Roethlisberger Signs Restructured Deal

By Ed Bouchette / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

The Steelers have completed another restructured contract, with quarterback Ben Roethlisberger signing a new deal this morning that will clear nearly $6 million of cap room for the 2013 season.By restructuring, the team takes most of the player's salary and roster bonus, if any, and turns it into a signing bonus. For salary cap purposes, signing bonues are prorated over the life of the contract in equal annual amounts.

Read the rest from Bouchette here:  http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/sports/steelers/steelers-roethlisberger-agree-on-restructured-contract-677298/#ixzz2MDMWqfF8

So now everyone will praise Ben right? No. No one will. He had no choice in this town. What's even worse is they didn't even extend his contract, so they'll have to work on that in the next few years. Now they should work on restructuring Troy Polamalu's contract. 

Mike Milbury Goes Hard On Alex Ovechkin

Mike Milbury is usually one of my least favorite people in the world and I hate when he speaks. But he is right about Alexander Ovechkin. Ovechkin is probably the most overrated athlete in the NHL and maybe pro sports right now. Ovechkin signed a 13-year $124 million contract with the Washington Capitals a few years ago. Last year Ovechkin failed to average a point a game which is appalling considering he makes $9 million a year.

Flacco Might Now Be Elite But He's Not Better Than Ben

A cute subject came up on the NFL Network about who's better: Ben Roethlisberger or Joe Flacco? Now after what Flacco just did in the playoffs, throwing 11 tds and 0 picks, along with winning the Super Bowl, he's in my top seven elite quarterbacks list. I have Flacco at number seven, after Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, Drew Brees, Peyton Manning, Eli Manning, and of course Big Ben. 

Why No Simon Despres?

The Pittsburgh Penguins lost to the Florida Panthers by a score of 6-4 to fall to 13-7 on the year. The Pens took a billion penalties in the game and got outplayed and out-coached. Dan Bylsma's club played with desperation and showed some good resilience but I still think a lot of his coaching decisions are questionable at best.

One thing I can not for the life of me figure out is why he continues to not play Simon Despres. Despres was a healthy scratch for the third time in the last five games. In the three games without Despres the Pens are 1-2 and have given up 15 goals. The Pens are 4-1 in the last five games Despres played in and only gave up 10 goals in those games.

Now I'm not going to say that's all Despres because it's not but he's a really talented player who is a +6 on the year. Despres also has five points in 15 games this year. He's a former 1st round pick who was really starting to play really well.

Now Bylsma has been switching Despres in and out of the lineup with Robert Bortuzzo. Byslma said Bortuzzo adds a more physical aspect tot the game. Bortuzzo was credited with 1 hit against the Panthers. Despres had 18 hits in 15 games, which was tied with Letang coming into the game against Florida, despite playing one less game. Despres is 6'4, 215 lbs, I think he's physical enough to play with the big boys.

Why does Deryk Engelland get to stay in the lineup? I would continue to play both of these young guys over Engelland. They both have way more upside. It's not like Deryk Engelland is Scott Stevens out there, he's a 6th defenseman at best. Unless he's punching people in the face on a consistant basis I think his spot in the lineup should be looked at.

Now apparently Despres has had a bad attitude at practice.

The Pens are actually shopping Despres according to Rob Rossi: -Simon Despres has not dressed for two straight games, and the Penguins have let inquiring clubs know he is available for the right price. The Penguins are targeting a young winger, much like Neal, who can be part of the long-term future. They want a player whose rights they control and one who can grow into a prime role in Pittsburgh. It will take that type of player to get Despres.

There are players who have been linked to the Penguins in exchange for Despres, but none of those players meet the requirements the Penguins believe are necessary to move their first-round pick from the 2009 NHL entry draft.

I for one do not support trading Despres at all. I think he could develop into a all-star caliber defensman. Isn't defense the main problem for the Pens right now. Do the stats not say that the Pens are better with Despres in the lineup than when he's not in the lineup? It's bullshit and his absence is hurting the Pens.

Big Ben to restructure his contract per Ed Bouchette

Here is what Ed Bouchette is reporting right now:

"The Steelers are working with agents to restructure some of their veteran players' contracts as they move to get under the NFL's salary cap as required by March 12.

Among those they will restructure are Ben Roethlisberger and Lawrence Timmons, and both could be done before the end of this week. "

Oscars Preview

Simple post by me. Previewing the Oscars which will be on ABC tonight. I love movies and I"m currently trying to break into the business. Wanted to give my wonderful opinions about who will and should win and some of this years most obvious snubs. Not gonna write too much because you're not going to read it all anyways and I really don't feel like it.

Dan Bylsma's Coaching...Color Me Unimpressed

Pittsburgh Penguins lost to the Philadelphia Flyers again, at home, like clockwork. The Flyers beat the Pens 6-5 at Consol last night and there was some good but mostly bad from the game. The Pens got outplayed and out coached, again.

Let's get the good things out of the way first. 

Brandon Sutter was amazing, and the third-line in general played really well. Sutter scored the biggest goal of his career, at least with the Pens last night by tying the game 5-5. Tyler Kennedy also miraculously scored a goal in the game as well. There's that secondary scoring. 

Pens were 2-7 on the power-play. You'd think that would be a bad thing but the % is actually above league standards so anytime you score two power play goals you'll take it. I thought the PP looked really good last night. 

The Pens actually came back. The Pens blew a two goal lead to end up down by two in the third period. The Pens fought back and tied the game 5-5 thanks to Sutter. 


NOW THE BAD. 

The Flyers get under the Penguins skin way too easy. The love it, they run their mouth, they run the Pens players, the get the Pens to lose their minds and find a way to get them to lose their hockey focus. They always do it and they were able to do it again last night, without SCOTT HARTNELL. 

For example letting Zach Rinaldo run around causing the Pens to lose their minds I.E. Kris Letang. Trading Letang off the ice for Rinaldo off the ice is a loss for the Pens on a epic scale. 

The Pens were up 2-0 last night and they still let the Flyers control their own emotions. The Flyers irritated the Pens and made them stoop down to their level. The Pens took 9 penalties and blew a 2-0 lead. The Pens also turned the puck over a billion times, which has been a problem in every loss this year. 

Evgeni Malkin took two more penalties and he currently leads the team in total PIM. Again that's a lack of discipline. The Pens taking 9 penalties in a game is a lack of discipline. The Pens being in the top 10 in total penalties is a lack of discipline. 

Speaking of Malkin, he gets zero help from Bylsma his head coach.  Sean Couturier terrorized Malkin in last year's first round playoff loss, so why would Malkin and Couturier be on the ice so often with each other again? Especially when the Pens get the last line change at home, Bylsma does not believe in match ups. Bylsma rarely makes any in-game adjustments. 

Bylmsa also made a terrible choice by starting Tomas Vokoun. Marc-Andre Fleury is on fire right now, 6-1 this month with a save % of .934. Fleury also had two full days rest coming into the game. So why not start him? I realize they don't want to want to wear Fleury out again but you also have to pick and chose the right times to start your backup. This was a big game, two days rest, Fleury's hot. Now Vokoun played terrible, gave up 6 goals in a loss. 

Sure Fleury played bad in last year's series loss to the Flyers, but he played great in the opener against them this year. It's a new year, you can't base all of your decisions on last year. If that's the case why is Malkin out there against Couturier? The Pens have two games coming up against the Florida Panthers, who suck. Perfect opportunities to give Vokoun some starts against his former team and a great chance for Fleury to get some rest. 

Plus I thought you ride the hot goaltender? That's what I heard when Vokoun was playing well...."Maybe the Pens should ride Vokoun, the hot goaltender for a while". But it's not the case with Fleury though? Hypocritical. 

Bylsma also bothers me by his decisions on who plays and who doesn't outside of the goaltending situation. Simon Despres has been scratched two games in a row. Despres was playing great but apparently the Pens say he has a bad attitude. Ok that's fine. I've also been told that the Pens are trying to shop Despres around. 

Tyler Kennedy sucks, but he gets to play every game. I've been told that the Pens don't want to scratch him because they're also trying to trade Kennedy. So how do you scratch a really good player you're trying to trade but you continue to play a terrible player you're trying to trade? How does that make sense on any level? 

Despres should play every game along with Robert Bortuzoo. Deryk Engelland is not good. He should be scratched. 

Speaking of defense, once again against the Flyers they were awful. Brooks Orpik said he hates all the penalties the Pens are taking, apparently Orpik also hates clearing the opponents away from his goalies. The Flyers owned the Pens down low all night. They were all up in Vokoun's grill. Again zero adjustments made by the Pens. 

The coaching is not good right now. Bylsma has a stacked roster in terms of talent. The Pens are a perenial Stanley Cup favorite. But since winning the cup in 08-09, the Pens have won 1 playoff series in 3 seasons. That's unacceptable. Hockey coaches come and go all of the time. Bylsma has not improved as a coach. Like I said before, if the Pens don't make a serious run at the cup a coaching change  HAS TO BE MADE. 

Pittsburgh Steelers Shouldn't and Won't Draft Manti Te''o

Getty Images

With the 17th pick in the draft the Pittsburgh Steelers select Manti Te'o, linebacker, Notre Dame. No not really and I hope that this doesn't come to fruition. Not that I don't think Te'o is a good player or a good NFL prospect, because he is and I'm a Notre Dame fan as well as a Steelers fan. But the Steelers have bigger needs than inside linebacker and I'm not sure if Te'o fits the system . 

Even Ray Shero Knows Tyler Kennedy Sucks

artwork done by @Evil_Shero

Even Pittsburgh Penguins general manager Ray Shero knows Tyler Kennedy sucks. We know that thanks to Mike Colligan from the Hockey writers.  I mean I would suspect that he knows how much Kennedy does indeed suck, but to actually call out Kennedy publicly is a bit bizzarre. Especially if Shero is trying to deal him and please God I hope that is the case. 

Ryan Clark Calls Out Steelers Locker Room: LaMarr Woodley Fat

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He was awful," an anonymous Steelers player told Ron Cook of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. "He tells us he works out, but we didn't see it. He wasn't in shape. That has to be a reason why he was always hurt." Wow, the truth hurts doesn't it LaMarr? Someone on the Pittsburgh Steelers called Woodley out and I love it. Woodley was out of shape and played terribly last year

Pens Beat Sabers 4-3 Recap:

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Big win for the Pittsburgh Penguins over the Buffalo Sabers in Buffalo. The Pens defeated the Sabers by a score of 4-3. The game was one of the most exciting and well played hockey games so far this year. 

Matt Cooke Destroys Erik Karlsson's Achilles

Joe Sargent/Getty Images

R.I.P. Erik Karlsson's achilles. Last night in the Pens 4-2 win over Ottawa, Matt Cooke ACCIDENTALLY destroyed Karlsson's achilles tendon. Now we've all seen the highlight a 100 times by now. So here's the video of the incident one more time.

The Best and Worst of Christopher Dorner.

Should the Pittsburgh Steelers cut James Harrison?

The Pittsburgh Steelers are in serious trouble with the salary cap. Right now they are over $14 million over the cap and have to make some serious improvements to their team via free agency(yeah right) and the draft. They also have to try and re-sign some key players like Max Starks, either Jonathan Dwyer/Isaac Redman, and Keenan Lewis. 

Fuck Penn State

The title says it all, Fuck Penn State. Not all of the current students, teachers, or some of alumni, but for the most part, fuck Penn State.

3 new pics of Kate Upton, 2 NAKED ..I love you

Photo courtesy of Sports Illustrated 

Pittsburgh Penguins: Broken Wings

The Pittsburgh Penguins just lost back to back games to the New Jersey Devils. They lost both games by a score of 3-1, getting outscored in the two games 6-2. Tomas Vokoun and Marc-Andre Fleury both lost in their starts and both gave up three goals, can't blame them.

You can blame a team that played extremely lethargic in two straight games, getting outplayed and out-coached by the Devils in every way.

Right now I want to focus on the Pens lack of secondary scoring, more importantly their lack of offensive depth, specifically at the winger position.

Tim Benz lose his mind over and possibly his job over Gun Control.

Tim Benz, shock-jock for 105.9 fm Pittsburgh, also known as "The X" quit his show on Friday on live radio. Awesome story. Benz got caught arguing with listeners and people on social media about gun control. Benz is a supporter of stricter gun laws.

Former L.A.P.D. Christopher Dorner is dead: Here's His Full Manifesto

I wanted to give everyone a chance to read the manifesto of Christopher Dorner. In case you don't know who he is he's the former L.A.P.D. officer who is out to kill a lot of cops.

 I got it via laist.com 

Pittsburgh Steelers Need to Make Some Big Decisions

The other day there was an article war in the Pittsburgh media when Dejan Kovacevic wrote an article about how Pittsburgh should get a chance to host a Super Bowl. Controversy struck when CBS Pittsburgh.com put up a very similar article about 12 hours after Dejan posted his for the Trib. 

I really don't care because it's not a very original idea nor is it relevant. Sure it would be fun for Pittsburgh to host the Super Bowl and I hope it happens, but forgive me if I'm more concerned about the actual football team in which the stadium is used for most, the Steelers. 

The Steelers just had an abysmal 8-8 record. They turned the ball over constantly, they couldn't get to the opposing teams's quarterback, couldn't make any big plays on defense, their $100 million qb got hurt again and failed to be any kind of hero down the stretch, and they couldn't run the ball to save their lives. 

Now they are $14.2 million over the cap heading into March, again. They have a lot of players who simply make too much. 

Rob Gronkowski Might Do Real Porn

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Some Thoughts on the Pens

It's gameday for the Pittsburgh Penguins so I figured I would comment on a few things about the team.

Pens play the New York Islanders tonight. Last week they lost 4-1 to the Islanders at home in a brutal effort by the flightless birds. The Islanders have won three straight games against the Pens by a total score of 14-7. Yikes. It's time for the Pens to come out and and outplay inferior opponents, instead of playing down to their opponents, like the Steelers. Ouch.

Jerome Bettis Doesn't Get in the Hall of Fame...Again

Former Pittsburgh Steelers running back Jerome Bettis did not get into the Hall of Fame for the third year in a row. This was Bettis' third year of eligibility and he wasn't even close in terms of votes needed to make the final cut. I for one am not surprised by this at all. I do not think Bettis was an "elite" running back by any means, and I had a feeling that it would take  a while for him to get elected into the Hall. 

The Joe Flacco Conundrum

Joe Flacco proved a lot of his critics wrong in Super Bowl 47 by leading the Baltimore Ravens to a Super Bowl victory over the San Francisco 49ers. Not only did Flacco lead Baltimore to the win, he was named Super Bowl MVP by throwing 3 tds and 0 interceptions. Flacco, who has been in the league for just 5 seasons has now joined the "Elite" quarterbacks club, alongside Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Drew Brees, Aaron Rodgers, Eli Manning, and Ben Roethlisberger.