his cold stare will turn you to stone instantly...
Gary Roberts once got a 5 minute major game misconduct penalty for being a bad a$$ mofo...
Gary Roberts' age is listed as 42, but in all actuality he is immortal...
Gary Roberts can check you so hard your unborn children will feel it...
Gary Roberts' bones are made of pure titanium...
Contrary to popular belief, Gary doesn't wear pads...He's just that big...
Gary Roberts once tried to take off his skate and stab someone with it...
Gary Roberts sleeps standing up, with his eyes open...
A man once claimed he beat Gary Roberts in a fight... he was never heard from again...
Don't forget to add your comments, that's how we're gonna keep this thing goin'...there's only so many facts that the booze can bring out of us...
Until lata...
Well at least that Jags game was more exciting than the one last year… still pretty much sucked though. Your boy Diego had a busy weekend bartending at Palazzo (sixth street downtown right next to six penn) so I didn’t get the chance to partake in as much sports viewing I am usually accustomed to over the weekend. I did get a chance to watch a good part of the Pitt game Saturday afternoon, but I completely missed the Pens 3-2 victory over the Islanders Saturday night, so I will leave that recap to Snack.
Pitt (10-0) 85
I’ll go with the good news first, Pitt remains undefeated by beating Oklahoma St. at the Pete. This is the fifth straight year that Pitt has opened the season with ten straight wins. The schedule starts getting tougher from here on out, as Big East play begins soon. Still, Pitt is playing at a high level right now so as long as they keep playing the way they are, then they should win a lot of games this year and even compete for the Big East crown.
The first half of this game is probably the best basketball I’ve seen Pitt play all year long. The starting five of Young, Cook, Blair, Fields, and Ramon are really playing well together on both offense and defense. Pitt’s game plan of playing stifling defense and transition offense has worked out in their favor so far this year. Pitt totally outplayed Ok St. in the first half scoring 49 to Ok St’s 31. Pitt also shot a ridiculous 68% from the field in the first half, going five for eight from behind the arc. Pitt ended the half with a 20-5 run, in which Sam Young scored 11 straight points for the Panthers.
Ok St. began the second half with 14-5 run, but the deficit proved to be too large to come back from. Freshman phenom Dejuan Blair, once again, had a big game for the Panthers scoring 20 points, grabbing 10 rebounds, and swatting 5 shots away. Cook and Young both had 15 points apiece. Guards Fields and Ramon both were solid as well scoring 17 and 10 while dishing out 11 assists between the two. All five starters managed double digits in this win on Saturday. Pitt’s defense as a whole also forced 17 turnovers throughout the game. This win was Pitt’s 27 consecutive win against a non-conference opponent at home.
Pitt’s game definitely looks just as good if not better then it did last year at this time, but it still may be a little premature to judge this team’s effectiveness and longevity. We will have a better grasp on this after Thursday night’s 8PM match up against Duke, their first real opponent of the year, at Madison Square Garden in NYC. (road trip anyone?) The one thing that concerns me is Pitt’s lack of a true big man. Blair is handling business thus far against non-conference foes, but the competition gets stiffer as Big East play starts. Seeing how the Pitt freshman handles such big men as 7’2” Roy Hibbert from Georgetown and 6’11” Daivid Padgett from Louisville should be interesting. For now we will enjoy our undefeated record, and look forward to seeing 9-0 Duke and their two underclassman standouts sophomore guard/forward Gerald Henderson and freshman forward Kyle Singler, who are both averaging a team leading 13.6 points per game.
Jaguars 29
The Steelers last home game of the 2007 season and all they needed was a win and they clinched a playoff birth, but the Jags came into town and rained on our parade. Was it just me, or did it seem like the Jag’s came to our home field, and smashed us in the mouth with a taste of our own medicine? That medicine being pounding the ball on the ground, taking a few shots down field, and bending on defense, but not breaking. Do not be fooled by the fourth quarter comeback of the Steelers, the Jaguars were clearly the better team on Sunday… that leads to the question where does that leave the Steelers?
The Jag’s seem like they have the Steelers number. These two teams play such a similar style of football that when we do play it usually boils down to which team has the ball last. This was not the case yesterday, as the Steelers had the ball last but failed to convert a 4th and 7, as Heath Miller did everything in his power to try to extend out to reach the first down after being hit, but came up half a yard short. The offense has been struggling in the last couple games, and the Steelers struggled to put up points on the board until the fourth quarter. Ben was avoiding pass rushers all day long as the lineman had difficulty holding off the front four of the Jagoffs. Ben was put down five times, and it really shoulda been six as he dumped off a pass to fast Willie as he was going down for another sack. The O-line has been a problem all year for us and now that they are banged up it is getting even worse. Even though Ben was getting hit all day, he did manage 3 TD passes, which catapulted him past Bradshaw for the most in a Steelers season.
One thing that the last couple of weeks have proved is that the Steelers defense certainly is not the cream of the crop in the NFL this year. They failed to get one sack for the second game in a row, even though they were bringing the blitz all day long. Throughout our early victories the D was dominant, being stingy on both the ground and the air. The last few weeks have showed us this defense is unpredictable, as we have let up 29 points and 421 yards of total offense this week, and 34 points and another 421 yards of offense the week before. Mind you, this is coming against two teams who are playoff bound in the AFC the Jaguars and Patriots. Our defense started out strong against weaker opponents such as the 49ers, the Bills, and the Ravens, but they have been faltering as of late.
I’ll give it to the Jag’s they really came to this game prepared to run, and run is what they did rushing for over 200 yards on the day, the most the Steelers have given up since the year 2000. And what about the 20 play drive to start the second half? The Jags even converted two fourth downs on that drive, that just cannot happen if you want to win ball games.
The best description I could give of the Steelers effort so far this year is inconsistent. So now what? With a loss yesterday the Steelers dropped from the third playoff spot, down to the forth, meaning that there may not be any playoff game held at Heinz field this year. That could be trouble as the Lers are 2-4 on the road this season. Also trouble is the fact that the Steelers can’t seem to beat any good teams. I don’t see us standing a chance versus the Colts or Pats in the playoffs, and even the Jags and the Chargers would give the Steelers trouble if we were to see them in January. Part of the problem definitely stems from out defense’s recent inability to sack the opponents QB; we have only one sack in the last three games. Whenever we bring the blitz its getting picked up, maybe its time we unleashed 2nd round pick Lamar Woodley? After all isn’t he supposed to be a QB pressuring beast? That still remains to be seen.
Also, its clear the O-line needs some type of help; more max protections could be the answer, but Ben seems to be having problems finding open receivers now and with even less people going out on routes it won’t make it any easier on the big guy. Of course it usually easier to find the open man when you don’t have 250+ pound men chasing you around. Not to mention the fact that it would render one of our top receivers, Heath Miller, ineffective in the pass game as he would be forced to stay in the backfield and block.
The way I see it the only chance we have to win a game in the playoffs, right now, is if we would play the Brownies, and now that we are the fourth seed in the AFC playoff bracket that may not happen. If that weren’t enough the Steelers have to go to St. Louis to play Thursday night, and they were looking pretty banged up after that game yesterday so this one could mean more trouble for the good guys.
Until lata...
The Steelers officially blow, losing to those tools from down south, the Jacksonville Shaguars 29-22...Big Ben broke the Blonde Bomba's record of 28 TD throws in a season with 3 TD's, but it wasn't enough as our defense looked horrible...Number 1 ranked D my ass...Hopefully we can hold the fort long enough to get to the playoffs, but we'll prolly get our asses handed to us there too...
Pitt beat Oklahoma St. by 17 points Saturday, keeping themselves undefeated for Thursday's matchup with Duke. DeJuan Blair is a hoss, and hopefully he'll keep it up against those rich, uppity bastards from Duke...
It was a big weekend in high school sports, as my Central Vikings won a state title, as did Jeanette and TJ...Congrats to all the guys on big wins, and I hope we can repeat next year, maybe even taking all four title games...
And let's not forget about our old friends the Pens, who wining 3-2 on Saturday, defeating the Islanders on their home ice...Congrats to the boys and congrats to Tyler Kennedy for being promoted to the top line...Good work youngin, keep it up...Another young gun to add to the arsenal, that's what I'm talkin bout...
And finally, jagoff Rich Rodriguez is leaving WVU for Michigan...and rumor has it he told Terrelle Prior beforehand too...Is it too late to add MIchigan to his final list of schools?
Oh yea, I wanted to congratulate the Dolphins on finally getting off the schnide by beating the hapless Ravens...Purple people eaters no more...Hey Ray, why don't you go back to prison where you belong jerky?
Until lata...
