heels, sox & steelers
Just for the love of it, thank you for a picture from one of my alltime favorites, Fuamatu MaŽAfala.
I just bought a jersey (via ebay) a few weeks ago, persuaded the US-Seller to send it to germany ... and IŽm happy as a big kid sitting on a mountain of twinkies.
Gotta lova that guy ! :D
Greetings, MaG (Cologne, Germany)
Back when I had an SCI subscription Wexell was my favorite beat writer. Now I guess by default it's Eddie B. But I'm always open to suggestions.
Re: keeping Gary Russell. If, and I certainly wouldn't know, he's slightly better as a pure RB than the others, I think the team stance at this point is that he'll still be sent packing...due to lack of other useful skills. What does anyone else think of this stance? While I appreciate the numbers game, it seems that RB might be an area where that rule is relaxed. Depth there is a big question. Davenport always has health issues. Davis has looked good so far, but seriously...we just don't know what that means yet. I hope he's all-world, but he's been cut several times for a reason. Russell just strikes me as having more potential here. Davis busted one for 56 yards in the HOF game, but maybe the hole was big enough that anyone would have....or Russel might have got more. Absent that run what would we have said about his stat line? I don't care which guy wins right now, I really don't....I just hope we're not putting more stock in the versatility wagon than logic dictates we should, in an area of such need.
I too like Eddie B usually, but I sometimes hate the tone he uses while NOT answering daily email questions. If you're gonna have a bunch of attitude about the question YOU CHOSE to answer, then why not pick a different one...and it's not like they're all dumb questions.
Eddie B is kinda the default guy. Is there anyone else to read that is any good? I think they will end up keeping Russell, he's looked pretty darn good this preseason.
smizik and madden are my personal favorites.
He's not the traditional media, but JJ Cooper at AOL is my first pick. Wexall's right there as well
MaG- Chances are your postman will be out with an injury on the day he's supposed to deliver your FU jersey.
I'd bet you a kolsch on it.
On Steelers writers: Agree with all of J_bd's comments on Eddie B and sherm on JJ. Wexell always seems to be on the mark (the anti-Cook, who I guess is more of a columnist than beat writer).
Who was the bald guy back in the 70s or 80s at the Press or PPG? He was a great columnist, and more than a sportswriter. I think he might have gone bald because he had cancer, like Hoge.
In terms of national writers, unlike some others hear, I like Len P (and like John Clayton in print but not on TV). Peter King writes about the Steelers a fair amoung and vacillates between insightful and irritating. Same could be said for TMQ / Easterbrook (obviously less Steelers-oriented), who I used to love but seems to have gone insane or been replaced by his evil twin.
Iron McRod asked about ways to watch the Steelers out of market and I mentioned the Slingbox.
Another similar option is a new feature from DirecTV / Sunday Ticket called Supercast. If someone you know has have Sunday Ticket (or if you are fortunate enough to have a second home with dish access) you can view a livestream of games on a PC with broadband access.
This would also allow you to watch any other games not being shown in your home market (of course, you'd only want to use this at time slots when the Steelers aren't playing).
For more, see: http://www.directv.com/DTVAPP/
gl...ssetId=P4330048
On Russell, I think we'll see him in a lot on passing downs, to see what he can do as a blocker in a game situation. He's on the cusp, IMO, and I really want him to make the cut. Tomlin's all about versatility, and GR needs to bring some a' dat.
On the local beat writers... I don't love any of 'em. Bouchette's a bit surly sometimes, but he's OK as a reporter, so long as you don't care about numbers. He's had some pretty famous goofs.
Prisuta strikes me as nothing special. The Trib guys, Harris and Brown, are atrocious. Some real idiocy there.
Smizik is too knee-jerk. Madden? Did somebody mention Madden, as in Mark Madden? Take the "knee" out of "knee-jerk." Why doesn't he simply die already?
Wexell is OK, but I hate the questions he asks. He could be a really insightful writer, but he pitches too many softballs and "If you were a tree...?" type questions that mean nothing.
Guess I just skim the wires and try to cull anything interesting from the dreck. And continue to hope for someone better to come along.
Favorite Writer?
I really like Jim Wexell for this Steeler coverage. Nationally I enjoy Peter King (I will say however, that I believe that his writing has tailed off since he has spent less time on the road)...
By the way, I realize there is plenty of entertainment in New York competing for the almighty dollar, but where are the fans in New York????
(**currently watching the Jets/Vikings tilt on Fox**)
If a question is asked about a tree and the forest falls down, is it something Finnegan is just making up?
I think Joe Starkey and Bob Labriola need mentioned here. Starkey writes a great column but he doesn't write about the Steelers as often as he should, or as often as that paper needs him to. The good news about Labriola is that he can write and he has access to all the info. The bad news is he gets paid by the team and can't use it.
Okie,
I agree, Starkey and Labriola are good. There were copies of Steelers Digest (Labriola's baby) lying around the media room at training camp and I was impressed with how good it was.
Slightly off-topic, yet slightly on-topic, I think the best sports writer in Pittsburgh (for any sport) is Dejan Kovacevic, the Pirates beat writer for the Post-Gazette. It's just a shame his talents are being wasted on, well, the Pirates.
He used to cover the Penguins, but was given the reigns to the Pirates ship during the NHL lockout. He really is fantastic.
As for the Steelers...i'll take anyone that doesn't work for the Trib.
I want Russell to make it because I think Dookie`s ascendance to competency is a mirage. No getting around the fact that he is a big back who runs like a small back. I think Russell can easily handle the short yardage situations and he is a far niftier runner all around than Davenport.
Dookie runs high...I don't see how this translates into being a good blocker. Mark my words..Russell will be running in some role for another team this year if we cut him. And we will knash our teeth in vain as we realize Dookie is still Dookie.
I think Russellhas proved himself adequate in all areas, including blocking but that's hardly anything by what I can cull from reading the net.If FWP goes down, we need a guy who can play MORE than adequate TB. The only guy I see with the speed, niftiness and power combo required is Gary Russell. Let's go with the young colts for a change.
I think the running back talk is a LITTLE unneccessary -- I think Russell and Davis are locks in some form or another, and the rest of the also-rans (I'm looking at you, Verron and Barlow) are pretty much dunzo.
I'm really fascinated by the wide recievers this year. Given that we're switching to a "deep ball" offense this year, we're going to need someone who can go up and get the ball. And since none of our "big" recievers are actually big (Hinesy is the tallest, at 6-0), there's a need for a tall-guy. If Nate (6-1) can't catch a ball tonight, and my boy Walter Lee Young (6-4) plays well again....Nate's in trouble. And I'm wearing my #18 jersey while I mow my lawn.
I hope you're right Mike. But if you are, I wish Tomlin would stop with the 'Russell needs to show he can do something else' talk. He does what we need him to do...that's enough.
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