Steel City Jim

Even in the Bad Old Days of the Steelers, lasting more than 40 hapless years under "The Chief," Art Rooney, Sr., when they were perennial losers and the joke of professional football, they had a reputation for being a mean group of characters. Stocking his team with mainly local "talent," many of whose names ended with ski, these were the bruisers from the Western Pennsylvania mill and mining towns. While they didn't have an abundance of athletic ability, they were big and mean. So, despite never winning, they got their kicks out of putting a hurt on whatever team they faced on any given Sunday. Teams left town battered and bleeding.

When The Chief gave over the operations to his son, Dan Rooney, in 1969, Dan hired Chuck Noll away from the Baltimore Colts to be his head coach. You know what happened after that. Noll kept up, and even enhanced, the tough play that the Steelers were known for, adding guys like Mean Joe Greene (who was a super football player, but not that mean), Jack Lambert and Mel Blount. Heck, the NFL had to change rules to counteract the effectiveness of this crew. Bill Cowher followed Noll and the tradition continued.

Now, with Mike Tomlin, if anything, they are meaner and rougher than ever. While it's reminiscent of the old steel-making days of Western Pennsylvania, featuring the blue collar mentality that people still cling to, there hasn't been any serious steel manufacturing in these parts since the 1970's and 1980's. Blue collar jobs are hard to find as the economy has switched to medicine, education and high tech. But the image lives on, and I'm afraid it will continue for years to come. In the meantime, the only real blue collar jobs around here belong to members of the Pittsburgh Steelers, and they wear them as badges of honor.

I don't recall the old Baltimore Colts as being much of a smash-mouth team. Led by ex-Pittsburgher, Johnny Unitas, they were a fine team, featuring finesse over physicality. After the Colts left town, and after a couple of years of having no NFL franchise, Art Modell moved his Cleveland team to Baltimore where they changed the name from Browns to Ravens. I would have to think that the new era of Ravens football began when Ray Lewis got there. He became the epitome of rock 'em-sock'em football, and the Ravens' current philosophy and image is a result of his presence. Seemingly ageless, though unable to move from side to side as he used to, Lewis is still a major force. And he inspires his teammates to play his brand of football.

All of this was in ample evidence Sunday night, as it always is when these two teams square off. Frankly, I didn't give the Steelers much of a chance. They almost always lose in Baltimore and their secondary is highly suspect. True, Ben dominates the Ravens, but Ben was entering this game on essentially one foot. Then, in the first series someone got a fist under Ben's face guard and redesigned his nose. (Note: No penalty was called for this.) If you saw it, it was hanging there at about a 30 degree angle. Blood was dripping down onto his shirt and he had to be in pain. But with one foot and a busted nose, he somehow was able to hang in there, throwing for 234 yards and managing the game. On one play -- many think it was the play of the game, Ben fought off a sacker enough to toss the ball out of bounds. Where do you get that kind of physical courage?

Face it, this game could have gone either way. The Steelers won the toss to start the game and elected to defer. One reason is that they know that Ravens-Steelers games are won in the last few minutes and they wanted the ball more in the second half. So, it came down to the last four minutes. Troy Polamalu smacked the ball out of Flacco's hand, forcing a fumble. He was actually run blitzing, certain that the Ravens would hand off to Ray Rice. But when he saw he had a clear shot at Flacco, he changed in an instant and had the presence of mind to go after Flacco's arm rather than the sack. That's quick football thinking. That set up the winning TD when, without Heath Miller and Flozell Adams, Ben hit Isaac Redman on a slant. Redman, who was not having a particularly good game, was not to be denied and somehow bulled his way into the end zone.

Now, the Steelers have to come home, lick their wounds, which abound, and prepare for the Bengals who would like nothing more than to be spoilers. And, the Bengals almost defeated the Saints on Sunday. Talking about almosts and upsets, how about the Raiders beating the Chargers. The Chargers looked practically unbeatable a week ago. The Cowboys eked out a win over Peyton Manning in Indianapolis. Manning just doesn't have the weapons anymore and it shows you can't do it alone. The Rams killed the Cardinals. Whiz isn't the whiz without a franchise quarterback that he was thought to be. Kurt Warner made the difference for him. The Bears keep rolling along, as do the Chiefs. And the Packers beat a good 49er team. Mike McCarthy, the local kid, is a good coach.

** Have to point out that the Penguins have won ten in a row. Sidney Crosby is in a groove. This week he had a natural hat trick. I had never heard that term before. But I think it means that he scored three goals without anyone on either team scoring in between. Fleury has come back, too.

** The Yankees signed Jeter to a three-year deal, taking him to his 40th birthday. By that time he'll be using a walker to get to his position. You didn't think they weren't going to sign him, did you? But on Monday morning I read where the Pirates, who should not be mentioned in the same paragraph with the Yankees, are actively seeking free agents again. Haven't they learned that this is a fool's policy for a team like this? Baseball sucks.

** P.S. Maybe I should change my moniker to High Tech City Jim.