By Mark madden
October 2, 2017
Today's refreshing sports notes are petty. Tom Petty. Take back your jersey burning. Take back your Kaepernick. Take back your TV ratings. You can’t ignore a lunatic. You’re jammin’ me. Quit jammin’ me.
*Le’Veon Bell is brittle, having averaged 12 games per season over his first four years in the NFL. Bell was unavailable for the playoffs in 2014 and ’15 and played only briefly in last year’s AFC Championship Game loss to New England. Did Bell need 39 touches at Baltimore in a game that was decided early? Does Bell need to be leading the NFL in carries? James Conner got four totes Sunday. He should have got twice that, maybe more.
*If James Harrison isn’t hurt, and is being made inactive because he has nothing left, release him. Keeping Harrison around will inevitably result in problems. Honor him with a ceremony, pay off his contract and cut ties.
*After Ben Roethlisberger didn’t see Antonio Brown breaking open for what would have been a long touchdown, Brown threw a water cooler. Is Brown ultra-competitive, or just a big baby? The correct answer: All of the above.
*The Steelers have so many weapons, it will be difficult for all of them to have a good game on the same given Sunday. Brown must wait his turn.
*Former NFL scout Matt Williamson says Roethlisberger is past his prime and won’t again approach previous heights. Williamson expects the Steelers to emphasize the run and make Roethlisberger more of a game manager. Scary. Roethlisberger definitely isn’t sharp, and is struggling with long throws.
*The offensive line obviously did a good job run-blocking Sunday, and Roethlisberger only got sacked once. But the offensive linemen took six penalties: David DeCastro and Chris Hubbard two each, Maurkice Pouncey and Alejandro Villanueva one apiece. Bell gained 144 yards. His blockers gave back 50. The offensive line is good, but currently too sloppy to be great.
*One word describes Joe Haden in the Steelers secondary: Glue.
*When the NFL stopped clamping down on TD celebrations, I expected more entertaining than we’re getting. JuJu Smith-Schuster invoked either Dragon Ball Z or Street Fighter (whatever those are) with his celly. Mostly, he looked like a bad discus thrower. (It’s too loud. I’m too old.)
*Bryan Rust will likely open the Penguins season at left wing on a line with Evgeni Malkin and Phil Kessel. Rust is better at right wing, but can handle it. Come January, though, rookie pro Zach Aston-Reese comes up from the minor-league affiliate at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton to take that spot. Aston-Reese skated with Malkin and Kessel throughout the preseason. His physicality and skill make him a good fit. He just needs a bit of seasoning.
*With Patric Hornqvist hurt to begin the season and Chris Kunitz with Tampa Bay, Jake Guentzel looks like he will be the net-front presence on the top power play. At 5-foot-11, 180 pounds, Guentzel provides a lot more finesse than muscle. But his touch and ability to find open ice are sublime. Fifty goals in 98 games as a rookie pro last season is just the start for Guentzel.
*Greg McKegg will center the Penguins’ third line in tomorrow night’s opener, but that’s not the job he’s competing for. GM Jim Rutherford will definitely trade for a third-line center. But if McKegg does well, he could supplant Carter Rowney at fourth-line center. That’s McKegg’s best hope.
*Jaromir Jagr, 45, signed a one-year contract with Calgary, his ninth NHL team. Only 13 players have skated for more. Does that make him a journeyman or detract from his stats? No. But it confirms his status as a true mercenary, going where the money is. The Flames seem a good fit, though.
*John Jaso may retire and live on a sailboat. Given that Jaso made $4 million for hitting .211 this season, that would make him a real Pirate: Steals money, lives on a boat. I’ve been waiting since Derek Bell to recycle that one.
*MLB’s wild-card games are Tuesday and Wednesday. MLB hit a home run when it added a second wild card in 2012: Winning the division got more gravitas than grabbing a wild card, and the playoffs open up in electric fashion with two single-elimination games. It’s my favorite two nights of baseball.
*Giancarlo Stanton finished with 59 home runs. He didn’t even get the pretend record, never mind the real record.
Mark Madden hosts a radio show 3-6 p.m. weekdays on WXDX-FM (105.9)
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