Bill Mazeroski and the end of an era

Book review: 'Farewell to the Last Golden Era: The Yankees, The Pirates and the 1960 Baseball Season,' by Bill Morales. McFarland & Company, $29.95.

By John P. Rossi
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/
Sunday, September 04, 2011

The phrase "Golden Era" is thrown around a great deal by baseball writers with the 1920s and 1950s usually granted that title. Now Bill Morales stakes a claim to that designation with his new book about the 1960 season, one dear to Pirates fans.

As Mr. Morales notes, 1960 was the last year before expansion changed the face of Major League Baseball. There were 16 teams in the majors, the same number when the modern era of baseball began in 1901.

By analyzing developments in 1960, he traces how baseball was changed forever against the background of two great pennant races -- the Pirates drive for their first National title in 33 years and Yankees' manager Casey Stengel's last hurrah.

To give his story greater context, Mr. Morales, a history professor at Bergen Community College in New Jersey, weaves in the story of the Continental League, the last innovation of baseball's one true genius, Branch Rickey.

In 1959, Mr. Rickey, along with a group of business moguls, sought to challenge the monopoly of professional baseball by founding a third major league. They failed, but their challenge directly led to the expansion of majors in 1961 and '62 with the addition of the New York Mets, the Houston Colts (now Astros), the Los Angeles Angels and the new Washington Senators after the original Senators moved to Minneapolis-St. Paul.

Mr. Morales also shows how baseball failed to adapt to new ideas and technologies such as television in contrast to professional football. The newly organized American Football League secured a lucrative financial deal with ABC by selling its games as a package. The new commissioner of the National Football League, Pete Rozelle, adopted the plan, launching professional football on its path to riches.

Sprinkled throughout this story of the 1960 season are some interesting insights about the state of baseball. Mr. Morales points out how the ethnic and racial nature of the game truly reflected the state of the nation in 1960. For example, Latin players did not want to be lumped with African-Americans, who in turn recognized the cultural gap that separated them from their Caribbean counterparts.

However, the heart of the book revolves around the two pennant chases that season. The Yankees, who had fallen to fourth place in 1959 after winning 10 pennants in 11 years, rebounded. Led by Roger Maris, whom they plucked from Kansas City, the Yankees ran away with the American League pennant.

For Pirate fans, 1960 was a dream season when a group of Pirate unknown scrappers led by Don Hoak, Dick Groat, Bill Mazeroski, Roberto Clemente, Vern Law and Elroy Face came out of nowhere to cop a pennant.

Picked no better than fourth, they dispatched such powerful rivals as the Milwaukee Braves, Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants, in the process turning Pittsburgh into a baseball-mad town. Unlike the Yankees, the Pirates started off fast but struggled toward the end of the season.

Mr. Morales concludes his book with a detailed analysis of the 1960 World Series. Behind Mazeroski's dramatic series-winning homer, the Pirates outlasted a superior Yankees team that outscored them 55 to 27. Perhaps Yogi Berra summed up what happened best: "We just got beat by the craziest team that ever played baseball."

John P. Rossi, professor emeritus of history at La Salle University, is the author of three baseball books.

Pens could be Staal's team

By Dejan Kovacevic, PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/?_s_icmp=nav_sports
Friday, September 16, 2011

When the Penguins report to Consol Energy Center early Saturday morning to open training camp, they will enter a locker room with every sweater hanging, tidy and pressed, at its assigned stall.

And only one will bear a "C," that of Sidney Crosby's No 87.

That's as it should be. A hockey captaincy is more distinction than designation. It's a face and voice of the franchise. Crosby very much remains that, even with the concussion still clouding his future, just as Mario Lemieux retained his "C" through all manner of ailment except when sitting out all of 1995 and deferring to Ron Francis.

"We have a captain. There's no question Sid's our captain," coach Dan Bylsma said in a talk we had Tuesday at the Penguins' golf outing in Sewickley. "Sid's influential even when he's not in our lineup. All that time he was out, guys saw him in there working every day. He's our leader."

That doesn't figure to change in the months to come, no matter Crosby's health. But I'd still suggest that the Penguins designate one player, even if it's informal, to be their leader in Crosby's absence.

My pick: Jordan Staal.

He turned 23 last week and is entering his sixth NHL season, the prime of his career. He is a 6-foot-4, bull-strong checking center good for 20-plus goals and grit galore. No, he'll never be the big scorer that some still naively await, but the kid's a winner: The Penguins are 249-147-20 when he plays, including 40 playoff victories.

More relevant here, Staal began to assert himself two seasons ago when winning the Player's Player award in a vote of his teammates. Last season, by all accounts, he took that to another level. He stood up in the room, piped up in practice for the "boys" to keep their feet moving, even skated with an extra gear.

The broader result was not only a 20-11-4 record without Crosby or Evgeni Malkin but also the hardest-working group of Penguins I've seen in a lifetime of watching them.

"Jordan was a big part of that," Bylsma said. "He raised his bar on and off the ice."

Staal acknowledged as much this week but only after I teased that he doesn't exactly remind of another, far more famous leader who wore No. 11.

"No, I'm not the Mark Messier type," Staal said with a laugh. "I'm usually not very vocal. But there are certain times that call for it. I think I did some of that last year, and I didn't feel like I was forced into it. I felt like it became a big part of my role and feel like I still have room to grow there."

So do the Penguins, based on recent conversations I've had.

The only other case I could make is for Brooks Orpik, a player I've long felt would make a fine NHL captain. Thing is, with these Penguins, Orpik works fine with or without a letter. He comes filter-free, unafraid to say anything to anyone, and that can be easier when you don't also need to be Mr. Popular.

Bottom line: The Penguins can't continue indefinitely with a carousel of alternate captains. Last season, eight players wore an "A:" Staal, Malkin, Orpik, Chris Kunitz, Matt Cooke, Craig Adams, Paul Martin and Max Talbot. Injuries forced that to an extent, but it's still way above the typical two.

It sure seems the Penguins would benefit from having a singular leader to speak up, say, after two flat periods in a game at Edmonton.

"I walk into that room all the time, and I can tell you it's not Sidney Crosby, even a majority of the time, who would be the vocal guy during that intermission in Edmonton," Bylsma said, downplaying that notion. "There might be a moment when it's Sid, but it could be any of five other people. Sid's comfortable when other people are leading, even when he's in the room."

Fine, but why not just one for however long Crosby is out?

Bylsma didn't sound eager to delve into that, given Crosby's uncertain status, but he made clear he wouldn't be offended if someone stepped up.

"You're always trying to foster more leadership," Bylsma said.

There will be no more powerful moment in Pittsburgh sports this year -- not the Pirates poking into first place, not even the Steelers reaching the Super Bowl -- than when Crosby comes back. Until he laces up, though, a player already on the rink needs to keep the boys' feet moving.

Alvarez Needs to Fulfill Promise

By Dejan Kovacevic, PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/?_s_icmp=nav_sports
September 14, 2011

PITTSBURGH, PA - SEPTEMBER 13: Pedro Alvarez(notes) #24 of the Pittsburgh Pirates gets a hit in the ninth inning against the St. Louis Cardinals during the game on September 13, 2011 at PNC Park in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The Cardinals defeated the Pirates 6-4. (Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images)

Sometime soon, maybe with Wednesday's matinee at PNC Park, the Pirates will lose their 82nd game, clinch their 19th consecutive losing season and extend a streak that was such a blissful afterthought most of the summer.

It's a shame. Baseball had just begun to be fun again around here when the collapse of the rotation, the continued whiffs at the plate and Jerry Meals' safe call conspired to blow that balloon right out of the sky.

Still, none of that's as big a shame as what's become of Pedro Alvarez.

Remember him?

He's the $6 million bonus baby who was the consensus top prospect in the 2008 draft, the franchise's most exciting power-hitting prospect in a decade. In his first spring training, he was compared aesthetically to a young Willie Stargell by no less an authority than Manny Sanguillen. And once Alvarez rocketed through the minors — 40 home runs in 192 games — those expectations found another notch.

Easy to forget now, isn't it?

Think back to Monday night: It might have been lost in that 6-5 comeback victory, but in the heat of the big eighth-inning rally, manager Clint Hurdle pinch-hit for Alvarez with 5-foot-8, little-engine-that-could Josh Harrison. Alvarez stayed expressionless as he walked down the steps to the dugout, slid the bat back into its hole and took a seat.

I've covered Alvarez since his draft year, and I never imagined I'd see such a scene.

But there he sat, along with his .189 average, three home runs, 15 RBIs, 71 strikeouts and 17 walks in 206 at-bats. He couldn`t hit in his most recent minor-league stint, and he`s 2 for 13 since coming back, though he did hammer a single up the middle as a pinch-hitter in the 6-4 loss Tuesday night.

Talk to the kid, and you wouldn't know anything's amiss.

I asked Alvarez after batting practice yesterday what he might take from this season: "The season's not over. I have to keep working. It's about hard work and optimism."

He hasn't gotten down?

"No."

Not at all?

"It can get to you, obviously. It's not all peachy when things aren't going well. But it's how you bounce back, how you tackle it; that's how you build character. If you don't do that, you just succumb to it. I'm not about that. I'm going to keep grinding."

Does he still believe he can be the elite player so many expected?

"Oh, yeah, absolutely. I have every bit of confidence in the world that I can do that. I know I can. I showed glimpses of it last year.

"Right now, pitchers have me figured out a little more than I have them. It's just a matter of me figuring it out. Once that happens ... let's just say I'm confident. This is the start to a long career."

Maybe that was a gruff exterior, and maybe it wasn't.

Alvarez has more than his share of skeptics, including inside the baseball world. He is criticized for his conditioning and, despite a visibly intense work ethic, for his commitment.

Where Alvarez's weight is concerned, I couldn't care less. Ask Prince Fielder how many flights of steps he runs each day.

The commitment facet, I think, is being put to the test right now.

The Pirates have been urging Alvarez to play winter ball in the Dominican Republic this offseason, and though that's always voluntary, they're being highly reasonable in doing so. Alvarez not only has struggled but also missed two months to a thigh injury. He could use the at-bats, to say the least.

Though management has been telling people that Alvarez is amenable to a Dominican assignment, it sure didn't sound like that in our conversation Tuesday.

"You know, that's something we're still discussing, the organization and myself," Alvarez said. "We haven't really talked yet. So, we'll see how that goes."

He needs to go. There shouldn't even be a discussion.

And the Pirates, in general, need to get better at getting Alvarez's best out of him. This reflects badly on Clint Hurdle, a former hitting coach, and even worse on Gregg Ritchie, the current hitting coach who hasn't gotten the best out of anyone this year. There isn't another power-hitter coming in the Pirates' system, and it's imperative to the current core in Pittsburgh that Alvarez becomes that guy.

It's Pedro or bust, but that choice is still there to be made.

Steelers' pride takes whipping as Ravens crow

Monday, September 12, 2011
By Ron Cook, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/

BALTIMORE, MD - SEPTEMBER 11: Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger(notes) #7 of the Pittsburgh Steelers is hit by defender Jarret Johnson(notes) #95 of the Baltimore Ravens after releasing the ball during second half of the season opener at M&T Bank Stadium on September 11, 2011 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images)

BALTIMORE - The 46 Steelers who dressed for the game here Sunday afternoon should be listed on the injury report that coach Mike Tomlin puts out Tuesday.

All suffered battered pride in the 35-7 loss to the Baltimore Ravens.

Take linebacker James Harrison. He felt old pain in his back from two surgeries in the offseason and new pain in his right knee from what appeared to be a relatively minor injury late in the game. But it was nothing compared with the pain he felt during the long walk out of M&T Bank Stadium to the team bus and on the ride to the airport through jeering Ravens fans who had waited a long time for their team to put such a butt-kicking on the hated Steelers.

"A terrible loss," Harrison called it. "To get beat like a dog ... "

It seems the Ravens enjoyed it every bit as much as their fans. For more than eight months, they had heard how coach John Harbaugh and quarterback Joe Flacco couldn't beat the Ben Roethlisberger-led Steelers. They had been reminded countless times how they had lost to the Steelers in the playoffs after the 2010 and '08 seasons.

Maybe that's why Harbaugh exhorted the crowd for at least a minute during a break early in the fourth quarter after the game had been long decided. You don't often see NFL coaches doing that sort of thing. Certainly, it had something to do with linebacker Terrell Suggs -- the best player on the field, as he always seems to be when the two teams play -- and running back Ray Rice, who sliced the Steelers defense for 149 combined yards and two touchdowns, hamming it up for the stadium cameras late in the game with a dance number that should have made Steelers wide receiver Hines Ward envious.

Instead, it made Ward mad.

"It leaves a taste in your mouth," he said. "The 2-point conversion [when the Ravens led, 27-7]. The passing at the end ...

"We'll remember everything."

The truth?

The Ravens earned the right to rub the Steelers' noses in it. They put an awesome performance on tape. The Steelers, meanwhile, showed nothing.

"They brought it," offensive tackle Willie Colon said. "We didn't."

It was like that all over the Steelers locker room.

"We couldn't stop anything," linebacker James Farrior said.

No, they couldn't. Not from the beginning. Rice went for 36 yards off left tackle on the first play, breaking a tackle by safety Ryan Clark along the way. Flacco threw a 27-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Anquan Boldin, who beat cornerback Bryant McFadden, on the third play for a 7-0 lead.

"We had no answers," Clark said.

No, they didn't. Rice ran for 107 yards and caught four passes for 42 yards, including an 11-yard touchdown. Flacco threw for three scores and was sacked just one time. The Steelers didn't force a turnover.

The stars of the Steelers defense were hardly stars. Harrison did nothing except stop Rice for no gain on fourth-and-1 early in the third quarter. Safety Troy Polamalu did nothing, period, one day after signing a new four-year, $36.5 million contract. LaMarr Woodley had the only sack but was otherwise mostly invisible. Linebacker Lawrence Timmons ...

Only cornerback Ike Taylor played a strong game, shutting out Ravens wide receiver Lee Evans. Anybody who doesn't think Taylor is a shutdown corner just isn't paying attention.

But back to the debacle ...

"The way they beat us is embarrassing," nose tackle Casey Hampton said. "Since I've been here, nobody has beaten us like that on both sides of the ball for the entire game."

The Steelers offense was miserable with seven turnovers, including an unbelievable six in a seven-possession sequence in the second half. "I have to play better," Roethlisberger said after his three-interception, two-fumble game. He gets no argument here.

But it's hard not to give the Ravens defense a lot of credit. Their stars played like stars. The great Suggs had three sacks and forced two fumbles. Safety Ed Reed had two interceptions. Linebacker Ray Lewis had an interception and fumble recovery. Nose tackle Haloti Ngata had a forced fumble and two fumble recoveries.

The domination was so great that, at one point in the second half, Ngata stood over Steelers offensive tackle Jonathan Scott and taunted him.

"We'll remember everything."

Sure, the Steelers will. The question is: Will they be able to do something about it when the teams meet Nov. 6 at Heinz Field?

Was this lame performance just one game, as every player on each team insisted? Or was it an indication that the Steelers will struggle behind their offensive line? Or that their defense, with eight starters older than 30, is beginning to hit the wall?

We'll know a lot more as soon as Sunday when the Seattle Seahawks come to Heinz Field.

"You have to keep it in perspective," Steelers defensive end Aaron Smith said. "You can say it's just one game and, in reality, it counts as just one game. But we've got to take a good look at this and see what we have to correct. We've got to make sure we do something different. This wasn't good enough."

No, it wasn't.

It was a terrible loss.

The Steelers were beaten like a dog.

Ron Cook: rcook@post-gazette.com. Ron Cook can be heard on the "Vinnie and Cook" show weekdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on 93.7 The Fan. More articles by this author

Ravens control Steelers with big helping of Rice

Rival cities unite for 9/11 game

Monday, September 12, 2011
By Gene Collier, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/

BALTIMORE, MD - SEPTEMBER 11: Running back Ray Rice(notes) #27 of the Baltimore Ravens dives into the end zone for a touchdown as defender Lawrence Timmons(notes) #94 of the Pittsburgh Steelers tries to stop him during the first half of the season opener at M&T Bank Stadium on September 11, 2011 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images)

BALTIMORE -- On a positive note, the fellas on the Steelers kickoff receiving team already have qualified for their 2011 varsity letters.

But even that came with a stinging slap of reality: When the opposition kicks off seven times, as the old NFL adage goes, you stink.

Momma said there'd be days like this, days when your offense has more turnovers than the neighborhood bakery, but if you're looking this morning for something to be really unsettled about regarding Mike Tomlin's team -- and admit it, you always are -- it's that the Steelers iconic run defense has apparently installed an E-ZPass lane.

"We've played against this team a lot, everybody knows," Ravens running back Ray Rice was saying soon after Baltimore settled into the inside track of the AFC North Division race with a 35-7 torturing of the Steelers. "But what our offensive line did today, that was an executed beating, and it felt good. There were no trick plays, nothin' tricky about it."

No, when you look at Baltimore tackle Bryant McKinnie, who is 6 feet 8 and 360 pounds (or exactly two Domonique Foxworths, by the way), the strategic football mind does not race toward trickeration.

"On the first play of the game, me and [Ben] Grubbs had a double block on the linebacker [James Harrison] and that really set a tone," said McKinnie, who insisted he was not all of 400 pounds when Baltimore signed him as a free agent from Minnesota. "Our offensive line, probably a lot of people were doubting us. We hadn't played much together but the communication between us has been tremendous."

On that first play, Rice glided to his left through a hole you could have led an elephant through, and suddenly the same 11 players who last season comprised the greatest run defense in Steelers history by allowing a scant 62.8 yards per game had yielded 57 percent of that on one snap.

Rice's 36-yard run set up the first Baltimore touchdown, and his 107-yard performance reminded every student of this series that Ray Rice appears to be the only man on earth who can get 100 against this defense. He was the previous person to do so, ripping it for 141 yards on Dec. 27, 2009.

But don't be fooled by Rice into thinking the Ravens did nothing to fool the Steelers. Baltimore's offensive coaches led by Cam Cameron were giving Dick LeBeau's guys vertigo all game, scoring five times on the Ravens first eight purposeful possessions (other than the one they used to run out the first-half clock).

"They definitely controlled the line of scrimmage," said Steelers linebacker Lawrence Timmons, who was victimized one-on-one by Rice for the 11-yard Joe Flacco pass that made it 21-7. "They did a good job with play-action and when you do that, you can confuse the defense."

Confused was one of the kinder adjectives being thrown at a defense that hadn't allowed 30 points or more since ... OK, the Super Bowl ... but Timmons at least understood what had happened in hindsight.

"When they were in max protect," he said, for example, "[Flacco] was not going to hold the ball; if he didn't see what he wanted he was getting it to the backs right away. If he saw two [defensive backs] high, he was gonna run the ball. He didn't let us get to him. He got the ball out quick.

"I tip my hat to them; they did a great job."

Larry Foote, who worked an unusually long shift in the base defense for James Farrior, said what Steelers defenders often do when they allow big plays.

"That first play was a misfit," Foote said, meaning the defense was simply not in position. "But they definitely had our number in the ground game. We know how good Rice is, and Ricky Williams got some good yards too."

Together they had 31 carries for 170 yards, or nearly three times what this exact same defense yielded in a typical 2010 episode.

"You say to yourself, 'You're better than that,' but really, how do you know?" said safety Ryan Clark. "This isn't last year. Just because you're behind 21-7 at half just like you were in the AFC [playoff] game, you can't assume you'll come out and turn it around."

Ben Roethlisberger and company came out and threw gas on this Ravens fire at just about every second-half opportunity, but the images that will linger from the first opener the Steelers have lost in nine years are of a defense that looked virtually uncompetitive, particularly on third down.

On the way to its third touchdown, which punctuated a 12-play, 84-yard drive, Baltimore converted on third-and-1 (a 13-yard run by Rice), third-and-6 (a 14-yard pass to tight end Ed Dickson), third-and-6 again (a 25-yard pass to Rice), and third-and-6 yet again (the 11-yard touchdown pass to Rice).

"We let them out of crucial third-down situations," linebacker LaMarr Woodley said. "When you let a team like this out of crucial third-down situations, they go down there and put points on the scoreboard."

Where else would they put them?

Gene Collier: gcollier@post-gazette.com. More articles by this author

Steelers Defense Shows its Age

By Mark Madden
The Beaver County Times
http://www.timesonline.com/sports/
September 12, 2011

BALTIMORE, MD - SEPTEMBER 11: Ray Rice(notes) #27 of the Baltimore Ravens runs the ball against the Pittsburgh Steelers at M&T Bank Stadium on September 11, 2011 in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens defeated the Steelers 35-7. (Photo by Larry French/Getty Images)

I knew some of the Steelers' defenders were old.

But I never thought they would all turn to dust at the same time.

Everybody in Pittsburgh colors shoulders some blame in the wake of Sunday's 35-7 mauling at the hands of host Baltimore, not the least quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, who turned the ball over five times.

But defense is supposed to be the Steelers' anchor, the team's foundation. Eight defenders are 30 or older, with cornerback Bryant McFadden hitting that milestone come November. But experience counts, right?

Uh, right?

A lot of guys got paid on defense recently. But few earned their money at Baltimore as the Ravens gashed the Steelers badly. Ray Rice rushed for 107 yards, Ricky Williams for 63 more behind a slapdash offensive line. At the half, Rice had more offensive yards than the Steelers, 127-113.

The Steelers have allowed a 100-yard rusher just twice in 51 games, Rice both times. That's a testament to his ability and desire.

But that club figures to become much less exclusive, and in short order. The Steelers' defense got roasted statistically, and it didn't pass the eye test, either. Too much inertia. Standing around, to use layman's terms.

Lawrence Timmons had 12 tackles. But many were made far up the field as he too often overran the play. But at least Timmons hustled. Few did.

Pressure on Baltimore quarterback Joe Flacco was absolutely minimal. LaMarr Woodley didn't get the Steelers' only sack until the first play of the fourth quarter. Flacco had oodles of time as he stood behind an offensive line that had never played together as a unit before.

The defense didn't limit itself to conventional embarrassment. Ike Taylor somehow found the motivation to run his mouth in the middle of all that humiliation, touching off a scrum that saw even Troy Polamalu get involved. When Polamalu loses his head, rest assured stupidity rules the day.

The Steelers won the toss and elected to put their defense on the field. Maybe that sort of decision-making has grown old along with the defense, especially since Baltimore went 66 yards on three plays to go up 7-0. Too easy.

The Steelers' offense was no better. The offensive line got no push. Doug Legursky's size killed him. Haloti Ngata manhandled him as scheme dictated. Roethlisberger was under siege and made poor decisions when he wasn't. Hines Ward couldn't get open until garbage time.

This is a pretty thorough excoriation based on just one game. But the damage inflicted figures to go beyond yesterday. The Ravens won't feel like the Steelers' whipping boys anytime soon. Baltimore's veterans ran around and made plays all day: Ed Reed had two interceptions, Ray Lewis one.

The criticism will only get worse. The Steelers' age on defense will be a constant topic. When the Steelers played in the Super Bowl in 2006 and 2009, they missed the playoffs the next season. Think that won't be discussed?

That's the price of pedigree. You're under a microscope when you're one of the NFL's most storied franchises. The Steelers need to deal with it, and probably will. But if yesterday causes pessimism to pour forth in the papers, on the Internet and on the talk shows, it's understandable.

The Steelers were every bit as bad as the score, probably worse.

The Steelers looked soft. When's the last time that was said?

Highlights: Ravens 35, Steelers 7

Ravens seek redemption in one of NFL's most heated rivalries

The Ravens collapsed twice in pivotal games against the Steelers last year

By Jamison Hensley, The Baltimore Sun
http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/ravens/

8:46 p.m. EDT, September 10, 2011

Safety Ryan Clark #25 of the Pittsburgh Steelers celebrates with teammates James Farrior #51 and Troy Polamalu #43 after an interception of quarterback Joe Flacco #5 of the Baltimore Ravens in the third quarter of the AFC Divisional Playoff Game at Heinz Field on January 15, 2011 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

( January 14, 2011 - Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images North America)

One of the most physical rivalries in NFL history has been defined by brawn but decided by brains.

Smart play, especially when it comes to turnovers, has been the biggest factor when the Ravens and the Pittsburgh Steelers face each other and likely will surface again when the teams look to take control of the AFC North in Sunday's season opener at M&T Bank Stadium.

The reason the Ravens didn't win the AFC North last season can be traced to failing to block blitzing safety Troy Polamalu in the final regular season game between the teams. Their hopes of advancing in the playoffs can be chalked up to three turnovers in the third quarter of the divisional playoff game at Pittsburgh.

If the Ravens want to knock off the Steelers, they must cut down on the mistakes. In the John Harbaugh era, the Ravens have a minus-7 turnover ratio (11 takeaways and 18 giveaways) in eight games against the Steelers. During that same time, the Ravens have a plus-33 turnover ratio (91 takeaways and 58 giveaways) against the rest of the NFL.

"I think they do things that create favorable matchups for them," Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco said. "Yeah, they are aggressive, but everything they do has a purpose behind it, and they do a good job of setting up those matchups, creating those matchups. And when they get them, they do a good job of capitalizing on them."

The Ravens pride themselves on holding onto the ball. The three seasons in which they had the fewest turnovers all occurred during Harbaugh's tenure (2008-2010).

But the Ravens have failed to win the turnover battle against the Steelers over the past three seasons. In fact, the Ravens have committed multiple turnovers in six of their eight meetings with Pittsburgh since 2008.

The Ravens feel like they're ready for the Steelers defense to open the 2011 season.

"What's the signature of our defense? They take the ball away and then they know what to do with it once they do get it," Ravens offensive coordinator Cam Cameron said. "So again, hopefully we're prepared. Based on the looks we get in practice, I'm confident we are."

The Ravens' biggest meltdown in this rivalry came eight months ago in a 31-24 divisional playoff loss at Pittsburgh. The Ravens were unable to hold onto a 14-point halftime lead because of three turnovers on seven offensive snaps in the third quarter: the first fumble of the season by Ray Rice (who was playing with an illness), an interception by Flacco and a fumble by Flacco (center Matt Birk snapped the ball into the side of his leg).

"Other than thinking about it for a couple of months after you lost, we haven't necessarily revisited it too much," Flacco said. "It is what it is. We didn't play very well in the third quarter. They scored some points off of our turnovers, and we weren't quite capable of getting the game back. That game really has no influence on this game."

Others have held onto those bad memories longer. Rice said that fumble has served as motivation heading into this season.

"You just want to get back out there and prove yourself all over again — prove myself right that I'm not a fumbler," he said. "You wonder why a guy like me comes into training camp with an edge, goes out there every day, doesn't want to miss a practice, barely wants to take a rep off… because it's that itch to get back out there for Week 1, and it just so happens that we play the Pittsburgh Steelers."

The margin of error is small in this grudge match because the margin of victory has usually been a field goal. Five of the past eight meetings have been decided by three points.

The number of close games and the impact of them — it usually has division championship or playoff implications — has only added to the allure of this rivalry.

"I tell people all the time: There are no better games to play in for your legacy," linebacker Ray Lewis said. "When people across the world hear Baltimore and Pittsburgh, everyone is going to have a front row seat for that because they know exactly what they're going to get for that. I was young enough that I was able to really see the Dallas and San Francisco rivalry when they were really going at it. So, now we've created that rivalry for 16 years. So, to actually be a part of something like that is so special, you almost can't explain it."

Along with trading shots on the field, the Ravens have taken some verbal jabs from the Steelers this offseason.

Pittsburgh linebacker LaMarr Woodley said Flacco wouldn't win a Super Bowl "in this lifetime." Steelers safety Ryan Clark said this really isn't a rivalry because the Ravens don't beat Pittsburgh often enough.

"They talk a whole lot," Steelers nose tackle Casey Hampton told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette leading up to the season opener. "They don't like us. I think they don't like us a lot more than we don't like them. I think they have to talk themselves into it, kind of, know what I mean? Since I've been here, we've beat them a lot more than they beat us. They have to talk about it a whole lot."

The Ravens have 20 new players on their 53-man roster, but Lewis has made sure everyone understands the intensity of clashing with the Steelers.

Said Ravens first-round pick Jimmy Smith: "Ray Lewis tells me you will never hate someone so much like you'll hate the Steelers."

jamison.hensley@baltsun.com

Ravens just need to make plays to beat Steelers

Steelers have been able to dominate the rivalry by making clutch plays

By Mike Preston
The Baltimore Sun
http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/ravens/
September 9, 2011

Troy Polamalu returns an interception for a touchdown to seal the win in the 2009 AFC Championship game.

Every year, Ravens middle linebacker Ray Lewis delivers his "Where would you rather be?" speech before one of the team's big games.

Before the Ravens open the 2011 season against Pittsburgh Sunday, Lewis should huddle with his teammates and ask them another question: "Where are the playmakers when we play the Steelers?"

In this rivalry of old, historic blue collar cities, Pittsburgh has owned the Ravens lately because the Steelers make big plays late in games, especially their big money players. The Ravens can talk about how close the games have been and how the two teams play a similar style, but the bottom line is that Ben Roethlisberger, Hines Ward, James Harrison, Troy Polamalu and LaMarr Woodley have made plays in the final four minutes of games, and the Ravens have not.

In the last two games, the Ravens have had leads late only to lose to Pittsburgh, the last time 31-24 in an AFC divisional playoff game after leading 21-7 at the half.

Those situations are both unforgettable and unforgivable.

"They spoiled our Super Bowl dreams for the last two out of three years," said Ravens outside linebacker Terrell Suggs. "We have to switch that, you know? It's sickening. It ends our season every year. We lose to our division rival. I'm sick of it. I'm disgusted. I'm tired of having a sick feeling in my stomach for a whole year. Game One. Let's go."

Ravens defensive end Cory Redding said: "In our hearts we believe we had them. We did everything we could up until that part where the game turned and they went on to win the game. Obviously, we did things wrong to mess it up, to get the ball out of our court, so to speak, and put the ball back on their side. They made plays. In the last two games against them, we didn't finish."

That's the bottom line. We've heard all the justifications during the past three or four years. Mike Tomlin is a better coach than John Harbaugh. Joe Flacco was a rookie. The Ravens receivers can't get separation. Cam Cameron can't coach. The Ravens need to get a home playoff game.

How about this: Somebody make a play.

In the NFL, a head coach's responsibility is to have his team in position to win in the last four minutes of every game. Then, players have to make plays. Against the Steelers, the Ravens haven't had many players consistently make plays.

Lewis doesn't make a play. Ed Reed doesn't make a play. Anquan Boldin couldn't catch the ball and Ray Rice couldn't hold onto it. The only Raven to consistently beat down the Steelers is Pro Bowl outside linebacker Terrell Suggs. He is a Steelers killer.

On the other side, Pittsburgh has many guys who make plays.

Roethlisberger owns the Ravens, having won seven straight. He beat them with a broken nose and a sore foot. Even on a bad day, he'll beat the Ravens in the final two minutes regardless if he has to scramble, throw it sideways or toss it underhand with four defenders draped over him.

"Man, you have to make a play," said Lewis about Roethlisberger. "That's the beauty of the National Football League. The thing is whether he makes one play out of 50. Then maybe it's that one play in the fourth that you need to make an adjustment on. And that's just him being a competitor. So, from my side, we just have to do the same thing. Keep him in the pocket, get him on the ground and play through the whistle. Maybe even sometimes play after the whistle with him, because he's that type of guy."

Baltimoreans hate Ward, the Steelers' talented receiver. So do the Ravens. On crucial second- and third-down situations late in the game, he carves up the Ravens. Maybe that's why he smiles so much when he plays in Baltimore.

And then there is the Polamalu factor. He is either picking off a Flacco pass late in the game to win the AFC title, or knocking Flacco senseless like he did last December because somebody forgot to pick him up at the line of scrimmage. Steelers outside linebackers Woodley and Harrison have had success against the Ravens, and former Pittsburgh receiver Santonio Holmes drove the Ravens crazy before leaving for theNew YorkJets.

But it's not just the big-name Steelers, either. It was rookie Antonio Brown who hauled in that 58-yard pass down the right sideline late in the playoff game last season, and rookie Emmanuel Sanders had four catches for 54 yards in the same game.

The Steelers make plays, and the Ravens don't. It's simple stuff sometimes, like tackle Michael Oher failing to pick up Polamalu on a blitz, or safety Dawan Landry missing a tackle on fullback Issac Redman's 9-yard touchdown run. It's hard to explain how safety Lardarius Webb allowed Brown to get behind him for the bomb on a third and 19 from the Steelers 38 in the final two minutes of the playoff game last year. Also in that game, Boldin couldn't hold onto a possible game-winning touchdown pass in the final quarter, and receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh couldn't hold onto a fourth-down conversion pass last season with 63 seconds remaining.

And Flacco, against the Steelers is 2-6, has a QB rating of 68.5, has thrown eight interceptions and only completed 53.4 percent of his passes. Awful.

The Ravens have brought in some new faces to play against the Steelers. They've added more speed at the receiver positions and in the defensive backfield. They brought in a monster fullback to be able to convert on short-yardage situations, a must if a team is going to win in the NFL.

But those aren't the real reasons they can't beat Pittsburgh.

The Steelers make big plays in crunch time and the Ravens don't.

Somebody has to make a play.

mike.preston@baltsun.com

Broken beak is Ben's badge of Baltimore courage

Friday, September 09, 2011

By Ron Cook, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
http://www.post-gazette.com/steelers/

http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/

Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is helped off the field after his nose was broken from a punch by the Ravens' Haloti Ngata last season. (Peter Diana/Post-Gazette)

By now, you might have heard Ben Roethlisberger plays pretty well against the Baltimore Ravens. The Steelers have won seven games in a row in the contentious series with Big Ben at quarterback, including postseason wins last season and in 2008. They'll try to make it eight Sunday afternoon in Baltimore.

You probably also know some of Roethlisberger's signature moments against the Ravens. His five first-half touchdown passes and perfect 158.3 passer rating at Heinz Field in 2007. His winning 4-yard touchdown pass to Santonio Holmes with 43 seconds left at M&T Bank Stadium in '08. His 65-yard touchdown pass to Holmes in the AFC championship game at Heinz Field that same season. His winning 9-yard touchdown pass to Isaac Redman with 2:59 left at M&T Bank Stadium last season. The comeback he led from a 21-7 halftime deficit in a divisional playoff game at Heinz Field last season. His 58-yard pass to Antonio Brown to set up the winning touchdown in that game.

But you'll never guess the career highlight Roethlisberger most cherishes against the Ravens.

Would you believe it's his broken nose in the game in Baltimore last season?

"That was no fun, I can tell you that," Roethlisberger said during a quiet moment after practice this week. "It's hard enough playing those guys anytime, but it's really hard playing 'em when you can't breathe."

No, it wasn't fun -- Roethlisberger said doctors told him his nose "looked like corn flakes" -- but it surely was significant to him. He was clubbed in the face by Ravens nose tackle Haloti Ngata early in the game. Ngata wasn't penalized on the play -- further proof to a lot of Steelers people that the NFL really isn't as interested in protecting Roethlisberger as it is the Tom Bradys and Peyton Mannings -- although he was fined $15,000 the next day about the same time Roethlisberger was having surgery.

"What makes me smile about that is I know people from Homestead, McKeesport, places all over the city ... real Steelers fans everywhere were watching and saw the blood all over the place," Roethlisberger said. "I hope they said, 'That's our guy. He's one of us. He never came out. He never quit. He's pretty tough.' "

There was another reminder of Roethlisberger's toughness late in that game, two plays before the winning pass to Redman. Ravens Pro Bowl linebacker Terrell Suggs -- "An animal," Roethlisberger called him with the utmost respect -- appeared ready to sack him but couldn't bring him down. Roethlisberger -- playing not just with gauze in his nose but with a broken right foot from the game against Buffalo a week earlier -- fought off Suggs before finally flinging away a shovel pass for an incompletion. It might have been the Steelers' most remarkable play of the season.

"I know people say I hold the ball too long and take too many sacks," Roethlisberger said. "But I'd like to know how many other quarterbacks would have taken a sack there. Time was running down. We were low on timeouts. I'm just going to keep fighting for every yard. I'm always going to fight for everything for my guys."

The Ravens learned Roethlisberger was a tough character long before that game. In 2006, they put two good lickings on the Steelers, sacking him a combined 14 times. Roethlisberger still says a sack by linebacker Bart Scott in the game at Baltimore is the hardest he has been hit. After the game, Scott bragged about feeling the air leave Roethlisberger's body.

Scott probably should have kept his mouth shut. The Ravens haven't beaten the Roethlisberger-led Steelers since those two games. They did beat the Steelers in 2007 when Roethlisberger sat out the last game to get ready for the playoffs, in '09 when he missed the game in Baltimore with a concussion and last season when he missed the home game because he was suspended.

"Luck. It has to be luck," Roethlisberger said of that 7-0 run against the Ravens. "It's just crazy to me because it's against that team and because of how good they are. I have no answer for why it's happened that way. It really is crazy. That's why I don't look at those numbers much. I hear people say I have such-and-such a record against the Ravens and such-and-such a record against [Baltimore quarterback Joe] Flacco. But it's not me. It's the team. That's why we've had success."

Roethlisberger sang a different song after the 31-25 loss to the Green Bay Packers in Super Bowl XVL in February. He threw two interceptions, one that was returned for a touchdown. He failed to lead his offense to the winning touchdown in the final two minutes, something he had done to win Super Bowl XLIII against the Arizona Cardinals.

It wasn't about the team for Roethlisberger after that disappointing loss in Dallas.

"I don't blame anyone but myself," he said. "I feel like I let down the city of Pittsburgh, the fans, my coaches, my teammates ..."

OK, so taking blame is what $100 million quarterbacks are supposed to do.

Still, it was admirable.

"Look here," Roethlisberger said, reaching into his locker to pull out his locker nameplate from that Super Bowl. "I have another one under my mirror in my bathroom at home. I don't think about that game a lot now because I'm so focused on what's happening right now. But I still can't believe we didn't win it. A little reminder never hurts. It's motivation for me."

Probably more than you can imagine.

"I want to put on a good show [Sunday]," Roethlisberger said. "I don't want the game to be close. I want us to win big. I don't know if that'll happen, and I'll be really happy if we win, 2-0. But I do want to show I'm back and we're back."

One almost certainly will lead to the other.


Ron Cook: rcook@post-gazette.com. Ron Cook can be heard on the "Vinnie and Cook" show weekdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. More articles by this author

Crosby won't play until cows come home

By Gene Collier, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/
September 8, 2011

Pittsburgh Penguins' Sidney Crosby and Penguins General Manager Ray Shero listen to a question from a reporter during a news conference at Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, September 7, 2011. Penguins captain Crosby remains some way from returning to action in the National Hockey League (NHL) despite making progress in his recovery from concussion. (Reuters)

The Penguins provided an immense public service by making Sidney Crosby and his doctors available to the overheated media Wednesday as they along with Penguins general manager Ray Shero brought into sharp focus the neurological challenges overcome and still to be overcome by the world's best hockey player.

If nothing else, what was easily the most interesting news conference in the short history of the new arena made every last one of its eyewitnesses thankful they didn't have a concussion because even someone with moderate fogginess would have struggled to process this sudden burst of good information, particularly after such a long period of little or no or bad information.

At one point during the presentation, I think I had figured out that Sid was getting a Ferrari for Christmas, had been forced off a roller coaster due to a perfect storm, and that the remedy for vestibular perception deficit was generally a matter of making sure all the cows are in the barn.

Bottom line though -- Sid will be fine.

As to the question of when, well, right here we'll quote Dr. Michael Collins, director of the UPMC Sports Medicine Concussion Program.

"No earthly idea."

Thanks Mickey.

He'll be ready when he's ready is the plain truth of it and, having heard that from Dr. Collins and Dr. Ted Carrick, professor of clinical neurology at the Carrick Institute of Cape Canaveral, Fla., I'm hoping earnestly that we can stop hearing from the medical people who are way too willing to help the media speculate on something for which both are unqualified to comment.

"You can't comment on the degree of injury," said Carrick, "without having done a hands-on examination."

What a concept.

It was Carrick, by the way, who started the Christmas story.

"It's Christmas for Sidney Crosby and the people who care for him," Carrick said. "It's Christmas because it's a celebration. Our greatest direction is to ensure that Sid has a very fruitful and positive life, that he can do anything he wishes to do in hockey and after hockey. This is going to have a very good outcome.

"He's markedly stable. His progress is absolutely marvelous. The problem is that the length of time that he's had this aberrance has led him into patterns that he now has to break."

And that will happen ...

"In the next little while."

Uh-huh.

I'm no doctor, although I play one in the newspaper, but I'm pretty sure that the space between "no earthly idea" and "the next little while" is not inhabited by Oct. 6, the date Crosby's teammates open the 2011-12 NHL season.

"Sid is a Ferrari," Collins explained, drawing an analogy for the way Crosby's brain processes his singular capabilities relative to acceleration, turning, cornering, etc. The task of tuning that brain to Ferrari standards, apparently, is daunting and arduous.

But that didn't explain the cows.

"I'm not putting any timetable, and Sid is not putting any timetable, and the Penguins are not putting any timetable on when he'll play," said Collins. "It's a matter of making sure the cows are back in the barn."

At the end of the first week in January, in which he had absorbed the worst of thunderous perfect-storm collisions with Washington's David Steckel and Tampa Bay's Victor Hedman five days apart, Sid's cows were all over the place.

Asked to describe the worst of it, Crosby was typically understated.

"I didn't want like to drive," Sid said. "I'd turn on the radio and find I didn't want to listen to the radio."

Hmph, just like me.

"It's a roller coaster," he said of the changes in his condition and his reluctance to talk about it. "I'd have been telling you a different story every two days."

So, since he couldn't, we did it ourselves.

The number of people who've contributed completely ignorant updates on Crosby's condition since Jan. 6 from the fan base, the media, and most shockingly, the medical community, is truly embarrassing.

"I knew we were in for a long recovery," Collins said. "It's a manageable injury. I anticipate him returning to hockey and playing well in the future."

But the future is not now. The cows are headed toward the barn, but some are slower than others, and a few probably didn't even watch the news conference. All that explained, the bluntest questions still had to be asked.

Did he ever consider retirement?

No.

Did he think he'd never play again?

No (but isn't that sort of the same thing?)

Fortunately, we stopped short of asking Sid whether he would draft Sid for Sid's fantasy team.

The best attempt at gaining the targeted clarity likely came when someone asked Sid if he'd guess as to whether he is likely to play this season or unlikely to play this season.

"Likely," Sid said.

Do I think he's correct?

No earthly idea.

That sounds right.

Gene Collier: gcollier@post-gazette.com. More articles by this author

Related:

Crosby making progress; return unknown -
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11251/1172979-61.stm


Crosby speaks up

By Bruce Arthur
National Post
http://www.nationalpost.com/
September 8, 2011

Pittsburgh Penguins' Sidney Crosby speaks during a news conference at Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, September 7, 2011. (Reuters)

Sidney Crosby will not retire, though he intimated the thought did at least flit across his mind. When asked Wednesday if there was a chance he would never play again, Crosby said, "A pretty slight one. I wouldn't bet on it." When his doctors were asked if the Pittsburgh Penguins star would make a full recovery from the concussions which have sidelined him since early January, they almost made it sound as if he would return better than ever.

It all seemed very encouraging, given the vacuum of information that has swirled around the 24-year-old Crosby all year. Still, he is "not even close" to being cleared for contact; no timeline for a complete recovery exists. It sure could be better, even if it could have been worse.

But on the day Crosby broke his four-month silence, he also found his voice in a way he rarely has before. Crosby took his first media training classes at 14; he is careful, when he speaks. In March he had expressed cautious support for banning targeted hits to the head, but said he was not sure about accidental contact. He seems sure now.

"I think as a league, as a union, everyone, we've all educated ourselves a lot over the last six, seven months, and really looked at this," Crosby said at a news conference in Pittsburgh. "I think we can go further. At the end of the day, I don't think there's a reason not to take [hits to the head] out. I read a stat that there [were] 50,000 hits a year, and we're talking about 50, maybe, that are headshots. And to take those out, the game's not going to change.

"As players we're professionals, and the odd time maybe there's accidental contact, but for the most part we can control what goes on out there. For sure it's a fast game, but we've got to be responsible too, and if a guy's got to be responsible with his stick, why shouldn't he be responsible with the rest of his body when he's going to hit someone?

"Whether it's accidental or not accidental, you've got to be responsible out there, and like I said, at the end of the day, it could do a lot more good than what it's going to take away from the game."

It is not a new idea; it is not even a truly radical idea. But for Sidney Crosby to say that any contact to the head needs to be penalized, that players who hit others must be responsible for their actions, that the benefits would outweigh anything that would be lost - that is significant.

Of course, Henrik Sedin essentially said the same thing in March, and he has won as many Hart Trophies as Crosby. The kid from Cole Harbour, N.S., however, is the face of the game. This should resonate. Of course, it shouldn't take Sidney Crosby to shame the National Hockey League into doing as much as it can to protect its players, but here we are.

The best news, of course, is that Crosby will be around to make his voice heard. He said Wednesday he "didn't give a whole lot of thought" to retirement; he talked about the early symptoms, when he could not even stand watching video with the team a month after the injury. He was adamant that he would not play again until he is considered 100%.

On a day where hockey suffered its greatest single loss of life in professional history - the Yaroslavl Lokomotiv plane crash, which killed at least 43, wiping out an entire KHL team - Crosby's health was put into a sort of perspective. Which is not to say it was not important; just not tragic.

"The prognosis, first of all, is excellent that Sid will not have any long-term effects from this injury," said Dr. Michael Collins, a concussion specialist from the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. "In fact, I'm supremely confident in that issue. The return to play issue I think is equally positive, and we'll get there. But we're not there yet."

Both Dr. Collins and Dr. Ted Carrick said Crosby did not appear to be at increased risk for further concussions when he does return; Carrick said, "It's Christmas, I think, for Sid Crosby and for people who care for him."

The doctors described how they had to retrain Crosby's sense of place, which is among the attributes governed by the vestibular system in the brain, which apparently took the brunt of Crosby's concussions. As Collins said, "Sid is a Ferrari. His vestibular system is better than anyone else's. That's why he's the most elite hockey player in the world . That system is why Sid is who he is."

Carrick described how Crosby's system was essentially knocked offline; in addition to typical post-concussion symptoms, he lost his ability to ascertain his place in relation to other things, and theirs to him. His socalled mental grid, so sharp before - the system that allowed him to judge the puck, the boards, other players, the ice, everything, all at the highest possible speeds - became imprecise.

"[Treatment] basically allowed us to build him a new grid," Carrick said. "We can change the representation of body parts and environment in the brain. We can do that pretty successfully. And Sid did very, very well . That is to say, where his right hand is perceived to be is where his right hand is. Where his right leg is perceived to be is where his right leg is . The function that we have between the head, the eyes, his neck, his spine is really absolutely marvellous."

If it sounded like they were reprogramming his brain, it is because they were. Carrick said Crosby's challenge now, in addition to progressing past the headaches that surfaced when he reached 90% exertion in August, is to get used to his new mental grid.

This sounds daunting; Crosby was wired to be the best hockey player on Earth, in a game measured by slivers of a second; retraining that mind to be better sounds like an almost impossible task, to laymen and some other neurologists alike. Concussion specialist Dr. Michael Cusimano of St. Michael's Hospital told CTV News that "I think it's unlikely he will ever have a full recovery and be exactly the same as he was before if the symptoms have lasted this long." Dr. Charles Tator sounded as though he had his doubts, too.

But as always, nobody truly knows. So now we wait. We wait to see what Sidney Crosby will do, and whether his marvellous brain will ever be as good as it was before. And we wait to see whether the NHL, having come this close to losing the greatest player of his generation, will listen to him.

ANATOMY OF A CONCUSSION

Michael Collins, the doctor treating Crosby, said the 24-year-old NHL star suffered an injury that affected motion and spacial judgment, such a blow being among the hardest to recover from among concussions.

1 Initial impact.

2 A shockwave passes through the brain and bounces back off the skull. The concussion usually occurs at the opposite side from the point of impact. In severe concussions, the brain twists as it rebounds.

3 The impact can cause bruising of the brain, tearing of blood vessels and nerve damage. In a severe concussion, the brain swells, putting pressure on the brain stem - which controls breathing and other basic life functions.

ROOM TO MOVE

The brain does not sit snugly in the skull. There is fluid-filled space between the two, therefore the skull and brain do not necessarily move in tandem.

When the head starts or stops moving suddenly ... ... the brain compresses into the skull ... ... and compresses again when it rebounds.

barthur@nationalpost.com

twitter.com/bruce_arthur

If losing to the Steelers is 'sickening,' now is the time for Ravens to do something about it

By Kevin Cowherd
The Baltimore Sun
http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/ravens/
September 8, 2011

Isaac Redman's nine-yard touchdown late in the fourth quarter helped the Steelers earn a 13-10 win at Baltimore on December 5, 2010 (AP).

In Baltimore, the land of the perpetually anxious, Ravens fans are damp with the usual flop sweat as the season opener against the Steelers approaches.

Also as usual, people in this town are ascribing all sorts of Armageddon-like significance to the game.

In this case, though, the fans might have a point. Because this is a huge game. And the reason is simple: the Steelers are in the Ravens' heads, big-time. And until the Ravens find a way to exorcise their black-and-gold demons — and a smackdown of the Steelers Sunday at M&T Bank Stadium would help — their run for a Super Bowl ring goes nowhere.

If you doubt how much the Ravens obsess about their arch-rivals, you didn't hear Terrell Suggs speak to the media Wednesday, right before thunderstorms of biblical proportions drove practice inside at the Castle.

Suggs, the Ravens' All-Pro outside linebacker, can come on like a buffoon sometimes. Or even like a space cadet. But the fact is, he can also be one of the more thoughtful Ravens when he wants to be, when he's not straining for laughs.

When he was asked about the Steelers on Wednesday, Suggs grimaced and shook his head. No jokes this time.

"They spoiled our Super Bowl dream for two out of the last three years," he said. "So we gotta switch that. It's sickening and it ends our season every year and we lose to our division rival.

"I'm sick of it. I'm disgusted. I'm tired of having a sick feeling in my stomach."

I know, I know. You wish the guy would open up a little. Tell us what he really thinks.

But Suggs will occasionally do that for you, bare his soul, before a big game. And when was the last time the Ravens had a big opening game like this, a Week 1 showdown in what has become one of the best rivalries in all of sports?

"It's the best in sports," Suggs corrected, "because everything the fans want to see out of a rivalry is in this game. The hatred between the two teams. The physicality."

Fine, fine.

Except there's just one little problem with the rivalry: the Ravens have dropped six of the past eight games . And that includes that horror show in the divisional playoff round last January at Heinz Field, when the Ravens led 21-7 at halftime and blew the game, 31-24.

Sure, the games have been close. In five of the last eight, just three points separated the winner and loser. In another game, the difference was four points.

But the fact is, it's the Steelers who have dominated the rivalry in recent years. It's the Steelers who have found a way to win when they needed to. It's the Steelers who made the big plays when they counted most.

And the Ravens know it. And it eats at them like a slow acid drip in the gut.

It's funny, though. You talk to some of the Ravens, and they try to downplay how much losing to the Steelers haunts them.

They give you all this stuff about how great the rivalry is, and how much they respect the Steelers, and how much they enjoy playing against them. And, OK, I'm sure it's all true.

But in the back of their minds, they know the Steelers have their number. And that until they beat Pittsburgh with Ben Roethlisberger in the lineup, until they find a way to overcome the voodoo that the great Steelers' quarterback seems to throw at them time and again, the road to the Super Bowl is blocked like a tunnel cave-in.

The Ravens seemed to sense that as the thunderstorms roared through Owings Mills yesterday, even if it was only Suggs who articulated it.

"At the end of the day," said Ray Rice, the gritty running back, "it's not the end of the world, a loss in Week 1. But at the same time, if you kick your season off with a win, you get your confidence going for the rest of the year."

The little man was right, of course.

But kick off your season with a win over the Steelers and your confidence red-lines all that much more.

That's why it was T-Sizzle's message that seemed to resonate the loudest.

New season, he seemed to be saying. New Ravens team. Put it to the Steelers right away, this Sunday, in front of a sell-out crowd at the Bank.

Get rid of the demons — at least for now.

(Listen to Kevin Cowherd Tuesdays at 7:20 a.m. on 105.7 The Fan's "Norris and Davis Show.")

No reason Steelers shouldn't win

By Dejan Kovacevic, PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/?_s_icmp=nav_sports
Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Gregory Shamus/Getty Images

It's Steelers-Ravens week, in case you've been rooming with fugitive Libyan dictators, and the heated/hyperbolic portion of our program gets going Wednesday when the first swarms of cameras and microphones hit the teams' practice facilities.

Better bring backup.

LaMarr Woodley might revisit his summer dig that Baltimore will never win a Super Bowl with Joe Flacco at quarterback. Ben Roethlisberger might recall Haloti Ngata breaking his nose. Hines Ward might demonstrate some end-zone sambas. And over in Owings Mills, Md., expect no less color from the Ravens' Ray Lewis, Terrell Suggs and Ed Reed.

But before we dive into all that, let me throw this out: For once, I'm not sure the game will rival the hype. I see the Steelers not just as favorites, but as prohibitive favorites.

Here are seven reasons why:

7. No. 7, of course

This one's the easiest.

Roethlisberger is Baltimore's Larry Brown, Francisco Cabrera and David Volek all rolled into one, except that he keeps coming back to drive the stake deeper. Overall, he's 9-2 against the Ravens — 6-0 since John Harbaugh became their coach — and he's done it with a broken nose, with blood on his jersey, and with Suggs wrapped around his ankles.

6. Heap big mistake

The Ravens dumped several veterans after the lockout, notably wide receiver Derrick Mason, running back Willis McGahee and, most inexplicably, tight end Todd Heap, the franchise leader in receiving touchdowns and yards and the one offensive player the Steelers never really have been able to counter. Heap, 31, rejected Baltimore's request to sign at a lower price and went to the Arizona Cardinals.

I brought this up with the Steelers' Heath Miller, Heap's longtime counterpart, and he took the high road.

"Todd's a great player," Miller said. "I'm sure they've got some other talent."

I'm not. Ed Dickson, Heap's replacement, is a second-year man who had to win the job in a camp battle.

5. Formation euphoria

While Baltimore had a duel to turn up just one tight end, the Steelers spent their final preseason game alternating formations between three tight ends and five wide receivers. And in the tight-end set, it was backup David Johnson, not Miller, getting most of the passes, as if to strut the depth.

Good luck scheming for that.

"Our offense can do it any way you want," Johnson told me with a broad grin.

The Ravens still have the great Reed, but their corners are rookie Jimmy Smith and Cary Williams, whose only NFL start came in 2009. The other safety, Tom Zbikowski, has two career interceptions.

4. No secondary concern

For all the angst over the Steelers' corners, their secondary will have to be concerned with Anquan Boldin, Lee Evans and no one else. Baltimore's No. 3 receiver, David Reed, must serve a one-game league suspension for marijuana possession, and the rest are rookies.

And did I mention Heap's gone?

3. The Steelers' defense is old

How is that an advantage?

Well, Mike Tomlin, the only man on either side talking Tuesday, responded this way in his weekly news conference when asked about a defense with eight starters 30 or older: "We are who we are. We're not fighting any stereotypes or darts being thrown our way. We welcome them. They usually provide a positive energy for us. So keep talking about how old they are. I appreciate that. Makes my job easier."

That's how.

This issue has been terribly overblown. It's been all of eight months since the Steelers turned in one of the great defensive seasons in NFL history.

2. Snap 'n sack

Baltimore quarterbacks were sacked 15 times in the preseason, third most in the NFL, and it wasn't a coincidence. Center Matt Birk and left tackle Bryant McKinnie missed the entire preseason to injuries, guard Marshal Yanda has had back spasms, and right tackle Michael Oher is new to that side. This line's first snap together will come shortly after 1 p.m. Sunday.

Woodley, Lawrence Timmons and even a half-healthy James Harrison should feast.

1. Flacco

For all the areas in which Baltimore has tried to out-Steeler the Steelers, the Ravens have failed to find the one element the Steelers can't handle: A quick-strike quarterback.

Flacco shows some of that at times but seldom against the Steelers. He is 0-6 going head-to-head with Roethlisberger and, in those games, has five touchdowns against six interceptions. Just remember his final half of football last season at Heinz Field, when he came up so small that he was intercepted, fumbled a snap, missed a wide-open Heap, overthrew Mason and was sacked.

Here comes more of that.

Steelers 31, Ravens 13.

NHL should call cease-fire on fisticuffs

By Mark Madden
The Beaver County Times
http://www.timesonline.com/sports/
September 6, 2011

It's the mantra of those who love old-time hockey: "Nothin' wrong with a good scrap."

Turns out that's wrong. People are dying.

Pro wrestling has one heck of a head start, but the NHL may catch up when it comes to suspicious deaths. John Kordic and Bob Probert were early entries. This summer has been a bonanza for dead enforcers, with Derek Boogaard, Rick Rypien and Wade Belak dying within a 111-day window.

Suicide, depression, drug and alcohol abuse -- it paints a seamy picture.

The NHL is determined to keep fighting in the game. Three deaths won't change that. Three hundred deaths wouldn't change that.

But people aren't meant to bust each other in the head with bare knuckles, then fall on an unforgiving surface like ice. Boxing and mixed martial arts use gloves. Fights are waged on canvas or mats. The ring has rules. The octagon, too. Hockey fights don't, except for some antiquated code that nobody can be bothered to write down, let alone enforce.

There's great physical risk. There's also mental risk. You live your life as a gladiator. That's not glorious, glamorous or even good.

With few exceptions, hockey thugs can't play. At all. Most men's recreational leagues have a fistful of players more skilled than Eric Godard.

You're out there to fight. No other reason. Lose too often, you're out of a job.

That's pressure. A different pressure than other players experience. A bastard, twisted pressure. Perhaps there's guilt knowing you're not good enough in the first place.

Just like hockey has outgrown the size of its rinks, hockey has outgrown the size of its players. Players were comparatively tiny in the days of the Original Six. Today's game features monsters. Look at Boogaard (6-foot-7, 265 pounds). These guys can do real damage in fights. These guys can kill each other.

Or, as it happens, themselves.

If fighting is banned, enforcers will lose their jobs. Would those individuals necessarily be better off? Don't know. But maybe they won't be dead.

Hockey has outgrown fighting on so many levels. It's the lone team sport that tolerates -- nay, embraces -- such utterly barbaric conduct. Supporters of fighting talk about the system of checks and balances allegedly provided, part of a grand scheme that minimizes cheap shots and protects the game's stars.

That system didn't protect Sidney Crosby. The Penguins had the second-most fighting majors in the NHL last season, yet Washington's David Steckel didn't hesitate to hit Crosby in the head with the puck nowhere near. That system didn't protect Boogard, Rypien or Belak.

The only person who can prevent Matt Cooke from playing like Matt Cooke is Matt Cooke. Atlanta's Evander Kane leveled Cooke with a nasty one-punch knockout in April, 2010. Didn't curb Cooke's style one bit.

It's all nonsense, anyway. The NHL isn't interested in protecting its players. The NHL wants to protect an antiquated version of hockey where toughness is as valued as skill.

The NHL doesn't protect its stars. The NHL doesn't protect its goons. So what, exactly, does the NHL do? Where's the concern for the greater good? For anybody's good?

The NHL needs to follow the NFL's lead and facilitate player safety by cutting down contact. Opening the game up would be a happy coincidence. Eliminate hitting in certain areas of the ice. Severely punish all head shots, not just those incidents that can be considered intentional beyond all doubt. Ban fighting.

The alternative: More dead, more concussion cases and TV ratings that are lower than bowling. Tradition isn't working as a business plan.

The NHL won't do what's right. Send a wreath, hug a mother, have a moment of silence, but nothing significant. Same old NHL.

But now, it's different. There's a body count.

Photo: Wade Belak (33) and Derek Boogaard, shown fighting in 2008, have both died in the past four months. (AP/Lynne Sladky)

NFL dances line of hypocrisy with personal conduct policy

By Paul Daugherty
INSIDE THE NFL
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/
August 31, 2011

LATROBE, PA - JULY 29: James Harrison(notes) #92 of the Pittsburgh Steelers snaps in his chin guard during training camp on July 29, 2011 at St Vincent College in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Jared Wickerham/Getty Images)

Boxing gloves or kid gloves?

Over here, James Harrison, linebacker, Pro Bowler, fearsome pass rusher for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Harrison is also a candid, unrepentant, up-yours kind of guy. He referred to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell as a "puppet'' and "the devil'' in a recent magazine story.

Across the way, Cedric Benson, quiet, thoughtful running back, twice a 1,000-yard rusher for the Bengals, a bright light on a dim NFL team in Cincinnati. Benson has also been arrested four times in three years and is currently in the Travis County Jai in Austin, Texas, after pleading no contest to a 2010 assault charge.

Which player gets the kid gloves from the NFL, and which endures the standing-eight?

It's a rhetorical question to most who follow the league and the arbitrary discipline handed down by commissioner Roger Goodell. Yet it speaks to a problem that isn't going away.

Last fall, Goodell fined Harrison more than $100,000 for on-field hits deemed unsafe. The commissioner docked him $75,000 for two hits in one game, against Cleveland wideouts Josh Cribbs and Mohammed Massaquoi. Neither hit drew a penalty. A few months earlier, Goodell had met with Benson to discuss the assault charge for which Benson is now doing time. Goodell decided not to fine or suspend the Bengals running back.

There could be some inconsistency here.

Harrison is a difficult case. Benson is grateful for his second chance in Cincinnati following three disastrous years in Chicago. After running for 150 yards in a December win over Cleveland last year, Benson stood in front of his locker and wept in gratitude for the second chance he'd been given in Cincinnati. Rocks would talk before James Harrison wept openly in front of the media.

But are Harrison's misdeeds more heinous than Benson's?

You could argue they're less so. Harrison's indiscretions occurred within the context of Sunday afternoon combat, in a league where violence is assumed. Benson's happened far away from the game. Since 2008, Benson has been arrested four times in his hometown of Austin, twice on alcohol-related charges and twice for assault.

Why is Harrison punished by Goodell and Benson is not?

Is Goodell's no-nonsense authoritarianism encouraging, arbitrary or merely a necessary component of doing business?

It's easy to say that Goodell was more forceful with Harrison because Harrison's misdeeds occurred on the field. Let the criminal justice system deal with Benson. That doesn't explain other fines and suspensions, most notably those involving Adam Jones and the late Chris Henry.

Goodell released the following statement after suspending Jones for the 2007 season for his involvement in a strip-club melee:

"We must protect the integrity of the NFL. The highest standards of conduct must be met by everyone in the NFL because it is a privilege to represent the NFL, not a right. These players, and all members of our league, have to make the right choices and decisions in their conduct on a consistent basis."

In a letter to Jones and Henry, Goodell wrote: "Your conduct has brought embarrassment and ridicule upon yourself, your club, and the NFL, and has damaged the reputation of players throughout the league.''

On the embarrassment and ridicule scale, where should Harrison fall? Benson?

The NFL dances the hypocrisy tango on this issue. It asks its players once a week to behave like barbarians. The rest of the time, it expects those barbarians to act like the rest of us. Only, they're not like the rest of us. That's a reason we watch them.

That's not the league's only dance with hypocrisy. It decries fan violence, yet does nothing to eliminate the beer sales that fuel the rage. Beer = violence = bad publicity is not a stout enough equation for the NFL to mess with the lucrative relationship it enjoys with its beer sponsors.

Since Goodell can't serve up two-game suspensions to brawling, gun-toting fans, the league's best option would be to ban beer sales at its stadiums, and to prohibit alcohol in its stadium parking lots. Subsequently, the Mississippi River will reverse direction and bacon will become a healthy snack.

But we digress.

Goodell has an obligation to protect the image and reputation of his league, same as any business, because image is money. Unless you work for yourself, you are probably subject to a personal conduct policy. It might be spelled out in a manual, it might be agreed to in a contract. You are made aware of it.

Most companies aren't as arbitrary about it as the NFL is. Players need guidelines. They need to know the rules will be applied fairly, across the board, no matter who the offending player might be. Players need to know what to expect. On and off the field.

Just because James Harrison has a personality that could freeze a meat locker doesn't mean he should be judged more harshly than Cedric Benson, or any other player.

I wanted to ask Benson about this Wednesday, but I couldn't. He was in jail. Harrison, meanwhile, was at practice. Where he was supposed to be.

Paul Daugherty is a columnist for The Cincinnati Enquirer.

Highlights: Steelers 33, Panthers 17 (Preseason Game 4)

The Pirates made history, statement in 1971

By Bob Cohn, PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/?_s_icmp=nav_sports
Thursday, September 1, 2011

Back Row: Jim Nelson, Milt May, Bob Moose, Nelson Briles, Jim "Mudcat" Grant, Bob Veale, Bob Johnston, Dock Ellis, Bob Robertson, Richie Hebner, Roberto Clemente
Middle Row: Team Physician Dr Joseph Finegold, Trainer Tony Bartirome, Bill Mazeroski, Jackie Hernandez, Dave Cash, Gene Alley, Gene Clines, Willie Stargell, Dave Giusti, Al Oliver, Luke Walker, Charlie Sands, Traveling Secretary John Fitzpatrick, Equipment Manager John Hallahan
Front Row: Vic Davalillo, Jose Pagan, Coach Bill Virdon, Coach Don Leppert, Coach Frank Oceak, Manager Danny Murtaugh, Coach Don Osborn, Coach Dave Ricketts, Steve Blass, Manny Sanguillen

When he reported to Salem, Va., in 1966 for his first season of professional baseball, Gene Clines lived with seven other black Pirates minor leaguers in a house owned by a black woman known simply as Mrs. Johnson. The white players stayed in a hotel.

Only five years later, Clines played center field for the Pirates in a game against Philadelphia at Three Rivers Stadium. Every Pirates' starter, including Clines, was black or Latino. Such an event had never been recorded in Major League Baseball.

This was 40 years ago Thursday, Sept. 1, 1971. The Pirates were en route to winning the World Series, and the world was changing. Fast.

"You feel proud of being part of it," Clines said. "But it wasn't until a couple of years later you could sit back and think about what really, really happened."

Among Clines' young teammates sharing Mrs. Johnson's house was Dave Cash, who started at third base in that game.

"It was something for the ages," he said.

First baseman Bob Robertson hit 26 home runs during the Pirates' championship season and would have been the only white starter. But he was unexpectedly benched by manager Danny Murtaugh.

Robertson's initial disappointment would be superseded by the larger moment.

"I thought it was good for baseball. I thought it was good for the Pirates and something for the black and Latin players to be very proud of," he said.

Another everyday white starter, third baseman Richie Hebner, missed the game because of injury. Most of the Pirates pitchers were white, but not the starter that day, Dock Ellis. The rest of the lineup included catcher Manny Sanguillen, shortstop Jackie Hernandez and Pirates' legends Roberto Clemente and Willie Stargell in right and left fields.

"At the time I don't think it drew a lot of attention, and people didn't make much of it," said local historian and author Rob Ruck, whose latest book, "Raceball," explores the issues inherent in the title. "Looking back, it was one of those watershed moments."

The Latino presence in professional baseball has since soared, but participation by blacks has dwindled. At the start of the 2011 season, blacks comprised 8.5 percent of big league rosters compared to 27 percent in 1975.

No clue

The historic outcome hinged on Robertson's benching. He was replaced at first base by Al Oliver, who played mostly in center field, and it didn't quite make sense. Robertson hit right-handed. The Phillies' pitcher, ex-Pirate Woodie Fryman, was a lefty. Oliver was a left-handed swinger who hit .227 against Fryman during his career.

But it made sense to Murtaugh. "Danny managed by his gut," former pitcher Steve Blass said.

Sure enough, Oliver doubled in the first inning during a five-run outburst, sending Fryman to an early exit in what would be a 10-7 Pirates victory. Ellis, meanwhile, lasted just 11/3 innings.

Robertson laughed at past speculation that Murtaugh might have been sending him a "message." Accounts of the game are scant because the two major local newspapers were on strike. No one but Murtaugh, who died in 1976, seemed to know why Oliver started at first base.

"I have no clue," Oliver said.

"I never asked Danny," Robertson said. "I had a wonderful relationship with him, and I never questioned him."

They could all play

It was no surprise or accident the Pirates made this kind of history. Their general manager in the early 1950s, Branch Rickey, became a towering figure for signing Jackie Robinson to the Brooklyn Dodgers. Under Rickey, the Pirates got Clemente in the 1954 Rule 5 draft. Joe L. Brown replaced Rickey the next year and added more minorities.

In 1967, the Pirates started eight minorities, but the pitcher, Dennis Ribant, was white.

"(Joe) signed the best players he could possibly find, regardless of what color they were," said Oliver, who is from Portsmouth, Ohio, the same hometown as Rickey. "My first spring in 1965, there were four or five fields, and it was unbelievable to me how many black and Latin players were in our organization. And they could all play. I could have got lost in the shuffle myself."

Before playing the Phillies, some of the players noticed what was going on from the posted lineup card. Oliver said he had no idea until early in the game, when he turned to Cash and said something to the effect of, "Hey, we got all brothers out here!" (The line is attributed to Cash in some accounts, but Cash said it was Oliver's).

Clines said he heard a batboy say, "The Homestead Grays are playing tonight," referring to the famous Negro League team. He said he was thinking about the statement when it finally struck him while standing in the outfield. "Oh, wow," he thought.

By game's end, everyone was aware. Murtaugh was quoted as insisting he was not aware of starting nine minorities, nor did he care.

"He was a very intelligent man, and on some level he probably realized there weren't any white guys out there, but it didn't matter," said his son, Tim Murtaugh. "He was trying to do what was best for the team to win the game that day."

This was no gimmick: The Pirates had talented stars and solid role players, and race mattered little, if at all. The loud, unruly and supremely confident clubhouse was ruled mainly by future Hall of Famers Clemente and Stargell, a Puerto Rican and a black American. The Pirates beat San Francisco in the playoffs and defeated Baltimore in seven games in the World Series.

In a time of wrenching social, cultural and political change and just two years after man first walked on the moon, Sept. 1, 1971 provided a giant leap for sport but one small step for a ballclub with a single agenda.

"The objective centered on winning," Cash said. "It wasn't the color of your skin. It was your productivity."

Making history

Here is the Pirates' starting lineup on Sept. 1, 1971. It is considered the first time a Major League Baseball team started an all-minority lineup.

Rennie Stennett, 2B

Gene Clines, CF

Roberto Clemente, RF

Willie Stargell, LF

Manny Sanguillen, C

Dave Cash, 3B

Al Oliver, 1B

Jackie Hernandez, SS

Dock Ellis, P