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!