Mid-week Potpourri

I think I may have to take medical leave until after Super Bowl�.can�t concentrate on work, hell with Christmas, telling the kids to go away, all matters non-Steeler get short shrift.

�It�s not just a team�it�s a way of life.�� Is that not this site�s motto???� Thanks to those few (actually very few) of you who are concerned about my heart health.� Actually, I must admit rooting uncharacteristically emphatically for the Boston Red Sox during their World Series run.

Let me digress:� one of the reasons that I hate the Patriots so much is that it makes me, on some level, root against the Red Sox, as they share the same fan base, and it troubles me to have something in common with people that I generally despise as sports fans.� I like the Red Sox, though.� There�s no competition with the Buccos (and it�s unlikely that there will be), and we get to see Curt Schilling adorned in Steelers regalia during interviews (�.must drive Pats fans crazy!!).

Anyway, during one of the more intense ALCS games against the Yankees, my wife says to me, �Y�know, if you have a heart attack over the Red Sox, I�m going to be really pissed.� I�ve accepted that you will have a heart attack over the Steelers some day, but it better not happen over the Red Sox.

What can I say??� I remember my two middle brothers making me cry after a Steelers loss in �65, saying that they were going to feed the Steelers to Fuzzy, our dog.� My oldest brother, Tony, who contributed to my Steeler delinquency, was away at college and unable to protect me.� During a tense game, relatives have asked me if I would be upset for the rest of the night if the Steelers lost.� �Rest of the night,� I would bellow, �..how �bout at least the rest of the week.�� Now�I like the Penguins, but back in �96, I was out at my wife�s 40^th birthday party, watching Game #7 (I had to take over the host�s TV�something I have no problem doing); the Pens lost, I turned off the tube & went back to the Party.� Steelers�I wouldn�t give a shit how old she was, I wouldn�t be going to some goddam party during a playoff game; I�d be throwing the TV out the window, I�d be calling everyone motherfuckers who rooted against them.

Okay, now that that� s clear, here are some midweek thoughts:

1. Listening to Mike & Mike on ESPN this morning. �Greenburg offers this sterling preamble of the Pats, then says to Golic, �At the risk of offending a lot of listeners in Pittsburgh, if you had to bet the mortgage on who would win the Super Bowl, who would it be?�� Obviously, Greenie expects Golic to say New England.� I�m about to give the finger to my car radio, when Golic says, �Pittsburgh, because of the WAY they win.�
2. Disagree with FC�s prediction that KBell makes it back for the Buffalo game.� We�re fans; we can look ahead�.so here�s what happens.� Cowher has said that �progress is slow,� so it must be real slow.� Additionally, this injury was described as a 3-4 week injury.� It will be 3 games this weekend.� He�ll be held our 7 weeks, returning for a limited number of snaps during the Divisional Playoffs.� He�ll play much more during the AFC Championship�and light up Corey Dillon, causing a key fumble.� Larry Foote will be announced as the starter for the SB, and will play the first series, but then KBell will take it from there.
3. Speaking of injuries, Chad Scott�s 4-6 week injury is now at 8 weeks.
4. Would not be surprised at all if Plaxico is not in there again this week.� It really seems that until there are no �tweak� he�s not playing�.in which case the D will need to keep it cranked up, �cause we�ll need to continue to win (this week) scoring less than 20.� It�s been 3 weeks in a row�.we can do a 4^th, but it sure would be nice to see him in there.
5. I didn�t mind the Rasby signing, though it might be irrelevant, if he�s going to be inactive.� The Rasby part is irrelevant; missing Jay Riem is relevant.� He was a nice weapon to have, despite having only caught 7 balls this year.
6. Scobee�s two misses were the first missed FGs versus the Steelers this year.� What an opportunte time!!
7. It should be a real jacked-up crowed for essentially a December night game this week.� There�s an e-saver out of Providence�.maybe I should go??� Divorce???
8. Get this�.it�s our town�s �tree-lighting� on Sunday.� The town band plays at 4:00; tree-lighting at 5.� We�re going right?� Haven�t missed it in 13 years.� FUCK THAT!!!� FUCK CHRISTMAS, TOO!!!� Whey does Christmas have to come during the goddam best part of the football season.� Let�s move it to March.
9. This is really weird.� I�m a completely non-spiritual, non-religious person, claiming that the closest thing I ever had to a religious experience was attending the Steelers-Browns �94 playoff game (I should�ve added that to the Jesus thread�is that still going?).� Not surprisingly, I don�t really believe in an afterlife.� I do believe, though, that when I�m dead & gone, that somehow, someway, I�ll still be able to watch the Steelers very Sunday.
10. If you haven�t noticed, I really do despise these dumb fuck Patriot fans.