Saturday, December 31, 2005

Celebrate The Holidays With Your Steelers Entry # 9



"Pictured, Maddie Keller of Myrtle Beach sporting her moms new Big Ben jersey on Christmas morning. Later that day Maddie got her own hat from Uncle Rob (a Dallas fan but we won't hold that against him) and her aunt Erika. "

Maddie is the daughter of Jason and Mary Keller of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Aunt Erika and (Cowboys fan) Uncle Rob both live in Columbia, South Carolina. Jason, Mary, and Erika are all from Cumberland, MD, and the evil Uncle Rob in from Northern Virginia.

Check out cute this little girl is in her Steelers gear!

Friday, December 30, 2005

Celebrate The Holidays With Your Steelers Entry # 8


Betsy Jo Policicchio from Baltimore, MD sent this pic of herself and Jessica (Pugh) Hardesty(currently Wilimington, NC) at a Steelers game decked out in their gear during the holidays. Betsy Jo and Jessica are both originally from Somerset, PA. I love the hats. Here we go Steelers, here we go...

Salaries & Bonus Money

The Post Gazette ran an article last week detailing the Steelers current payroll. I found it interesting to look at the different way we pay players. Click on the link to see the chart.

http://www.post-gazette.com/downloads/20051220_steelerssalaries.htm

Steelers Fan Passes While Home Over The Holidays


Danette Jelinek died from a heart aneurysm while in Pittsburgh visiting family during the Christmas holidays. I received the news yesterday. Her and her family have lived in Columbia, SC for the past several years. Attached is a pic of Danette showing her Steelers pride this past September at the Keller-Jacobs wedding. Our thoughts and prayers go out to her and her family.

Thursday, December 29, 2005

AFC North Update


The 11-4 first place Bungles travel to Kansas City to take on the Chiefs in a 1:00 games. Reports coming from Cincy indicate that Carson Palmer will not play in the game so he can rest for the playoffs. If the Bungles lose in KC, and we win our game, both teams would finish with a 11-5 record. Cincy would own the tie breaker with their divisional record of 5-1. We have two losses in the division. Bungles and Ravens. That Baltimore game comes back to bite us in the ass yet again! We are locked into second place with a 10-5 record and host the Lions in a 1:00 game at Heinz Field. The 6-9 third place Ravens travel to Cleveland to take on the 5-10 last place Brownies in another 1:00 game. There are different scenarios for us getting into the playoffs, but the easiest one to follow will be for us to just win on Sunday and ensure us another game in January. If we win on Sunday we will travel to either Cincy or New England for the Wild Card playoff game the weekend of 1/7. Times have not been announced as of yet.

Contest Winner Will Be Announced Thursday 1/5

I will announce the winner for our "Celebrate the holidays with your Steelers" contest next Thursday when I send out the weekly update. You still have a couple of days to e-mail me your entries. Think the holiday season and your boys in the black and gold. Keep in mind that I am a sucker for little kids sporting the colors!

Steelers @ Brownies 12/24







Here are some cool photos from the Cleveland game.

Just Another Home Game...









This may have been the "Turnpike Rivalry" game played in Cleveland, but you could not really tell for sure it was a road game unless you looked at our white uniforms. Bottom line, Pittsburgh fans are everywhere, and we travel well. Check out some of the interesting fans seen from around the stadium on Saturday. In this batch of pics there is a lone Browns fan holding a sign for Big Ben, you have to check it out.

This Is How We Treat Brownie Fans!


During the game on Saturday a stupid Cleveland fan ran onto the field and interrupted the game. Charles Woodward from Hagerstown, MD sent me this video of the event unfolding. A Steelers fan from the web has went on the web and has added music to the clip. Check this out. Thanks Charles!(Unfortunately Charles cheers for boys from Buffalo. We still love him, and we still have time to convert him. LOL!!!) Click on this link to see the video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch.php?v=ia0_H9vwSyk&search=Steelers%20Browns%20fan%20Harrison%20body%20slam%20madrazo%20viral%20NFL%20Cleveland%20Pittsburgh%20football%20Nathan%20Mallett

Check This Out...

Charles sent me the link for James Harrison slamming the Cleveland fan to the turf. I found this on the same site. We all know the "Here we go" song, someone has made a family video of it. This is really cool. Click on the link to see the video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch.php?v=NrRWfJn2MsM&search=Steelers%20Browns%20fan%20Harrison%20body%20slam%20madrazo%20viral%20NFL%20Cleveland%20Pittsburgh%20football%20Nathan%20Mallett

Monday, December 26, 2005

Celebrate The Holidays With Your Steelers Entry # 7


Here is Brooke Podlaszewski sporting her Steelers gear(Check out the Steelers logo on her jammies!) during her first visit to meet Santa. Brooke is the daughter of Dave and Amy Podlaszewski from Salisbury, MD and originally from Peters Township. Santa asked Brooke what she wanted for Christmas and her reply was "One For The Thumb"!

Celebrate The Holidays With Your Steelers Entry # 6



Penny & Hayden McLaughlin from Oakland, MD show their support for the Steelers during their 41-0 win over the Brownies. Check out Mr. Hayden sporting the Big Ben jersey and Steelers throwback leather helmet. We may be looking at a future QB for the black and gold.

Celebrate The Holidays With Your Steelers Entry # 5


Todd, Mandi, & Courage Hetrick from Oakland, MD, show their spirit for the Steelers in front of their Christmas tree. Courage is the number one dog of the Steelers Nation.

Gameballs...



This week's gameballs are going to our trio of Running Backs in Parker, Bettis, and Haynes...and additionally to our entire Defense who pitched a shutout against the Brownies. Bettis carried the ball seven times for 24 yards and a touchdown, Haynes ten times for 57 yards and a touchdown, and "Fast Willie" Parker 17 times for 130 yards and a touchdown. Our rushing attack chewed up 209 yards on the ground and averaged six yards a carry.

Our Defense held the Brownies to 55 yards rushing and only 178 yards of total offense. Charlie Frye was sacked eight times for a loss of 60 yards. We have been killed on allowing other teams to convert on third downs all season. On Saturday we only allowed the Brownies to convert on 2/16 attempts on third down. Larry Foote led the defense with eight solo tackles, one assist, and one sack. Clark Haggans had five solos, an assist, and a sack. Keisel had two sacks, Porter three, and Townsend a sack as well. Hats off to the Defense. They are starting to show a little "swagger".

Four Steelers Named To Pro Bowl





Alan Faneca, Jeff Hartings, Joey Porter, and Troy Polamalu were all named to represent the Steelers in Hawaii at the Pro Bowl. I was disappointed that Casey Hampton was not named among those going to Hawaii. Hampton, Hines Ward, Aaron Smith, and James Farrior have all had very good years and may be included on the invite list as we get closer to the game in early February. There is still the better part of six weeks of football to be played and injuries are part of the game. Ward is not having a great year with the number of receptions he has, but his all around game has superb. He has been the catalyst for our offense. Smith went to the Pro Bowl last year and has had another exceptional season this year as well. Farrior has once again led our defense but he is being hurt by his numbers which reflect him missing a couple of games because of an injury mid season. His play has been rock solid. This brings me to Casey. There is absolutely no reason why Casey Hampton should not be going to the Pro Bowl. In my opinion he is the best Nosetackle in pro football. His stats do not jump out at you, but he is the disruption that allows all of the other players to get the glory. He has to fight through double teams on every play. Let's all hope that big #98 will be in Honolulu come February.

Saturday, December 24, 2005

AFC North Update

Da 11-3 Bungles have clinched the AFC North crown and host the Bills today at 1:00. The Bungles are looking for a win to help their campaign for the second seed i the AFC playoff picture. We travel to Cleveland today with a 9-5 record and currently are in a position to claim the final playoff seed. This year's final installment of the "Turnpike Rivalry" has huge playoff implicatons for us. Kickoff is slated for 1:00. The Brownies are currently tied for last place in the division with a 5-9 record. The tied for last place 5-9 Ravens host the Vikings tomorrow on Sunday Night Football. Everyone be sure to get their terrible towels out. Our boys are going to need us so we can hopefully win out the last two games. Here we go Steelers, here we go...

I just found an interesting fact in today's Post Gazette...

"The Steelers are Winter's Team; no one has more wins in December and January in the regular season since 2000. They are 21-6. They also have won 10 of their past 11 games against the Browns."

Wednesday, December 21, 2005

Celebrate The Holidays With Your Steelers Entry # 4



I decided to go retro and break out the old school Bradshaw jersey for my submission. Here we go Steelers, Here we go...

Gameballs...


I have just one thing to say...Big Nasty D! We will award gameballs to our entire defensive unit for their outstanding performance. We held Minnesota to 54 rushing yards and 185 total yards on offense. We limited them to only three conversions on third down out of 12 opportunities, and caused three turnovers. Two picks and a fumble recovery. The Vikes only score came on a special teams turnover that allowed the Vikes a first and goal at our three yard line. Three plays later they had to settle for a field goal. Individual standouts on the afternoon were Larry Foote with seven solo tackles and one sack which led to our safety, Joey Porter with a sack and an interception, James Farrior with five solo tackles and four assists, and Deshea Townsend with a pick. Mr Farrior will accept the gameballs for Dick Lebeau's group.

Black & Blue Division?






I thought the NFC North, or old NFC Central, was supposed to be known as the "black and blue division". ??? Anyways... Our Steelers showed the NFC North division leading Vikings how to play our style of "smash mouth football". Final score 18-3! Our offense struggled a bit once we got inside their red zone, and had to settle for three field goals and one touchdown. It would have been nice for us to convert these opportunites into touchdowns. Our Defense and Special Teams flexed their muscles for the second week in a row.

Tuesday, December 20, 2005

Steeler Fans Show Up To Support Their Team





Once again we prove that there are Steeler fans everywhere. Including Minnesota... Here are some cool pics from Sunday inside the Metrodome. Gotta love the little kid holding the sign for Santa, and yes...real women do love Steeler football!

Wednesday, December 14, 2005

Celebrate The Holidays With Your Steelers Entry # 3



Jessica Hardesty sent these pics from last years Ravens/Steelers game on December 26th in Pittsburgh. Jessica, Ben, and Betsy are all originally from Somerset, PA. Jessica now lives in Wilmington, NC, Ben in Elkton, MD, and Betsy in Baltimore, MD. Check out the great Steeler themed Santa hats! Gotta love those beer koozies as well. Here we go Steelers, here we go...

Celebrate The Holidays With Your Steelers Entry # 2



This little cutie is named Brooke. She is the daughter of Dave and Amy Podlaszewski of Salisbury, MD. Dave grew up in Peters Township and is one of my best friends from WVU. People sometimes ask the question why don't the Steelers have cheerleaders? I have always answered very quickly that it is because of tradition. We have never had them. I stand corrected! I was going through a book and came across a picture from 1968 showing the Steelerettes. Apparently this was short lived and did not go over real well. If you take one look at Brooke, the Steelers may want to rethink their logic on no cheerleaders in about 20 years!

Celebrate The Holidays With Your Steelers Entry # 1



Anita showed her spirit for the season last evening by getting decked out in her Steelers garb in front of her Christmas Tree. Gotta Love the last pic. Here we go Steelers, here we go...

Where Was The Bears Vaunted Defense?




We absolutely controlled the line of scrimmage on Sunday. Here our some key stats to take away from the game which displays how we smacked around the Bears number one ranked defense. We totaled 363 net offensive yards with 190 yards coming on the ground. We committed zero turnovers and did not allow Ben to be sacked all afternoon. He had one of the cleanest uniforms to be found on the field despite the muddy conditions. We controlled the clock for 37:19 minutes of the game. Last but not least, we converted 7/14 third down conversions. Bottom line. We showed the Bears how to play our version of smash mouth football.