Beaver County Times, October 27, 2013

Professor Mike Tomlin was teaching history to the Steelers this week.
According to players, at least one of the team meetings was devoted to a crash course on the animosity that has existed between their team and today's opponent, the Oakland Raiders.
Tomlin reached back to the 1970s, when the rivalry burned hot with on-field issues (George Atkinson clubbing Lynn Swann like a baby seal), courtroom issues (Atkinson suing Chuck Noll for his "criminal element" comments), and unfounded accusations (Al Davis went to his grave believing the Steelers let part of the Three Rivers Stadium turf freeze to neutralize the Raiders' passing game).
In between all of that, they played some pretty memorable football, including three consecutive AFC Championship games.
But will any of that register? Many of the current players are so young, their concept of the "old days" is Brett Favre playing for the Packers.
Ike Taylor, a relative graybeard, pointed out that he was born in 1980, after the Steelers' run of four Super Bowls in six seasons had ended.
Even Tomlin missed most of it. He was born in 1972, which means he was honing those snappy answers in elementary school when the Raiders were allegedly greasing their jerseys with Vaseline.
It's a rich history, the kind of thing that unfolds nicely in those NFL Films productions. Is it relevant to what happens today? Not really.
But when you're 2-4 and trying to salvage a season, it's worth a shot.
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--Not signing off
There's a perception that Tim McCarver will be leaving broadcasting after he's done covering the World Series for Fox.
Not so fast. McCarver told the Boston Globe last week, "I'm not retiring. I'm cutting back on what I'll be doing. I won't be doing the World Series and All-Star game, but I'll be doing something, stuff that will feed my passions. Plural."
This makes it appear more likely that his departure from Fox is not entirely voluntary, which wouldn't be surprising. Television is all about attracting younger viewers, and a 72-year-old lead analyst with a penchant for telling Bob Gibson stories doesn't fit.
McCarver can be spot-on at times, but more often he's pontificating. He's one of the broadcasters who got worse when he thought every comment should be profound enough to make the "best lines" part of Rudy Martzke's old USA Today column.
He developed a delivery that suggested he was reading from stone tablets rather than note cards.
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--Bonus money
Much has been made of the fact the Pirates will receive an additional $25 million in national TV revenue.
The problem is every team is getting the same windfall. When that happens, it usually means that salaries rise, which pretty much negates the increase. It happened in the early 1990s when CBS came in with bundles of fresh cash.
Suddenly top of the line players like Barry Bonds and Doug Drabek were making $5 million a year. That jump caused the Pirates ownership to freak out and get itchy to sell the team.
The Pirates will have more money to apply to payroll. So will the Yankees and Dodgers. This benefits the players, not Pirates fans.
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--New career
Remember Lacee Collins, the Root Sports in-game reporter who was abruptly dismissed during the 2012 baseball season?
She's now attending law school at the University of Arizona.

Beaver County Times, October 20, 2013

This is it for the giant inflatable duck who's been the talk of the town for the last several weeks.
The big yellow bathtub toy ends his (her?) run tonight around 11. A tugboat is scheduled to take it to be cleaned and warehoused.
The duck first appeared on Sept. 27 and became an instant hit. He (she?) was there for the Pirates' stretch run, the raucous wild card game against the Reds and the two playoff games against the Cardinals.
People love the duck. He (she?) doesn't really do anything, doesn't even quack. It's just big and conspicuous and non-threatening, kind of like Max Starks was over the last couple of seasons. Since Mayor Luke Ravenstahl has gone into hiding, the duck is the cutest symbol of Pittsburgh this side of Baby Ben Roethlisberger.
Desperate fans started an online petition to extend the duck's stay, but that wouldn't really work. If he (she?) stayed, it would become just more routine river clutter like the car fenders that float by, or the drunken boaters who turn green bobbing on the waves on Steelers Sundays.
All your Facebook friends have photos of themselves with the duck hovering placidly in the background. People will be sending duck-themed Christmas cards.
People love the duck, and not just because it's free to see him (her?). The Fort Pitt Block House reports its attendance has jumped significantly during the duck's stay, with a corresponding rise in merchandise sales. This means people have actually visited the Block House without being shanghaied on a school field trip.
The duck is staying just long enough to get some final face time during CBS's coverage of this afternoon's Ravens-Steelers game.
We'll miss the duck, but this is certain: He (she?) was a bigger hit in 23 days here than Steely McBeam has been in seven years.
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--Adapting admirably
In his worst power year with the Cardinals, Albert Pujols had 32 home runs and 103 RBIs. He never posted a batting average lower than .299 in his 11 seasons in St. Louis.
Yet the Cardinals have continued to reach the postseason without him and are now in the World Series.
They're running a pretty good organization over there.
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--Remembering Goose
A fond farewell to longtime KDKA radio sportscaster Marvin "Goose" Goslin, who died suddenly last weekend at 64.
Goslin was one of the few media people who had a passion for hockey before Mario Lemieux arrived in town and made the Penguins fashionable.
The eccentric Goslin would schedule mid-winter vacations to places like Chicoutimi and Cornwall so he could catch a cluster of junior hockey games. He even published and marketed an NHL draft guide for a few years.
When he failed to become the hockey version of Mel Kiper, he busied himself hosting the Penguins pre-game shows and later made IUP football his new obsession.
Goslin was an accomplished singer and frequently performed the anthems before games. He handled that task with typical enthusiasm, even learning the French words to "O Canada" for the nights when the Montreal Canadiens visited.
He was a quirky character who worked hard and delivered for the audience in his 20-plus years of reporting for KQV and KDKA.

Beaver County Times, October 13, 2013

The Pirates had a dream season, crashing through a lot of long-standing barriers en route to winning 94 games and playing in the postseason for the first time in 21 years.
Now all they have to do is improve.
Once they lost in St. Louis the other night, the focus for the front office shifted to 2014. It will be a different team, and GM Neal Huntington has to figure out how to make it better.
The Pirates still have to fill first base, right field and shortstop, and the starting rotation is always an issue.
Huntington is facing some interesting decisions with several players over 30.
Late-season acquisition Justin Morneau disappointed. The Pirates sunk $2.3 million into his salary hoping he'd provide some power and give the team its first legitimate cleanup hitter. Morneau was on a home run tear in his last month with the Twins, but didn't hit one in 92 at bats with the Pirates. His power output was three doubles.
Morneau turns 33 in May. Given his age and concussion history, the Pirates should pass on him and keep looking.
On the other hand, Marlon Byrd delivered in his month with the Pirates. But he's 36 and would probably want a two-year contract. That makes no sense with prospect Gregory Polanco on the way. Let Byrd fly.
Clint Barmes is at the end of his contract. Since there are serious doubts about Jordy Mercer's ability to handle shortstop on an everyday basis, Barmes might fit as a backup infielder at a substantially reduced salary.
Garrett Jones is 32 and had his worst season. The Pirates squeezed decent production out of this minor league signing for several years, but his salary has climbed to $4.5 million. It's time to let him go and see if Andrew Lambo can fill that role.
The most interesting case is A.J. Burnett, who said he was 50-50 on playing next season.
Have his plans been influenced by Clint Hurdle's decision to start Gerrit Cole in the deciding game at St. Louis? Was Burnett's reaction sufficiently insubordinate to make the Pirates lose interest in him?
Burnett can be a handful. Hurdle's carefully-crafted John Wayne swagger seems to diminish when Burnett is involved. Burnett turns 37 on Jan. 3.
But he can still pitch. He led the staff with 191 innings. His only health issue was an ankle injury sustained when he stepped in a hole while running. He struck out 209 batters. His ERA was his best since 2005, his WHIP was his best since 2007.
If Burnett hasn't burned his bridges, and if he's willing to take a one-year deal, he's worth bringing back.
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--Calling audibles
The Steelers have signed another player (Stevenson Sylvester) they cut in training camp.
Maybe even more disturbing than the 0-4 record is the feeling they're just making it up as they go along.
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--Oct. 13
It was on this date in 1960 that Bill Mazeroski hit the most famous home run in World Series history.
No matter how many times you see the clip, nobody ever hits him with a shaving cream pie.
The most amazing stat from that day? A 10-9 game that included four mid-inning pitching changes and a delay for Tony Kubek's injury was played in 2:36.

Beaver County Times, October 6, 2013

If you're headed for today's giant playoff game at PNC Park, kindly keep these guidelines in mind:
1. Wear black.
2. Make noise.
3. Try to avoid fighting with the wives of visiting players.
Amid Tuesday night's wild card madness there was apparently a dust-up between some Pirates fans and Dallas Latos, whose husband Mat pitches for the Cincinnati Reds.
Dallas Latos tweeted that her hair was pulled and she was then punched in the head when she visited the Bowtie Bar in the right field stands.
Pittsburgh police investigated and filed no charges. They reported it was a larger confrontation between Pirates fans and Reds fans, all of whom had apparently sampled the stock at the Bowtie Bar.
At most, police said, it was a case of harassment. They dismissed it as a "he slurred/she slurred" dispute between well-lubricated fans, the sort of thing that can be handled by ejecting the offenders.
It's not clear exactly why Dallas Latos was in town for Tuesday's game. The Reds were barely here for 48 hours, hardly enough time to sample the local cuisine ("Hey, they put the fries and slaw right on the sandwich!"), absorb the local culture ("That Andy Warhol had a profitable scam, didn't he?") or even explore downtown shopping (Rite Aid had a sweet buy one/get one sale on vitamins).
Beyond that, Mat Latos was supposed to start, but didn't pitch because of an injury. So Dallas was apparently the only Latos getting exercise at PNC Park.
There was a time when taking wives on the road was taboo. The Pirates had a rule against wives joining their husbands, even if the spouse traveled on her own.
Part of that is the belief a team is on a business trip and needs to focus.
Another factor is a variation on the "What happens in Vegas...." mindset that's part of sports. Some married players have been known to deal with their separation anxiety by making new friends in strange towns.
The last thing a team needs is a wife spotting Joe Pitcher getting on the hotel elevator with Friendly Local Blonde, and reporting back to Mrs. Pitcher, who is handling the diapers and bedtime stories at home.
Times change. Wives travel. Treat them kindly, please. At minimum, no hair pulling.
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--Different black out
Incredible that Major League Baseball wouldn't find a way to get the second game on the current playoff series on local television.
It was broadcast on the MLB Network, which misses a lot of homes either because it's not offered or else it's on a premium level. The latter is the case with Comcast, where the mission statement is, "Everything's an up-sell."
Pittsburgh finally goes baseball crazy, and people have to huddle around radios to keep up with a playoff game.
The NFL has provisions to allow a local station to carry a Steelers game that's otherwise exclusive to the NFL Network.
Maybe MLB thinks the strategy will gain more customers for MLB Network. But maybe it just makes customers angry.
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--Bye week
The way some Steelers fans are whining, you'd think the team hadn't had a winning season in 20 years.
Poor Mike Adams. Here's hoping he at least yells, "Hey! Stop!" when pass rushers breeze past him.