There's an excellent chance the next Steelers coach will be a no-nonsense Western Pennsylvania tough guy, who, despite such a style, is loved by his players. He'll be a coach who will give time to the media, but not gladly. He'll be angry in defeat and step to the back in victory. He'll have little use for small talk and will have an extremely small circle of confidants.
No, Bill Cowher is not being rehired.
By most indications, assistant head coach Russ Grimm is being promoted.
Monday, January 15, 2007
Yeah, this.
Insight:
Saturday, January 13, 2007
Friday, January 12, 2007
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Sid's 20th Goal
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Seriously, the Calder Trophy is nothing, and I fully agree with that result on the basis alone of Ovechkin's twenty or so highlight reel goals from last year. There are bigger trophies out there, like the Ross and Hart, and Crosby's making a run at both of them this year. He's a better passer than Ovechkin, and now he's got his own off-his-skates goal for the For Your Consideration clips. He's still running roughly 1:2 in goals-to-assists, but if he keeps playing with Malkin and Recchi, I don't see anything other than an injury keeping him from the scoring title. I have doubts as to whether a one-line team, even with its one line like that one, will be able to make the playoffs this year, but we'll see an uptick in team defense when Mark Eaton returns from his wrist injury in the next month. At the very least, it should go down to the last few weeks.
Seriously, the Calder Trophy is nothing, and I fully agree with that result on the basis alone of Ovechkin's twenty or so highlight reel goals from last year. There are bigger trophies out there, like the Ross and Hart, and Crosby's making a run at both of them this year. He's a better passer than Ovechkin, and now he's got his own off-his-skates goal for the For Your Consideration clips. He's still running roughly 1:2 in goals-to-assists, but if he keeps playing with Malkin and Recchi, I don't see anything other than an injury keeping him from the scoring title. I have doubts as to whether a one-line team, even with its one line like that one, will be able to make the playoffs this year, but we'll see an uptick in team defense when Mark Eaton returns from his wrist injury in the next month. At the very least, it should go down to the last few weeks.
Tuesday, January 2, 2007
2007
These are not resolutions.
First: In 2007 I vow to do everything within my power to eradicate (or, at the very least, mercilessly ridicule) one of the two stupidest rhetorical devices in common use by nonfiction writers.* Recent examples read in just the past few days are this article from the Post-Gazette's sports page and also in this article Bill Gates wrote for Scientific American about robots. The device is nearly always found in the opening paragraph of the piece and is easily spotted. The writer will describe a thing or condition in somewhat vague detail, but without actually naming it. Then, after painting this inexact portrait, the writer pulls the rug out. It turns out that instead of broadly describing the thing we were all thinking, the writer was actually describing something else obviously similar to it! Ho HO! You mean to say you weren't describing the Steelers, but rather the Bengals? I surely never would have suspected there were such similarities between 8-8 football teams. Can this be? You're not actually just talking about the present state of robot technology, but reiterating the recent history of personal computer technology? That's clever!
I'm inclined to label this rhetorical time-wasting a Plainly-Obvious Switcheroo, but that's due in part to the acronym it yields. I'm open to suggestions as to what it is called. I'll be spending some part of 2007 linking to and mocking the worst uses of this device.
* In case you were wondering (you weren't), the other stupidest rhetorical device in common use is the "lead off with an unattributed quote that seems to be describing a present-day state and then grandly reveal that the quote was said at a time and place commonly thought to be idyllic and free from the menace described in the quote" manuever.
Second: Because this worked to perfection last year, I reiterate it here in modified form: I vow to watch the Pittsburgh Penguins win the Stanley Cup in 2007. Whether the team then promptly relocates to Kansas City is another matter.
Third: I vow to wait until at least January 19, 2007 before getting a haircut.
Fourth: I vow to have my 1040 completed and filed on or before February 20, 2007.
Fifth: I vow to housetrain the one on the left.
First: In 2007 I vow to do everything within my power to eradicate (or, at the very least, mercilessly ridicule) one of the two stupidest rhetorical devices in common use by nonfiction writers.* Recent examples read in just the past few days are this article from the Post-Gazette's sports page and also in this article Bill Gates wrote for Scientific American about robots. The device is nearly always found in the opening paragraph of the piece and is easily spotted. The writer will describe a thing or condition in somewhat vague detail, but without actually naming it. Then, after painting this inexact portrait, the writer pulls the rug out. It turns out that instead of broadly describing the thing we were all thinking, the writer was actually describing something else obviously similar to it! Ho HO! You mean to say you weren't describing the Steelers, but rather the Bengals? I surely never would have suspected there were such similarities between 8-8 football teams. Can this be? You're not actually just talking about the present state of robot technology, but reiterating the recent history of personal computer technology? That's clever!
I'm inclined to label this rhetorical time-wasting a Plainly-Obvious Switcheroo, but that's due in part to the acronym it yields. I'm open to suggestions as to what it is called. I'll be spending some part of 2007 linking to and mocking the worst uses of this device.
* In case you were wondering (you weren't), the other stupidest rhetorical device in common use is the "lead off with an unattributed quote that seems to be describing a present-day state and then grandly reveal that the quote was said at a time and place commonly thought to be idyllic and free from the menace described in the quote" manuever.
Second: Because this worked to perfection last year, I reiterate it here in modified form: I vow to watch the Pittsburgh Penguins win the Stanley Cup in 2007. Whether the team then promptly relocates to Kansas City is another matter.
Third: I vow to wait until at least January 19, 2007 before getting a haircut.
Fourth: I vow to have my 1040 completed and filed on or before February 20, 2007.
Fifth: I vow to housetrain the one on the left.
Monday, January 1, 2007
December, 2006 film viewings
12.9 SUPERMAN RETURNS
12.10 LITTLE CHILDREN
12.31 CHARLOTTE'S WEB (2006)
No, not a misprint. This might provide some insight into what I'd like to see change in 2007.
12.10 LITTLE CHILDREN
12.31 CHARLOTTE'S WEB (2006)
No, not a misprint. This might provide some insight into what I'd like to see change in 2007.
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