Beaver County Times, June 22, 2014

Clint Hurdle is in love, and he may be headed for heartbreak.
The object of his affection is catcher Russell Martin, whose two-year contract expires when this season ends.
Hurdle effusively praises Martin for all he brings, some of which are qualities only a manager can appreciate. Martin's throwing ability seriously impedes the opponent's running game. He frames pitches well. He knows how to work the umpires. He takes charge with the pitching staff. He understands and executes the game plan for each pitcher. He's a presence in the clubhouse and has the respect of teammates. In a season and a half here, he's been a solid contributor.
If he doesn't re-sign, the Pirates will miss all of that. Former No. 1 draft pick Tony Sanchez is the heir apparent. One of the things he's working on in the minor leagues is his throwing, which has been a concern. Sanchez will probably hit more than Martin, but he may never match Martin's skills behind the plate.
Martin hits free agency this offseason in an enviable position. He'll probably seek three years and in excess of $30 million, and he should be able to get it. Martin made no secret when he signed with the Pirates that his goal was to get his career back on track and hit the jackpot with one more big contract.
Here's the problem for the Pirates: Martin turns 32 in February. That's the age when a lot of players start to show a decline. It's even more profound for catchers, who take a beating and get worn out from the physical demands of the position.
Right fielders eat sunflower seeds between pitches. Catchers think about what pitch to call next while they're keeping an eye on the pitcher's mechanics and trying to guess if the runner at first will take off. Add those constant mental gymnastics to the physical burden, and it's easy to see why catchers tend to age quickly.
Johnny Bench was moved to third base when he was 33. Ted Simmons never caught more than 15 games in a season after 33. Gary Carter was done as a full-time catcher at 34.
Martin would probably be fine for one more season, but he will understandably look for a multi-year commitment. Some team will offer that. It won't be the Pirates.
It's going to be a sad break-up.
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--MORE BRADSHAW DRAMA
Terry Bradshaw's relationship with his Steelers years has been a soap opera for decades. It took another plot turn when he no-showed the Chuck Noll memorial services.
His absence saddened some people associated with the Super Bowl years and infuriated others. Bradshaw was in the area at the time of Noll's passing, performing his one-man show.
Jack Lambert, who grows more reclusive every year, wasn't seen at any of the events, but arranged a private meeting with Noll's widow away from the crowds and cameras.
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--PINCH HITTING
Health issues have knocked Kent Tekulve off the Pirates' post game show on Root. The plan is to have the game analysts take his spot on a rotating basis after home games while former major league manager Ken Macha works the show following road games.
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--DEPTH CHART
If the Penguins had been as deep in productive forwards as they currently are in assistant general managers, we might have had a Stanley Cup parade last week.

Beaver County Times, June 15, 2014

Chuck Noll won four Super Bowls in six years, and network announcers would still call him Chuck Knox. Or the graphics would spell his name "Knoll," somehow combining the two names.
If Noll had any reaction at all to that, it was probably bemusement. That's the way he seemed to regard all the fluff that swirled around his chosen profession. He rarely paid attention to any of it.
Of all the words that could describe Noll, focused is probably near the top of the list. He coached football, and his favorite part was the teaching and preparation. The Steelers didn't overwhelm anybody with x's and o's in the 1970s. Trick plays and glitz were for Dallas.
Watch the games from that era, and be amazed at how basic things were in contrast to the current NFL. There were no radio receivers in helmets then, and no 20-man coaching staffs. When the Steelers won their first Super Bowl 40 years ago, they didn't even have an offensive coordinator.
The Steelers of the '70s drafted incredibly well for six years (1969-74), then reaped the benefits of those drafts for six great seasons (1974-79). Noll's Steelers were talented, prepared and dedicated.
If you're looking for video of Noll's great motivational speeches, you can skip the click to YouTube. He didn't value oratory. There's a story about a game in 1971 that the Steelers were losing at halftime. As the players filed back into the locker room, defensive back Lee Calland climbed up on a stool and started to passionately exhort his teammates to play better and harder. The story goes that Noll glanced at Calland, calmly said, "Shut up, Lee" and then proceeded to quietly make his instructional points.
Noll once said, "I don't motivate people. I direct motivated people." He came to the Steelers with an exceptional pedigree. He had played for Paul Brown, and been an assistant to Sid Gillman and Don Shula. He arrived with a clear vision. Fixing one of the NFL's worst teams meant a complete overhaul. He told the players up front that most of them would be replaced. He sold Dan Rooney on building through the draft, reversing the Steelers' longstanding and destructive habit of trading draft picks for short-term veteran help.
Then he started teaching. Noll was a perfectionist. Undersized as an offensive lineman for the Browns, he earned his playing time by knowing and executing his assignments. He was smart, and he didn't ever hide that. Teammates sarcastically nicknamed him "Knute Knowledge" and "The Pope," the latter for his perceived infallibility.
Noll had diverse interests away from the field. Erudite is a word that fits. His passions included sailing, wine and gourmet cooking. He cultivated roses that were entered in competitions. He earned a pilot's license. People who visited his home said there was nothing there that gave away his profession. Football was his job, but not part of the decor.
The lights rarely burned late at Steelers offices. While some coaching staffs stayed past midnight or even slept in the office, Noll felt that working past the point of fatigue was counter-productive.
Noll firmly believed in his ways, which may be a polite way of staying he was stubborn. He was among the last holdouts on having a special teams coach, a full-time long snapper and using the shotgun formation. He had rifts with other coaches -- Sam Wyche over post-game handshakes, and Jerry Glanville over what Noll perceived as dirty play. Publicity hounds Wyche and Glanville tried to fan the flames, but Noll wouldn't bite.
He avoided the spotlight. He had one endorsement deal in his 23 years as coach, and he regretted it. A friend talked him into doing a bank ad, and he cringed every time he drove past his likeness on a billboard.
It wasn't all roses, of course. When the legends of the '70s teams faded away, too many ordinary players replaced them. In Noll's last 12 years, the Steelers were 93-91 with four playoff appearances. They never seriously competed for a title. That was a disappointment because of the expectations Noll had created.
Football was not part of his retirement years. The Steelers annually listed Charles H. Noll as an Administration Advisor in their team directory, but he was rarely seen. He suffered from crippling back problems, and distressing but persistent whispers said he was also afflicted with Alzheimer's.
Those reports got traction from the way his protective wife regularly rejected requests for interviews. When former assistant Tony Dungy called before Super Bowl XLI to express his gratitude to Noll for launching his career, Marianne Noll told him Chuck was unavailable, but she would pass along the message.
When Noll was still coaching, someone asked him a flowery question about his legacy. It was the kind of thing he especially enjoyed deflating.
With that twinkle in his eye, Noll said, "Don't leave anything on the beach but your footprints."
Chuck Noll left more than that. The impressive inventory includes four Super Bowl trophies, a profound impact on the lives of his players, and a standard of excellence the Steelers still strive to meet.

Beaver County Times, June 8, 2014

Not only did the Penguins hire a new general manager, it looks like they set up a succession plan.
Jim Rutherford, a Penguins' goalie in the days of Bugsy Watson and Eddie Shack, got the job just after his long reign as Carolina's GM ended. Rutherford's name didn't even surface until just a few days before the announcement was made.
It looks like Rutherford is here to hire a coach and to train deputy Jason Botterill to take over the GM job, probably sooner rather than later. Apprenticing under Rutherford will give Botterill a chance to get a perspective other than Ray Shero's on running an organization.
The Penguins think highly of Botterill and don't want to lose him. This plan gives him time to learn the job more thoroughly. It wouldn't be a big surprise to see the 65-year-old Rutherford ease into an advisory job after a season or two, allowing Botterill to take over.
The Penguins threw such a blanket over the process that Rutherford's hiring came as something of a surprise. Everyone got sidetracked over the Pierre Maguire debate. But as things are structured, it makes sense. Hire a guy who is looking to close a long career on a positive note.
Rutherford still has the ability and energy to take on the challenge for the short term, and he gets to leave a lasting imprint on the organization by mentoring his successor.
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--HIDING OUT
It would be nice if Penguins ownership could come out of the bunker once in a while and explain its thought process.
David Morehouse serves as the spokesman, but the money men obviously have final authority. Mario Lemieux seems to enjoy being a recluse and making all public appearances strictly on his terms.
But a lot of customers have money and emotion invested in the Penguins and deserve at least a perfunctory level of transparency from the organization.
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--EXPENSIVE PROBLEM
The Pirates gave Starling Marte a six-year, $31 million contract extension a few months ago. Their return so far has been a lingering headache.
Marte has been sitting on the bench lately, thinking about the talk Clint Hurdle had with him during the team's California trip. According to Hurdle, he let Marte know that his sometimes disinterested approach isn't acceptable. Hurdle revealed this on his pre-game radio show. His decision to make their conversation public probably speaks to the frustration Hurdle feels about Marte's play this year.
Except for a surge when he was dropped to a lower spot in the order, Marte has been one of the Pirates' biggest disappointments.
If things don't get better, you wonder if there might be a shock treatment --  a minor league demotion when Gregory Polanco is called up.
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--FAIR WARNING
Beware: The annual Pirates Charities auction will take place during Tuesday's game coverage on Root Sports.
This means the bidding will be wedged in there with the usual crowd shots, river shots and dugout shots of Hurdle chewing gum. If you want to actually follow the game, better click on the radio.
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--FROM THE ARCHIVES
If you want a giggle, Google Rutherford's old hockey cards. He had long rock-star hair and a droopy mustache, quite a contrast from his current grandpa look.
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--SAYING GOODBYE
So long, Dan Bylsma. It was always convoluted.

Beaver County Times, June 1, 2014

June is here, and that means it may be just a few weeks until the Pirates summon prospect Gregory Polanco from the minor leagues.
Hallelujah, not because of Polanco's enormous potential, but because it should stop the endless whining about Polanco's remaining at Class AAA. For all the hand-wringing about Polanco's zip code of the moment, the Pirates' biggest problem has been pitching, especially the starting staff.
Utilityman Josh Harrison has given the team its best production from right field over the past few weeks. But the biggest positive difference has been a slight uptick from the starting pitchers.
It's always been that way. It's one of those few baseball truths that actually holds up as spreadsheets now challenge every other belief: The quality of starting pitching is usually the biggest factor in a team's success.
The Pirates got spotty offense but excellent starting pitching last year and won 94 games. The starters went deep enough into games often enough to allow the relievers to line up in logical order and perform efficiently.
The starting pitching hasn't been as good through the first third of this season, and that's created a degree of chaos in the bullpen.
It all starts with run prevention, and that starts with pitching and defense. The Pirates have been lacking in both of those areas through the first 54 games.
If Polanco is everything the Pirates expect him to be, he will certainly help. But reality is he's a rookie with limited experience above the Class AA level. Before Barry Bonds became the game's biggest star, he batted .223 as a rookie in 1986. After almost two years in the major leagues, Starling Marte is still giving away too many at-bats.
Polanco should help, but not as much as the 2013 version of Francisco Liriano will.
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--AMERICA THE PROFITABLE
Isn't it odd that most baseball broadcasts deliberately omit the National Anthem on a daily basis, yet it's important that all MLB teams wear special limited edition camouflage-style uniforms on Memorial Day?
Patriotism matters most when it comes with merchandise that  can be sold via the official team websites. By the way, the Memorial Day caps are $37.99 and the special one-day jerseys are $202.99. Plus shipping.
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--SPY MISSION
Creepy Donald Sterling is such a perfectly despicable villain that no one seems to notice his ignominious demise has come from secret recordings of conversations he thought were private.
How many people would be comfortable with having their unguarded daily comments airing on the network news?
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--TAKING ADVANTAGE
The New York Rangers' presence in the Stanley Cup final proves the Eastern Conference really was wide open this season.
That only makes the Penguins' collapse all the more painful.
The Rangers are a good but not great team with an exceptional goaltender. They'll be underdogs no matter who wins the other conference, but they've already gone further than the Penguins' star-laden team has in the last five years.
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--NO SUPER MODEL
That full-face cover portrait of the geeky NBA commissioner must have been Sports Illustrated's payback to the people who complain about the swimsuit issue.
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--WHAT'S THAT SOUND?
If you listen closely late at night, you can hear Dan Byslma slowly twisting in the wind.

Beaver County Times, May 25, 2014

Sidney Crosby's honeymoon lasted nine years, and that's impressive. A lot of marriages don't make it that long.
But now for the first time there's dissatisfaction with Crosby among some Penguins fans. (This rightfully ignores the irrational loons who maintained he shouldn't have missed so many games with concussion issues).
The fifth straight postseason failure has cost Ray Shero's job and will probably wind up claiming up Dan Byslma, too. Crosby isn't going anywhere, but he's come away from it with his first scars.
The criticism is not without merit. Crosby didn't produce in the playoffs, and that's only part of the story. For the first time in his career, he looked like he was distracted and functioning at less than his usual intensity.
Crosby has said repeatedly there was no secret injury issue that hampered him. At this point, you almost hope he was hiding something. Because otherwise he looked like a guy whose focus was on hitting the reset button for a suddenly dysfunctional organization.
Snapping at Bylsma on the bench may not have been that big a deal, but it's something that hadn't happened before and speaks to Crosby's state of mind. Crosby wasn't very captain-like, and no sport takes that designation more seriously than hockey does. What example is set when the captain cuts shifts short and sits on the bench looking bewildered, like he's waiting for Marcel Goc to suddenly fix what's wrong?
Crosby has been so PR-perfect in his time here that it always seemed like a savvy 45-year-old was inhabiting his body. He endures two waves of questions after every game, taking TV cameras first and everyone else thereafter.
He finds a way to answer dumb questions without insulting the person who asked. He never throws teammates under the bus, even when they've played terribly.
In so many ways he resembles Wayne Gretzky, who came to pro hockey with the same street-smart degree in media relations and almost otherworldly sense of responsibility. Crosby was also possessed by the same hockey obsession that gripped Gretzky. The game seemed to be his only interest in life.
Maybe Crosby was just wiped out by the hangover from the Olympics. Maybe there was an injury. Whatever happened, Penguins fans finally saw a different side of Crosby, and it wasn't appealing.
The reconciliation process should be interesting. But he'll be in the same position Marc-Andre Fleury was this year -- nothing really matters until the playoffs.
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--WANDY'S WIPEOUT
Releasing Wandy Rodriguez isn't as bold a move as it may seem. The Pirates owe him $5.6 million, and that was a fixed cost the day they acquired him. His replacement will make somewhere near the major league minimum, so that won't be a big issue.
If anyone picks up Rodriguez after he clears waivers, he could wind up being paid by three teams this season. Baseball players should set aside a corner of their mansions for a shrine to Marvin Miller, the union leader who got them incredible wealth and benefits.
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--JOSH'S JOLT
Beyond the timely hits and great catches, Josh Harrison has given the Pirates a Red Bull-like jolt of energy. But that's temporary. Now it's up to the everyday players to take that spark and make it something bigger.

Beaver County Times, May 18, 2014

Wait a minute....Ray Shero got fired because he traded Mark Letestu?
In the fallout from Friday's bizarre announcement that Shero was gone but Dan Bylsma was staying (for the moment), Penguins owner Ron Burkle apparently expressed regret that Shero traded Letestu to Columbus for a fourth-round draft pick in 2011.
Letestu is a serviceable, honest hockey player best suited for duty on a third or fourth line. When he was with the Penguins, he couldn't always fill that role because of the team's talent level. He was a tweener, a guy who always needed to keep a suitcase packed, along with an updated list of rental properties in Wilkes Barre.
He found a home with Columbus, where the top two centers aren't named Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. He would have fit on this year's Penguins, too, because too many of the last six forwards were players who didn't belong in the NHL.
But the trade was made in 2011. If it was a bad deal -- and it wasn't at the time -- does it offset in any way the positively lopsided deals that brought Marian Hossa, Pascal Dupuis, Bill Guerin, Chris Kunitz and James Neal to Pittsburgh?
If you want to complain about poor drafting, that's valid. Blast Shero for the imbalance of this year's team's forward depth chart. Make the case that too many no-trade clauses are a handicap in a salary cap system. Rail against the loyalty to Bylsma that resulted in last year's contract extension.
But the Letestu trade isn't even worthy of a mention in the context of his time as Penguins' GM.
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--WHAT GOES AROUND...
Sometimes wise parents caution their children, "Just wait until you have kids of your own."
The message is you'll see your own selfishness and misdeeds in a different context when the roles change.
Wonder if Mario Lemieux has that feeling when he sees his team captain/former boarder sulking and clearly unhappy with the way things are being run?
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--UNSPORTSMANLIKE CONDUCT
Even before the Penguins exited the playoffs, one of the players was blindsided by the cheapest of shots from 93.7 The Fan (KDKA-FM).
The afternoon Starkey and Mueller show featured a recorded skit that pretended to be a conversation between Marc-Andre Fleury and his sports psychologist. The premise was actually promising. Scripted comedy has to be better than so much of the stuff that fills time between The Fan's extended commercial breaks: too many snarling hosts raging, complete with dramatic pauses, in an effort to draw action from the redundant "Thanks for taking my call" people.
The fake Fleury bit was tepid, but it really failed when fictional Fleury made light of defenseman Rob Scuderi's nickname of "The Piece." Phony Fleury said something along the lines of now Scuderi is known as "the piece of (bleep)."
Ouch. How did he deserve that level of vitriol? Is Scuderi accused of murder, like Aaron Hernandez is? Did he rob pension funds like Denny McLain did? Did he steal a franchise from loyal fans like Art Modell did?
No, no and no. Scuderi's "crime" was playing at less than the level he's showed before in his career. For that, he gets excoriated in the vilest terms? Somebody needs to recalibrate their sense of proportion before the next attempt at comedy.

Beaver County Times, May 11, 2014

Before the Steelers make questionable draft picks, they amass as much information as they can about the eligible players.
They watch tape, they compile scouting reports from multiple sources, and they ask a lot of questions. In recent years, it's become standard for teams to invite draft candidates in for personal interviews. That gives the staff a chance to look the player in the eye and get a feel for his personality.
The interviews are wide-ranging. Mike Tomlin said he likes to ask players if they have any hidden talents. That loosens things up. One of his questions should also be, "Do you see any problem with being on Carson Street at 3 o'clock in the morning?"
That became an issue with Mike Adams, the Steelers' second round pick in 2012. He was on the South Side streets either very late on a Saturday night or very early on a Sunday morning and wound up in the hospital to get treatment for a stab wound.
His assailants recently went on trial and wound up beating the rap on the most serious charges. The jury may not have been sold on their story, but they absolutely didn't believe Adams' version, which claimed a robbery attempt.
The details are up for debate, but the fundamental problem is being on Carson Street at 3 a.m. Unless you're really early for 9 o'clock Mass at Prince of Peace on 15th Street, there's no good reason to be out among the nightcrawlers -- not when you have a million dollar career to protect. Get Netflix. Order a pizza. Stay in.
Adams was a character issue because of a positive drug test in college. He convinced the Steelers during his interview that he was better than that.
The Steelers spent their first-round pick on Santonio Holmes in 2006. Outstanding receiver, but a person who had a knack for finding trouble.
Holmes had fathered several children by different women while in college. Maybe that should have been a red flag. On draft day, one Steelers coach made a crude off-the-record joke to shrug off Holmes' paternity issues.
Later he was charged with marijuana possession and wound up posting Twitter messages that showed questionable judgment. After the best season of his career, the Steelers wound up giving Holmes away in a trade for a fifth-round draft pick just to get rid of the headaches.
What does it all mean? Evaluate the player's talent, but weigh that against his character, too. Before you spend millions on a player, make sure he's not going to cause the police to call in the middle of the night.
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--HEAVY METAL BELLS
Bill Cowher told KDKA-TV that he will be getting married "in the spring," which means soon.
His fiance is Montclair, N. J. native Veronica Stigeler, known professionally as "Queen V." She's a musician and singer, but hardly in the Adele mold. She's opened for Metallica, Billy Idol and Twisted Sister.
Cowher, 57, and Stigeler, 42, have been dating since he began living part-time in New York for his CBS-TV duties.
They're keeping details quiet, but you can count on two things: 1. The reception will not be at the Crafton fire hall and, 2. with his football friends and her musical cronies, it's going to be one intense hokey pokey.