Up close with Lawrence Timmons

The Sporting News (the electronic, daily edition) features a "My Profile" piece in each issue. The idea is to give us a closer look, albeit a glimpse really, of some athlete.

On January 19, 2010 that athlete was Lawrence Timmons; and while there is hardly anything of an earth shattering nature included in this profile I was interested to see that he drives a Toyota Camry. I have a Toyota Camry, and I cannot believe that: a) Someone the size of Lawrence Timmons squeezes himself into that car and, b) I drive the same kind of car as a professional athlete ~ thought it would never happen.

See the the complete profile by clicking here.

Was there ever any doubt?

Pittsburgh is the number one sports city in America.

No kidding.

The Sporting News made it official, and you can read all about it right here

You can also read about what it is to be a displaced 'Burgher here here.

Rating the Wide Receivers

During this interminable lull in actual football we look for nearly anything to sink our teeth into; and the good folks at The Sporting News have helped out by coming up with a ranking of NFL wide outs.

Larry Fitzgerald at #1? No big surprise there, but what bothers us is that Hines Ward came in at #18 behind such luminaries Terrell Owens (#6), Braylon Edwards (#7), and Chad Johnson (#16). Potential and physical skills mean only so much in professional sports ~ production is what counts, and Hines Ward is a superior receiver (and team player) to any of those three.

Getting Draft Ready: Who is best?

Lost in most mock drafts is just how good any one player is irrespective of their respective positions ~ i.e. is Alex Mack/Max Unger/Ebeb Britton the thirty-second best player available or just the player that best fits the Steelers' needs, or both?

A nice resource that came our way today is the Super 99 Ranking from the Sporting News. The rankings, which include 40-yard dash times, performance in the bench press, and other Combine-ish metrics; have USC quarterback Mark Sanchez as the best player available ~ and Matthew Stafford at #9.

As for players mentioned as being of interest to Pittsburgh, the highest rated player known to be on the Steelers' draft board is Alex Mack (Center, California) who comes in at #18, which would make him quite a value if available at the end of the first round. D.J. Moore, the cornerback out of Vanderbilt is #27; Ebben Britton, tackle from Arizona is #61; and Max Unger, center from Oregon, is #65.

Free Agency Update

With the 2008 season nearly concluded (technically the Pro Bowl is the final game of the season), many fans are interested in what is happening on the free agent front.

The Sporting News has a free, email product called Sporting News Today which is a daily sports "newspaper," and it has quickly become one of our must reads. On Wednesday they published an annotated list of the available free agents, and we are happy to offer it to you here.