We beat the Pats!!!!

Up at 4:00am on Sunday morning to catch a 6:30am flight from NH to Pittsburgh for the long-awaited Steelers-Pats duel.� Living here in Pats country, I was catching significant crowing about the streak, etc., etc.�� Me, my 11-year-old son, Anthony, and my stupid frizzy-haired Patriot friend, Charlie, sat on the ground for a full hour, while a �mechanical� problem was attended to.� Honestly, I had no concern for personal safety, but I was kicking myself for scheduling a Sunday morning flight, but thankful that we had a 4:15 start.�

We arrived in Pittsburgh not sure of what we would do all day, but the three of us, along with my Pittsburgh niece, Gina, headed to the stadium around 11:00.� Now, I don�t tailgate, but I love to observe all of the tailgaters.� Anthony trick-0r-treated in the lot,� gaining a load of candy from the Steeler faithful. As an added bonus, we found an Iron City beer RV, property of a distributor, and feasted on free beer, sandwiches and hot dogs, until it was time to go inside.�

What a great game to attend!!! Night fell, gold towels were swirling, and the Steelers were, in the words of the Boston Globe, �imposing their will� on the Patsies.��� Tense moment in the upper end zone Men�s Room at halftime, as two friends/relatives of Ty Law�s were slinging f-bombs at the two guys next to them.� I was next to the Ty Law contingent, and was wary that any hands-on would lead to a ruckus.� Didn�t happen�..whew!!

I did have one small complaint.� The Philly-Baltimore game was on every TV, as well as the scoreboard, but when the clock struck 4:00, with 2 minutes left in Philly-Balt., every tube switched to the field activities, and we had to watch some bozos doing somersaults.

Frizzy-haired Charlie caught sufficient grief in his Patriots sweatshirt, �Hey you, yeah, you��nice wig!!!��� �Hey, there�s another beaneaeter.� Enjoy your haircut.�� Charlie, who had been dying for Vinny�s Pizza, asks me if I would ever consider leaving early if the Steelers were way ahead.� �Hell no,� I tell him.� �In fact, I�ll be at my seat after the final gun, basking in the victory.� At one point in the 3^rd quarter, I turned to Charlie and said, �Man�this clock can�t move fast enough for me.�� �I�m with you,� he said, �I can�t wait to get to that pizza.�� Charlie�s memories of Vinny�s had faded, as he wanted to order 4 large for 7 of us, including an 11-year old, and an 84-year old grandma.� We narrowed the order to 3 large, with Canadian bacon, and had a whole pizza left over.

Great time was had by all�.except Charlie!!

A couple of notes:

1.� Let�s remember that Bill Cowher has never, until this year, been blessed with a talent at QB.� He�s had Neil O�Donnell, for Chrissakes, Mike Tomczak, Kordell, Kent Graham, back to Kordell, Mommy Maddox�.now Ben.

2.� Why so much talk on ESPN, etc. about T.O.� s goddam dancing.� Really, who gives a shit!!

3.� I�m kind of amazed that a Belichick team, supposedly prepared for every situation, allows itself to be so thin at running back, to the point that when Dillon is hurt, they�re not able to run the ball.� You would think that they would have someone else in the Dillon mold to insert into the lineup.� They only dress 3 RBs!!!

4.� Someone please explain the mechanics of the Franchise designation.� I know that an average of the top 5 salaries at each position is required.� Does the bonus portion of the comparable 5 get pro-rated and applied.� There�s no way that we should allow Plaxico Burress to walk next year.

5. I had assumed that Colclough possibly wasn�t starting as he would be placed on the slot receiver.� I did notice though, in my partial review of the tape, that he had the outside guy on the final toss of the Pats� second drive.� I wonder if perhaps he�s not able to adequately grasp all of the rigors of the starting positon right now.� The Steelers� Media Guide says that he was highly recruited out of high school, but attended a JC to bolster his academic standing.�� Hmmmm�.

6.� Joint should be rockin� this week against the Eagles.� T.O.s definitely a threat, but are the Eagles that good?� The Browns took them to O.T. (..the Browns though, had been undefeated at home), and then Kyle Boller actually looked good against them.� Does anyone think that Kordell is the Ravens� QB before the season ends.

6.� Interesting to see Brian Billick�s clock management.� He throws a 22-yarder to midfield with a minute left, then spikes the ball, rather than call a sideline route.� The throws on 2^nd, 3^rd & 4^th down fall incomplete, ballgame.