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(12/27) Bill Cowher has fired offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride. This is somewhat of a surprise, since it seemed like this was the season that the offense finally got going again. Cowher cited the lack of a passing game as the main reason for Gilbride's dismissal, noting that the Steelers ranked 29th in the NFL in passing offense when Gilbride took over two seasons ago, and they ranked 29th again this year. Cowher does have a point. After all, we've spent our last two #1 picks on receivers and we still can't throw the ball at all. Kordell Stewart will now have to deal with his fourth offensive coordinator in five years. Hopefully we won't hear any more excuses about how hard that is on him if he starts to suck again next year. No word yet on who the new guy will be.

(12/26) Former Steelers QB Joe Gilliam is dead. Gilliam, who was the first ever black QB to start in the NFL, died of a heart attack at the young age of 49. His drug and alcohol problems were well documented and no doubt caused this tragedy. However, this is really a shame since he had been making an excellent recovery in the last few years. I just saw him last week at the closing ceremony for Three Rivers and he looked good. He had started a football camp for kids to warn them about drugs. Gilliam is survived by a wife and father.

(12/18) I refused to try to figure out the Steelers slim playoff possibilities unless it came down to the final game of the season and they were still alive. Well, thanks to a big win on Sunday by the Detroit Lions, that is exactly what has happened. The Steelers can still make the playoffs if they win on Sunday, AND if the Jets and Colts both lose. That seems unlikely, but look who each team is playing. The Steelers play the worst team in the NFL, the Chargers (1-14). The Jets however have to go into Baltimore (11-4) to take on the Ravens, while Indianapolis hosts Minnesota (11-4). The Vikings and Ravens are two of the best teams in the league, and both are still contending for home field in the playoffs. This has happened before and the Steelers have came out on top. In 1989 and in 1993, the Steelers needed several things to happen on the last day of the season in order to squeeze into the playoffs, and they were successful both times. If it happened again this year, what a story it would be!
Also: During Saturday's game, long-time Steelers radio announcer Myron Cope kept referring to the Redskin$ as the "Wash Redfaces". Daniel Snyder, the jerkoff owner of the Redfaces, heard this and sent one of his boys into the broadcast booth in the middle of the game to tell Cope to stop! Cope was enraged, and who can blame him? Who does this little bitch Snyder think he is? How dare he come into our stadium and tell our announcer what to do, especially during the final game at Three Rivers!! Just because this guy is rich he thinks he can just force his will on people?! Myron Cope would never take that from a guy like Snyder. "If that boy billionaire thinks he can shut me up, he should stick his head in a can of paint," Cope said. I hope Washington keeps sucking for as long as he owns the team. I'm sure they will with an arrogant jackass like him in charge.

(12/12) Well, this is it. We knew it was coming for a while now, but it's still hard to believe that this is the end. This Saturday, the Pittsburgh Steelers will play one final game in Three Rivers Stadium. After this weekend, the place that made the Steelers legends will be gone forever. There were so many memorable moments - the Immaculate Reception, the 7 AFC Championship games, the playoff wins against Oakland and Houston in the 70's, the playoff wins against Cleveland and Indianapolis in the 90's. Ever since it opened, Three Rivers has had a certain magical aura about it. It became home to the greatest moment in football history, and it saw the emergence of the greatest team in football history. Opposing teams always saw our stadium as one of the toughest places to play in the league. We have the loudest, most loyal fans in all of sports. If you have ever had the experience of sitting there with 60,000 fans, all waiving Terrible Towels and screaming for the Steelers, it is something you will not soon forget. There were times when it really felt like the building was shaking. The atmosphere in and around that stadium on a Sunday afternoon was unreal.

I have a lot of great memories, but if you asked me to name one game that defined what Three Rivers Stadium was all about, I'd have to say the 1992 game against Houston. This is a game that not too many people really remember, and you won't find it on any "top ten" Three Rivers lists, but it is still one of my favorite games ever. We overcame a 13-point 4th quarter deficit to beat the Oilers and take over first place in our division. This game was great because the crowd got so into the game that it just seemed like we could not lose. When the Oilers missed the game-winning field goal, the place exploded. Strangers were hugging each other in the stands! That's what was great about Three Rivers - the fans and the team were always in the game together, and there were times when no matter how good or bad the Steelers were, they were simply invincible inside that place. The Raiders game two weeks ago was one final magnificent example of that. We have won so many close games at home over the last 30 years, and I really believe that we wouldn't have won even half of those had they been played on the road.

I'm all in favor of progress. I work just a few blocks away from the stadium, and I'm thrilled that there will be two new ballparks, because it will also bring new businesses and entertainment to what is now a rather dreary part of this city. However, it will be hard not to miss Three Rivers. Being the die-hard fan that I am, that place has served as home to some of the best and worst moments of my life! The new stadium will have the same great fans and hopefully will again see some championship teams, but it's unlikely that the events that occured inside Three Rivers Stadium during the past 30 years will ever be matched - not here, not anywhere. It's going to be very hard to let go when the final whistle is blown on Saturday.

(10/30) The season is halfway over and the Steelers are 5-3, which is actually the same record they've had at this point the last two seasons. However, the story of how they got there this season has been quite remarkable. The Steelers opened up the year by dropping their first three games as everyone had expected them to do. They looked like the sorriest team we've had in years, and we were all talking about who they could get next season with their high draft pick. But suddenly, the strangest thing happened. The Steelers started winning games! It was incredible. They have been on a defensive rampage that is reminiscent of the Steel Curtain days. The Steelers are by no means a contender yet nor are they necessarily even headed for the playoffs, but what they have accomplished already is beyond anyone's expectations. With that in mind, I present my annual mid-season Steelers report. Let me know if you agree or disagree with my humble observations.

(10/17) The Steelers have lost their starting fullback for the year. Jon Witman (Penn State sucks) broke his leg in Sunday's game and will have season-ending surgery. Now, if you've been reading my site for a while, you know that I'm not the biggest Jon Witman fan in the world, but he was doing a halfway decent job of blocking this year. I still think he is replaceable though. The man who will try to replace him is Chris Fuamatu-Ma'afala, which means Huntley would get his backup HB job back. However, Fu is really not the prototype blocking back the Steelers need. They will most likely sign rookie Dan Kreider from their practice squad. Supposedly all the defensive players have been impressed with his blocking, so he may be able to win the starting job for the remainder of this season.

(9/28) I was a bit disappointed that not too many people agreed with my opinion that last week's game was a positive experience for the Steelers. Instead all I keep hearing this week is heavy criticism about how we keep giving up first downs on third and long, and how we can't win close games. While those are perfectly valid points that I agree with, we should all remember that this is not a very good football team. I know expectations in this town are always high based on the proud history of the Steelers, but I said it last week - the difference in pro football between the bad teams and the good teams often comes down to a few plays during a football game, and the good teams will find a way to make those plays. It's not like in college where Florida State hammers their opponents every week by 47 points. Look at the Steelers - they could very easily be 2-1 right now. The good teams in the NFL are good because they find a way to win the close games. When the Steelers were contenders they used to do that, but no more. Most of the teams that dominated the 1990's - Pittsburgh, San Francisco, Dallas, New England, Green Bay - are all in the down part of the cycle right now. It's not our time anymore, but with a little bit of time and some smart managerial decisions, it will be our time again. I'm just saying not to expect a whole lot this year. I criticize them more than anyone, but not after the fight they put in last week against the Titans. I realize the local newspapers need something to write about, but I just don't think that's very fair.

(8/28) In an unusual move, Bill Cowher announced that both Kordell Stewart and Kent Grahm will be the starting QB's for the Steelers this season. The idea is that either one may start, and both may play during the game. Huh?! Since when did we turn into a college team? You really can't do this in the NFL. I've already dubbed this the "Pittsburgh State" offense. I guess the next step would be to add the wishbone formation, the option play, and a freakin fight song! I think Billy Boy is starting to lose it. I guess this "strategy" is better than having Stewart be the full-time starter. Cowher is obviously hoping that one of them will clearly distinguish himself as the starter. Grahm will start this Sunday in the opener against Baltimore, but Kordell will probably get in the game. Whatever - it's going to be a long season!

The Steelers also made their final cuts. Among the notable players cut were fourth-round draft pick Danny Farmer, and third-string QB Anthony Wright. Old Man Hawkins beat out Farmer for the final WR spot. Rookie Tee Martin beat out Wright for the clipboard job. I hope Martin enjoys his one year on the Steelers sidelines, because next summer someone will come along and take his job. It happens every single year. I'm really getting sick and tired of this third-string QB crap. If they're going to get a new one every year, then they really shouldn't hype the guy that was there so much like they did with Wright and all his unfortunate predecessors. Also cut were DB Lance Brown, LB Gabe Northern, OL Hank Fraley, and OT Anthony Brown. OT Kris Farris and OT Chris Conrad were surpisingly cut earlier in the week. Conrad and Farris were third round picks in 1998 and 1999 respectively. So now that the Steelers are down to 53 players and have their nice little college offense in place, bring on the regular season!

(8/13) With the Steelers QB situation still looking awful, I'm sure the inevitable "what about the third-string guy?" talk will surface once again. This year the third-string QB position is once again up for grabs, although Anthony Wright seems to have it locked up at this point. The Steelers have a new QB - rookie Tee Martin, who found glory at Tennessee when he led that team to the national championship two years ago. It doesn't seem like he is impressing anyone so far however. But what does he or Wright do for the Steelers? Even if Martin did play well in the pre-season, he'd beat out Wright for the third string QB job, but then what? Being the third string QB on the Steelers is the biggest waste of time in pro football. Every summer someone comes along who looks really impressive, so we dump the guy we had, but then the next year a new guy comes along who is even more impressive, so we dump the guy from the previous year. Then the following year another guy comes along and the cycle just keeps repeating itself over and over again. In fact, the chronology of the Steelers third string QB position reads like something out of the Bible:
Tee Martin could beat out
Anthony Wright who beat out
Pete Gonzalez who beat out
Mike Quinn who beat out
Jim Miller who beat out
Rick Strom who beat out.....
Meanwhile, not one of these guys ever gets to play in a single game, so what's the point? Miller is the only person who ever got a chance, and he got all of one game to prove himself. God forbid anyone ever gives one of these guys a shot. It's not like we have a whole lot of talent starting ahead of them. But no, we can't do that because we're the Kordell-loving Steelers. It would be like putting in Rudy - let him practice but never actually put him into a game. The Steelers are so big on signing other teams' backups to compete for starting positions, but then they never let their own backups compete for the one position that's been killing us for the last two seasons. I don't have a problem with them drafting Martin or with any of the other quarterbacks they've brought in over the past couple of years. I just wish they'd actually do something with them. Also: There was a bit of controversy during last Thursday's pre-season game. Television cameras picked up Troy Edwards and Plaxico Burress in an animated conversation with Jerome "Street Clothes" Bettis and a few other veterans. Both young receivers were obviously upset about not being thrown to, and I can't say that I blame them. They were probably open all night, but Kordell can't see through the thick fog of boo's at Three Rivers.... Future Hall of Fame center Dermontti Dawson is still bothered by that hamstring injury and has hardly played or practiced this summer. I don't like the looks of this. It may be time to face the harsh reality that his brilliant career may be coming to a close.... Speaking of centers, rookie Hank Fraley from Bobby Mo College has been starting there the last couple of games because Dawson, Duffy, and Myslinski have all been injured. Fraley was just one of those guys that was signed to be an extra body in camp, primarily because he went to school here, but now he really has a good shot at making the team.... When new defensive coordinator Tim Lewis was hired, he pledged that the Steelers defense would return to the aggressive "Blitzburgh" style of the mid-1990's. So far he has made good on that promise. The Steelers defense has been playing with heart and intensity, something they lacked during the second half of last season. Still, this is pre-season. We'll see if they can keep this going into the first week of the real season, where they'll have to face Baltimore and the dreaded "Missile" (aka Quadry Ishmail, the scrub WR who tore them up for three 50+ yard TD receptions in the same quarter last year).

(7/22) Training camp opened this week and although he was a few days late, top draft pick Plaxico Burress arrived after signing a five-year, $8.7 million deal which includes a $6.4 million signing bonus. Now that Burress is in camp, the Steelers may have their best set of wide receivers since the Super Bowl season of 1995. Burress, Troy Edwards, Hines Ward, Malcom Johnson, and Bobby Shaw are all young guys who have a lot of potential. Old man Courtney Hawkins was also re-signed after no other team wanted his washed-up ass, but he is going to have a hard time making this team. Meanwhile, CB Hank Poteat, the Steelers third round pick and one of my favorite Pitt players of all-time, also came to terms on a contract. Poteat was the last remaining unsigned draft pick. So the Steelers gear up for a summer of long practices and boring pre-season games with the hope that this season will bring them more than six wins. The outlook is still fairly miserable, but we'll have to see how they look.

(7/12) After 8 NFL seasons, all spent with the Pittsburgh Steelers, NT Joel Steed has announced his retirement. He said he was "pleased and fortunate" to be able to play his entire career in Pittsburgh. As everyone knows by now, Steed has been troubled by bad knees the past two seasons, and the Steelers were planning on releasing him. Instead they reached a settlement that will still free up cap room to sign draft picks, and that allows Steed to make a graceful exit. When Joel Steed was in his prime, he was one of the best defensive tackles in the league. In the mid-1990's, nobody could ever run the ball against our defense, and Steed was the primary reason for that. After he made the Pro Bowl in 1997, the Steelers made him their highest paid player, an honor which he deserved at the tme. Steed was by far the quietest member of our team. He was actually embarrased when the Steelers gave him that huge contract. He marches into retirement in the same quiet fashion. I think it's really nice to see him retire as a Steeler and not greedily bounce around the NFL for another year or two playing with no good knees. When people look back at Joel Steed, they will hopefully remember that he was not only a good football player, but a loyal Steeler as well.

(6/23) The Steelers have signed OLB Gabe Northern to a relatively small two-year contract. Northern started every game for Buffalo in the past two seasons. The Steelers see this as a good signing because he played in the now rare 3-4 defense, which the Steelers also play. Plus you can never have too many linebackers, especially when Mike Vrable and Jason Gildon both suck. Northern will probably back up Joey Porter.
Also: The Washington Redskins are getting way too spend-happy. They made some good signings and draft picks to really make them one of the favorites to win the Super Bowl next year, but lately they've been signing washed up old guys. First they signed Deion Sanders, who is a shell of his former cocky self. Now they've signed DE Nolan Harrison. If that name sounds familiar, it's because Harrison actually played for the Steelers the last three seasons, although you'd never know it. He spent most of his time on the injured list, and on the rare occasions that he did play, he mostly incurred stupid penalties. In fact, it was his mindless personal foul that cost us the Jaguars game in 1997. Good riddance.

(6/8) Every time you think that the Steelers have hit their absolute lowest point, they come up with something that's even lower. Yesterday during minicamp, a massive fight broke out in the Steelers locker room. Earl Holmes came in looking for Richard Huntley, because the two had a scuffle on the field earlier during practice. Apparently Holmes tried to punch Huntley while he was talking to reporters and then all hell broke loose. The entire team became involved in the melee. Jason Gildon started waving a chair around. Holmes had a stool that he was trying to break over Huntley's head. Chris Fuamatu-Ma'afala got nailed right in the face by someone's fist. It was an all-out brawl. This all happened in full view of a bunch of media people too. I can't even begin to describe how absolutely pathetic this is. The Steelers got into a massive brawl with themseleves! What the hell is wrong with this team? What a bunch of doped-up, overpaid, piece of crap losers! There has been plenty of scuffles on the practice field before, and there has been plenty of brawls with other teams on the playing field before, but to start a WWF match in your own locker room is unheard of. The word "teammate" has obviously lost all meaning for our players. They don't even realize it either. Fuamatu-Ma'afala, apparently dazed from the blow to his head, said, "It's good, I think. It shows we got fire and we're ready to go, man." Yeah, it shows they're ready to go alright, right into the tank where they've been the last two seasons.

(6/2) Free safety Travis Davis has been released. Davis never did a good job last season of replacing retired safety Darren Perry in the secondary. He often got burnt and in the last part of the season, he all but lost his job to rookie Scott Shields. He was also scheduled to make $950,000 this season, so the decision to cut him was pretty easy. Although no one will remember Travis Davis ten years from now, his name will be forever carved into the Steelers record book thanks to the 102 yard fumble return he had against the Panthers last season. It was the second longest fumble return in NFL history. The free safety job should now be Shields' to lose, but he will have competition. The Steelers signed veteran safety Brent Alexander, who has been a starter for the last 5 seasons with both Arizona and Carolina. DT Joel Steed should also be released soon. This was not shocking news to anyone. The Steelers were simply waiting until June 1 so that he wouldn't count against the cap. After his Pro Bowl season in 1997, the Steelers gave Steed a $4 million per year contract, but he has been hampered by injuries the last two seasons and much like the rest of our once-good players, he's basically just old and washed up. Steed contributed a lot to this team in his time here and for that Steelers fans are grateful, but it's time for the Steelers to let go of the 1990's and usher in a new era of football here in Pittsburgh. Could Jerome Bettis be the next to go? If he shows even a remote sign of being injured during camp, I think he'll be gone before opening day.

(4/6) For a while now the Steelers have had this unwritten rule that once a player departs via free agency, they're never allowed to come back. For example, two years ago former Steeler Kevin Greene practically begged the Steelers to re-sign him. The Steelers needed linebackers at the time, but wouldn't sign Greene because they don't forgive and forget that easily. Well, that policy may be changing. The Steelers have agreed to a three-year deal with G Tom Myslinski, who played here from 1996-97. Myslinski started 13 games over those two seasons, most of them in 1997 when Brendan Stai kept getting hurt. He signed with the Colts as a free agent after that season. He was one of those guys you hated to lose, because he was a solid lineman who really added a lot of depth. Now he is back and will add that same depth, backing up Tilski and Faneca. Myslinski, whose last game as a Steeler was the 1997 AFC Championship Game, is probably wondering what in the hell happened to this team since he left!

(4/4) When you suck as hard as the Steelers did last season, you get screwed on your schedule the following season. That's exactly what happened to the Steelers today when the 2000 schedule was released. In what has almost become an annual tradition, the Steelers open the season at home against Baltimore (we opened at Baltimore two years ago and had to push them back to week 2 last year because of the Browns return). Hopefully the Steelers will feel like a rest after that first game, because the bye week is in week 2 this year!! There will be no Monday night games for the first time since 1989, although there is a Sunday night home game against Jacksonville in November. Assuming we don't make the playoffs (pretty safe bet at this point), Three Rivers Stadium will host its final game on Saturday, December 16. The game will be against the Washington Redskins. Ok, I may be overreacting here, but c'mon - Washington? Oh, what a storied rivalry we've had with that team! They've played a grand total of 5 games at Three Rivers over the years. This doesn't seem like a very honorable way to close out the Stadium. Oakland will be here the game before that. I personally think that would have made a great final game, but oh well I guess.

(4/3) Ok, ok. I know - I haven't updated this site for a while. I've been busy. My apologies anyway. The draft is coming up real soon, so I'll have a preview up before then (FYI - rumors are already starting to circulate that the Steelers will draft Marshall QB Chad Pennington. I seriously doubt it, but stay tuned). Also, the 2000 schedule should be announced any day now, so we'll get to see when and against whom the final game at Three Rivers will be. In the meantime, there have been a few things going on with the Steelers since last I updated this site. Yeah, it's old news, but just in case you missed any of it, here it is.... RB Richard Huntley surprisingly re-signed with the Steelers, saying that Cowher promised him he would eventually replace Jerome Bettis as the starter. Cowher of course denies that, but let's face it - right now the Bus is looking washed up and Huntley is looking like a rising star. Jerome's days as a Steeler may be numbered. Huntley's return was one of the few high points in what has been a miserable off-season.... The Steelers signed WR's Bobby Shaw and Will Blackwell to one-year tenders. Shaw was rapidly improving at season's end while Blackwell has done absolutely nothing notable since he returned that kickoff in Baltimore three years ago.... The Steelers also re-signed free agent safety Lance Brown. Thank God, because without Lance Brown, we had no chance of going to the Super Bowl next year. Now the sky is the limit.... LB Carlos Emmons signed with the Eagles. No big loss there. Emmons started at outside linebacker the last two seasons, but never even came close to filling the shoes of Greg Lloyd, the man he replaced. The Steelers made no attempt to re-sign Emmons because second-year LB Joey Porter has proven that he is too good to sit the bench for another season.... The Steelers released OG Brendan Stai, who had been the starter since 1995. Stai was often plauged by injuries and became expendable when the Steelers signed OG Rich Tylski from Jacksonville.... When our boy Danny Marino retired (that's right Miami - he's our boy), it came out that the Steelers really tried hard to sign him. Apparently they wanted Marino to make a decision by the end of February. When he could not, they signed Kent Grahm instead. Marino never would've come here. What could the Steelers offer him? "Well Dan, forget your dream of winning the Super Bowl. Instead, you can spend your final days getting clobbered by the likes of Jevon Kearse and everyone else that stomps all over our weak line. And that's if you even get into the game. Remember, we only take Kordell Stewart out after he's ruined the entire season!" Yeah, good deal there! Besides, Marino was washed up and would not have gotten us anywhere. Still, it would've been great to see him play back home one last time.

(2/10) So far this offseason, the Steelers have seen the departure of their architect Tom Donahoe and their defensive coordinator Jim Haslett. There are several players who could be next, but it's all part of what they call the "rebuilding phase". It will begin this Friday with the start of the annual NFL free agent signing period. Steelers fans used to dread free agency, but now that we really don't have a lot of talent, there's really not much we can lose! Orpheus Roye and Carlos Emmons are really the only free agents that are even starters, and we could still afford to lose them. It would be nice however to have a general manager going into this!! I guess Steelers will have to make due. They will be doing some shopping as well, mostly for a quarterback that could challenge Kordell Stewart for his job next season (i.e. anyone that can throw a football forward to guys in Steelers uniforms). Here's a closer look at what lies ahead for the Steelers, including their free agents, other possible roster moves, the draft, and their opponents for next season.
Also: Speaking of free agency and quarterbacks, now that Danny Marino has voided the rest of his contract with the Dolphins, the inevitable speculation that Marino could come home has already begun. As much as I love Marino and as much of a hero as he is in this town, I think maybe it's a bit too late for that. Then again, if we're going to sign Gus Ferrotte or Trent Dilfer (yes, that's right, Dilfer's name has already come up - the only NFL QB worse than Stewart and his name has come up!), then I'd rather see us go after old man Marino. It'll never happen, and if it did it would be highly controversial, but it would still be great to see him in a Steelers uniform.... Former Steeler DL Steve Furness died yesterday of a heart attack. Furness was a member of all four Super Bowl teams in the 1970's and an assistant coach under Bill Cowher from 1992-93. He was only 49 years old.

(2/9) OT Justin Strzelczyk, who has not played in almost two seasons, has been released. Strzelczyk, aptly nicknamed "Jugs", injured his knee in a game against Kansas City in October of 1998 and missed the rest of that season. He re-injured his leg in the offseason (mostly due to a mishap at a bar) and missed the all of the 1999 season. A few weeks ago he again suffered a non-football related injury. This time he tore his bicepts playing in a hockey game. The Steelers finally gave up and released him. With the exception of Dermontti Dawson, Strzelczyk was the only current Steeler left from the Chuck Noll era. Despite being an 11th round draft pick in 1990, he played in 137 games and was a key part of the Steelers dominant offensive line of the mid-90's. Big #73 was a versitaille lineman who started games at every position on the line except center. Hopefully Jugs can still make a comeback somewhere because he really is a good player and a good guy. He will be missed. In this era of free agency, Justin Strzelczyk may be one of the final players ever to spend 10 or more years as a member of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

(2/9) The Steelers promoted secondary coach Tim Lewis to defensive coordinator yesterday. Lewis used to play for Pitt and had been the secondary coach for the Steelers since 1995. He said that the Steelers will stick with a 3-4 defense, despite the fact that almost every other team plays a 4-3. He takes over a defense which became absolutely horrible over the last several games of this past season. The Steelers heart and soul over the last 30 years has been their defense, so Lewis has been handed a lot of responsibility. If he can restore our defense, then we will be competitive once again.

(2/3) As if the Steelers weren't already falling apart, now they've lost their defensive coordinator. Jim Haslett has been named head coach of the New Orleans "we suck even worse than the Steelers" Saints. Haslett had been our defensive coordinator since 1997. His defense was pretty sad this past season, but he's still a decent coach, which is why he is now a head coach. Now the Steelers must search for a new defensive coordinator as well as a GM. This is such horrible timing. Had Haslett been given a head coaching job last year (when several teams were interested in him), the Steelers would have brought back Dom Capers. Had Chan Gailey been fired in Dallas last year instead of this year, the Steelers undoubtedly would have brought him back as well. Haslett is the third former Steelers defensive coordinator to be given a head coaching job in the past couple of years (Capers and Tony Dungy were the others). Best of luck to Jim Haslett, who has quite a challenge ahead of him in New Orleans.
Also: The Steelers announced that they will play an additional pre-season game in Mexico City against the Colts. Great! Another boring, meaningless game with the potential to get starters hurt, and in beautiful Mexico no less. "We try to get good teams [for the International pre-season games]," said NFL spokesman Vince Casey. So why are you making the Steelers play, Vince?.... The Titans were one yard away last Sunday from possibly becoming the second team in our division to win the Super Bowl. They came up short, but they really played a gutsy game. It's the first time ever that I've actually respected that franchise.... After an illustrious 6 year career, former Steeler RB Bam Morris has decided to retire. Bam plans to spend more time devoting himself to his two favorite passions - eating donuts and smoking crack.

(1/29) Steelers owner Dan Rooney was elected to the pro football Hall of Fame today. Rooney joins his father as well as many other great Steelers in Canton. He really deserved this, seeing as how he has been as integral a part as anyone (besides his dad, of course) in making the Steelers one of the NFL's most storied and beloved franchises. Rooney has been a contributor for the Steelers since 1955 and has served as team president since 1975. Rooney was voted in along with four others, including Pittsburgher Joe Montana. Unfortunately, neither Lynn Swann nor John Stallworth were among the inductees. This happens each and every year. Sportswriters who don't know jack about pro football get together and decide that Swann and Stallworth don't have the numbers to get into the Hall. Nevermind the fact that they made great plays and won games, or that the Steelers would've never become the dynasty that they did without these two guys. That kind of thing can't be put into a stats sheet, and the moron writers are too stupid to figure out anything else. It looks more and more like they will never get in. Swann made the short list of finalists for the third time in the last four years, which makes him an automatic candidate to get screwed over again next year. It's ironic (not to mention hypocritical) that every NFL Films great plays or Super Bowl thing has Lynn Swann on it. Everyone has seen clips of Swann making great catches a million times. The NFL has used him to market their league so much, yet he's not even in the Hall of Fame.

(1/24) In a completely underhanded move, Jaguars head coach Tom Coughlin sent people up to Pittsburgh to spy on the Steelers practices last summer. He also pillaged our team for years, stealing away good players such as Leon Searcy and Carnell Lake. When the Jaguars finally beat the Steelers at Three Rivers in September, it looked to Coughlin and his team like the 1999 season was theirs. After all, they were the heavy favorites to win the Super Bowl and they had just wiped out their long-time competition in the division. They proceeded to beat every other NFL team they played - except one. They could not beat the Tennessee Titans. Yesterday the Titans soundly beat the Jaguars in Jacksonville to win the AFC Championship Game and advance to Super Bowl XXXIV against the Rams. It was the third time that Tennessee beat Jacksonville this season. All the Jaguars prospects and championship hopes were dashed by the only team they couldn't beat. I've never seen anything quite like it - for one team to clearly distinguish themselves as the best in the NFL, even winning a playoff game by the score of 62-7, only to have their three losses all come at the hands of one other team. Coughlin got EXACTLY what he deserved. Spying on the Steelers? As if we were going to give you any kind of a challenge this year?? Way to go, moron! I guess if you would've played the Steelers in the Championship Game you would've had their number, huh? Maybe next time you decide to be a cheater, you'll at least spy on the right team, you stupid son of a bitch.

(1/14) One day after the Steelers announced that Bill Cowher would be staying, they announced that GM Tom Donahoe will not. Donahoe "resigned" from his position effective immediately. What really happened was that Cowher and Donahoe, who have a long history of not being able to get along, both were ready to resign at the end of the season. The Rooneys admitted that it became clear that Cowher and Donahoe could no longer co-exist. They chose to keep Cowher and get rid of Donahoe. This is unbelievable. Tom Donahoe was promoted to GM in 1992 and inherited a team that had been mediocre at best over the last decade thanks to their constant botching of personnel moves and draft picks. He built a team that would go to three Championship games and a Super Bowl over the span of four seasons, despite losing big name free agents. He is by far one of the smartest people in pro football, and now he's gone. The Rooneys had to keep Cowher, but on the other hand they had to keep Donahoe. It was a no-win situation and would have been disastrous either way. It's hard to say they were wrong, but it still sucks. There are so many dumb GM's in the NFL. That's why so many teams suck year after year despite the fact the worst teams always have the highest draft picks and with few star players, the most money under the cap to sign free agents. It is so hard to find someone who really understands how to evaluate talent. Most of the time you just wind up with the guy who signs Eric Green to a huge contract, or the guy that trades your first round draft pick for Rick Mirer, or the guy that uses your first round draft pick on John Rienstra. This is truly a dark time for this franchise. I can't take more of what we had in the 80's. I can't watch us throw away talent and draft/sign garbage every year. It's just too much to bear. Where they go from here remains to be seen, but right now the future of the Pittsburgh Steelers looks very bleak.
Also: Can you believe we have an all-Central AFC Championship Game next Sunday? Either Tennessee or Jacksonville will become just the third team in our six team division to play in the Super Bowl (Cincinnati played in and lost two of them). This is also the first time two AFC Central teams have met for the conference championship since 1979 when the Steelers beat the Oilers. In the NFC title game that year, the Rams beat the Bucs. Now 20 years later three of those final four teams are back playing for their respective conference championships (guess which team is notably absent). It would be so great if the Titans beat the Jags yet again! Three losses all year, and all to the same team. Coughlin would be destroyed! If you told me five years ago that I would be pulling for the Houston Oilers in the AFC Championship Game, I would have kicked you in the teeth.

(1/13) After weeks of speculation, Dan Rooney released a statement yesterday saying that Bill Cowher, along with the rest of the coaching staff, would be back next season. The statement came after Rooney and Cowher had a long meeting yesterday to discuss several issues. This finally puts an end to all the crap going around here that Cowher was going to be fired. First, the local sports media said that the coach would quit after the season. When Cowher held a press conference to deny those rumors, the media needed a new story. Their opportunity came after the final game when Cowher boldly stated that there would be no coaching changes on his staff, saying that replacing any of the coaches would be "the worst thing we could do right now." According to the ignorant and desperate local sports reporters, that pissed off Rooney and he was going to fire our legendary coach. Rooney even said that everyone was making too much of the meeting he was going to have with Cowher - a meeting that the two have after every season - but the idiot writers still had him being fired. When it was announced that Cowher was staying, it was the top story on the local news last night and the front page story in the paper today. However, to me this was no surprise at all. Why would Rooney fire Cowher after just two bad seasons? What about all the division titles, championship games, and the Super Bowl that Cowher produced before that? Bill Cowher is one of the best things that ever happened to this franchise, and anyone that thinks he should be fired or that he should quit does not realize that every football team goes through rebuilding stages. It is rare when a team is dominant for more than a decade. It happened to the Steelers in the 80's, but Art Rooney didn't fire Chuck Noll after he failed to make the playoffs twice in a row. We have a young team, and Cowher is still capable of turning us back into a contender. In my opinion, it's going to take a lot more than two years of losing to justify firing one of the best coaches in the NFL.

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