6 time champions

Props to Santonio, but we all know who has the longest play in Super Bowl history...The man I called over a year ago (and bought his jersey 3 years ago).

The Penguins make the SC Finals and the Steelers win their sixth Super Bowl within seven months...What a great time to be alive.

Wooo!!!

Best coach in town: Mike Tomlin

As you may or may not know: we've been on the Defensive Player of the Year's bandwagon before the oxes got there.

As long as Ben stays out of the way (we still maintain that Homestead Charlie is our man)...The Steelers will win. And win big.

Say what?

Ted Leonsis is at it again too..

Pittsburgh has a great fan base. Fans will travel from the city to DC-based games or they actually live here and break out the terrible towels and go to games here. They are Skins fans except when the Skins play the Steelers. We experienced that phenomenon with the Capitals too and same with the Orioles when they play the Yankees or Red Sox or the Nationals when they play the Mets.

As we've explained to Mr. Leonsis before, being a fan of a particular team is not a fluid decision for a lot of fans. We'd invite Ted to go to the Pour House or to our usual haunt; the Bailey's in Ballston right below his practice arena on a Sunday afternoon and see all that the only accompanying color to the gold in the crows is black, not burgundy. No self respecting Steelers fan we know would ever cheer for the Redskins, barring some sort of playoff implication that would benefit the Steelers.

If anything, hearing the annoying commentators and fans talk of an impending Super Bowl after every win, and then the “sky is falling” rants after losses give non-Redskin DC area fans nothing but malice to the local team…In fairness, this loathe of homer-ism undoubtedly applies to fans in Pittsburgh that don’t like the Steelers, Philly area non-Eagle fans, etc, etc.

He is right that Pittsburgh fans travel well, though. A lot (like our family and our friends' family) will come from Virginia Beach or Richmond to watch a rare Steelers game in DC. I suspect that is the case for a bunch of other Virginia/Maryland area ex-Pittsburghers. And because the team has been so successful and popular over the past 30 years factored into the large number of scattered ex-Burghers, you see why the Steelers "travel well" to basically any opposing city.

The enthusiasm of the black-n-gold clad fans also goes to disprove Mr. Leonsis' idea that these are Skins fans 364 days of the year and Steelers fans just when they play....The willingness to folks to drive from Richmond, or Maryland, or PA for a Monday game shows just how rabid and loyal they are. These people (blog's editor included) will not go to another Skins game this year, and certainly will not be cheering for the Redskins. Except for Clinton Portis and anyone else who might be on a fantasy team.

And as long as I'm asking questions, why does this happen? Why does it happen with Penguins games? Do Pittsburgh fans have more money? More passion? Fewer outside interests? Fewer job responsibilities? If a Redskins fan isn't going to hold on to his tickets when his team is 6-2 and playing a home Monday Night Football game for the first time in six or seven years, exactly when is he going to hold onto his tickets? Or is this just an inevitable part of playing Pittsburgh?

Haha, a silent count in their "home" stadium. Yikes.

Gameday: Steelers at Washington

Image taken from Ape's DC Steeler Nation blog

It's not all about hockey here...OK so it is, but today is a special day; for the Steelers are coming to Landover and we'll be there. Should be a fun day and a good game featuring two solid should-be playoff teams.

Oh, and Jason you better get rid of that ball quickly....Deebo's comin for your ass.

This is worse than LeBron wearing a Yankees hat..

Et tu, Troy?

(link via deadspin)

The 2nd best #66

Alan Faneca is free to get paid like a guy who's made 7 straight Pro Bowls should be. And perhaps no one deserves it more.

"Big Nasty" has been a favorite of this blog's editor for a long time. As a young buck, we actually got his autograph his first training camp in Latrobe when they used to let fans run onto the field and get up close to the players. The first target of ours wasn't the most popular players of the day like Jerome Bettis, Levon Kirkland or Kordell Stewart (ha!) that most swarmed too, but a childhood hero Dirt Dawson. Faneca was the next closest, and as a rookie, was unoccupied by the masses so he was next, sparking a decade long rooting interest that will not end at 11:59 PM tonight when he's no longer a Steeler.

The most visible highlight of Faneca's Steeler career was easily the one that sprung Willie Parker on a record 75 yard Super Bowl run. Many people (including us) thought Faneca should have probably been named MVP of the disjointed game, given the impact this one hit made.

All the best to a consumate pro who's at the top of his game and is moving on. The Steelers will be lucky to replace Faneca with someone half as competant. But at least the replacement will fit right in with the rest of the current subpar o-line.

If you're keeping track at home (and you're probably not), this makes two of our favorite Pittsburgh athletes leaving in a matter of days, not to mention the passing of a Pittsburgh institution. The times they are a'changin.

This is Hooks Orpik....On sports.*

*We've always wanted to say that just once.

Big Steps for Geno

A player talks to hockey reporters......No big deal, happens all the time right? Well, yes.

But not when that player is a 21 year old Russian who's clung to a translator for over a year in America.

I'm older, but not much older than Evgeni Malkin. I've thought about this, and personally I can't imagine picking up a language like Russian, completely foreign to me in this short a time. Of course, Geno has more motivation; this was the country he clearly chose to be in (as his defection from his Russian club team would indicate) and he's making and going to make a lot more money than me this year and in the years to come.

But still, it takes a lot of courage to branch out like he did yesterday, talking to American reporters....Not for the first time, but for the first time without the complete aid of an intermediary.

"My favorite food is spaghetti, chicken, beef. I like sushi," Malkin said.

And his road roommate, forward Maxime Talbot?

"Yeah. Max funny guy," he said. "We see movie."

Malkin halted when asked about his favorite movies, until he was asked about "Transformers," and his face lit up.

"I see two ... " he said, looking at [translator George] Birman for assistance before finishing, "Two times."

Asked how he is learning English, Malkin said, "I see movies. Gonch helps me translate."

It's no coincidence that the Penguins assigned Talbot to be Malkin's road trip roommate, and not his closest friend on the team, fellow Russian and guy who's house he's staying at (Gonchar, of course). Like Malkin, Talbot's second language is English. Unlike Malkin, Max is a very talkative, very chipper personality that is constantly buzzing around, on or off the ice.

"I like New York," he said. "It's shopping. It's big city, beautiful city."

And Pittsburgh?

"It is a good city," he said. "Good fans. They like hockey. They like football."

He has become a Steelers fan.

"Yeah, three-zero last game. I see it," Malkin said.

How about that, a Stillers fan to boot!

A lot of Pens fans soured on the fact that Malkin did not seek an English tutor this summer to improve his grasp on our language. My thoughts were this young man just went through the longest, most physical season of his life (and put up 85 points [33g, 52a] in 78 games too). Give the kid a break.

Obviously granting an interview is a huge step in Malkin's personal development, even if he understandably needed Birman to navigate a word or two for him. We've long heard teammates say just how much Geno understands, how he orders for himself in restaurants (at Gonchar's urging) and how he laughs and jokes around with them in the locker-room pretty freely.

It's good to see him continue his development on the ice with these steps off the ice testing the waters and starting to talk a little bit to the media in English.....Seemingly in both realms the sky is the limit for Geno and it's going to be a joy to watch him to continue to take steps to grow all around. We certainly applaud him.

Ranking Franchises Locally

Interesting study reported by sportsbusinessjournal.com: how much support all the major franchises receive locally. Some noteables:

1. Pittsburgh Steelers (every network staking out Big Ben's hospital will do that)
2. New England Patriots
3. Indianapolis Colts
4. Buffalo Sabres
5. Boston Red Sox
8. Detroit Red Wings
20. Pittsburgh Penguins
21. Ottawa Senators
28. Dallas Cowboys
29. New York Yankees
118. Washington Capitals
122. (dead last) Arizona Cardinals

---I'm not surprised at all the Steelers are number one. They should be. Any time the backup tackle takes a poop it's front page news.

--I am a little surprised that the Colts beat out the Sabres and the Red Sox. I guess not much else goes on in Indy, so that plays in their favor.

--Good to see the Penguins coming in 3rd for NHL teams. Well deserved and pretty accurate in my estimation.

--Dallas #28? The Yankees #29? Hmm.

---There are a lot of great Capitals blogs out there, but unfortunately that's about all the support they receive. As a resident of this area, I can tell you they generate about as much local excitement in the media as the minor league soccer team in Richmond (where I used to live) did.

Told Ya So......

Don't say you weren't warned....

By the way, halfway through the Steelers season, James Harrison is more than halfway (6.5 sacks) to his preseason prognostication that he would get "atleast" 12 sacks.

When you talk beasts, you talk James Harrison

James Harrison, about to ruin someone's life

This isn't Steelersblog, but with the season upcoming I couldn't resist. To write a blog about the next big thing in Steelers linebackers Mr. James Harrison.

I didn't first notice James Harrison when he body slammed a drunk Cleveland fan that ran onto the field (although incredibly cool). I noticed that #92 hustled and usually made almost every tackle on special teams, and if he got blocked or held their was usually a big return. To that point Harrison has been named special teams co-captain this year.

When the writing on the wall last season became apparent that Joey Porter would be released, I knew. I knew Harrison would fill in and everything would be ok. And it will.

Some of my favorite things about James Harrison:

• He trusts no one. . Not his teammates. Not even his own mother.
• "Harrison goes by several interesting nicknames in the Steelers locker room, including Silverback, which was bestowed on him by fellow linebacker Joey Porter. The reference is to the powerful Silverback gorilla, a dominating male who protects his troops."
• Coaches assign being his roommate in training camp as punishment, because all he wants to do is wrestle
• He's predicting an incredible 12 sacks this season, and doesn't care what you think about it
• As a kid in a fight, he used a brick as a weapon
• He had scholarships from The Ohio State and Nebraska, but it got pulled because in high school he took a BB gun and started shooting it at white kids. When Ohio State thinks you're crazy and too much of a risk, you are batshit insane.

It's hard to imagine the Steelers could replace Joey Porter with someone more colorful (read: crazy) and possibly just as good, but they have. Harrison's going to have to prove himself, he's going to be a lot shorter and smaller than left tackles, but he's so explosive, so strong and so mean, he's going to do it.