Still crazy after all these years

… worse than mediocrity Hard to believe that less than two months ago the Penn State Nittany Lions were the fourth-ranked team in the country. I said at the time that they were overrated. Coach James Franklin demonstrated that as his team will now never be even ranked in the Top 25 at the end of the season.  Still, Penn State, in its infinitesimal wisdom, completed a 10-year, $85 million dollar deal with Franklin last week.  This was because they had hoped that either USC or LSU would hire Franklin away and save them from their misery. Unfortunately, they were wrong, and after the most embarrassing loss in the modern era — a nine-overtime loss to a 24-point underdog Illinois, the PSU management — realizing that the president is leaving next year — figured that they had to make this deal instead of making major repairs to Beaver Stadium.  Even the media is ignoring the ridiculousness When I read the headline of an Op-Ed in the Post-Gazette that said this, “ Ca...

Tie with 0-8 Lions, Steelers are a long way from a Super Bowl … Lions’ tie reveals how far away they are from ever seeing the Super Bowl The success of a football program is measured by how many times the team has captured championships. It is not determined by the won-loss record, though some may marvel in that.  In the NFL, that is how many times the Lombardi Trophy has been captured by that team. On the college level, it is how many times a program has captured a national championship.  In my younger years in the 1950s and 60s, the Pittsburgh Steelers were horrible, and as much as I complained to my father about switching allegiances, he said no. However, that deplorable record changed in 1969 when the Rooneys hired Chuck Noll as their coach and drafted Mean Joe Greene with their number 1 pick, someone whom Steeler fans never heard of in ’69. They know him now, the bedrock of Steeler Nation.  The rest, as they say, is history. In 1972, the Steelers participated in the ...

Miami's Robert Hunt took it to the House on Thursday … but one problem … 57 years ago, but I still recall the details As the years pass, our memories become foggy — or often embellished. In this case, a few details are foggy — but the gist of the story remains clear in my mind.  I do not, for instance, remember who we were playing, but it was the Lilly High School Red Raiders playing at the War Memorial Field on a Saturday afternoon.  What reminded me of this day was a play made by an offensive tackle for the Miami Dolphins last night in a game against the Baltimore Ravens. In that game, Robert Hunt caught a pass and sprinted to the end zone and did a back flip over the goal line for a touchdown.  Except that it did not count.  Linemen are not allowed to catch a pass and advance it unless they are lined up as an eligible receiver — on the end of the line — and unless they report to the official who notifies the opposing team.  Our play was not quite as spectacul...

… “Aaron Rodgers was deceitful, and he was deceitful purposely” He called himself “oppressed,” just like Martin Luther King, but one of his former NFL colleagues was buying it.  Aaron Rodgers, the quarterback of the Green Bay Packers, was suspended by the NFL last week because he had tested positive for Covid. The reality is that he had claimed in August that he had been “immunized,” and the media bought it — as did the NFL.  And now, everyone has egg on their collective faces because he lied — and no one called him on it even though they knew better. Rodgers’ argument Rather than meeting the media after his Covid diagnosis, even virtually, he went on a radio show where he was ensured that he would not be called out for his actions, and he lied and lied and lied, Rodgers claimed to be allergic to an ingredient in the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines. The 37-year-old football player also said he refused to get Johnson & Johnson shot after hearing of people having ad...

Next the Bears and then the woeful Lions: Can they avoid the "Tomlin Tumble"? … playing the Bears and then the Lions with two potential wins Back in August, CBS Sports had projected that the Pittsburgh Steelers would have the toughest schedule in 2021 based on the numbers that teams compiled in 2020. That has proven to be way off base as Pittsburgh is now projected to have the 15th toughest schedule in the NFL.  Why the difference? Because the AFC North is playing teams from the NFC-Central. That means the Lions (0-8), the Bears (3-5), and the Vikings (3-4). The only team in the NFC Central with a winning record is the Packers (7-1), who also benefit from playing in one of the weakest divisions in football and have the 23rd weakest schedule in the NFL. So, in reality, the only tough team that the Steelers have to face among the four is Green Bay.  That has given them a tremendous chance at a winning record, though in reality, it does not mean that they will finish...

Browns QB Baker Mayfield with Coach Kevin Stefanski … Zeise: Quarterback situation will not matter, running game will Perhaps Mike Tomlin will luck out again. At the beginning of the 2021 football season, the Steelers were listed as having the toughest schedule in the NFL.  However, they have gotten one break already because of injury — the Seahawks lost starting QB Russell Wilson — and the Steelers eked out a win in OT against them, a team that was listed as a loss on my chart at the beginning of the season.  Now, they venture into Cleveland with the Browns featuring an ailing QB, Baker Mayfield. Instead of sitting out Mayfield for another week, Browns coach Kevin Stefanski has accessed to his QB’s wish to start tomorrow’s game against the Steelers.  Last week, the Browns were crippled with the loss of two starting tackles and two running backs as well as Mayfield, but backup QB Case Keenum engineered a victory.  Instead of playing Keenum again and giving Mayfield a...

… one person predicted this — and I did not believe it During the summer when all of the prognosticators were making picks about the 2021 NFL season, some that they have already come to regret, one person close to me said this, “Hughie, the Steelers are going to be in last place in the [AFC North] division.” Actually, I was picking them to finish third, one spot ahead of the lowly Bengals.  Nevertheless, here we are in the week after the bye, and there are the Steelers, mired in last place while the Bengals are in a tie for first with the Bengals.  Not only that, the Bengals thrashed the Steelers 24-10 at Heinz Field earlier in the season. Pittsburgh could recover this week with a win over the Browns in Cleveland, especially if the Browns start Baker Mayfield instead of Case Keenum.  However, for now, Ben Reedy, you are the man. You told me this. and I did not believe you.  Now, about that meal that you owe me for my prediction about Aaron Rodgers.