Penguins put up for sale

Lemieux says sales process 'just starting'
Thursday, January 19, 2006

By Dave Molinari, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Penguins owner Mario Lemieux said yesterday that he and his partners have been approached by "a few groups" interested in purchasing the franchise and that he plans to begin negotiating with them.

Even if the team is sold, Mr. Lemieux said, the new owners will be bound by agreements he and his partners have struck. That includes a promise to remain in Pittsburgh if a coalition assembled by the Penguins is awarded the license to run a slots parlor Downtown.

Isle of Capri Casinos Inc. would operate the slots parlor and has pledged $290 million toward construction of an arena if it gets the license. The Penguins, in turn, have committed to stay here if the city gets an up-to-date facility to replace Mellon Arena.

"I think we've done pretty much everything we can do, as far as setting up the franchise for the future," Mr. Lemieux said. The Penguins have "a plan with Isle of Capri to make sure this franchise stays in Pittsburgh forever, which has always been my goal. I really feel that we've set it up to do that if the right things happen."

Mr. Lemieux did not identify any of the groups that have approached the Penguins about buying the team. He added that he has "nothing in mind" about a potential price for the franchise, believing that the offers he receives will set its market value.

"I'm sure there are going to be a few bids," he said. "That's how the process works."

Mr. Lemieux also plans to step down as the Penguins' CEO, a position that will be assumed by president Ken Sawyer, but remain as chairman of the board.

Mr. Lemieux said that Mr. Sawyer was the logical choice to take over as CEO because he "really has been running the franchise on a day-to-day basis, so it's not really a big change. He's been doing all the work the last few years."

The team's board of directors is expected to approve the change when it meets tomorrow.

Mr. Lemieux, inducted to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1997, resumed his playing career in 2000, little more than three years after he retired. He currently is on the injured-reserve list because of an irregular heartbeat, although he has resumed practicing with the team and plans to return to the lineup this season.

He said, however, that he has not decided whether to retire again this spring.

Mr. Lemieux was owed more than $20 million by the Penguins' previous owners and got control of the franchise when it came out of bankruptcy in 1999. He made it clear almost immediately that he didn't plan to own the team forever, but only recently has he decided to investigate proposals to purchase it.

"We've had a lot of inquiries lately, the last three or four months, a lot of interest in the team," Mr. Lemieux said. "I think this is the right timing for us to look at those and explore all the options that we have. That's what I'm going to start doing."

Although the Penguins have had a disappointing season -- their 11-26-9 record is the second-worst in the 30-team NHL -- their on-ice future is quite promising. They have an unrivaled stable of young talent, headlined by Sidney Crosby, Marc-Andre Fleury and Evgeni Malkin, a Russian teenager scheduled to play here in 2006-07.

"This franchise is going to be good for many years, with all the young kids we have," Mr. Lemieux said. "That's probably why there's a lot of interest [from prospective buyers]. They see that this team, in a year or two, could be a force in this league."

It could, however, be a force in Kansas City, Houston or Las Vegas, if there isn't a new arena here. The Penguins' lease at Mellon Arena expires in 2007 and, unless plans for a new arena are in place before then, it's a given that the franchise will relocate, regardless of who owns it.

Team officials have contended for years that keeping the Penguins viable in this market required two things: a more owner-friendly collective bargaining agreement between the NHL and its players, and a facility that could generate the revenue needed to underwrite a competitive team.

"We had to fix the [collective bargaining agreement], which we did," Mr. Lemieux said. "Now, we need a new arena for the team to stay here."

Mr. Lemieux praised the 18 political and civic leaders who publicly declared support for the Penguins' arena-related plans last week, and said he hopes others will do likewise.

"I think that was great when they came out in favor of our plan," he said. "That's a good sign. We need more of that from our local politicians and leaders, to get behind us and make sure this franchise is here for a long time."



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(Dave Molinari can be reached at 412-263-1144.)

Craig Wolfley: What is "it"?

SteelersLIVE Xtra
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
Wednesday, January 18, 2006

I don’t know exactly what “it” is. It’s one of those intangible things that you are hard pressed to measure, weigh or tabulate. Some will refer to it as “that,” after they’ve already seen what it is. Others will use words like confidence, character, leadership, poise, composure and the like. An Ivy Leaguer might refer to it as a winning attitude. All I can tell you is that when you see it, you know it, and that it looks an awful lot like “that” guy, Ben Roethlisberger.

Trying to quantify it would seem to be a relatively easy matter in terms of wins and losses, stats, you know, those sort of rather mundane things. But it is not relegated to mere statistical comparison. Nor is it just a seasonal thing, because it can turn to that in the post-season faster than you can say “That’s what it is!” And even then, it appears more often than not in games where the stakes are the highest, in moments of time where tension and internal combustible pressure the greatest.

Just a minute or so prior to kickoff, as the crescendo in the RCA Dome was building to a ground swelling roar, the offensive unit of the Steelers grouped on the sidelines at the 30 yard line in preparation to take the field after the opening kickoff.

I was standing just a few yards and more than a decade removed from being a part of that mass of high strung players head butting each other like Mountain Goats as they waited to take the field. Watching them, I could feel the remnants of collisions past vibrating in my bones. Once you’ve had that feeling, you never forget. (Especially when you shake your head, and it feels like something is rattling around loose in there, you get those too, don’t you?)

In a stride as calm as a guy taking a stroll in South Park, Big Ben cruises down the sideline away from the boys and stands right in front of me. He stopped, looked up into the swelling mass of humanity in the stands as if he’s just noticed them for the first time, and who for the most part are wishing him ill-will, and slowly a smile breaks across his face and his eyes light up like a child unwrapping his favorite Christmas gift. He then proceeds to start clapping his hands to the rhythm of the mayhem and break out an even bigger smile, as if all the roaring going on in the building were just for him.

Then, after a moment of taking in the near riotous atmosphere of the RCA Dome, he stops to chat with one of the guys on the chain gang, the first down marker guy. He’s joking with the guy! Nodding his head and smiling like a butcher’s dog, Ben’s doing a little give and take with a guy who’s never been there or done that, enjoying himself, and taking in every minute of the hype surrounding him. C’mon, doesn’t this guy understand what’s at stake here, I thought to myself?
Oh, but he does, every bit of it. And that’s when I realized I was looking at it, or that, whatever you want to call it. The ability to focus, the strength to keep your poise, and the quiet confidence of a Christian holding four aces, as Mark Twain would say.

Ten plays and five and a half minutes later Roethlisberger returned to the same, now much quieter, confines of the Steelers bench area after completing six of seven passes, including firing the opening salvo to Randle El in the end zone for six. He didn’t appear to be any more ruffled than when he left.

Craig is co-host of "In The Locker Room with Tunch and Wolf" which can be heard weekdays from 7-10 a.m. on Fox Sports Radio 970. Wolf is also the sideline reporter for the Steelers Radio Network and played for the Steelers from 1980-89.

Bob Smizik: Steelers don't need to whine to get respect

Wednesday, January 18, 2006
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

"No one, none of you guys, anyone thought we could win this game except for the guys in this locker room."
-- Ben Roethlisberger

Amid the seemingly endless ESPN stable of former NFL players hired to do commentary for the network, Ron Jaworski might be termed somewhat of a second-teamer.
Jaws, as he's known, was a competent NFL quarterback in the 1970s and '80s, but he doesn't bring the superstar cachet that so many of his ESPN colleagues do. His one regular gig, which he shares with Merril Hoge, is on so early Sunday mornings many people are still asleep.

But Jaworski takes his job a lot more seriously than most of his colleagues. He might not second-guess like Sean Salisbury or spew cliches like Michael Irvin or attempt to create controversy like Mike Ditka, but he does his homework like none of his contemporaries. He studies film like he's a coach with a game the next Sunday, dissects it with the intelligence you might expect from someone who spent 15 years in the NFL and presents it in an intelligent, articulate and lively manner.

So when Jaworski speaks, it's always a good idea to listen. Which is not good news for the "Us-Against-The-World Mentality" the Steelers have maintained since late in the regular season.
Appearing on ESPN's "Pardon The Interruption" Monday, Jaworski was asked to pick a winner in the AFC championship game Sunday between the Steelers and the Denver Broncos.

He said, "Right now, when I look at what Pittsburgh has done the last couple of weeks -- go to Cincinnati, a hostile environment, win; go to Indiana, which is absolute bonkers, and win that football game.
"I really like the way Ben Roethlisberger is playing and the way [defensive coordinator] Dick LeBeau has got the defense organized. I really like the Steelers right now."

Such words are a dagger to the heart of the mantra the Steelers have been spewing since late in the season. Now that a member of the national media, no doubt the first of many, has picked them to win, what's left in their arsenal of whining?

That's right, the Steelers have been acting like whiners, the very trait their fans so detest in other teams. It's a trait that doesn't fit this team and one usually not expected of it. This is a locker room filled with first-rate guys. But at some point in the season, probably in the midst of their three-game losing streak, they began to feel disrespected and started talking about it. And talking about it and talking about it.
Let it go, guys. It's unseemly, especially in such an outstanding team.

As the Steelers pranced into their locker room after their upset win Sunday against the Indianapolis Colts, many of the players were in full voice. They weren't so much celebrating their victory as they were whining about the lack of respect they believe they receive. This is a tired, old, illogical mantra that has been used too many times by too many teams.

"Ain't nobody gave us a chance," said Hines Ward, a variation of a line he has been using for weeks.

Larry Foote and Roethlisberger offered similar observations and Roethlisberger went so far as to begin his news conference about 15 minutes later with this statement:
"No one, none of you guys, anyone thought we could win this game except for the guys in this locker room."

In ridiculously suggesting no one gave them a chance, the Steelers are disrespecting the millions of fans across the country and the world who fervently believed they not only had a chance but that they also would win the game.

They are ignoring the fact that although they were a sixth seed playing on the road, they were a favorite against the Cincinnati Bengals, a game, by the way, which they said no one gave them a chance to win.

To compound their whining, Joey Porter proclaimed after the Indianapolis game that the officiating crew "cheated." In doing so, he inspired thousand of Steelers fans to believe the league was out to get his team.

Granted, the officials displayed a high level of incompetence, especially for a game that is expected to draw the best the NFL has to offer. But to suggest cheating was involved is preposterous. That makes as much sense as saying Jerome Bettis fumbled on purpose.

Officials are humans, not robots. Like Bettis; like Roethlisberger, who threw an interception; like Peyton Manning, who played well below his ability; and like the Colts offensive line, which allowed five sacks; they make mistakes.

Porter deserves a five-figure fine for undermining the integrity of the game and if commissioner Paul Tagliabue doesn't deliver it he's guilty of dereliction of duty.

Even Bill Cowher had to step in and offers reasonable words.
"The referees are doing the best they can," he said. "At times there will be mistakes. There's no conspiracy. That's ridiculous."

Cowher also spoke of the grand challenge the Steelers have against the Broncos, an excellent team playing at home. He said the Steelers will have to play better than they did in their excellent performance against the Colts.

The belief here is they can. So in an honest opinion and in an attempt to stop the whining: Steelers 24, Broncos 20.

(Post-Gazette sports columnist Bob Smizik can be reached at bsmizik@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1468.)

John Steigerwald: Ben on his way to greatness

John Steigerwald
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
SteelersLIVE 'Xtra
Tuesday, January 17, 2006

It’s only a matter of time.

He may not lay claim to it next year or even the year after, but some time soon Ben Roethlisberger will have the title of "Best Quarterback in the AFC". Best in the NFL won’t be far behind.

Sunday night on KDKA-TV’s Sunday Sports Showdown, I boldly stated that I thought Roethlisberger was as good as any quarterback in the AFC right now and asked who’s better. The name Tom Brady came back at me quickly and loudly.

I asked what makes him better and the response I got was “Three Super Bowls.”

OK, so Brady is more accomplished. He’s 10-1 as a starter in the playoffs. He’s been an MVP.
Nobody is denying he’s a great quarterback. I still don’t think he does anything better than Roethlisberger. Because it’s only Roethlisberger's second year, the tendency is to be careful about not getting carried away when we make comparisons or projections.

What were they saying about Dan Marino in 1984? He was in his second year and he threw 48 touchdown passes. Was there anybody doubting his greatness?

Roethlisberger will never throw 48 touchdown passes in a season as long as he’s playing for Bill Cowher, but he’s the first quarterback ever to start in two conference championship games in his first two seasons.

There isn’t a throw he can’t make. Did you see the touch he put on the 36-yard pass to Heath Miller on the Steelers’ first possession in Indianapolis?

Do you remember the touchdown throw he made to Hines Ward on the quick slant in Cincinnati?

He also makes throws that other quarterbacks can’t make.

Do you think Peyton Manning or Brady can throw left while rolling right as well as Roethlisberger? Neither of them comes close to throwing as well on the run as Roethlisberger does.

Has Brady or Manning ever played better under playoff pressure than Roehtlisberger did in Cincinnati or Indianapolis?

I know it’s only two seasons and we still have to see how he does in his second AFC Championship game and I know that both Brady and Manning are widely if not universally considered better than Roethlisberger.

I also know that the Steelers wouldn’t trade Roethlisberger for either of them. Nor should they.
Roethlisberger may never play in a Super Bowl, much less win one, but that’s about accomplishment not talent. The talent around him and his coaching will have as much to do with how many Super Bowls he plays in as his performance.

I’ll say it again. There is not a more talented quarterback in the NFL than Ben Roethlisberger.

***

I dislike the NFL’s replay system more every week. The Troy Polamalu non-interception was one more reason not to like it. Not because the replay overturned what the league now says should have been an interception, but because ,without replay, we wouldn’t have to deal with phrases like, “performing an act common to the game”. That’s what the referee, Pete Morelli, decided Polamalu didn’t do when he overturned the interception call Sunday in Indianapolis.
Without the ability to slow the play down to 1/50th of regular speed and watch it 47 times, there is no way that play could be called anything but an interception and a fumble.

Remember the famous tuck rule play? That was back in 2001 when Tom Brady and the Patriots maintained possession of the ball after the replay—slowed down to 1/50th speed and viewed 47 times, allowed the referee to invoke the tuck rule. That’s the stupid rule that says a quarterback didn’t really fumble if he fumbles when he’s trying to tuck the ball away so that he won’t fumble.

It was a fumble. The Patriots didn’t deserve to get the ball back—rule or no rule. The Raiders did everything right on the play. The defensive end blew by his man and hit the quarterback and the ball popped out. It was a bad play by the Patriots and they should have paid the price. In the real world it was nothing but a turnover. In the 1/50th world of replay it was an opportunity to invoke a rule that would never survive at regular speed.

On Sunday, Polamalu made a great play. Manning made a bad play. Manning didn’t deserve to be saved by a replay. Even if it had been called correctly.

John is a longtime sports reporter at KDKA-TV. He can be reached at jsteigerwald@comcast.net.

Bob Kravitz: Colts' amazing run gives way to ghost of playoffs past

January 16, 2006
The Indianapolis Star


Suddenly, it was like the entire football season never really happened. Like those 13 straight victories, a stretch of excellence nearly unrivaled in history, never happened. Like the chase for the Perfect Season never happened.

It was over just when it was supposed to have started, leaving the Indianapolis Colts, the city and, really, all of the NFL in a state of utter incredulity. As Mike Vanderjagt's field-goal attempt wobbled pitifully off into the blue ether, the scope of the Colts' 21-18 playoff loss came into grim focus, and a daylong out-of-body experience gave way to anger and resignation.

It had happened.

Again.

Another big game. Another big stage. Another spectacular flameout, a meltdown of epic proportions.

Seen this movie before? There was 41-0 to the Jets in 2003. There was 24-14 in 2004 and 21-3 in 2005, both in New England. And then there was this, the worst of them all, a game Peyton Manning, in particular, may never live down.

Even now, the clouds of doubt are gathering around Manning, and the whispers are so loud, they seemed to be artificially enhanced. He can't win the big one. Didn't win them in college. Hasn't won them in the pros. Not the biggest ones.

"I cannot argue with the truth," Manning said later. "I'm not going to try and counter any points. That's the fact. It's certainly not from a lack of effort on my part. I can honestly say that. . . . I'm just going to keep trying. That's all I can say."

This was, without any question, the most devastating loss in the Indianapolis portion of the Colts' history. And the case could be made that this was the most horrific loss in the history of professional sports in this area.

This one will hurt more than all the others, though, because this was the year. All the planets were aligned. Home-field advantage. A bye month, never mind a bye week. A chance to stay indoors all the way through the Super Bowl.

What happened Sunday defies description and proper analysis. Suffice to say, the Colts got their heads handed to them. They were embarrassed. They were revealed, again, as paper tigers. And they even made Steelers linebacker Joey Porter, who ripped their offense as soft earlier in the week, sound like a graduate of Oxford.

The quick and simple evaluation goes like this (and please don't play the "they-were-rested-too-early" card, which is a copout): They got outplayed, out-hit and thoroughly outcoached, especially on the offensive side of the ball.

All day, the Steelers penetrated the gap between the Colts' center and guard. All day, blitzes crashed upon Manning like a giant wave. And the Colts never found answers. How about screen passes? Something. Anything to slow the rush. There was nothing. No adjustment. No Plan B.
Maybe the Colts were right, after all. It wasn't the bad weather in New England. They could play just as poorly in perfect conditions.

"I can't explain what happened," said Edgerrin James. "I really don't know what to say."
How many chances can one team blow in a single game?

They benefited from the Steelers' decision to go conservative in the fourth quarter. They benefited from the Immaculate Deception, an inexplicable overturned call that should have resulted in a Troy Polamalu interception. And they got the mother of all breaks when Jerome Bettis, who never fumbles, lost the ball as he was heading in for the game-ending touchdown.

"The football gods weren't smiling on us," team president Bill Polian said as his team's locker room emptied. "The one guy with two bad legs (Nick Harper) picks up the fumble. Anybody else, maybe he goes all the way."

Who would have thought Ben Roethlisberger would make the biggest tackle of the day?

This cannot continue to happen to a team built around its offense. Manning has every conceivable weapon at his disposal. A Hall of Fame receiver. A possible Hall of Fame running back. These last four playoff losses, though, that group has scored 0, 14, 3 and 18 points.

Sure, there was enormous pressure on Manning, the first time the blitz has hurt this offense all season. But even when he was given protection, he failed to produce. His throws were scattered. His feet were happy. And even the strongest part of his game, his mental strength, was lacking. He mismanaged the clock late, throwing away a chance to take advantage of the two-minute warning. When the Colts simply needed a first down and some yards to bring Vanderjagt closer, Manning was going downfield, looking for the home run.

"I thought they'd go for the first down on third down," said Vanderjagt, still sitting in full uniform long after the game. "But I've got to make the kick. It wasn't even close."

Nobody wants to rip Manning, because he's been The Franchise since 1998, because he's meant so much to this community, and because his desire to bring a championship here is absolutely undeniable. Maybe, just maybe, he wants it too much. Maybe, just maybe, he thinks too much in these situations and doesn't let his talent carry him. It's not a lack of heart, or a lack of any other notable body parts, but something is missing.

Until he finds whatever it is that separates him from Tom Brady or any of the great quarterbacks, the cloud of doubt will hover over him.

There is the same reservation about dropping the hammer on Tony Dungy. He is the most decent man most of us have ever met in professional sports. And he has just come through the worst sort of family tragedy.

Still, it must be said: His teams have an undeniable history of pulling up lame in the playoffs. It happened in Tampa Bay. And in his five years here, it has happened four times. Not just losses, but virtual no-shows, marked by slow starts and a failure to make adjustments on the run.

This was why some of us -- OK, one of us -- had the temerity to wonder why the Colts were so anxious to drop a five-year extension in his lap earlier this season. How many times does this have to happen before the Colts reach the same conclusion as the Buccaneers? That for all he accomplishes, he might not be the man to take a team to the top.

The window of opportunity does not now close, not as long as Manning and this nucleus (sans James) remains. But every lost year brings them closer to never getting it done. This was the year. And then, just like that, it was not.

"I don't want to be saying this every single press conference after a playoff loss," Manning said. "Sooner or later, you run out of years, and there is no next year."

Bob Smizik: Roethlisberger takes his game to another level

Monday, January 16, 2006
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

INDIANAPOLIS -- In an epic AFC playoff game that long will be remembered for what went wrong -- a fumble by Jerome Bettis, a missed field goal by Mike Vanderjagt -- it was easy to overlook what went right. That's particularly true of Ben Roethlisberger, the Steelers' superb second-year quarterback.

All Roethlisberger did in this 21-18 thriller against the Indianapolis Colts yesterday was outplay the best quarterback in the National Football League. All he did was take the day away from the great Peyton Manning. All he did was jump-start the Steelers' offense to two first-quarter touchdowns with a mastery of his position that was nothing less than Manningesque.
But all people wanted to talk about was his tackle. That's right: tackle!

And why not? So what that Roethlisberger had passed for two touchdowns. So what that he had bulled his way for 1 yard and a crucial fourth-quarter first down. It was all about the tackle.

With 80 seconds remaining, the victory that had seemed to be theirs all afternoon at the RCA Dome was disappearing right before the Steelers' eyes. Colts cornerback Nick Harper scooped up a fumble by Bettis on the 7, and with the Steelers' goal-line offense, composed of some of the slowest men on the team, on the field there wasn't anyone capable of catching him.

The only Steeler who stood between Harper and the end zone was Roethlisberger. A cornerback against a quarterback in the open field figured to be a monumental mismatch.
Roethlisberger had other ideas.

"After I handed the ball off, I turned around to see Jerome score," Roethlisberger said of the play that began on the 2. "All of a sudden I see the ball flying. My first reaction was to go get it, but I knew I couldn't get there in time.

"Then I was trying to slow him [Harper] down and do something so our guys can come up and make a play. I turned him enough that he got close to me and couldn't decide which way to go. I saw his leg. I went and grabbed it and luckily he went down."

As Harper went down, tight end Jerame Tuman finished the tackle.

"Ben can play free safety for me any day," Joey Porter said.

"He was the best athlete on the field," Antwaan Randle El said.

"That was his biggest play," Hines Ward said. "Yes, he had a great game, but that was the play of the game. He saved the game-winning touchdown. He saved the season."

Indeed, he did. The Steelers live to play the Denver Broncos Sunday in the AFC title game. After their performance against the top-seeded Colts, no one doubts their ability to win and advance to the Super Bowl.

Roethlisberger is a huge part of that. This was his coming-out party. This game will be remembered as one of his first steps on the national stage to elite status among NFL quarterbacks. He's no longer the rookie who was along for the ride last year and who stumbled badly in the playoffs. He's a poised quarterback, who, as he showed yesterday, isn't second to anybody. He's the quarterback who in consecutive playoff games has outplayed Carson Palmer and Peyton Manning.

"Last year at this time he was still struggling with just calling the plays," offensive coordinator Ken Whisenhunt said. "Now he understands. Now he knows, 'This is the coverage I'm seeing. I've got a small window of opportunity. I've got to throw it on time and stick it in there.'
"You don't have to scheme to get guys open because he can throw the ball into tight places. He's really making good decisions with the ball."

The confidence the Steelers have in Roethlisberger, who completed 14 of 24 passes for 197 yards, was obvious by their game plan. They stunned the Colts by leaning hard on the pass over the run in the early going.

Roethlisberger completed 6 of 7 on the opening drive as the Steelers moved 84 yards in 10 plays. He passed 36 and 18 yards to Heath Miller, 5 to Ward, 13 to Randle El, 13 to Willie Parker and 6 to Randle El for the touchdown. Two possessions later, the Steelers moved 72 yards in 14 plays with Roethlisberger passing 16 yards to Ward and 7 to Miller for the touchdown.
"The one he threw to Hines," Whisenhunt said, "it doesn't get much better than that."

Roethlisberger completed 12 of 19 for 172 yards in the first half. With the Steelers ahead, 14-3, they turned to Bill Cowher-football, which is: run the ball, control the clock, hold on to the lead.
It works rather well. In the regular season, Cowher teams are 100-1-1 when they have a lead of more than 10 points.

Roethlisberger threw for more touchdowns than Manning, had a better completion percentage than Manning and a better yards-per-attempt than Manning.
Naturally, he was asked if he had special satisfaction out of beating Manning. He neatly dodged the issue.

"You love watching Peyton play," he said. "The things he does are amazing. The throws he can make ..."
Did he at least feel he had matched Manning? On this one, his answer was again diplomatic, but he left no doubt about his feelings.
"We won the game."

(Post-Gazette sports columnist Bob Smizik can be reached at bsmizik@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1468.)

Ron Cook: Hollywood ending still possible for Bettis

Monday, January 16, 2006
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
http://www.post-gazette.com

INDIANAPOLIS -- Who can forget the front-page picture in this newspaper a year ago, of an emotional Hines Ward, tears rolling down his cheeks after the Steelers lost at home to the New England Patriots in the AFC championship game, not so much because he wasn't going to the Super Bowl, as much as that hurt, but because Jerome Bettis wasn't going to get to make the trip?

Now ask yourself this:
What would Ward have done yesterday if Bettis' big fumble had cost the Steelers everything against the Indianapolis Colts and been the final play of Bettis' fabulous career?
"Thank God," Ward said, "I don't have to think about that."

Actually, that's exactly what Ward told Bettis to do when they embraced moments after the Steelers survived, 21-18, and lived to play another day -- Sunday -- in Denver in another AFC Championship Game.

"Count your blessings. Pray tonight. Thank the Man above,' " Ward said, recalling their conversation.
"I truly believe He didn't want Jerome to go out like that."

Considering the opponents were the Colts, coached by Tony Dungy, whose son committed suicide last month, it would be horribly wrong to somehow suggest a Bettis fumble could be thought of as horrific.

But, strictly in a football sense and considering everything Bettis has meant to the Steelers and the NFL in his storied career, it would have been incredibly sad if that fumble had been the play that sent him into retirement.

Do you have any idea how few times Bettis has fumbled?

Would you believe 41 times in 3,679 regular-season touches, according to NFL.com?

It's no wonder coach Bill Cowher felt comfortable giving Bettis the ball after the Steelers, leading by that 21-18 margin, took over at the Colts' 2 with 1:20 remaining. Cowher would have been tortured for not having quarterback Ben Roethlisberger take a knee three times if Bettis' fumble had lost the game, but his strategy was correct. The Colts had three timeouts. Even if a Jeff Reed field goal had made it 24-18, the Colts still would have had a minute to work with. One minute is more than enough for quarterback Peyton Manning to pull off a miracle.
"I was almost in shock when [the fumble] happened," Cowher said.

What Cowher didn't anticipate was a breakdown by his offensive line.

"I feel a little responsible," said All-Pro guard Alan Faneca, who, along with fullback Dan Kreider, led Bettis off right tackle. "I probably turned up into the hole a little prematurely. That was my man who hit Jerome."

Linebacker Gary Brackett made a fabulous play, putting his helmet on the ball and sending it flying, although Bettis wasn't in the mood to pass out much credit.
"I'm supposed to take care of the football. That's my job."

The fumble would've beaten the Steelers if Roethlisberger hadn't tackled cornerback Nick Harper on the return at the Colts' 42. Fans here long will debate if Harper would've scored if he hadn't been playing on a bad left knee, injured in a knife attack Saturday, allegedly by his wife, Danielle, in a domestic incident.

The fumble also would've beaten the Steelers if their defense hadn't made the stand of the season. It forced the Colts to settle for Mike Vanderjagt's 46-yard field-goal try with 21 seconds left. Words can't describe how impressive that was. Do you know how hard it is to be on the sideline, celebrating what you think is a victory, and then, suddenly, unexpectedly, have to go back out and turn the switch on again?

What's amazing is no one on the team would have held it against Bettis if that play had lost the game. That's how respected he is in the locker room. As it was, most of the offensive players made sure to find him on the sideline to console him. Backup running back Duce Staley was among the first.
" 'Wash it away,' " Staley told Bettis. " 'We're going to need you again.' "
The Steelers thought it would be in overtime.

As it turned out, after Vanderjagt's kick missed badly to the right, it will be in Denver.
If the Steelers win there, it will be on to Detroit for Super Bowl XL.
"To have that chance," Ward said, "is the only reason Jerome came back this season."
Because Bettis so badly wants to play in a Super Bowl. And because Detroit is his hometown.

"How amazing would that be?" Ward asked. "Somebody should write a book."
You might guess Ward already has the perfect ending in mind.

"Jerome wins the Super Bowl for us in Detroit and rides off on a stage coach ... "
Or maybe into the sunset.
Hey, you get the idea.

(Post-Gazette sports columnist Ron Cook can be reached at rcook@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1525.)

Ron Cook: Von Oelhoffen miscast in role of a villain

Friday, January 13, 2006
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

The big man cried.

Right there on the field in front of his Steelers teammates, the Cincinnati Bengals and quarterback Carson Palmer, who was in too much shock to notice, Kimo von Oelhoffen cried.
"I had to tell him to snap out of it," linebacker Joey Porter recalled yesterday.

It wasn't easy for von Oelhoffen, a kind, decent man. It's never easy putting a lick on another player, hearing his knee pop and hearing the guttural scream that follows. That can shake even the biggest of men to his core.

"Lee Harvey von Oelhoffen," one Cincinnati press box wag quickly dubbed the villain -- at least from the Cincinnati perspective -- on the play that ended Palmer's day Sunday.

That was mild compared to what von Oelhoffen heard on the field. Several of the Bengals screamed at him out of frustration, knowing their season was done without Palmer, which, sure enough, it was a few hours later after the Steelers' 31-17 playoff victory. It's one thing for young-punk running back Chris Perry, who hasn't done much in the pros, to call von Oelhoffen a dirty player. What does he know? But for respected, longtime offensive tackle Willie Anderson to do it? To a former teammate with the Bengals? Fully knowing, as Porter put it, that "Kimo is the last guy in the world who would intentionally try to hurt anyone."

"That made Kimo mad," Porter said.

"He was crying," Steelers linebacker Larry Foote said, "but his remorse didn't last long after they started taking those unfair shots at him."

Von Oelhoffen politely declined to discuss the Palmer incident this week, citing a gag order from coach Bill Cowher. "He doesn't want any distractions." He insisted again that the hit wasn't malicious but said he still will send Palmer a note after the season expressing his regret for his injury. He clearly was pleased to hear that Palmer, after seeing tape of the play, had exonerated him.

It's fair to wonder at this point if the Steelers and their fans would've reacted so magnanimously if one of the Bengals had taken out quarterback Ben Roethlisberger with a similar hit.

And how about this question:
Would the Bengals have been so charitable if Porter had injured Palmer?
"Oh, man, I don't think so," Porter said, giggling. "I can just hear them. 'That's Joey. He did it intentionally. That's the way he plays. He's dirty ...'

"Actually, I wish it had been me, so Kimo wouldn't have had to go through that. It took him out of his game for a while. He got through it, but he told me afterward that he didn't think he played a good game."

That's the first time all season von Oelhoffen had to say that.
He has had a terrific year.

It's a shame he received more national attention for the Palmer play than for all the great plays he has made combined.

"It's always been that way with Kimo," Porter said. "I remember the year he had eight sacks [in 2003]. For him to create that kind of havoc from his position is unbelievable. It was a disgrace he didn't make the Pro Bowl. He's just so underrated."

Foote said von Oelhoffen is a team leader, "right there with Ben, [Jerome Bettis], Hines [Ward] and Joey ... when he speaks, everyone listens." Get this: Foote keeps a notebook and writes down advice from von Oelhoffen on everything from taking on blocks to offseason conditioning programs to life.

That leadership thing is all well and good, but it's on the field where von Oelhoffen has the biggest impact. His inside push on the quarterback has been impressive again this season, the proof being not so much Palmer's injury as his 31/2 sacks, 11 quarterback hurries and 4 tipped passes. But it's against the run where he really excels.

"You can't move him out of his gap," Foote said.

Von Oelhoffen does it with his bulk and power. He does it with his experience from 12 years in the NFL. "I feel like I'm one of the best at what I do," von Oelhoffen said. "I can be a factor ...
"I can read a play, read the blockers, and know where the ball is going. I can either shrink the gap or eat up blockers and keep my guys" -- Porter, Foote, etc. -- "from getting blocked."

Von Oelhoffen and the others must play their best game Sunday for the Steelers to have a chance in Indianapolis. The Colts' Edgerrin James ran for 124 yards when the teams played Nov. 28, a 26-7 Colts victory. Porter called it a "cheap 100" the other day, but, hey, a buck-twenty-four is a buck-twenty-four.

If James runs for 124 again, the Colts will win.

If the Steelers hold James to 65 yards, von Oelhoffen figures to have a big, meaty hand in it and the Steelers probably will win.

One final question:
If it goes the Steelers' way, do you think von Oelhoffen will be singled out on "SportsCenter"?

No, probably not.

(Post-Gazette sports columnist Ron Cook can be reached at rcook@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1525.)

Bengals in disarray during, after loss

Bengals in disarray during, after loss

By Mike Prisuta
PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Thursday, January 12, 2006

Former Bengals quarterback Boomer Esiason chastised Cincinnati coach Marvin Lewis and criticized wide receiver Chad Johnson on Wednesday in the wake of the Bengals' 31-17 playoff loss to the Steelers.

Boomer's beef with Lewis involved a postgame declaration that the Bengals weren't going to "cry" about Kimo von Oelhoffen knocking Carson Palmer out of Sunday's game, "like their quarterback did."

That was going too far, in Esiason's estimation.

"Absolutely, because Marvin Lewis has his own problems," Esiason said during an appearance on the WDVE-FM Morning Show. "They had a huge fight in that locker room at halftime. It's the truth, flat out. (Wide receiver) Chad Johnson got into it with their wide receivers coach, Hue Jackson. (Wide receiver) T. J. Houshmandzadeh and Marvin came over to break it up and Chad was uncontrollable.

"So, Marvin Lewis should just worry about his own team."

Johnson denied taking a swing at Lewis on Tuesday, after profootballtalk.com posted a report detailing a halftime altercation.

Esiason maintained Johnson became upset after catching two passes for 30 yards during a first half that ended with the Bengals leading, 17-14.

Johnson wound up with four receptions for 59 yards and failed to catch a touchdown pass for the third time in three games against the Steelers this season.

"He wanted the ball more, screaming and yelling," Esiason said. "Guys are trying to tell him calm down; we're all in this together; your quarterback's hurt. I mean, show a little professionalism, for crying out loud.

"He's a knucklehead. He's a wide receiver in the NFL. Not everybody can be Hines Ward. If I could have 100 Hines Wards on my team, we would never lose a game. The bottom line is that (Ward) is the quintessential, unselfish, tremendous football player that every wide receiver should be like. He never complains. He blocks downfield. He understands his role in the offense and he just loves winning."

Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger expressed surprise yesterday when responding to Lewis' charge.

"You don't expect that coming from a guy like that," Roethlisberger said. "Obviously, he was a little frustrated, but I don't remember complaining.

"It's just unfortunate coming from a guy like that."

Steelers coach Bill Cowher had addressed Lewis' remark Tuesday, saying "I would like to think it was said out of frustration."

Roethlisberger had called a hit to the knee by Cincinnati linebacker Odell Thurman in the Bengals' 38-31 victory over the Steelers on Dec. 4 at Heinz Field "a little dirty."
Replays confirmed Thurman was tripped on his way to the backfield by Steelers center Jeff Hartings and fell into Roethlisberger.

Thurman was penalized 15 yards for roughing the passer.
Esiason believes the Bengals have a problem with the Steelers in general.

"Pittsburgh is their measuring stick because Pittsburgh runs the team much like the Bengals run their team," he said. "It's family owned, but yet Pittsburgh for all these years has owned them and basically has been a more competitive franchise.

"I think Marvin should just worry about losing the game and controlling his own team as opposed to taking on other players."

Mike Prisuta can be reached at ptrsports@tribweb.com.

It was Big Ben's finest hour, and don't forget it

Monday, January 09, 2006
By Ron Cook, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

CINCINNATI -- They will talk about the Kimo von Oelhoffen hit on Pro Bowl quarterback Carson Palmer all winter long. They will look at the replay over and over and over again and see a cheap shot every time. They will go to their grave thinking the Cincinnati Bengals would have won on this playoff yesterday if Palmer's left knee hadn't been busted on the second play.

I beg to disagree.

I don't think Palmer would have been the better quarterback on the field even if he had played.
Palmer would have had to do wondrous things to trump Ben Roethlisberger. On a day when the Steelers' defense struggled in the first half against a Bengals offense that was without Palmer and third receiver Chris Henry, who also was injured on the first drive, Roethlisberger kept his team from being blown out, then made a couple of big plays in the second half to fuel a 31-17 win. From this view, he clearly was the game MVP, although all Cincinnati fans surely would vote for von Oelhoffen.
"I'd take Ben over anybody," Hines Ward said.

They might argue that point in Indianapolis, where the Steelers will go for Round 2 of the playoffs Sunday. You'll be hearing a lot about the Colts' great Peyton Manning all week. It might not be such a bad idea to pay a little attention to Big Ben, who is the Steelers' best chance for a huge upset.

The Colts will be facing a much different Roethlisberger -- a more poised and confident Roethlisberger -- than the one who melted under the playoff spotlight a year ago. You could argue the win yesterday was his first legitimate post-season win, the one against the New York Jets last season a gift from troubled Jets kicker Doug Brien.

Actually, the Colts will be facing a much different Roethlisberger than the one they faced in late-November on a night they trounced the Steelers, 26-7. That was Roethlisberger's first game back after missing three games because of knee surgery. He wasn't exactly sharp on those rare occasions when the Colts' relentless pass rush gave him time to throw. He won't just be healthy this time around. He'll have offensive tackle Marvel Smith to protect his back. Smith missed that first game in Indianapolis.

"Ben has been working hard in practice to develop some timing and continuity with the receivers," Bill Cowher said. "That will be the biggest difference against Indianapolis this time ... We're going to need all the continuity we can get."

The fruits of Roethlisberger's labor were obvious after the Bengals took 10-0 and 17-7 leads. He threw a swing pass to wide-open running back Willie Parker that went for a 19-yard touchdown when the Steelers caught linebacker Brian Simmons in a blitz. That made it 10-7. He then followed a 54-yard pass to wide receiver Cedric Wilson with a 5-yard dart to Ward for a touchdown that made it 17-14.
"Our offense did a good job responding [to the Bengals' early scores]," Cowher said. "We kept coming back."

In the second half, Roethlisberger was even better. He threw a beautiful ball that Antwaan Randle El should have caught for a 45-yard touchdown despite pass interference by safety Kevin Kaesviharn. Randle El dropped the pass, but the 40-yard penalty set up a 5-yard touchdown run by Jerome Bettis for a 21-17 lead.

Roethlisberger's final touchdown pass was another beauty, a 43-yarder to Wilson that was set up by a little trickery -- a throw-back lateral from Randle El. The play-call by offensive coordinator Ken Whisenhunt so fooled the Bengals that Wilson and Ward were wide open.
"I had to draw straws in my head," Roethlisberger said, grinning. "I just threw it up there."

Don't believe it.

"He was aware of what was going on around him," Cowher said.
All day, Cowher meant.
"That's the thing I liked -- his composure and his poise," Cowher said.

Both were especially visible on a Roethlisberger scramble on the final play of the first quarter. It went for a mere 6 yards, but it might have been the most important play of the game. Down, 10-0, and facing a third-and-5 at the Steelers' 45, Roethlisberger stepped up in the pocket and sprinted toward the right sideline. If he doesn't get the first down there and the Steelers have to punt, who knows how the game turns out? As it was, Roethlisberger completed the drive with the touchdown pass to Parker, and the Steelers were alive.

"I just tried to get skinny and step up," Roethlisberger said of his scramble. "I saw Antwaan come across the middle, but I also saw a lot of green grass in front of me. I probably could have tried to get Antwaan the ball, but why take a chance?"

It's fair to say Roethlisberger wouldn't have made that same wise decision a year ago.

"Everything was so fast to him then," center Jeff Hartings said. "He was just trying to keep up."
And now?
"He's way out in front," Hartings said, "leading the way."

(Post-Gazette sports columnist Ron Cook can be reached at rcook@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1525.)

Mike Prisuta: Much to Lose

Mike Prisuta
PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Saturday, January 7, 2006

The regular-season finale against Detroit was widely characterized as potentially the last home game of Jerome Bettis' career, but NFL protocol suggests other Steelers have already played their final games at Heinz Field.

"No question, I got a little emotional last (Sunday)," defensive end Brett Keisel said. "Not only was it Bus' last (home) game, possibly. There is that chance that it was mine, too."
Added free safety Chris Hope: "It touched everybody."

Keisel and Hope are among 11 Steelers scheduled to become unrestricted free agents after the season.

Others under contract for 2006 might not return for financial reasons (center Jeff Hartings, for example, will cost the Steelers $8.129 million against the 2006 salary cap).

That makes the odds of this team returning in tact next season longer than the Steelers winning three consecutive road playoff games, starting Sunday in Cincinnati, and advancing to Super Bowl XL.

"That's real sad," Hope said. "That's the reality of it. The big picture is people leave. (Wide receiver) Plaxico (Burress) was next to me (occupying a locker adjacent to Hope's last season); he's not here, and that's part of the game. People in the last year of their contracts may or may not be here. And the friendships you make while you're here make it that much harder to leave or see the end of it.
"You just gotta take advantage of every opportunity you get."

That sense of urgency the Steelers will carry into Cincinnati is heightened by the bond shared among the players, one Hope and others insist is rare if not unique in what can be a mercenary NFL world.

"I haven't felt this close to a group of guys, a group of teammates, since high school," Hope said.
"There's nothing like high school football. You could pay me all the money in the world and it's still not like high school football. And going to Florida State, we were close there. But when you get to this level, there are so many egos, so many people coming from different parts of the country, different backgrounds, and people are in and out because of the business of the league. You feel like you don't really have an opportunity to get close to people."

"But here, it's a total difference, it's like a brotherhood. From white to black to Hawaiian, you can hang and have a good time with anybody in here. I mean, from old to young, there's not one guy that doesn't support another guy when they have a function or an autograph signing or some type of community program going on in the neighborhood. There's not one guy you can ask that won't help you out and support you. It's just a great team atmosphere."

"Does that help you win a ballgame, help you score points? Maybe not, but when you're trying to trust and have faith in the guy next to you, and you don't want to let him down, it's almost like taking care of one of your real family members."

That camaraderie and sense of team can be a powerful motivator in January.

The Steelers will be desperate to win and advance in Cincinnati, but they'll also be trying to keep together for as long as possible an extended family they know is destined to be blown apart eventually, whether they lose to the Bengals or win the Super Bowl.

"You hate to see the season come to an end when you get so close, so you fight for the next time," Hope said. "We know how we felt last year, getting beat by the Patriots in the (AFC Championship Game). It was like we didn't want to leave. You can ask anybody about leaving, I'm the first one that tries to get away from the cold and get back to South Carolina and Florida when the season's over. But it was like, 'the journey wasn't supposed to end that way.'
"And this season went so fast, it's back to that time again."

It's time to either win or to say goodbye to teammates, perhaps for the final time.

"I try to go out and play every play like it could be your last play because you never know," Keisel said. "I love this place, and to think about not being here is tough. But I can't think about that; all I can think about is beating Cincy."

On the way out?
Steelers scheduled to become unrestricted free agents at the conclusion of the 2005 season:

QB Charlie Batch
OT Barrett Brooks
RB Verron Haynes
SS Chris Hope
DE Brett Keisel
LB Clint Kriewaldt
WR Quincy Morgan
WR Antwaan Randle El
CB Deshea Townsend
TE Jerame Tuman
DE Kimo von Oelhoffen

Mike Prisuta can be reached at ptrsports@tribweb.com.

Guy Junker: Steelers Need to Stop the Drops

Guy Junker
SteelersLIVE 'Xtra
Friday, January 6, 2006

Last Sunday, quarterback Joey Harrington of the previously inept Detroit Lions offense, threw three touchdown passes against a Steeler defense that had allowed only one touchdown period the previous three games.

Last Sunday, Ben Roethliserberger put up some the of worst passing numbers of his career against a previously inept Detroit Lions defense which had been ranked 27th in the NFL before the game.

In both cases, the stories could have been much different if the Steelers could have just caught the damn ball!

Early in the game Sunday on third down, Big Ben hit a wide open Qunicy Morgan for an easy first down. Morgan dropped it. He made up for it though by dropping another one later in the game. Hines Ward was one touchdown catch away from tying his own team record when he let a sure one go through his hands and embarassingly hit him in the face mask. Early in the second quarter Cedrick Wilson lost a completion when he hit the ground. Late in the first half when the Steelers were agressively trying to get to the end zone rather than settle for a field goal attempt in the final minute, Roethlisberger was intercepted when a pass clanked off of Antwaan Randle El's hands. Big Ben finished 7-16 for 135 yards and two interceptions but with a little bit of help, he could easily have been 11 or 12 for 16 for 200 yards with a touchdown and just one inteception.

And the butterfingers weren't limited to the offense. Troy Polamalu, Larry Foote and Ike Taylor all missed interception chances of varying degrees of difficulty. All were makeable. If they make even two of those plays, the Lions passing numbers would have looked more like Joe Harrington's instead of Joe Montana's. Instead, Harrington finished with over 200 yards passing with no interceptions. Plus those three touchdowns.

This is especially worrisome as the Steelers get set for a wild card playoff game in Cincinnati Sunday. It will be their only playoff game this year if they have as much trouble catching the football as they did against Detroit and at other times this season. Remember the last meeting with Cincy? One of the lasting impressions from the Bengals win at Heinz Field in early December was Ricardo Colclough running stride for stride with T.J. Houshmandzadeh, only to allow a Carson Palmer pass to go through his hands and into Houshmandzadeh's for a 43-yard score. Perfect coverage and still a touchdown. Of course, the Steelers eventually lost that game by seven. Those kinds of gaffes could be overcome against Detroit but not Cincinnati.

Because the Bengals will put it in the air and they have a variety of quality weapons to go get it. Only three teams have completed more passes this season than Cincinnati. So when those one or two opportunities a game present themselves, the Steelers must respond by taking the ball away. One interception could easily be the difference between going to Indianapolis and going home.

The last time the Steelers played the Bengals, Ben Roethlisberger set career highs in nearly every passing category. Unfortunately that included interceptions with three. And that is the Bengals defense in a nutshell. They can be thrown against. Only six teams in the league have allowed more passing yards and only seven teams have allowed more completions. But they kill you with the interceptions and fumbles. The Bengals are like their namesake, predators looking for an opportunity to feast. They lead the NFL in interceptions and they lead the NFL at plus-24 in turnovers. That has made up for a sometimes porous defense that ranks only 28th overall in the league.

Since the Steelers have thrown the fewest passes in the league and are at their best when running the ball successfully, their receivers will have to be sharper than they were against Detroit because they don't get that many chances to begin with and the slightest bobble against the Bengals can become a turnover that ends the season.

The Bengals are still the best draw the Steelers could have had in the first round. Cincinnati has lost two straight, allowing 74 combined points to Kansas City and Buffalo. And they struggled to beat lowly Cleveland before that. Some say they had nothing to play for because they had already clinched the division, but I don't buy that as they were playing for playoff seeding.
Instead the Steelers won four straight and finished with the same record as Cincinnati, losing out on the division title on a tiebreaker. Plus the Bengals are very inexperienced at this postseason stuff, having missed the party every year since 1990. The chance is golden for the Steelers. As long as they don't let it slip through their fingers.

Guy Junker is the co-host of the Junker and Crow Show, 10 a.m.-1 p.m. weekdays on ESPN Radio1250. You can e-mail Guy at guy@gopgh.com.

Crosby's First Canadian Tour a Hit

It's Sidney in Wonderland as first pro trip to Canada turns into smash hit on and off ice

Thursday, January 05, 2006
By Robert Dvorchak, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

MONTREAL -- He was on the front page of the French and English newspapers, and he was mobbed like a rock star by autograph seekers at almost every turn in his return to Canada. Still, Sidney Crosby relished quiet moments the most.

Take the routine optional practice skate yesterday in the Montreal suburb of Verdun. The barn-like auditorium with its quaint wooden seats, now Denis Savard Arena, was where his father, Troy, plied his trade as a goalie in the Canadiens' organization a generation ago.
Crosby was one of 19 Penguins to participate, and later the ascendant star talked about how he and his dad swapped stories about the old rink while providing a glimpse of the generational hold that the game has in this hockey-mad country.
"For me it was nice, but for him even more so," Crosby said the day after he scored two goals and was the No. 1 star in a game vs. the Montreal Canadiens, which he grew up worshipping in Nova Scotia.

"As soon I told him [about the practice], it seemed like he wanted to tell me as much as he could about the rink and what it was like to play there. I think it kind of gave him an opportunity to talk about it more than usual." he added.
Crosby beamed as he spoke of watching old game tapes of his father when hockey players wore long uniform pants.

Troy Crosby won a championship in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League with Verdun, but he also had to face such sharpshooters as a young Mario Lemieux. One story from December 1983 documented how Lemieux beat Troy Crosby with a 50-foot slap shot.
Asked whether he had talked to his dad about the time Lemieux beat him for a goal, Crosby quipped: "Which one?"

The morning skate was part of the Crosby Magical Mystery Tour -- whenever he appears, items from jerseys to framed pictures appear along with pleas for him to sign autographs.
As Crosby made his way from the rink to the team bus through a mob of five dozen or so fans, Penguins vice president Tom McMillan was swept up in the crush and pinned for a moment against the team bus. It was a fitting end to Crosby's first trip back to Canada as an NHL player for regular-season games in his homeland.

Earlier this week in Toronto, Crosby and McMillan left their hotel in a Lincoln Town Car. As they headed to the morning skate, autograph seekers gave chase, hopping into five cabs to form a convoy. Crosby's black car eluded them by pulling into the rink via a delivery truck gate. The scene was reminiscent of Beatlemania in "A Hard Day's Night."
As expected, the Canadian media turned out in full force to chronicle Crosby's return. In Toronto, Crosby sat behind a table full of microphones while a dozen TV cameras filmed him and 12 reporters posed questions.

The media turnout in Montreal, the soul of hockey, was larger. Sporting his Reebok hat, Crosby answered questions in French and English in a room usually reserved for the Canadiens' hierarchy.
Asked about the media attention, Crosby said, "It doesn't get old. ... That's just the way it is. I've accepted that."
One other standard question concerned Don Cherry, the loudly opinionated voice of Coach's Corner on "Hockey Night in Canada." Cherry has never met Crosby, but he ridiculed Michel Therrien's coaching decision to anoint Crosby with the "A" of assistant captain as if it were a scarlet letter for an 18-year-old.

"For me, I'm not going to get into a battle with Don Cherry," Crosby said in taking the high road. "... Everyone's not going to have a great opinion about you no matter what you do," he added. "... He has his viewpoints. ... The only opinions I care about are those from my teammates."
Therrien had been concerned enough about the media glare to meet with Crosby to make sure he stayed focused on the games. Crosby responded with an assist in Toronto and two goals against the Canadiens, the first one on his first shot in the arena where he watched his first NHL game as a fan six years ago. (Having reached 20 goals, Crosby now gets a $212,000 bonus as part of his incentive clauses.)

Therrien shrugged off questions about Crosby's status as a team leader even though he would have two years of eligibility for the Canadian junior team.
"Check his stats. You'll find the answer," Therrien said.
In the seven games since he received the "A" for his sweater and moved back to center, Crosby has 13 points and trails Washington's Alexander Ovechkin by a point in the rookie scoring race.
"Sid's a leader by the way he plays," Therrien said.
The media glare may soften a bit as the Penguins prepare to play the Thrashers in Atlanta. And Crosby is doing a cover shoot today for ESPN Magazine.

(Bob Dvorchak can be reached at bdvorchak@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1959.)

Mike Wagner: The Thinking Man's Player

By Doug Kennedy
For PittsburghLIVE
Tuesday, January 3, 2006


Considered by many to be an overachiever, Mike Wagner patrolled the secondary from his safety position for the Pittsburgh Steelers from 1971 through 1980. Twice he made the Pro Bowl (1975 and 1976) and ranks sixth on the Black and Gold’s all-time interception list with thirty-six picks.

After an injury in the first pre-season game to starting strong safety, Chuck Beatty, a teammate of Joe Greene at North Texas State, Wagner, as a rookie, moved into the starting lineup. “I learned under fire,” said Wagner who actually moved to free safety following the 1977 trade of Glen Edwards. Three games before the end of the ’71 season, Wagner was injured, and Beatty was reinserted into the lineup to replace Mike for the balance of the year.

An eleventh round pick out of Western Illinois, that is the equivalent of a free agent today, Wagner was known as the cerebral quarterback of that Steeler defensive backfield. “People hang tags on you,” he said. “There is a certain amount of thinking on the football field. Coaches love talent and I don’t think I was the most talented, but I tried not to make mental mistakes. I didn’t have the quickest step, but I put myself in the correct position, then I would be able to make plays and I accepted that challenge.”

Mike played high school football at Carmel High School, a Catholic school in the suburban Chicago area. “It was very comparable to Western Pennsylvania high school football,” he said. “I was a skinny kid and didn’t get any scholarship offers so I went to Western Illinois and just tried out for the team.”

By his junior year, a season in which Mike won little All-American honors, he was beginning to attract some professional scouts to the Division III campus. “I felt I had a shot at the pros,” said Wagner, who began his college career as a 6’2” 185 pound defensive end. “I felt I was fast enough, tough enough, and big enough,” he said. “I wasn’t sure what they (the Steelers) were thinking, but they drafted me at the right time when they were rebuilding.”

By his second season with the Steelers, Coach Noll had made enough changes to the secondary that all four of the previous starters were gone and the nucleus of the defensive backfield was being set with Mike, Edwards, Mel Blount, and J.T. Thomas.

“We had a mindset that we would not go into simple defenses,” said Wagner. “It was an attitude that we weren’t going to allow offenses to dictate our defense.”

Mike also had the honor of being part of all 4 Steeler Super Bowls in the ‘70’s. He played in three, having been injured in the last half of the 1979 regular season, that caused him to miss the game against the Rams.

Wagner says the first one was probably the best because it was the most rewarding to both the city and the team, considering the years of frustration that both the Steelers and the Rooneys had endured.

But the third win, the second one against the Cowboys (Super Bowl XIII) in 1978, was the most challenging. “It was the season when most of the media and the fans were saying that we were too old and not hungry enough,” remembers Wagner. “There were a lot of challenges to win that game at the time. I just thought it was the best thing all the way around.” This was also Mike’s first full season as the Steelers free safety. In the third game of the ’77 season, Wagner fractured three vertebrae in his neck, making a tackle.

Personally, the first Super Bowl win against the Cowboys (Super Bowl X), is perhaps the one that most people will remember Mike Wagner. That key 4th quarter interception was something that Cowboy quarterback, Roger Staubach, still accuses Wagner of guessing. According to Staubach, it was a play, that for the first time all season long, didn’t work.

“Because the Cowboys had so much shifting and motion,” said Mike, “we actually ended up changing our defense on that play a couple of times. That was always a concern for me- that everybody’s on the same page.”

Earlier in that game, Wagner had been burned for a touchdown because he wasn’t comfortable with the defense the Steeler secondary was playing. “My theory on being a defensive back is that there might be a breakdown in coverage. I would play soft, where most coaches would say take care of your business and do what you’re supposed to do.”

When the Cowboys came back with that same play later in the game, Wagner said that he had learned by trial and error. “I ran to the spot and there was the football,” he said. “My biggest concern was just don’t drop it.”

Even though he made the interception, Mike remembers the final play of the game. “Roger was still running around and threw the ball in the endzone for Drew Pearson. I got a fingertip on it and my biggest fear was what was going to happen, but Glen (Edwards) intercepted it.”

Wagner, who has made his home in the North Hills part of Pittsburgh for the last twenty-five years, currently works for GVAOxford, a company who serves as middle men between the buying or renting of buildings for tenants, owners, and landlords. His business, since he retired, has always been in corporate finance and investment banking.

Before moving to the Pittsburgh area permanently, Mike and his family used to travel to one of their two Colorado homes (Keystone and Vale) to enjoy some downhill skiing. “A week after the season ended, we would be out to our house in Colorado and then come back to Pittsburgh in June.” That process lasted from 1975 through 1980.

Wagner acknowledges that the bond, which exists between the players on those Super Bowl teams, is unmatched. He says that he has probably stayed closer to Jack Ham, who he began rooming with since his rookie season, than anyone else.

“One of the really great things about being a Pittsburgh Steeler from those championship teams is the gleam that people get in their eyes when they recognize us,” he proudly said. “There’s a great sense of pride in how the fans bonded with the team and vice-versa.”
When Mike travels back to his home state of Illinois, people will ask him how the fans back in Pittsburgh treated the players. Wagner simply responds with two words- “Like treasures.”

Doug Kennedy is a long-time sports producer and director.

The Bus Drives Steelers into the Playoffs

Bettis scores 3 TDs in possible Heinz Field finale
Monday, January 02, 2006
By Gene Collier, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

More Steelers
Steelers run past stubborn Lions, 35-21
Steelers earn another meeting with the Bengals
Lions' ugly season ends with a loss to the Steelers
Steelers Notebook: Ward's loss is Bettis' gain
Steelers Photo Journal: Game Sixteen


Jerome Bettis barged out of the Heinz Field tunnel for the last time at 12:57 p.m. yesterday, high-stepping, fists clenched, a joyous ball of quick-twitch muscle fiber aching to command one final standing O.

Unless, of course, he didn't.

Unless, of course, it wasn't.

Unless he has another script in development, another way he'd like to leave this stage, some incredible cadenza that eclipses the three thunderclap touchdowns that broke down the door to the playoffs for a Steelers team that might not have done it without him.

"You take it for granted so many times, being in that tunnel," he said. "I was really concentrating, looking at the cracks, the way the lights look from there, looking at everything, just taking a kind of snapshot of it. Because when it's over, the only way you see the tunnel is from the outside looking in."

The more Bettis tried to explain his emotions and his plans in the hour after he dragged Bill Cowher's walking hangover of a football team past the Detroit Lions, the more it became clear that Bettis might not be sure which way he's facing in the dark psychological tunnel leading to life after football.

He reconfigured every question, lined them up randomly, shrugged them into postponement.

"At what point does your body fail you?" he said. "At one point are you less a player? At one point do you ask yourself, 'Am I in the way of this franchise going forward?' That's the last thing I want to do."

It was a lot more satisfying, presumably, to get in the way of a team going backward so fast it was backing right out of the playoffs. That's when Bettis grabbed a fourth-and-goal handoff at the Detroit 1 and slammed into the end zone behind fullback Dan Kreider for a 14-14 tie with the dreadful Lions as the first quarter expired.

At the end of a first half that saw Ben Roethlisberger deliver a stunningly flaccid 9.3 passer rating and Hines Ward fail to catch a pass, including the one that went through his hands and hit him in the face in the end zone, Bettis slashed 5 yards to the score that put the Steelers ahead, 21-14. His personal-best-tying third touchdown made it 28-14, and his 3-yard bash on third-and-1 sustained the drive that gave the Steelers another 14-point lead after the Lions had slashed it to seven, which pretty much left players and coaches on both sides in awe.

"I thought about falling down at the 1 so he could get a fourth one," said Roethlisberger, who scrambled 7 yards for Pittsburgh's final score. "I guess I didn't think fast enough."



Roethlisberger pointedly put off any discussion of Bettis' impact on this day, perhaps saving it for a time more suitable.

"I can't talk about Jerome too much," he said. "I'll get a little too emotional."

Cowher had come into the postgame news conference intent on praising his special teams and looking toward the playoff-lurking Cincinnati Bengals, but when Bettis' name dropped, it put a severe strain on the head coach's emotions as well.

"I have so much appreciation for him; I think he's going to be one of those guys that when the day comes that he's not here, there's going to be a void there because it seems like he's always been there," Cowher said. "I have tremendous appreciation, more than I can ever express, for what he stands for as a football player but more so for what he stands for as a person. For every yard that he's gained on the field, this guy, in my mind, has exceeded that off the field, the kind of individual he is, the way he gives back. I've never been around too many guys like that."

Leave it to Bettis to bump the head coach hard toward eloquence, even toward tears.


When what was still very likely the last Pittsburgh crowd to see him perform finally got its playoff tickets punched, the swell of appreciation for No. 36 took on monumental dimensions. It chanted "One more year!" It supplied a raucous, moving soundtrack to the Bettis runs lighting up the Jumbotron. It felt, and tried to fill with its collective voice, the void Cowher anticipates.
"These fans have been my biggest supporters my whole career," he said. "The love was definitely there, and I love them back."

It was, amid the raw brutality of this business, an intensely poignant scene, so genuine it avoided the game's lamest cliche. At one point, tackle Barrett Brooks went to the trainer's table and picked up the big tub of Gatorade. He turned toward Bettis.

"I saw him and said, 'No, don't even think about it,'" Bettis said. "I knew the big one might be coming. As a running back, you have eyes in the back of your head, so I was able to foil that plot. That's why coaches always get nailed with it. They never hit a hole."

Of most head coaches, that is true, and so is this. No one ever hit a hole harder than Bettis. And that will be true for a long, long time.



(Gene Collier can be reached at gcollier@post-gazette or 412-263-1283.)

The Bus Ride's Been Fun, But Now it's About Over

Sunday, January 01, 2006
By Ed Bouchette, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

The perfect storm formed over the Midwest and collided in Western Pennsylvania in the spring of 1995, bringing with it a heavy dose of running back that would power the Steelers for the next decade.

In St. Louis, new Rams coach Rich Brooks somehow put his star back in the doghouse and wanted no part of him. In Pittsburgh, the Steelers went looking for a replacement for a back arrested on drug charges. In a catacomb office at Three Rivers Stadium, coach Bill Cowher told assistant Dick Hoak to look at some tape of the fat kid in St. Louis.

Hoak needed little time on the assignment before he reported back to Cowher: "Get him!"
Tom Donahoe, the Steelers' director of football operations at that time, then pulled what amounted to the Great St. Louis Bus Robbery. Donahoe traded his team's fourth-round draft pick in 1996 and second-round choice in 1995 for the Rams' third-round pick in 1995 and the fat kid, Jerome Bettis.

"It was," Bettis said, "a match made in heaven."

He went from "The Battering Ram" to "The Bus," and the Steelers rode him everywhere except a Super Bowl. Both Bettis and the Steelers plan to give it one more journey, the hard way.

Today, Jerome Bettis will run out of the tunnel at Heinz Field one last time. He likely will retire after the season, although neither he nor the Steelers have said so. But his 13-year quest to play in a Super Bowl, and the Steelers' attempt to win one after 26 years, will continue.

That's why Bettis corrected one questioner the other day when he was asked about playing in what may be his final game.

"The final home game," Bettis said.

The perfect end to this perfect storm, of course, would be for it all to conclude in his hometown of Detroit, the site of Super Bowl XL on Feb. 5. But for now, today's game against the Lions will belong to Jerome Bettis.

"You don't do anything special," Bettis said. "You appreciate things a little bit more, you glance at the lights maybe a little bit more than you normally would. But it's still a football game. First and foremost, you have to go out there ready to play -- and I'll be ready to play."

The Steelers have said they will salute him subtly because they do not want to appear to be pushing him into retirement. Expect plenty of Bus moments on the video screen.

Few Steelers greats had that opportunity to bow out on their own. Running back Franco Harris was cut in training camp and ended his career in Seattle. Quarterback Terry Bradshaw and linebacker Jack Lambert sustained injuries that forced them out before they were ready. Wide receiver Lynn Swann announced his retirement by telephone.

It may not be official, but Bettis will have his sendoff today as one of the Steelers' all-time great players.

"Oh, very, very definitely," said team owner Dan Rooney, who appreciates what Bettis has done off the field as much as on it. "He ranks right up there with all the great running backs. He and Franco are in a class by themselves.

"He ended up here when his maturity and his example, leadership, all of those things, meant so much to this team. He was able to show them and the guys how to do things. He was a little bit like [Hall of Fame defensive tackle] Joe Greene. He took the quarterback under his wing and tried to provide some maturity."

His attitude and presence permeated the locker room for a decade. Players sought him out for his advice. He was among the first to embrace quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. Young backs such as Verron Haynes and Willie Parker flock to him. When Duce Staley came here to take his job, Bettis welcomed him and made Staley comfortable.

During one home game this season, Parker ran sideways a few times when he should have taken the ball up the field. He lost yardage. He came to the sideline and Bettis talked to him for several minutes, gesturing where he should have run. Parker corrected it during that game and has not repeated his error since.

After Parker scored his first pro touchdown, in a preseason game last year, he left the ball in the end zone. Bettis retrieved it and gave it to the young back to keep.

"Coming in as a rookie," linebacker Joey Porter said, "he pretty much gave me the blueprint how this NFL thing works and what to expect and how to go about things, and I just try to follow the blueprint he laid out for me, and it's been pretty successful."

Never in NFL history has anyone seen such a big back, 5-feet-11 and 255 pounds, with such quick feet and durability.

"When I look at my career I think it's pretty unique in a sense that I'm the only guy who kind of looks like me," Bettis said, then laughed.

Big backs flame out, but The Bus roared. His 13,621 yards rushing rank fifth in NFL history. He would own the Steelers' season record if he hadn't been rested in a meaningless finale in 1997 when he had 1,665 yards, 25 shy of Barry Foster's total. He led the NFL in rushing after 10 games in 2001 when a groin tear stopped him at 1,072 yards.

Of his 13 seasons, eight with 1,000 yards, perhaps none was more impressive than 2004. Staley, who came as a free agent from Philadelphia, took Bettis' job and ran with it. In the first seven games Staley accumulated 707 yards before a hamstring injury ended that run.

Bettis, who had played very little, jumped right in, made his first start against the Philadelphia Eagles at home and ran 33 times for 149 yards, the first of six starts -- all 100-yard games. He finished with 941 yards, falling short of a ninth 1,000-yard season when he again was rested in the finale.

That game against Philadelphia places high in his personal scrap book.

"That was the one where the question mark was beginning to seep in," Bettis said. "Can he still do it? I think that just" -- Bettis slammed his hand on a desk top -- "killed that with a sledgehammer. I knew what I was capable of."

Other games flash through Bettis' memory:

His 129 yards in three quarters against the Rams at home in 1996, including a 50-yard run after Brooks, his former coach, said he wasn't a game-breaker. "Ohhhhh, I wanted that one sooo bad."
His first Monday night game, at home against Buffalo, when he rushed for 133 yards and two touchdowns. "He had never played on 'Monday Night Football'," Donahoe said, "and he became Mr. Monday Night."

His touchdown in overtime to beat Jacksonville in 1997. A back who rarely fumbles, he had done so to let the Jaguars back in the game.

His 100-yard second half against the NFL's No. 1 defense, the Chicago Bears, this season.

His 104 yards rushing in the last game played at Three Rivers Stadium, Dec. 16, 2000, against Washington. "I just wanted to send it out on the right stage. That's the first time I ever really went into a game and said I need a 100-yard game, because this is it, the last one, there will never be another one. Whew! That was important to me because of the legacy of the guys who played before me."

Today's game will join that list.

"To have had such a long career here, the possibility of playing your last game is scary. It's scary," Bettis said.

His parents will be here from Detroit -- they have attended every regular-season NFL game he's played in his 13 years. Friends back home can watch on television. The last dance, at home.
"If you go back and look at my career, there's one thing I want people to remember," Bettis said. "That when you saw 36, you saw a real football player who loved the game, played the game the way it's supposed to be played, respected everything about it and genuinely enjoyed it and tried to show it through his play."

Mission accomplished.

(Ed Bouchette can be reached at ebouchette@post-gazette.com or at 412-263-3878.)

Clemente's Son to Re-enact Fateful Trip

December 30, 2005
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 8:16 p.m. ET

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) -- The son of Hall of Fame baseball player Roberto Clemente will head to Nicaragua on Saturday to distribute humanitarian aid -- mirroring a trip that claimed the life of his father 33 years ago.

Clemente, a 12-time All-Star who had 3,000 hits for the Pittsburgh Pirates, died in 1972 at age 38 in a plane crash on New Year's Eve. The Puerto Rican native was taking relief supplies to victims of a Nicaraguan earthquake.

Roberto Clemente Jr. will take the same amount of food, medicine and other items that his father carried during the original trip.

''It's been 18 months that I had a spiritual awakening in which I communicated with dad. It was the first time that I really cried for dad ... and it was then that I understood I had to make this trip to obtain spiritual peace,'' he told The Associated Press.

Clemente Jr. was 6 when his father was killed. He said he had a premonition of his father's crash and pleaded with him not to go.

''For me, definitely, it's a trip full of emotions,'' he said. ''For many years I was filled with a feeling of guilt for not stopping what happened and this closes a chapter in my life.''

Major League Baseball hands out the annual ''Roberto Clemente Award'' to a player who ''demonstrates the values Clemente displayed in his commitment to community and understanding the value of helping others,'' according to the MLB Web site.

Clemente Jr. said his vision was to send help one time a year to a country in need to honor his father's memory. He planned to make the Nicaragua trip last year but decided to send aid to victims of the Dec. 26 tsunami in Thailand.

Vera Clemente said the only thing that worried her about her son's trip was the date.

What happened 33 years ago, ''for me is if it was yesterday,'' she said. ''I have faith in God that all is going to go well for him.''

Big Ben expected to step up as leader for postseason push

Friday, December 30, 2005
By Gerry Dulac, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Ben Roethlisberger is not a quarterback of many throws, but he certainly knows a good pass when he sees one. And Bill Cowher delivered one the other day, figuratively tossing the leadership torch to his second-year quarterback.

Like a good receiver, Roethlisberger deftly accepted the toss and cradled the honor to his sternum.
"I think they can count on me," Roethlisberger said. "And I want them to be able to count on me."

The Steelers voted on their most valuable player yesterday, and the winners were receiver Hines Ward and nose tackle Casey Hampton, the second time in the past four years there have been co-MVPs. But there is probably little question which player means the most to the Steelers and their chances in the playoffs, should they get there -- Roethlisberger.

He is 21-3 as a starter in the regular season, leads the league in yards per attempt and touchdown percentage and is one of three NFL quarterbacks with a passer rating over 100.

"I think the guys have kind of accepted that with me and I think I try to go on the field and play that way," Roethlisberger said. "I'm not a guy who's going to be yelling or ranting and raving and trying to talk to be a leader. I'd rather lead by example. It's made me feel more comfortable out there on the field."

Roethlisberger has attempted fewer passer (252) than any of the top 24 rated quarterbacks in the league. But when he does throw, the results are outstanding.

He is the only active quarterback who is unbeaten (11-0) in career games in which he has thrown 20 or fewer passes, according to Stats LLC. And he is 18-0 in games in which he has attempted 25 or fewer passes.

Three of those victories were accomplished in the past three games against Chicago, Minnesota and Cleveland, when Roethlisberger attempted a combined 55 passes. He has not thrown an interception in those games, despite facing secondaries that have combined for 61 interceptions.
"Ben is a leader out there for us, there is no question about that," coach Bill Cowher said. "He's a very focused player right now and he needs to be, we are all kind of following his lead."

"You got to perform to be a leader," said Pro Bowl guard Alan Faneca. "You have to. You can't really say much when you're not really doing it yourself. You got to pull your own weight and show what you're willing to do to get others to follow."

There is no greater illustration of the impact Roethlisberger has had on the Steelers than to compare his development with Detroit's Joey Harrington, the quarterback he will oppose Sunday at Heinz Field.

Harrington was the third overall choice in the 2002 draft, but he has won 18 games in four seasons with the Lions -- three fewer than Roethlisberger. He has been so erratic and inaccurate that he was replaced for four games this season by veteran Jeff Garcia. Harrington ranks 32 out of 34 NFL quarterbacks with a passer rating of 68.7.

Roethlisberger is the opposite. He has completed 64 percent of his passes (357 of 557) since he was the 11th overall pick in the 2004 draft and is coming off a game in which the players and coaches are still talking about the accurate throws he made in the 41-0 victory in Cleveland.
"He's a big kid at heart," Ward said. "When the pressure is there, when times are tough and you need to make a big play, he might make a comment where he loosens everyone up and get things going. He's done a great job of handling everything. This year, he's been in every scenario possible -- coming from behind, doing the two-minute drill, he was in a shootout. He's experienced all that and he's going to continue to grow."

Roethlisberger (103.4) is one of only three quarterbacks in the NFL with a passer rating of 100 or higher. The others are Peyton Manning of Indianapolis (104.3) and Cincinnati's Carson Palmer (101.4). His completion percentage (63.9) trails Manning's (67.4) and Palmer's (67.9), but he leads the NFL in average yards per attempt (8.93) and touchdown percentage (6.7). His average gain of nearly 9 yards proves he likes to throw the ball downfield and is successful doing so.

"We only ask him to throw 15 or 17 times, but, when you ask him to throw those 15 or 17, over half of them are third downs," coach Bill Cowher said. "I think that is a lot of pressure to put on a guy, to say we are going to throw now and you have to complete this so we can keep the drive going.
"I think, in a lot of respects, it is probably a lot harder than a guy who is throwing the ball 25 or 30 or 35 times because he can throw a couple incompletions and all the focus isn't just on that. I think what we ask him to do is probably a lot more demanding, from that perspective, than what other people in other systems are in."
Cowher's point is well-founded, if not slightly skewed. In the five games in which Roethlisberger has attempted 20 or fewer passes this season, the only game in which half his attempts were on third down was against Chicago. Roethlisberger completed 13 of 20 passes for 173 yards against the Bears but was 6 of 10 for 80 yards on third down.

In the past three games, Roethlisberger has attempted 55 passes -- his fewest in a three-game stretch since he attempted 55 in games against Philadelphia, Cleveland and Cincinnati last season. Of those, 23 came on third down, or 41.8 percent.

"Coming into this year, I felt a little more comfortable," Roethlisberger said. "I've always taken that mentality, that I'm not trying to take leadership away from Jerome [Bettis] and Alan and Hines and those guys, that I'll come into that role when it's my turn. I think slowly it kind of has been passed on to me. Not that I'm the leader over those guys, but equal to them, or close to equal. And I think that's the role of a quarterback."

(Gerry Dulac can be reached at gdulac@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1466.)