Mike Tomlin is starting his 10th season as Steelers coach, which is something of a miracle.
Had his status been put to a public referendum, he probably wouldn't have lasted 10 games.
The only thing people like more than the Steelers is complaining about their head coach, even though he's never had a losing season.
Understand that people not only complained about Bill Cowher, they spread vicious rumors about him, too. Coaching the Steelers is not for the faint of heart, or for those who are tempted to punch up sports talk on the radio when they're driving home from work.
The successful coach needs total focus, and Tomlin appears to have that locked.
So he doesn't hear the critics, and he doesn't hear the sad cases who seem to think his presence is nothing but payback for Dan Rooney's advocacy for minority hiring.
Like anyone else, Tomlin is not perfect. He could use a wise old assistant who could help with clock management and other details. The sideline can often be chaotic.
But Tomlin is clearly among the NFL's best coaches, although you wouldn't know it if you read about him on message boards.
One of the criticisms about Tomlin that falls short is pinning blame on him for drug issues that some players have.
Martavis Bryant is sitting out this season after running afoul of the NFL drug policy, and Le'Veon Bell is likely facing a four-game suspension.
The fault for Bryant's penalty lies with Bryant. If Bell winds up missing those four games, blame Bell.
Players are adults. They make choices. When they make wrong choices, it's on them.
When Mike Adams winds up being stabbed after some sort of middle-of-the-night incident on Carson Street, it's not Tomlin's fault. No coach can keep his players under 24-hour surveillance.
The Steelers had drug issues when Chuck Noll was coaching. Joe Gilliam's once-promising career was derailed in part by drug issues.
Tim Worley was suspended for an entire season for missing drug tests.
Gilliam and Worley were not minor players. Gilliam was the starting quarterback for the first six weeks in 1974, the first season that led the Steelers to the Super Bowl. Worley was the team's No. 1 draft pick in 1989, the seventh player taken overall.
At the end of the workday, the players go home. They do the same at the end of the season.
There's a misconception that Bill Cowher has a disciplinarian who tolerated very little. Part of Cowher's routine was fielding a weekly call from Kordell Stewart's agent, who brought him up to date on how Kordell was feeling about things.
Bam Morris was still employed by the Steelers the first time he was arrested for marijuana possession. Plaxico Burress had a lot of drama.
Players know right from wrong. When they choose, it's their decision. Don't blame the coach.
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--CHANGES COMING
You say watching Jeff Locke pitch is bad for your heart? Your blood pressure spikes as soon as he wraps his hand around the baseball?
Rest easy. Relief is on the way.
Locke won't be with the Pirates next season. He's being paid $3.025 million this season, which was his first under arbitration eligibility. Because the system rewards another year of service time regardless of performance, Locke would probably be looking at something around $5 million next season.
The Pirates aren't going pay that for that. Nor should they.
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--WORTH WATCHING?
Inside word is the Pirates think they have something in Drew Hutchison, the pitcher acquired from Toronto in the Francisco Liriano deal.
They don't think that Hutchison is a project or a warm body, but rather a starter who can make a positive contribution in next year's rotation.
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--HEAD COUNT
The USA has 554 athletes at the Olympics.
Heck, the Russians probably have that many chemists there.
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