Mood:
sadNow Playing: Welcome to the Black Parade
I didn’t cry when Jerome Bettis retired, it was slightly expected. I didn’t cry when Ben was injured in the motorcycle accident. I was kind of in a state of shock. But yesterday and today I shed a tear when our head coach Bill Cowher resigned. It was so sad, I mean, all I have known is him. Granted I have only been a Steelers’ fan for three seasons, but this is just so weird to me. But there is hope. Coach Cowher (I’m so used to calling him that, anything else would sound foreign.) made it known that he was “resigning” and not “retiring.” He said that “retiring” sounded old, so now we all have hope that he comes back in a few years. If, and probably when, he comes back, he should know that going to any team that is not the Black and Gold would just be inappropriate; extremely inappropriate. I’ll save my good-bye toward the end.
The Steelers did exactly what I wanted them to do in the last game of the season. They beat some Bungle ass!!! We can’t go to the playoffs, and now they can’t either. The bad thing is that we almost gave that game away to them. Willie fumbled in the end zone and didn’t recover the ball. It hurt so much. In the end we went to overtime, and won with a 67-yard pass from Ben to Santonio Holmes, and happiness was everywhere on the Steelers’ sideline. It’s so awesome that both this season and last season we ended the Bengals playoff hopes in their own backyard. Oh, and I hate CBS with the fire of a thousand suns. Bank.
Who Dey? I think the answer remains the same.
I guess now I have to break down the playoffs. It is too weird that we are not in them this year. I’m not used to the season ending so soon. Okay, so the AFC first. The Chargers (first seed) and Ravens (second seed) have the first round bye. So, tomorrow afternoon the Colts (third seed) take on the glad-to-be-here Chiefs (sixth seed)! The Broncos lost to the 49ers in overtime, thus ending their playoff dreams. On a downer note, they lost their cornerback Darrent Williams later that night when he was slain in a drive-by shooting after leaving a nightclub where he was ringing in the New Year. It was so sad and so senseless, and it makes you put everything into perspective. But getting back into the playoffs, with their loss, the Jets moved up to become the fifth seed, and they will take on the Patriots (fourth seed) in the rubber match on Sunday. This is really hard, because like I’ve stated before, there is really no one I want to pull for, but with the Broncos loss, that makes everything a bit different. The Colts probably will win, but instead of taking on the Jets 20th ranked rushing offense, they’ll be trying to stop Larry Johnson (bama). He’s the second ranked rusher this season, and broke the record for most attempts by a running back. Their defense will probably work on nothing but the run, so I’ll have to take the Colts. I hate the Patriots, they’ll most likely win, but you know I’ll be cheering for the J-E-T-S! JETS, JETS, JETS!
In the NFC, nothing much has changed. The Bears and Saints are the top two seeds, and have the bye, the Eagles (third seed) won the division when the Cowboys (fifth seed) lost (to the LIONS) and when they beat the Falcons with their THIRD STRING TEAMS; on both sides of the ball. HA! The Falcons suck. The default winners of the NFC West are the fourth seed, I refuse to say their names because like I said last time, we got so much crap for being bad, and they didn’t. And they were equally as bad, but I’ll tell you what, that Madden Curse is for real. I believe in it. So that helps me deal with it. The Giants take the last seed, by beating the Redskins. I was wrong and confused about what I said if the Packers beat the Bears (and they did) and finish with the same record as the Giants. But it was so baffling what they were talking about, plus it was 1:00 in the morning. I promise to never try to understand tie-breaker situations that late at night ever again; especially when they make little sense. Anyway tomorrow, the Cowboys travel to the northwestern city of the West default winners. Both teams are pretty awful on defense, and this is Tony Romo’s first playoff game, but I think Dallas could come out with a win. It will all come down to who can suck less. Then on Sunday, the Giants take on the Eagles. The teams split their meetings this year, each winning at the other’s stadium, but the first time Philadelphia gave the game away when they let New York come back from some huge deficit (I forget exactly how much, at least 20 points I think) and win in overtime. I think the Eagles will win because Eli Manning just doesn’t have it. He lacks the confidence and hasn’t proved once that even if you stop the run, he can beat you with his arm. Unlike some extremely awesome, devastatingly gorgeous quarterback who shall remain nameless. So Tiki Barber will be doing most of the work and Jeremy Shockey (hot as balls, sorry extremely awesome, devastatingly gorgeous unnamed quarterback, but he is) might not even play because of an ankle injury.
What’s next for the Steelers? We have to get a new head coach, work on special teams and turnovers (killed us this year), and tell the quarterback to stay out of oncoming traffic. Because this year just didn’t make any sense. We had the seventh and tenth ranked offense and defense, respectively. The ONLY other team in the NFL with both a top-ten ranked offense and defense is the Chargers. As you can see, they’re in the playoffs, sitting pretty with a first round bye. What's the difference between the two teams? TURNOVERS! Hopefully, in the AFC especially, the continuing trend of the number one seeds not making the Super Bowl will be in effect this year, because I do not want the Chargers to win. Unfortunately, they are the lesser of two evils because the team with best shot to beat them is the Ravens. Come on, NFC; break the cycle of dominance this year.
I gotta get going, but before I go, I have to announce that I have two new favorite songs. My Chemical Romance’s Welcome to the Black Parade and Fallout Boy’s This Ain’t a Scene, It’s an Arms Race. I can’t get enough of them; I play them too loud when I hear them on the radio. And…
Thanks for the memories, Coach. It’s been one hell of a ride, especially last season, and I’m glad that you finally got that elusive ring that had always been just out of your grasp. Hope to see you soon, preferably on our side of the field.
Have a SAFE and wonderful off season Ben! I feel kind of sad for Ben, he only had two years with the Bus and now his coach is leaving him as well. I only hope that our next coach can exploit Ben’s full abilities, and that would make him very, very dangerous. But we can’t abandon the run, because that’s Steelers football.
I’m phasing.
P.S. I have to leave off with my favorite Bill Cowher moment, after we beat the Bungles in the playoffs last year.
Cowher: When I say “Who Dey?” I want you to say “We Dey!” WHO DEY?
Team: WE DEY!
Cowher: WHO DEY?
Team: WE DEY!
Cowher: WHO DEY?
Team: WE DEY!
Some Guy in the back (It has to be James Farrior): Who dey think gon’ beat them Bengals?
Team: WE DEY!
God Bless you Bill, I’ll miss you!