June arrives this week, and an NHL season that started with September training camps is still at least four games away from ending.
To say it's a grind would be inadequate.
This has become an endurance contest, as it often does. If Pittsburgh wins, this won't be the best Penguins team to lift the Stanley Cup. It might be the most resilient, though.
The Penguins were banged up when the playoffs started in April. They've collected more bumps and bruises through tough series against Columbus and Washington, and got stretched to double overtime in Game 7 against Ottawa. It's been exhausting.
The path to the Cup is ridiculously long, but as long as people are willing to pay for four rounds of best-of-seven series, that's the way it's going to be. The team that wins the Cup wins 16 games. That's the number of games the Penguins won over an entire season in 1983-84, which put them in position to draft Mario Lemieux.
Win or lose, when this series is over, the teams will integrate some significant recovery time into a very short offseason. No doubt some players will also be heading to operating rooms to get those mysterious upper and lower body injuries repaired.
So when it ends, who gets the Cup? It says here the Penguins in six, but who knows?
---
--LIGHTS, CAMERA....
The NFL did an abrupt about-face and said it's now OK for players to elaborately celebrate touchdowns.
Of course, the celebrations have to be "spontaneous," even though a lot of them are being planned now.
Given his lust for attention and sizable disposable income, Antonio Brown may hire a choreographer. The pressure is on now that self-expression is back in the game. Outlandish post-TD routines are not restricted to those who can afford to pay the fines. You rookies get in on this, too.
No longer will a middle-aged official be forced to stand by and determine if the fun meter has gone off the charts. There are probably some players contacting Zambelli Internationale now to see if they can shoot fireworks out of their heels as they turn a cartwheel while humming their favorite rap.
So let this version of dancing with the stars begin again. Just waiting for the moment when multiple hamstrings pop as someone's offensive line imitates the Radio City Rockettes.
---
--DROPPING DOWN
Andrew McCutchen took his considerable baggage to the No. 6 spot in the batting order. Not a moment too soon, either.
McCutchen is in his second season of utter confusion at the plate. There are some good days, but not enough of them. He embraced vacating the No. 3 spot, probably because even he couldn't justify occupying that position.
---
--PARTY PATIO
Nobody will ever say it out loud, but a lot of people at the Penguins wish the outdoor big screen tradition would go away.
It makes a mess, it represents a security issue in these troubled times and it's never a good idea to have a couple thousand potentially angry people milling around outside a venue.
---
--PARENTS DAY
After completely overdoing Mother's Day, Root Sports proved to be an equal opportunity obsessor by overdoing the Pirates' annual fathers trip.
Hey, a Pirate got a hit? Look, his dad is happy about that!
Who could have known?
---
--SPLASHDOWN
Funny to see Penguins fans outraged that Sidney Crosby was squirted with a water bottle from the Ottawa bench.
If one of the Penguins had sprayed Alex Ovechkin in a similar way, it would be celebrated as clever gamesmanship and replayed for years on the scoreboard video screen.
Darius Kasparaitis was a dangerous cheap shot artist when he played for the Islanders. When he came to Pittsburgh, he became an aggressive physical player.
His game didn't change. His uniform did.
(John Mehno can be reached at: johnmehnocolumn@gmail.com)
Sunday, May 28, 2017
Sunday, May 21, 2017
Altoona Mirror, May 21, 2017
Penguins coach Mike Sullivan called his goaltender choice for Game 4 an incredibly difficult decision.
Was it really?
Sullivan believes in Matt Murray. He stuck with him in the playoffs last season long after Marc-Andre Fleury was available. He installed him as the No. 1 goalie this season.
After Sullivan saw Murray work rust-free in relief during Game 3, his decision was probably made. He was going back to Murray.
Fleury has done exemplary work through much of this postseason. If this is his farewell to the Penguins, he'll exit in style. But Murray is the future, and the future is now.
Sullivan coached Murray in the minor leagues and developed belief in him then. It's translated to the NHL. Murray is No. 1 in Sullivan's mind.
That doesn't mean Sullivan doesn't appreciate what Fleury has done. It's a pretty good situation to have two goalies who know the feeling of having the last seconds tick off in a Stanley Cup-clinching game.
---
--PLAYING TIME
Some people get upset that Clint Hurdle's lineup seems to be a daily decision. The Pirates are working around significant absences (Jung Ho Kang, Starling Marte and now Gregory Polanco) so that's part of it.
Another part is it's a myth that old-time managers played the same eight players every day.
The Pirates won the World Series in 1971 with as solid an outfield as a team could have -- Willie Stargell, Al Oliver and Roberto Clemente. Those are two Hall of Famers, and the guy playing between them had 2,743 career hits.
Yet Danny Murtaugh, who was a pretty smart manager, still found 312 plate appearances for Vic Davalillo and another 300 for Gene Clines.
There weren't many talk shows then, so there were fewer complaints.
---
--PUTTS OVER PUCKS
A lot of Penguins fans were upset when the start of a playoff game was delayed so NBC could conclude its coverage of The Players golf tournament.
That was an easy call for NBC.
Golf brings in more revenue than hockey, so golf gets priority.
---
--FLEETING FAME
This is likely Andrew McCutchen's last season with the Pirates.
Occasionally there are mentions that McCutchen was the face of the franchise a few years ago. Or considering the status that seems to represent, make it The Face of The Franchise.
So what? Jason Kendall was once the face of the franchise. He couldn't wait to get out of Pittsburgh, and Pirates fans couldn't wait for him to leave.
Sports is a what-have-you-done-for-me-in-the-last-two-weeks world.
---
--WRONG ANSWER
John Jaso has been the target of much criticism from Pirates fans, which is what often happens to players hitting below .200.
He made things worse when a reporter from 93.7 The Fan asked him how he would respond to his critics.
"Go face (Stephen) Strasburg one time and see if they could even get a piece of it," Jaso said. "They're fans. Fans get bad attitudes about it. I'd also like to ask them how far their baseball careers made it, if they even made it past the JV high school baseball team."
Another swing and a miss.
If a plumber came to Jaso's house and did a lousy job, would Jaso be OK with the plumber challenging him to do better?
Fans can be irrational, and often are. But they pay for tickets and want to see something in return for that investment.
The issue isn't whether they could hit a 95-mile per hour fastball, it's whether they're getting value for the money they spend to watch professionals try to do it.
---
--ALWATS GRUMPY
If you've been watching the hockey coverage on the NBC networks, you know one thing for certain:
Mike Milbury has been in a bad mood since about 1989.
(John Mehno can be reached at: johnmehnocolumn@gmail.com)
Was it really?
Sullivan believes in Matt Murray. He stuck with him in the playoffs last season long after Marc-Andre Fleury was available. He installed him as the No. 1 goalie this season.
After Sullivan saw Murray work rust-free in relief during Game 3, his decision was probably made. He was going back to Murray.
Fleury has done exemplary work through much of this postseason. If this is his farewell to the Penguins, he'll exit in style. But Murray is the future, and the future is now.
Sullivan coached Murray in the minor leagues and developed belief in him then. It's translated to the NHL. Murray is No. 1 in Sullivan's mind.
That doesn't mean Sullivan doesn't appreciate what Fleury has done. It's a pretty good situation to have two goalies who know the feeling of having the last seconds tick off in a Stanley Cup-clinching game.
---
--PLAYING TIME
Some people get upset that Clint Hurdle's lineup seems to be a daily decision. The Pirates are working around significant absences (Jung Ho Kang, Starling Marte and now Gregory Polanco) so that's part of it.
Another part is it's a myth that old-time managers played the same eight players every day.
The Pirates won the World Series in 1971 with as solid an outfield as a team could have -- Willie Stargell, Al Oliver and Roberto Clemente. Those are two Hall of Famers, and the guy playing between them had 2,743 career hits.
Yet Danny Murtaugh, who was a pretty smart manager, still found 312 plate appearances for Vic Davalillo and another 300 for Gene Clines.
There weren't many talk shows then, so there were fewer complaints.
---
--PUTTS OVER PUCKS
A lot of Penguins fans were upset when the start of a playoff game was delayed so NBC could conclude its coverage of The Players golf tournament.
That was an easy call for NBC.
Golf brings in more revenue than hockey, so golf gets priority.
---
--FLEETING FAME
This is likely Andrew McCutchen's last season with the Pirates.
Occasionally there are mentions that McCutchen was the face of the franchise a few years ago. Or considering the status that seems to represent, make it The Face of The Franchise.
So what? Jason Kendall was once the face of the franchise. He couldn't wait to get out of Pittsburgh, and Pirates fans couldn't wait for him to leave.
Sports is a what-have-you-done-for-me-in-the-last-two-weeks world.
---
--WRONG ANSWER
John Jaso has been the target of much criticism from Pirates fans, which is what often happens to players hitting below .200.
He made things worse when a reporter from 93.7 The Fan asked him how he would respond to his critics.
"Go face (Stephen) Strasburg one time and see if they could even get a piece of it," Jaso said. "They're fans. Fans get bad attitudes about it. I'd also like to ask them how far their baseball careers made it, if they even made it past the JV high school baseball team."
Another swing and a miss.
If a plumber came to Jaso's house and did a lousy job, would Jaso be OK with the plumber challenging him to do better?
Fans can be irrational, and often are. But they pay for tickets and want to see something in return for that investment.
The issue isn't whether they could hit a 95-mile per hour fastball, it's whether they're getting value for the money they spend to watch professionals try to do it.
---
--ALWATS GRUMPY
If you've been watching the hockey coverage on the NBC networks, you know one thing for certain:
Mike Milbury has been in a bad mood since about 1989.
(John Mehno can be reached at: johnmehnocolumn@gmail.com)
Wednesday, May 17, 2017
Altoona Mirror, May 17, 2017
If Paul Steigerwald had any bitterness about losing his television play-by-play job for Penguins games, he worked it out in private.
Root Sports announced on Tuesday that Steigerwald was out and Steve Mears will be the new TV voice of the team.
At the same time, the Penguins made it known that Steigerwald would be rejoining the front office staff, handling a variety of communications duties for the team.
That put a high buff polish on what could have been a messy situation. It's tough to lose a job, even tougher to lose a dream job.
Spending part of January in Calgary and Edmonton may not be for everybody, but it suited Steigerwald just fine. He attended every practice and every game-day skate, collecting information that he could use on the broadcasts.
In the parlance of the players, he was a grinder, a hard worker. He never short-changed his employers on effort, and his passion for hockey -- and the Penguins in particular -- never wavered.
Steigerwald, 62, first joined the broadcast team in 1985 as the analyst. Later he switched to radio play-by-play. When Root decided it didn't want to work with Mike Lange any more, Steigerwald took the TV play-by-play spot and Lange moved to radio.
Before he went on the air, Steigerwald was the team's marketing director. He was the one who picked up Mario Lemieux at the airport in 1984 and gave the team's 18-year-old No. 1 draft choice his first look at Pittsburgh.
Now Lemieux as one of the franchise's owners is finding a spot in the front office for Steigerwald, which helps soften the landing.
Nobody will ever admit this, but a big part of the switch is hiring someone younger who can stick around for another generation of viewers. Mears is 37. He's qualified for the job, having done play-by-play for the New York Islanders and more recently he's served five years with the NHL Network.
Mears, a native of Murrysville, has been here before. He spent some time with the Penguins in a utility role a few seasons ago. The perception then was he was the heir apparent to Lange.
But Lange, 68, shows no signs that he's ready to leave the job he's held in one form or another since 1974. Root may have pushed him out the door, but the Penguins won't.
Steigerwald wrote an incredibly gracious exit piece for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, expressing his gratitude for all the years he spent behind the microphone with the Penguins.
He's a lifer with the team. His family lived near Jack Riley, the Penguins' original general manager, and tickets were easy to come by when far fewer people were interested in hockey.
When Steigerwald spoke of Bugsy Watson and Battleship Kelly, he did so from personal knowledge. He never stopped rooting for the Penguins, and that apparently rankled some social media critics.
Yet if someone constructed a Mt. Rushmore of Pittsburgh sportscasters, it would automatically include Bob Prince, Myron Cope and Lange, all of whom made no secret of their allegiance to the home team.
Steigerwald will continue to attend the practices and remain devoted to the Penguins. That's in his DNA at this point.
What could have been a nasty situation instead turned into an oddly uplifting story, thanks to his admirable grace in handling bad news and the Penguins' willingness to reward a loyal employee.
(John Mehno can be reached at: johnmehnocolumn@gmail.com)
Root Sports announced on Tuesday that Steigerwald was out and Steve Mears will be the new TV voice of the team.
At the same time, the Penguins made it known that Steigerwald would be rejoining the front office staff, handling a variety of communications duties for the team.
That put a high buff polish on what could have been a messy situation. It's tough to lose a job, even tougher to lose a dream job.
Spending part of January in Calgary and Edmonton may not be for everybody, but it suited Steigerwald just fine. He attended every practice and every game-day skate, collecting information that he could use on the broadcasts.
In the parlance of the players, he was a grinder, a hard worker. He never short-changed his employers on effort, and his passion for hockey -- and the Penguins in particular -- never wavered.
Steigerwald, 62, first joined the broadcast team in 1985 as the analyst. Later he switched to radio play-by-play. When Root decided it didn't want to work with Mike Lange any more, Steigerwald took the TV play-by-play spot and Lange moved to radio.
Before he went on the air, Steigerwald was the team's marketing director. He was the one who picked up Mario Lemieux at the airport in 1984 and gave the team's 18-year-old No. 1 draft choice his first look at Pittsburgh.
Now Lemieux as one of the franchise's owners is finding a spot in the front office for Steigerwald, which helps soften the landing.
Nobody will ever admit this, but a big part of the switch is hiring someone younger who can stick around for another generation of viewers. Mears is 37. He's qualified for the job, having done play-by-play for the New York Islanders and more recently he's served five years with the NHL Network.
Mears, a native of Murrysville, has been here before. He spent some time with the Penguins in a utility role a few seasons ago. The perception then was he was the heir apparent to Lange.
But Lange, 68, shows no signs that he's ready to leave the job he's held in one form or another since 1974. Root may have pushed him out the door, but the Penguins won't.
Steigerwald wrote an incredibly gracious exit piece for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, expressing his gratitude for all the years he spent behind the microphone with the Penguins.
He's a lifer with the team. His family lived near Jack Riley, the Penguins' original general manager, and tickets were easy to come by when far fewer people were interested in hockey.
When Steigerwald spoke of Bugsy Watson and Battleship Kelly, he did so from personal knowledge. He never stopped rooting for the Penguins, and that apparently rankled some social media critics.
Yet if someone constructed a Mt. Rushmore of Pittsburgh sportscasters, it would automatically include Bob Prince, Myron Cope and Lange, all of whom made no secret of their allegiance to the home team.
Steigerwald will continue to attend the practices and remain devoted to the Penguins. That's in his DNA at this point.
What could have been a nasty situation instead turned into an oddly uplifting story, thanks to his admirable grace in handling bad news and the Penguins' willingness to reward a loyal employee.
(John Mehno can be reached at: johnmehnocolumn@gmail.com)
Sunday, May 14, 2017
Altoona Mirror, May 14, 2017
There's a TV cooking show that gives chefs an assortment of ingredients and challenges them to make a meal of the random mix.
They might get chicken thighs, artichokes, peanut butter, bananas and bamboo shoots. The impossible task is to take those items and create a meal that won't make people sick.
Clint Hurdle must have that feeling when he sits down with a blank lineup card and a roster filled with too many dubious choices.
The Pirates have been hit with a triple whammy that's come at them in pairs:
--Jung Ho Kang and Starling Marte are ineligible. Those absences take two quality bats out of the lineup. Kang may never be seen in Pittsburgh again. Marte is due to end his suspension on July 19. In the meantime, though, fully one-fourth of the projected starting lineup is in baseball jail.
--David Freese and Adam Frazier both went on the disabled list. They're both active again, but the pain of their injuries was felt every day. Freese was pretty much the de facto third baseman with Kang half a globe away. Frazier found regular spot duty in both the infield and outfield. Minus them, the reach on the depth chart got even deeper, and that's never a good idea.
--Andrew McCutchen and Gregory Polanco have woefully underachieved. McCutchen has hit some home runs. He's not the player he was three years ago, though. Remember when he was outperforming his modest (by MLB standards) contract? It's a different scenario now. He hasn't been worth the $14 million he's being paid this year. Polanco, who has been installed in the cleanup spot, hit his first home run five weeks into the season.
When a team has that many problems, it isn't going to be successful, no matter how good the pitching might be.
Poor Gerrit Cole. The only way he can get a win is to pitch a shutout and drive in a couple of runs himself.
Things could get better. Freese and Frazier are back, meaning there should be fewer starts for Alen Hanson and Gift Ngoepe, and less of John Jaso in the outfield. Polanco's bat has shown signs of life. McCutchen has always been a slow starter, so maybe he has a rebound coming.
Perhaps Kang can secure that work visa and get back. If Marte doesn't do anything else dumb and selfish between now and July, he'll be available for most of the second half of the season.
In the meantime, Hurdle is challenged to whip up a lineup with some questionable ingredients.
---
--THE NEXT STEP
Although it seems like the Stanley Cup playoffs have already been going on forever, the Penguins are only halfway through the trip they hope to take.
Two rounds down, two to go. Facing Ottawa should be less of a challenge than the Washington series was. Penguins in six.
---
--IN THE KNOW
One byproduct of the Penguins' success is a new bunch of fans have jumped on the bandwagon.
That's fine. Everybody has to start somewhere, and everyone couldn't have been around when Mario Faubert was here before the other Mario.
It's just funny to hear people speak knowingly of Ottawa's 1-3-1 strategy. Two years ago they knew those numbers only as a possible lottery bet.
---
--MUSEUM PIECE
This should be a great year for high rollers itching to get some unique Pirates memorabilia.
In addition to the Roberto Clemente auction at the All-Star break, Willie Stargell's family is putting a few treasures up for bids later this month.
The leading items are Stargell's 1979 World Series ring and his Hall of Fame induction ring.
Better have a Brinks truck ready for those.
---
--SPECIAL DAY
Happy Mother's Day to all. Sainthood to the mothers who didn't throw away the baseball cards.
(John Mehno can be reached at: johnmehnocolumn@gmail.com)
They might get chicken thighs, artichokes, peanut butter, bananas and bamboo shoots. The impossible task is to take those items and create a meal that won't make people sick.
Clint Hurdle must have that feeling when he sits down with a blank lineup card and a roster filled with too many dubious choices.
The Pirates have been hit with a triple whammy that's come at them in pairs:
--Jung Ho Kang and Starling Marte are ineligible. Those absences take two quality bats out of the lineup. Kang may never be seen in Pittsburgh again. Marte is due to end his suspension on July 19. In the meantime, though, fully one-fourth of the projected starting lineup is in baseball jail.
--David Freese and Adam Frazier both went on the disabled list. They're both active again, but the pain of their injuries was felt every day. Freese was pretty much the de facto third baseman with Kang half a globe away. Frazier found regular spot duty in both the infield and outfield. Minus them, the reach on the depth chart got even deeper, and that's never a good idea.
--Andrew McCutchen and Gregory Polanco have woefully underachieved. McCutchen has hit some home runs. He's not the player he was three years ago, though. Remember when he was outperforming his modest (by MLB standards) contract? It's a different scenario now. He hasn't been worth the $14 million he's being paid this year. Polanco, who has been installed in the cleanup spot, hit his first home run five weeks into the season.
When a team has that many problems, it isn't going to be successful, no matter how good the pitching might be.
Poor Gerrit Cole. The only way he can get a win is to pitch a shutout and drive in a couple of runs himself.
Things could get better. Freese and Frazier are back, meaning there should be fewer starts for Alen Hanson and Gift Ngoepe, and less of John Jaso in the outfield. Polanco's bat has shown signs of life. McCutchen has always been a slow starter, so maybe he has a rebound coming.
Perhaps Kang can secure that work visa and get back. If Marte doesn't do anything else dumb and selfish between now and July, he'll be available for most of the second half of the season.
In the meantime, Hurdle is challenged to whip up a lineup with some questionable ingredients.
---
--THE NEXT STEP
Although it seems like the Stanley Cup playoffs have already been going on forever, the Penguins are only halfway through the trip they hope to take.
Two rounds down, two to go. Facing Ottawa should be less of a challenge than the Washington series was. Penguins in six.
---
--IN THE KNOW
One byproduct of the Penguins' success is a new bunch of fans have jumped on the bandwagon.
That's fine. Everybody has to start somewhere, and everyone couldn't have been around when Mario Faubert was here before the other Mario.
It's just funny to hear people speak knowingly of Ottawa's 1-3-1 strategy. Two years ago they knew those numbers only as a possible lottery bet.
---
--MUSEUM PIECE
This should be a great year for high rollers itching to get some unique Pirates memorabilia.
In addition to the Roberto Clemente auction at the All-Star break, Willie Stargell's family is putting a few treasures up for bids later this month.
The leading items are Stargell's 1979 World Series ring and his Hall of Fame induction ring.
Better have a Brinks truck ready for those.
---
--SPECIAL DAY
Happy Mother's Day to all. Sainthood to the mothers who didn't throw away the baseball cards.
(John Mehno can be reached at: johnmehnocolumn@gmail.com)
Sunday, May 7, 2017
Altoona Mirror, May 7, 2017
There was a problem last week in Fenway Park with someone yelling racial slurs at Baltimore Orioles outfielder Adam Jones.
But maybe it's part of a bigger problem, which is the over-consumption of alcohol at sports venues.
Even though tickets are already expensive, some people view that as a cover charge to come in and get loaded with a game as a backdrop.
Personal experience -- once in Wrigley Field (not the bleachers), a guy nearby flagged down the beer vendor every time he made a pass.
By the fifth inning, the guy was so hammered that he could no longer figure out his money. He'd put the crumpled bills and coins in his extended hand, and trust the vendor to take the right amount.
Despite his obviously impaired state, they didn't stop selling him beer. By the time the seventh inning rolled around, the guy was barely steady enough to stand and sing with Harry Caray.
Let's remember that a lot of people get a head start on their drinking, either at the neighborhood bars or at a tailgate party. They wobble through the gates and then scope the nearest beer stand because what's a game without a fresh brew?
Was the Fenway Foul Mouth emboldened by alcohol? Maybe. But there's no doubt that beer muscles often sprout at games.
When Joe Walton was failing as the Steelers offensive coordinator, a couple of guys waited until the end of a game to hang over the railing and viciously curse Walton as he left the field. Their faces were red with fury as they unloaded profanity on a guy who had committed the crime of running an offense that wasn't very good.
If someone had recorded them and replayed the tape on Wednesday, they probably wouldn't have recognized themselves. Or at least they would have been ashamed of themselves.
But with Budweiser on their side, they thought they were on a righteous crusade.
Beer isn't going away. It's a huge profit center for sports franchises. People love it, and they'll pay a premium price to get it.
But woe to those who have to endure the behavior of the over-served.
---
--ONE MONTH DOWN
The first month of the Pirates was the disjointed win-a-couple-lose-a-couple wheel spinning that was distressingly similar to the 2016 season.
At least this could be explained by the absence of two key starters -- Jung Ho Kang and Starling Marte -- and the subsequent injury losses of two important backups in David Freese and Adam Frazier. Take four key players off any team and it will suffer.
But it shouldn't be ignored that Gregory Polanco answered the challenge of being given the cleanup spot by producing virtually nothing. Andrew McCutchen hit some home runs and drew some walks, but couldn't get his average above .240.
As much as some people want to obsess on John Jaso, there are more important players than Jaso either absent or failing to meet expectations.
Good signs? The rotation was actually pretty good. Tyler Glasnow started badly, but now appears to be making tangible progress with each start.
Josh Bell seems to be figuring things out and offering hope he can be the long-term power threat the Pirates badly need. Maybe Jose Osuna has more to offer than the organization has projected from him.
Gift Ngoepe is a great story, but an average player on his best day. This is his ninth year in the Pirates organization and his first major league experience. A player who's been around that long without getting a promotion isn't a prospect. If they can use a roster spot on a good glove who could be a late-inning defensive replacement, Ngoepe can stay.
He isn't the kind of player who has any future as a regular in the major leagues, though.
They got through April without getting buried. Now they need to sustain some success, something they couldn't do last year because of the lousy starting pitching.
(John Mehno can be reached at: johnmehnocolumn@gmail.com)
But maybe it's part of a bigger problem, which is the over-consumption of alcohol at sports venues.
Even though tickets are already expensive, some people view that as a cover charge to come in and get loaded with a game as a backdrop.
Personal experience -- once in Wrigley Field (not the bleachers), a guy nearby flagged down the beer vendor every time he made a pass.
By the fifth inning, the guy was so hammered that he could no longer figure out his money. He'd put the crumpled bills and coins in his extended hand, and trust the vendor to take the right amount.
Despite his obviously impaired state, they didn't stop selling him beer. By the time the seventh inning rolled around, the guy was barely steady enough to stand and sing with Harry Caray.
Let's remember that a lot of people get a head start on their drinking, either at the neighborhood bars or at a tailgate party. They wobble through the gates and then scope the nearest beer stand because what's a game without a fresh brew?
Was the Fenway Foul Mouth emboldened by alcohol? Maybe. But there's no doubt that beer muscles often sprout at games.
When Joe Walton was failing as the Steelers offensive coordinator, a couple of guys waited until the end of a game to hang over the railing and viciously curse Walton as he left the field. Their faces were red with fury as they unloaded profanity on a guy who had committed the crime of running an offense that wasn't very good.
If someone had recorded them and replayed the tape on Wednesday, they probably wouldn't have recognized themselves. Or at least they would have been ashamed of themselves.
But with Budweiser on their side, they thought they were on a righteous crusade.
Beer isn't going away. It's a huge profit center for sports franchises. People love it, and they'll pay a premium price to get it.
But woe to those who have to endure the behavior of the over-served.
---
--ONE MONTH DOWN
The first month of the Pirates was the disjointed win-a-couple-lose-a-couple wheel spinning that was distressingly similar to the 2016 season.
At least this could be explained by the absence of two key starters -- Jung Ho Kang and Starling Marte -- and the subsequent injury losses of two important backups in David Freese and Adam Frazier. Take four key players off any team and it will suffer.
But it shouldn't be ignored that Gregory Polanco answered the challenge of being given the cleanup spot by producing virtually nothing. Andrew McCutchen hit some home runs and drew some walks, but couldn't get his average above .240.
As much as some people want to obsess on John Jaso, there are more important players than Jaso either absent or failing to meet expectations.
Good signs? The rotation was actually pretty good. Tyler Glasnow started badly, but now appears to be making tangible progress with each start.
Josh Bell seems to be figuring things out and offering hope he can be the long-term power threat the Pirates badly need. Maybe Jose Osuna has more to offer than the organization has projected from him.
Gift Ngoepe is a great story, but an average player on his best day. This is his ninth year in the Pirates organization and his first major league experience. A player who's been around that long without getting a promotion isn't a prospect. If they can use a roster spot on a good glove who could be a late-inning defensive replacement, Ngoepe can stay.
He isn't the kind of player who has any future as a regular in the major leagues, though.
They got through April without getting buried. Now they need to sustain some success, something they couldn't do last year because of the lousy starting pitching.
(John Mehno can be reached at: johnmehnocolumn@gmail.com)
Sunday, April 30, 2017
Altoona Mirror, April 30, 2017
Many decades ago the Steelers would have drafted a player from Pitt with the idea of appeasing the fans, getting some publicity and ultimately selling some tickets.
Those days are long gone.
Theirs is not an organization that leans on sentiment or panders heavily to ticket buyers. They have thousands of names on a season-ticket waiting list, so goosing sales isn't a factor.
They drafted Pitt's James Conner because they think he can be the complement to Le'Veon Bell. Conner hits the line like a tight end, but he has some speed and moves when he's in the open field. He can catch the ball.
After his fight against cancer, his work ethic is unquestioned. The Steelers are counting on his health improving even more so he can contribute as the replacement for DeAngelo Williams.
If Conner had any edge in being drafted by the Steelers, it's the proximity he enjoyed in their shared training facility on the South Side. The two teams interact, and the Steelers have seen the evidence of Conner's character first-hand.
Fans are going to love the choice, and that's fine. But the Steelers saw a player they think can help them win rather than a hometown favorite.
---
--THE PROCESS
Watching the draft coverage on the NFL Network, two thoughts come to mind:
1. How far has my life gone off the rails to watch wall-to-wall coverage of the draft?
2. How much time is spent discussing draft status of players being affected by those nagging off-the-field issues?
It seems like every other draftee has a police record or a sketchy drug test or some allegation of domestic abuse clouding his record.
So it's not a matter of a player's stats or his size as much as it's the gamble a team has to assume to draft someone with possible character issues.
While the Steelers were taking Conner, the Cincinnati Bengals chose Oklahoma's Joe Mixon, who was banned from the NFL Scouting Combine after league officials saw the video of him punching a woman in the face.
Fear not, though. The Bengals will provide an environment in which he can be mentored by responsible professionals like Vontaze Burfict and Pacman Jones.
Give credit the NFL Network for a very candid interview with Mixon, conducted by former New York Times writer Judy Battista. She didn't pull any punches, didn't make any veiled references to "issues" or use the "some have said" disclaimer on the tough questions.
It was a very straight forward approach that wouldn't ordinarily be expected from a league-operated outlet.
---
--LANGUAGE BARRIER
It wasn't exactly a proud moment for the league when Atlanta's No. 1 choice, Takkarist McKinley of UCLA, dropped a heavy duty obscenity while reacting to his selection.
McKinley was carrying a giant sized portrait of his late grandmother and speaking emotionally about the promise he'd made to her shortly before her death. Through the tears, he somehow inserted the bad word, then said, "excuse my language."
The NFL Network interviewer counseled him to calm down. Who was this settling influence? None other than Deoin Sanders, who in a previous life skulked around the Atlanta Braves' clubhouse to dump a bucket of water on Tim McCarver.
---
--FILLING HOLES
Is it possible some good may yet come from the gaps the Pirates have in their lineup?
It did before. In 2006, the Dave Littlefield-Jim Tracy administration had cast Freddy Sanchez as a utility player, primarily to back up an over-the-hill Joe Randa at third base.
Randa was injured, Sanchez got the opportunity and wound up winning the batting title with a .344 average. That helped launch a career that made him more than $32 million.
While Jung Ho Kang and Starling Marte sit out games for their misdeeds, can someone step up and make the most of an unexpected chance?
(John Mehno can be reached at: johnmehnocolumn@gmail.com)
Sunday, April 23, 2017
Altoona Mirror, April 23, 2017
Art Rooney II has been running the Steelers for a while now, so there's no official change in leadership with the team.
The difference is he can no longer walk down the hall and tap into the knowledge his father accumulated over a lifetime in the game.
Dan Rooney's passing makes the transition to the next generation official at the Steelers, and it could make a difference.
Just as Dan Rooney did some things differently than his father did, Art Rooney II will have his own ways as well.
Will the same patience with head coaches prevail? The Steelers last fired a head coach after the 1968 season. How hands on will Art II be with football operations? Every indication suggests that he mandated Bruce Arians' ouster as offensive coordinator following the 2011 season.
Sure, Dan Rooney ordered Chuck Noll to make some changes in the coaching staff, but that came after the team had gone 5-11 in 1988, its worst record since Noll's first team was 1-13 in 1969.
Arians was fired after a 12-4 season, and had a solid working relationship with Ben Roethlisberger, who opposed the move. What complicated matters further was the Steelers' spinning Arians' departure as a retirement, a ruse that was quickly exposed when he signed on with the Indianapolis Colts.
Was Art Rooney II, a lawyer by trade, behind that deception?
Art Rooney II is not a kid. He turns 65 this year. By contrast, his dad was just 36 when he made his first big decision and hired Noll as head coach in 1969.
Will the Steelers change with the change in leadership? Undoubtedly they will. The question is how much and in what ways?
---
--SLOW PROGRESS
The Pirates are taking it s-l-o-w with rookie pitcher Tyler Glasnow, which raises the question of whether he'd be better off in the minor leagues.
The answer to that is no. General manager Neal Huntington has said that Glasnow has nothing left to prove at the Class AAA level. That may sound odd given Glasnow's struggles so far in the major leagues, but it's fundamentally true.
Blowing away minor league hitters wouldn't do Glasnow much good. He still has to get major league hitters out. Better that he does some on-the-job training here and now rather than repeating the success he's already had in the minor leagues.
The Pirates had a choice between Glasnow and Trevor Williams for the fifth spot in the rotation. Here's the issue: Two years from now, Trevor Williams will still be Trevor Williams, perhaps a competent major league pitcher. Glasnow has a chance to be a top of the rotation pitcher who leads a staff for years.
So you take that chance now. The Pirates' patience can't be unlimited. Maybe they give him until the All-Star break to show some major progress.
The potential reward in this case is worth the risk.
---
--SIGNING OFF
Must stink to be Paul Steigerwald and Bob Errey these days.
They just spent nearly eight months with the Penguins, broadcasting the games on Root Sports. They're done, now, though because NBC takes over the coverage through the rest of the playoffs.
Doing some work on the team's radio network isn't a possibility because those are separate entities.
If there's anything good about it, viewers won't be subjected to the silly intermission and post-game interviews that litter Root's broadcasts.
---
--GLOVE STORY
Say this about Starling Marte's suspension and the subsequent open auditions in the outfield:
It's eliminated the idea of a routine fly ball to right field.
His absence has further defensively weakened a team that's already had too many problems making plays in the field.
Between the sputtering offense and the cringe-worthy defense, the pitchers may be ready sue for non-support by mid-season.
(John Mehno can be reached at: johnmehnocolumn@gmail.com)
The difference is he can no longer walk down the hall and tap into the knowledge his father accumulated over a lifetime in the game.
Dan Rooney's passing makes the transition to the next generation official at the Steelers, and it could make a difference.
Just as Dan Rooney did some things differently than his father did, Art Rooney II will have his own ways as well.
Will the same patience with head coaches prevail? The Steelers last fired a head coach after the 1968 season. How hands on will Art II be with football operations? Every indication suggests that he mandated Bruce Arians' ouster as offensive coordinator following the 2011 season.
Sure, Dan Rooney ordered Chuck Noll to make some changes in the coaching staff, but that came after the team had gone 5-11 in 1988, its worst record since Noll's first team was 1-13 in 1969.
Arians was fired after a 12-4 season, and had a solid working relationship with Ben Roethlisberger, who opposed the move. What complicated matters further was the Steelers' spinning Arians' departure as a retirement, a ruse that was quickly exposed when he signed on with the Indianapolis Colts.
Was Art Rooney II, a lawyer by trade, behind that deception?
Art Rooney II is not a kid. He turns 65 this year. By contrast, his dad was just 36 when he made his first big decision and hired Noll as head coach in 1969.
Will the Steelers change with the change in leadership? Undoubtedly they will. The question is how much and in what ways?
---
--SLOW PROGRESS
The Pirates are taking it s-l-o-w with rookie pitcher Tyler Glasnow, which raises the question of whether he'd be better off in the minor leagues.
The answer to that is no. General manager Neal Huntington has said that Glasnow has nothing left to prove at the Class AAA level. That may sound odd given Glasnow's struggles so far in the major leagues, but it's fundamentally true.
Blowing away minor league hitters wouldn't do Glasnow much good. He still has to get major league hitters out. Better that he does some on-the-job training here and now rather than repeating the success he's already had in the minor leagues.
The Pirates had a choice between Glasnow and Trevor Williams for the fifth spot in the rotation. Here's the issue: Two years from now, Trevor Williams will still be Trevor Williams, perhaps a competent major league pitcher. Glasnow has a chance to be a top of the rotation pitcher who leads a staff for years.
So you take that chance now. The Pirates' patience can't be unlimited. Maybe they give him until the All-Star break to show some major progress.
The potential reward in this case is worth the risk.
---
--SIGNING OFF
Must stink to be Paul Steigerwald and Bob Errey these days.
They just spent nearly eight months with the Penguins, broadcasting the games on Root Sports. They're done, now, though because NBC takes over the coverage through the rest of the playoffs.
Doing some work on the team's radio network isn't a possibility because those are separate entities.
If there's anything good about it, viewers won't be subjected to the silly intermission and post-game interviews that litter Root's broadcasts.
---
--GLOVE STORY
Say this about Starling Marte's suspension and the subsequent open auditions in the outfield:
It's eliminated the idea of a routine fly ball to right field.
His absence has further defensively weakened a team that's already had too many problems making plays in the field.
Between the sputtering offense and the cringe-worthy defense, the pitchers may be ready sue for non-support by mid-season.
(John Mehno can be reached at: johnmehnocolumn@gmail.com)
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