IX -- Apparently a handful of lawyers involved in the NFL lockout saga are trying to persuade the players to continue fighting and not be so quick to accept the owners' latest series of proposals. They may have a point, but uhh, present your clients (the players) their options, all the relevant information and considerations, and keep your mouths shut.
X - It's not exactly the same type of parade as winning a Super Bowl merits, but Thursday, June 30th will now be known as Hines Ward and Kym Johnson Day in the city of Pittsburgh. To commemorate Ward's triumph in Dancing With The Stars, there will be a small parade and event downtown this Thursday.
XIII -- Steelers Lounge argues that there may be some risk to re-signing Ike Taylor to a new deal once free agency is reinstated. The argument is mostly about age though, and I don't think Taylor is your typical 30-year old. Nobody, nobody, works out harder in the offseason.
XIV - Michael Lombardi has some serious issues with the Top 100 NFL Players list voted on by the players and administered by the NFL Network. I don't disagree.One of Lombardi's biggest gripes is how low Big Ben was ranked on the list -- 41st.
XL - Ravens CB Dominique Foxworth takes over Peter King's Monday Morning Quarterback column this week while King is away on vacation.
XLIII -- A random but enjoyable read about a time when the great game of football was threatened to be abolished because of the heightened scrutiny about just how violent the game was at the time. Though this article may be factually correct in the loosest sense of the term, it fails to mention that Roosevelt was football's absolute biggest acolyte in prior decades when the game was first being assaulted by a concerned society.
I am actually reading a fantastic book about this subject called 'The Big Scrum: How Teddy Roosevelt Saved Football', You can expect a review from me at some point in July. Needless to say though, the title of the immaculately researched and well written book I'm enjoying is a far cry from what that article might lead you to believe -- that Roosevelt was one of the crusaders against football. Quite the opposite!! Instead, the decree issued by Roosevelt in that article to clean up the game is actually a product of his insistence that the game of football remain a part of the American cultural landscape. It has nothing to do with him thinking the game had no place in 20th century imperialist America.