THE PITTSBURGH Sports CHATTER

[Va Beach VH Fan]

Great news for the Smith boys, especially Aaron, he got snubbed...

I have a bad feeling about Plax, I think he's long gone, if they don't franchise him....

One of the possibilities that was thrown out tonight on FSN was that they could franchise him now, and take the next year to work out a extension....

That would give them an extra year that they could budget for his signing bonus.... Obviously, Hines is gonna get a big one this year....

[ALinChainz]

Offseason game plan: Steelers

By TSN correspondents -


The biggest priority is making decisions on two unrestricted free agents, WR Plaxico Burress and ILB Kendrell Bell. The team will try to re-sign Burress, but it has promised four-time Pro Bowl WR Hines Ward he will be a "priority" to receive a contract extension. Ward has another year remaining on his contract. Re-signing Burress (6-5, 228) might be difficult because, as a big-play receiver with size and speed, he probably will receive a big offer on the free-agent market. If the Steelers lose Burress, they will need to draft a speedy wide receiver in the first or second round. Antwaan Randle El is a good slot receiver, but he lacks the speed to stretch a defense. As for Bell, the team knows he has the speed, power and explosiveness to be a dominating linebacker, but he didn't start a game this season because of injuries (groin, ankle), and the team was 16-2 without him starting. It was the second time in three seasons Bell has missed a good amount of time because of injurie s. Larry Foote, Bell's replacement, played well, particularly in pass situations. The team likes his speed and ability to get to the ball. The team is expected to cut CB Chad Scott because of his salary cap number. He likely will be replaced in the lineup by Ricardo Colclough, who has good speed and coverage skills and reacts well to the ball. The Steelers expect to pair him with Deshea Townsend.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=offseasongameplansteeler&prov=tsn&type=lgns

[Va Beach VH Fan]

I have a feeling that they will resign Bell, but only at their price....

You never know, some team may very well overpay like they always do...

I'm not so sure that they'll go WR in the early rounds....

The free agent WR's that are being heard in the P-Burgh press are Jerry Porter (WVU grad) and Mushin Muhammad, who I think will be asking for a steep price...

[POJO_Risin]

Muhammad is old...

Porter overrated...

and I said they'd franchise and work on a Plax deal...long...long ago...

I don't see any of these Free Agents substantially effecting Pittsburgh though...

Plax is fantastic...but I think they can get a receiver to stretch the D...

we'll see...

[ALinChainz]

How about trading up for Braylon Edwards?

he he he ...

[Va Beach VH Fan]

Originally posted by POJO_Risin
and I said they'd franchise and work on a Plax deal...long...long ago...

I hope you're right...

But at the same time, I don't want them opening it up TOO much to get him more balls....

I think they need to be a little smarter on their play calling, like more playaction passes on 1st down....

[Lou]

I read Plax's comments, I actually thought they were pretty funny and I agree with him. The Stillers pride themselves on running the ball and refuse to change with today's NFL. I don't blame him for wanting to leave.

[Va Beach VH Fan]

Yeah, a part of me agrees with that....

But the other part of me says that if he would have caught some more balls that he should have, such as the goalline fade route last week which he horribly mistimed, maybe they WOULD have thrown the ball more to him....

Dude's gonna get paid, no doubt about that....

The franchise tag really puts the clamp on any aspirations he may have to leave, however...

[Va Beach VH Fan]

If this doesn't portray the life of a modern-day Steelers fan, I don't know what does.....

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05029/449632.stm

First Person: I'm over it
Working through the five stages of Steelers grief, in 12 hours
Saturday, January 29, 2005

By Dan Gigler, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Sunday 10:09 p.m. Denial: I sat in my icy, yellow seat for a good 15 minutes after the game had ended. Couldn't bear to watch the Patriots get the championship trophy, but worse, couldn't bring myself to leave this wonderful and tortured place. That I won't return until August seems inconceivable.

I was the last to leave, along with some other dude in section 510 wearing a tattered No. 95 Greg Lloyd jersey. A perfect stranger, we hugged (a manly hug) and agreed over raw larynxes that we'd cheered our guts out, and aggravated our Terrible Towel-waving elbows -- the fandom equivalent of a Hines Ward effort.

Sunday 10:39 p.m. Anger: Why does this always happen to my teams? I was 2 when the Steelers last won a Super Bowl. Francisco Cabrera is seared into my brain and since then baseball has been bastardized via money and the drugs that turned skinny Barry Bonds into the Michelin Man. JoePa's Nittany Lions didn't catch my eye until high school and they stink now. I have truly fond recollections of the Penguins Stanley Cup runs, but I mean c'mon -- it's hockey, and that sport is going the way of typewriters and landline phones.

Should I become a front runner? Would it be easier to switch allegiance like Don King after a fight? Wait until the night before the Super Bowl and then pick my team? Become a Yankees fan? Vote Republican? Apply to Michigan for grad school in the fall for football, then transfer to Duke in time for hoops season?

Furthermore, am I the problem? Is it my tortured existence as a Pittsburgher? I read stories with annoying frequency about the exodus of folks from places like ours, the old economy towns long on character and bad weather but short on prolific job growth. Maybe I should uproot to some faceless, soulless Atlanta subdivision, work for Coca-Cola and annually adopt whatever NBA team Shaq is playing for that year.

Sunday, 11:51 p.m. Bargaining: All I really wanted was one Super Bowl victory. Just one. Not two. Not a dynasty. I'm not that greedy. Just one to enjoy with my friends and family while I'm still young. I had already decided that if we won, I would savor it like the finest of cognacs, remember it forever as a truly treasured memory, and then get on with my life.

Oh, I'd still be a fan, still keep my season tickets, but I'd have that look that the older Steelers fans have. They love our team, but are somewhat nonchalant about Sunday's result, because they've been there. They know. Like folks who have celebrated mass with the pope or bought pre-iPod Apple stock, they are experienced and wise. Black & Gold Yodas, if you will.

Had we won a Super Bowl, I'd put a minimum 10-year moratorium on complaining about anything even remotely related to sports. Big Ben could steal my girlfriend and I'd tell him to take care and to look after that thumb. All that space in my temporal lobe, that shockingly inordinate amount of gray matter devoted to things like: Weegie Thompson's number (87); Merril Hoge's alma mater (Idaho State); and Keith Gary's birthday (Sept. 14) -- I'd free up those synapses to do things that I've always wanted to do, like learn Italian, read Faulkner's works and pay my cable bill on time.

Just one.

Please?

Monday, 12:47 a.m. Depression: The first real wave started to set in when I got home. I live on the South Side, just about a block off Carson Street, which is usually a 24/7 cacophony of cars, buses, drunken college kids, whiny old people and even whinier hipsters. It was just after midnight, the street silent, the streetlights reflecting an eerie pinkish-orange hue off of the snow, which had encased our neighborhood. I unloaded the car, still freezing, the only person on the street.

There's a scene in "Fargo," when a broken Jerry Lundegaard, played by William H. Macy, trudges alone across a bleak, snow-covered Minneapolis-in-winter parking lot, a shell of a man. That's about how I felt, except I was wearing a Mean Joe jersey and had frozen chili stains on my knee. Twenty-seven messages of condolence are waiting on my answering machine.

Monday, 9:43 a.m. Acceptance: As with many matters of the heart that need soothing, I turn to the Dave Matthews Band. I popped on "Under the Table and Dreaming" as I sat in gridlocked Monday morning traffic on the Fort Pitt Bridge, staring over at Heinz Field.

Dave came on: "Hey my friend / It seems your eyes are troubled / Care to share your time with me? / Would you say you're feeling low and so / a good idea would be to get it off your mind ... / And if nothing can be done / We'll make the best of what's around."

The lyrics might as well have been a dialogue between me and the personified stadium, though I'm not sure which one of us would have been speaking the comforting words. Probably the stadium. I sniffled a little. Then a little more when I later heard a clip of Hines Ward's press conference on the radio.

Then, I gained some perspective.

There are worse things. Much worse. That my biggest source of discomfort this week (or this year, to be honest) is the result of a football game, well, that's a good problem to have. And gosh wasn't this season fun? And isn't that the point?

I mean, we didn't lose for FOUR MONTHS. Four months of high-fiving strangers, tailgating with grade-school friends, post-game cell-phone chalk talks with buddies in Tampa and San Diego, road-tripping, Myhrn, Polamalu's 'do, and the Bus. Four months of Mom fawning over Coach Cahr, talking blitz packages with my old man, of being captivated by a 22-year-old from Western Ohio, of asking folks, "So, what are you doing for the game on Sunday?" the way normal people discuss Thanksgiving or Christmas plans.

And if that's the best of what's around, then I'll take it with glee.

Six months 'til Latrobe. Here we go.

[POJO_Risin]

lmfao....

Keydrick Vincent is gone to save some money...

who's next...

[Dave's PA Rental]

Originally posted by Va Beach VH Fan
If this doesn't portray the life of a modern-day Steelers fan, I don't know what does.....

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05029/449632.stm

First Person: I'm over it
Working through the five stages of Steelers grief, in 12 hours
Saturday, January 29, 2005

By Dan Gigler, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Sunday 10:09 p.m. Denial: I sat in my icy, yellow seat for a good 15 minutes after the game had ended. Couldn't bear to watch the Patriots get the championship trophy, but worse, couldn't bring myself to leave this wonderful and tortured place. That I won't return until August seems inconceivable.

I was the last to leave, along with some other dude in section 510 wearing a tattered No. 95 Greg Lloyd jersey. A perfect stranger, we hugged (a manly hug) and agreed over raw larynxes that we'd cheered our guts out, and aggravated our Terrible Towel-waving elbows -- the fandom equivalent of a Hines Ward effort.

Sunday 10:39 p.m. Anger: Why does this always happen to my teams? I was 2 when the Steelers last won a Super Bowl. Francisco Cabrera is seared into my brain and since then baseball has been bastardized via money and the drugs that turned skinny Barry Bonds into the Michelin Man. JoePa's Nittany Lions didn't catch my eye until high school and they stink now. I have truly fond recollections of the Penguins Stanley Cup runs, but I mean c'mon -- it's hockey, and that sport is going the way of typewriters and landline phones.

Should I become a front runner? Would it be easier to switch allegiance like Don King after a fight? Wait until the night before the Super Bowl and then pick my team? Become a Yankees fan? Vote Republican? Apply to Michigan for grad school in the fall for football, then transfer to Duke in time for hoops season?

Furthermore, am I the problem? Is it my tortured existence as a Pittsburgher? I read stories with annoying frequency about the exodus of folks from places like ours, the old economy towns long on character and bad weather but short on prolific job growth. Maybe I should uproot to some faceless, soulless Atlanta subdivision, work for Coca-Cola and annually adopt whatever NBA team Shaq is playing for that year.

Sunday, 11:51 p.m. Bargaining: All I really wanted was one Super Bowl victory. Just one. Not two. Not a dynasty. I'm not that greedy. Just one to enjoy with my friends and family while I'm still young. I had already decided that if we won, I would savor it like the finest of cognacs, remember it forever as a truly treasured memory, and then get on with my life.

Oh, I'd still be a fan, still keep my season tickets, but I'd have that look that the older Steelers fans have. They love our team, but are somewhat nonchalant about Sunday's result, because they've been there. They know. Like folks who have celebrated mass with the pope or bought pre-iPod Apple stock, they are experienced and wise. Black & Gold Yodas, if you will.

Had we won a Super Bowl, I'd put a minimum 10-year moratorium on complaining about anything even remotely related to sports. Big Ben could steal my girlfriend and I'd tell him to take care and to look after that thumb. All that space in my temporal lobe, that shockingly inordinate amount of gray matter devoted to things like: Weegie Thompson's number (87); Merril Hoge's alma mater (Idaho State); and Keith Gary's birthday (Sept. 14) -- I'd free up those synapses to do things that I've always wanted to do, like learn Italian, read Faulkner's works and pay my cable bill on time.

Just one.

Please?

Monday, 12:47 a.m. Depression: The first real wave started to set in when I got home. I live on the South Side, just about a block off Carson Street, which is usually a 24/7 cacophony of cars, buses, drunken college kids, whiny old people and even whinier hipsters. It was just after midnight, the street silent, the streetlights reflecting an eerie pinkish-orange hue off of the snow, which had encased our neighborhood. I unloaded the car, still freezing, the only person on the street.

There's a scene in "Fargo," when a broken Jerry Lundegaard, played by William H. Macy, trudges alone across a bleak, snow-covered Minneapolis-in-winter parking lot, a shell of a man. That's about how I felt, except I was wearing a Mean Joe jersey and had frozen chili stains on my knee. Twenty-seven messages of condolence are waiting on my answering machine.

Monday, 9:43 a.m. Acceptance: As with many matters of the heart that need soothing, I turn to the Dave Matthews Band. I popped on "Under the Table and Dreaming" as I sat in gridlocked Monday morning traffic on the Fort Pitt Bridge, staring over at Heinz Field.

Dave came on: "Hey my friend / It seems your eyes are troubled / Care to share your time with me? / Would you say you're feeling low and so / a good idea would be to get it off your mind ... / And if nothing can be done / We'll make the best of what's around."

The lyrics might as well have been a dialogue between me and the personified stadium, though I'm not sure which one of us would have been speaking the comforting words. Probably the stadium. I sniffled a little. Then a little more when I later heard a clip of Hines Ward's press conference on the radio.

Then, I gained some perspective.

There are worse things. Much worse. That my biggest source of discomfort this week (or this year, to be honest) is the result of a football game, well, that's a good problem to have. And gosh wasn't this season fun? And isn't that the point?

I mean, we didn't lose for FOUR MONTHS. Four months of high-fiving strangers, tailgating with grade-school friends, post-game cell-phone chalk talks with buddies in Tampa and San Diego, road-tripping, Myhrn, Polamalu's 'do, and the Bus. Four months of Mom fawning over Coach Cahr, talking blitz packages with my old man, of being captivated by a 22-year-old from Western Ohio, of asking folks, "So, what are you doing for the game on Sunday?" the way normal people discuss Thanksgiving or Christmas plans.

And if that's the best of what's around, then I'll take it with glee.

Six months 'til Latrobe. Here we go.

Multiply this by 1000 and you know what it was like to be a Red Sox fan until this year.

[POJO_Risin]

So...how again is being a Red Sox fan different from being a fan of ANY team that hasn't won a title in your lifetime????

[redblkwht]

found this on espn boards..steeler dvd set..lol

http://forums.espn.go.com/espn/forum?room=nfl_chi

[ALinChainz]

Steelers | Pleased with WR Draft Class - from www.KFFL.com
Sat, 12 Feb 2005 09:59:58 -0800

Jerry DiPaola, of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, reports Pittsburgh Steelers director of football operations Kevin Colbert said the team is pleased with the wide receiver class available in this year's NFL Draft. "The draft class looks promising, both in terms of numbers and quality," Colbert said. The Steelers could look to draft a prospect this year if they are unable to re-sign WR Plaxico Burress, who is set to become an unrestricted free agent next month.



Steelers | Could Keep Ward/Burress Over Long Haul? - from www.KFFL.com
Sat, 12 Feb 2005 09:58:16 -0800

Jerry DiPaola, of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, reports Pittsburgh Steelers director of football operations Kevin Colbert said the team is open to the possibility of rewarding both WR Hines Ward and WR Plaxico Burress with multi-year contracts if they feel it's in the best interest of the organization. "People can say (it will be difficult), but we would never approach it and say we have too much (money) in one position," said Colbert. "If they are your best players and they deserve to be compensated at those numbers, then you have to do that." Burress is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent next month while Ward is said to be seeking a long-term contract extension this year.


Steelers | Ward Seeking Extension - from www.KFFL.com
Sat, 12 Feb 2005 09:53:46 -0800

Jerry DiPaola, of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, reports Pittsburgh Steelers WR Hines Ward is said to be seeking a contract extension this offseason. President Art Rooney II said last year the club would consider a contract extension for Ward before the start of the 2005 season.

[POJO_Risin]

Good that they are keeping Plax as a possibility...but who the fuck cares if they keep him or not...

fact of the matter is...Plax's brief glimpses of greatness aren't worth the money he will be seeking...