BY DEJAN KOVACEVIC
Welcome to Tuesday 10 Qs. And yes, that’s a 10 now.
For newcomers, this is our cyber-chat that takes place each week at 9 a.m. and offers readers a chance to carry the conversation. The format is simple: Use the comments below to submit an entry. I’ll pick from those, as well as the ones that arrive once the session goes live.
For those who have been around, I’m going from 12 Qs to 10 because, in all honesty, the feature had become really time-consuming. Sure, I could give shorter answers, and there are occasions where I still might. But I’ve always preferred to support a position as best I can.
I genuinely feel this will work better, and I’ll still get a healthy ratio of three or four questions on the team or teams currently in season, as well as a couple on those that aren’t. And all of the questions picked will be about sports and not the site itself. Let’s please save the latter for Saturday Site Stuff.
Thank you so much, as always.
UPDATE 9 a.m.: And here we go …
Clint Hurdle walks from the manager’s office to the dugout tunnel for the home opener Monday. — GETTY
Dennis Allan: In what ways does Clint Hurdle’s character and leadership style impact and shape his players? There’s the adage that managers will, in the course of a season, make in-game decisions that will win and lose a few games for their teams. But in an everyday sense, how does Hurdle make this team better than they might otherwise be?
DK: I love this Q. What a way to start.
More than anything, Dennis, it’s through honesty. That’s the No. 1 thing I hear from players on this count. They respect the man. They respect who he is, what he represents and what he’s done for baseball in Pittsburgh. But even on those occasions where they’ll disagree with a decision — lineup, playing time, in-game strategy, bullpen usage — you’ll just never, ever hear the kind of nastiness that … well, let’s just say previous managers of this team would have had their ears burning far worse.
When Hurdle deals with players, he doesn’t overthink his approach: He just speaks what’s on his mind. That might not always represent the ideal outcome for the player, but he never has to wonder, never has to guess. And in the 162-game world of baseball, that’s more valuable than I can sufficiently describe here.
Beyond that, I’ll just add that they know he cares. They know he’s invested.
One moment I found to be defining in this regard came in Atlanta last fall, when the Pirates were whooping it up in the clubhouse for clinching a playoff berth: A few players and coaches had gotten it going a little. Some champagne had been sprayed. Some goggles had been applied. But it wasn’t until Hurdle had managed to wind his way into the room, bad hips and all, that the players really got started. They ordered him in the middle and sprayed him like he was a house ablaze.
They love the guy. They’ll do anything for him.
cmupensfan: How aggravated do you think the core of the Pens was at management for how badly the front office let the cap get botched in the last month?
DK: The core?
Not at all. Not a syllable that I heard from anyone.
But then, that’s to be expected. Sidney Crosby, for whatever his reputation might be on a continental scale, isn’t a complainer. He hates drama. He’ll do anything, actually, not just to douse drama but to stop it from even developing. So I wouldn’t expect anything of the kind from that direction.
Others have been less than delighted about it. It wasn’t for attribution, but they’ve made it clear. And it doesn’t take much imagination to guess which position was most impacted and, thus, which would have been most displeased. I actually kind of hinted at this in the Friday column off the loss to the Islanders.
acorrie2011: Dejan, I notice you are frequent to mention atmosphere when it comes to attending a professional sporting event in Pittsburgh. As recent as yesterday afternoon, you were saying how much fun it was to be around PNC Park. My question is: Which team/venue has the best, most exciting atmosphere now? And how do they all compare to the venues in the past such as Three Rivers, the Civic Arena, etc.?
DK: To first clarify, when I describe a fun atmosphere, I’m almost invariably describing fun that I’m witnessing rather than fun I’m having. The former matters. The latter doesn’t. I’ll observe how fans are behaving, etc.
Second, while a sporting venue can contribute to atmosphere, it doesn’t make it. Winning does. Show me the best ballpark in America — PNC — and I’ll show you a decade of some of the worst atmospheres in sports. That applies in the reverse, too. Intimacy is nice, in terms of the venue. So is character. I look at an arena like the one the Blue Jackets have in Columbus, and I see that as something potentially sensational in terms of helping that team if it ever gets consistently good. It just oozes personality, outside and inside. But here, too, the Jackets haven’t been good, so the atmosphere has applied for, what, a couple of games last fall against the Penguins?
But to really answer your question, the answer is a lot easier than any of that: If I measured over the past three years, to spread things out a bit, I’d go with Pitt basketball. It’s unreal in that building when the place is hopping — literally in the case of the Zoo — and the emotion runs from floor to ceiling. That was tempered this past season because of this team losing its defensive identity, but over the longer haul, a big matchup — Big East, now ACC — combined with all those students and the 12,000 as a whole and the sheer beauty of a pure basketball facility … that can’t be beaten around here. Not on a regular basis.
dhosmer: Am I crazy to think that DeAngelo Williams is not an acceptable replacement starter for Le’Veon Bell’s suspension? His yards-per-carry has been good historically, but it dropped to 3.5 last season and, worst of all, he just doesn’t pass the eye test. I seemed to be the only one disappointed with the signing and believe he may be more suited for the glue factory than a significant role starting three games, then spelling Bell throughout the season. I truly hope there is more help to come in the mid-late rounds of the draft.
DK: You can bet on a back in the draft. That’s as good as in the bank, especially with the surprise third game of Bell’s suspension. So that’s a start.
But you really don’t like Williams?
His YPC was down, as you note, but he was limited to 63 carries over six games in 2014 with the Panthers — he lost starting duty to Jonathan Stewart on merit — so he hardly has a big sample size at hand. In fact, he’s averaged only 11.1 carries per game over the past four seasons.
What I see when I look at that last number, above all, is that he can’t possibly be too beat up, even at age 32, which is up there for a running back. Carolina management, by all accounts, didn’t cut him because they thought he was done but, rather because they wanted Stewart to take the full load of a rush-heavy offense. If anything, in the process, they might have extended Williams’ career.
Here’s another way of looking at it: In 2013, when Williams started 15 games and carried 201 times, he rushed for 843 yards, an average of 4.2 per carry, while also catching 26 passes for 333 yards, an average of 12.8 per catch.
From there, factor in that the Steelers will need him to go gung-ho for all of three starts, presumably without matching Bell’s typical number of touches.
That doesn’t strike me as a significant worry. At least not yet. We’ll see what Williams shows in Latrobe and in the preseason.
Klamathmatt: Did Hurdle address his thinking on why he stuck with Mark Melancon as long as he did yesterday? If he continues to struggle, who would they consider for the closer role? John Holdzkom?
DK: You mean why the manager stuck by his closer in his third appearance of the season?
The advanced-stats community has an actual term now that’s commonly cited for this sort of thinking: Recency bias.
I love that. Couldn’t possibly come up with anything better.
What it means is that we, as observers of sports or really anything in life, tend to give undue weight to the most recent thing we saw or experienced. We don’t weigh it as much as the same exact act a month ago, much less a long time ago. It just happened, and therefore, it matters so much more because we just reacted to it.
“If he continues to struggle …” is how you described Melancon.
In 2014, he had 33 saves, a 1.90 ERA and a .195 opponents’ batting average. He was among the best relievers in Major League Baseball.
In his first two appearances of 2015, he allowed zero runs and one hit over two innings. He struck out two, walked none.
On Monday, he got hit hard by one of the game’s most formidable lineups.
Now, please, tell me how exactly the manager should have justified sticking by his closer on April 13 of a season in which this team is eyeing an extended playoff run.
Brian: So far, the Pens have only recalled Brian Dumoulin and Scott Harrington from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. Obviously, both are needed. I’m surprised they haven’t recalled a forward, however, especially given how little and poorly Craig Adams has played recently … to name only one. Do you think there is a plan to bring in any young guys for the playoffs?
DK: I’ll be stunned and dismayed if there isn’t, though it’s worth noting that could still reasonably happen between now and the 12:15 p.m. practice today at Consol and still afford those forwards ample opportunity to get acclimated anew.
FYI: Wilkes-Barre has three regular-season games left, none until Friday against Albany. There is nothing anymore to prevent callups, not the salary cap, not waivers, not any other rule. The Penguins can bring up as many players as they please and do with them as they wish.
So, to echo your question, Brian, why wouldn’t they?
Wow, who knows?
It’s not like they haven’t watched this wholly miserable supporting cast flail its way through the past few weeks. Or Chris Kunitz gasping for oxygen. Or all the other wingers who haven’t scored seemingly since Christmas. Or Adams, as you point out, who isn’t even being entrusted to take a shift when his team is short-handed on the bench.
But it’s probably fairest to wait and see what they do. Game 1 is two days away.
jhuber855: When his decent showing thus far- does it make sense for the Pirates to cut ties with Chris Stewart and give Tony Sanchez a chance to be the backup?
DK: Oh, my, yes. Absolutely.
My understanding of Stewart’s hamstring injury while in Bradenton — reported on this site first — was that it wasn’t severe. Now, hamstrings are funny things. They can worsen. They can be slow to heal. But assuming this was one of those classic roster moves of convenience, the clock is ticking on an actual decision being made before long. And as Hurdle told me at the time, Sanchez is not ready to contribute at another position, even at first base. He has to be a catcher.
Stewart is 33. There are plenty of him. Sanchez is 26, with first-round pedigree and still a bright future ahead, and he has made leaps-and-bounds progress both at the plate and behind it.
This should not be a difficult decision.
CraiggerJ: DK, love the site! Have the Pirates officially supplanted the Penguins on the podium to grab the silver medal of the three Pittsburgh professional sports teams? Performance and Pittsburgh perception are my two judging criteria.
DK: In terms of performance, I can start by saying that I’ve been reading a lot here on this site and on social media about how the Pirates are now Pittsburgh’s best team in terms of performance. And while the 2015 group has a chance ultimately to prove that right, the fact is that only one of the three teams is fresh off winning its division, and that’s the Steelers. The Steelers also had the NFL’s most explosive offense, one that has a very bright future, and something similar can’t be said — offensively or defensively — of either the Penguins or Pirates.
I know that football passions run so deep that perfection is expected of the Steelers and angst over the defense, which has a long way to go, trumps all. But until the coming season, which will have a much tougher schedule, knocks them off the pedestal, the Steelers have had the most successful recent season.
Popularity is another measure, and the Penguins, for all the anger in their fan base right now, still produce better local TV ratings than the Pirates. Those ratings have dipped from their recent ridiculous highs, but they had plenty to give, and they’re still better than those for baseball.
And just for the fun of it, if not for actual broad perspective, the Penguins material I write continues to just blow away the Pirates stuff in terms of traffic. I mean, it isn’t close. It’s pretty much in the 4-to-1 range. The Penguins column from Buffalo got nearly five times the traffic of the Pirates column from the home opener yesterday.
Perception, which you bring up, is another matter. The Pirates are purer than the newfallen snow for a lot of Pittsburghers these days. They were historically horrendous for two decades, and suddenly they’re Cinderella. Even when they fail, it’s cute because, well, hey, they tried, and they don’t have much of a payroll, and a handful of years ago, they lost 100. Whereas expectations of the Steelers and Penguins are, as ever, through the roof.
The answer isn’t simple, as you can see, but the order remains the same.
Ike Taylor retired after 12 NFL seasons, all with the Steelers, and two championships. — GETTY
steelkings: We all know about the relationship that Dick LeBeau had with the Steelers’ defensive players. But do you suppose he has had any influence on the retirement choices of some of the players gone?
DK: Well, with that comes the not-remotely-surprising news in this hour that Ike Taylor announced his retirement after 13 NFL seasons.
So before I proceed, congrats to Ike, a terrific guy who had a terrific career, not least of which was being part of two Super Bowl championships in Pittsburgh. I would say he’ll be missed, except that it sure sounds like Ike wants to hang around and be part of the Steelers in some capacity going forward, so I have a feeling this won’t be farewell at all. And that’s a good thing. His teammates found him to be among their most inspirational figures, even once it was clear he no longer could perform at an NFL level.
To answer your question, though, no, and certainly not as it pertains to the Steelers.
Whether or not LeBeau had stayed, Mike Tomlin and Kevin Colbert weren’t going to be interested in keeping any of them other than James Harrison. That’s now been proven. And if there was ever going to be this much-discussed mass exodus to Nashville to join LeBeau with the Titans, that didn’t materialize, either.
It was time, for all concerned.
Brian: Thanks for the response, DK. It looks like I inquired too soon. Scott Wilson is apparently on his way to town. Left Winger … so is Kunitz …?
DK: Wilson has earned the promotion, which also was announced during this live hour of ours here. I’d still have thought there would be more, but this apparently is it.
Wilson over Kunitz?
Eh, some of us might feel that way, but I strongly suspect that won’t be the case. If the Penguins were going to seriously challenge some of their supporting cast, this won’t be the singular move that does it. But hey, again, that practice doesn’t start until 12:15, and let’s see how Mike Johnston sets up his line rushes.
At any rate, Wilson isn’t a big guy at all at 5-11, 183, but he’s 22, has fresh legs and has 19 goals and 22 assists in 55 games at Wilkes-Barre. In an intangible sense, as I’ve written here a couple times in recent weeks, his name has been first off the lips of management when citing possible call-ups, so they’ve undoubtedly seen more to like than just the points.
felipe: Hi, DK, and greetings from Brazil. In your opinion, what is the biggest problem with the Penguins right now: A lack of confidence or lack of quality from some players? If lack of talent is the problem, could a convincing win in Game 1 turn things around? Sorry for any English mistakes. Love your site.
DK: Thank you, Felipe, and your English is about a billion times better than my Portuguese, so I’d never judge.
DK: The Penguins’ No. 1 problem right now is that their supporting cast at forward flat-out stinks. And that goes to a lack of talent, a lack of confidence and even a lack of passion at times. It’s just not a very energetic group, to say the least.
I can’t see that changing with any flick of the switch. I really can’t.
Thanks to all for participating. Really good questions today.
I’m headed out to double-duty, first to the Penguins’ practice at Consol, then over to PNC for the second game of Pirates-Tigers.
April 14, 2015
Tuesday 10 Qs: Clint, Ike, Wilson, Shark, DeAngelo
by Dejan Kovacevic • Five Qs at 5 • Penguins, Pirates, Steelers
BY DEJAN KOVACEVIC
Welcome to Tuesday 10 Qs. And yes, that’s a 10 now.
For newcomers, this is our cyber-chat that takes place each week at 9 a.m. and offers readers a chance to carry the conversation. The format is simple: Use the comments below to submit an entry. I’ll pick from those, as well as the ones that arrive once the session goes live.
For those who have been around, I’m going from 12 Qs to 10 because, in all honesty, the feature had become really time-consuming. Sure, I could give shorter answers, and there are occasions where I still might. But I’ve always preferred to support a position as best I can.
I genuinely feel this will work better, and I’ll still get a healthy ratio of three or four questions on the team or teams currently in season, as well as a couple on those that aren’t. And all of the questions picked will be about sports and not the site itself. Let’s please save the latter for Saturday Site Stuff.
Thank you so much, as always.
UPDATE 9 a.m.: And here we go …
Clint Hurdle walks from the manager’s office to the dugout tunnel for the home opener Monday. — GETTY
Dennis Allan: In what ways does Clint Hurdle’s character and leadership style impact and shape his players? There’s the adage that managers will, in the course of a season, make in-game decisions that will win and lose a few games for their teams. But in an everyday sense, how does Hurdle make this team better than they might otherwise be?
DK: I love this Q. What a way to start.
More than anything, Dennis, it’s through honesty. That’s the No. 1 thing I hear from players on this count. They respect the man. They respect who he is, what he represents and what he’s done for baseball in Pittsburgh. But even on those occasions where they’ll disagree with a decision — lineup, playing time, in-game strategy, bullpen usage — you’ll just never, ever hear the kind of nastiness that … well, let’s just say previous managers of this team would have had their ears burning far worse.
When Hurdle deals with players, he doesn’t overthink his approach: He just speaks what’s on his mind. That might not always represent the ideal outcome for the player, but he never has to wonder, never has to guess. And in the 162-game world of baseball, that’s more valuable than I can sufficiently describe here.
Beyond that, I’ll just add that they know he cares. They know he’s invested.
One moment I found to be defining in this regard came in Atlanta last fall, when the Pirates were whooping it up in the clubhouse for clinching a playoff berth: A few players and coaches had gotten it going a little. Some champagne had been sprayed. Some goggles had been applied. But it wasn’t until Hurdle had managed to wind his way into the room, bad hips and all, that the players really got started. They ordered him in the middle and sprayed him like he was a house ablaze.
They love the guy. They’ll do anything for him.
cmupensfan: How aggravated do you think the core of the Pens was at management for how badly the front office let the cap get botched in the last month?
DK: The core?
Not at all. Not a syllable that I heard from anyone.
But then, that’s to be expected. Sidney Crosby, for whatever his reputation might be on a continental scale, isn’t a complainer. He hates drama. He’ll do anything, actually, not just to douse drama but to stop it from even developing. So I wouldn’t expect anything of the kind from that direction.
Others have been less than delighted about it. It wasn’t for attribution, but they’ve made it clear. And it doesn’t take much imagination to guess which position was most impacted and, thus, which would have been most displeased. I actually kind of hinted at this in the Friday column off the loss to the Islanders.
acorrie2011: Dejan, I notice you are frequent to mention atmosphere when it comes to attending a professional sporting event in Pittsburgh. As recent as yesterday afternoon, you were saying how much fun it was to be around PNC Park. My question is: Which team/venue has the best, most exciting atmosphere now? And how do they all compare to the venues in the past such as Three Rivers, the Civic Arena, etc.?
DK: To first clarify, when I describe a fun atmosphere, I’m almost invariably describing fun that I’m witnessing rather than fun I’m having. The former matters. The latter doesn’t. I’ll observe how fans are behaving, etc.
Second, while a sporting venue can contribute to atmosphere, it doesn’t make it. Winning does. Show me the best ballpark in America — PNC — and I’ll show you a decade of some of the worst atmospheres in sports. That applies in the reverse, too. Intimacy is nice, in terms of the venue. So is character. I look at an arena like the one the Blue Jackets have in Columbus, and I see that as something potentially sensational in terms of helping that team if it ever gets consistently good. It just oozes personality, outside and inside. But here, too, the Jackets haven’t been good, so the atmosphere has applied for, what, a couple of games last fall against the Penguins?
But to really answer your question, the answer is a lot easier than any of that: If I measured over the past three years, to spread things out a bit, I’d go with Pitt basketball. It’s unreal in that building when the place is hopping — literally in the case of the Zoo — and the emotion runs from floor to ceiling. That was tempered this past season because of this team losing its defensive identity, but over the longer haul, a big matchup — Big East, now ACC — combined with all those students and the 12,000 as a whole and the sheer beauty of a pure basketball facility … that can’t be beaten around here. Not on a regular basis.
dhosmer: Am I crazy to think that DeAngelo Williams is not an acceptable replacement starter for Le’Veon Bell’s suspension? His yards-per-carry has been good historically, but it dropped to 3.5 last season and, worst of all, he just doesn’t pass the eye test. I seemed to be the only one disappointed with the signing and believe he may be more suited for the glue factory than a significant role starting three games, then spelling Bell throughout the season. I truly hope there is more help to come in the mid-late rounds of the draft.
DK: You can bet on a back in the draft. That’s as good as in the bank, especially with the surprise third game of Bell’s suspension. So that’s a start.
But you really don’t like Williams?
His YPC was down, as you note, but he was limited to 63 carries over six games in 2014 with the Panthers — he lost starting duty to Jonathan Stewart on merit — so he hardly has a big sample size at hand. In fact, he’s averaged only 11.1 carries per game over the past four seasons.
What I see when I look at that last number, above all, is that he can’t possibly be too beat up, even at age 32, which is up there for a running back. Carolina management, by all accounts, didn’t cut him because they thought he was done but, rather because they wanted Stewart to take the full load of a rush-heavy offense. If anything, in the process, they might have extended Williams’ career.
Here’s another way of looking at it: In 2013, when Williams started 15 games and carried 201 times, he rushed for 843 yards, an average of 4.2 per carry, while also catching 26 passes for 333 yards, an average of 12.8 per catch.
From there, factor in that the Steelers will need him to go gung-ho for all of three starts, presumably without matching Bell’s typical number of touches.
That doesn’t strike me as a significant worry. At least not yet. We’ll see what Williams shows in Latrobe and in the preseason.
Klamathmatt: Did Hurdle address his thinking on why he stuck with Mark Melancon as long as he did yesterday? If he continues to struggle, who would they consider for the closer role? John Holdzkom?
DK: You mean why the manager stuck by his closer in his third appearance of the season?
The advanced-stats community has an actual term now that’s commonly cited for this sort of thinking: Recency bias.
I love that. Couldn’t possibly come up with anything better.
What it means is that we, as observers of sports or really anything in life, tend to give undue weight to the most recent thing we saw or experienced. We don’t weigh it as much as the same exact act a month ago, much less a long time ago. It just happened, and therefore, it matters so much more because we just reacted to it.
“If he continues to struggle …” is how you described Melancon.
In 2014, he had 33 saves, a 1.90 ERA and a .195 opponents’ batting average. He was among the best relievers in Major League Baseball.
In his first two appearances of 2015, he allowed zero runs and one hit over two innings. He struck out two, walked none.
On Monday, he got hit hard by one of the game’s most formidable lineups.
Now, please, tell me how exactly the manager should have justified sticking by his closer on April 13 of a season in which this team is eyeing an extended playoff run.
Brian: So far, the Pens have only recalled Brian Dumoulin and Scott Harrington from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. Obviously, both are needed. I’m surprised they haven’t recalled a forward, however, especially given how little and poorly Craig Adams has played recently … to name only one. Do you think there is a plan to bring in any young guys for the playoffs?
DK: I’ll be stunned and dismayed if there isn’t, though it’s worth noting that could still reasonably happen between now and the 12:15 p.m. practice today at Consol and still afford those forwards ample opportunity to get acclimated anew.
FYI: Wilkes-Barre has three regular-season games left, none until Friday against Albany. There is nothing anymore to prevent callups, not the salary cap, not waivers, not any other rule. The Penguins can bring up as many players as they please and do with them as they wish.
So, to echo your question, Brian, why wouldn’t they?
Wow, who knows?
It’s not like they haven’t watched this wholly miserable supporting cast flail its way through the past few weeks. Or Chris Kunitz gasping for oxygen. Or all the other wingers who haven’t scored seemingly since Christmas. Or Adams, as you point out, who isn’t even being entrusted to take a shift when his team is short-handed on the bench.
But it’s probably fairest to wait and see what they do. Game 1 is two days away.
jhuber855: When his decent showing thus far- does it make sense for the Pirates to cut ties with Chris Stewart and give Tony Sanchez a chance to be the backup?
DK: Oh, my, yes. Absolutely.
My understanding of Stewart’s hamstring injury while in Bradenton — reported on this site first — was that it wasn’t severe. Now, hamstrings are funny things. They can worsen. They can be slow to heal. But assuming this was one of those classic roster moves of convenience, the clock is ticking on an actual decision being made before long. And as Hurdle told me at the time, Sanchez is not ready to contribute at another position, even at first base. He has to be a catcher.
Stewart is 33. There are plenty of him. Sanchez is 26, with first-round pedigree and still a bright future ahead, and he has made leaps-and-bounds progress both at the plate and behind it.
This should not be a difficult decision.
CraiggerJ: DK, love the site! Have the Pirates officially supplanted the Penguins on the podium to grab the silver medal of the three Pittsburgh professional sports teams? Performance and Pittsburgh perception are my two judging criteria.
DK: In terms of performance, I can start by saying that I’ve been reading a lot here on this site and on social media about how the Pirates are now Pittsburgh’s best team in terms of performance. And while the 2015 group has a chance ultimately to prove that right, the fact is that only one of the three teams is fresh off winning its division, and that’s the Steelers. The Steelers also had the NFL’s most explosive offense, one that has a very bright future, and something similar can’t be said — offensively or defensively — of either the Penguins or Pirates.
I know that football passions run so deep that perfection is expected of the Steelers and angst over the defense, which has a long way to go, trumps all. But until the coming season, which will have a much tougher schedule, knocks them off the pedestal, the Steelers have had the most successful recent season.
Popularity is another measure, and the Penguins, for all the anger in their fan base right now, still produce better local TV ratings than the Pirates. Those ratings have dipped from their recent ridiculous highs, but they had plenty to give, and they’re still better than those for baseball.
And just for the fun of it, if not for actual broad perspective, the Penguins material I write continues to just blow away the Pirates stuff in terms of traffic. I mean, it isn’t close. It’s pretty much in the 4-to-1 range. The Penguins column from Buffalo got nearly five times the traffic of the Pirates column from the home opener yesterday.
Perception, which you bring up, is another matter. The Pirates are purer than the newfallen snow for a lot of Pittsburghers these days. They were historically horrendous for two decades, and suddenly they’re Cinderella. Even when they fail, it’s cute because, well, hey, they tried, and they don’t have much of a payroll, and a handful of years ago, they lost 100. Whereas expectations of the Steelers and Penguins are, as ever, through the roof.
The answer isn’t simple, as you can see, but the order remains the same.
Ike Taylor retired after 12 NFL seasons, all with the Steelers, and two championships. — GETTY
steelkings: We all know about the relationship that Dick LeBeau had with the Steelers’ defensive players. But do you suppose he has had any influence on the retirement choices of some of the players gone?
DK: Well, with that comes the not-remotely-surprising news in this hour that Ike Taylor announced his retirement after 13 NFL seasons.
So before I proceed, congrats to Ike, a terrific guy who had a terrific career, not least of which was being part of two Super Bowl championships in Pittsburgh. I would say he’ll be missed, except that it sure sounds like Ike wants to hang around and be part of the Steelers in some capacity going forward, so I have a feeling this won’t be farewell at all. And that’s a good thing. His teammates found him to be among their most inspirational figures, even once it was clear he no longer could perform at an NFL level.
To answer your question, though, no, and certainly not as it pertains to the Steelers.
Whether or not LeBeau had stayed, Mike Tomlin and Kevin Colbert weren’t going to be interested in keeping any of them other than James Harrison. That’s now been proven. And if there was ever going to be this much-discussed mass exodus to Nashville to join LeBeau with the Titans, that didn’t materialize, either.
It was time, for all concerned.
Brian: Thanks for the response, DK. It looks like I inquired too soon. Scott Wilson is apparently on his way to town. Left Winger … so is Kunitz …?
DK: Wilson has earned the promotion, which also was announced during this live hour of ours here. I’d still have thought there would be more, but this apparently is it.
Wilson over Kunitz?
Eh, some of us might feel that way, but I strongly suspect that won’t be the case. If the Penguins were going to seriously challenge some of their supporting cast, this won’t be the singular move that does it. But hey, again, that practice doesn’t start until 12:15, and let’s see how Mike Johnston sets up his line rushes.
At any rate, Wilson isn’t a big guy at all at 5-11, 183, but he’s 22, has fresh legs and has 19 goals and 22 assists in 55 games at Wilkes-Barre. In an intangible sense, as I’ve written here a couple times in recent weeks, his name has been first off the lips of management when citing possible call-ups, so they’ve undoubtedly seen more to like than just the points.
felipe: Hi, DK, and greetings from Brazil. In your opinion, what is the biggest problem with the Penguins right now: A lack of confidence or lack of quality from some players? If lack of talent is the problem, could a convincing win in Game 1 turn things around? Sorry for any English mistakes. Love your site.
DK: Thank you, Felipe, and your English is about a billion times better than my Portuguese, so I’d never judge.
DK: The Penguins’ No. 1 problem right now is that their supporting cast at forward flat-out stinks. And that goes to a lack of talent, a lack of confidence and even a lack of passion at times. It’s just not a very energetic group, to say the least.
I can’t see that changing with any flick of the switch. I really can’t.
Thanks to all for participating. Really good questions today.
I’m headed out to double-duty, first to the Penguins’ practice at Consol, then over to PNC for the second game of Pirates-Tigers.