This is the Post Where I Tell All of the Yinzers to Suck It.

Today the Pirates traded two 31-year-old guys and a pitcher that the team and the fans didn't want for five prospects. This is the day there was no more kidding yourself. The Pirates are rebuilding. No more half-assed rebuilding effort. Neal Huntington is tearing this house to the ground. No more small trades for the Yankees and Red Sox middle of the road prospects. No more signing washed-up free agents to one-year deals. This thing is getting built from the ground up, and it's beautiful.

Yet, when I logged on to Facebook today I read this,

"The Red Sox do not sell out 500 consecutive home games with joe schmos in their lineup. The Bucs will be amused by there attendance now with Joe Schmo #1-9 in the lineup. For those who say it was a good move, not buying it. Show me what the Bucs farm systems have produced over the last 17 years. If they have produced someone tell me what team they are on now, it is surely not the pirates."

Should I mention that the person who wrote that played Division II ball?

Would you like to hear what some Giants fans have to say about the Sanchez trade on the chat boards on the San Francisco Chronicle?

Okay here we go...

"Management is losing credibility. First they tell us that they are going to rebuild the team by the draft and then they go back to their old ways of trading off the better prospects."

Sound familiar?

Here are some names Neal Huntington has added to the Pirates and it's farm system in the last year.

Garrett Jones- Maybe you've heard of him

Alderson- 20-year-old A- pitching prospect, projected to be top of rotation guy.

Jeff Clement- 25-year-old 1b. Top 5 pick in 2005.

Tabata - hitting .301

Alvarez - has hit 20 home runs so far in the minors this year.

Tony Sanchez - hitting in the .340 range in low single A

Hunter Strickland- combined for a no-hitter in his debut in the Bucs farm system

Already on the big club or have spent time there:

Ross Ohlendorf

Jeff Karstens

Charlie Morton

Andy LaRoche

Brandon Moss

Robinson Diaz

Delwyn Young
...And who can forget those Indian guys they found on a game show.

That's a lot better than what they had last year, which I believe you could sum up as Brad Lincoln, Andrew McCutchen and Neil Walker, who isn't really that good. But, hey he's a local guy.

Well done, Mr. Hungtonton, well done. And to all of you Yinzer complainers... Suck it.

What? Really?

I stand before you, knee deep in the bullshit.

That's a line from Cheats, one of the funniest movies that nobody's really ever seen, I highly recommend you check it out.

Anyway, two things have been chapping my ass for a couple days now since it first came out, so here goes.

1. Terrelle Pryor was named the pre-season pick to be the Offensive Player of the Year in the Big Ten. As my title says, "what, really"? Pryor's good, don't get me wrong, but he wasn't all that fantastic last year. I saw him completely dominate high school football here in Western PA, but his passing has always been suspect, and last years' numbers bear that.

He only completed 60% of his passes with a piddly yards/attempt of 7.95. He dinked and dunked to a veteran receiving corp that deserved better (I think OSU would have done better last year with Boeckman as the starter). His rushing numbers weren't even that great for a player of his talent.

So where's that leave him this year? Sure, he should be mentioned as a top candidate, his talent is ridiculous, but with losing his RB (Wells) to the draft and his goto WR's (Robiskie and Hartline), he's going to be more of the focus of opposing defenses. They'll gear up to stop him and he'll have to show he can beat them with his arm. Can he?

The homer in me says why not Clark for pre-season POY? I mean, he was the offensise POY last year and he's coming back, seems like a no brainer to me.

2. This here though, a "technicality" perhaps, always pisses me off, from the original P-G article:

"...whose Buckeyes also were selected as favorites to capture their fifth consecutive Big Ten championship."

Say what? Why? No, no, no, not that they were selected to win the Big Ten, which they always reload, but I think PSU gets em again this year and wins the Big Ten, but what's with this "consecutive" nonsense? Ohio State was mentioned a few years back as being "Co-Champs of the Big Ten" when PSU won in 2005 too. Why?

Last I checked, PSU beat them last year (and in the 2005 Championship season, that video is still goosebump city for a PSU fan) and finished ahead of them in the Big Ten (due to that head to head win), even getting the automatic BCS birth.

So enough with the "consecutive" and "co-champ" garbage already.

Let's Go Camping

Well, it's that time that yinzers, and otherwise normally sane people, look forward to each summer, Steelers' Training Camp. I'm usually the type that ho-hums it, as I still follow the Pirates very closely, but this year, coming off a Super Bowl and with our team essentially in tact, lends to a distinct and exciting buzz.

Camp officially begins as the players report this Friday, but each of our local papers tripped over themselves with coverage in their Sunday editions.

So a few links to satiate you all:

- Similar to what the Jesus spoke about the other day, the Steelers just can't seem to come into a camp, where they defend a Super Bowl that is, without distractions of some sort. Hopefully they learned from the screwups of 2006, but the Trib details here how 2006 was, and how they plan to avoid that from happening again.

The P-G also hopped on the "distraction wagon" with an article here.

- Tomlin plans to address the distractions and tackle them head on. I like that approach. That's better than the "elephant in the room" approach taken last time.

- Here's the Trib's breakdown of all 32 NFL teams and their issues etc heading into camp. The Steelers are on the top of the list, so that you don't have to waste your time looking at other teams if you don't want.

- The P-G blog has dates and times listed for those of you going out to Latrobe. I think that the archery shoot is during the second week and the craft show, with popsicle stick birdhouses, the following week.

While you're out there, put in a word to get this back to locally brewed, ya know, since their damn slogan contains the word "Latrobe" in it.

Otherwise, now's the time to buckle up. Six months of in depth, interesting, needless and pointless, and sometimes just too damn much Steelers' coverage gets underway.

Pittsburgh Pirates: Now with 50% less LaRoche

Note: I wrote this Wednesday night and forgot to post it.

A great performance by the Pirates got overshadowed by the trade of another starter Wednesday. Brandon Moss hit a walk-off, McCutchen hit his third, Doumit went yard twice, and Garrett Jones hit his 73rd home run of the season.

But the big story was Adam LaRoche getting called up to the GM's office to be told he's joining Jason Bay in Boston. LaRoche's legacy in Pittsburgh will be that he never fulfilled expectations. He spent years in a ballpark custom made for left-handed power hitters and didn't do a whole lot with the opportunity. Even LaRoche said he wished he could have done more.

But, he did come down to the dugout to watch Moss hit his walk-off. Prince Fielder made sure to stoke my hatred of the Brewers by saying if it had been him that was traded he would have been gone. I like how he and the Brewers act like they've won eight-straight world series. Didn't they limp into the playoffs last year only to lose the series? Didn't they just lose two out of three to a team they seem to look down on so much? (By the way the Bucs have just taken two straight series from two playoff contender.)

And let me add this, If I'm a mid-level free agent in the upcoming off season and I'm not getting any bites from contenders I'm having my agent call the Pirates. Because the way Neal Huntington is making deals if you have a decent year, you're ending up on a contender by July. So far only Nyjer Morgan and Sean Burnett have gotten the shaft by being traded to the Nationals. This season and last the Pirates have sent three players to the Yanks, Two guys to the Red Sox, and one guy to the Braves.

Steeler Nation Snakebitten

I've been waiting for about a week to use that picture and this seemed as appropriate a time as any.

A lot is going on with the Roethlisberger lawsuit, and it was just the first full day it was out.
So to recap.

-Woman says Ben faked some tv troubles then assaulted her.

-TMZ says woman may have some issues, considering co-workers say she once fell in love with a guy that never existed. (Utah already wrapped that one up.)

-She also says her bosses seemed to be a little gay for Roethlisberger which made her afraid to report the assault to police.

-KDKA's Jon Delano says she may have resorted to the civil suit because it's easier to win than a criminal case.

-Lynn Hayes Freeland has yinzer reaction. (I can't quite figure out how to link to it, but if you go to Delano's story you'll see it there.)

Now this is a sports blog so it's time to get way ahead of ourselves. You have to wonder what this does to the team. Just the other day I wrote that you have to think the Steelers have a good chance of repeating. This off season has been smooth sailing up until this point, unlike the summer after Super Bowl XL. How will Goodell react? He seems to take the wait and see approach. Look how he handled the Dante Stallworth business. He waited until the judge had his say, then he leveled his punishment. Does the fact that this is a civil suit and not a criminal one change the way Goodell would handle this if it goes to court and she wins? I don't think so. A black eye is a black eye. Now, if there is a settlement out of court, which some could perceive as an admission of guilt by Roethlisberger that's a different story. How would the commissioner handle that? How would the Steelers handle it? The Rooney's are very protective of the reputation of their golden goose known as the Steelers, but they've sunk a lot of money into Roethlisberger. But could a court win, or a settlement be enough to make them real happy about drafting Dennis Dixon last year? I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

ESPN playing favorites?

NBC sports is questioning why ESPN won't report the Roethlisberger story, and came up with something interesting.

Big Ben Update

Well, according to TMZ, this woman may in fact be crazy, and not because of Roethlisberger.

Story here.

More Big Ben Takes

I woke up and saw the news this morning about the lawsuit.

It may get uglier before it gets better.

I saw a blog take on Yahoo that asked a pertinent question, but also raised one for me.

Here's the blog article.

My question is this: according to the lawsuit, Ben is "one of nine defendants listed".

Ok, but how does that jive with the situation described as "The suit alleges that Roethlisberger asked the woman into his room on the pretense that he needed help with the television, and then forced her to have sex with him."?

So there's "nine" involved with that scenario or just one? I don't know. I guess we shall have to see and stay tuned. I'm sure that the Smoking Gun will have the entire complaint up sometime today or tomorrow.

The Yahoo blog author asks a very good question though:

"First, why only file the lawsuit now when the alleged incident happened a year ago? And second, why were there never any criminal charges? Why only a civil suit?"

I'm no expert in sexual assault cases, although I've seen my share of Lifetime movies, but I would assume that in these situations, a criminal complaint should be/would be filed very quickly (as to not lose evidence etc), and a civil complaint is only after a criminal complaint.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but (and I'm thinking of the OJ trial) isn't a civil complaint almost akin to just getting a money settlement in return and no jailtime for the guilty?

Big Ben Sued

A woman from Northern Nevada has sued Roethlisberger. Here's the Associated Press report.

RENO, Nev. (AP) -- Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger has been named as a defendant in a lawsuit filed by a woman in Nevada.
According to online court records, a defamation lawsuit was filed in Washoe County on Friday. Andrea McNulty is listed as the plaintiff.
Roethlisberger's attorney released a statement to several media outlets Monday night saying the two-time Super Bowl winner was accused of sexual assault in the lawsuit by McNulty. Atlanta-based attorney David Cornwell denied Roethlisberger sexually assaulted McNulty.
Details of the suit were not available late Monday night.
Roethlisberger is one of nine defendants listed in the online court docket report.
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

Don't worry Pittsburgh, folk. You'll be hearing plenty about this on your local news. I have it on good authority that KDKA is sending Harold Hayes (Harold sent me text tonight asking me where in the hell Washoe county is) to Reno in the morning to get to the bottom of this.

My early and highly uneducated guess is that this suit will bounce off Ben like he bounced off of that windshield in front of the 10th Street Bridge. Does that picture look like a man who would sexually assault a woman?

It's Finally Over

The Pirates finally beat the Brewers. And of course the Brew Crew was very classy about it when they plunked Jeff Karstens. You see Karstens hit Ryan Braun after he hot dogged it after a homer earlier this year. And Braun has been acting like he has sand in his vagina ever since. He even told on the Bucs to the commissioner. Because you see, the Pirates are just a bunch of big bullies and they must be stopped. God, I hate the Brewers. Just reading the PG article made me mad. Look at that picture of Kendall. What a dick! He looks like the scrawny guy at the bar that picks a fight and then has the big guy in his group hold him back, while he pretends like he wants his buddy to let him go, but he doesn't. Kendall was probably afraid that Jack Wilson would bite him with his snaggle tooth. Or that the LaRoche brothers would act like the Rougeau brothers and kick his ass.

My Conspiracy Theory

MLB.com reports that Sanchez and Wilson rejected the Pirates semi-homoerotic offer for them both to sign extensions (although that story has mysteriously disappeared from MLB.com, but trust me it was there earlier). Post Gazette says the Pirates pulled it back because of a lack of counter offers. But, the plot thickens... Wilson now says they were never given a chance to make counter offers, and were told the deals were take it or leave it. And now Huntington says the door is still open. Huh? If this post is confusing it's because I'm confused. And besides I thought the deal was fishy from the start. Why would a team that is looking to add prospects any way it can, want to keep the guy who can get them the most right now in Sanchez? I think the Pirates made the offer and made it public to get the fans off their back. I think they knew damn well Wilson and Sanchez would reject the deal. But now they can say, "See we tried to sign them they turned us down. Now we have to trade them." Plus, the deal would have voided Sanchez's big raise if he had signed it. Besides, who says even if they would have signed either guy would have then been un-tradeable (if that is that a word)?

But of course if I have thought of it, so has Neal Huntington.

Huntington also took umbrage -- again -- at the notion that the Pirates made the offers as a public-relations maneuver.
"There's only one good outcome for us in the PR sense, and that's if both players sign. For us to take a PR beating to make offers that weren't genuine wouldn't be a smart move. We made these offers with the understanding that we wanted these players to stay here. The first offer has expired. But, as long as they're Pirates, we'll be open to considering keeping them."

Taking a Look at the Futures

No, that's not a typo. I stopped at a casino yesterday and picked up some futures sheets. Specifically, college football and NFL. Before we get started I want to be clear that I grabbed them from the Silverton Casino which uses a sports and race book called Leroy's that can be found around Nevada. Kind of like a McDonald's franchised for gambling degenerates' pleasure. If you look around at other casinos you could find different odds. Let's start with college football.

Leroy's has PSU at 25/1. I think that's fair considering if we learned anything from last year's Rose Bowl, it's that the Lions are still a bit behind the big boys. Beating some SEC or Big 12 powerhouses might be out of their range, then again maybe its not. But what raises some questions straight from a football stand point is that Notre Dame is also listed at 25/1. PSU and ND on the same level? Nope, that's where the gambling comes into play. You see, almost any Notre Dame fan that is still waiting for Charlie Weiss' recruiting mastery to kick in will bet on the Irish to win it all anytime they come to Vegas. You know this, I know this, the Vegas odds makers know this. So the key is to place the odds just right so those guys will throw the money down, but the books won't take a bath if somehow Jimmy Claussen turns into Joe Montana this year. Other odds of note: Florida is the favorite at 2/1, Sooners get 4/1, Texas & USC 5/1, Ohio State 10/1, Pitt 50/1, the field 25/1 that's right you can pick Temple and get better odds than picking Pitt.

On to the NFL, no real surprises here. Pats are the favorites at 9/2 followed by the Steelers 6/1, Giants have the same odds, followed by the Colts 8/1 and the Cowboys at 10/1. Never mind that the Cowboys haven't won a playoff game in a decade, and just lost their best receiver. Pats are 2/1 to win the AFC, Steelers are 5/2. If you're looking to throw some money at something may I suggest Vikings 2/1 to win the NFC or 5/1 to win the Super Bowl before Favre signs up and those odds shrink.

Personally, I hate that the Pats are the favorite just because Brady is back. I know I shouldn't run my mouth before the season starts, but that defense was looking a little old last year. And the Giants exposed that O-Line in the Super Bowl two years ago, and the Steelers tore it up when they played in New England last year. I know I'm biased, but I think the Steelers have a much better at repeating than they did after Super Bowl XL. Other than that I think it's wide open this year.

So gentleman, place your bets. Or don't.

Jack Hearts Freddy 4 Ever

So this came out of, no pun intended, left field.

The Pirates, who have been in trade-mode all month, have offered multi-year contract extensions to Jack Wilson and Freddy Sanchez.

"The Pirates have approached shortstop Jack Wilson and second baseman Freddy Sanchez about multiyear contract extensions, putting on hold, for now, the possibility that either will be traded by Major League Baseball's July 31 deadline."

But wait, like that special offer from an infomercial, there's a catch:

"If the parties are to agree on extensions, they will need to do so far enough in advance of the deadline so that, if the Pirates decide no agreement is possible, they still can pursue a trade for one or both. That likely means something must get done within the next week to 10 days."

So where does that leave the situation? Obviously, the Pirates would love to trade both of them and get prospects to continue the rebuild. The problem is that there's nobody in the system to bring up or move around to replace them should they be gone.

There's no dollar amount listed, but I'm sure the Pirates are trying to save a bit of money per year by offering them term, more years on a contract.

Smizik, who's blogging has been excellent lately, has a detailed take here.

Oh, and as far as this post's title, do we have to read garbage like this?:

"Wilson and Sanchez are best friends to the point of being virtually inseparable, on and off the infield dirt."

""I'm very excited to possibly continue my career in Pittsburgh, to finish what I've started, and Freddy is going to be a vital piece of any decision I make," Wilson said last night"

""I want to finish my career turning double plays with Jack in a Pirates uniform," Sanchez said. "If it works out, it would be unbelievable. This is what we've been talking about for a long time.""

Vomit. This could be the biggest unintentional man crush since Rocky beat Apollo in the race on the beach. If only they'd bring back those shorts as a fashion statement.

To sum it up, adding this to the mix of usual July trade deadline rumors and deals, plus the Sano situation, and we've got a busy Pirate month ahead.

Smizik Hearts Paterno

At least for now. The cranky one wrote about Joe in his new blog post(A blog post commenting on another blog post, we might be through the looking glass here, folks). Smizik loves the recruiting resurgence, and why not? Like Smizik says he's pulling a lot of guy's out from underneath Wannstadt's mustache in western PA. And with a recruiting pitch like this who could turn the old man down?

The Second Half is Ready to Roll...

Well, another AL win in the Mid-Summer Classic. Ho-hum. Let's just get on with what looks to be yet another exciting late summer for Pirates baseball. Well, at least for us so-called Roto GMs, anyways. July 31st is one of my favorite days. It's the culmination of all those wild rumors of who's going where for whom. And, as has been SOP in these parts for close to two decades now, the Bucs are sellers. Good. Let's sell. So, who's first up for bids?

Freddy Sanchez: Hollywood is as good as gone. The only questions remaining are where and for whom. Jonathan Sanchez's name has been the most prominent and, no-hitter aside, the Giants would likely do an even swap here. Maybe it's because JS appears to be somewhat similar to another former Pirate southpaw - Oliver Perez. No, not the 2004 version. Well, maybe. Who knows? Sanchez has been as maddeningly frustrating to the Giants as Ollie was here. Neal Huntingdon will likely hold out for an additional prospect here, maybe throw a bit of cash or another player going SF's way. I simply don't see the Twins being serious players for Freddy. The Giants lead the wild-card and a bat like Freddy, even though the Giants are looking for power, would solidify a playoff spot. So, yes, I see some version of this deal getting done with the two Sanchezs' as the centerpieces. I see other players involved as well.

Adam LaRoche: He'll get dealt. However, it's been an unseasonably cool summer in the 'Burgh and that has translated to a similarly cool summer for LaRoche. He's yet to kick in, which simply means he'll fetch far less than anyone's hoping for. Hopefully, he'll go on a maddening tear the last 10-15 days of the month and someone - anyone - gives up a decent prospect for him.

Zach Duke: This would be a classic "sell high" scenario and, if NH is presented with a nice offer, should take it and run. With our $16 million middle infield set to be dismantled, it would also likely dismantle Duke's All-Star season as well. He's a pitch-to-contact guy. Decent control, slightly above-average stuff. Without Sanchez and, possibly JW, behind him, many of Duke's outs become hits. While many of you may disagree, this - like the McLouth deal - is the best time to deal Zach. He's also young and quite affordable, which should net us some intriguing offers.

John Grabow: Some team will pay to get our only decent reliever. A lefty is always a hot commodity and there are a number of teams that can use Grabow's services. The Angels come to mind here. They're in a tight race with surprising Texas (whom also will vie for Grabow's services) and, aside from Brian Fuentes, their bullpen has been one of the least productive in MLB. It wouldn't surprise me to see a bidding war between the Halos and Rangers and that's music to Huntington's ears. Where does that leave us without a quality lefty? Who cares? You didn't expect us to be in a pennant race, did you? Besides, in my opinion, the lefty-righty thing is overrated. If you can get guys out you can get guys out. Grabow gets them both out and that's what we'll lack in the short term. Donnie Veal's a lefty. Doesn't mean he can pitch, at least at the MLB level - yet.

Matt Capps: See my above opinion for my opinion on "closers". The most overrated, stat-generated position ever created. The Pirates need a closer? Since when? The last time the Bucs won anything, they had guys like Bill Landrum and Stan Belinda "closing" games, but it was more a bullpen-by-committee approach. Problem is, Capps simply isn't that good. Somehow, he still manages to hold a 13-game saves streak, the Philadelphia meltdown aside. And, he can hit 96 mph on the gun. So, here's hoping Capps can somehow run that streak to 17 or 18 games and we get him out of here. He'll generate interest, although it's doubtful teams will view him as a closer. Many teams seem to consider him a set-up man, a la J.J. Putz. Don't expect anywhere near the same return the Mariners got for Putz, though. Give me either an organization's top two or three prospect or two decent ones in the lower minors and I'll personally ship him out. No need to thank me here.

Jack Wilson: Personally, I don't see a JW deal, unless perhaps the Mariners come calling. I can also see Boston making a run at him. I like JW and it'd be nice to keep him around. Not much to say here that hasn't already been said by everyone. Depends on the return. Let's not forget: An injury to some team's SS in the next couple weeks could create a whole new market.

Honestly, aside from Andrew McCutchen, ANY Pirate could be dealt by the 31st, either July or August. That includes Paul Maholm, Ryan Doumit, Ian Snell, Tom Gorzelanny, Brandon Moss...well, no, not Brandon Moss. I think NH's good, but he ain't THAT good.

Random thoughts...

Kudos to Garrett Jones. Pitchers will figure him out - they always do - but it's a nice run for the kid. Nice bat, surprising speed, great hustle. BTW, is it "Garrett" or "Garret"?

Neil Walker. Never heard of him...

I miss Nate McLouth's hair. Jason Michaels' too, for that matter. Although I kinda dig Cutch's locks. Personality.

I read a post on an outstanding Bucco message board regarding Jesse Chavez needing a bath. Too funny. I have thought the same thing. Or, maybe he was talking about Chavez's "filthy" stuff...nah.

Speaking of personality - I wish John Russell would get one.

Steelers training camp is just around the corner here in good ol' Latrobe. Since I'm 2 minutes from St. Vincent, it somehow just reminded me of how pissed off I get with all the traffic.

Oh well. Second half baseball. Drink up. You'll need to.

Gettin' to be That Time

Whoa Nellie. It's getting real close to College Football season. Two signs are out that confirm this.

1. This just came out today, which I will be getting this week sometime.

2. ESPN has early early rankings and analysis out already.

So let's look at beloved PSU.

The link is here, but it's an Insider link, so I'll have to detail it.

Essentially, they have PSU ranked #9 in this pre-season look. That sounds about right to me. PSU should open up in the 'real polls' anywhere between 7 and 12.

It's a big story about the offense and losing the three wide receivers. I agree that they'll, rightly so, rely more heavily on the running game at first, until the new starters get their feet wet a bit.

Clark, the Big Ten/Eleven Offensive Player of the Year last year, should be back to his running roots with Royster and Green in the backfield.

About those new starting receivers though:

"These guys have all played games," Paterno said. "Graham Zug and Brett Brackett have been there. They've had key moments." (The same could be said of Derek Moye and Chaz Powell.)

"Zug caught the winner at Ohio State," Paterno added. "A lot of times, we'd have four and five guys out there, and the guys coming back were one or three of those guys."

Good point. But being 'the man' is much different than being 'a man'.

I think that this here will be the key to success:

"the more Penn State ran the football, the more games it won.

Paterno insists the offense will make both the pass and the run a priority.

"We're looking to be a 200-200 team," he said, referring to a goal of gaining 200 yards on the ground and in the air every game. ""

Last year, they started throwing too much with Clark, especially in the Iowa game. Use him mainly for what he is, a deadly running qb that throws when he needs to. Don't turn him into a 7 step dropback passer.

Some charts from the article:

Penn State, scoring and turnovers, 2008

	2008	Big 10 Rank
TD	56	1st
Punt	39	1st
Turnovers	14	2nd
3 & Out pct.	14.2	2nd
Scoring pct.	48.7	1st

More running seemed to translate into more wins.

	2008	2007	2006
Record	11-2 (7-1)	9-4 (4-4)	9-4 (5-3)
Run Pct.	57	56	52
Pass Pct.	43	44	48
Rush yds/gm	205.8	193.8	150.0
Rushes/gm	39.3	40.6	35.2
Yards/rush	5.2	4.8	4.3
Rush TD	36	27	16

Yards per rush by down, 2008

	Penn State	Big 10 rank
1st	5.2	3rd
2nd	6.0	1st
3rd	4.0	1st
Overall	5.2	1st

So it's simple. Get to the 200 yards rushing and you win. The qb is in place. The running backs are there. The line is reloaded.

Do it.

Here though is a main reason for optimism in PSU this year:

The Lions have done it again with scheduling. They don't even leave Beaver Stadium in September, and kick off the season with the frightening prospect of an Akron-Syracuse-Temple buffet. Then they get Iowa, the team that took a divot out of their perfect season last year. Penn State's two toughest roadies will be at Illinois and Michigan State; the Lions will miss Wisconsin and get Ohio State at home.

Obviously, they wouldn't be in the title hunt as a 1 loss team, but they can run the table with a schedule like that. So if you're looking to place a small wager on a team to win the National Title, and you want some decent odds that you won't get with the Floridas and Oklahomas etc, look at PSU.

There will be more previews to come, but an early look never hurts.

Pitt Guys Contributing

This is a rare time that my living in Vegas actually helps me contribute to a blog on Pittsburgh sports. The NBA summer league is in town. If you don't know it's almost like NFL spring OTA's except it's just for rookies, guys trying to make the team, and some players who just need a little work. Two summers ago I ran into the Sonics at the gym. Man, Kevin Durant does not like to lift weights, but I digress. Two Pitt players hit the court tonight, Sam Young for the Grizzlies and DeJuan Blair who lucked out and fell to the Spurs in the draft. So now he gets to play next to Tim Duncan and have Tony Parker feed him the ball. Both former Panthers did well, Young dropped in 14 points, grabbed three rebounds and stole the ball twice. Blair had 13 points and 10 boards in 22 minutes. Now they're playing against some scrubs, but who knows this could be a start of some healthy NBA careers for these guys. I'm hoping to go check out some games this Friday. I'd like to see some of the other rookies like Steph Curry and Blake Griffin. We'll see.

Well, Here We Are...

It's the all-star break and like Andy Dufresne the Bucs seemed to have climbed through five football fields of stench to get here. But instead of coming out clean on the other side, they've arrived at a spot where they get to play the other half of the season. Climb back into that sewer pipe fellas. What can you say? Saturday's collapse against the Phillies, ugh. Sunday's pounding, double ugh. So let's try to look at some good points. First, there are some Matt Capps trade rumors, although Saturday couldn't have helped that move along at all. I'm actually hoping the Sanchez trade rumors are true. He should deliver some decent prospects. Then there are some bright spots on the current club like Garrett Jones. Five homers in 11 games, not too shabby. Keep it up and he could find himself on a contender by July 31st. Zach Duke got himself on the all-star team. That means the last place team in the NL central will have two guys on the team. Apparently, Duke impressed Phillies manager Charlie Manuel with his complete game loss on Saturday, so he picked him to replace Matt Cain. And finally Jeff Karstens. He pitched some no-hit relief Sunday through little more than three innings. I have to ask, why did he get dumped into the bullpen again? He seemed to be solid in the starting rotation to begin with, a lot more solid than Snell at the time, and more solid than Vasquez has been so far. On a side note, I caught "Shawshank" on tv Friday morning. The first time since hearing that Morgan Freeman was engaged to his step-granddaughter. Turns out it's not true. Good thing, because I was thinking Morgan would need to do a little time in the movie theater projector room with Boggs and the boys for that one.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Well, here we are at, give or take, the half-way point of the baseball season.

So in the immortal words of Kenny, "Meet me halfway".

ESPN has a great stat sorter here for hitting, here for fielding, and here for pitching. So let's take a look at some stats (as of today, 4 games past the half-way point) and what not.

The Good:

- The Pirates are 11th out of 30 ML teams in batting average. They're 11th in doubles and 4th in triples. Lastly, they're 15th, in the top half in all of baseball, in total hits.

And those numbers are all after a horrible series in Houston and the final game against Florida (a shutout), which technically falls into the second half of the year. Actually, when I first looked at this on Wednesday, they were 10th in hits, 9th in doubles, and 2nd in triples.

- The Pirates are dead in the middle in pitching team ERA at 14th. So we'll call that a good, especially based on the question marks entering the season.

- The Pirates rank 5th in all of baseball when it comes to quality starts for the pitching staff.

- The defense has been fantastic. The Pirates are 27th in the league in errors committed, which ranks them 4th in fielding %.

The Bad:

- The Pirates rank 20th in both runs scored and extra base hits. Now though, for how critical we are of the offense, they're not quite in the bottom third of the league and for a team picked to be the worst in baseball at the start of the year, that's not too shabby, but certainly not good, nor ugly.

- The team OBP ranks 19th. Another not good, but not quite ugly stat.

The Ugly:

- The lack of power in the lineup is glaring. The Pirates rank 29th in home runs hit. That leads to a drop in their team OPS (being that their OBP isn't too shabby), ranking them 24th in the league.

- The offense also strikes out too much, they have struck out the 13th most times in the league, while walking the 25th least amount.

Seems that their pitch selection and patience at the plate needs worked on.

- For all the quality starts goodness, the pitching staff ranks 23rd in team WHIP. That's not good.

- Also not good is there ranking of 23rd when it comes to BAA (batting average against).

To sum that up, teams are getting players on base a lot by hits and walks, but with our ERA stat so much higher, it shows that our pitchers are working out of a lot of jams and not allowing those runners to score. Play with fire like that enough, and you get burnt. It could be only a matter of time until the other shoe drops and teams score more runs.

- The Pirates' pitching staff ranks 30th, dead last, in strike outs. Ugly.

- The Pirates rank 19th in RBI's. So for a team to be 1th in batting average, yet 19th in RBI's, shows that they just aren't knocking those runners in.


Add it Up:

So what does it all mean?

It means that the Pirates are a wildly inconsistent team, one that still may end up being dead last in the league, as predicted by preseason publications. As of now though, I feel ok saying that they are better than we thought they'd be.

So stay tuned as the second half should promise some more changes to the Buccos.

And in case one was curious, the Pirates scored 101 runs in April and 113 in May (both with McLouth) and 123 in June (without McLouth), so the trade of Nate didn't hurt the on field production in scoring runs (which is the bottom line).

Hanrahan Tearing it Up

Here's some positive Pirates news. New Pitcher Joel Hanrahan got the win today. But you might declare, "What?!! The Pirates didn't play, what the?!! I can't believe it this is amazing!!!" Okay, I wouldn't really expect anyone to react that way. No, you see he was the pitcher of record when the Nationals and the Astros had a game suspended awhile back. Today the wrapped it up, and the Nats got the one run they needed to win.

Uh-Oh

There hasn't been a whole lot to talk about lately. Hence, the lack of postings on here, but if this happens, look out. I think fans would head to PNC with torches and pitchforks, or they wouldn't head there at all. It's tough I don't know what to think about it anymore. Looking ahead to some Steelers stuff, I recently signed up for Twitter and found out that Frank Summers is really looking forward to "spring training".

Pennsylvania = Awesome

Sure we're Pittsburgh-focused here, but every now and then, we can accept West Jersey, I mean Philly, as our state brethren.

For the first time ever, all of these trophies were on display together.

So that's right all you other States; bow to our sports supremacy... and declining and aging population, cruddy climate, plethora of rednecks, uncompetitive and archaic tax structure, and just general buffoonery.

Is It Over Yet?

Ugh, another loss to Houston. Fine I'll say it, but I don't like it. When does training camp open again? Yeah, at this point I'm looking forward to "Can Casey Hampton show up in shape?" stories more than anything connected to my beloved Buccos. Write it down, July 6th. A new record for me.

On a related note, check out this good column in the PG about how the Pirates are losing young fans.

It's Getting a Little Harder Every Day

Wow, even I am finding it hard to pay attention to the Pirates these days. I managed to watch an entire half inning of today's game. A 5-0 beating that included 13 strike outs by the Bucs. And watch out for a full-on yinzer revolt if the rumors of a Freddy Sanchez trade are true. Which begs the question, if Sanchez is traded would the Pirates get another all-star selection? Would Sanchez lose his spot in the game since the team he would be traded to would already have their "token" player as well as a few who were voted into the game? Oh well, at least one of those Indian guys did something exciting. Keep it up and he can have Grabow's spot. Rumors say the Yankees are going after him hard. I say, take him. More rumors about Matt Capps. Word is Pirates say Capps will have a big price tag on him. Looks like Huntington has read "Moneyball". Billy Beane loves closers. He says they're over valued, and other teams will always "over pay" in a trade. I hope they get something for Capps. Trade 'em all I say. It might just pique my interest again.

Happy 4th of July

Now go celebrate like only Americans can:

Eat copious amounts of food, consume alcohol, and blow things up.

Happy Birthday America.

More on the Morgan/Burnett Trade

"He's a good player. They'll be trading him soon."

-50-year-old yinzer woman in front of me at Friday's Pirates-Royals game

When I heard the woman say that after Nyjer Morgan's home run off of Gil Meche last Friday, I instantly chuckled and dismissed it as a rant from a bitter yinzer who didn't know what she was talking about. Don't I look stupid. When I first heard the news about the trades yesterday, my initial reaction was "duck, the whiners will be at it again soon". Then I started thinking about the trade and at first I didn't quite get it. The trades up until this one have been ones that have stocked the minors. You trade one big league guy and get three in return, etc. This time they traded a speedy outfielder/lead off guy and a shaky set up man for another speedy outfield/lead off guy and a shaky set up man. Then I came around on it, not because I drank the kool-aid, or bought into the "high ceilings" for Milledge and Hanerahan ( I think that's how you spell it, no time to look it up now.) No, I came around by asking myself one question... why not? At the beginning of the year everyone was saying Morgan had no business starting, so why act like the Bucs traded away 1997 Kenny Lofton now? And Burnett, the first batter he faced as a National took him deep, no big loss there. I'm with Bob Smizik (for once) Neal Huntington is right being five games out of first, and dead last doesn't make you a contender. Stop your whining Jack Wilson. You weren't getting that pennant this year, or next. Maybe since there's no one to back you up in the bare-cupboard Pirates minor league system, you will be there when the Pirates do make it above .500.

I spent last week in PA and checked out the Pirates, Curve, and the State College Spikes. I'll have a lot more to say in the next few days.