Happy Thanksgiving

Enjoy the holiday. Pass the gravy. Go Steelers!

Roster set, Cota still on it

In case you missed it, the Bucs filled out their 40-man roster Monday night, adding OF Nyjer Morgan, LHP Dave Davidson, and RHP Romulo Sanchez, while dropping C Carlos Maldonado.

Confusion abounds throughout the blogosphere as to whether DL really f-ed up again, mistakenly thinking Wardell Starling and Jesse Chavez would not have to be protected. Initially, Ed Eagle's mlb.com story listed Starling and Chavez along with Bixler as those who, under the new CBA, don't have to be protected. Quickly (and after WTM at OnlyBucs.Net questioned that detail) an edit appeared, deleting Starling and Chavez's names. Perhaps DL intentionally left Starling and Chavez off, preferring prospects Yurendell de Caster and Marty McLeary. I have no idea. I'll admit my reaction to this story was "what? Cota is still on this team?"

The Rule 5 draft is December 7th.

All hail Lonely Cousin!

For the 10-5 week 11 HW NFL pick 'em pool victory, and a remarkable year so far. LC laughed off the improbable week 5 blanking and has clawed his way back into the running for the Grand Prize. Azibuck gets an honorable mention mini-hail for the 10-6. If your cup is still full, go ahead and hail us, too, for my week 9 (first-of-the-year) swoop* and for Rowdy's week 10 win (which he already crowed about). We're still under .500 though, so just have a tiny sip.

[*swoop: (n) a victory of 2 games or more in an NFL pick 'em pool contest; (v) to win via swoop]

Ballbug

This Ballbug "MLB buzz bot" site is growing on me. It's automatically updated every 5 minutes with links to MLB news and accompanying links to relevant blog posts, and is completely devoid of ads.

Short week

There's a number of NFL games this Thursday. Be sure to make your picks in our ATS pool early, especially if you are leaving the Internets for the annual festival of gluttony.

Other teams sign players

While Dave and G. Ogden sing:

"Rinky Tinky!
Think of that!
To be a cat
Without a hat!"

"Sing it, Scat!" said Jim.

And everyone had fun.

Browns lose

The Steelers were going to pull that win off yesterday, I just knew it. Browns fans also knew it:

As the Steelers were making that final drive -- and you just knew they would score a touchdown -- I suddenly felt really sorry for the fans. As usual, there was a sellout at Browns Stadium. The fans acted like their team was 6-3 and in contention, instead of 3-6 and going nowhere. And the Browns actually appeared ready to beat the Steelers -- until the fourth quarter. And then, you just knew they'd lose.

That's Terry Pluto reporting for the Akron Beacon Journal.

I link that not to gloat, but to say, that's how it can be with some franchises. Pirate fans are not alone in the world. It's more than bad luck; it's learned helplessness.

Week 11: Steelers at Browns

If the Browns can stop the run, they can beat the Steelers. Game starts at one.

I predict Steelers 27, Browns 14, with the Steelers pulling away in the fourth quarter.

... 4:30pm ... nice W. That was learned helplessness in action at the end. Thank you, Cleveland. Catch you again on 12/7.

April is the cruelest month

That would be my answer to Smizik's question, which is the most depressing part of the season for Pirate fans?

Fireworks and bobbleheads

Classic Smizik on the offseason depression and learned helplessness of the Pirates fan.

I don't want to see DL trade Bay or Duke only because I have no confidence in what Chief Littlefield might accept in return. Charlie's plea to trade the relievers (all of them!) seems fail-safe to me, because even if we got nothing but utility IFs in return, DL has proven himself an expert at assembling a top-notch bullpen from the scrapheap.

And they say sports fans are strange

Hey, I'm some kind of fogey or something. I don't at all get the level of interest in the PS3 and the Wii.

About 600 people had lined up at the Toys R Us store in Times Square, waiting for a midnight launch event. No. 12 in line, Royce Reynolds from Baker, Fla., said he had been there since 4 p.m. the day before.

At the Nintendo World store in Rockefeller Center, 86 people were lined up for the morning opening. Anthony Eaton, dressed in green as the character Link from the "Zelda" series of games, looked chagrined when passing girls called him "Peter Pan."

Eaton, 18, didn't really need to be in line, since his friend had pre-ordered a Wii for him that would be available for pickup the next morning.

"It's all in the spirit of gaming. Wiis only get launched once, and we gotta do this right," said Eaton, who had traveled up from Washington to be at the only U.S. store bearing the Nintendo name.

He's gotta do it right.

Eldred in the groove

Raises average to .231, mlb.com reports.

4.3%

The PG's Gerry Dulac has a simile:

But, when the people entrusted with chasing the quarterback saw that Frye has been sacked 34 times -- a pace dubious enough to chase Tim Couch's franchise record of 54 -- it was almost as though they received a floral-embossed invitation to spend some time in the Browns' backfield.

Gerry also profiles our new 255 lb. return man.

In other news, my two favorite Steelers are both ready to play. For the Browns, CB Bodden is out, and Droughns, McGinest, Cribbs, Winslow, CB Perry, LB Williams are all questionable. Collectively, this should add up to another pistol-whipping of the Browns and set the stage for the unlikely playoff surge.

Speaking of which, over at HSS, Israel stipulates the Steelers into the playoffs. A link from the comments thread over there estimates the Steelers playoff odds at 4.3%.

Dave mumbles

Something about something or other.

Sean Casey re-signs

Scratch the Mayor off Dave's wish list.

Clap harder

Ed Bouchette says the Steelers will make the playoffs if we all clap harder.

Jovorskie Lane

Rumbling, bumbling, stumbling over on YouTube. He'll be lucky to graduate to the NFL and have one Jerome Bettis-like season. Still, he's a lot of fun to watch. It's not every day you see a 274-pound tailback. And it's easy to imagine him in the black and gold.

If the Steelers had a young back like this, they could run the ball on two out of three plays. The 50-50 run-pass ratio is not some law all teams must obey. How about 33 big guy runs, 33 Willie Parker runs, and 34 we let Ben Roethlisberger throw the ball.

Fade the Public

My against-the-spread record last week was 11-5. The strategy? Fade the public. All I did was choose the team with a minority of backers on our site, pigskin.com. The upset mood of the Tuesday election encouraged the suspicion that the experts might also be "all wrong" in the following week of NFL action.

I've also been under the superstition suspicion that the book is way due. If I had the time, I would look through the past weeks. The "public" or majority of pickers have done unusually well this season, I think; that's the impression I've been under at least. I often make the "ugly" choice, all things being equal, and that has brought me to a Littlefieldesque .430 winning percentage on the season. So I will probably continue with the strategy.

White Flag gets red spot

Reflecting the fact that his entrance either indicated or soon precipitated imminent surrender, Ryan Vogelsong came to be known this year as "the Human White Flag" or later just "White Flag".

The Trib reports that RV is set to sign with the Hanshin Tigers. (If you don't believe the Trib, which you shouldn't, Charlie found a picture.) Earlier in the Trib article:

"We have interest in some players in the Japanese market," Littlefield said. "We've had some scouting groups over there. It's an area where we're going to do more business."

Technically, DL isn't lying here, although his main interest involves selling players, not acquiring them. DL and his scouts' hard work has finally paid off. Kaching! RV was a minor league free agent, so the Nuttings don't stand to make a nickel off this deal. Back to the drawing board, Dave.

Fly on, RV.

Tuesday

What's up? Bones and I are busting our asses in our day jobs. Strangely, this blog has yet to generate much in the way of advertising revenue.