IX-Dan Rooney is one step closer to becoming the United States' Ambassador to Ireland.  Yesterday Rooney sat before a meeting on the Senate Foreign Relations committee, and from reports it appears that the Senators who chose to appear were much more interested in praising Rooney and the Steelers organization than actually asking him anything about his political views or plans for the upcoming appointment.  That's Washington for ya.

X-In 2007 the Pittsburgh Steelers signed horrible, horrible, talentless, waste of space, Sean Mahan to a lucrative five year contract.  After losing his starting spot to Justin Hartwig during the 2008 offseason he was traded back to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.  Mahan is now the back-up center for the Bucs and was due to make three million dollars this season and be the Buc's highest paid lineman.  That was until they forced him to restructure his contract on Wednesday.  Tampa Bay is an estimated 30 million dollars under the salary cap right now, and continues to be in some sort of contest to have the lowest payroll in the NFL.

XIII-Unfortunately the Texas Longhorns lost their bid for college World Series champions last night to the LSU Tigers.  In watching the college World Series this year I have decided the most underrated athlete of all time is Dave Winfield.  Winfield is one of two athletes to be drafted by three professional sports teams.  He was drafted by the Atlanta Hawks, the San Diego Padres, and the Minnesota Vikings (despite never playing college football).  He also won the college World Series MVP, as a Pitcher.  Winfield was quite productive all the way up until his last season in the majors at an astounding 44 years old.  Who is your most underrated athlete?

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We resume our tour of the Pittsburgh Steelers roster and the positional battles that should delineate this year's training camp in Latrobe by discussing the situation at tight end.  It's quite an interesting one actually, as at the present moment, it's not at all clear what the organization intends to do past this season. Let's take a closer look.

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IX-Santionio Holmes displays a sense of confidence that quite franly borders on cockyness in an interview with The Sporting News.  Steeler fans' haven't heard talk like that since the days of Plaxico Bullet Burress.  Holmes states his goal is to make the Hall of Fame, and he also talks about the reason he chose Ohio State was to become a more accomplished and complete NFL receiver.  Holmes' confidence caught me a bit of guard and the first question I had after reading the interview was "is Santonio Holmes going to re-sign with the Steelers?"  I have my doubts, your thoughts?

X-So you think Rashard Mendenhall can dance?  Check out Pittsburgh Sports and Mini Ponnies for a video of what is believed to be Rashard Mendenhall groving and moving to Michael Jackson's "Thriller".  No wonder Coach Tomlin nicknamed him "Delicious."

XIII-A tragic and sad story about a former NFL "High School Coach of the Year", Ed Thompson, from Aplington-Parkersburg High School in Iowa.  The coach was apparently shot in the head by a young man while assisting players in the schools weight room.  Coach Thompson won two state titles and coached four current NFL players.  A tragic story for the small Iowa Community.

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It's not often that us fans get legitimately substantial news stories this time of year. We got one today when it was reported that offensive tackle Max Starks inked a four-year contract extension. As reported by ESPN, the contract is worth roughly $26.3 million over the next four years, with $10 million dollars of guaranteed money for the two-time Super Bowl winning tackle out of the University of Florida. Congratulations to Max Starks on the deal.

What does it mean though exactly for him and for the organization moving forward though? Let's try to break it down a bit after the jump.

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Let's continue our breakdown by position of the Pittsburgh Steelers roster with a look at the situation at cornerback.

As you're likely well aware, the Steelers pass defense has improved dramatically in the first two years of the Mike Tomlin era. In 2006, the Steelers failed to even make the playoffs a year after winning Super Bowl XL. Part of the reason was a porous pass defense that yielded 212 yards per game through the air (20th in NFL). In Coach Tomlin's first year, that number fell to 176.5 yards per game (3rd) and in 2008 the Steelers led the league in pass defense after allowing an amazingly modest 156.9 passing yards per game.

There are lots of factors in play when assessing a team's pass defense. It helps when you have a front seven that creates tremendous pass pressure for example. It helps to be involved in close games (or even trail frequently) so that teams are not taking to the air furiously trying to catch up. It also helps to have a super-human athlete like Troy Polamalu patrolling the field and a disciplined but big hitting strong safety in Ryan Clark enforcing the middle of the field.

All that said, defending the pass in the National Football League requires talented athletes and savvy, high-IQ guys at the cornerback position. And it requires having more than just one horse in the stable.

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Greetings friends. So, not all that scintillating a post idea to get back in to the swing of things after my little hiatus but I had started this awhile back and was needing to just get the wheels greased a bit before hopefully getting back to a very high paced as we approach the start of training camp in just about a month's time. Hope all have been well. - Blitz- (Michael B.)

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I wanted to take a closer look at the 2009 Steelers schedule on this Monday - but I hope to do more than just look at the names on the schedule and make any sort of black-or-white conclusion. Instead I'm going to be taking a look to see how the Steelers 2009 schedule is arranged sequentially and try to make a few observations about the schedule as a whole. Before I go any further, let's take a look at the slate of games once more.

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There you have it, the 2-Seed wins the Super Bowl.  Sound familiar?

First of all, many thanks to all who participated.  We had close to 12,000 total votes cast.  Our Tomlinism Tournament was picked up by USA Today, the Post Gazette and numerous other web sites, so hopefully we welcomed a few new fans into the BTSC family. 

The Tomlinism Tournament featured a fine blend of colloquy: shorter and longer; previously spoken and original; timely and timeless; abrupt and philosophical; motivational and inspirational.  Regardless of the label, what was clear is that different elements turn different folks on in different ways.  I've heard a few arguments and even made a few of my own:  "How can you vote for this over that?"

The Champion 2-Seed, a combination of original, philosphical and motivational, proved itself a classic among Steeler Nation:

"Every day I walk by five Lombardi Trophies, not five rushing titles.  Willie's comments could be construed as selfish, which he is not."

Willie Parker and Mike Tomlin, the two principles of the Tomlinism Super Bowl Champion

To begin with, it was dead-on accurate.  Rushing titles mean nothing.  Some have said "we've got to get back to smash-mouth Steeler football," which sounds good to me in the snow and mud on Heinz Field in December, but the truth is, there are many ways to skin a cat.  You should never force players into a system that lessens their chances of success; instead, design a system around the talent you have to work with.  Tomlin gets it, and we've previously noted such with his handling of LeBeau's defense.

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IX-Remember today and tonight is your last chance to let your voice be heard in the first annual Tomlinism Tournament organized by maryrose.  Right now the number two seed is winning by a landslide and it would take an epic comeback to change the tides of this vote.

X-Lawrence Timmons  posted a blog post on his thoughts on his brand new Super Bowl ring.  Timmons mentions that although he is excited to be starting for the Steelers he misses his old mentor and friend Larry Foote.  Timmons sounds eager to win at least one more Super Bowl and mention he would like to play for at least another ten seasons.  This kid is going to be a stud!

XIII-James Harrison had a change of heart about his former dog Patron, after initially deciding to euthanize the dog, he later decided to try to find a home for it.  Two Pittsburgh area natives have since taken in the dog and have found no signs of aggression with the Pit Bull and Cane-Corso mix.

XIV-Scott Brown of the Tribune expects Kraig Urbik to sign with the Steelers in the near future but expects Ziggy Hood's contract to take a bit longer as the Steelers wait for other first round draft picks to sign to gauge the terms of the contract.

XL-ESPN's James Walker completed an annoymous survey of players in the AFC North with different questions and the one rule that you couldn't vote for a teammate.  When it came to the question of toughest player in the AFC North many thought about putting Hines Ward down but couldn't do so due to their hatred of the future hall of famer. 

XLIII-A lot of talk has been made about Charlie Batch possibly losing his job to upstart talent Dennis Dixon, but what other veteran players could lose their roster spot when training camp fires up in August?  Steelers Today dissects the topic and has some pretty good choices, what players do you think BTSC?

IX- Awesome interview with Mike Tomlin from the NFL Network.  More solid quotes from the master of being awesome.

X-The Steelers have signed their other Seventh round draft pick, David Johnson a Tight end from Arkansas State.  This leaves only two draft picks left for the Steelers to sign; third round pick Kraig Urbik and first round pick Ziggy Hood.

XIII-One of the most entertaining Steelers blogs on the internet just got a face lift.  Make sure you check out the new look One for the Other Thumb and particularly todays' segment of Meeting People is Easy.  For some odd reason he allows me to participate in the mayham every once in a while.

XIV-Happy Fathers' Day to all the dad's on BTSC.  Here's an article with Mike Tomlin from the Steelers official website where he spoke in front of 600 people at the UPMC Sports Performance Complex about the importance of family and fatherhood to support the All Pro Dad Father & Kids Experience.

XL-A little fun for a friday that is totally non Steelers related, but hilarious all the same.  If you're not familiar with Florida Panthers' radio announcer Randy Mollers' amazing pop-culture infused calls you are in for a treat.  Video below of one compilation of some of his best and here's a link to another batch of his calls.

XLIII-Check out Zak Woods' awesome fanshot for video of this and check out Pittsburgh Sports and Mini Ponnies for a picture of a Steelers fan in the middle of a protest in Iran.  Steeler

IX-  Undrafted rookie long snapper Mark Estermyer who played at Pitt, and was a Blackhawk High School graduate was recently cut from the Steelers Roster.  This move likely signals that the Steelers are confident in the health of Greg Warren who is returning from a knee injury last season.  Could it also be setting the table for a A.Q. Shipley vs. Greg Warren snap off?

X- I know most of BTSC faithful hate Mike Florio but he is reporting the Steelers abruptly cut four players this morning right in the middle of a weightlifting session.  Not sure if Estermyer is one of the four since he doesn't mention the names of the players.  We try to stay away from too much rumor mongering on this site, but since it is the middle of June this news is too juicy to resist.

XIII-Former Steelers running back Veron Hanyes who is currently a member of the Atlanta Falcons is being sued by a car dealership in Monroeville.  Hanyes alledgedly wrote three bad check totaling $70,000 for an Aston Martin that he purchased for $67,325 in March of 2006.  Let me ask this question,because perhaps I am not understanding the big picture, but after the first bad check why would the dealership continue to accept checks from Mr. Hanyes?

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