BTSC Steelers Six Pack: Help the Polamalus Tackle Poverty Edition

by Michael Bean on Nov 4, 2011 4:44 AM EDT in BTSC Steelers Six Packs

IX - I can't tell you how much junk email I get from marketers, pathetically doomed start ups, etc. Really, I can't. Most goes into the trash folder as quickly as it arrives. But when I saw a message from one Theodora Polamalu this weekend, my ears perked up, excited that this might actually be an inquiry worth paying attention to. And of course, after realizing that the email was not spam, I hoped to read at the end that it was in fact signed by Troy himself.

Anyway, I'm pleased to do my small part to help the Polamalu family in their most recent charitable endeavor -- a fundraising campaign to help 'Tackle Poverty'. Read about how you can get involved in the campaign and earn Troy Polamalu signed prizes, and even Steelers tickets, along the way. After doing a little bit of reading about Mrs. Polamalu, it's clear how incredibly smart and passionate a person she is. I certainly was impressed by her accomplishments (before she met her husband as well, mind you). I imagine many Pittsburgh residents have gotten a first hand glimpse of her and Troy's wonderful commitment to service.

X - Here's your NFL Week 9 TV Distribution Map for the early and late games while we wait for the Steelers-Ravens matchup on Sunday Night Football.

Find tickets to Steelers home games for the rest of the 2011 season and in the future at Lava Tickets.

XIII - Looks like Emmanuel Sanders will be a no-go on Sunday as he mourns the passing of his mother, not tends to some discomfort in his knee.

XIV - Nice piece from Pittsburgh Magazine author Sean Conboy about the win Mike Tomlin notched over the Bill Belichik last week. Conboy picks great topics and always tells a good story.

XL - It's not just Terrell Suggs and Haloti Ngata that the Steelers offensive line needs to worry about. In his third season with the Ravens, DE Paul Kruger has become a disruptive force that has played a sizable role in the Ravens registering 24 sacks in their first seven games of the 2011 season.

XLIII - A most Happy Friday indeed. Benstonium has released a new video in time for the Steelers rematch with the Ravens. The Benstonium crew is on a roll combining movie trailer motifs with awesome highlights, with the latest combining elements of the new movie 'Immortals' with clips from the Steelers and Ravens rivalry. Outstanding as always.

XLV? - Be sure to follow Behind the Steel Curtain on Facebook. There is lots of fresh original content published there that is not featured here on the site. Once we approach the 1,000 'likes' mark here sometime soon, we'll have a giveaway of some sorts. More details to follow, but in meantime, enjoy the articles and commentary posted regularly there.

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Great stuff Bean-O

I love seeing Steelers out in the community the way Troy is, helping others less financially fortunate. And seeing him partner up with his wife…how cool is that?

Really sad for Manny. I lost my mom in 2004…that year we went 15-1, and the next year we won the Suoer Bowl. My mom was a football fan, and loved the Steelers because I grew up loving the Steelers. She took me to my first Steeler game when I was 12, versus the Raiders in Los Angeles. That just to say, moms are very special creatures, and for those that still have yours around, don’t do anything else until you’ve picked up your phone or drive over to their house and tell them you love them…

Ravens have a whuppin’ coming their way. I can smell it in the air when I open the windows. Even down two of our top WR’s…who do we plug in next? Oh, Jerrico Cotchery. Wow…can you say “deep??” I’d roll with Walkace, Brown, Cotchery and Miller ANY day with confidence, and there’s a truckload of teams with way worse WR corps than those three in this league. WAY worse. Bluntonio, how we miss thee not at all.

http://thf2.wordpress.com

I'll be hiking the Pacific Crest Trail from May, 2011 to Sept., 2011, to raise money for charity. For more info, please visit: http://thf2.wordpress.com

by Fifty-Eight on Nov 4, 2011 7:21 AM EDT via mobile reply actions

Better still,

isn’t Hines available this week?

My heros have always been Steelers...

by wozzle on Nov 4, 2011 1:42 PM EDT up reply actions

I hope so,

Ward could be a big help in the red zone, and that could be the difference in the game Sunday.

I wish the NFL was able to track the number of third down conversions by receivers throughout history, my guess is Hines Ward would be among the best.

by SteelStealth on Nov 4, 2011 4:40 PM EDT up reply actions

Awsome video; hopefully brings as much luck as "Saw" video last week. Also...

…My family’s prayers go out to Manny as well. It’s hard losing any parent, but especially a mom. My mom taught me to love the Steelers in the early 70’s; she identified with them in the 60’s, being a Brooklyn Dodger fan of the 40’s (lovable characters, perennial losers).

United we Stand, melded like Steel
To Roger Goodell, We'll never Yield.

by PaVaSteeler on Nov 4, 2011 8:19 AM EDT reply actions

People deal with loss on different terms

I’ve read somewhere that Brett Favre played one of his best games the week his father died. Though after last week’s productivity I think all of us would like to see Manny play, It would be selfish to expect that from him.

On a different note, I honestly don’t understand this push for Facebook. You’ve got a great blog going. People come here to find great articles and discuss them with members of the community. Why put “lots of fresh original content” out elsewhere? Because it is the fasionable thing to do? I may come through as grumpy, but I won’t create an account there, not even for BTSC.

by kisakos on Nov 4, 2011 8:20 AM EDT reply actions

that was actually the next day that Favre played believe it or not.

I agree that people grieve differently, but the end of Favre’s career kinda said he only cares about him. Cheating on his wife while she has cancer, etc..

Totally with you on the FB b.s…this place is the anti-FB to me.

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by FrankWyt on Nov 4, 2011 8:27 AM EDT up reply actions

theres someone else, not me posting on FB

if you all want to pay me more to write here all day id gladly accept :) but reality is I have other work to do to pay my bills which means that i rely on / pay for help in certain areas in order to make sure i do as good a job as i can with the site.

bottom line is there’s gazillions of steelers fans on FB that don’t know about BTSC. More do now because of the fine efforts being done there. That’s a good thing for Steeler Nation, a good thing for the site’s growth, and a good thing for our community and conversation.

capiche?

Freel free to email me anytime at behindthesteelcurtain@gmail.com with questions, suggestions, complaints, etc, or to just say what's up. -Michael Bean (Blitz)

by Michael Bean on Nov 4, 2011 8:31 AM EDT up reply actions

You get paid to write for here?

Does everyone that writes here?

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by FrankWyt on Nov 4, 2011 8:37 AM EDT up reply actions

of course i get paid to edit this site

as my other comment said, its not enough for me to do this exclusively. far from it, this site is part of a media company that’s been undergoing some interesting and exciting growth and changes lately. You can read a bit about that here if you’re so inclined: http://www.voxmedia.com/announcement.html

But yeah, a sizable percentage of the posts you read have some branded bar on them - samsung, sprint, vicks, etc. THankfully I don’t have to tailor the editorial content of the posts very much and can write stuff that is worth reading, but yeah, having fortune 500 companies sponsor posts should mean money is involved.

there’s countless blogs out there but only a few make a red cent. Fortunate to be one of those, but believe me, it’s all about the grind and the long haul. nothing about the money keeps me in it; in fact it really just means i work 90-120 hour weeks because i have to work like the rest of us but then still pour tons of hours into this for marginal financial benefit.

wouldn’t trade it for the world though. not yet at least at this age.

but maybe some of that helps you understand why id be interested in making sure the site has a solid presence on the biggest website on the planet (Facebook).

Freel free to email me anytime at behindthesteelcurtain@gmail.com with questions, suggestions, complaints, etc, or to just say what's up. -Michael Bean (Blitz)

by Michael Bean on Nov 4, 2011 8:46 AM EDT up reply actions

and just so no one misinterprets

its all one big blessing. i continue to try harder 6 years into this because y’all are so great and continue to amaze me with how fun a community rallied around a shared niche interest/passion can be.

Freel free to email me anytime at behindthesteelcurtain@gmail.com with questions, suggestions, complaints, etc, or to just say what's up. -Michael Bean (Blitz)

by Michael Bean on Nov 4, 2011 8:57 AM EDT up reply actions

i wasn't aware of the advertisements, i have firefox

Yahoo, Usa Today, and NFL are the one’s that i can see, but the side bars don’t show up.
Wasn’t aware of how this site worked, i appreciate you breaking it down, and would appreciate any other information about the inner workings that you’d feel like sharing, because I’m a very curious person.
I always enjoy reading your stuff, and pretty much everything else on this site.

Thank you for explaining the FB thing. That certainly makes sense. I just have ummm moral objections to that site, but it is immensely popular. People really like to you know other people’s bathroom schedules.
You already answered my next question, which would have been “is this your only job”
So you work a normal job, and do this in your free time? Pretty crazy, but I for one am glad you do it.

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by FrankWyt on Nov 4, 2011 9:01 AM EDT up reply actions

NFP not NFL...

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by FrankWyt on Nov 4, 2011 9:01 AM EDT up reply actions

and keep that firefox thing to yourself. bloggers hate you if you don’t look at their ads.

by stylepoints on Nov 4, 2011 9:23 AM EDT up reply actions

it's not like it matters

I know what products I like. No clever advertising campaign is ever going to make me buy a product.
I think they hate if I don’t buy the products a lot more than if I don’t look at the ad.
But if it’s good products being advertised, you can bet I’m already buying them :)

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by FrankWyt on Nov 4, 2011 9:27 AM EDT up reply actions

KY had an advertisement for some

magic solution. I even came back here and gave it a review. Good stuff bro. Anyhow……

"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty." - Winston Churchill

by PixburghArn on Nov 4, 2011 1:34 PM EDT up reply actions

I am so inclined

and for some reason, the CEO’s name struck me as funny

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by FrankWyt on Nov 4, 2011 9:53 AM EDT up reply actions

Everybody

who comments gets paid. Haven’t you been getting your checks?

by stylepoints on Nov 4, 2011 9:21 AM EDT up reply actions

funny

but i said people who write here, which is to suggest people like Simonsen, John Stephens…you know, people that have their stories on the main page.

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by FrankWyt on Nov 4, 2011 9:25 AM EDT up reply actions

I get paid

but I’m never on the front page. I have gotten “editer’s Pick” a few times on the Pittsburgh page though. :)

"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty." - Winston Churchill

by PixburghArn on Nov 4, 2011 1:35 PM EDT up reply actions

what kinda money we talking?

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by FrankWyt on Nov 4, 2011 2:28 PM EDT up reply actions

Monopoly

"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty." - Winston Churchill

by PixburghArn on Nov 4, 2011 2:32 PM EDT up reply actions

ugggh

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by FrankWyt on Nov 4, 2011 2:34 PM EDT up reply actions

sorry

maybe I should have said invisible???

"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty." - Winston Churchill

by PixburghArn on Nov 4, 2011 2:36 PM EDT up reply actions

lol

i’m just trying to get an idea of what people get for what they do on here. and i didn’t think it would be sacred information like if i asked how much you made at your actual job. Either way, if it’s private, it’s private.

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by FrankWyt on Nov 4, 2011 2:39 PM EDT up reply actions

I think

Only Mike Bean getz paid

"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty." - Winston Churchill

by PixburghArn on Nov 4, 2011 2:47 PM EDT up reply actions

Damn

that kind of gives a whole new level of appreciation for everyone else that contributes here. They put a lot of work in to it appears.

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by FrankWyt on Nov 4, 2011 2:52 PM EDT up reply actions

yeah

It’s just a love for the Steelers

"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty." - Winston Churchill

by PixburghArn on Nov 4, 2011 2:57 PM EDT up reply actions

almost everyone who has written here regularly

has gotten paid a bit of money from me. nothing to write home about, believe that, but yes, the contributors are amazing for all the work they do.

Freel free to email me anytime at behindthesteelcurtain@gmail.com with questions, suggestions, complaints, etc, or to just say what's up. -Michael Bean (Blitz)

by Michael Bean on Nov 4, 2011 3:50 PM EDT up reply actions

That's very honorable

"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty." - Winston Churchill

by PixburghArn on Nov 4, 2011 10:09 PM EDT up reply actions

BTSC is very lucky

The quality of the writing and analysis here has been excellent. I read stuff here and then on the weekend I hear talking heads from the networks discussing the same stuff. It is to the point where I think some of them (or the people writing for them) use this site as part of their research. I can’t remember specifics atm but on several occasions I have been surprised to hear the same talking points.

anyone trying to contact me via my yahoo account should be aware it has been hacked

by Cold_Old_Steelers_Fan on Nov 5, 2011 2:59 PM EDT up reply actions

you're a good man, i don't care what anyone else says

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by FrankWyt on Nov 4, 2011 11:03 PM EDT up reply actions

that said kisakos

i dont blame ya for not wanting to create an account. as good a job as is being done there, believe me, im devoting my efforts right here with the editorial direction and my own writing. so u may be missing out, but if you like btsc because of the focused efforts that myself and others that you’re used to reading put in here on the site, then fret not.

Freel free to email me anytime at behindthesteelcurtain@gmail.com with questions, suggestions, complaints, etc, or to just say what's up. -Michael Bean (Blitz)

by Michael Bean on Nov 4, 2011 8:34 AM EDT up reply actions

That's a relief

I read 90+ % of the posts and a lot of comments as well, so I wouldn’t like to to miss anything ;)
From a business perspective, I totally understand your point. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t take the “content” for granted – I can only imagine how much work is put into this site.

by kisakos on Nov 4, 2011 11:08 AM EDT up reply actions