In (Blank) We Trust

by maryrose on Apr 18, 2011 3:02 AM EDT

It is interesting that with so many of the discussions and debates we have here on BTSC, invariably something will be posted to the effect that:

"They know what they are doing...They do this 24/7 for a living...Hey, we've been in three Super Bowls in six years... In (blank) we trust"

Let me be the first to step forward and claim that I am guilty of at least thinking, if not writing, comments along those lines. I am especially vulnerable when the Bruce Arians lynching takes its normal course, but I don't want to digress here. I think the interesting caveat is the old adage that "you stand where you sit." In other words, if you initiate the criticism, or agree with someone else's, then you feel the freedom to talk about the situation. If you disagree, then the instinct is to sometimes end the debate by simply claiming that we can't know as much as, or be as smart as, the inner sanctum. How can a banker from Richmond, or whatever it is we all do, have enough insight to criticize people who spend their entire existence on this stuff?

The truth is, if we take that position, there would be no need to ever engage in any discussions or debates. There would be no need for BTSC. Why should we even talk about the Draft? Kevin Colbert knows more than we do, so let's just go about our lives and wait for April 28, and then trust what he does. Let us never question Dick LeBeau or Bruce Arians or Mike Tomlin about anything. They are in the film room and at practice 18 hours a day. Who are we to think we can possibly be more accurate than they? The In-Blank-We-Trust card is the ultimate trump card. It ends all debate.

To the contrary, I like to pretend that I am the owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers. I want to ask questions. I want to throw out my opinions and ideas and I want feedback. I don't know as much detail as the people I hire - if I did I wouldn't need to hire them in the first place. So I will let them explain things and then I will be convinced or not convinced. But under no circumstances am I going to simply live with the mantra that "They must know more than I, so I'll just stop thinking about everything."

I want to know why and why not. As a follow-up to our fearless leader's astute column about Thaddeus Gibson, I want to know why we have enough linebackers to defeat a third-world country, while our secondary can't defend top-quality quarterbacks. Did we over-do this BPA thing, like Mr. Bean alluded to? Was Gibson just a Draft mistake or is he potentially a good player that was low man on a very large totem pole - either of which is bad. As the owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers, I sign all the paychecks. You need to convince me, Kevin, why our secondary is going to be better this year, or I can assure you, we won't be taking any linebackers early in this Draft, and I don't care how good they are (Martez Wilson). Thaddeus Gibson might be good too, but we're never going to reap that fourth-round seed, are we? And we're not going to stop Manning, Brady, Brees or Rodgers unless we improve the defensive weaponry to cover their targets.

No matter how good Kevin Colbert is, or Mike Tomlin, or Dick LeBeau, or Bruce Arians, they are like the rest of us - they make mistakes. These mistakes are indisputable and well-documented. And as long as they make mistakes, they are vulnerable to being questioned. I own this team, maybe just as a fan and in my own mind, but I have an emotional investment in the Pittsburgh Steelers that I am not going to apologize for. I want to share my thoughts and hear yours on this web site. I want discussion and debate. I want you to convince me when I'm wrong. And along this journey, I will try very hard not to trump debate by saying, "In the Steelers we trust; they know what they are doing; their success is proven; so they must be right."

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Comments

Well written and I agree to an extent

that any one of us could know as much as Colbert, Tomlin, or Rooney if that were our job and were were on the inside. But we are on the outside and probably the reason we frequent quality informative sites such as BTSC. It is also why the Steelers Fanbase is made of up deeply intelligent, philosophical, and intellectual lovers of football, we want to know what is going on. We want to feel close to the team, we want to be a part of the team.

Not every draft will yield gold, nor will every player pan out (see me flex lyrics?). Last year’s draft is looking pretty good so far. If Crezdon Butler is better than William Gay on the outside we are getting better, if any one of the CB/DBs we may draft this year in rounds 1,2, or 3 make an impact we will get better.

It’s the LBs job to make the DBs look good in this system. It’s opportunistic I think. Troy’s injury prohibited his intuitive freelance play. James Harrison wasn’t 100% after the Baltimore game where he played do hard he broke. All of these little factors add up and while I don’t want to make excuses, I guess I am because I’m full of Kool-Aid…
In Steelers I Trust.

I pledge allegiance to the Terrible Towel and the only team in America, and to the franchise for which it stands, one nation under Rooney, indivisible, with the ability to crush you all.

"He was popping off down there the first time they were about to score. So you run your mouth, expect to get something. Everything's between the lines, so he got what he had coming. He was running his mouth and getting in the way of the train, and the train wasn't coming off the track."
-James Harrison on Kyle Orton

by TVsCHACHI on Apr 18, 2011 3:51 AM EDT reply actions

nice

good stuff my man.

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 Apr 18, 2011 4:03 AM EDT up reply actions

Well said

But let criticism and doubt be a foundation for constructive, and well thought out debate. When emotions run high, there are tendencies to stop listening, to stop learning, and to stop debating and speak as if two walls are shouting at one another.
There are no gods in football, no infallible figures. But in the same breath, most of us want the same team, the best possible team, that has a cast of interesting, talented and solid individuals with as good a chance of winning the whole thing as is possible before luck gets involved. So maybe in civility we can trust.

by vherub on Apr 18, 2011 8:00 AM EDT reply actions

"There are no gods in football, no infallible figures"

Except for Sir Isaac Redman!!

by Bringin' the Wood(ley) on Apr 18, 2011 12:00 PM EDT up reply actions

Sir Isaac Redman!...Yes! From now on.

by WyoFan on Apr 19, 2011 3:51 PM EDT up reply actions

trust

Sometimes the trust thing is a polite way of saying “but I could be wrong” because having an opinion on a topic doesn’t mean you need to back yourself into a corner over an issue and defend it against all comers. I don’t tend to enjoy arguing for the sake of arguing. When you come down to it, football is just entertainment unless you are playing/coaching/managing/owning in which case it is a sport and/or a business.

"A Canadian is someone who knows how to make love in a canoe" Pierre Burton (historian)

"It is wonderful to feel the grandness of Canada in the raw, not because she is Canada but because she's something sublime that you were born into, some great rugged power that you are a part of." Emily Carr (artist)

by Cold_Old_Steelers_Fan on Apr 18, 2011 8:27 AM EDT reply actions

Gotta get some cb's - period!

by datruth4life2.0 on Apr 18, 2011 9:20 AM EDT via mobile reply actions

Ooops

Using new phone 4 post. I am tired of the Willie Gay thing & having CBs that can’t catch or make a play on the ball. With our secondary, why try 2 run the ball? Just throw it 50 times. I’m not interested in best value. Just draft some ballets. Ras-i Cowling & C. Marsh are good starts.

by datruth4life2.0 on Apr 18, 2011 9:27 AM EDT via mobile up reply actions

Damn phone!

Meant 2 say ballers & Ras-i Dowling. Super-sensitive keyboard on this Droid phone.

by datruth4life2.0 on Apr 18, 2011 9:31 AM EDT via mobile up reply actions

amen

simply a phenomenal way of saying it’s okay to disagree with/not be 100% satisfied with the way the steelers did something without disrespecting the organization. i certainly feel as true fans that we have a right to be realistically critical.

there are only 2 truly dangerous ways to run a group. 1) is to refuse to acknowledge & address mistakes 2) pure incompetence

by t1mmy10 on Apr 18, 2011 2:38 PM EDT reply actions

I might be wrong but....

First let me say nice post .
I have allowed the pain of the loss to ebb bait before coming on to discuss /debate the issues.We all saw for ourselves what happened, but on further review I must say the bigger issues are:
1. Our d line was banged up. We did what we had todo but the dine suffers the most from a depth perspective. While we have great LB play you need ‘stuffers’ to free up the linebackers. That last game showed everyone a step late. We need to draft a stud d lineman.
2. A victim of our own success. We knew what GB would do and we sat in coverage waiting for them to do it. CB is a pressing need with Ike a FA and the other 2 ?? We need to add not only through the draft but FA as well.
3. Ben Ben Ben….you need to start reading defenses faster and releasing the ball faster, and play smarter ….if I am asking for too much then draft another qb in the next 2 years.
4. Let’s draft a safety period, they need to start grooming a future stud.
5. Please don’t tell me they did not give up on mendy when he fumbled , because BA did just that. I thought if he got 20- 25 touches then we would win…having said that he can’t do that every game….who is that number 2 guy? We better find out soon.
6. Ward can’t play forever and I think this is where we need to go if not this year then next.
7. Yeah , I know ol is last on my wish list. Personally if we can get a solid rg either via FA or draft I would be happy. But I got to tell you that I was proud of the loin in the SB. Pouncey, chris k, Starks , adam /colon are not terrible. We need a rg and a bit better depth.
8. Ok ok I forgot one! Please.don’t shout and scream but we need a capable qb to serve as a number 2. I hope it is dioxin, but I got to say I have my doubts.
What do you all think?

by ALDOG on Apr 18, 2011 9:42 PM EDT reply actions

Thoughts

I won’t hold my breathe for any free agents, heck we may not even have free agency this year. If we do it will be very limited. They’re talking June/July before any CBA gets hammered out.

So this draft we have to come out with at least 3 positions. RG, CB, DL.

Everything else is icing on the cake. We need one really good RG. I doubt Colon is moving to guard anytime soon. I don’t care who it is but we need a quality RG. I happen to think Pouncey will fall on draft day but that’s just a hunch. That will create depth for us especially since Foster and Essex can play two positions.

We also need a CB in the first or second round. We don’t need another late bloomer, he might become a starter down the road, we need a sure-fire (or as close to it as possible) corner. It would make our whole CB group better. Then you can slide BMAC to the slot and let the new corner man the outside. We are already grooming butler and lewis. If one of them can become good 3 or 4th corners that would help a lot.

Finially we need a DL. One reason why I love Kendrick Ellis in the third is because he not only can play nose tackle but at 6’5" and running a 5.1 40 with that 340 lbs means he can play defensive end also, at least in spurts. You would like to see him lose 10 pounds, he could afford it, and see if he could pick up two tenths of a second in his speed.

We’re fine at linebacker, at least for now. As far safety, we need to understand we’re not going to find another Troy. We just aren’t. Troy is a type of player that comes once in a generation, think when was the last time you seen a safety play the position like Troy? Your best bet for talent similar is in the first round. Maybe we’ll go there next year or the year after that.

As far as the offensive of the the ball outside of the line, Ben does need to get the ball out quicker. We’ll see if he can learn that in the next few years, if we get a good guard in this draft we should have a good enough line to give him an extra second . We do have to figure out what we’re going to do at the back up position. Dixon/Leftwich/Batch? I think we let batch go and just go with Leftwich as the 2 and Dixon as 3.

We’re good at receiver. Sweed will get one last shot to prove he isn’t a bust. But other than that the WR position is solid. Wallace, Sanders, Brown, Ward, Randle El, Sweed. That will be the preseason roster. It’ll be interesting who gets cut. If its Sweed then yea we’ll need to draft another guy next year. If its El then we’re good.

I like our TE situation right now. Most people want to get rid of Spaeth but he caught some balls last year and his blocking is improving. He did have that one big drop at the end of the Jets game. But I don’t think we need to invest in another tight end.

The running backs are good I just think Memo needs to be replace with a guy who is a home run threat every time he touches the ball.

I would love for this to be our draft

1. Mike Pouncey falls in the first, like most guards do, and we snatch him up.
2. I still like Ras-I-Dowling because of his combination of size and speed and hips and hands. We may have to trade up to get him but I think we only need about four picks in this draft any way.
3. Kendrick Ellis A guy who can lose 10 pounds and play nose tackle and defensive end is a real asset.
3. We trade our 4-7 picks for another 3rd and pick up DeMarco Murry to replace MeMo. Murry isn’t a good running between the tackles but will get yards and can catch and is fast enough to be a threat to score.

I’d be extremely happy with this draft and hopefully it turns out this way.

I love the Steelers.

by tannofsteel84 on Apr 19, 2011 9:49 AM EDT up reply actions