Loose Slag from The Still Mill

 

Since we've already faced the Bungals and know their squad well, I've decided to offer some loose slag in lieu of the pregame outlook �.

 

- Cinci won't be a pushover this weekend.� The Bungals have won 2 straight, and seem to be following last season's pattern of a slow start, followed by an emergence.� Carson Palmer is finding his legs in the NFL and has shown marked improvement.� The O-line hasn't given up a sack in either of the past 2 games.� TJ Housemanad grabbed 3 or 4 third-down passes past week, and is finding a niche with Matt Schobel in short and medium routes, with Chad Johnson serving as the deep threat.�

 

- Speaking of Chad Johnson, I'm incredulous how the Stillers have managed to face one loudmouthed opponent after another, all the while allowing Billy Cowhard to pin up bulletin board material and use it as motivation to whip the team into a froth.� Chad's latest mouth-off makes me wonder if Billy himself is paying opposing players to mouth of in the press�.

 

- Billy Cowher's stubbornness and myopic leadership has reached an all-time high with the staunch refusal to start Kendrell Bell.� I watched the tape of the Browns game, and Bell was hitting and flying around with the zest and alacrity that only he can bring to the table.� Foote did a creditable job while Bell healed from injury.� Bell is now fully healthy.� Insisting on starting Foote is as ludicrous as starting a weak-hitting first baseman in place of a player with the repertoire and pedigree of 40 HRs and 120 RBIs.�

 

- James Harrison had a fine effort last Sunday, which notched him the weekly Hard Hat Award.� While the so-called experts among the Pittsburgh media continue to label Alonzo Jackson a "bust" and a "wasted pick", bear in mind one fact: the only difference between Harrison and Jackson is that Harrison actually got a few "at bats".�

 

- Speaking of an opportunity, do not ever forget this pure, immutable fact: had Tommy Maddox not gotten injured, Ben Roethlisberger would have the following NFL stats under his belt:��

 

����������� - Pass Attempts:� 0

����������� - Completions: 0

����������� - Rush attempts:� 0

����������� - 3rd down conversions:� 0

- TD passes: 0

����������� - Wins as a starting QB:� 0�

 

Like any profession, it's all about opportunity.�

 

- On a related note, remember, Chris Hope supposedly was a "bust" and a "wasted pick", all because he was rotting the pine behind Burnt Alexander.� Raise your hands, please, those of you who think Hope is a bust.�� Let's count hands of those who think Hope rightfully sat the pine the past two seasons.�

 

- By the way, for all the praise and fawning over the Stiller O-line, remember this:� Ross and Vincent were, in fact, on the Stillers roster last season.� The difference?� Ross was playing GUARD, a position he was thoroughly ill-suited to play, and Vincent had his ass firmly planted on the bench.� The culprit?� None other than Lord Billy Cowher.�

 

- This Cinci game is a sellout, and some so-called experts are pointing to it as a "Cinci home field edge".� What they don't realize, of course, is that at least 20,000 of those tickets are in the hands of Stiller fans.� In fact, Cinci has long been a nice "home away from home" for the Stillers.�

 

- Speaking of Stiller fans attending this game, my esteemed colleague, Steel Trap, will be there as well.� Trap will be the guy with the ultra-loud, booming voice, making a plethora of funny, wiseassed remarks aimed at Bungal players, fans, and coaches.�

 

- Not to disrupt the Jerome Bettis lovefest, but The Fatboy has had his 2 "big games" against the softee run defense of Philly, and the Kleenex run defense of the Clev Browns.� And, against the Brownies, The Tubby Tailback averaged all of 3.5 yards per carry.� See me in mid-January and then tell me how great The Bellyback is.�

 

- I made specific comments in my Pit-Clev postgame analysis about the obvious failure by Stiller players to wear the right type of cleats.� Stiller players were slipping and sliding in Cleveland as though they were wearing dress shoes on the ice at a hockey game.� Ironically enough, a writer wrote to Ted Bouchette at the PG:�

 

Q: What kind of surface do the Browns have on their field? It seemed that some of our players were having a hard time with their footing. I saw Ben Roethlisberger slip twice, among others, and I was afraid we were going to have even more injuries to some of our key players.

 

TED BOUCHETTE: Cleveland Browns Stadium has grass, 100 percent real. It's one of the best surfaces in the league. Some players did slip and that goes back to a point that Dan Rooney has tried to make for years -- players don't wear the proper shoes or spikes. They wear flimsy shoes in order to get more speed and their spikes aren't long, not like the old days where they would dig into the sod. That's why Rooney has little sympathy when he sees a player slip. Wait until the next home game for the Steelers if you want to see some slipping. The Pittsburgh City League championship was held at Heinz Field last week and there will be four more championship games there this Saturday. Pitt plays West Virginia there on Thanksgiving, followed by the Steelers-Redskins. That 90 percent grass field just can't take all of that. Only the Browns play in Browns Stadium.

 

If Dan Rooney has "tried to make the point (about cleats) for years", why, pray tell, hasn't it sunk in to that thick, Cro-Magnon skull of Billy Cowher??��

 

- Bouchette is right, for once, about one thing -- the Heinz Field grass simply cannot sustain all the use from these high school games.� I myself played high school football in Quad-A in Pittsburgh, and I'm as big a proponent for high school sports as there is.� But tearing up a grass field in which the primary team has an annual payroll of some 65 MILLION dollars and coaching and admin expenses of at least $20M per year, with a possible Super Bowl at stake, is as asinine as it gets.� I've written this before, and I'll write it again -- stop the nonsense.� Play the high school games at South Stadium, or some other facility.�

�

- Speaking of Rooney, why the big uproar by Rooney about the "racy" MNF intro?� Rooney has benefited by the MILLIONS upon millions over the years, thanks to prime time TV.� Now he's going to carp about a lead-in that showed no nudity, no vulgarity, and broke no FCC rules�?�� Preposterous.� I've been through most of Europe in my heyday, and the Europeans show more on public billboards and game shows than the Owens-Sheridan commercial. It's the height of hypocrisy when Rooney and his family have made their riches from the American TV exposure, along with the violence and mayhem that the sport of football encompasses, only to then caterwaul about a slick TV intro that feeds into the NFL's popularity and therefore pads Rooney's wallet.��

 

- Regular readers will recall that this writer, and only this writer, has been the lone analyst to point out the quantum improvement in pass-catching by Plex Burress since he started to wear gloves during the Dallas game.� In the past, he'd simply go barehanded, aside from a strip of tape around each finger.� Now he's plucking everything thrown his way.�

 

- Received a humorous email from a buddy�."Harrison made more hits in 1 game than GilDong did in 9 seasons!"�

 

- Speaking of Big Jason, here are his stats in 2 games with the Jagoffs (hold your laughter):� 5 tackles, no FFs, no sacks, no impact whatsoever.� What a he-man!�

�

(Still Mill and Stillers.com -- the only nationally read coverage on the Pittsburgh Stillers that has accurately predicted the how's and the why's of the past 3 Stiller playoff losses�.)