It's October, and I'm FINALLY excited about it.

It wasn't over when they won 81 and secured at least a .500 record.  It wasn't over when they won 82, guaranteeing a winning season.

It wasn't over when they took one of the wildcard slots and played in their first post-season game in 21 years.  And they just won the Wildcard play-in game.  So it's still not over.  Fitting, though, that it was 21 years.  Did anyone really think God would make #21 himself, Roberto Clemente, wait more than 21 years to even get to this point?  I sure didn't.

But I digress.

Heck, you know what?

It's just begun.

Raise it, Bucs.  Raise that Jolly Roger high and proud.  Then get over it -- quickly -- because we have a World Series to go win.

THEN it will be over.

Get ready for some #BUCTOBER!

Playoffs in Pittsburgh -- in October?!

If we were talking about the Penguins, this topic would make no sense at all, since the season starts in October,  If we meant football, it would be possible, provided it was almost Halloween and the rest of the division had managed a collective two wins by the midpoint of the football year.

But Hockey hasn't yet started, the Steelers are 0-3 (a very correctable 0-3 to be fair, but winless nonetheless), and there is one...more...team here...right?

Bears @ Steelers: A Letter to Mike Tomlin

Coach Tomlin,

I was on board with your hiring from day-one.  I trust the Rooneys and I believe you are as smart of a football mind as there has been.  That includes Vince Lombardi and Chuck Noll.  But those guys weren't stupid.  You are not either, but you are acting like it right now because of your stubbornness and your inexplicable allegiance to your OC.  Allow me to explain.

Bears @ Steelers: All Kinds of Ugly

If emotions truly were roller coasters, I spent most of this game yakking my guts out.

I was pretty well psyched about it.  Heath Miller was coming back.  Le'Veon Bell looks like he is a week away from returning.

Then they started playing.  This is the point where you are nearing the top of the hill, the clanging of the old, chain-driven lift reaching a crescendo.  It crested the hill, and immediately went into a series of convulsions, as the Bears moved the ball in chunks that never let them get to a third and long.  Ultimately, it was three to nothing.

Then it was our turn.  Seven total plays later, we had fumbled and the Bears were up 10-0.  And the awesome just kept coming. A Steeler punt, followed quickly by a 55-yard run by Matt Forte and a nearly perfect goal-line stand was just that -- nearly perfect.  Touchdown Bears.  17-0 with two minutes left.

In the first quarter.

Rebooting "Big Snack's Sweatsocks"

I have to write about Pittsburgh.  It has been more than a quarter of a century since I lived within 75 miles of the place.  But it has always been, and will always be, Home.

But Casey "Big Snack" Hampton is no longer a Steeler.  And, my goodness, his sweatsocks reeked.  So I am rebooting.

This will, henceforth, be a place where I occasionally rant, rave and brag about all Pittsburgh sports.  It's not just football anymore.  Let's face it: who would have thought that, halfway through September, the Pirates would be three wins away from at least a one-game play-in and have now long-since secured a winning season, while the Steelers are 0-2 and are scoring roughly as much per game as the Pirates average through seven innings?

It'd all Pittsburgh, all the time.  And by "all the time" I mean "every now and then."

Previewing the Week: Baltimore, Ho!

I admit that I will be as emotional as anyone Sunday and it will only be in small part because the Steelers are playing their bitter rivals.  Flight 93 crashed, pretty much literally, in my childhood backyard -- five miles away from that small red house, as the crow flies. So, yeah, it's as personal to me as anyone living in New York City or any other American, and I will probably cry more than once.  I'm man enough to admit that.

But part of it will definitely be that football has begun anew.  This is The Season That Might Not Have Been.  We were perilously close to not having football this year, or at least having an abbreviated season.  Of course, that same greed that brought off-season activities to a screeching halt ultimately was the same greed that brought it back, because neither players or owners could see any benefit in making no money this season regardless of what they were each forced to concede.

Enough is enough

Some journalists write for nothing more than shock value or to relieve themselves of their own angst in a rush of verbal diarrhea.  Others, like FoxSports.com's Jason Whitlock, do both in an ignorant, race-baiting manner.  Despite the fact that this blog exists as a vent for me on all things good and bad about the state of sports in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, every now and then I, too, need to release my own angst.  I do, however, try to keep proper perspective, something that is lost on modern journalists en masse and is one of the main reasons why I abandoned long ago my pursuit of a career in journalism.

Seven things I'm watching this year

A new NFL season brings promise and hope of Super Bowl victory, of division dominance, of hard-hitting, smashmouth football.

Unless you play your home games in Ohio.

Guessing the Roster - Take Two

Sometimes roster spots come down to the wire, with a pretty good player winding up on the short end of a very crowded stick.  Other times, they work themselves out without coaches making a decision.  That's precisely what happened to the Steelers thanks to a significant injury.

Sepulveda will win the punter job. Guaranteed.

Short of an injury, Daniel Sepulveda will be the Steelers' punter once again.

Okay, Jeremy Kapinos filled the role exceedingly well last year.  The bar was pretty low, though, considering the last person to replace Sepulveda due to injury was Mitch Berger, whose average punt could almost have been measured on a full set of fingers and toes.

And I will grant you that Kapinos has a slightly -- and I do mean slight -- better average than Sepulveda this season, besting Robopunter's 46.6 by a fifth of a yard.

Everyone seems to be jumping on that number and the fact that Kapinos is going to come a good bit cheaper.  But there are a few details that are being overlooked.

First of all, if net average is such a big deal, then Sepulveda still wins.  His 37.9 career average bests Kapinos' by 3.4 yards.  That's a lot.  A whole lot.  We're talking about a third of a first down.  We're talking a number that is at least approaching the NFL average yards per play.

But here is the biggest reason why Jeremy Kapinos will either be punting somewhere else or waiting for the seemingly inevitable midseason call from the Steelers.  Let's face it: RoboPunter has crepe-paper ACLs.

Two words: Hang Time.

Of Sepulveda's five punts in the first two games, three have been downed inside the 20 with no touchbacks.  Kapinos, on the other hand, has had two downed with one touchback.  The numbers are close, I agree, and you could argue that one bounce, or a player being a step faster or slower, and those numbers are reversed.

But for his career, Sepulveda has dropped 73 of 196 punts inside the 20 (37.2 percent), and a total of 31 of his punts have been downed by his teammates (15.8 percent).  Kapinos, on the other hand, has dropped 31 of 106 punts inside the 20 (29.2 percent) with 12 downed (11.3 percent).  Sepulveda's control has also resulted in 14 touchbacks to Kapinos' 15 -- 7.1 percent to 14.2 percent.

Punting and kicking often comes down to a yard or a tenth of a second, just like everything else in the game.  But despite most people's loathing of kickoffs, punts and field goals, they are no more or less important than blocking, running, passing or catching.  And those few feet could be the difference between field goal range and punting for the other team.

McFadds the weakest link?

Dale Lolley is reporting that cornerback Bryant McFadden, on his second to of duty with the Steelers, could be on the way out despite starting in the NFL for three and a half of the last four years -- including a year with the Cardinals.  We all recall that #20 was torched in the Super Bowl.  Of course, the entire secondary was pretty much dreadful, but that could be related to both Troy Polamalu not being his usual calculated-reckless self as well as the complete lack of a pass rush.

All that aside, McFadden struggled at times last season after spending most of his season in Arizona getting torched regularly.  Given that he is due a pretty hefty sum of money; and that youngsters like Keenan Lewis, Crezdon Butler and Curtis Brown are only a marginal difference at this point -- with a lot of upside in the entire group, too -- it stands to reason that McFadden could be on the way out when final roster cuts come due.  I already pointed out that he needs to be worried about his spot in the lineup, but now it looks like his very roster spot is on the line.  His nagging injuries aren't helping his case one bit.

Further updates as events warrant.

Guessing The Roster - Take One

It would be foolish -- downright stupid, really -- to assume that I could guess the entire 53-man roster for any team before even the 80-man cutdown comes due.  But, because I do things differently here at Snack's 'Socks, it isn't going to stop me from taking a shot or two at it.  It's not like I've ever been afraid of making a fool of myself -- on the Internet, at least.

Musings on Free Agency So Far

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" I screamed, my wife standing behind me cleaning a few things up before we headed for bed last night.

It was moments prior that I had seen that the Steelers had cut Max Starks.  Even now, I don't know why I reacted that way.  I knew as well as anyone that the fall-off from Starks to Jonathan Scott, who finished out the season at left tackle last year following Starks' season-ending neck problems, was negligible once Scott got his Heinz Legs under him.

How to Rob a Pirate (or a whole team of them)

1) Become an umpire
2) Wait for the 19th inning of a game that involves the Pittsburgh Pirates
3) Decide you have better things to do
4) Call a guy safe who was tagged before his toes crossed the center of the batter's box

I didn't watch the game.  I live in Raleigh, and a Pirates' game here is a rare treat (or, in the preceding 17 seasons, a nightmare).  But I heard about it, read about it, and then watched the only moment that matters.  And there is only one conclusion to be drawn.

The Pirates were robbed.

Three things I hate about the NFL draft

Before I even post any analysis of rounds two through seven, I need to vent this.  I need to vent, because the draft is a maddening experience (not "Maddening", with a capital M, but "maddening"; the other one would entail losing control of my mouth and my weight simultaneously, while trying to figure out how how to shove a turducken-stuffed dodo bird inside and emu inside a pterodactyl, nevermind that two of them are extinct).

Yes, I am hopelessly addicted to the draft.  Just like any other serious football fan.  We yearn for it from the moment the Super Bowl game clock reaches all zeros.  Sure, most years we get partially satiated by free agency but, at least for Steelers fans, we don't have all that much invested in free agency.  Kevin Colbert, the Rooneys and Mike Tomlin don't build their team that way, except for plugging specifically targeted holes.

Round One Analysis: Cameron Heyward, DE, Ohio State

Twenty-four hours ago I called for the Steelers to forego a pick in the first round.  Then Cameron Heyward, son of late University of Pittsburgh stud Craig "Ironhead" Heyward, managed to fall behind a bunch of defensive ends, which is largely ludicrous.

Much Ado About Nothing? Steelers Should Trade Out of First Round

First-round draft picks are a big deal.  If you doubt that, consider that the NFL has broken the draft into three days rather than two this year, devoting Day (or, more accurately, Night) One to a single round.  This is where the "special" players are drafted -- the guys who can come in and start right away.  Last year, the Steelers drafter at #18 and picked Markice Pouncey to play Guard.  He merely earned a trip to the Pro Bowl as a rookie.  As a center.

Crosby Returns to Ice, Capitals & Flyers Fans Sob Uncontrollably

Sorry Ovechkin.  Our apologies, City of Brotherly Love (if that's not a misnomer, I don't know what is).

Consider this the collective Pittsburgh Apology for the butt-whooping you are going to receive from here on out.

Okay, that's over the top.  I admit it.  But after all the hate that flowed Sidney Crosby's way before he got hurt, then the oceans of vitriol when he got hurt, consider me -- and an entire city -- a little bitter.  And looking for payback.

In case you've been living under a rock -- I sure hope Geico hasn't managed to trademark that -- Sidney "Sid the Kid" Crosby, undisputed Best Player in the NHL, returned to the ice today after missing 29 games due to a concussion and post-concussion symptoms that prevented him from receiving medical clearance to return.  And in case you are one of those people who refuses to even hear what a fan of another team has to say, here is a single statement from the anti-Sid movement on Twitter that sums up the polarized attention Crosby receives:


"Why couldn't a tsunami have wiped out Sidney Crosby?" -Copy1Cat


The attribution was added simply so you can go fill that guy's @mention list with your gloating, should you so desire.  I do not condone it.  But I will be happy to laugh at it.

It's amazing, yet entirely unoriginal, that someone as completely benign as #87 could inspire this sort of utter disrespect.  He's as much of a team player as this league has ever seen, and by all accounts a genuinely awesome guy.  He has remained humble despite his ridiculous success that has him drawing constant comparisons to Mario Lemieux and Wayne Gretzky, the two best players in NHL history.  It's sadly ordinary for people to hate other people's success, and Crosby has made success as ordinary as breathing: air-in, score-goal, air-out.  Repeat.

I tend to get angry when people speak ill of all the good guys in Pittsburgh: Crosby, Kris Letang, Dan Bylsma, Mario, Rashard Mendenhall, Mike Wallace, Hines Ward, Troy Polamalu, etc.  Maybe I don't see their faults because they are "my guys."  From what I see, most Pittsburgh athletes really are stand-up guys and generally create way more good headlines than bad, contrary to most other sports cities in America.  And Crosby is the model for that mold.

So, while Sid spends the next week or two practicing in time for the late stretch run and the playoffs, I fully expect the harsh words to continue.  When you rely on selfish, me-first players like Alexander Ovenchkin, or, well...you live in Philadelphia, it's understandable that you would be jealous of Pittsburgh's constant success.  And now that the biggest piece of the puzzle is back in place, that trend should get back on track quickly.

Sorry, Caps and Flyers fans.  As long as Superman skates, you will remain powerless.

My Gut Says the Players Didn't Want An Agreement

One thing became obvious when the NFL Players' Association chose to decertify their union this evening: they never wanted to reach an agreement.

When teams began voting last fall on whether or not to decertify the union, I questioned whether they knew what they were getting into.  Now it is plain to see they knew quit well, and that was toward a definite decertification, no matter what offer was on the table.

If you doubt that assertion, I refer you to the offer that had been made.  The offer had reduced the amount of money the owners wanted to take "off the top" of all shared revenue, above and beyond the current $1 billion, from the initially requested $1 billion to $325 million -- a concession of almost $700 million, hardly chump change.  It had dropped the amount of off-season training required of players by a full one third.  The discussion of expanding the season to 18 games would be put off until a later date.  The bottom line is that the league was making 90 percent of the concessions, yet the players claimed it wasn't enough.

Clearly the players feel they can take more from the owners through the U.S. court system.  My question is this, though: if you are already taking 59.6 cents from every dollar of NFL revenue, do you really deserve a whole lot more?  Why is it such a crime if the owners turn a profit?  In this day and age, big business is seen as villainous, and the players have tried to paint themselves the victims.  But these players are making hundreds of thousands of dollars at a bare minimum, and often times tens of millions.  Can you be a victim, can you accuse someone of taking money out of your pockets, when your pockets are already overflowing?

I wish the two sides luck in finding a resolution.  I don't care one bit about the plight of either side; I just want to watch football in September.

Tiki to the Steelers? Dear, God, No!

Today's Totally Awesome Rumor™ has Tiki Barber coming to the Steelers -- amazing, since neither he nor his agent have had any contact with the team.  And I believe that, too.  Why, on God's green Earth, would the Steelers want to add a running back who physiologically could be their starting back's father?

Football In Pittsburgh -- In March!

Our beloved city of Pittsburgh will have football in 2011!

Sadly, I'm not speaking from insider knowledge of the NFL CBA negotiations, or pretending to be psychic.  But I am speaking of something fabout which we should all be excited -- or mildly enthused, at the very least.

Further Proof that Pittsburgh Team Management "Gets It"

Dan Bylsma just got an extension with the Penguins and will remain the team's head coach until at least the 2013-14 season.  You can pretty much count on his contract lasting, too, because Mario Lemieux is Old-School, just like, you know...loyalty.

Why I am Thrilled the Bengals Won't Trade Carson Palmer

Part of me hates that the first post to this site is about a division rival rather than about the Steelers, but it indirectly affects the fortunes of our beloved NFL team, so bear with me.

We, fans of a team in the AFC North not located in Cincinnati, Ohio, should be elated that the Bengals will not trade their leader, Carson Palmer.  We should be ecstatic about it, actually.  And it has nothing to do with Palmer's threat to retire if he is not traded; let's face facts here.  NFL Pundits aside, no one really considers Palmer to be one of the NFL's elite.  Aside from a few statistically good seasons, he has never done anything of value, even with a team as loaded with talented individuals like the 2010 Bengals.  Carson Palmer is Kyle Orton, basically.  Enough to keep his team from imploding (usually) but never enough to push them over the hump.