To make a long story short, after negotiating with one of my professors, I finally got him to let me do an assignment on a Steelers game instead of a TV show (hey, they're close, right?).

Needless to say, we could pick any TV show from whenever we wanted, so I can do any Steeler game I want.

Ideally, I would like to do the MNF game against the Ravens from last year, but I do not have it on DVD and cannot find it.  If anyone has a copy of that game, or knows where I can find one, please let me know!  I have about two weeks to do the paper, so I have plenty of time to either wait for a copy of the game or choose another (SBXL or the Division game vs. the Colts also are options at this point).

I all know we turned off that blowout of a game enjoyed every freaking second of that massacre, so I'm hoping someone can help me out.

Thanks guys!

PITTSBURGH (AP)—Pittsburgh Steelers chairman Dan Rooney’s four brothers have agreed to sell a controlling stake of the team to him and his son, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported.

Patrick and Art Rooney Jr. confirmed the deal in a story posted on the paper’s Web site Friday night. They and their other two brothers—Timothy and John—could get a total of $750 million after debt is taken out, according to the report.

Art Rooney Jr. said the brothers hope to get the deal wrapped up before a board meeting in December. Both sides want to get a deal done by then because they are worried about possible higher taxes once the Obama administration is in office.

“It’s a good deal. I’m happy for Dan. I’m happy for the rest of the family. I think young Art, Dan’s son, will do a fine job,” Patrick Rooney told the paper. “I think we’re doing the right thing.”

Art Rooney II, Dan’s son, is the team president.

Each brother owns 16 percent of the team, adding up to 80 percent, with another Pittsburgh family, the McGinleys, owning 20 percent. Those shares are not being sold. The Rooneys’ father, Hall of Famer Art Rooney Sr., bought the franchise in 1933 for $2,500.

All this per http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news;_ylt=AoyR.AjIhcuUilRex21ikdFDubYF?slug=ap-steelers-ownership&prov=ap&type=lgns

Excellent!

Sorry if this is too personal for the site (and by that I mean not Steelers-related enough), but I need to tell someone...I'm still in total shock.

As previously mentioned in the thread where Blitz compares this years Steeler team to a woman with a flaw, there's a girl I've had my eye on for a while but have been reluctant to ask her out on a date (I thought/think I was/might be moving).  Blitz and 5020 both agreed that I should, and just let the chips fall where they do, so today I called her up and asked to meet her by the Starbucks on campus. (Fun fact: did you know, Howard Schultz, the founder/CEO of Starbucks, went to NMU? :-P)

We meet and begin talking, and eventually I somehow spew that I would be interested in taking her out on a date, would she like to come?  She laughs and says yes, we discuss the details, and then I tell her this:

"There's one other thing you should know-every Sunday at 1 or 4:15, occasional Mondays, and random Thursdays I'm glued to a TV.  I'm a pretty big Steeler fan, and I get sucked into all their games.  I felt I should tell you this now, but that doesn't mean I don't want to do anything on Sundays-it's just that I've been a Steeler fan since I was ten years old.  I literally bleed Black and Gold."

She looks at me for a second, then responds with this:

"There's one thing you should know too-every Sunday at 1, or the once-every-three-years Monday I'm glued to a TV.  I'm a pretty big football fan, and I get sucked into the games.  I decided I should tell you this, too.  I know how you feel-I've been a Browns fan all my life.  I bleed Orange 'n Brown."

My jaw hit the floor.  At first I thought she was kidding, and then she started talking about how the O-Line is really improved since they got Joe Thomas ("he was a first round pick, that's how she knows" was my thought), but she was upset about the whole injury/release of LeCharles Bentley, and how could the Browns get so many staph infections?

Also, she says even though he tends to take plays off, Shaun Rogers was the best thing to happen to the Cleveland D since they switched to the 3-4, and she's hoping Quinn keeps playing well because she has Edwards on her fantasy team.

Needless to say, I don't remember much of the next few minutes because I passed out.

I found the perfect freaking woman...and she's a Brownies fan.

Obviously this is going to be a big game, but I'm guessing most of us (if not all) would like to see Ben take it easy until he's 100% healthy again.  Big Byron looked good last game and we all know Ben's history of coming back too soon.  Plus, Big Byron has a pretty good knowledge/understanding of the Colts defense, as he was the Jags QB for a number of years.

Also, in fantasy football all 3 of my QBs are on byes, so I had to pick up 2...Leftwich being one of them, to start...oh, did I mention my opponent has Ben? ;)

It'll be interesting...needless to say, I need to know if Ben or Byron is playing so I can swap out Leftwich if need be.

"Actually they tell punters to move up for new long snappers because they usually undersnap it. Harrison was never told this, so he snapped where a snapper should, but that was too far back. Add to the fact Mitch Berger was hurt so he couldn't jump for the ball, and it's a safety. I'm not excusing Harrison, but long snapping is a hard job and it's not entirely his fault."

I read this on another forum and though I'd throw it out there and see what all you guys thought, as we're a pretty well-educated group.  And also, since in the last few hours I've heard every conspiracy theory under the sun (although this is about football, not politics), I thought I'd throw this one out there for us to contemplate:

So many Steelers are getting 'injured' so that we can sign more people because Dan Rooney is feeling generous and wants to give out a lot of Super Bowl rings.

>_>

<_<

Yeah...

I'm looking for an online stream of the game, since (1) I don't have cable and (2) I can't go anywhere to watch it because I'm pretty sick.  I know there are some out there for the Sunday games but I can't seem to find any for tonights' game.

Thanks a lot guys!

Also, when did MNF get switched to ESPN?  I know ABC used to have MNF and ESPN had SNF, but they switched it all around a few years back and now NBC has SNF (I think).

Ryan Clark, fined 5K for having a "21" in his eye paint to honor Sean Taylor.  Yeah, I'm serious:

http://nfl.fanhouse.com/2008/10/30/nfl-fines-ryan-clark-5k-for-honoring-sean-taylor-violating-uni/

Honestly, this is getting ridiculous.  First off, all the fines against the Steelers this year, and secondly, all the B.S. fines in general.  It's getting to the point where they'll start fining people for being ugly, or for getting sod stuck between their facemask and helmet when they get planted face-first into the ground.

Per Yahoo Sports:

"Roethlisberger has been sacked 23 times and is on pace to go down 53 times, which would tie Cliff Stoudt’s 1983 club record. In the last 2 1/2 seasons, Roethlisberger has been sacked a remarkable 116 times; only Jon Kitna (129) has gone done more times, according to STATS, Inc.

For comparison’s sake, Marc Bulger (108) is the only other QB to be sacked more than 100 times since 2006. Donovan McNabb, the No. 4 most-sacked quarterback since then, has gone down 77 times—almost 40 fewer than Roethlisberger.

Kitna and Bulger, of course, play for losing teams that often fall behind early and must throw to get back into games. Roethlisberger plays on a strong team that runs the ball as much as it throws.

Still, the poundings go on and on for Roethlisberger, who has been sacked three or more times in four games this season, including a season’s high eight against the Eagles. The Giants sacked him five times and put him to the turf twice as many times as that on plays he wasn’t sacked."

Alright, so Blitz has called me (multiple times) the "Madden guy", and seeing as I just bought another 360 and Madden 09, here's my chance to prove it once again.

I have a proposal for the great readers of this site.  Starting Mondays, I will get on here and take suggestions, tips, tricks, etc for the upcoming Steelers game, which I will play on Madden, using the groups collective strategies to see if (a) we're smart and (b) maybe predict who will win the game.  I guess I'll play it Friday or Saturday, some time in there.  All-Madden difficulty (of course!) and I'll play 10 minute quarters.

I just thought this would be a fun way to play Armchair QB.  So... I guess I'll start taking suggestions/strategies for the Skins game. 

(Also, I will be using the 'real' rosters-like if I was doing a game with the Giants, I wouldn't use Marvel/Aaron Smith, San-dope-io, McFadden, etc.)

in advance for anything I may say over the next two days that might seem over the line, out of line, crazy, or just utterly stupid.

I'm getting my wisdom teeth removed at 9:15am today (the 24th), so I'm going to be drugged up (hopefully a lot-they gave me Vicodin).  I'm kind of nervous too; I've only been under the knife once before, and I was 2 (I got one of my tearducts shut-my eye was watering like crazy and they had to close it up a little).

Hopefully all goes well.  Thanks a lot guys, and sorry Blitz (if anything goes horribly, horribly wrong).  But hey, maybe I'll solve the Steelers O-Line problems? ;)