Gettin' In The Mood

Super Steelers

Here we go!

My Last Football Post Until Training Camp

So the Steelers season is over. It was a respectable year for the first year with a new coach. We need lots of work in this off season - especially our offensive line. If we lose Alan Faneca (which is pretty much a foregone conclusion) then we will really need to beef up the line so Ben has a chance to work his magic next fall.

So now, I turn my attention to the tundra known as Green Bay, Wisconsin and throw all of my support behind Brett Favre and the Packers. As much as I might like to see Eli Manning make it to the big show and beat he who shall not be named but goes by the initials TB - I think it might be Brett's year. In '06 when the Steelers brought home the Lombardi Trophy, it was Jerome Bettis' year of destiny. I think this year might be just that for Favre. He wasn't expected to do anything of substance this year...in fact many people thought he should have retired. But he seems to be possessed by something greater than ego or himself - what it is I don't know but it is inspiring lots of people.

So in addition to routing against the New England Hatetriots I will be routing for the current hero of everyman, Brett Favre, to lead his team to victory. Let's go PACK!!!

I Promise

That this will be my last post about football for a little while...but CAN I GET AN AMEN????? What a game last night. I even felt comfortable going up to bed after halftime and turning it on up there (knowing I would be asleep in seconds) because it was such a massive crushing of Baltimore.

Speaking of redemption...it came in the form of 5 touchdown passes in the first half for Big Ben...and in the form of 3 sacks, 9 tackles, 3 forced fumbles, 1 fumble recovery and 1 interception for James Harrison.

And it was real football in the cool driving rain of Pittsburgh...where the chumps are separated from the champs. GO STEELERS!!!

It's a Football Night in Pittsburgh

Tonight Pittsburgh takes center stage in the NFL as we host Monday Night Football. And even though MNF isn't what it once was back in the days of Dandy Don, Frank Gifford, and Al Michaels (and the new hosts are just awful) it is still an honor to have MNF in our town. The Steelers will get showcased in a special way and they are playing their number one rival (and my most HATED team of all time) the Baltimore Ravens...BOO!

Last year the Ravens humiliated us not once but twice and it is time for some redemption in da burgh. Not to mention that if we lose we enter into a three way tie for the lead in our division...and we don't want that!

So wherever you are, help me cheer the Black and Gold onto victory...especially in the latter parts of the second half when I cannot guarantee I will still be awake!

And So It begins Again

They're baaacccckkk! The Steelers opened the regular season with a 34-7 whopping of the Cleveland Browns...and it was GLORIOUS! Big Ben looked fantastic and there seemed to be an energy and team spirit that was missing last season.

Welcome back boys...we've missed you.

The Party's Over

After yesterday's embarrassing shut-out by (my most hated NFL team) the Baltimore Ravens (boo-hiss) it is pretty much a mathematical certainty that even if the mighty Steelers win every game for the rest of the season they will not make the playoffs. Now, I wasn't expecting a Super Bowl Repeat (though I CAN dream) but this season has been such a disappointment and I'm going to give you my theories as to why the black and gold have fallen so fast and hard.

1. Bill Cowher has lost his passion. Not being able to commit (or not commit) to a contract extension before the start of the season and moving his family from Pittsburgh to North Carolina signals the end of the Cowher era. The RIGHT thing to do would have been to announce that he planned to retire at the end of this season so that the team and the coaching staff wasn't left wondering what was going to happen. As I have watched Cowher on the sidelines this season I have been less than dazzled by his seeming lack of passion and investment in his team. Where is the Bill Cowher that was running up and down the sidelines and getting in the faces of his players for both good and bad plays. I don't like this calmer, kinder, gentler Bill Cowher...we need a tiger, not a pussycat. Come back Bill...at least for the 5 remaining games of this season so that you go out (if indeed you go out) with some dignity.

2. Losing Jerome Bettis hurt more than expected. I heard the commentators yesterday say that even the Ravens (boo-hiss) were glad that Bettis had retired. Bettis was not just a power-house in the red zone and on 3rd and long plays...he was a leader of this team and that is how he is missed more than anything. Sure, no one has stepped up to take his place and our running game has suffered, but the team seems to be in disarray internally. With Cowher on the fringes (see #1) the lack of a solid team leader hurts...badly.

3. Ben Roethlisberger has been through hell. Between February 5th (that glorious day) and now Big Ben has really gone through it. The motorcycle accident: not his fault but the no helmet thing STILL has me shaking my head. He almost died that day in June and it has obviously changed him to the core. Long gone is the cocky, arrogant swagger that Ben had last year...and while this is probably a good thing for the content of his character it has not done wonders for his on-field persona. The emergency appendectomy: I can't imagine the impact this had on him. He came back from the accident quicker than anyone expected (or did he?) and then just before the Season opener he gets sidelined with this! The beating he has taken this season: Ben has not been protected this season. He is getting mauled all over the field and has taken a real beating on more than one occasion. He has suffered another concussion (in addition to the one from the accident) and gotten up slowly more times than I care to count. I guarantee you he didn't expect to be seeing so much of the turf this season. In addition to all of this he cannot seem to get the ball into the hands of anyone other than the opposing team.

So there you have it, my theories as to why the Steelers seem to be (with a nod here to the Simpson's) the suckiest bunch of sucks that ever did suck. Funny thing is, I still LOVE them like crazy. I still get all riled up watching the games and I can't wait for next week. Okay so this season might be over from a post-season perspective...but there is a lot of football left to be played and I'm going to cheer on my Steelers and be loyal no matter what. So here's to you boys...chins up and let's get ready for Tampa Bay!!!

A Little Love for the Mighty Steelers

It's amazing how winning a football game can improve my mood. I am SO glad the Steelers won yesterday! They needed it and so did their fans. It is hard going from being the World Champs to being 2 and 6. So great job guys and keep it up!!!

Lucy and Big Ben

Lucy, my 4 and a half year old, is IN LOVE with Ben Roethlisberger, the QB for the Pittsburgh Steelers! She has loved Steelers football since she was a baby and she has loved Big Ben since the first time she saw him play. She has a #7 jersey that she would wear non-stop if I would let her and she calls Ben her boyfriend. Ben is just over 20 years older than Lucy, think he would wait for her? She wants to invite him to her birthday party and send him a valentine. It is a really sweet little crush she has. When she wakes up after there has been a nighttime Steelers game she always asks how Ben did and if they lost she wants to know if he felt sad.

Last year when the Steelers made their incredible run to win the Super Bowl we took the kids to both the Pep Rally before the big show and the Victory Parade a few days later. For the parade we were in downtown Pittsburgh with 250,000 of the Steelers faithful thanking our team for the amazing season they had topped off with a world championship. It was amazing...people of all races, creeds, ethnicities, political parties, sexual orientations and on and on gathered with a common goal...celebrating a football team and the Lombardi trophy. It may sound silly to some but I felt such a sense of community with everyone there. It was a powerful things to be united with that many people all pursuing the same goal. Nothing was going to stop us from doing what we came to do.

I have gone back to that feeling so many times when I think about the state of the Christian church in America. We are so splintered and broken. Rather than allowing our commonalities to bring us together we choose to let our differences separate us. It is really sad because we are so much weaker when divided. I know that some will disagree with me...and I'm okay with that. I'm not talking about watering down the message of Jesus or fundamentally changing the theology of the Church (universal)...please hear that. But I am talking about majoring in the major things rather than the minor ones. I'm tired of the conservative church throwing up issues as smokescreens so they don't have to get along with their less conservatives brothers and sisters. I'm tired of the liberal church doing things for shock value to avoid getting along with their less liberal Christian family.

In families we have to have the hard conversations and in the family of God we are often afraid to have those hard discussions. So we agree to disagree and try to move forward, but really we are stuck in the same place where people have been stuck for generations. We don't really like one another and the lip service we give to "loving all God's people" is a load of crap.

While at the Victory Parade I wondered what it would be like to be with a quarter of a million people all cheering for Jesus, thanking Jesus for what he has done, and feeling unified by our love for God. I wondered what it would be like if we could all take down our defenses and set aside our differences and remember that Jesus loves us ALL and He died and rose again for us ALL. If we could, even for a moment, lay aside all of our differences and focus on worshipping God and serving him together it is hard to imagine all we could accomplish.