Best of the Web: The Top 20 Links of the Week
It's now official: Troy Polamalu has been ruled out of Thursday Night Football against the Panthers, with his status against Cleveland next week up in the air. Nonetheless, I'm confident the Steelers will be able to handle Jimmy Clausen in spite of their missing defensive leader. Call it a hunch. [NFL.com]
Here's a stat that will make your head spin: Emmanuel Sanders has been targeted 38 times in the Steelers' last six games. That's seven more than Hines Ward (31), for those of you charting #86's statistical decline in 2010. [Observer Reporter]
The Steelers finished with none of the top 10 overall Pro Bowl vote-getters, but they did get three of the tops at their positions, including LB James Harrison, S Troy Polamalu, and ST Keyaron Fox. In case you were wondering, Jeff Reed did not get the nod at kicker for the NFC. [Fanhouse]
The NFL Network will air a special right up my alley, "The Top 10 Pittsburgh Steelers", at 8 p.m. on December 24. In anticipation of the event, Bob Labriola takes a stab at it with his own top 10 list, yet takes the easy way out and lists #2-9 in alphabetical order following his #1, Joe Greene. Come on, Bob...mix it up a bit! [Steelers.com]
Finally, the stats say it: Tom Brady is better than Peyton Manning. And has much cooler hair, too. [SI]
Those poor saps who root for the Washington Capitals are seen in this video chanting "We Want Pittsburgh" in advance of their Thursday showdown with the Pens. Because Penguin games have always gone so well for the Caps in the past, as you all know. [DC Sports Bog]
Memories of Mario, an exhibit featuring a special collection of Mario Lemieux's trophies, jerseys, and sticks, will be on display at the Western Pennsylvania Sports Museum at the Senator John Heinz History Center now through February 13. Approximate retail value of the memorabilia: a billion dollars. Or something close to that. [PittsburghPenguins.com]
FSN will be airing a marathon of classic Penguin games on December 25 starting at 1:00 p.m. and running until midnight. The fun kicks off with a rebroadcast of Mario Lemieux's 2000 comeback game, and includes many more goals after that. [PittsburghPenguins.com]
WinterClassicWinterClassicWinterClassicWinterClassicWinterClassic! [NHL.com]
http://nhl.cdn.neulion.net/u/videocenter/embed.swf
The Pirates made a Top 10 list! SI's Tom Verducci ranked his top 10 MLB stories of 2010, and the Pirates' 18-year stint of futility and all the horrible numbers associated with it ranked #10. Congratulations? [SI.com]
A great Christmas gift for the anguished baseball fan in your life: a Pirate Holiday Pick Six Plan! Because nothing says Merry Christmas like the chance to watch Charlie Morton. [PittsburghPirates.com]
Speaking of the Buccos, does free agent P Jeff Francis interest you at all? Because he apparently interests Huntington and Co. quite a bit. As free agents go, my excitement level should the Pirates sign him would be somewhere between Scott Olsen and Lebron James. But probably closer to Scott Olsen. [Rum Bunter]
OK, seriously...who's buying a 2010 Pitt Panther Big East Champions sweatshirt? Anyone? Anyone? [BigEast.teamfanshop.com]
And on that note, it's not surprising to hear that Pitt has only moved about 2,000 tickets for their not-highly-anticipated bowl game against Kentucky on January 8. What, no one wants to see the Panthers try to win one for the Wanny? [ESPN Big East Blog]
If you haven't heard the story about the robbery at Jason Pinkston's place, take a few minutes and read it. Aaron Smith, a former Pitt linebacker, has been questioned in the case. [PG]
Joe Starkey is not fond of the way Wanny's firing/resignation was handled by Pitt administration, and compares the situation (unfavorably) to West Virginia. Ouch. [Trib]
So, what can Pitt fans expected in the Michael Haywood Era? Here's an interesting take, complete with "shake down cruise" in Year One. I think it's safe to say that the transition to this staff might be a little difficult for some of the South Side-lovers on the Panther squad. [EDSBS]
I don't know how the Haywood Era will play out, but I do know one thing... 2011 Pitt recruits are dropping like flies. The latest is highly-touted RB Jameel Poteat, who decided that Cincinnati would be a better place to call home. Personally, I would tend to disagree with that line of thinking, but then again, I'm not a four-star recruit. [Pitt Script]
Here's The Christmas Story...if it were about a highly-touted recruit. [Sports Pickle]
SI takes a look back at 2010: The Year in Sports, and what a year it was. Tiger. Favre. Cam and Cecil Newton. The Olympics. And just think, they didn't even mention a story involving a certain Steeler QB that got just a bit of airtime. [SI]
Don Spagnolo is the founder of the Pittsburgh sports and entertainment blog Mondesi's House.
