U mad, bro?: Steelers fans pounce on Doug Whaley's Jack Ham comments; Pirates fans rip roster; reader backs Jacob Trouba hits

Despite a good week out west, fans are still piling on the Pittsburgh Pirates. Criticism of Jacob Trouba’s hits have hockey fans in a snit.

And someone was critical of a Super Stiller from the 1970s. Perhaps the ultimate Pittsburgh sin.

All that and more in this week’s “U mad, bro?”

We start with David from D.C. He checks in about the Pirates.

“How can their hitting be this bad? Really, how can it be this bad?

Or, to put it more succinctly, how can their hitting be this freaking bad?”

Not that I disagree, David. But given that lineup, you know what they are thinking in Los Angeles right now, don’t you?

“How did we lose two series to a team this bad? Really, how did we lose two series to a team this bad. Or, to put it more succinctly, did we just get swept by a team this freaking bad?”

Ted has figured out the Pirates’ biggest problem. And it is their obvious pro-Josh VanMeter agenda.

“Every spring dozens of Little League coaches suffer through unreasonable requests from parents.

‘Billy wants to try pitching.’

‘Jimmy thinks shortstop would be fun.’

‘Sammy wants to catch sometime, Do you have a left-handed glove for him?’

It is not easy telling parents that it is not happening.

Then along come the Pirates. Josh VanMeter’s parents ask:

‘Sheltie, Josh would like to try catcher.’

‘Sheltie, Josh wants to pitch a little bit?’

‘Sheltie, Josh thinks first base would be cool to play. How about it?’

Come on Sheltie, you’re killing us out here!”

Ted, this certainly isn’t the first email I’ve received comparing the Pirates to a Little League team.

But it is the most individually targeted. Poor Josh VanMeter! He was thrust into a lot of those jobs. Especially the catching one. It’s not his fault. Or even Shelton’s, really.

I don’t think your disdain should be focused on VanMeter. Or on Derek Shelton for using him so often to play positions he can’t play.

Maybe the focus of your ire should be on Bob Nutting for not shelling out enough in payroll so that the starters and usual backups are at least capable enough so that VanMeter doesn’t have to play them so frequently.

“Pittsburgh guy 2021” chimes in about Clay Holmes’ success with the New York Yankees after leaving the Pirates.

“Pirates paid $1.2 million to sign him. Traded him to the Yankees for two career minor league players. Apparently, the same apparatus that failed to fully develop Charlie Morton, Tyler Glasnow and Gerrit Cole is still in place. If this wasn’t Thursday, I’d submit this as a ‘U Mad, bro’ submission.”

The beauty of “U mad, bro?” is that, much like baseball, there is no time limit. You can send something on a Friday, and I may be just as inclined to use it the following Thursday.

And, in the case of ripping on the Pirates for their never-ending trend of letting good pitchers go to other teams, I will always be inclined.

By the way, does anyone wanna fill this guy in on how Jameson Taillon, Tyler Anderson, Chad Kuhl and Joe Musgrove are doing this year?

On second thought, it may be best if you don’t.

“DHaswell” sent some comments regarding Doug Whaley’s recent suggestion that Steelers great Jack Ham would be nothing more than “special teams backup” based on his physical dimensions today.

“Well at least we know one of the reasons why Whaley did not get the Steeler GM job. Poor talent evaluator. Completely ridiculous comments.”

To be fair to Doug, I don’t quite think he was saying that Jack Ham and (for instance) Robert Spillane are the same player.

I just think he was trying to say that a guy who was “6-foot-1 and 210-215” pounds wouldn’t be a good linebacker in the NFL today.

But he could be a heckuva safety. Minkah Fitzpatrick is listed at 6-foot-1 and 207 pounds, right?

Finally, Joseph emails about New York Rangers chicken wing specialist Jacob Trouba. In a recent “First Call,” I was critical of Trouba’s run of take-out shots on opponents this year, specifically some against the Penguins and Carolina Hurricanes.

“Wondering if you took the time to actually review any of the hits you deem to be questionable. If yes, look again and ask yourself some basic questions:

1. Did Trouba leave his feet on any of them?

2. Did he lead with his elbow? If you say he led with the elbow on Crosby you don’t have any comprehension of how hockey players move or can move in response to the movement of their opponents.

3. Did the national broadcast announcers, regarding any of the hits, ever proclaim that Trouba was head hunting in any way?

4. Did the consultant referee who was queried by those same national broadcasters ever point out that Trouba did anything inappropriate in any of those circumstances?”

Well Joseph …

1. You don’t have to jump to make a headshot a headshot. And of the opponents that I mentioned who absorbed his hits — Crosby, Jake Guentzel, Nathan MacKinnon, Max Domi, Seth Jarvis, Jujhar Khaira — all of those players aside from Khaira are shorter than him. So why would he have to leave his feet?

2. You’re right. He never leads with his elbow.

Hey, what’s this?

Btw this was the other angle on Trouba v Guentzel. I hope the Penguins looked at this and the Sid incident and that it motivates them even more. pic.twitter.com/2DnTjCkq9O

— Jake (@JakeD8771) May 13, 2022

And as far as the Crosby hit goes, Trouba may not have led with the elbow to the head. He followed through with the elbow to the head.

Consider this tweet from former Penguin Phil Bourque.

Trouba has mastered the hit through the body but finish at the head

— Phil Bourque (@pbourque29) May 31, 2022

3. Yeah. Paul Bissonnette did. He called the Rangers “scumbags,” in fact.

4. You mean the guys on the broadcasts like Don Koharski who didn’t even know the offsides rule until it was explained to him during the controversial call involving the Cale Makar goal in Game 1 of the Western Conference Final?

You mean, guys like him?

Aside from those points, though, this was a totally awesome email to end the week, Joseph.