The Sitting of the Bulls

The trade deadline came and went in the NBA last week, and it was suprisingly quiet. Isaiah and the Knicks made their required "What the hell are you thinking!?" trade getting Steve Francis from the Rockets. This column isn't going to be another bashing Isaiah though. I kinda feel that nothing needs to be written about his GM abilities. You just have to watch to truly appreciate it anyway. I mean I want to watch the Knicks now just to see if Stephon Marbury and Francis become the first teammates to fight each other on court.

One thing that didn't happen at the trade deadline that did bother me was the lack of action by the Bulls. I don't know what GM Jim Paxson tried to do. I just know that he didn't do it. I'm sick of it too. There was a time in this town when the Bulls dominated our daily lives. Michael Jordan was God. Then MJ left, Scottie and Phil were pushed out, and basketball in Chicago died. Years of 13 win seasons killed my love for the sport. I still watched, but not like I used to. It was more to see how bad it could get. It was during this time that my love for college basketball really blossomed. Then last year happened.

The Bulls made the playoffs with nothing but a bunch of young role players. They were eliminated in the first round, but there was hope in this city again. This year that hope has been squashed. The Bulls aren't horrible, but they aren't that good either. I can't remember where I read it, or heard it but somebody said "The Bulls are a team of good complimentary players. The problem is they have nobody to compliment." and its 100% true. Then I started to hear rumors the last few weeks. Three superstar players were available through trade. They were Boston's Paul Pierce, Minnesota's Kevin Garnett, and even Seattle's Ray Allen. Allen and Garnett were long shots, but Pierce wasn't. Pierce was exactly what this team needs too.

As a franchise the Bulls have everything they need to make this kind of deal too. They have a lot of young talent, and a lot of draft picks. (Thank you Isaiah.) Once again though the Bulls refused to take the "chance." Instead they opted to keep the young players and draft picks and see what happens. It's the same damn approach they've had since the Dynasty crumbled, and guess what? It hasn't worked. We had the #1 pick and took Elton Brand from Duke. He was a consistent 20 points, 10 rebound a game guy. Few years later we drafted high schooler Eddy Curry, a seven footer. We then traded Elton Brand to the Clippers for another 7 foot high schooler, Tyson Chandler. Today Brand is an All Star and MVP candidate for the Clippers, Curry is with Isaiah and the Knicks, and Chandler is getting paid millions of dollars to score 5 points a game.

The Bulls don't need Paul Pierce though.

Yes the young nucleus of Kirk Hinrich, Ben Gordon, Luol Deng, and Andres Nocioni is nice. It's not a championship team though. Championship teams have that one player that can always be counted on when the team is off. The Spurs have Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, and Manu Ginobli. The Pistons have Chauncey Billups, Rip Hamilton, and Rasheed Wallace. The Lakers had Shaq and Kobe. The Bulls had Jordan. This Bulls team has.............

Where as I don't like the idea of trading Gordon or Deng, if it's for Paul Pierce I have no problem what so ever. I was watching the Bulls game Saturday night in Philadelphia. Currently the Bulls are 9th in the Eastern conference, a few games behind #8 Philly. This game was important for both teams in winning the final playoff berth, and right to be destroyed by Detroit. At one point in the 4th quarter the Bulls had closed the gap to 1 point. They then proceeded to turn the ball over on 5 consecutive possessions. Meanwhile Sixers star Allen Iverson took the game over, and won it for the Sixers. If the Bulls have Peirce they don't turn the ball over 5 times. It looked like nobody had any idea who was supposed to take the shots. No offense to Chris Duhon, but when the Bulls are running plays for him with the game on the line, I'm not comforted. As a result the Bulls kept throwing the ball away.

Did you see Pierce last night though? The Celtics were able to beat the Lakers in L.A. 112-111 thanks to Paul Pierce. He finished the game with 39points, 4 assists, and 7 rebounds. Along the way he also hit the game winning free throw, which is another huge benefit of Pierce. He can get to the foul line, while the Bulls are the absolute worst team in the NBA in getting to the free throw line. Also I can guarantee you no current Bull will put up that stat line in any game this season or next.

The Sixers game was a perfect microcosm of the entire season. It's been this way all along. The Bulls play well during games but they always get to that one point where they need a leader to emerge, and they just don't have one. This team needs Paul Peirce, or somebody like him. Even if they make the playoffs, they damn sure better try to get him in the offseason. Or else I fear it's gonna be the same ole same old on Madison St. for the next few seasons.

Random Thoughts

• If you haven't heard or seen what Kenny Williams said about Frank Thomas go here. Being a fan of the White Sox, and a fan of Frank growing up I kinda just wish this could have been avoided, but well, Frank does need to learn to shut up.
• Speaking of Garnett did you see what he got thrown out of Minnesota's game for yesterday? I know for a fact that Oscar votes have to be in today, but if you haven't sent in your ballots yet we have a new nominee for Best Actor. He got hit in the face by a basketball and had to leave on a stretcher.
• Vince Young apparently has bombed his Wonderlic test. The Wonderlic is a test given to all the rookies to evaluate their mental ability. Young alledgedly got a 16 while other QB's like Matt Leinart and Jay Cutler scored a 35 and 29 respectively. This may hurt his draft position cuz we all know the most important thing on the football field is being able to know that a right angle is 90 degrees.
• Speaking of the NFL draft, apparently the Houston Texans are shopping the #1 pick. It's gotta be hard to pass up on Reggie Bush, but honestly lookin at the Texans roster, it may be the best option. They have a lot more needs in other places, and Bush isn't necessary but he ain't bad to have either. Have to keep an eye on how all this develops.
• Roger Clemens pitched at Astros spring trainig today. His son took him deep. I wonder what Roger would have done if his mom took him deep?
• New NCAA rankings are out. Duke is still #1 while UConn and Nova swap #2 and #4 after UConn's victory yesterday.
• 17 people were nominated to the baseball Hall of Fame today. Somehow Minnie Minoso wasn't one of them. What a load of crap. Here are Minoso's career MLB numbers. Keep in mind these dont include his seasons in the Negro Leagues. .298AVG. 186 HR 205 SB 1951 Rookie of the Year, 7-time All Star, and 3-time Gold Glove winner. He should be in.

Sayonara Sammy

Sammy Sosa is going to retire. It isn't official yet, but only one team (Washington Nationals) offered him a contract this off season. Instead of signing it Sosa decided that the "insulting" $500,000 1 year deal wasn't worthy of him. As he retires there are only 4 men in the history of baseball with more career home runs, Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth, Barry Bonds, and Willie Mays. He retires only 12 homers shy of 600.

Why is he going so quietly though?

Well it's quite simple really. Steroids. There is no solid proof whether Sosa took steroids, but the court of public opinion seems to sway quite heavily towards the "Guilty" side of the spectrum. All the signs are there. I remember Sammy Sosa when he was a young kid on the White Sox. I think I weighed more than him at 9 years of age at the time. Now he is a hulk of a man. His head is enormous, and it's not just his ego. He has broken down considerably the last few seasons with injury, though age could also be a factor. All of a sudden after lighting up the Chicago papers with interviews and commercials he forgot how to speak English in front of Congress. We don't have any hypodermic needles with #21 written on them, but I think we have enough to draw a reasonable conclusion here.

It's pretty sad when you think about it. During the late 90's and early 00's Sammy Sosa owned Chicago. He was the new Michael Jordan, if only for half the city. Cub fans adored him, White Sox fans hated him. Either way, everybody watched him. Much like sports fans are prone to do however, we built somebody up to be larger than life, and then reveled in tearing him back down. Sosa though seems confused by all this. He came to this country from nothing. With his limited knowledge of the english language and American customs he was smart enough to see how to become loved. Hit the long ball. So Sammy did what he needed to do, and for a few years was the best at hitting a baseball ridiculous lengths.

Then we turned on him, and he had no idea why. He was Sammy Sosa, he was the hero. This is where the problems started. Sammy's problem is the fact that Sammy Sosa seems to be the only thing that mattered to him. When former Cubs manager Don Baylor decided to name Sosa and other Cubs captain in 98, Sammy was the only one who put a red "C" on his jersey. He didn't lead though. He even kept it on his jersey after Baylor was replaced by Dusty Baker, though in fans' minds the C did not stand for captain. It stood for Clown. Sosa was on the downward spiral long before the corked bat incident, in fact, that only cemented it.

It appears the last few years still haven't helped Sosa see reality though. He complained that the Nationals offer of 1 year $500,000 was an "insult." Never mind the fact that Sosa had spent the last 2 seasons making over $30 million dollars with sub par numbers.

Sosa's Numbers Over Last 2 Seasons
.238AVG 49HR 125RBI 217K's 95BB 1SB

While there are many major leaguers who won't have those numbers in a career, they aren't making $30 million either. Last year Sosa had a horrible season in Baltimore, a notorious hitters park for right handers. He caused clubhouse trouble by getting into a fight with Miguel Tejada. He wasn't even around the team for the last week of the season. It was still all about Sammy, even when all he did was strikeout.

Will there ever be another Major Leaguer with 588HR's to go out so quietly? Sosa will make the Hall of Fame, whether he's deserving or not. It's just that without actual concrete evidence of steroid use, it is hard to not vote for a man with these numbers:

Sosa's Career Numbers
.274AVG 2304H 1422R 588HR 1575RBI .345OBP .537SLG

Whether he'll be a first ballot guy is the only question. Without the steroids cloud, he would have been. Sosa will never be remembered like Aaron, Ruth, Mays, Mantle, or Dimaggio though. He, along with Mark McGwire, helped save baseball in 1998, yet he will join the countless others who played this game and were forgotten.

It's sad too, on so many different levels, and for so many different reasons.

Random Thoughts

• It's incredibly hard to get excited for the Olympics when you already know the results of everything before NBC airs it. Desperate Housewives beat the Olympics in the ratings Sunday night. Need I say anything else?
• Earlier this season I said the Big Ten was the best conference in college basketball. Well I've jumped the fence...sorta. The Big Ten is still the most competitive, but the Big East is the best. The game on Monday night between UConn and Villanova finally convinced me.
• Dear Isaiah Thomas and the New York Knicks, Please keep losing. With every loss you suffer, the closer the Chicago Bulls get to Adam "The White Larry Bird" Morrison. Thank you for being such a great General Manager, and tell Eddy Curry I said hi!
• Why can't we just give Ozzie Guillen his own talk show? What the hell is ESPN doing? Get on the ball. Everyday the Blizzard of Oz claims another victim. Today's guest? A-Rod.
• On the North Side the Cubs have some expectations of Kerry Wood this season. Those plans are kind of off to a bad start though.
• ESPN has released their first MLB Power Rankings for this season. The team on top isn't a surprise (I'm still not used to it though), but check out second place.
• Good news(?) Bears fans. The Vikings are working the phones.
• Speaking of the Bears, please add this man to my wish list next to Antwaan Randle El.
• U. of Indiana coach has apparently resigned, to his players.
• Bill Simmons sat down with NBA Chief David Stern for a nice interview. You can read it here.
• On a completely different subject, I love Dick Cheney saying it took so long to get the story out cuz he wanted to get the facts straight. Dick. You shot a guy in the face. What facts did you need to get straight? That kinda just makes it even more suspicious. At least the question of "Why don't Presidents fight the wars?" has been answered.

Get On The Boat

One of the biggest stories in the sporting world right now is former NHL player and current assistant coach of the Phoenix Coyotes gambling problem. His problem isn't that he gambles, it's that he got caught. (For more on that story go here.) This story brought up some old feelings of mine that I've had for a while.

Why not just make gambling legal?

There is a lot more good that can come out of it than bad. Just take a look at daily life here in America. Gambling is everywhere. There are Lotto's, and instant tickets. Casino's are popping up in towns all across the country when they used to be restricted to Nevada. When you open up a newspaper you see the point spreads for all the days sporting events. Even the times and horses in the area horse tracks are listed along with odds. You cannot turn on the television without a poker show being shown on some channel. IT'S EVERYWHERE.

So why isn't it legal? So many concessions have been made in local governments with casinos that just going all the way with legalization shouldn't be that difficult of a task. Instead our government is too busy trying to find ways to regulate the gambling that goes on. Like internet sportsbooks that are based off shore. The government wants to put a stop to such things, cuz well, they can't get their hands on any of that money. Perhaps if the government would make such businesses legal they would base themselves on American soil and could be taxed.

I am a gambler. I play online poker quite often, and during the NFL season I bet on football. When March rolls around I will bet on the NCAA Tournament. I know a lot of other people who do the exact same thing. There is a notion by a lot of people in America however that gamblers are nothing but a bunch of degenerates. That notion is simply outdated and untrue. Yes there are degenerate gamblers, but I think legalizing the practice could help curb gambling from getting to be a problem for some.

Legalizing it takes all the seediness out of it. No longer is it a back door, behind closed doors practice. Also with government regulated sportsbooks, and casino's money is needed up front. These days you only have to call your bookie and say "Gimme $500 on Duke." You don't actually need the $500 on you though for your bookie to take the bet. This leads to a lot of problems for gamblers. They start betting money they don't have to bet. Well legalization helps take care of that problem because then you can only bet what you have. Try going to a horse track and telling the guy at the ticket window you wanna put $500 on Horse 6 in the 8th race, but only have $20 on you. You'll bring the rest later. See what that gets you.

Personally that's why I prefer online sportsbooks. You have an account, and you cannot wager more than you have in the account. It's the way it should be.

Gambling as it is meant to be is just nothing more than another form of entertainment. State governments are learning just what a large boost to state revenue it can be too. The U.S. Government needs to get on the ball. Prohibition didn't keep people from drinking in the early 1900's, it just kept a lot of communities from getting a large source of income from taverns and bars. Gambling in America is the same way right now. If the government wants to figure out a way to get their hands on the money, there is no simpler way than legalizing and regulating gambling. I'm sure a way to share the profits on a state and federal level could be easily agreed upon if the effort was put forth. Just lay down a few laws that say if an individual wins X amount of money they pay X amount of taxes and so on. Then create a plan to share those taxes between state and federal levels.

Now, I am by no means any kind of expert when it comes to how this could really happen. I am also fully aware that somebody who is could easily come by here and tell me how incredibly stupid and naive I sound. I don't care. If you can think it, it can be done. I'm just gonna shut my mouth now and get back to doing what I do so well, talking sports. Not lobbying. (Paging Jack Abramoff.)

This and That 2/8/06

• The NFL defended it's officials. Surprise!!!
• What are the odds Rick Tocchet is going to be in big time trouble?
• The new Monday Night Football crew has been announced, and I think it could be good. I enjoy Mike Tirico as a play by play guy on ESPN college football games, and Kornheiser is smart enough and witty enough to distract me from Theismann's 45 minute soliloquy on how perfect Tom Brady's last pass was, but that Joe would have done it better. I just hope Kornheiser can stay awake for the end of the games. (He says he hasn't seen the end of a MNF game in 25 years)
• A lot of people, including myself, gave Peyton Manning crap for what he said about his offensive line after the loss to Pittsburgh. Look who is coming to his defense though.
• Phil Jackson is taking the Holmgren route to explain why his team lost. I'm sure it has nothing to do with the fact Brian Cook was the Lakers leading scorer.
• Speaking of the Lakers, #23 has some things to say about #8's 81 point performance. No telling what he means when he says he "Could play when he wants to."
• Cubs fans, apparently this isn't Maddux's last season either.
• White Sox are going to the White House.
• The Washington Nationals have apparently made a Major League contract offer to Sammy Sosa. It's one year, and incentive laden.

Not So Super Bowl of Sour Grapes

Well it looks like we are going to have yet another postseason game in which the officiating will be remembered more than the game. It's happened throughout the NFL playoffs, and it happened in the American League Championship Series, hell it happens basically every postseason for some team and it's fans. Then next year when it happens again we all talk about it like it's the first time ever all over again.

Seattle fans, coaches, and players, (Actually the players have been pretty quiet) have been complaining ever since the end of Super Bowl XL Sunday in Detroit. "I knew the Steelers were going to be tough, but I didn't know we'd have to face the guys in black and white shirts as well." said Seattle coach Mike Holmgren at a pep rally upon returning to Seattle. Yes Mike, your players had an uphill battle on their hands all right, and they sure weren't helped at all by your inept coaching at the end of the first half. Somebody forgot to tell Mike Holmgren 1st half timeouts don't carry over to the 2nd half.

Seattle players though sure have been quiet about the whole thing, and there is a reason for that. They seem to know something Holmgren and Seattle fans don't. That is bad calls or not, they did not deserve to win that game. This is a game in which there were five big plays. Four of those 5 were made by Pittsburgh, and 3 resulted in a touchdown. Kelly Herndon's interception and 76 yard return was Seattle's lone big play, and did result in their only touchdown. Of course if you ask Seattle fans there were 2 touchdowns scored by the Seahawks in the game. Though a yellow flag and a pushoff (any time a WR uses his arms to deliberately get space between him and a defender it's a push off. Jackson did this. Sorry Seahawk fans.) negated the first one. Once again Seattle fans seemed to be more bothered by the call than the player who pushed off, Darrell Jackson, was at the time. Maybe cuz DJack knows that while pushoffs are a common occurrence that are seldom called, they always are when you commit them no more than 2 feet in front of an official.

Then there was the Big Ben touchdown. I honestly cannot be sure whether that ball crossed the plain of the goalline or not. Replay angles don't give us that true look at the goalline. They are all a little off, so our point of views are skewed. This play can be debated for decades (it won't be) but here's a simple truth. If Seattle's defense could somehow have stopped the Steelers from converting a 3rd and 28 3 plays before it's Seahawk ball at this point. So even if it wasn't a touchdown, convincing me that the same defense that couldn't stop a 3rd and 28 would have stopped a 4th and an inch on the next play just isn't going to happen. The way Seattle's defense was so worried about crashing down on Bettis all night, all Pittsburgh would have had to do was play action and Ben could have either walked in or had Heath Miller wide open for the TD.

Unless a referee tackled a few Seahawk defenders, I don't think they had anything to do with Willie Parker's Super Bowl record 75 yard touchdown run. That had more to do with a hole the size of Detroit itself, and a horrible angle by a Seahawk safety.

After that play Seattle had just completed a pass to Jerramy "I catch one out of every 4" Stevens to the 1 yard line that was called back by a holding call. I'll admit, this call wasn't correct. Locklear did not hold anyone on this play. Holding is not an easy call to make though, as it genuinely happens on every play. Have you ever seen an offensive lineman NOT think it was a bad call when it goes against him though? This play was a killer though, but that's the thing about championship worthy teams. They overcome such adversity,(Like maybe when a holding and a sack had Pittsburgh facing a 3rd and 28?) Seattle just crumbled. A few plays later Hasselbeck was soft arming a pass into Steeler cornerback Ike Taylor's arms and Seattle had blown yet another red zone oppurtunity. The personal foul call on Hasselbeck was just a dumb call as in that's just a horrible rule, and not a horrible call kind of way.

Either way it wouldn't have mattered when Hines Ward was running past the Seattle secondary on one of Pittsburghs infamous gadget plays. Back the Steelers up 15 yards and Hines is still getting to the endzone on that pass from Antwaan Randle El. (The game's best QB on this night sadly.)

At the end of the day though this is what matters most, anytime a team can rack up 420 yards of total offense against a team and only muster 10 points, they don't deserve to win. Anytime a league MVP (The leagues MVP, yet he's not even the most important player on his team) and leading rusher can't get anything going, his team doesn't deserve to win. I know Alexander had 90 yards, but besides the one 20 yarder I don't remember any of them being for a first down. They were all little 3 yard gains that didn't do much. Fullback Mack Strong and quarterback Matt Hasselbeck had more runs for first downs. Pittsburgh Wide Receiver and game MVP Hines Ward had one first down run, on only one carry.

This game left a lot of questions unanswered, but it did answer one for me. Mike Holmgren is an idiot in my opinion. I was always of the opinion he was nowhere near the coach he thought he was, and that the only reason he had a Super Bowl ring was because he had a quarterback named Favre in his prime. The fact he only got 1 ring out of that is what led to my belief he was never that great a coach. Then he went to Seattle and kinda kept proving that to me year after year. Then this year he started to earn a little bit of my respect. Well that is until Sunday. Holmgren was seemingly unprepared as I mentioned earlier with the way the Seahawks ran their two minute drills.

The final straw for me was this though, was I the only one who noticed Bill Cowher standing on the field for a few minutes before celebrating with his team waiting for Holmgren to come over so they could shake hands? Am I the only one who noticed Holmgren never showed up? Nobody is talking about this. When Isaiah Thomas and the Pistons did that to the Bulls after they finally beat them in the NBA Eastern Conference Finals this was a huge story. People still talk about it today. Was Holmgren that kinda kid growing up too? Did he take his ball and go home when things didn't go his way? What a completely classless move. I know Holmgren is mad at this point, but what in the hell did Cowher do to him? Cowher wasn't throwing those flags. Cowher was too busy out coaching Holmgren. Then the first thing Holmgren does when he gets back to Seattle is start complaining about the officiating. Smart move Mike. Keep the "Death to The Refs" fire burning so hopefully Seattle fans forget about your horrible coaching performance in this game, and you can keep the heat off of yourself. Seems you have been doing that for years in Seattle, and they keep buying it.

Now before people go accusing me of being some sort of Steeler fan, know this. I had money on Seattle to win this game. I lost money because of some "suspect" calls. I'm not mad at any officials though. I'm mad at the Seahawks for choking. They had this game in complete control in the first half but still somehow managed to trail 7-3 at halftime.

Don't blame the referees Seattle.

Blame Holmgren.

Blame Jerramy Stevens.

Blame Antwaan Randle El.

Blame Hines Ward.

Blame Bill Cowher.

Blame yourselves for giving Pittsburgh the first ever homefield advantage in a Super Bowl.

But don't blame the officials, they didn't lose this game, the Seahawks did.

Random Thoughts

• Ok, I was pretty sick this weekend and slept through Saturday. So somebody please tell me that the Illini losing at home to Penn State Saturday was just a bad dream and that boxscore I saw Sunday was a figment of my imagination.
• The Minnesota Twins won an off field battle this weekend. Well, the Twins did anyway, I'm not sure about Minnesota. Maybe Vegas.
• I wish I had a magic fridge.
• Were you wondering why Joe Montana and Terry Bradshaw weren't in the Super Bowl MVP parade before the game?
• Thank God February is only 28 days long. March Madness and Spring Training aren't that far away.
• So I guess that means I WILL get into the Olympics, I have no other choice. Coming next week an exciting look into the life of Apollo Anton Ohno!!
• One last thing about officials. Super Bowl XL be damned, I just hope the NFL realizes they need to hire some full time officials. It would really help, and c'mon Mr. Tagliabue, we know the league has the money. Just convert all those kidneys and limbs people had to give up for their Super Bowl tickets into currency.
• The Chicago Bulls are constantly amazing me with their ability to lose a basketball game in anyway possible. Talk about versatile. Thanks for that tease of a season last year boys. (Note to John Paxson:Paul Pierce.)

Super Bowl XL

Yes, I wanted to come up with a title for this column a lot better than the one it has. Something like "Sick of the XS that is Super Bowl XL" or something. Maybe "As The Joey Porter Turns." I didn't though. I am just going to talk about the game. Ok I'll mention the other stuff.

Only 2 days until kickoff. Thank God, cuz I am sick of hearing about Jerome Bettis coming home, Matt Hasselbeck being bald (seriously, the Seahawks are such a "boring" team that this is their major story), or the "War of Words" between Joey Porter and Jerramy Stevens. Listen for it to be considered a War of Words there actually has to be a war behind it. All Jerramy Stevens said was the same thing any player playing in the game thinks. He didn't say "We are going to end Bettis' career by breaking his legs, and winning the Super Bowl! I GUARANTEE it." He said he hopes it's not a happy homecoming for Bettis cuz the Seahawks want to win this game. Joey Porter being Joey Porter though had to turn this whole thing into a "disrespect" issue. Please. Not that the media hasn't been helping this along (Can you blame them? I mean what are they going to write about? THEY'RE IN DETROIT.) by asking him about it everytime they can. I know Joey Porter needs this type of thing to get ready to play, but I mean, if you need extra motivation to get excited to play in the Super Bowl that's a bad sign for your team. Playing for the ultimate goal in your profession is not nearly as huge as proving Jerramy Stevens wrong!

Luckily for all of us, it's almost over. Lost in all this shuffle is that this could be one of the best Super Bowls of all time. We have been blessed the last few years with great games. We had Super Bowl XXXIV with the Titans being stopped one yard short of the trophy by the Rams, and three Patriots victories (Super Bowls XXXVI, XXXVIII, and XXXIX) won by a combined total of 9 points. Ya there were two blowouts, Ravens 34-7 over the Giants in XXXV, and Tampa Bay 48-21 over the Raiders in XXXVII.

This game could be better than all of them. More people have seen the Steelers play this season than they have the Seahawks. This leads a lot of people to believe the Steelers are better, and they may be. What a lot of people don't realize though is these teams are very similiar.

Onto the breakdown. (Point spread from Bodog.com, as of 2/3/06)

Pittsburgh Steelers (-4.5) vs Seattle Seahawks

We have two teams here who like to run the ball, have good quarterbacks, good wide receivers, and good defenses. There is a belief out there that the Steelers defense is better than the Seahawks. Statistically they'd be right. Also Pittsburgh may be harder hitters, but Polamalu's injury does concern me, no matter what the Steelers are saying about it. The Seahawks were ranked 16th in the NFL, but that number is misleading. When your offense is scoring 30 points a game, that means you are going to have a lot of big leads. What do teams do when they are down a lot? The drop back and throw. This is going to lead to yards against numbers rising for a defense. Where it helped the Seahawks though was in their sack totals. They led the NFL. Also the Seahawks have a knack for creating turnovers, just ask Jake Delhomme. I honestly see these defenses to be pretty even with a slight edge in favor of Pittsburgh.

Slight Edge: Pittsburgh

Quarterback
I think this is the key position in the game. Which QB can do the most to win the game. Roethlisberger has been amazing in the postseason, and he's had to be. The Steelers running game has averaged only 2.7 yards per carry. Hasselbeck also showed against the Redskins that he can carry his team on his back too. I have nothing against either one of these guys really. Both are solid players who can win games for you, but I have to admit I have more faith in Ben.

Edge: Pittsburgh

Running Back
Jerome Bettis is from Detroit in case you didn't know. That's where the Super Bowl is being played. Unfortunately Jerome Bettis only carries the ball around 5 times a game. (Unless it's against the Bears. Then he's 27 again.) Shaun Alexander is the best running back in the league right now, let alone this game. He broke the NFL touchdown record with 28, and proved in the NFC Championship that he can perform in big games. (Honestly I'm not sure where this "Shaun Alexander doesn't show up for big games" theory started. How many "Big Games" has he even played in?) The Steelers though could be a problem for Alexander. A lot of Shauns 1,800 yards came when Seattle had leads in a game, and they turn to Alexander to run out the clock. I don't know if Seattle is going to be able to get that large of a lead in this game, so Alexander is going to have to run for a lot of tough yards. Not to mention that the Steelers have an excellent run defense. Willie Parker and Jerome Bettis are going to have to do better than they have so far in the postseason. Both have been struggling for yards, and have had a tendency to let the ball hit the turf lately. This cannot happen in this game. The Seahawk defense creates enough turnovers on their own, the Steelers don't need to help them out.

Edge:Seattle

Wide Receivers and Tight Ends
Hines Ward is the biggest name of any pass catcher in this game. The Steelers WR's are kind of small though. They are excellent run blockers though, and all have good hands. TE Heath Miller has proven to be a very useful tool for Big Ben, and could be a large X factor in this game. Cedric Wilson has played well enough to make Antwaan Randle El seem expendable after the season. The Seahawks have Darrell Jackson (So underrated!!!), Bobby Engram, Joe Jurevicious, and Jerramy Stevens at TE. Stevens is also pretty underrated as far as NFL TE's go. Just ask Hasselbeck how important Stevens' big body and soft hands are to this Seahawk offense in helping stretch the middle of the field. Darrell Jackson has been banged up, but he's easily in the Top 10 WR's in the NFL when he's healthy. Then you have Bobby Engram and Joey J. Both are alumni of Penn State, so we know they're good.

Edge: Seattle

Offensive Line

All right, so I'm not going to do some statistical breakdown of the O-lines. They aren't talked about enough though. The fact is both of these lines have been amazing, and I know that cuz if they hadn't been neither of these teams are in this game. You can't run the ball effectively without a dominant line, and you can't pass the ball effectively without an offensive line. When was the last time you ever heard a coach say "Well we couldn't block anybody, but in the end we didn't need to to win this game." That's right, you haven't. Whichever one of these two teams fantastic units blocks better will win this game.

Edge: Even

Special Teams
This aspect of teams is too often overlooked. The Seahawks have the better kicker, but with the game being played indoors that takes away some of their edge there. The Steelers do have a guy that can blow open a game return wise, Antwaan Randle El. Randle El is a free agent after this season, and a big return for a TD in Super Bowl XL can lead to a big contract. (Antwaan, I hear your mother calling you, she wants you to come home to Chicago.) Just ask Desmond Howard.

Edge: Pittsburgh

So now you all probably want to know who I think is going to win. Well, I'll tell you how it ends. Trailing 21-17 Pittsburghs Ben Roethlisberger will take the field with 2:38 left at his own 25 yard line. Shaun Alexander just scored a TD on third and goal to give Seattle the lead. Ben has 2 timeouts to use. Roethlisberger then leads the team down the field completing passes all over the field, and using the clock wisely. The Steelers even sprinkle in a draw to Willie Parker from the shotgun formation that gets 20 HUGE yards. Then with 25 seconds left, Roethlisberger finds Heath Miller in the end zone over the middle as the Seahawks worry too much about the sidelines. The legend that will be Ben Roethlisberger is born on Sunday February 5th 2006.

Pittsburgh Steelers 24 Seattle Seahawks 21.

Random Thoughts

• Is the NFL going to make Mick Jagger and Keith Richards keep their shirts buttoned after the whole Janet Jackson thing a few years ago?
• Jay Mariotti has his own thoughts on the Super Bowl's Halftime Show.
• The Fighting Illini went to Madison and beat up on the Badgers. Since Bo Ryan has coached the Badgers, they've lost twice at home in Big Ten play. (37-2) Both times to Illinois.(This season and last.) Last year the Illini got to the championship game, and if they keep playing like they did in Madison they may just get back to the Final Four again this year.
• FANTASY FOOTBALL PLAYERS: Edgerrin James doesn't think he'll be playing in Indy next year. This could have dramatic effects on your team.
• I'm happy Mike Martz turned down the oppurtunity to be the Detroit Lion's offensive coordinator for 2 reasons. One, now the Bears won't have to actually devise a gameplan against the Lions, and two, Martz was actually honest about why he didn't take the job. I wish others would just come out and say "They weren't offering enough." instead of "It just wasn't the right situation."
• Notre Dame's 2006 recruiting class has been ranked #3 in the country. Here's hoping the team is ranked at least that high at the end of next season.
• The NBA has released the All Star Starters.
• Hey Bode Miller, when the hell did skiers opinions start to matter? Just shut up and ski. I know you are only relevant (and I use that term loosely) for a couple of weeks every 4 years, but don't go attacking others just to try to keep the spotlight on you a little bit longer. After all you're the idiot who admitted you ski drunk sometimes.
• The Vikings Love Boat trial dates have been set. If you aren't aware of what happened, you can read this old column of mine. Wild Waters of Lake Minnetonka
• What the hell are they putting in the Orioles drinking water? First they want to be traded, then they don't. Make up your damn minds!!!
• As if things weren't bad enough for Eagles QB Donovan McNabb. Now Jerome Bettis and his mom are going to be taking away his Campbell's Soup adds.
• I'm never going to give Indiana basketball credit again. The second I say they are going to win the Big Ten they go in the tank.