I picked the Kansas City Chiefs to win Super Bowl 54, but I admit I wasn’t at all confident in my selection. For most of the game I thought I should have picked the team with the better defense and that was San Francisco. But leave it to Patrick Mahomes and his Chiefs. They are truly the comeback kids after coming from behind in three playoff games, including the most important one of all…the Super Bowl. I didn’t think Mahomes was very good for most of the game, but he was money when it counted down the stretch. Hats off to the eventual Super Bowl MVP for leading his team to three late scores. Kansas City ended a fifty year drought be winning Super Bowl 54. They deserved to raise the Lombardi Trophy.
• Congratulations to Andy Reid for finally winning football’s biggest trophy. Reid had won a ton of regular season games and came up short in his first trip to the Super Bowl. This victory assures Reid a spot in the Hall of Fame someday. And with a great young quarterback in Patrick Mahomes he may win a few more before he rides off into retirement.
• Niners coach Kyle Shanahan will be second guessed after watching his team give up a ten point lead in the fourth quarter. I was very surprised that the Niners ever threw the ball late in the game, given their great running game and knowing that all they needed to do was bleed the clock. San Francisco didn’t do that. Shanahan was the offensive coordinator when Atlanta blew a big lead and didn’t run the ball late in the game against the New England Patriots. You would think he would have learned from that debacle. Shanahan’s a great young coach, but he’s going to hear about these fourth quarter collapses in the Super Bowl for as long as he coaches.
• I was thrilled to see Troy Polamalu selected to the Hall of Fame on the first ballot, but not at all surprised. Polamalu was a game changer. He was one of those guys you couldn’t keep your eyes off him. He made plays that made you wonder how in the world he did that. While I’m thrilled for Troy, I do feel for Alan Faneca. He failed it get elected after being a finalist for the fifth year in a row. Hopefully Faneca gets in next year. He certainly deserves to join the other Steelers in Canton.
• Was there any doubt that The Immaculate Reception would be voted the greatest moment in NFL history? Not for all of us who follow the Black and Gold. I remember where I was and what went through my mind when Franco Harris pulled off the miracle in Three Rivers. I was listening to the game on the radio in our game room. Back then the game was actually blacked out on television in the Pittsburgh area. My dad and I went nuts when Jack Fleming delivered his iconic call. I’ll never forget when he uttered, “I don’t even know where he came from.” That play was the beginning of what would become a Steelers dynasty. What a moment.
• The Pens picked up right where they left off. They have to be pretty happy after coming off their long break and beating the Flyers at home and Capitals on the road. The trade deadline isn’t far away and I fully expect Jim Rutherford to go for it again this year. That means he is working the phones and will most likely try to pull off another trade or two. The next few weeks should be very interesting.
• Many of us here at Renda Broadcasting were guests of the Pirates at Seven Springs this past week for the annual radio affiliates seminar. The Pirates put on a first-class event and it’s a great chance for us to talk baseball. Owner Bob Nutting is always there. I had a chance to speak with him a couple of times. Nutting has taken a lot of heat for the way he runs his team, much of it deserved, and says both he and the Pirates need to be more transparent going forward. I believe you will see a lot more of Bob Nutting in the future. I doubt he will be throwing millions at free agents, but I do get the feeling that he has heard the fans and wants to bring a winner to Pittsburgh.
• The Pirates announcers are really good at what they do and are some of the nicest guys you will ever meet. Greg Brown, Joe Block and Bob Walk answered a lot of questions during the seminar. We also got to spend time with them the night before and discussed a lot of topics. I could listen to them talk baseball all day. All of the guys are energized by the changes the Pirates have made and are looking forward to the upcoming season. I’m looking forward to listening to them on WCCS all season long.
Shelton and Cherington
Walk, Brown and Block
Block
• I really like the hires of Derek Shelton as manager and Ben Cherington as general manager of the Pirates. Shelton, who is getting his first chance to manage in the big leagues, will be a good communicator with his players and brings a fresh new attitude to the Pirates. I think he will win over his players very quickly. You can tell just by speaking with Cherington that he is a really smart guy and has a plan in place to acquire talent to make the Pirates competitive in the coming years. I got to visit with both men a couple of different times over the two days and came away extremely impressed. I hope they each enjoy great success in Pittsburgh.
• There’s a lot of talk about the designated hitter coming to the National League, sooner rather than later. Greg Brown and Bob Walk aren’t fans of this. Brownie absolutely hates it. Shelton said that it definitely impacts how you manage the game. I too don’t like the DH. I think a pitcher should be rewarded for helping his team at bat. More power to the guy if he can put down a bunt or get a hit. Unfortunately, the DH is probably coming. And when you consider that it will create more jobs it’s probably a given that the designate hitter will one day be universal in baseball. But that doesn’t mean we have to like it.
• The IUP women’s basketball team is red hot. They’ve now won eighteen straight games and are an incredible 20-1. What a team.
• The IUP men’s basketball team actually lost this weekend when they fell at Mercyhurst. The nine-game winning streak may be over but this team will still make a lot of noise before this season is over.