It's pretty rare to feel the need to start off a post with celebrity news but it feels appropriate today. As you probably heard, actor Heath Ledger, 28, was found dead in his NYC apartment earlier today. A drug overdose is suspected at this point. Two years ago he was nominated for an Oscar and now he's gone. How fast they can fall. Sad....even worse is that he leaves behind a two-year-old daughter....

1979-2008

Double whammy for the Pens...they lost last night at home to the Washington Capitals in a shoot out after playing a pretty shotty defensive game AND received confirmation that Sidney Crosby is out for up to eight weeks with a serious ankle injury. Not good news at all even though we are in sole possesion of first place in the division.

The only Penguin to score in the shoot out was Jarkko Ruutu. Alex Ovechkin and Alexander Semin both scored on Conklin after he replaced Dany Sabourin in goal after Ovechkin scored his second goal of the night at 7:58 of the third period. On a positive note we picked up three out of a possible four points without Sid and our records stands at 27-17-3. Geno continues to play well after two goals, an assist and a sweet hit on Ovekchin. It was also announced that Malkin has been added to the Eastern Conference roster for the All-Star game on Sunday. The Pens cross the state to take on the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday night.

So, we were hoping for some upsets on Sunday and one of two ain't bad. Eli Manning and the New York Giants are going to the Super Bowl after Brett Favre turned into Brett Favre and threw a really dumb pick in OT. So who do we think is happiest...Tom Coughlin for getting his ass off the coaching hot seat, Eli for finally living up to those ginormous expectations, or Lawrence Tynes who was able to kick the winning field goal after two big misses? Not sure but I can tell you who probably isn't happy....Tiki Barber. That guy left in a huff, threw just about everyone associated with the Giants under the bus and can't figure out why no one likes his whiny ass anymore. Damn I wish the Super Bowl was on NBC this year!

"What are the Giants going to do without me....they're going to the Super Bowl?...oh."

What else is going on in the NFL....Holmgren's staying in Seattle, Tony Dungy staying with the Colts, Tom Brady's foot is in a walking cast and Cedrick Wilson doesn't know how to run routes or pick girlfriends. Hey Ced, Tarentum, PA is not the place to pick up baby mamas....just saying....

Good Friday

The top three most followed teams in Pittsburgh went three for three last night. Steelers defeated the Rams in St Louis, Pitt beat Duke in OT at Madison Square Garden and the Pens still beat the Boston Bruins in a shootout after blowing a 4-0 lead in regulation. Let's get started...

STEELERS - 41 RAMS- 24

THE GOOD

• Ben - He played a great game despite, as usual, running for his life. Only the third QB this season to have a perfect passer rating. As I have stated before, I have no idea where we would be without him.




• Najeh - The Dumptruck filled in quite well for Willie last night and really pounded out some yardage which is something that I don't think is Willie's forte. Obviously his role will change and he can disassociate himself with our very special, special teams.




• We are now a half of a game ahead of the Browns in the division.

THE BAD

• Willie's done for the season. Despite my lack of Willie love I acknowledge the tremendous loss of the league's leading rusher from the roster. Our RB depth is pretty sketchy so I will be curious to see who they pick up in the next week. I'm sure Verron will get a look. That guy is in line to become the new Brian St. Pierre of the Steelers. What a shame that Willie will miss out on playing in his first Pro Bowl. Now Freddy T is replacing him...that should appease Jags fans that are riding the "no respect" train.
  
  
• O-line - Keeping Ben healthy is critical right now which means it would be really nice if these guys got off the block faster than senior citizens. Ben is the second most sacked QB in the league...there something Tomlin should throw into his "news" come next Wednesday.


• Special Teams continuing to be anything but. Can we sign Ron Zook on a game by game basis?

THE UGLY

• Deion, Marshall and Gumbel in the booth. Do you feel dumber today or is it just me?



• IF we make the playoffs, our two likely opponents? Jags or the Browns....not happy about this...

Moving on...big ups to Pitt basketball for winning probably one of the biggest non-conference games they have played in a very long time. I have always rode the line between wondering if they have been overrated in the past or just the epitome of underachievers. They came back from a 16-point deficit at half time to force OT. Unfortunately, Mike Cook suffered what appeared to be, a significant knee injury but it certainly lit a fire under Fields rear end who scored the game winning 3-pointer with seconds left to secure the win.


It always feels good to beat a great time but seriously...is there a more hated team in college basketball than Duke? (Shout out to Natalie....might be time to put JJ back on the myspace layout!)


Congrats to Coach Dixon, Blair, Fields, Sam Young and the rest of the Pitt Panthers. Pretty good time to be a Pitt fan, eh?

The Penguins capped off the night with a shoot out victory in Boston. I didn't see any of the game but from what I understand Conklin wasn't too bad. He did after all, stop two penalty shots to secure the win. The Pens are now 17-15 and three points out of first place in Atlantic Division. But more importantly Sid the Kid got in his first fight last night! Woo hoo! It was against Andrew Ference who I read used to be a Penguin. But the way they move around in the NHL it can be easy to forget players. Outside of the marquis guys, the average number of teams played for is probably at least 6.

Anyhoo, if you want to watch video of Sid's first throw down click here: http://www.hockeyfights.com/fights/39333 (Thanks to Mondesi's House for leading me to a website that archives hockey fights....how great is that!)



All in all, it was a good night for Pittsburgh and congrats all around. The Steelers finish up the regular season in Baltimore on the 30th so my blood pressure should stay at healthy levels through Christmas.


Here's some other fun links to send you into the weekend!

• Not sure who it would be worse to be right now...Tony Romo or Jessica Simpson? http://www.ruinromo.com/ (Thanks Bob!)



• Ike Turner died recently. Apparently enough people care that TMZ.com felt it it necessitated a live stream on their website. I'm sure Tina is all over that.

• Time to check in on Winehouse....let's see...just leaving jail, riding with a sketchy looking bloke and doing her best to look wacked out. Nothing new to report then....

That's it for now. I wish you all a very happy Friday and a great weekend ahead. Please try and not kill anyone while last minute shopping....okay, I was talking to myself there. Have a good one!

...Mondays suck...particularly this one.

GOOD - 13 EVIL - 34

Well, that game went downhill in a hurry. I was very pleased at half time with the score and didn't have much to complain about. Ben was looking good, the Dumptruck had a TD and Slippery Arms Willie was hanging on to the ball. Then of course the Patriots showed that they had just been toying with us. I really have no desire to dissect the Steelers' performance but I will say this: The turnover on special teams and the stop on Hines on 4th and goal (a play call that I HATED!) felt like the plays that really shifted the game to become a blowout. What can I say, they're the best team in the league and they were favored by double digits.

On paper it appears the Patriots are in great shape to go 16-0 this season in case you didn't know. Woop de doo! I could care less and not just because it's the Pats and I hate them, but really it could be the Bears, Packers, Cowboys or Giants for all I care. Outside of the the fans of New England, ESPN and Don Shula does it really matter to anyone? I'm not diminishing the accomplishment that it would be but seriously...I wish they would get it over with already. Supposedly ESPN's bottom line on Friday read NFL...NBA...PATRIOTS.

On a side note, I have been reading a lot of complaints about late hits and trash talk from the Pats' fan persective. To be honest, watching the game with about 40 other people around, combined with not catching every word out of the announcer's mouths, makes it hard to really focus on everything that is happening in between plays. I'm sure there was plenty of trash talk going on from both sides. Didn't witty Rodney Harrison just get fined for his own trash talking skills?

Lastly, maybe we have the opportunity to meet them again in the playoffs and win when it really matters. Then the people of New England can go back to being who they really are....Red Sox fans.