momluvsfootball

It was in October when the names of 133 players, coaches and contributors who were eligible and nominated for induction into the NFL Hall of Fame.  This morning, the day before Thanksgiving, this list narrowed to 25.  Included in this list, three well known names for the Pittsburgh Steelers. 

According to the Pittsburgh Post Gazette and NFL.com, former Steelers Rod Woodson, Kevin Greene and Dermontti Dawson have made this round of selections to advance in the nominations.  Dawson and Greene are no strangers to this list, for Woodson, it would be a different story.  Rod Woodson who played corner and safety for the Steelers from 87 to 96 and then went on to play for the vaunting Ravens defense that won Baltimore their SB ring, would not only have been nominated for the HOF in his first year of eligibility but would advance past the first round.

Donnie Shell and Art Rooney Jr., nominated earlier this season, did not make it into this round. 

Others to advance to this stage of the selections are:

• Cris Carter, WR -- 1987-89 Philadelphia Eagles, 1990-2001 Minnesota Vikings, 2002 Miami Dolphins
•  Roger Craig, RB 1983-1990 San Francisco 49ers, 1991 Los Angeles Raiders, 1992-93 Minnesota Vikings,
•  Terrell Davis, RB 1995-2001 Denver Broncos
•  Richard Dent, DE 1983-1993, 1995 Chicago Bears, 1994 San Francisco 49ers, 1996 Indianapolis Colts, 1997 Philadelphia Eagles
•  Chris Doleman, DE/LB 1985-1993, 1999 Minnesota Vikings, 1994-95 Atlanta Falcons, 1996-98 San Francisco 49ers
•  Russ Grimm, G 1981-1991 Washington Redskins
•  Ray Guy, P 1973-1986 Oakland/Los Angeles Raiders
•  Charles Haley, DE/LB 1986-1991, 1999 San Francisco 49ers, 1992-96 Dallas Cowboys
•  Lester Hayes, CB 1977-1986 Oakland/Los Angeles Raiders
•  Cortez Kennedy, DT 1990-2000 Seattle Seahawks
•  Bob Kuechenberg, G 1970-1984 Miami Dolphins
•  Randall McDaniel, G 1988-1999 Minnesota Vikings, 2000-01 Tampa Bay Buccaneers
•  Art Modell, Owner 1961-1995 Cleveland Browns, 1996-2003 Baltimore Ravens
•  John Randle, DT 1990-2000 Minnesota Vikings, 2001-03 Seattle Seahawks
•  Andre Reed, WR 1985-1999 Buffalo Bills, 2000 Washington Redskins
•  Shannon Sharpe, TE 1990-99, 2002-03 Denver Broncos, 2000-01 Baltimore Ravens
•  Bruce Smith, DE 1985-1999 Buffalo Bills, 2000-03 Washington Redskins
•  Ken Stabler, QB 1970-79 Oakland Raiders, 1980-81 Houston Oilers, 1982-84 New Orleans Saints
•  Paul Tagliabue, Commissioner 1989-2006 National Football League
•  Steve Tasker, Special Teams/WR 1985-86 Houston Oilers, 1986-1997 Buffalo Bills
•  Derrick Thomas, LB 1989-1999 Kansas City Chiefs
•  Ralph Wilson, Owner 1960-current Buffalo Bills

Spending time in the military and being stationed overseas can be beneficial.  Not only do you get the opportunity to see the sight, experience a place you may never, otherwise have an opportunity to experience, meet new people, and for better or worse, get to know the customs and the culture. 

I had been lucky to travel many places at the behest of Uncle Sam. My first trip overseas, sent me for a year to an Air Force base in South Korea from 1982 through 83.  During this time, along with the shopping, the partying, the sight-seeing and just hanging out (not to mention working), I also volunteered my time to help at a nearby orphanage.  This orphanage didn’t accept just any child, it was an orphanage for Amer-asian children.  Children often born from American fathers and unwed Korean mothers.  At the time, life wasn’t easy for multi-racial Korean children and a lot of the children in this orphanage, were given up by their mothers and almost hidden from society.  The prejudice against these children was extremely strong at the time.

It had been a little more then 20 years later, when I kept up with the news on Hines Ward’s travels to Korea and had seen, not much had changed in those 20 years.  After winning the Superbowl, and using the prestige of being the first Korean-American to win the Superbowl to try to bring about a change in the culture status of multiracial children in Korea.  In 2006, Ward would create the “Helping Hands Foundation” to help try to eliminate the discrimination that has for so long been so strong in that country. 

In 2007, the Steelers would vote him to be their Walter Payton Man of the Year, for not only his achievements on the field in football, but also his contribution to the community. Ward would end up being one of the final three men in the standings for the NFLs Walter Payton Man of the Year Award, along with Jason Whitten of the Dallas Cowboys and Jason Taylor, then with the Miami Dolphins.  Taylor would be recipient of the award in February 2008.

Once again, according to the Pittsburgh Post Gazette, Hines Ward has been selected as the Steelers 2008 Walter Payton Man of the Year Award.  Ward leads the team with 54 receptions, 718 receiving yards and 5 touchdowns.  His work with the “Helping Hands Foundation” continues, not only with his trips to South Korea to continue to keep the dialogue open, but also with hosting weekend visits from those children he’s trying to help. 

Ward will join 31 other team Walter Payton Man of the Year recipients, where, during the Superbowl, one will be recognized as the NFLs Walter Payton Man of the Year.

Congratulations to Ward for the team recognition, and to all players who’ve received their respective teams recognition for their contributions both on and off th

Early Sunday mornings are set aside to clear out the spam from my numerous email accounts.  I happened to notice that, along with the regular emails that have informed me that my ex-husband was killed on a dangerous stretch of road in Nigeria, something that seems to occur on a weekly basis (my poor ex has died more times then a cat with nine-lives on that very stretch of road) and how male enhancement products can, in fact, spice up my love life with the woman that I love (which I think they kind of have me confused with someone named Dennis), I found a few new types of emails having crept into my box.  One was how I too, can find hot women who are looking for sexually hungry men by responding to their ads on a particular site, and the others from both Match.com and EHarmony. 

When I was single, just right after my divorce, the dating lines were just starting up.  I was a single parent, who didn't get out too much and a girlfriend and I decided, perhaps for fun, to give the local line a chance.  The local newspaper provided a space for it and since it wouldn't cost us any money we each placed one.  Hers was along the lines of classy young lady, never married looking for professional male...blah, blah, blah...her hopes were to find a doctor or lawyer.  (She found the doctor but that turned into a strange obsession where they both started stalking each other, which is another story). 

Mine was along the lines of divorced 30 something down to earth female, enjoys Steelers football, long walks, long talks ...blah blah blah...seeking the same.  My friend ended up jealous because I ended up with more hits then she did.  I had met a few nice guys out of it and, yes, even chatted with some really wierd ones, but nothing really panned out of it, especially since being newly divorced, I wasn't really seeking a serious relationship. 

Being married now, I have no desire to place a personal ad, however, it doesn't stop me from thinking about how I would write one or two of them up.  I would be torn on which one I would actually use, the serious one or the fun loving one. 

I guess if I were to use the serious one, it would read, mature woman, late 40s, children no longer at home, romantic at heart, enjoys long walks on beaches, watching sunsets, quiet evenings at home, and Sundays watching football, with the spontaneity to run off and go dancing, horseback riding, etc........

However, I'd be more likely to use this one:

Old biddy seeking young stud who doesn't have an adversion to yardwork and organizing garages in exchange for homebaked cookies.

So...if you were to write an ad, what would yours be?

When I was younger, I had one favorite commercial, I can still say it's my all time favorite.  The camera catches Mean Joe Green walking into the tunnel, limping and hurt.  Behind him, a small boy, a bottle of Coca Cola in his hand, sympathetic, offers him his pop - yes, we called it pop up north then.  Mean Joe guzzles it down and the kid, kind of disappointed, turns around and starts to leave when the burly and intimidating defensive tackle goes "hey kid" and throws him his jersey, which leads to big smiles.  It's one of these commercials that kind of stick with you. 

Coca Cola is remaking a commercial that had been considered one of the best Superbowl commercials of all times.  This time, it will feature Troy Polamalu as the Steelers defensive player that will chug the brand name pop.  I don't know if Sampson can pull off the same intimidating manner of Mean Joe, but he's definitely proven time and time again that he's as tough as him. 


Source:  Pittsburgh Post Gazette

It seemed fitting, on the night that the Steelers organization honored defensive coordinator, Dick LeBeau for his 50th year in the NFL, that the game would finish the way that it did. 

As promised, it began to snow when the game started.  Two things that didn’t happen, the supposed mark on Hines Ward and a sack hungry defense having Bengals quarterback, Ryan Fitzpatrick on his back all night.  But as promised, fans were treated to classic Steelers football, both on offense and defense. 

It started out ugly and at first, we wondered if, given the past few weeks, if the Steelers would once again struggle through this one.  At first the running game was stifled and Ben came too close too many times to be intercepted.  Bengals had the lead, but they played for 60 minutes and through that time, they remembered the formula that was Steeler football. 

There would be 30 passes thrown and 37 rushing attempts, and albeit against a ravaged Bengals team, and despite themselves, the Steelers would end up controlling the ball, controlling the field and registering a decisive win against a division opponent.

How much more effective is the Steelers offense when they get Heath Miller involved in the game, and we were reminded with his four receptions that not only kept drives alive, but also registered the one passing touchdown to tie the game in the second quarter.  There would be drops by the wide receivers and there would be times where the Steelers would be their own worst enemy, an offensive pass interference call on Washington that negated a pass for great field position, and a rookie mistake on a punt by Limas Sweed, that turned the ball over to the Bengals, giving them great field position, really, really, really great field position. 

But we would see classic Ben Roethlisberger, behind an oline that gave him great protection in this game.  We would see the quarterback getting out of the pocket, using his feet to extend plays, to even rush for a touchdown.  This was the Roethlisberger we had gotten use to watching.  And as the air game got going, the run game would open up.  We would see more of Gary Russell this game, who would get the short yardage that the Steelers seemed to have been missing in the past few games.  Russell would also get one of two rushing touchdowns in the game.  Mewelde Moore was key in the second half to the Steelers maintaining control of the ball, when he was able to find the open holes and gain positive yards.   And in this offense, we wondered if Bruce Arians finally got it right, with the different play action, slants and screens. 

Of course, the defense continued to show why they are the number one defense in the league.  Although, they would only get to Fitzpatrick once, they would continue to stop the Bengals running game, keeping Cedric Benson to 35 yds total and covering the Bengals receivers only allow Fitzpatrick to connect for 17 out of 35 times.  And this time, it would be James Farrior who would lead the team on tackles, seeming to be there to stop the Bengals on important 3d and short plays.  The game was over, like last week, when Troy Polamalu came up with an interception that kept the Bengals from closing in on the 12 point spread. 

In the end, Ben would throw 15 for 30 for 243 yards with one passing touchdown and one rushing touchdown.  The Steelers running division of Moore/Parker/Davis/Russell would accumulate 104 yards rushing.  Though they lost both Willie Parker and Santonio Holmes in the second half, they just improved and finished the game with the formula that they were known for.  Not bad for only three days off.

Cinci's offense just got a little weaker for tonights game, according to the Bengals website, Chad has been deactivated for tonight's game in Pittsburgh for violation of team rules.  Guess Marv finally is getting tough. 

Source:  Bengals Official Website

Rumor has it that Hines Ward is a marked man going into tonight’s game with the Cincinnati Bengals.  The reason, retribution for a season ending injury to the Bengals, Keith Rivers.  While the Bengals locker room may be salivating at thoughts of getting to Ward, the Steelers defense is absolutely drooling for the opportunity to sack Bengals quarterback, Ryan Fitzpatrick, again and again and again. 

In their second matchup of the season, the Steelers will be looking for a repeat of the first, where the defense had gotten to and sacked Fitzpatrick, seven times their last meeting and an offense, minus Willie Parker, outscored the Bengals 38-10.  For both teams, it will have been a short week, both coming off of games that, well, kept the teams in the national sports headlines with slightly bizarre endings to both games.  But that week has come and gone.  One team, the Bengals, have nothing to lose and the Steelers, will be looking to maintain their lead for first in the AFC North. 

Tonight, in Pittsburgh, it will be snowing, at least that’s what they’re predicting.  Willie Parker will be back in the line up.  Last time, it was Mewelde Moore that ran for 120 yards with 2 rushing touchdowns.  Parker wants to go back to Steelers football, starting this game.  Last time, Roethlisberger threw for 216 yards and 2 touchdowns.  Last week, Ben showed what he was able to do when he actually practices a full week, throwing for 31-41 for 308 yards without an interception. 

This game should be a given for the Steelers, right?  The spread is for the Steelers at 11.5 points.   After all the Bengals are 1-8-1 with more then a suspect run defense, right?  Well, actually the Bengals have only allowed 2 100-yard rushers this season, even if they’ve allowed an average of 206 yds on the ground.   However, only those new to football write anything off as a given.  Bengals have won their last 2 of 3 meetings in Heinz Field.  And a team with nothing to lose but pride, is more dangerous then Michael Vicks pitbulls.   And no doubt that Chad Johnson or Chad Ocho Cinco (or whatever we’re calling him this week) along with T.J. Houshmandzadeh and Chris Perry have kept the Bengals in each of their games this season.  The Steelers defense will be short two of their cornerbacks with Deshea Townsend and Bryant McFadden out for this game. 

Still, the Steelers are 3 for 3 in their last three Thursday night games.  Whereas the Bengals are suffering a massive amount of injuries and relying on backups, the Steelers are coming back healthy, just in time for the end of season push, which begins with the Bengals. 

It will be a good night for Steelers football. 

On a wing and a prayer.  Isn’t that what most Hail Mary passes are, throw it up there and hope for divine intervention to come your way and get it in the hands of your receiver in the end zone?  Make no mistake, there were two receivers there, there were more defenders there though.  So here was the prayer, that there would be a tip, another one of several that would go in favor of the offense, just one more and the results would have been different.  If there was divine intervention, it wasn’t going to be on the behalf of the Steelers this game.

We could play the “if” game all day.  If Ben hadn’t thrown two interceptions giving the Colts offense great field position, then the Colts would probably have not been able to drive down the field to get the scores on the turnovers.  If Moore hadn’t been stopped at the goal line by Eric Foster, then it would have been a tie game.  If Leftwich had played instead of Ben.  So many ifs.  However, if’s are fantasies, questions that will never be answered, because that’s not the way that it happened.  If’s don’t win or lose football games, only what occurs at the moment.

At the moment it was two interceptions on Ben Roethlisberger that ultimately cost the Steelers the game.  A third and two deep pass to Holmes that should have never been called, let alone thrown.  Then another to Holmes, which could have gone either way, given that they were second and thirteen.  However, against an offense like the Colts, you cannot lose the turnover battle and expect to walk away unscathed.  Especially since the Colts have one of the top five passing defenses in the league at the moment.    No matter how poorly one thought the Colts were performing during the season, one could not deny they still had the weapons in place to light it up.  And when given the opportunity, Peyton Manning showed that the “old” Colts offense still existed.  We were still waiting for the “old” Steelers offense to emerge.  Somehow, it never seemed to completely happen.

Yet the Steelers defense continued to be the strong defense we know it to be.  Despite two tipped passes to Reggie Wayne, it could have been worse, much, much, worse.  Yeah, they got lucky on two deep passes to Marvin Harrison that didn’t pan out.  However, they disrupted Manning enough to only allow him to complete a little over half of his passes.  Sadly, for Steelers fans, it’s the completed ones that hurt. 

In the end though, it would be the Colts defense that made the difference in this game.  It was the interceptions by Ratliff and Jennings that would take away the Steelers momentum and the final one by Bullitt, drove the nail in their coffin.  It would be the pressure that the defense was bringing that would force Ben to make some bad, quick decisions.  And somehow, the Colts suspect run defense became less suspect to stop the Steelers running game.