Well, this is certainly good news. Of course, according to Eddie B., the Steelers didn't re-sign Chidi (yet?). I suppose all of this could change in the next few days, especially since I'm guessing linebacker Marquis Cooper and running back John Kuhn aren't known for their great special teams play.On a related note, I forgot to mention that Jim Wexell hosts a weekly radio show on Tuesday's from 7-9 PM EST on Fox970. You can listen to it on the internets, and if you're so inclined, call the show at 1-866-922-2874 (and yes, it's toll-free for all you cheap bastards). Anyway, I called in last night with quite possibly two of the greatest questions ever asked:
1 - Hypothetically, what do you think the Steelers' record would be if Charlie Batch had started every game?
2 - Should the Steelers re-sign Chidi?
Okay, these aren't all that good, but I think that still qualifies them as better than most. Plus, I didn't burp or accidentally drop an f-bomb while on the air so that alone makes it a successful call.
Concerning question 1 -- and remember, this is just a hypothetical; I'm not suggesting Ben sits the bench -- I think the Steelers would at least be 4-3. With Batch, I think Pittsburgh wins either the San Diego or Jacksonville game, and the Oakland game easily. Cowher single-handedly lost the Bengals game, and his crappy in-game management was largely responsible for the Falcons loss too. (Although I know some of you don't think Cowher's bumbling use of timeouts had much of an impact. Duly noted.)
At 4-3, we all would be talking about how Pittsburgh's through the tough part of their schedule and things should open up over the last half of the season. No, not no more, Thelma.
On question 2, I think this is a no-brainer. The Steelers special teams is such an embarrassment, what could it hurt? Now, with Pittsburgh already signing Cooper and Kuhn, I don't know if this means they're done dealing for now, or, as has been the case in the past, they'll turn around and cut one of these two guys for Chidi.
In terms of depth, I can understand Cooper, but Kuhn doesn't make a whole lot of sense with FWP, Najeh and Duce on the active roster. And it'll make even less sense when the Broncos special teams is running up and down the field with Kuhn in hot pursuit.
At this point, nothing would surprise me. And given how super-wacky Cowher has been in some of his decisions, I wouldn't be shocked to see DeWayne Washington or Lee Flowers rejoin the team.
Finally, I think doing this football thing for 2.5 years now has numbed me to this type of stuff. Early on, it used to bug the shit out of me but now I usually just shake my head and move on.
It could be worse, though. Just pick a comment at random and chances are it's ridiculous. Jesse made the mistake of actually trying to reason with them and, well, that's kinda like trying to reason with Mark Madden with a 12-pack of Krispy Kreme's in your hand. Yeah, bad times. Anyway, after the Steelers lost to the Falcons, I wrote an AOL post titled: "Octogenarian, Falcons Beat Steelers." Yeah, some of the readers were convinced I thought Morten Andersen was really in his 80's. Jesse left this comment:
I'm ashamed to be a homo sapien...this thread is an all-star collection of the 20-30 stupidest people alive. I think Ryan knows what an Octogenarian is.My only question is this: what did these douchebags do before the internets? Did they just harass family members and co-workers with their inane proclamations? I don't get it. And that's probably a good thing.
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