Steel City Jim

I know it's been a while. But what is there to say about a struggling hometown baseball team? I will say that on the bright side, the Pirates have three decent starters in Maholm, Duke and Olendorf. The others are a joke, kind of like they used to say in boxing, the bum of the month club. They try Morton and Burress, and by the time they look up, they are behind by 5 or 6 runs. The other three tend to keep the score down and give themselves a chance to win. This is particularly true since, by some twist of fate, they have come up with a decent relief staff. So, there's an amazing stat that in almost all games when they are ahead in the 7th inning, they come out winners. Dotel is the cream of the relievers. If history serves as a guide, he will be traded in July. (You know, we will get all these young phenoms in exchange and we aren't going anywhere this year anyway.) The problem is that they aren't ahead in enough leads in the 7th innings to make a difference.

Also, there are three position players who have real potential. McCutcheon, Jones and the new kid, Walker. The latter is a local product they just brought up. We'll see how he does after he's made his first circuit around the league. The most entertaining player, at least defensively, this year as been Lastings Milledge. It seems that every fly ball in his direction becomes an adventure. Sometimes he makes seemingly sensational catches. But they are only a result of his not positioning himself properly in the first place to catch the ball. So, his lunging and diving for balls look great. But he should never have had to lunge or dive to make the catch.

Finally, the Pirates drafted another pitcher in yesterday's draft. They have a history of drafting pitchers, most of whom cannot throw faster that 85 mph. But this kid from Texas -- Jameson Taillon -- throws a 99 mph fastball. Signing him will be a challenge. He comes from a Rice-educated family and may well want to follow in the tradition. So, we'll see.

NFL
The real intrigue these parts this morning has to do with the Steelers. And it has nothing to do with Ben or Santonio or all the other distractions that will bedraggle this team in 2010. This one concerns the head coach, or all people. Now, I have been thinking all along that Mike Tomlin is the ideal head coach. After all, he sent Ken Whisenhunt packing to Arizona when most of us thought Whiz had the job sewn up. In the meantime, Whiz has done rather well for himself with the Cardinals. He hasn't won the big one yet and he'll have to find a quarterback who can get that done for him. But he's built a solid team.

Mike Tomlin has won a Super Bowl. But whereas the Steelers have had a policy of re-signing head coaches (Noll and Cowher) to extensions in the second year of their contracts, this has not been done with Tomlin, at least as of this writing. What seems to be the hangup? Is Tomlin demanding too much? Or, are the Steeler brass not completely sold on Tomlin? One could say that he won the Super Bowl with the previous coach's personnel.

One could also say that his philosophy of an air attack conflicts with management. It has been reported that management (Rooney) insists on a greater emphasis on the running game starting in 2010. Has Tomlin resisted this? Are there other differences in outlook between Tomlin and Rooney? Some people think that either Tomlin will ink a new contract by the start of training camp or 2010 could be his last year in Pittsburgh.

In the meantime, contract or no contract, coaching the Steelers in 2010 will be no picnic. Tomlin has to decide who will be his starting quarterback for at least the first four games. He also has to find someone to replace Holmes, who, on the field, was a pretty fair football player. If he is to satisfy the Rooneys even a little, he has to find a way to get the running game going. And, he has to deal with all the locker room problems that have surfaced over Ben and his personality, or lack thereof, and his off-field exploits.

Then, there is the problem of a tremendous Ravenzzz club that is salivating at the opportunity not only to take the AFC North, but go all the way. And you can't rule out Cincinnati, which won every division game in 2009. Finally, the Browns, with new management, will be vastly improved, and they still have Cribbs, a one-man wrecking crew as far as the Steelers are concerned. So, the outlook isn't brilliant for the Mudville Eleven for 2010, and we don't even have a Casey who represents a glimmer of hope.