The Omen

All signs point to yes this Super Bowl Sunday. Are we as Steeler Country overconfident? As I pointed out yesterday in lambasting Bob Smizik we are THE smartest fans in football. We have deep faith and belief in our Pittsburgh Steelers as we always do. But this year it's backed by one of the greatest defenses in football history, an offense that always finds a way and a fantastic coaching core. So our confidence is grounded in our great football educated ways.

One thing that has been established this season is that under no circumstances as an opponent of the Steelers should you EVER disrespect the Terrible Towel. It's just come back to haunt that team every time. So of course Mayor Gordon of Phoenix, AZ just had to go and use it as a Kleenex before stomping on it a little. Good move chump! Let's call it stupidity. Let's call misguided enthusiasm for your team. Let's call it the Curse of Myron Cope!

You think the legendary broadcaster and one of the most beloved man in Steeler history is going to let you do that without getting you back? Good luck dodging that wave of the Towel!

Speaking of Cope everybody has been trying to figure out the rallying point of the Steelers this Super Bowl. In 2005 we had Bettis in his final season and playing in his hometown. In 2006 we saw the Colts try to win one for Dungy and Peyton Manning. 2007 the Giants used an injured military vet as locker room motivation and won for him and linebacker Michael Strahan. This season the answer seems so obvious: Do it for Cope! When Myron Cope, our favorite football broadcaster, passed it was one of the saddest days in Steeler Country. But we have been playing with an unprecedented fire this year and part of me believes that God's newest broadcaster is having a watchful eye from above for this. So let's win it for Myron Cope and pray that we see this image on Sunday night:

But as I said before, all signs point to yes! Thirty years ago a dominant defense played it's division rival for a third time that season in the AFC title game. That team was the 12-4 Pittsburgh Steelers. Their opponent was the 11-5 Houston Oilers. They prevailed in a 27-13 victory to advance to the Super Bowl against an upstart 9-7 NFC team.

This year the Pittsburgh Steelers with a 12-4 record faced off against their division rivals, the Baltimore Ravens, for a third time also. The Ravens like the Oilers were 11-5 during the regular season. The Steelers prevailed 23-14 and will face an upstart Arizona Cardinals who also bring a 9-7 record. These my friends are Good Omens.

The 1979 Steelers prevailed in the Super Bowl to claim their, then NFL record, 4th Super Bowl title. History often repeats itself. And for the Steelers that means another ring, another Lombardi Trophy, and another notch above the rest of the National Football League.

My prediction? Like that Superbowl long ago, another close 3 quarters with the greater defense and ultimately the greater team, the Steelers, pulling away in the 4th.

Steelers 30-17.

MVP: Troy Polamalu.

Jag-Off(s) of the Day: Bob Smizik, The Mayor of Phoenix, and Sports Illustrated's Jacob E. Osterhout

Bob Smizik

Let's start with one of the originator's of the Jag-Off posts Mr. Bob Smizik. We hated on Mr. Smizik when we named him #8 on our Top Ten Pittsburgh Jag-Off list after he called us knuckleheads for booing that mercenary Marion Hossa. Then a week later Runhigh smashes the hell out of the 'Man with pubic hair on his head' after Smizik made a pre-season prediction that the Steelers D was over the hill and running on fumes. He then said that they'd only win 9 games and that would win the division. Good call idiot.

We thought that we saw the last of that moron when he retired (got pushed out) a few weeks ago. Unfortunately they still let him blog for the Post Gazette. This time he instantly calls out Pittsburgh fans as uneducated and says that the majority of us have already ruled the Cardinals out of the Super Bowl. He doesn't neglect to add his own superior opinion to the blog saying he is unlike all Pittsburghers and knows better. Well there Bobby we know of your vast genius and knowledge of football thanks to those early season predictions. Unfortunately you forgot that Pittsburghers are THE smartest fans in football. We know how hot teams can get and how they can make impressive runs come playoff time thanks to our very own '05 Steelers and last year's Super Bowl Champions, the Giants. We understand the realities of not underestimating a 9-7 team because we know our history and remember the 1980 Super Bowl team that had to make a late comeback to beat the 9-7 Rams. To think that we don't remember our own Steeler Super Bowl history is asinine. Seriously, we of all fans know that any team can claim victory on any given Sunday. Like I said, Pittsburghers are THE smartest fans in football. There is no debate. So trust us, we aren't under estimating the Cardinals. We're just confident that our team, our 'over the hill running on fumes' defense, can pull off the victory and bring home a record 6th Lombardi Trophy. Mr. Smizik you are officially a grade A Jag-Off.

Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon

I don't know if you got the memo chief or if you just hate your city that much but disrespecting the Terrible Towel curses your team. And when you let people capture it on film you are just another Jag-Off in a pool of retards. Stomp on the symbol of Steeler Country, the symbol of our pride, love for our team and a symbol who's profits go to charity and the curse is placed upon your football squad. I know you tried to apologize but you can't take back that which is done. You are now an unclassy Jag-Off! Enjoy second place.

Sorry Bro' but the Steelers are going to kick the living piss out of your Cardinals

Jacob E. Osterhout

Okay, Okay, Okay so this one may be a bit of a stretch but I just gotta throw this one out there: Jakey, You're about two months too late with your Storm the Court article. Yours truly not only hated on people who unnecessarily storm the field/court and took it a more impressive step further by creating rules. You .... didn't. Go take your Zack Morris outfit to your local gay bar and suck it! You've been declared an Irish Road Jag-Off!

AFC North: There Can Be Only One

So I realize I'm a little late with this one but I have good reason .... well, actually I don't but do you really care? If you wanted up to date, to the second, A-plus sports writing you wouldn't be coming here you'd be reading Bob Smizik over at the Post Gazette .... Oooh ... that's right. Was that mean? Good. It was suppose to be.

But you are here and you are reading my stuff. Like what was done with Bob Smizik, if you don't enjoy my writing you can always just email my editor and tell him.

Hello ... my name is Irish Road and I'm the editor ... how can I ignore you today?

But seriously, Sunday was all about defense. Number one versus number two and number one established the AFC North pecking order by beating the Baltimore defense into submission on it's own turf. Not an easy task for anybody considering only one other team has done it this year (Tennessee) and that the Steelers haven't done it since 2002. But this day was different and this defense was unlike any we've seen. They posted their 14th straight game without allowing 300 yards on offense. They maintained their grip on the number one rankings across the board. They even dished out some bone crushing hits on the Raven offense.

But against Baltimore they would need the offense to do something. Anything. Big Ben and the offense once again came through in the final minutes, delivering an Elway and Montana esque 90+ yard drive down the field in the Ravens face. Do I need to remind everyone it was on their field?

It culminated with a controversial pass to the goal line that was caught by Santonio Holmes who had fumbled the ball twice earlier. The play was initially ruled down at the 2 inch line or something (they must have had Joe Flaccid whip out his 'special buddy' to measure that one). But after an Official review the referees overturned the play and called it a touchdown.



After that the Ravens had one more shot to drive it down the field. They were helped out when the refs awarded them an extra 15 yards when Jeff Reed (you read that correctly) got a personal foul for roughing up some pussy that wears black and purple (by the way where does this put a football player on the feminine scale for looking for a penalty when the place kicker shoves him). The Ravens, however were unable to take advantage and Joe 'my penis is' Flacco threw an interception to William Gay. The Ravens fans cried as the Steelers won the AFC title on their field.

This is what retards look like

This is what losers look like.

This is what Champions look like.

Steelers Offense Plays bad, Steelers D saves the day against the Cowgirls

I seriously think I cussed the Steelers offense out for three quarters and rejoiced for one
half of another. You can't say enough about the Steelers defense. Four turnovers in the first half against a playoff caliber team is amazing. You can't say much about the Steelers offense. At least nothing too good anyways. Three points off of four first half turnovers is pathetic.

"Seriously man! Those guys are lighting you up!"

You can try to say that the Dallas defense was up to the task but seriously quit kidding yourself. The Offense was awful top to bottom. The line was porous, couldn't run block and was barely pass blocking. Ben wasn't making poor decisions he just wasn't making any decisions and ended up taking sacks when he clearly could have/should have thrown the ball away. The running game was non-existent and Bruce Arians .... well I don't think I have six hours to write what I think about him. But from what I saw Arians couldn't out scheme a pee-wee football defense right now. I will say this though. When it came to crunch time Ben and the Offense made the plays it needed to and secured a tie. And as much as I cussed him out last night Ben still has that X-factor that few other QB's have.

But without the juggernaut defense we would have been nothing. After scoring to tie the game at 13 Dallas got the ball back with plenty of time to drive the field and win the game. Instead the defense forced a quick throw out of Tony "Mr. Simpson" Romo that Deshea Townsend picked off and after some good moves ran into the end zone for a touchdown. Speaking of interceptions who the hell taught Ike Taylor how to catch? Never mind. So Jeff Reed punches in the extra point for a 20-13 score and that was all she wrote. Mr. Simpson wasn't able to do anything else and the Steelers won, despite their offense.

"Quit making fun of my quarterback ... *sniffle sniffle* .... that's my quarterback!"

Basic Thug-A-Nomics: Ryan Clark

Even if you were living under a rock you still would have heard about Ryan Clark's devastating hit on Wes Welker. In fact you probably even heard Welker's head slamming twice (once off of Clark's shoulder and the other off of the ground). Dirty? Maybe. Late? Nope. Should it be a penalty for unnecessary roughness? Yeah ... but only because today's NFL is run by a pussy. Clark sent the message that Steeler Country (not to mention most other teams and fans around the league) have been waiting to send to the Patriots for awhile. Couple that with the huge bitch slap our defensive line handed to Cassel and the Pat's O-line and it was a fun game to watch. After the Steelers started off slow, barely pulling off a tie in the first half, it was all Black and Gold. Despite poor officiating from Ed Hochuli and company, despite the rain, despite the history the Steelers have had in Foxboro lately, despite CBS's announcing crew rooting for New England to win, Pittsburgh was unstoppable in the second half. The defense took the ball 4 times (the 5th was on special teams) and the offense finished it off. Final score 33-10. It was a beautiful sight to see.

In preparation of Ryan Clark's upcoming fine from the League I am asking for the fans to all send me whatever they can so we can pay off Clark's fine because seriously, how many of you watched that and said "Damn! I'd pay to see that again!" I know I would! Clark you are officially a badass! Feel free to light up Terrell Owens next week on us!

The Steelers are now in control of the second seed in the AFC with a one game lead on the Jets and a game ahead of the Ravens for the North division. The December 14th matchup with Baltimore should tell us a lot about our chances to make it deep into the playoffs.

*note: I will not actually be collecting money for the fine but feel free to send me some anyways.

The Rundown

A new writer addition to the Irish Road Drinking team has given new life to this writer for putting out posts. I'm not going to lie. So in celebration of the Steeler victory and on the eve of the Election Night Drinking Rules I bring you a Rundown of the Pittsburgh Sports.

First off Congratulations to the Philadelphia Phillies and their fans for winning the World Series. I know we love to give a hard time to Philadelphia but let's give credit where credit is due. The Phillies ended 100 seasons of misery by the city in sports futility. Too bad we can't say the same about the Cubs ... what am I talking about. Screw the Cubs. But seriously if ever a city was ready to party Philly is it. And boy do they know how to party!

Runhigh: "Guess its not the city of Brotherly Love anymore."

Penn State had a rough weekend despite not playing. How does a #7 team jump you in the polls if you're idle? It Boggles my mind? Texas Tech goes from 7 to 2 after beating Texas on a lucky last play at home. If it was at Texas it would have been game over by the 3rd quarter. But the Lions get jumped in the polls because of a "weak schedule." The Beat OSU away!!! This is with Beanie Wells playing and Terrel Pryor aclimated to the OSU system so don't give me the USC beat them rap. Because we all know that USC playing a home against an Ohio team with a depleted offense is different than USC playing in the Horshoe when OSU is at full strength. In my mind Penn State deserves the #2 ranking.

Weathering the storm of 16 straight losers is tough. Pirates writer Jennifer Langosch tries to answer the tough (and obvious) questions.

The Pittsburgh Penguins are off to less than a stellar start this season. Currently they are tied for second in the Atlantic Division with the Devils but way down at Seventh in the Conference. Runhigh was decent enough to remind me that they were one game under .500 last year at by Thanksgiving so lets not hit the panic button yet.

It appears that Alexander Semin is jealous of the Pens Captain Sidney Crosby though. Let's not sugar coat this crap. It wasn't anything lost in translation. It was straight up one douche bag jealous of somebody elses talents. Big whoop Semin. So you have 16 points so far. Any one can go on a hot streak. Real talent lasts the whole season. We'll talk 60 games in when you're 47th on the rank of points leaders. Oh yeah ... a common rule of thumb is to get your team into a position where they'd make the playoffs if the season ended today before you go and talk shit. Otherwise you end up sounding like you do right now ... another whiney little bitch!

Finally in the Obama vs. McCain bowl it looks like the Democrats have won ..... I mean last nights game when the Steelers visited the Redskins the Steelers prevailed 23-6. Hockey Guru's inaugural post on our site proved to be very accurate. The men of Steel came away with a win of more than ten points. Unfortunately our boy was short of the 38 point parlay prediction by 9 points. I don't think anybody would have guessed quite a defensive masterpiece that our team displayed. I know I didn't think the Redskins would hold us to 23. The MVP of the night had to be the defense. You couldn't single out anyone from it. With 7 sacks, 2 INT's on Campbell (the first two against him all season), and holding the Redskin offense to 3-15 on third down conversions it was an all out thrashing. Not to mention the 4th and goal from the one-yard line that the 'Skins passed from. Runhigh summed it up best when he said "What does it say about the Steelers D that the Redskins are afraid to run the best running back in football when only needing one yard." It says the Steelers stuffed Jacobs on four plays from the goal line last Sunday and it scared the crap out of Zorn. Pussy!