Light posting for a bit longer

The day job is unexpectedly heating up, and as a result it is a bit tougher than usual to keep the entertaining and illuminating postings rolling.

Things should be closer to normal next week ~ we did just receive the invoice for our 2009 regular season tickets (it looks as though there is no price hike in our level of seats, the first time that has happen in the five seasons we have had the tickets) ~ so hang in there for a little bit longer!

New RSS Feed

For those of you who have been good enough to subscribe to Pittsburgh Steelers Fanatic, thank you! Now please do so again.

There were some "issues" with the original feed (in My Yahoo! the feed showed up as "ezshoppingmall.com"), so I've created a new one.

So, if it isn't too much trouble, please click on the RSS icon and subscribe one more time.

Thanks very much.

You Heard it Here First -- The Last Update of this Update of this Posting

Update -- January 21, 2007 9:40PM (PST)
Both major newspapers in Pittsburgh are now in agreement -- Mike Tomlin is the latest 34-year old defensive coordinator to become head coach of the Steelers. According to the report in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (which itself reported Saturday night that soon-to-be former Assistant Head Coach/Offensive Line Coach Russ Grimm had been chosen as the new head coach): "Kevin Colbert, the Steelers director of football operations, began phoning players Sunday night and informing them the team had hired Tomlin.

Alan Faneca, one of the team's offensive captains, confirmed that Colbert had called him with news of Tomlin's hiring, but the All-Pro guard declined further comment."

Update -- January 21, 2007 4:55PM (PST)
Two of the best sports writers anywhere are Gerry Dulac and Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. So when they co-author an article you can be sure that the information contained therein is accurate.

Therefore it is safe to say that Mike Tomlin is the new Steelers head coach.

According to an article at post-gazette.com the team and Mr. Tomlin's representative are working out the details of a four year contract with an option for a fifth season.

Update -- January 21, 2007 7:47 AM (PST)
It's a battle of dueling sources.

The following is an excerpt from an item in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: "Russ Grimm has been offered and has accepted the Steelers' head coaching position, a source in Pittsburgh confirmed late Saturday.

Grimm, 47, succeeds Bill Cowher, who coached the Steelers for 15 seasons before resigning Jan. 5. The hiring of Grimm will be announced Monday at a news conference."

I'm so glad that the "real" media is so much more reliable than the blogosphere.

Original Posting
A few days ago Pittsburgh Steelers Fanatic projected -- ok, guessed -- that Mike Tomlin was about to become the next head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Now, after rank conjecture from SI.com comes word from team sources -- via a report from ESPN.com -- that Mr. Tomlin is indeed set to become head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

"The Pittsburgh Steelers plan to name Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator Mike Tomlin as their new head coach, ESPN's Chris Mortensen confirmed Saturday night.

Sources told Mortensen that the team would announce Tomlin as coach either Sunday or Monday. Tomlin would become only the third Steelers coach in 38 years, and the first black head coach in their 74-year history.

Tomlin, a former Tampa Bay assistant, has been the coordinator for just one season under Brad Childress in Minnesota. Before that, he was a Buccaneers' secondary coach, a five-year spell that included installation of the teams' trademark 'Tampa-2' scheme. He was an assistant coach in the collegiate ranks from 1995 to 2000.

Sports Illustrated's Web site, SI.com, first reported that Pittsburgh had decided on Tomlin earlier Saturday. Steelers owner Dan Rooney told The Associated Press he had no comment. Team president Art Rooney II, leaving the team's practice complex Saturday, said he had nothing to say.

A person with knowledge of the search denied Tomlin has been hired, telling the AP that not only has the job not been offered but there have been no contract negotiations. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the Steelers do not want details of the search made public until they have made their choice.

Tomlin and Grimm, the Steelers' offensive line coach and only remaining in-house candidate, both had their second interviews earlier this week. The Steelers couldn't talk to Rivera again until the Bears are eliminated from the playoffs. Chicago plays New Orleans in the NFC Championship Game on Sunday."

What remains to be seen is how many of the current Steelers assistants -- all of whom are under contract for 2007 -- will be retained, and whether or not changes in either the offensive or defensive schemes will be forthcoming; and if so how do will those changes affect the Steelers' draft strategy (more about that here this week).

Obviously the hope here is that all the coaches will be offered the opportunity to remain with the organization, however it may be very difficult for Russ Grimm to stay on after having competed for the top job.

Steelers @ Cleveland: Instant First Half Analysis

Early in the game (specifically the first quarter) this game was reminiscent of last season's first game against Cincinnati (i.e. the Bengals outplayed the Steelers during the first half but found themselves trailing because of missed opportunities). But it wasn't long before this game began to appear frighteningly similar to this season's game versus Oakland.

During the first quarter the Browns outgained the Steelers 81 yards v. 28 yards, had five first downs versus the Steelers one first down, and was 2-for-3 on third down conversions versus the Steelers' 0-for-2. However, a missed field goal by Phil Dawson kept the game scoreless. But then Ben Roethlisberger went to work.

Mr. Roethlisberger's fifteenth interception of the season -- albeit on a tipped pass -- was returned for a touchdown by Daven Holly, the third time that has happened this season. Then, following Sean Morey's 76-yard kick return, Mr. Roethlisberger threw his sixteenth interception of the season.

And just to insure that Pittsburgh Steelers Fanatic is perceived as a equal opportunity critic, the Steelers' defense permitted the Browns to escape bad field position when Ike Taylor failed to adequately cover Braylon Edwards on his 63-yard reception, thereby converting a 3rd-and-13 from their own 18-yard line. Now, to the credit of the defense they stiffened, and forced Cleveland to settle for three points.

Then, to top it all off, Mr. Holly came up with his second interception (Mr. Roethlisberger's seventeenth of the season) and was very nearly the fourth touchdown allowed by the Steelers' offense (i.e. would have been a touchdown if not for the roughing the passer penalty).

Overall the defense is playing well. Cleveland's patchwork offensive line has not demonstrated an ability to consistently hold off the Steelers' pass rush. However, Cleveland quarterback Charlie Frye has done a good job of scrambling away from trouble (5 carries for 27 yards), and throwing the ball away when there wasn't a play to be made. Indeed -- excluding the long pass to Mr. Edwards -- the Steelers limited Cleveland's offense to 40 yards on 20 plays.

Of course the problem for the Steelers in this game is not the defense.

Ben Roethlisberger must pull himself together and stop turning the ball over. His first half statistics (4/11, 36 yards, 3 INTs, 0 TDs, 6.439 QB rating) are horrifying; and though it is unlikely to happen, Charlie Batch seems like a viable option at this point. In fact, Tommy Maddox seems like a viable option at this point.

For the few Steelers fans who still believed that the playoffs were a possibility things must seem bleak indeed.

When Bad Things Happen to Good Blogs

Some of you may be familiar with this blog, and may be wondering just why it isn't hosted on its old URL. Well, it turns out that in attempting to transfer from Blogger to Word Press I managed to lose my files.

466 postings, approximately 54 weeks of work, lost forever.

So, I am starting anew . . . and will try to keep a stiff upper lip while doing so.