Idle Thoughts- Signing Wallace Steelers Top Priority By Draft
I'm not one to share my opinion, but since you asked...
- It less than a week's time, Mike Wallace and his status with the beloved Black & Gold has gone from back burner to front page news. All it really took was a radio interview he gave to Sirius NFL Radio mid-week saying he would love to remain a Pittsburgh Steeler, but if that didn't happen he would understand. Given the groundswell of support from Steeler Nation and the realization that the team would be much worse without him, Kevin Colbert and Omar Kahn have gotten busy restructuring deals, starting with Ben Roethlisberger's on Thursday to get to the cap number of around $120 Million. There will be more restructured deals to come for sure and let's be real clear here, Mike Wallace will be catching passes in Pittsburgh next fall. There is no way they let him get away to New England or any other team in the NFL.
- The news of Frank Coonelly's DUI on Thursday comes at a bad time with the Pirates just getting their spring training workouts underway. There have been calls for his firing. That should be left to his employer and nothing more. If this was his 1st offense, it hopefully will be his last. Nobody is to blame but Coonelly for what he did. He will suffer accordingly. I don't see him losing his job over it, but this could be a final straw that may lead to possible termination by season's end if this club does not improve. In four years on the job, he's done little to show he deserves to be team President, that is if you take the play on the field into consideration. As far as making the team profitable, he gets an A+. and in business, that weighs more towards the bottom line that team owner Bob Nutting seems to care more about.
- Could we please let Jeremy Lin alone now. This was a great story at first, but thanks to ESPN, it has been blown to bits and I don't care to hear about how he sleeps on a couch and what he eats and why he should be jammed down our sports gullet anymore. The best thing that can happen is for the Knicks to either not make the NBA Playoffs or lose in a 1st round sweep. Enough already, we get it. He's Asian and that's rare in the NBA.
- Ryan Braun must be thanking the people who put together the MLB CBA with Baseball execs when it comes to drug testing and policy because it's the only way he's avoiding a 50 game suspension for his failed drug test. How convenient was it for the guy who picked up the sample to miss two drop points on his way home, (an hour south of Milwaukee) then holding the sample in question for 48-hours, thus making the specimen Braun provided 'tampered' and therefore ineligible to be held in question. Yet another reason why baseball sucks.
- This is very hard to say as a proud alum of Woodland Hills High School, but Shakim Alonzo should lose his scholarship to Cincinnati for the cheap shot he gave Peters Township's Gabe Pritz last Saturday at California University of Pa in a 1st round playoff game won by Peters. Alonzo is facing criminal charges as the Washington County District Attorney's office said it would pursue criminal charges against Mr. Alonzo for simple assault and harassment on Thursday. Some are saying that Alonzo was provoked because a number of players and fans from Peters Township were using racial slurs towards Woodland Hills. If that's true, then shame of the officials for not doing something about it. However, Alonzo needs to rise above it. The high school senior apologized today at Woodland Hills in a press conference, as did AD George Novak. But its a little too late. In the end, nobody wins here.
- Despite how upbeat people are about Paul Chryst's arrival in Oakland, and the departure of West Virginia to the Big 12 come July 1st, but there is no way the Panthers win the Big East in 2012. And even if they do, does it really hold any weight or matter at this point?
- Tiger Woods will not win a major PGA Event in 2012.
- I have become numb to the idea that NASCAR still rates the type of coverage it gets from networks like Fox and ESPN. I guess when you invest billions into a product, you have to shill for it no matter how boring it really is.
- Who's excited about Pittsburgh Power football? Anybody? Nobody is? If there was a Pittsburgh Sports Totem Pole used to show the pecking order of importance, the Power would rank dead last. I not even sure they would belong on the pole. This is one of those sports that just needs to dissapear.
- I want to get excited about the Pirates in 2012. I love the Bucs. Ever since I was a little kid and my dad took me to my first game in 1977, I have always been a fan, despite the game taking a turn for the worse in 1994 when baseball went on strike and allowed the Union to become so powerful that it completely changed the game for the worse. I still don't think this team can win 82 games. But I do think they can have a four-month run in them like last spring when they were in 1st by the break. What will be the tale of the tape? Two things. Starting Pitching and run support. Getting a healthy combination of both will give this club a punchers chance to start. Only time will tell if that occurs.
- And did anybody bother to ask Jeremy Lin if he was offended by the 'Chink' headline ESPN.com used to describe him in one of the nine billion Jeremy Lin stories they have run over the past three weeks? The answer is 'yes,' but his response was buried by every major news network. Lin said he "didn't think the offensive comments made about him on the sports network were intentional' and that we 'Have to learn to forgive and I don't even think that was intentional. Or hopefully not." Leave it to the PC crowd to destroy the people in question, leading to one person being fired and a radio host being suspended for 30 days. They made bad decisions but was a firing necessary?
- If the possibility of Temple joining the Big Least for 2012 doesn't tell you all you need to know about how sad this conference is, you need your head drilled open, molten lava poured inside, while shaved pigmies dance around you, pelting your body with half eaten Primanti sandwiches. What a joke.
John Phillips is the author of this article and a former secret member of the Galactic Empire. Since he no longer chases down Jedi across the Enrico Biscotti Company, he can now be heard anchoring sports updates and hosting the occasional talk-show on 93.7 The Fan. Follow JP on Twitter at www.twitter.com/937Phillips
