I Don't Want Him

This guy has been in the headlines of every person that has done a podcast or wrote an article about the Pittsburgh Steelers for the last couple of months. Funny thing is he's not on the Steelers and he's getting 100% more publicity than any Steeler at his position. He is the most annoying part of this off-season and now I just don't want him.

It all started when the Steelers traded Diontae Johnson to the Panthers. That gave anyone that covers the Steelers or NFL a license to name every WR in the NFL a possible candidate to be traded to the Steelers to be their number 1, 1B, or 2 Wide Receiver. They have done a fantastic job of naming all the WRs in the league. There's a couple with San Francisco, one with Seattle, one with Buffalo, one with Denver, one with Washington, and many assorted others.

One guy just keeps popping back up over and over and over again, though. Brandon Aiyuk. He apparently wants 30 million a year, and I don't think the Niners want to pay him 30 millions a year. He's caused all kind of havoc saying he wants to stay with San Fran, but at the same time saying, or making it known he wants 30 million. He is under contract for this year so he wants to extend that.

The Steelers do have salary cap space, around $16 million, but I can't see them paying a receiver that much.

Also, he may be a number one receiver, but he's not proven he can do that. Meanwhile, we have another guy already on the team that could be asking for a lot of cash next year. Pickens is still under contract this year and next, but if they want to keep him they might want to extend him before next season, because WR money is going up. Or, they can simply do what San Fran and Green Bay do and draft on or two a year. Seems like a smart thing to do with these prices. Then, at the end of the 3rd year try to find a buyer to give a draft pick or two.

I really do want Aiyuk despite the title of this article because he's a proven receiver. Maybe not a 1, but he's shown that he's at least a 2 and that's what the Steelers need. I'd really like to keep our first round pick next year and get a receiver then or a D line stud with it. Whether Cam stays after this year or not we still need a replacement soon.

It's that day :)

 

SUWINSKY!

 

One thing I love about sports is you get to watch a group of players become a team and hopefully succeed with each other.  You get to know the players and their strengths and weaknesses.  You hope that players will develop and be stars.  As a fan of the Pirates it seems like they always have some promising players but they have had huge problems developing any talent to the point where we have superstars.  

Right now we have Bryan Reynolds, and Ke'Bryan Hayes.  They both have provided the leather and Reynolds has hit for average and power, but it seems like there's another level to hit before he's considered one of the best in the game.  He's young though and maybe it will happen at some point.  Hayes will definitely provide the defense that we need from the hot corner, but he hasn't been an offensive machine that you want from a third baseman.  Again, though, these guys are still young and maybe it will happen soon.  

The reason I'm talking about this is the next group of hopefuls have been making appearances in the field and at the plate.  The latest of which provided the fireworks during the game.  Jack Suwinski picked Father's day with his Dad present at the game to give a show at the plate.  He smacked 3 home runs with the last one being a walk off shot in the 9th to finish things off.  He even walked on his other plate appearance.   Pretty good Father's day present, I'd say.  He's now tied with Reynolds for the home run lead for the Pirates.  There are other players I'm looking forward to see grow with the Pirates, but for now Suwinski was the man for one night early in this season and gives us some hope that the new guys have potential to achieve something in this league.

Let the Omar Khan Era Begin

 Big news today in The Burgh. Omar Khan has officially put his stamp on the beginning of his career as the Steelers General Manager. Well, that's not actually the blockbuster news from today with the Steelers. It could be a co-story though.

The real news is that our All-Pro safety has signed a new contract or contract extension for another 4 years at around $18 mil per year according to sources with a bunch of that being guaranteed cash.

I was pretty surprised by the timing of this. I thought it would go similar to TJs contract timeline. It is good to have it taken care of though. Good start Mr. Khan, now have your team find a hidden gem to replace that hole on the d line so we can count on our rushing defense again.

Stephon Tuitt

 

Last year around training camp for the season Stephon Tuitt’s brother was the victim of a hit and run and lost his life. Stephon was obviously and understandably devastated. There was little to no information from the team or Tuitt about his plans for the season. There was a lot of speculation that he’d be back, but he never did return. There were also a lot of rumors about a knee injury and from listening to DK Pittsburgh Sports he had to have fluid drained from the knee regularly. But, again, there was no concrete source as to whether he was injured or just the fact that he couldn’t mentally because of his loss. Then came the current season. The Steelers were last in rushing defense and having Tuitt back would be a big step in improving that number. Last week, though, we found out that he had decided it was time to retire. You can look at this any way you want, but to me, he decided to call it quits for a number of reasons. He lost his brother, who he was very close to. That is reason enough for anyone to decide that family should be their priority and he should spend time with them. Also, he did have knee problems. Whether it affected him playing or not last year will probably only be known to him and the team. He wouldn’t be the first to leave the game mostly healthy. During his time off, he finished his studies at Notre Dame and earned a degree. I doubt he was hurting financially or even have trouble finding a job if he stayed in Pittsburgh but having a degree would help him move to the next step in his life. Putting myself into his shoes these are all very good reasons to call it a career. I can understand it and I’m sure most fans can too. That doesn’t mean that we wouldn’t like to see Stephon pushing through opponents' lines, stuffing running backs and smashing quarterbacks this year. It just means I understand. Good luck to you Stephon. 

There goes the neighborhood

You just know things will never be the same. You've grown up in a neighborhood, spent your whole life hanging out with the friends that live next door and competing with that kid that lives behind your house. You come home from school and play one on one basketball with him. You can even manage to play one on one football. Try to throw a pass to yourself. Unless you're Mike Wallace and can outrun a bullet you have to give it a lot of hang time and be able to outjump the other guy to do that.

So, as you get older the kids in your neighborhood start moving out. Jimmy's dad gets a new job in California. The Smiths have a new baby and outgrow their house. Bobby's family moves to Florida. Until finally you and your rival, Panther, are the only ones left. Even though you have always had heated competition to see who will be the best you have a mutual respect for each other. You think there will never be an end to the competition that exists between the two of you. But the developers decide that your neighborhood is better suited for a shopping center. You do well to get out while the getting's good, but it is the end of the neighborhood and the end of the rivalry.

Well, it looks like all the neighbors in the old Big East neighborhood have vacated the hood and it's down to the Mountaineers and the Panthers. Penn State wasn't in the Big East but they lived in the next development over when everyone was an independent. The Penn State rivalry with West Virginia was mostly one-sided, but it was one that everyone in West Virginia looked forward to every year. When the Mountaineers beat Penn State there were a few parties in Morgantown.

Next, some more longtime neighbors decided to vacate. Boston College and Virginia Tech and Miami left for greener pastures in the ACC. Not the best football conference, but the basketball roots were deep. There were some new neighbors moving in, but you knew they were either going to be short timers or maybe fight for the neighborhood. One just moved in and didn't like the scene and decided to leave before even staying the night. Then you find out your neighbor Syracuse has had enough and is moving to the new development a few miles away.

Finally, you go out to play one on one football with the kid that lives behind you, you call it the "Backyard Brawl" and he tells you that his family has decided to move. You and your remaining neighbors are crushed. You never really liked him, but it will never be the same after he's gone. You looked forward all day to taking him on. One year he grew several inches and had an advantage over you, the next year you surpassed him and were better than him, but it was always competitive.

Now the Mountaineer family has found a new neighborhood and is moving on and the Panther family is moving on. You thought after the Lion family moved to their new neighborhood that you'd still have a get together occasionally, but they never looked back and didn't even want to get together every few years. Somehow it looks like that's what will happen with the Panther family. Billy Panther has already made new friends with the kids in the new neighborhood and he doesn't even say hi to you in school anymore.

So, you challenge him to one last game tonight. The last bragging rights to the neighborhood are on the line. This may be the last one for a long time. It is a sad sight to see, but an inevitable reality of life in the big business of college sports.



Ego Leonard Sighting