A visit to Cleveland to play the 0-10 Browns suddenly seems more stressful than it should be for the Steelers.
That's what happens when you go into games knowing your defense may not be able to stop anybody. That even includes the Browns, who are almost to the point of choosing a fan out of the stands to play quarterback.
This is suddenly a team in crisis, which desperately needs to win a game, even if it's against the woeful Browns.
Cam Heyward won't play again this season. James Harrison is a starter again because at 38, he's a better option than the former first-round draft pick who was supposed to replace him.
It's a mess, but the Steelers can at least buy a little relief by winning today. Then they have to prepare to play on Thanksgiving night at Indianapolis, a tough venue.
Unfortunately, this trip to Cleveland doesn't seem like the automatic win it did a few weeks ago.
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--SEE YOU LATER
Oklahoma defensive lineman Charles Walker told his coaches he's shutting down his season to prepare for the NFL draft.
Walker, a redshirt junior, has been sidelined by a concussion. He's skipping the last two games and the bowl game.
Selfish? Sure. It probably also violates the spirit of the letter of intent he signed when he agreed to play football in exchange for a scholarship.
But in an environment where coaches jump contracts and leave behind players they recruited, it's just part of an increasingly slimy business.
Will NFL teams have any misgivings about drafting a player who was quick to abandon his team? Not if he's talented enough.
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--CASHING IN
Remember Charlie Morton?
The Pirates' patience with him finally ran out last year, and they traded him to Philadelphia, almost miraculously dumping his entire regrettable $8 million tab on the Phillies.
For all the problems the Pirates had with their rotation last season, this still meets the textbook definition of addition by subtraction.
Morton pitched just 17 and 1/3 innings for the Phillies before he tore his hamstring. The Phillies exercised a $1 million buyout to make him go away. They paid him $9 million to win one game.
No problem, though. The Houston Astros signed Morton last week for $14 million guaranteed over two years. He can make more based on incentives for the number of starts he makes.
Morton is a nice guy, and he has talent. He's only teased with that talent, though. And if teams can have a nice guy who doesn't win games or a nasty one who is successful, they'll pick A.J. Burnett every time.
Morton is 33. He has an injury history. He's a chronic underachiever.
Yet in today's MLB, he's worth a $14 million commitment. That's for a pitcher whose career record is 46-71, with a 4.54 earned run average and 1.441 WHIP. He's not even lefthanded.
Bill Veeck said it best more than 50 years ago, long before free agency became an issue.
"You don't mind paying the stars," Veeck said. "They bring people to the ballpark. The problem is it drives up the price of mediocrity."
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--VETERAN PRESENCE
Bill Hillgrove will mark his 76th birthday today calling the Steelers-Browns in Cleveland less than 24 hours after broadcasting the Duke-Pitt football game at Heinz Field.
When he does Pitt basketball, he's the "kid" on the broadcast team. Color analyst Dick Groat turned 86 a few weeks ago.
Hillgrove first worked a Pitt basketball broadcast in 1969, and he's not even the senior guy in town.
Duquesne's Ray Goss is 79, and called his first Dukes basketball game in 1968.
When people get those jobs, they tend to hang onto them.
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