Altoona Mirror, October 18, 2015

Go Cubs.
Everyone should be rooting for the Chicago Cubs in the MLB postseason, and here's why:
Success will shut up their insufferable fans.
The Cubs haven't been in a World Series since 1945, and haven't won one since 1908. The one positive outcome from that is a semi-clever t-shirt that says, "Anyone Can Have A Bad Century."
Beyond that, though, it's the kind of non-stop woe-is-us whining that Boston Red Sox fans used to unleash until they started winning World Series.
Cubs fans embrace their misery. They're the ones who relish following the lovable losers, the team that never wins. Twenty straight losing seasons only made Pirates fans angry. Cubs fans celebrate the non-stop heartbreak.
There's the curse of the billy goat, the black cat that crossed Ron Santo's path in 1969, and Steve Bartman. Lots of Bartman. He was the oddly-dressed, headphone-wearing fan who reached for a foul ball that Moises Alou appeared to be poised to catch in the National League Championship Series game against Florida on Oct. 14, 2003.
Alou threw a fit, which made Bartman an instant villain. Things got worse as the Marlins rallied to win the game after they'd been four outs from being eliminated in the series. Bartman had to be escorted out of Wrigley Field. He's been in hiding ever since.
If the Cubs win the World Series, Bartman can rejoin society, or at least go to the supermarket without a disguise.
The Cubs were free to get hitters out after the Bartman foul ball, but somehow managed not to do that. They were also allowed to win the deciding game of the series, too, but that got away from them as well.
But in Cub fan mythology, it was all Bartman's fault, no doubt aided and abetted by the billy goat and the black cat.
Folk singer Steve Goodman wrote, "A Dying Cubs Fan's Last Request" that summed up the experience of rooting for the team that never wins. When Goodman sang "Take Me Out To The Ball game," he would revise the lyrics to, "Root, root, root for the home team/If they don't win, what else is new?" Goodman died of leukemia at age 36. Some of his ashes were scattered at Wrigley Field.
Cubs fans wallow in their misery. Now they're in danger of having the kind of success that's eluded them for 107 years.
This year's Cubs aren't an especially lovable bunch. Manager Joe Maddon may be too cool for his own good. But they're good. Not only can they win it all this year, they project as contenders for years to come.
Root for them. Let's see how their fans celebrate success instead of throwing the usual pity party.
---
--CALLING A PENALTY
The Steelers' Cam Heyward got a hefty fine from the NFL for putting his late father's nickname, "Ironhead" on the eye black strips he wore in last Monday's game.
That seems harsh, but the NFL really has no choice. If the league lets players freelance on messages attached to themselves or uniforms, it then gets into the slippery business of evaluating (and potentially censoring) each message.
Heyward's tribute to his father, a bone cancer victim at 39, is certainly not objectionable. But what if someone else decides to pay tribute to O.J. Simpson? Or Aaron Hernandez?
Players are paid well, and part of the deal is the NFL dictates what messages they can display on the field.
It's a tough but necessary policy.
---
--HOMECOMING
Arizona coach Bruce Arians has said all week that today's game at Heinz Field is just another stop on the schedule.
But if his Cardinals leave with a win and at least 40 points on the scoreboard, you have the feeling Arians will have an extra bounce in his step.
Being fired by the Steelers turned out to be a positive thing for Arians, but it had to sting in the moment.
Without his friend Ben Roethlisberger in the game, Arians will have no remorse about making the Steelers suffer if the opportunity presents itself.

Altoona Mirror, October 11, 2015

One and done turned out to be the story of the Pirates in the postseason for a second consecutive season.
Jake Arietta proved that his insane second half numbers were no fluke. The Pirates couldn't do anything with him and lost the wild card game to the Cubs.
Of course, that's sparked a lot of complaints that the one-game wild card play-in is unfair. There didn't seem a lot of sentiment in that direction two years ago when the Pirates dispatched the Reds in the wild card round.
Nobody much cared that the Reds were suddenly heading home after a successful season. People were probably too busy chanting Johnny Cueto's name and fighting with Mat Latos' wife to think much about the Reds.
Of course, the Reds only won 90 games that season and were a true wild card. Their record wouldn't have won any of the six divisions.
The Pirates won 98 games this season, and their record would have led any division other than the National League Central.
The obvious answer is the one the Pirates emphasized all season: Avoid the wild card round. That was too big a task in a season that saw the Cardinals win 100 games. The other solution is to win the wild card game. That didn't happen because Arietta continued the incredible pitching that characterized the second half of his season.
It's all spilled milk now, but take a look at his numbers from the middle of June through the rest of the season: 16-1 with a 0.86 earned run average. Opponents batted .150 against him, had an on-base percentage of .200 and slugged .210. Arietta walked 17 batters and struck out 147. In his 147 innings, he allowed two home runs.
Even in a best-of-three wild card series, the Cubs would have been halfway toward winning with one Arietta start.
The best of three isn't really workable anyway. The season ends on Sunday. MLB keeps Monday open in case any division ends up in a tie and needs a one-game playoff.
They'd have to block out four days to play a potential three-game series. That means the division series wouldn't open until Sunday, which would keep the division winners idle for a full week after the end of the regular season.
So one and done is going to continue. Cubs fans have no problem with it, just as Pirates fans didn't in 2013.
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--NEW WAVE
The Seattle Mariners fired Lloyd McClendon as manager after two seasons, one pretty good and one hugely disappointing.
McClendon was doomed as soon as the man who hired him, Jack Zduriencik, was fired in September. New GM Jerry DiPoto wants his own man, and that manager will appreciate analytics more than McClendon did.
One of the overlooked stories with the Pirates is how smoothly Clint Hurdle has embraced the implementation of modern metrics. Hurdle is 58 and profiles as old school, but he's on board with the latest ways of doing things.
A lot of managers from his generation might roll their eyes at the spreadsheets and ridicule the non-athletes who produce them. .
A previous administration in Cleveland referred to the new age analysts as "propeller heads" as they scurried around the Indians offices with their latest revelations. Hurdle hasn't done that.
---
--ALVAREZ AGONY
Bob Sproule is a devoted but discerning fan of Pittsburgh sports who writes a blog called The Grandstander.
He raises the question of whether any local athlete has inspired as much consistent commentary as Pedro Alvarez. He sort of answers his own question by noting that technology makes it much easier for more people to have their say.
Sometimes a ground ball will skip past Alvarez and someone will Tweet a woe-is-us message before the official scorer can even crack the microphone to say, "Error, first base."
There are many more opportunities for fans to vent, even if they don't want to stay on hold to call 24-hour sports talk stations. Alvarez gives them plenty of material.
The Internet may have fried if it had been around in the days when Terry (Bradshaw) vs. Terry (Hanratty) for Steelers quarterback was the hot debate.

Altoona Mirror, October 4, 2015

So long, Josh Scobee.
It was a kick having you here for a few weeks. Of course, the kick sailed wide left (the cheap, gratuitous missed field goal reference is mandatory because Steelers Nation is feeling the bitterness this week).
Scobee's fate was sealed Thursday night when he missed a 41-yard field goal after missing a 49-yard try. That scared Mike Tomlin so badly that he wouldn't try another field goal, instead opting for a couple of plays that failed on fourth down.
When the coach is hinky about a kicker's ability to make high-percentage field goals, it's time for the kicker to pack his bags. That lack of confidence spills over to the offensive play calling and has a bigger effect than the three points that got away.
At the quarter mark of the season, the most regrettable moment of the Steelers season to date is Shaun Suisham's decision to get involved on a tackle in the opening preseason game. He injured his knee and was lost for the season.
The Steelers were so confident in Suisham that they didn't even bother to invite another kicker to camp to offer token competition.
How things have changed on that one play. Now they're scouring Craigslist to find somebody who can make field goals -- and extra points, too. Let's not forget that Scobee's here today-gone tomorrow Steelers career also included a missed extra point against San Francisco.
So now Chris Boswell is the latest to sign his name on the Steelers' 2015 kicker registry. Four games is the benchmark to beat.
Wonder if the Vegas sports books have established an over/under line on how many kickers the Steelers will use this season?
---
--MORTON MYSTERY
Charlie Morton is a fine guy and a talented pitcher.
Unfortunately, he's also an enigma who can never find a way to harness his significant ability and become a consistent winner.
In the last few weeks, Morton has basically pitched his way out of a postseason rotation. Most teams go with four starters in the postseason, and the Pirates will use Gerrit Cole, Francisco Liriano, J.A. Happ and A.J. Burnett. Morton isn't even a lock to make the postseason roster at this point.
Some pitchers are sunk because they don't think. Morton's problem is he thinks too much. The Pirates have tried to break of him of this and get him to trust his stuff, but he's still too inconsistent.
He recently said that he's working out some issues in his delivery. That might fly in June, but this is October. Time is short, and patience is thin.
It's doubtful the Pirates want to continue this drama
The Pirates are on the hook for $8 million next season on Morton's contract. They're also facing an offseason when they'll be shopping for a pitcher to replace the retiring A.J. Burnett.
Prospects Jameson Taillon and Tyler Glasnow might be along at some time next season, but that's not automatic. Teams also have to allow time for inexperienced pitchers to get acclimated to major league competition.
It's unlikely the Pirates will simply move Morton. But is it also unlikely they'll ever figure him out?
---
--DEE-FENSE
Pat Narduzzi came to Pitt with a mission to upgrade a porous defense.
Saturday at Virginia Tech, the Panthers allowed just nine rushing yards, sacked the quarterback seven times and intercepted three passes.
If that's not a complete repair, it's at least a very impressive start.

Altoona Mirror, September 27, 2015

The Pirates poured champagne, but they didn't spray it.
That set the right tone for celebrating their third postseason berth in as many seasons. It called for an acknowledgment of the accomplishment, but it wasn't the occasion for the kind of full-scale messy blowout they'd had in the previous two years.
It's difficult to prevail over the long regular season. One week from today, two thirds of MLB teams will be heading home for the winter.
But there also comes a time when a team outgrows celebrating just getting a wild card spot, much in the way kids mature beyond having their birthday parties at Chuck E. Cheese.
The Pirates still have their eyes on bigger goals, like clinching home field for a possible wild card game, and catching the St. Louis Cardinals for the Central Division title.
In that context, they handled the postseason clinching the right way. There was no need to cloud their vision by having sprayed champagne burn their eyes.
---
--LOOK OUT
While the Pirates and Chicago Cubs wrap up their season series tonight with a possible wild card match-up looming, the rivalry between the two teams is only beginning.
The last time the Pirates and Cubs had winning records in the same season was 1972.
They should get used to butting heads again. The Cubs took a big step forward this year, joining the race in the difficult Central Division.
They figure to contend for a while. The Cubs changed when they hired Theo Epstein to lead their baseball operations. He's the guy who ended the long futility streak of the Boston Red Sox. The Red Sox finally got past the New York Yankees, and they ended their championship drought with multiple titles.
Epstein has made some smart trades to add to a solid base of young talent with the Cubs. The franchise also has the resources to add premium free agents.
A lot of people think they'll land David Price this winter, backing a big money offer with the chance to reunite with Joe Maddon, his manager in Tampa Bay.
The Cubs haven't been in the World Series since 1945. There's a good chance that streak will be ending in the next few seasons.
---
--COMMUNICATIONS BREAKDOWN
Linebacker Ryan Shazier had a huge game for the Steelers last Sunday, one he exited late with a shoulder injury.
Mike Tomlin dismissed it after the game as nothing major. On Tuesday, Tomlin's update was that Shazier's shoulder was not a significant problem. Yet when Friday rolled around, Shazier still hadn't practiced and he was ruled out of today's game in St. Louis.
What happened? It's unlikely Tomlin got bad information from his training staff. Was Shazier unable to play through an injury that wasn't considered serious?
In his time with the Steelers, Shazier has had problems staying on the field. Three weeks into the season, it's not a good sign to have him on the sidelines again.
---
--REMEMBERING YOGI
The truth was that Yogi Berra wasn't especially funny. The obituaries that referenced his "wit" were eye-rolling material when he died last week at 90.
A lot of the quotes attributed to him were either fabricated or embellished by people who knew that the man with the squatty body, odd visage and funny name represented the perfect comic foil.
Berra went along with it, and even found a way to profit from it. He was doing commercials repeating some of the malapropisms that people thought he said.
Berra was a talented player who was part of the Yankees' dynasty in the 1950s and '60s. In real life, he was a true American success story, the son of Italian immigrants and an eighth grade dropout who became hugely successful parlaying his baseball fame into related endorsements and investment opportunities.
On top of all that, he was awarded a Purple Heart for his service in World War II.
There are a lot of reasons to fondly remember Yogi Berra beyond, "It ain't over 'til it's over."

Altoona Mirror, September 20, 2015

"Hard" and "aggressive" are among the words that can describe the slide that ended Jung Ho Kang's season.
"Dirty" isn't one of them.
Chris Coghlan of the Chicago Cubs went hard into second base to break up a potential double play. That's what he was supposed to do.
It's a common play at second base. If there have been 300 of them this month, 299 ended without incident. This one didn't. Kang's injuries will require a recovery period of at least six months.
Kang's mistake was planting his left leg in the path of the base runner. Coghlan had nowhere to go, and Kang's leg was destined to take the brunt of the impact.
There's a ballet at second base that plays out game after game. The fielder either darts to the side or leaps above the sliding runner to avoid the contact. Kang did neither, and he would up in the hospital.
Unfortunate? Of course. But it wasn't dirty.
---
--MILO HAMILTON
Milo Hamilton was the wrong guy in the wrong place at the wrong time when he took over as the Pirates' chief announcer in 1976.
Anyone following Bob Prince would have been in trouble, especially given the controversial circumstances of Prince's firing after 28 years in the booth.
The job called for someone who could shrug off the inevitable criticism. That wasn't Hamilton, who died last week at 88.
He was thin skinned to the point that he attempted to track down people who wrote critical letters to the newspaper. He was paranoid to the point that he claimed Prince was manipulating writers to give him bad press.
Hamilton was fresh from Atlanta, where he had been fired after 10 years. Pittsburgh was another stop in a nomadic career that befit an announcer of Hamilton's generic talents.
He was incredibly thorough and meticulous in his preparation. He kept statistical records so detailed the Braves' public relations department often borrowed his ledgers.
He bragged that he never went to bed after a game until he had updated his books.
He was clinically efficient. His facts checked out, he described the game accurately, and he had a classic big announcer voice. But there was no soul, and listeners picked up on that. Hamilton was a guy keeping stats and punching a time clock that happened to be in Pittsburgh.
His connection to the region went no further than his frequent references to Poli's, his favorite restaurant.
His people skills were minimal. He treated junior partner Lanny Frattare like an intern. He was in the habit of addressing the elderly engineer who worked in the booth by his last name.
He lasted four seasons, and the criticism never went away. He escaped to Chicago after the 1979 season, hand-picked by longtime announcer Jack Brickhouse to succeed him as the Cubs' voice.
That plan blew up when the Cubs were sold to the Tribune Corporation and Harry Caray was lured away from the White Sox. Caray's ego exceeded Hamilton's, and the two renewed a rancorous relationship that had festered years earlier in St. Louis. Hamilton denigrated Caray as "The Canary" behind his back. Hamilton fled at the first chance, finding a home in Houston, where he closed his career in 2012.
He was a hard worker who traveled the full schedule well into his 70s. He soldiered on through leukemia. He endured the deaths of his wife and daughter and called games on a curtailed schedule until he was 85.
There were things to admire about Hamilton. But there's a story that speaks volumes about him.
In Hamilton's first season, 1976, the Pirates were leaving Shea Stadium. The bus driver had two choices and took the wrong one, trapping the bus in hopeless New York City gridlock.
The bus didn't move. The embarrassed driver turned to general manager Joe L. Brown, who was in the first seat with manager Danny Murtaugh, and said, "I'm sorry, I thought going this way would avoid the traffic."
Before Brown or Murtaugh could respond, Hamilton's baritone boomed from several rows back, "That's why you're only a (expletive) bus driver."
A lot of people will remember Hamilton for calling Henry Aaron's 715th home run. Others will remember the way he thought it was his right to cruelly humiliate a bus driver who made a mistake.

Altoona Mirror, September 13, 2015

So there's Mike Tomlin, trying to beat the defending Super Bowl champion, and all he can get on the headset is a radio broadcast of the game.
And it wasn't even the Steelers' announcers.
As expected, the Steelers lost the season opener in New England, but the fresh wrinkle was the problem with communication between the sideline and the booth.
Somehow the wires or wireless signals were crossed, and Tomlin's headset was delivering the Patriots' radio broadcast.
As Tomlin noted in his post game comments, it's not the first time there's been a problem in that regard with games played in Gillette Stadium.
Hard to believe in a high tech world where even an old school guy like Bill Belichick is punching things up on an iPad that the simple connection between the field and booth wasn't working.
Seems unbelievable that in a world where people instantly Tweet photos of their lunch 24/7, the NFL can't establish a simple audio link that spans about 300 feet.
Even harder to believe that Tomlin didn't go all Bill Cowher when the problems first arose. Cowher would have dashed out to the center of the field, slam dunked the headset on the 50-yard line and loudly let America know things were awry. He wouldn't have waited until after the game.
When the news broke, people naturally suspected this was another Patriots dirty trick, a way to gain an unfair advantage. But was it?
With the controversy over deflated footballs and espionage still hot in the news just hours before kickoff, would the Patriots really risk another crime?
There's a school of thought that cheaters are always going to cheat, and they don't see things in any other light.
But it's hard to believe the Patriots would deliberately jam the signals, or that they felt they needed that advantage against the shaky Steelers defense.
The Steelers went into the game knowing that Tom Brady-to-Rob Gronkowski was a significant weapon. They didn't seem to have an answer for it, whether the headphones were working or not.
With all the money the NFL has, and all the official sponsors for communications equipment, you wouldn't expect a simple link from the sideline to the coaches booth to be a problem.
Then again, you wouldn't think that team employees would be able to alter the inflation of footballs during a conference championship game.
It became another Patriots-related distraction for the NFL to consider. At this point, the league should have an entire division devoted to those.
Tomlin got one break: At least he wasn't getting a talk show on his headset.
---
--WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE?
All sports leagues are publicly against gambling, for reasons that are understandable and obvious.
Yet it seems the major leagues have no problem aligning with Draft Kings, which is essentially a fantasy sports gambling enterprise.
You pay an entry fee, you select players you think will rack up points in various categories, and you stand a chance to win a prize. Their saturation advertising campaign is unavoidable if you watch or listen to sports programming. (Hey, it may even be on the coaches headsets at Gillette Stadium).
That isn't gambling?
Seems like it's a convenient way for people to wager money on their sports knowledge, even if they don't have a current number for Vito the Bookie.
But maybe it's just a natural progression since most of the leagues have gone into the ticket reselling business via Stub Hub.
Wonder if Pete Rose has a Draft Kings account?

Altoona Mirror, September 6, 2015

The funny thing would be if the Steelers intercepted Tom Brady three times and beat the New England Patriots.
It isn't the likely thing, though.
Having Brady in the lineup for Thursday's NFL opener was very bad news for a defense that, at minimum, needs time to figure things out.
The Steelers' defense isn't very good. It may improve, but that will take time. Facing Brady in the first game doesn't allow for a lot of time.
In fact, the development of the defense will decide what kind of season the Steelers have. From here, it looks like they won't make the playoffs, and they could have a losing record.
The schedule is that tough, and the defense is that questionable.
The offense's problems are temporary. As soon as Le'Veon Bell (two games) and Martavis Bryant (four games) return from their marijuana suspensions, the offense should be in gear. It will be pretty potent even without Bryant for a quarter of the season.
They'll miss Maurkice Pouncey, but they'll adapt.
It's difficult to be that optimistic about a defense that doesn't look to be much improved from last season at this point. Even in the pass happy NFL where points go on the board like a pinball machine, it just isn't possible to win every game 48-41.
Preseason games mean little, but there weren't even hints that the learning curve has eased for some players. They're going to be traveling in the fast lane as soon as Brady steps onto the field Thursday night.
It's possible the Steelers could still see Patriots backup quarterback Johnny Garoppolo on Thursday.
The bad news is he's likely to finish out the game because New England's lead is safe.
---
--LEFT OUT
Tony Sanchez wasn't among the players the Pirates recalled for the September roster expansion, and that doesn't bode well for his future.
Sanchez was the fourth player taken in the 2009 draft. He'll turn 28 next May, but he's yet to establish himself in the major leagues.
He had a poor season this year at Indianapolis -- his third consecutive year at the Class AAA level -- and has not shown he could be part of a solution either at catcher or first base. It's telling that the Pirates have been looking for a righthanded-hitting complement to Pedro Alvarez, yet Sanchez's name never seems to come up.
He's at last out of minor league options, which means the Pirates are likely to send him elsewhere this offseason.
It's reasonable to expect that Sanchez, drafted out of college, should have reached the majors by 2012. The Pirates signed Rod Barajas to catch that year. Then they signed Russell Martin for two years. When Martin left, they traded for Francisco Cervelli.
So the Pirates have paid nearly $22 million to other catchers in the four seasons that Sanchez was projected to play in the major leagues.
That's an unnoticed expense that goes beyond the $2.5 signing bonus the Pirates gave Sanchez in 2009. It also shows why another team is likely to sign whatever checks he collects in the future.
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--ONE MORE BOW
The 55-year reunion of the Pirates' 1960 World Series team last weekend was a bittersweet experience.
Since the 50-year reunion, two more players (Gino Cimoli and George Witt) died, meaning only 12 of the 25 men from the Series roster survive. Two of those (Bob Skinner and Dick Schofield) didn't attend last week's reunion.
Vernon Law still looks fit and spry at 85, but most of the others are showing their age. There were some canes and chairs being used when the players went on the field for one more ovation.
The applause made them smile, as did the memories of a special season that bonded them for life a long time ago.