U mad, bro?: It’s the ‘March Madness of Mad’ for Steelers, Penguins, Pitt fans
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In keeping with the March Madness theme of the week, let me give you my four No. 1 seeds when it comes to agitated Pittsburgh sports fans.
•Southside Region: Steelers fans when the team goes 9-8 and fails to win a playoff game
•North Hills Region: Penguins fans after the team doesn’t get who they wanted at the trade deadline
•East End Region: Pitt fans who feel that the Panthers have been ignored by the national media
•West End Circle Region: Pirates fans when the team trades players for budgetary reasons
Fittingly, those first three topics will be represented in this week’s “U mad, bro?”
As for the fourth group, give it time. I’m sure we’ll be hearing from them in this space again soon enough.
Benny did not like it when Penguins general manager Ron Hextall decided to acquire Mikael Granlund from the Nashville Predators before Friday’s NHL trade deadline.
“A 31 year old Granlund? A player with declining production and a team worst minus-16 in Nashville? And worst of all, a $5 million/year cap hit for two years to come!
Great job Hexy! What happened— wasn’t Mike Richards available?”
Benny, Richards retired in 2016. As a result, he’s plenty available. So why don’t you just stop giving ol’ Hexy any ideas, OK?
Dave doesn’t like how many people seem to be taking offense that no team in the NFL seems willing to cave to Lamar Jackson’s contract demands.
Only in America can someone be offended by $133M guaranteed…
— Dave (@PTDukie33) March 8, 2023
And only on Twitter will those people have a voice to preen, posture and virtue signal.
Actually, I take that back. They can do that on Facebook and Instagram too.
Sully has an opinion about Pitt fans fretting about the college basketball rankings.
“CBB fans who get mad about AP rankings are (spitting) in the wind. They quite literally aren’t worth the paper they’re written on. Useless poll that no longer serves any purpose.”
Overall, Sully, I agree. The polls have largely been replaced by the computer metrics. But if the AP poll is at all an indication of how humans are interpreting the computers, then that may be an indication of what the selection committee may be thinking too. And that’s where the angst is starting.
But after the Panthers won their first ACC Tournament game against Georgia Tech Wednesday, I would think that should be enough to get them into the NCAA Tournament and render the whole conversation moot.
“Fansville” has some things to say on multiple topics. Including some shortcomings of the Pittsburgh Penguins.
It'll be quite obvious in the playoffs, and the three games against the Rangers coming up that they needed toughness and did not get any.
Going to get ugly, and they're going to be out in one again.
All you have to do is get physical and they crumble.
Witness the Florida game!— Fansville (@Fansville412) March 7, 2023
Or you could have witnessed the game against the lowly Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday. And when I say witness, I mean that quite literally. I’m pretty sure all of us who were there will be called as witnesses for having seen the Penguins steal two points.
I’m still not sure how they did that after getting down 4-0 to that horrible team.
This guy is also unhappy with some people wanting the Steelers to reunite with free agent linebacker Bud Dupree.
Please let's move on…..!
— Fansville (@Fansville412) March 7, 2023
Agreed. They did that once already with Dupree. If they bring him back, I bet they’ll just have to do so again after this season ends. Injury wise, Bud is broken. The Steelers got the best years out of him during his first stint with the team. Depth for T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith should be younger, cheaper and healthier.
Thom is all kinds of upset at the idea of the Steelers perhaps trading or cutting backup quarterback Mitch Trubisky.
“What kind of stupid is letting back-up Q/B Mitch Trubisky go!!! (What if):
- Kenny Pickett somehow gets hurt
- Kenny Pickett concussion protocol
- Kenny Pickett has an awful game”
Thom, if the Steelers move on from Trubisky, it’d be for the $8 million in cap savings. Presumably, some of that money would go to another backup QB, just one that isn’t quite as expensive.
It’s not like the Steelers are going to go into a game with no backup quarterback. “Plan B” to Pickett won’t be Najee Harris in the wildcat.
You get that…. right?
Finally, NFL players, through the NFLPA, recently evaluated their employing franchises on a number of different dimensions. The Steelers didn’t grade out particularly well when it came to “treatment of families” and “training room.”
David had some thoughts on that.
“Why doesn’t someone inform the whiners that C- players get C- accommodations? Coach .500 and his participation award players may be fine with their mediocre play, but with Super Bowls comes rewards. Very few of the Steelers players are better than average at their positions. They dont deserve better facilities. The guys who should be playing would deserve better. Ooh we don’t have a sauna, we need bigger tables for our free food. Babies.”
I get the impression that David seems to think training for NFL seasons should replicate Sylvester Stallone’s workout montage in “Rocky IV.”
I’ve always felt that coat is way too nice for Rocky to be using as workout gear, don’t you think?
Anyway, David, I agree that players came off as “whiny” here.
But, just so I’m clear, is it your belief that if the players don’t win the Super Bowl, the best route to doing so the next year is to punish the players by making their conditions as antiquated as possible?
In the words of Pepper Brooks from “Dodgeball,” “That’s a bold strategy, Cotton. Let’s see if it pays off for ‘em.”