Steel City Jim

So, what does a fan do on a Sunday when his team is in the bye week? This one went on a charity house tour in the Shadyside section of Pittsburgh. Certain homes are chosen to be on the tour that are interesting to visit. Most are 100-plus-year-old houses that have been gutted and rejuvenated. One was the mansion of a Mr. McCook, an attorney at the turn of the last century, who represented Henry Clay Frick. He was very instrumental in putting Frick and Carnegie together to form US Steel Corporation, a giant company that was a prime mover in the 20th century. This house is being turned into a bed and breakfast. It will be ready for occupancy sometime in January.

Between houses, I was able to listen to the radio. I caught the broadcast of the Giants-Texans game. But early on it was obvious that the Giants had this game in hand. Yesterday, again, there were games that surprised me. The Buccaneers beat the Bengals. What has happened to the Bengals? The Lions romped over the Rams. Even Stefan Logan returned a kickoff for a TD. He couldn't accomplished that with the Steelers in two years of returning kicks. Sam Bradford is supposed to be great. But he couldn't seem to do it against the lowly Lions yesterday.

The Chiefs pretty much showed yesterday what people have known all along. Their first three wins were fluky. Peyton destroyed their myth. Can you believe that the Redskins upset the Packers? The Packers are good. How did that happen? The Cardinals beat the Super Bowl champs without a recognizable quarterback. The Titans showed up the Cowboys again. How long will Jones put up with Wade Phillips? Finally, the Eagles prevailed over what most people think is a pretty good San Francisco team. But the latter can't seem to put it together. Not yet, at least.

So, with all the results from yesterday, you still bet on NFL games? You do? You must be goofy.

The Steelers resume play next week hosting the Browns. The Steelers should prevail. But remember the Browns upset the Steelers in Pittsburgh last December. It was ugly. That little critter, Cribbs, delights in running kicks back against the Steelers. Ben will be back. Everyone in Steeler Nation has been anxiously anticipating his return. We'll see how rusty he is. The biggest concern here at the moment is who will be designated as the No. 2 quarterback, Batch or Leftwich. That may be a problem for some people, including the coaching staff. But it is beyond my pay grade and I am not wasting an ounce of worry over it. I guess the easiest way out is to say that Leftwich is still recovering from his knee injury and insert Batch into the slot. But that's it for me.

It's obvious that the cream of the AFC North is the Ravens. They have it all together. Flacco, who seemed suspect in the first couple of games, has settled down and is very effective. The Ravens' defense, as always, is spectacular. So, the Ravens are the team to beat, and it will be difficult to do it.

In the meantime, the Pitt football team, which enjoyed a pre-season ranking of 15th in the nation, fell once again on Saturday. This time to Notre Dame. The fans around here are beginning to scream for Dave Wannstedt's scalp.

One of the Post-Gazette's pundits, Ron Cook, scorched Wannstedt in his Sunday column. He says he's a good recruiter and a nice guy, but he can't coach on game day. Some of his decisions were pathetic, and he's paying for them. One was an abortive fake punt. It's a shame. Wannstedt is a likeable guy, as stated above, but he's in his sixth year at the helm of Pitt football, and the team is dangerously close to not even getting a bowl bid. Maybe if you can't coach on the sidelines with two NFL teams, you can't do much better, if at all, at the college level.

Sad to see that the Yankees swept the Twins in the first divisional series. Baseball sucks.