Wednesday, October 10, 2018

Altoona Mirror, October 10, 2018

Asking the day's relevant question:
Who among us hasn't tossed an ottoman off a 14th floor balcony in a fit of rage?
That bizarre story broke on Tuesday as a man in Florida sued Steelers receiver Antonio Brown, alleging that Brown put his safety in peril by pitching furniture, vases and other objects off the balcony of a Miami apartment high rise.
At this point, you have to wonder if there's any shock value left at Steelers' headquarters when it comes to player behavior.
Brown was also sued for allegedly trashing the apartment.
Just another day in Steelers' land, where something is always happening and it doesn't even have to be about football.
But on the subject of football, let's review some things from Sunday's win over Atlanta:
--Ben Roethlisberger said on his radio show Tuesday that the inaccuracy of his passes in the first half was because of his lingering elbow injury. While the quarterback has been known to pay undue attention to his injuries, this bears watching.
Roethlisberger said he was on target in the second half because he decided to "suck it up" and throw with his normal motion, even though it caused him pain. We're only five weeks into the season. It's not a good sign when the quarterback says his arm hurts.
--By all accounts, linebacker L.J. Fort did a good job filling in for the injured Vince Williams. Good for Fort, but could that mean that replacing Williams really isn't that tough a task?
--Mike Tomlin said the Steelers didn't blitz more against the Falcons. There was clearly more pressure on the quarterback, though. Was that a function of Atlanta's offensive line doing a poor job, or did the Steelers vary their defensive looks enough to cause confusion?
--Tomlin said he's not worried about kicker Chris Boswell, who missed his first extra point try. OK, but what happens when the Steelers are in a game where a field goal might make the difference? Boswell is missing easy kicks on dry fields, and that should be a concern.
--End zone celebrations are OK to a point. JuJu Smith-Schuster's simulation of "giving birth" to a football (aided by James Conner) was as dumb as it was tasteless. If that's what they're going to do, just spike the ball and be done with it.
--Roethlisberger said he hopes Sunday's game in Cincinnati can be tough and hard-hitting without being dirty. Is that possible with the Bengals' Vontaze Burfict on the field? He just returned from a suspension, so he may have a surplus of hostility built up.
--Does Vegas have an over/under on penalty yardage in this game?
---
Watching the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox play usually involves an investment of more than four hours.
They play, and play, and then they play some more.
The games are even longer when Angel Hernandez is on the umpiring crew and his calls are being challenged on replay.
Hernandez is one of MLB's least competent umpires, but he's working a post-season series. That's probably because he sued MLB for excluding him from past post-season activity.
There's this, too: With six umpires working three post-season events (Division Series, Championship Series and World Series), plus 12 more working the two wild card games, there are 48 post-season assignment to fill.
Some less-than-stellar umpires are going to get called just because of the need.
It was even more complicated this year with two divisions requiring tiebreaker games the day after the season ended.
Too many openings, not enough good umpires.
(John Mehno can be reached at: johnmehnocolumn@gmail.com)

No comments:

Post a Comment