Pitchers and catchers

Any day now.

Steelers 27, Cardinals 23

Winner.

Super Bowl XLIII

Finally, the day is here. Steelers and Cardinals.

With this balmy weather, we can all tailgate in the driveway.

NBC, proud as a peacock

Checking out some NBC Super Bowl coverage tonight, I saw the crew as Bob Costas, Chris Collingsworth, Tony Dungy, Mike Holmgren, and Matt Millen.

I like Dungy a lot, but he mumbles too much when he's on TV. I can't tell what he's saying.

Hey, at least no Dan Dierdorf. And maybe Holmgren can talk about clock management as the half expires.

Rod Woodson, HOF

Congratulations, Rod Woodson.

Super super super bowl

... is on the way. Not too long now.

Put a little wrinkle in the wave

Gary Mihoces for the USAToday:

Steelers safety Troy Polamalu says it's the players who decide who win games, not the gaming gurus.

"You guys don’t really know what you’re talking about when you predict victories and losses anyway," Polamalu said. "The last Super Bowl being one, obviously. Them (the Cardinals) even making it there being another one. Us even in making it there being another one. So it just shows how much you guys know.”

But sports reporters don't set the spread. It's oddsmakers such as Sheridan.

No matter, said Polamalu.

"Yeah, but you guys ride that," he said. "They put the little wrinkle in the wave, and you guys ride that wave."

Yeah, sucks when you try to ride a wave that does not have a little wrinkle. Right?

I wish I understood what Polamalu was talking about. Is it a concussion thing or a Hawaiian warrior thing?

In other news, the Pirates are talking about this and that. They will play their first regular-season game in St. Louis at 4pm on April 6th.

Cardinals and Steelers

here we go

Ravens at Steelers

I must say I am stoked that the Steelers are hosting the Ravens.

Best possible AFC Championship game.

NFL divisional playoffs

This is a good weekend for football fans. The snow is a bonus too.

Football + snow = bliss

NFL Defensive Player of the Year

All hail James Harrison, who joins some elite company.

Ed Bouchette's report notes:

Harrison's demeanor was so menacing that even one of his former position coaches, Mike Archer, was quoted as saying he could not wait for him to be cut. Harrison matured and focused his menacing nature on opponents rather than his own coaches and teammates.

NFL wild card weekend

So far, a good weekend for the home team.

Really don't care who wins any of these games. I want to be entertained. And I am rooting for Pyrrhic victories.

Modern concussion management

The New York Times delivers this article on Pittsburgh's place as "the virtual hub of modern concussion management."

Sickels' Top 20 Prospects

John Sickels has posted his Pirates Top 20 Prospects for 2009. The system is "quite thin, but showing signs of improvement." Bryan Morris comes in at #4 on both Sickels' list and BP's Top 11 list.

Bolts, Colts, or Fins

The Steelers will host one of those teams in the late game on January 11.

NFL week 17

Can't sleep with all the excitement about Kansas City at Cincinnati. Holy barnburner. What a slate of games

Rocco

Dejan Kovacevic reports the Pirates are looking at Rocco Baldelli. Gimpy guys can be a great bargain.

NFL week 16

Clutchy Big Ben vs. Kerry Freaking Collins.

R.I.P. Dock Ellis

Pour some out for Dock Ellis - gone, but never forgotten.

Wake me up when the winning starts

Dejan Kovacevic reports the Pirates have hired a new radio voice, Tim Neverett.

This is big news for those of us who listen to a lot of games.

A little research shows that Neverett is well qualified for the job. He wrote this, for example, about the Rockies in May 2008:

The Rockies might just add to the suffering with their terrible start and shambles of a pitching staff. The injury to Troy Tulowitzki doesn’t matter, honestly, because he was not even hitting the weight of a high school sophomore when he went on the disabled list. Jeff Francis went zero for April in wins and started the month of May the same way. Brad Hawpe is primed to hit only six home runs this season with his one long ball a month pace and the additions of De La Rosa, Quintinilla and Hererra are starting to bring back memories of three and four seasons ago when the Rockies ran out “Todd and the Triple A Team”.

The same editorial concludes:

Settle in, relax, take your time. This summer is going to be a long one for Colorado Sports Fans. Wake me up when the winning starts, OK?

I doubt he'll catch as many zzz's as he'd like this coming summer, but it does look like he's ready to step in and explain the Pirates to us. Congratulations, Tim -- we will listen.