Of course the New England Patriots are back in the Super Bowl. What’s hard to believe is this is the tenth appearance for New England and eighth for the combo of Tom Brady and Bill Belichick. Even when they were down by ten in the fourth quarter, I figured the Pats would rally to beat surprising Jacksonville. Brady isn’t called the Greatest of All Time for nothing. Same goes for Belichick. Truth be told, I can’t stand the Patriots, but there’s no denying what they have done is incredible.
• The Philadelphia Eagles, winless in their two previous Super Bowls, will get another shot at the Patriots. The Pats beat the Eagles in Super Bowl 39. They’ll be the heavy favorite again in this one. It would be something if Philly can win its first with backup quarterback Nick Foles leading the way. Foles has looked great since taking over for the injured Carson Wentz. Now he’ll try to do what Jeff Hostetler did when he led the New York Giants to an upset of the Buffalo Bills in Super Bowl 25.
• I’m guessing ticket prices for the big game in Minneapolis will come back down to earth after skyrocketing after the Vikings shocked the Saints. The Vikings came close, but won’t be the first team to play a Super Bowl in their home stadium. Too bad, because that would have been some story.
• It came as no surprise to me that Todd Haley lost his job as Steelers’ offensive coordinator. Haley did a pretty good job for the Steelers, and his offense did a solid job in protecting Ben Roethlisberger, which is something owner Art Rooney wanted when he brought Haley to town. We all knew that Haley and Big Ben didn’t’ have the greatest relationship. It now seems that Haley also had trouble getting along with a lot of other offensive coaches. In fact, three left a few seasons ago because they couldn’t work with Haley. I’m surprised the Steelers didn’t shake up their defensive staff. Keith Butler’s defense didn’t exactly shut down opposing teams, and made Jacksonville look like an offensive powerhouse. I don’t understand how there weren’t shakeups on the defensive side of the ball.
• Mike Florio, who does great work on his Pro Football Talk site, reported that some minority owners of the Steelers are asking the Rooney family to fire Mike Tomlin. It makes for a great story but it will never happen. End of story!
• There certainly was a lot of drama surrounding the Steelers this past season. Now comes word from veteran writer and IUP grad Ed Bouchette that Le’Veon Bell nearly missed the entire final walkthrough before the Steelers played Jacksonville. It’s hard to fathom how a player would do that, and how he would get away with it. Bill Belichick has cut or traded star players for a lot less than that. Mike Tomlin is often criticized for his team’s lack of discipline, and I agree with that. It’s time Art Rooney steps in and says, “Enough is enough!”
• I’m happy for Andrew McCutchen. The best player the Pirates have had in decades is now out of Pittsburgh. While I hate to see Cutch go, I’m also glad he gets a chance to join a team, the San Francisco Giants that has won multiple World Series and is committed to winning. That’s not the case in Pittsburgh.
• I was not opposed to trading Gerrit Cole and Andrew McCutchen and said that many times over the last year. My position all along was if the Pirates were to trade their top players they needed to get a great return to justify the deals. From all indications that isn’t what’s taken place. It will take a few years to really know how the trades work out. That said, many people who follow Major League Baseball think the Pirates did not get nearly enough in return in either trade. In fact, many call the return “underwhelming”.
• I don’t blame Josh Harrison for asking that he be the next player to be traded. Jay Hay knows the Pirates are going to lose a lot of games and wants no part of it. He’s spot on with his analysis. He too deserves to go to a winner.
• There is now an on-line petition asking Major League Baseball to make Bob Nutting sell the Pirates. That shows you the ire that Pirates’ fans have these days following the recent trades. The reality is it will do no good. MLB can’t force Nutting to sell the team because he won’t spend money to field a great team. Furthermore, Nutting has said repeatedly that he has no desire to sell the team. That’s not what Pirates’ fans want to hear, but it’s reality. Names such as Mario Lemieux and Mark Cuban have been linked to the Pirates before. Unfortunately, Nutting won’t sell to them or anyone else.
• The Pens are playing better these days, even if they only won one out of three on their west coast trip. One bright spot of late has been the play of goaltender Casey DeSmith, who has filled in with Matt Murray’s absence. DeSmith won’t get much playing team in Pittsburgh with Murray and Tristan Jarry onboard, but it’s nice to know that he’s there if the Pens need him.
• How much longer will Ian Cole be a healthy scratch? The Pens should either trade him, as has been speculated, or let him play.
