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.