Steelers vs. Patriots

The Steelers will play the Patriots today in New England at 4:15. We can't stand the Patriots or Bill Belichick so we hope the Steelers pound them tomorrow. Hopefully the great Big Ben will show up and the defense will reek havoc on the Patriots offense. We have to admit we don't know what else to say other than Go Steelers! It is almost 3:30 a.m. after all. Here are your game-day links:

Steelers on the wrong side of door vs. New England.

Bouchette on the Steelers: Sealing the deal.

Steelers look for a hero to unfurl his cape.

Head to head: Steelers' Clark gets chance to help cover Patriots' Moss this time.

The type of thing that makes a grown man cry. (Good article from Ron Cook on Defensive Coach Dick LeBeau.)

Doing what it takes to play. (Interesting article on what players go through during the week.)

Steelers Q&A with James Farrior.

Game preview over at ESPN.

Steelers-Patriots Matchups.

Game Day: Steelers at Patriots.

In unrelated news:

Plaxico Burress shot himself in the thigh. We're going to refrain from saying much on this because none of it would be positive. We find this pretty stupid and he needs to grow up and stop getting into trouble.

Go Steelers! Enjoy the game.

Crosby gets hat trick, Pens win

(Gene J. Puskar/AP Photo)

The Penguins beat the Devils last night 4-1 with a great show from Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. The Dynamic Duo continued their awe-some play with Sid scoring a hat trick and an assist and Geno with two assists. Whoever was saying Sid lost his touch and talked about Geno being traded, do you still want to? We think not. Or does anyone want to talk about Malkin being greedy and wanting his own team to be the star of? We think not. Both players are playing out of their minds, blowing the minds of all those who watch. How could anyone not be entertained? Their play, especially together, is getting almost scary. They seem to be clicking well together and appear to be almost unstoppable. We're glad we don't have to try to come up with a way to stop them.

Crosby's hat trick was only the second of his career and it sure wasn't boring. Sid's first goal was another amazing one to add to his rapidly growing highlight reel (see below). How many people could score that goal? Insane. And who would think an empty netter could be that exciting? Sid obviously knows how to do it. Scoring on his belly, stick outstretched, he managed to get that third goal for the hat trick. And then came the hats. We enjoyed the picture above, which if you notice, Sid has a hat on the end of stick.

Not to be too overshadowed, Geno is continuing his amazing play as well. He's stepped up his game to another level along with Crosby. Geno is looking a lot like Sidney Crosby in those little things he's doing. Settling down pucks, those slick stick handling skills, and his improving defensive play. These two are something special and the Pens are lucky to have them. And we're even more lucky to watch them night after night put on a show you won't see anywhere else. Tonight's example: Geno getting slammed into the boards only to get up and make a play by sliding on his belly (is there a pattern here?) to get the puck to Sid for his second goal. Fabulous.

Now that we're done drooling over Sid and Geno, Dany Sabourin had a pretty good night as well. If you noticed, Sabourin didn't have his new mask on last night, and went back to his old one. When asked later, he smiled and said you won't be seeing it again. Superstitious much?

We'd also be remiss if we didn't mention that the Pens seemed to play their most complete game in a long time. Most nights have been filled with playing 20 or 40 minutes, not 60. We'd say they played a good 60 minutes, or at least really close to it. The power play also had a goal, which is a step in the right direction.

Game recap.

Aftermath: Penguins 4, Devils 1.

A Tip of the Hat for Crosby.

The Penguins have re-assigned Janne Pesonen back to Wilkes-Barre.

Recap over at the PG.

Penguins notebook.

For your viewing pleasure, Sid's hat trick:

The Pens will be heading out on the road with their next game being Wednesday against the Rangers at 7:08.

Pens lose to Buffalo 4-3

The Pens lost last night to Buffalo 4-3. John Curry made his first NHL start and did a pretty good job in the net. He made some great saves that kept them in the game. he doesn't appear to be perfect, or Marc-Andre Fleury for that matter, but he was playing well. A couple of those saves were awesome. Sid and Geno continued on their out-of-this-world playing with Sid scoring two goals and Geno getting two assists. Geno's steal and pass to Sid for a breakaway was a huge play. Geno playing defense, and well really paid off this time. Sid took the puck and was off to the races, keeping those feet moving. He made a move to get Miller to bite and went five hole. Perfect. Sid's other goal was rather impressive too, as he hit the puck in midair to make sure it went in the net. We were told during the FSN telecast that Sid works on exactly those types of things all the time. It obviously pays off. Both of those goals were somewhat reminiscent of the Winter Classic in terms of Sid's in-the-air puck handling and his going five hole on Miller. Fond memories there.

Turbo, aka Tyler Kennedy, had a well deserved goal as he's always tearing it up out on the ice and doing his job. That third line is one to be reckoned with. Brooks Orpik also gave out some pretty good free candy as well.

It just sucks after all of those positive things, the Pens lost. They really weren't playing all that well out there despite how positive all of this sounds, especially in the third period. The Pens still need to learn to play a full 60 minutes. The Pens power play also has to get in gear. The Pens need to score on those man-advantages.

We also just have to add that we're obviously not the only ones that enjoy listening to Geno's English. Seth over at EN mentioned the other night he had to chuckle at "shoot everybody" and tonight Paul Steigerwald had to mention Geno's fine English and comments on teammate Sidney Crosby. Just had to throw that out there. It makes us feel better we may not be the only accent-addicts.

Game recap.

Aftermath: Penguins vs. Sabres.

Penguins fall to Buffalo, 4-3.

Pens Report: Thanksgiving on the road.

Sorry it's a little late, but here's the Pens wishing you a happy Thanksgiving.

Project Bundle-Up with the Pens.

A Great Day for Hockey. We never get tired of watching this one.

And lastly, more proof we're not the only accent-addicts. This interview is one of the most watched videos on PENSTV. Enjoy.

John Curry gets a shaving cream pie to the face

Here is the video of John Curry getting a shaving cream pie to the face during his interview with Dan Potash Wednesday night:

Godard got him good.

Janne is back

The Penguins have recalled Janne Pesonen from Wilkes-Barre to play in tonight's game against Buffalo. Max Talbot is not expected to play after taking a shot off the foot in Wednesday's win over the Islanders. Janne is the number three scorer in Wilkes-Barre and has five goals and sixteen assists in nineteen games.

From the Pens' site.

Pittsburgh vs. Buffalo preview.

Sorry for the short post but we have to run. If you're going to venture out tomorrow for some good deals, stay safe and good luck.

Two headed monster leads Pens to win

(Getty Images)

The Pens beat the Islanders last night by a score of 5-3 after being down three to nothing through almost two periods. Every time you think the Pens are down and out, they come back stronger than ever. While giving everyone minor heart attacks along the way. The Pens still aren't playing a full sixty minutes of hockey but it's hard to complain when they do things like they did last night. The third period was wild as Sid and Geno, dubbed the two headed monster by Paul Steigerwald, were absolute beasts. You think you've seen it all and they pull out something else. Geno seemed to take a page from Sid's book tonight by scoring a "butt" goal (see earlier post if that's confusing in any way). These two found ways to get to the net and the Islanders had no answer for it. Crosby's steal and pass to Malkin to make it 4-3 was insane. We don't know if those two had a talk or what, but something clicked between them tonight. Geno had a natural hat trick by adding an empty netter at the end of the game and one assist while Sid had a goal and two assists.

John Curry replaced Dany Sabourin in the net during the second period which in our opinion was pretty exciting. Curry looked pretty good in net, making some good saves and not allowing a goal. He looks awfully small, 5'10" we believe, and like he's about 13 years old, but he did a good job. His new teammates also thanked him by sending Godard out to give him a shaving cream pie to the face while talking to Dan Potash. He got him good too. Poor kid had his eyes closed during the last part of the interview, but it was some funny stuff. If we can get the video of that, we'll post it.

Speaking of videos, we have the Geno interview from after the game tonight. Seth over at Empty Netters noted that he couldn't help but laugh when Geno said "shoot everybody." We have to say we couldn't either. Geno also says he feels Crosby is the best player in the NHL. We think Geno's right up there with him. If you love Geno, accents, or both you have to watch this:

Thank you to grizelda71 over at YouTube for being so prompt on those Geno interviews.

You can find the game recap here. Down the page a little and to the right there are plenty of goodies for you including video, sound, and stats.

Aftermath: Penguins vs. Islanders.

Recap from AP at Yahoo!

Seth's live blog over at EN.

Malkin, Crosby deflate Islanders.

Penguins notebook.

Don't forget that FSN will be airing Pens classics tomorrow with the Winter Classic and game 5 of the Stanley Cup finals.

We'll get that Steelers update soon. In the meantime, Happy Thanksgiving!

Pens vs. Islanders

The Pens play the New York Islanders in NY at 7:08 tonight. The Islanders have won five of their past six. It seems like forever since the Pens have played so we're ready for some hockey. Hopefully you are too because the Pens have three games in four days coming up. Wednesday, Friday at Buffalo, and Saturday at home against New Jersey. Sounds good to us.

Here are a few links for you today:

Goalie Sabourin making hay out of new twist in journey.

Penguins won't have to pay for land for hotel project.

Curry's battle brings him to NHL.

Pens vs Islanders Preview

Penguins Report: On the Road Again

Pittsburgh Penguins Team Report from USA Today

Steelers update later, but for now you have to check out Jeff Reed in this video. Wow. Are you really going to tell us he gets women dressed like that?! We don't know what else to say other than WTF is on his head?! Just...eww. Go HERE to see his hotness.

New Yinz Luv 'Da Guins

New episode of Yinz Luv 'Da Guins. At least we still have this show. Enjoy.

Steelers sign new punter...sort of

The Steelers decided to address their punting woes by signing a familiar face yesterday. Mitch Berger has been brought back as their punter after being released because of hamstring injuries in both legs. We really thought there had to be someone else out there. Moving furniture perhaps? Let's hope Berger's hamstrings are in better shape so he can get off a decent punt. Then again, we think he punted better injured than Paul Ernster did healthy. After punting five times for a 28.5 yard average against Cincinnati Thursday, we think that's correct. Are we the only ones really missing Daniel Sepulveda right now?

Brett Keisel sprained his left knee against the Bengals and is expect to miss the next few games. It is not the same leg in which he had a calf injury earlier this year. Willie Parker's status is unknown until Mike Tomlin's news conference later today.

Hines Ward has been honored for his off the field accomplishments. He is the winner of the Steelers' 2008 Walter Payton Man of the Year award. Ward's charity for Korean biracial children has brought children to the US for visits and Ward often travels to Korea in the offseason to reunite with the kids. He will be one of 32 winners from all NFL teams and will be considered for the national Walter Payton Award which is presented during the week of the Super Bowl. Ward gets a $1,000 donation made in his name to the charity of his choice.

Santonio Holmes' hearing for his charge of marijuana possession has been postponed until February 26th. He was supposed to appear in court yesterday after being cited during a traffic stop on October 23rd when the police found three marijuana-filled cigars in his SUV.

Gerry Dulac writes about the Steelers' secondary today in, Steelers' secondary hoping to hold its ground against Patriots.

Marc-Andre Fleury doesn't seem to be coming back anytime real soon. He has not been able to get through a skating workout on his own. The Pens have three games in four nights this week and with Fleury not practicing at all, it doesn't look good. He's still listed as day-to-day.

Speaking of practicing, Ryan Whitney practiced with the team again yesterday. It was an hour-long session and he worked with strength and conditioning coach Mike Kadar for an hour before that. He said it was kind of a long day but he feels good. Sounds like good news there.

The Pens have some familiar faces at the top of leader board through yesterday in Evgeni Malkin first in points, Mike Zigomanis in faceoff proficiency, and Alex Goligoski in points for rookie defensemen.

Therrien is switching up the struggling power play by changing the personnel a bit yesterday. He says it's more about the mindset than the personnel and he's reminding his guys to be the first to the puck and battle hard.

Faceoff.com has an article on Sidney Crosby and his star power, as well as his desire to play on Team Canada in the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver.

We decided to do a little reminiscing today in honor of Daniel Sepulveda and the Steelers' punting issues. This is one of the best tackles we've ever seen. That's what we call a blue collar punter. Enjoy.

Geno has superstitions too

(Keith Srakocic/Associated Press)

We were reading through some Pens stuff when we found an article from Sporting News on Yahoo! that included a little tidbit of information on Geno. He considers talking to the media before a game bad luck. Media asked for him to speak to them following a morning skate and his response was "Please, after game. Bad luck." It seems Sidney Crosby is rubbing off on Malkin, as a lot of us know Crosby is extremely superstitious.

That and more can be found in this article, Despite injuries, Penguins flying high in East.

More links we found interesting:

Penguins' Zigomanis is the right man for the job.

Struggling power play irks Penguins' coach.

Molinari on the Penguins, a weekly look inside the team. Pens still Eastern Conference contenders.

Pens pleased 'not satisfied' with start.

It's time for Steelers' Reed to get his due.

Farrior still playing at elite level.

Steelers' Mitchell joins elite.

Steelers' Mitchell holds line. (Great read about Steelers' defensive line coach)

Lastly, we couldn't resist posting this funny song and video about Ryan Malone. Enjoy.

Pens lose to Canucks 3-1

The Pens lost to the Vancouver Canucks today 3-1. The game started out in a big way with several scrums on the ice. Cooke checked Canucks defenseman Alexander Edler, and then Cooke and Canucks winger Alex Burrows exchanged words, and then Cooke got into a fight with Canucks winger Jannik Hansen. Brooks Orpik started fighting with Burrows, while Tyler Kennedy pushed and shoved with Canucks center Ryan Kesler. After all that there were three men in each penalty box while they sorted out the penalties. Cooke and Hansen received game misconducts on top of other penalties, while Orpik and Burrows had 5 minutes for fighting and Tyler Kennedy had 2 minutes for roughing. Cooke and Hansen were done after 25 seconds of game play and Cooke was none too happy about that. He swung his stick into the wall as he went back to the locker room. The Pens were on the power play but did not cash in. Not too long after, Canucks goaltender Roberto Luongo made a save but seemed to do something to his leg. He was replaced in goal by Curtis Sanford.

The Pens looked pretty flat in the first couple periods and weren't getting a whole lot done. The Canucks lead 2-0 by the third period when the Pens finally seemed to wake up. Mike Zigomanis scored a goal 22 seconds into the third period to give the Pens a boost, but that was all the closer they'd get despite a lot of chances. The Pens had the puck in the Canucks zone for a lot of the third period but just could not get the puck in the net. We give them credit for their third period furry, but the Pens need to learn to play a full 60 minutes of hockey and not 20.

Game recap.

Aftermath: Pens vs. Canucks.

Penguins lost to Canucks. -PG

Pens play today at 2

The Pens play the Vancouver Canucks today at 2 p.m. Game will be on FSN, coverage starts at 1:30 with FSN Live Penguins edition to follow.  Here are some links for the day and enjoy the game.

Penguins' Whitney returns to practice.  Ryan Whitney has returned to practice with his teammates. He could return to playing in about a month.

Penguins notebook.

Seth over at Empty Netters has some good YouTube videos for you, including Sidney Crosby's two career "butt goals." He also has a bunch of other goodies so be sure to check them out, including his live blog of the game tomorrow.

Steelers notebook. The Steelers are going to put a new layer of sod on Heinz field after the WPIAL championship games today.

Steelers: Rigors of short week give way to time off.

NFL doesn't luv 'da Stillers

We were saddened today by the fact that we went to go watch the new episode of Yinz Luv 'Da Stillers and were greeted with a video message that the NFL has found Jim's videos and doesn't want them on YouTube and blah blah blah (you can watch it below). Does it surprise anyone that the NFL has people out there looking for small, entertaining things like this just to ruin them? It doesn't us. It makes us sick the direction the NFL is headed. The fact that a humorous web show that's not making a profit is a threat to them is ridiculous. If anything, it's making people bigger fans. It's sad that the NFL is chasing off it's passionate fans in this way, but to us, it's no surprise. The NFL needs to fix a few things, and fast. We're huge football fans in general and love the Steelers ourselves obviously, but the NFL is just turning us off. We'll always be here, especially with good people like the Rooney's around, but it may not be in the same way towards the NFL as a whole if things keeping going down the tubes like they have. We know on certain things they may have a right, and we know other organizations have done similar things, but it doesn't really change our minds. It was an entertaining web show that made no money and if anything, promoted the NFL, and it's sick that today that's not allowed. We wish Jim good luck and hope Yinz Luv 'Da Guins continues and if there's any way to continue Yinz Luv 'Da Stillers that he will. Thanks for the laughs and we're sorry to see this happen.

Pens beat Thrashers 3-2

The Pens were looking at yet another overtime game before Sidney Crosby ripped a slap shot that Petr Sykora deflected into the goal to put them ahead 3-2 with only a couple minutes left in the game. That shot also broke Sykora's stick above the blade. What a shot. Crosby's goal earlier in the game from his...well ass, was another one of those highlight Crosby goals. We unfortunately didn't watch the entire game since we did watch the Steelers so we can't say a whole lot. But we did see Colby going after his friend and former teammate Crosby and we think Crosby got the better of him. That big ass must be better than the big nose (common jokes between the two).

Game recap.

Aftermath: Penguins 3, Thrashers 2.

Oh, Dany Boy; Sabourin saves day for Penguins.

Penguins notebook.

Marc-Andre Fleury is going to be out for a little longer and will not play Saturday against Vancouver.

Overtime a normal shift for Penguins from Yahoo! Sports.

Penguins headlines from the Trib.

We just want to say that our black and gold tree is 2 for 2. Hopefully it'll bring good luck to the Pens on Saturday against Vancouver. We'll have to take a picture to share with you all tomorrow. Until then, take care.

Steelers defeat Bungles 27-10

The Steelers started out slow last night, letting the Bungles have life early in the game, but that was about all the life they were going to get. No thanks to Ocho Cinco. Thankfully the Steelers woke up at some point and started looking something like the Steelers. Before we say anything else, we have to say this, PLEASE GET A NEW PUNTER!!! If they weren't playing the Bungles, those horrible punts might have cost them. Big time. With teams with winning records coming up, the Steelers need to find a new punter, and fast. Mitch Berger on two bum legs could do better than that. Hopefully they can find someone. Anyone know of any furniture movers that can punt?

The defense played solid as usual after starting slow just like the offense. We saw that James Harrison was continuing to be held. He really should consider those diving lessons. Aaron Smith was deflecting passes left and right. We thought William Gay looked good out there. It's good to know when guys are injured, others can step up and play well. Troy's interception at the very end of the game was classic Troy. That's why they call him the Tasmanian Devil, he's all over. What a player.

Willie Parker wasn't doing so well out there before he left with a minor knee injury. Mewelde Moore did a bit better, but the Steelers didn't have a lot of success running the ball. Big Ben looked pretty good. A few of his passes could have been picked, but there's no sense looking at that now. He made some nice throws to keep drives going and stepped up when he needed to. The fact that he wasn't on the ground most of the game, and actually not at all until his touchdown, was a reassuring thought. Although this was the Bengals. Rookie receiver Limas Sweed made a rookie mistake by not getting away from ball on a punt return and essentially turning it over to the Bengals, although he did have a nice catch later in the game. Santonio Holmes left after getting drilled on a completion, good thing he has some time to rest up. Heath Miller looked good after missing a couple games with a high ankle sprain, and even scored a touchdown. We love hearing Heeeeeeeeeeeath coming from the stands. Although we think it might have taken the fans a little while to realize he was even out there since after his first catch the Heeeeeeeeeath wasn't too loud, but they got it right the second time around. Between the cold, snow, and being drunk we can't really blame them.

Here is your after-game reading:

Roethlisberger, Steelers overcome wintry conditions to solidify AFC North lead.

Steelers report card.

Gerry Dulac's Two-Minute Drill.

Steelers notebook. (Troy Polamalu is going to star in a remake of a famous Joe Green commercial)

Two Rooney brothers to sell all shares.

Holmes takes a licking, but gets offense ticking, Gene Collier.

More than just the night was chilly, Bob Smizik. He's worried. 

Lewis gains respect off the field, Ron Cook.

Headlines over at the Trib.

Pens play the Thrashers

It's Thursday and tonight the Pens will play the Thrashers. The same night the Steelers play a prime-time game against the Bengals. Why? That's just so cruel. At least the Pens start at 7:08, while the Steelers start somewhere around 8:15 (you know how that goes). But that also means if the Pens are in a particularly exciting game, it'll be hard to watch both to see the end. Unless you have picture in picture. Does that even still exist? Wow, we're out of touch.

Tonight also marks the night that Colby Armstrong plays his old teammates, especially close friend Sidney Crosby. We know a lot of fans miss Colby, us included. Colby says he'll try to get under Sid's skin, but Sid says it won't work and he'll ignore him. They were also planning to meet up when Sid got to Atlanta. *Cue music* Reunited and it feels so good!

Penguins notebook: Fleury might return Saturday. Included in Pens notebook today are: Fleury plans to skate on his own today since he did not travel with the team to Atlanta. He's still listed as day to day. New Penguin Philippe Boucher admitted he was a little nervous in his first game with the Pens. Evgeni Malkin, who was cut in the face and missed part of the last game, left practice after 10 minutes. Uh-oh, hopefully Geno's okay.

Have fun everyone trying to watch both the Steelers and the Pens if you're into both. We're sure we will. Although we do have a secret weapon. We have a black and gold tree we just decorated tonight, hopefully it'll bring good luck. As soon as we get the rest of the bulbs on and the tree topper, we'll take a picture and post it. There's not much cooler than a Steelers/Pens Christmas tree if you ask us.

Go Pens! Go Steelers!

Steelers vs. Bungles

Tonight the Steelers will play the Bengals for the second time this season after winning in Cincinnati 38-10 week 7. The Bengals are 1-8-1 and don't appear to be much of a threat to the Steelers but you never know. A short week is never easy, especially when you're banged up, but the Steelers should be able to pull out a win. Heath Miller should be back and we're excited about that because he's a hard worker that makes key blocks and has good, sure hands you can count on. One other thing you can count on is some good trash talking, especially since the Bungles are after Hines Ward for his superior blocking abilities. Which we're convinced they're just jealous of. Ike Taylor was voted the biggest trash talker on the Steelers by the Bengals, which he accepts graciously. He said he wouldn't like to be mic'd up, but would at the same time. He said you wouldn't be able to show what he says on NFL Network. We believe him on that one.

Ed Bouchette writes today that the Steelers are out to sack the Bengals. Harrison and Woodley each had two sacks each in their last meeting and somehow we think that's possible once again. James Harrison was named defensive player of the week yesterday, and with good reason. We have a feeling he'll have another good game tonight against the Bengals. Ed points out that the Bengals are 32nd in the NFL on offense and the Steelers are number 1 on defense. Seems like a total mismatch. Hopefully the Steelers don't get too ahead of themselves and write-off the woeful Bungles.

Game 11 Matchup: Steelers vs Bengals

Head to Head: Willie Parker has made it his business to run the Bengals into the ground

Coverage teams hear dinner bell by Gene Collier

Gary Dulac's NFL Forecast: Steelers 27-9

Peter Diana/Post-Gazette

We're hoping for a lot of this.

Enjoy the game! HERE WE GO STEELERS, HERE WE GO!

Pens lose to Wild 2-1 in SO

The Pens win streak is now over after losing to the Minnesota Wild 2-1 in a shootout. We don't have Versus and the feed we were watching was pretty bad. We couldn't even really see where the puck was going, the feed was all pixel-y and it sucked. Another feed was dubbed over in Russian and we couldn't take listening to a language we couldn't understand and got sick of people asking why it was in Spanish. Why is it that when people hear a foreign language, they automatically assume it's Spanish? Anyway, the moral of this story is we didn't really get to watch the game too well. We couldn't even see Geno's face when they showed him after his injury. So basically we'll say we're disappointed the Pens couldn't capitalize on the power play opportunities or score a goal in the shootout. 

Our next predicament is how to watch hockey and football at the same time on Thursday night. Why is the world so cruel?!

Recap of the Pens game.

Aftermath of the Pens game.

Penguins lose shootout to the Wild as offense fizzles.

Penguins notebook: Injured Fleury takes it slowly.

Jordan Staal's fight with Erik Reitz tonight:

What do you think?

In Steelers news, OT Marvel Smith's back issues still aren't resolved and he will not play again Thursday night. He and the Steelers' doctors are unsure whether he should have back surgery, but Mike Tomlin says his recent back problems are unrelated to last year's.

Heath Miller could play against the Bungles Thursday after going through a full practice yesterday. Ed Bouchette said during his chat he didn't think he would play, but we'll see tomorrow night. The other injured players will not return, although Bryant McFadden could possibly return next week.

Wide receiver Dallas Baker was signed to the practice squad after being cut by the Steelers to make room for DB Roy Williams.

Steelers notebook can be read here.

The Steelers are number 1 in overall defense at this time. They rank number 1 against the run, number 1 against the pass, and number 1 in fewest total yards. You can read Ed Bouchette's article, Steelers defense setting the pace in NFL here.

Bob Smizik thinks the Steelers offense must strike paydirt, and soon, if they want to go anywhere.

Ed Bouchette's Steelers chats are always entertaining to read, and you can do so here.

See you tomorrow.

Harrison the best in the NFL?

James Harrison was the Steelers' MVP last season and was voted to the Pro Bowl. This year his stats are incredible and it's possible he could break the Steelers' sack record considering he has 12 now and the record is 15 (Mike Merriweather, 1987). Most of his teammates are ready to put him up for Defensive Player of the Year honors, and rightfully-so. Ron Cook has written a nice article today on how it's now time to recognize James Harrison as possibly the best defensive player in the NFL. We have to agree with this for a lot of reasons, including those above. We've said more than once that Harrison is basically just an absolute beast on the field. He's big, strong, and fast, what more could you ask for? We also mentioned yesterday how it seems Harrison is held on basically every play. A fan wrote to Ed Bouchette asking him what can be done about this and lo-and-behold, Ed agrees he is held on every play. We're just so amazed he agrees because he's basically the king of Steelers football, everyone knows that. But back to the topic at hand, it says something when a team has to hold you to keep you from reeking havoc on their quarterback. If the NFL had a competition in this, we're not sure if anyone could actually keep James Harrison at bay. He claims he was blocked several times Sunday, but no one seemed to see where. He is definitely not a man to toot his own horn and we like that. But we also never expected such a big man to have such a...relatively small voice. We expect a big, booming voice from such a beast. Are we alone on this?

YouTube hates us lately since we can never find what we want, including a James Harrison interview. Granted it was a fast search, but you'd think there'd be a few. Although we can't complain too much considering someone was nice enough to upload the Evgeni Malkin post-game interview from the Sabers game we were talking about. How can you not like this guy? He followed Sidney Crosby's footsteps and took a pay cut to play with the Pens and have a good team. He doesn't clamor for the spotlight, especially when he plays on the same team as Sidney Crosby. He gives his teammates most of the credit for his hard work and even likes to credit good luck (yeah, okay Geno). And we're sorry, but we have to say it, how can you resist that accent and smile? He looks like a bashful little kid answering those questions. When asked about his point-streak he says it's his teammates passing to him and them scoring on his passes. We mentioned that the other night, but really people, who wouldn't pass to Evgeni Malkin? He's a keeper and that personality makes him all the more likable. Did we mention he was a good hockey player?

Geno's post-game interview:

Other good reads for the day:

Willie Parker wants the Steelers to get back to "Steelers football."

NFL says once again that Troy's TD was incorrectly reversed. Thanks NFL. Although they are planning to implement some sort of rule change to prevent things like this from happening again.

Injury shelves Penguins' Fleury, Sabourin takes over.

Penguins notebook.

The Pens play the Wild tonight at 7:08 at Mellon Arena. The game is once again only on Versus. We'll have to try to find some type of feed again and hopefully see a good part of the game. We really hate this whole Versus thing. Enjoy the game.

Yinz Luv 'Da Stillers and Troy Polamalu

New episode of Yinz Luv 'Da Stillers:

Troy Polamalu's Fingertip Interception:

Replays of Troy's interception:

Enjoy!

Fleury injured

Just popping in to give you the info that Marc-Andre Fleury is injured. Fleury did not practice today and will not play against Minnesota tomorrow due to an undisclosed injury he received during the third period of the Sabers game Saturday. It does not appear to be serious and he is listed as "day-to-day." Get well soon Flower!

Also, here is a new article from SI on Jordan Staal.

Steelers win 11-10

The Steelers were a part of history today by being part of the only game in the history of the NFL (over 12,000 games) to have the score end 11-10. We're not surprised considering that's one of the weirdest scores we've ever seen. Although it really shouldn't have turned out that way considering Troy Polamalu scored a TD in the fourth quarter that ended up being taken back by an "illegal forward pass." WTF? Of course, after the game the official admitted it was the wrong call. Talk about too little too late. That whole thing was a total mess considering there were breaks of confusion, TD being signaled, point after attempt going to be made, then TD not being held up. Eh. The NFL has some cleaning up to do and fast.

Let's talk about that interception by Troy Polamalu. What a catch, what a play. That was probably the best interception and catch we've seen in a very very long time. What skill to actually have the concentration to accomplish that. We thought for sure that hit the ground and upon seeing the replay were shocked. To get his hand under there and curl the fingers to keep it off the ground is just awesome. Unfortunately YouTube doesn't have the video of that yet, but we'll try to track it down.

The goal line stand the Chargers made on the Steelers was just...bad. We're starting to wonder, like just about everyone else, what Arians is thinking on some of these play calls. We liked the idea of a QB sneak but since Big Ben's shoulder isn't healthy that was obviously off the list, but eh, how frustrating. They should have scored there, period. We're also jumping on the where's the fullback bandwagon. That certainly could have helped on the goal line.

We can't talk about this game and not talk about James Harrison. What a beast week in and week out. Getting to Rivers in the endzone and causing that fumble, which could have lead to a TD but ultimately led to a safety nonetheless, was a great play. He went for the ball and that was a good choice. Unfortunately there was no Steelers defender there to get to it before the Chargers' player, but it was 2 points and in the end made a huge difference. Also making a huge difference was Harrison's sack just before the half that stopped the Chargers from getting any points. We had no idea he could run like that, let alone jump over defenders. Those are some big legs that can obviously run. He's become such a huge part of the Steelers defense and can be relied on to make big plays.

Hines Ward also deserves a lot of credit for making the plays when they're needed. It's obvious that Big Ben knows he can go to Ward when they need a few tough yards on third down. Ward had his second 100 yard game of the past two weeks and deservedly so. He had a couple penalties but with the way the game was played today, we don't know how many of those were legit (can you say holding against James Harrison on like...every play? We know that's probably the only way you're going to hold him back but c'mon...it's still illegal). And Ward made up for it in the end with those big catches to keep drives going.

Overall it wasn't the Steelers' best effort, but they got the job done and did what was necessary when called upon. One last thing we have to say is that Mike Tomlin's choice of jacket today was horrible. That thing looked like a garbage bag stuffed with, well garbage, and sewn up. It retails for only $149.99 at NFL Shop so get yours today!

Be sure to check out the PG for all your post-game reading needs. It's all worth a look. We'll see you tomorrow.

And don't forget the Steelers play the Bungles this week on Thursday. Ward better watch his back. The Pens also have a game that night, which we consider a travesty.

Steelers play Chargers today at 4:15

The Steelers will play the Chargers at Heinz Field today at 4:15. Roethlisberger will be up against another QB that was drafted ahead of him in 2004, hopefully he can go 1-1 after losing to Eli Manning and the Giants. We're gonna make this quick and head right to your Sunday reading:

Game 10 matchup: Steelers vs. Chargers

Head to Head: LT vs. James Farrior

Steelers release Baker in favor of cornerback

Steelers: Injuries are never an excuse but...

Bouchette on the Steelers  Some more political stuff and uneducated letter writers bashing Dan Rooney. How can you bash Dan Rooney? Geez people.

Commentary by Bob Smizik: It's that time again, must-win games down the stretch

Steelers' bidder Druckenmiller throw for loss in 3rd quarter

See you tomorrow.

Pens come from behind and win. Again.

There seems to be a trend in Penguins games lately, and that's playing from behind. The Pens fell behind 1-0, and then 2-1. If you thought the Pens were done, then you haven't watched Pens' hockey lately. They ended up scoring four unanswered goals in the third period to beat the Sabers 5-2, including an empty netter by Jordan Staal that was set up by none other than Evgeni Malkin. Speaking of Geno, he now leads the league in scoring, passing Alex "I have a really big mouth" Semin who didn't play last night in Washington's loss. Geno also kept his point streak alive and is one game away from Mario's record. Geno is quite modest when it comes to his accomplishments and always giving credit to his teammates saying, "Thanks to my teammates, they pass to me and score on my passes." Like you wouldn't pass to Evgeni Malkin, league points leader. And like having someone of his caliber wouldn't make a decent hockey player look good. FSN had a few questions with Geno and if we can find it on YouTube, we'll be sure to pass it on. Between that accent and those facial expressions, it's quite magical. Even Paul Alexander said something along the lines of "I really enjoyed that, I'm not sure why." Because it was awesome, duh! We're finally seeing Geno's personality and it's a good one. ; )

Penguins rally for four consecutive third-period goals to win 6th game in a row.

There are a few players you wouldn't expect who are ready in case their number is called in a shootout.

Aftermath: Penguins 5, Sabers 2

Game recap (lots of links to the right on this page)

Paul Bissonnette was sent to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton

Sean Leahy has reported on his blog that a Canadian media outlet is reporting that the Pens have traded Darryl Sydor to Dallas for Philippe Boucher. You can check out his post here.

Pens play Sabers tonight

The Pens will play the Sabers tonight at 7:38 at Mellon Arena. The Pens will debut their third jerseys tomorrow night, which we're sure you've all seen since they're basically the powder blue ones worn during the Winter Classic last year. Fleury and Sabourin will show off new masks that were designed for the Winter Classic. Should be nice seeing the boys dressed in powder blue again. This will be the first of several home games this season in which they will wear them.

Here is the list per the Pens site:

Saturday, Nov. 15 Buffalo
Tuesday, Nov. 18 Minnesota
Saturday, Dec. 20 Toronto
Saturday, Dec. 27 Montreal
Saturday, Jan. 3 Florida
Sunday, Jan. 18 NY Rangers
Sunday, Feb. 8 Detroit
Wednesday, Feb. 25 NY Islanders
Saturday, March 14 Ottawa
Sunday, March 22 Philadelphia
Wednesday, April 1 New Jersey

Shelly Anderson has an article today about Pens games not being for the faint of heart. We have to agree on that one. There is that story about the man who had a heart attack during the Steelers' Super Bowl run a couple years ago. People tend to get worked up over sports, us included. Everyone remember to take time to breathe. Here's to a healthy night for all.

A fan of Empty Netters picked out a guy in the crowd that looks like Ovie himself. We have to say that mystery guy in the crowd is better looking than Ovie. Mystery guy doesn't quite have the toothless, greasy hair, caveman look down yet, but what do we know? Unfortunately you'll have to click here to see the picture because it won't upload for us tonight. Or more like this morning.

Steelers notebook.

Life won't imitate art on the field. (Hint: Troy Polamalu and LT did a Nike ad together)

The Trib is reporting that the Rooney's have agreed to a deal on the team and Art Jr., Patrick, Timothy, and John will sell Dan and Art II  controlling stake of the team. You can read up on all of the details here.

See you tomorrow.

Edit: Sean Leahy has pictures of Fleury's mask.

Pens beat Flyers 5-4 in SO

Once again here we are in another OT game and the Pens making us sweat. With the Pens up 3-0 and making it look pretty easy, we wrongfully thought maybe we could cruise to a win without all of this up and down, roller coaster BS. We were wrong. Going from 3-0 to 4-3 didn't feel too good, but the Captain coming up big in the end was fitting. Seems his little rivalry with Richards may have gotten him fired up a bit. On a side note, was that father Troy we spotted in the crowd?

We personally love shootouts so we weren't disappointed to see it come to that. Sabourin was as good as gold in keeping the Flyers from scoring, especially on that save of Richards'. What a play. To get that stick over there to keep it from crossing the line was nuts. Great job by Sabourin once again.

We'd be remiss if we didn't mention Sid and Geno's backhanded goals, as we thought they were pretty nifty. Such talent makes it look easy though. Anyone else cringe at those slow-mo shots of Geno's "fall" behind the net? That looked like it was bad news and then right after that he was back out there. Unbelievable.

Also unbelievable, or not considering we're talking about the Flyers here, but Hartnell taking down Sabourin after he loses the puck and doesn't score. WTF? Seems like a Flyers move, but that's just total BS. He takes him down like he wants to rip off his head. He should be fined for that or something, it was obviously him taking his frustration out by trying to attack the goalie. Classy.

There's probably more to talk about but we're tired and can't think anymore, our brains are about fried. We need some sleep. But before we go, here are some links for you to check out.

Goligoski saves face and a point.

Penguins notebook.

New arena costs OK'd.

EN's blog.

Aftermath: Penguins 5, Flyers 4 SO

Game recap.

November 11th game most-watched regular-season game. (Re-aired Saturday on NHL Network. Now if we only had that channel...)

Be sure to check out the Steelers news.

Yinz Luv...!

New episodes of Yinz Luv 'Da Stillers and Yinz Luv 'Da Guins. More tomorrow. Enjoy!

Pens beat wings 7-6 in OT

We're pretty pissed that we didn't get to watch all of this game. We were already pretty mad we didn't get to see it, and now that's multiplied by about a million. We saw some of the first period and then started watching in the third again on a crappy internet feed when it was 6-4 or so (if we're wrong, we're wrong, we've been up since 6:30 a.m.). Seeing the Pens come back and tie and then win in OT was pretty fulfilling though. Seeing Jordan Staal basically do anything and everything was pretty awesome too. So who's still calling for that trade now? Staal had a hat trick and also set up the game winner by stealing the puck and passing it to Ruslan Fedotenko who scored the game winning goal. From what we saw of this game, this is the Pens we want to see. Fired up and ready to go, even when down 5-2. They fought back hard and it paid off. The PG has a poll up asking which means more, the win over the Wings or the way they won it. To us it's a no-brainer, it's the way they won that will serve them better in the long run. Although we're willing to bet beating the Wings felt pretty good too.

Game recap.

Game aftermath.

PG recap/article.

Penguins notebook.

Pens vs. Wings photo slideshow.

Seth over at EN's live game blog transcript.

Few Steelers links...

Big Ben's practice time may affect if he plays this week.

Bob Smizik says not to blame the loss on Arians, but the execution.

Steelers notebook. (Fast Willie may return, Woodley too but no Miller or Townsend).

Ed Bouchette's Steelers chat transcript. (Ed is always hilarious).

Here is a YouTube for you all of the tying goal and the winning goal for the Pens. Enjoy!

Steelers lose to Colts

The Steelers lost to the Colts yesterday 24-20. We're going to be honest and say we don't have a whole lot to say, even though we probably should. Those interceptions really cost them. They did make it exciting in the final seconds and Nate and/or Baker almost came down with that ball for the win. The Steelers no longer have the division lead and are tied at 6-3 with the Ravens. Not great. Like a lot of other things in that game.

We don't have much time tonight and apologize for the crappy post. Please head over to the PG if you can stomach it and take a gander at the Steelers coverage. There will be no post tomorrow because we will not be near a computer. Don't forget that the Pens will play the Red Wings for the first time this season Tuesday night. Unfortunately we won't get to watch it unless we can find some sort of feed on the internet because we do not get Versus. Let's go Pens!

P.S. Be sure to check out the Pens articles, Talbot bitter, angry about Hossa's exit and Penguins Notebook.

Steelers links

Like we said last post, sorry it's late, we had some difficulties. Here are a few good links to read over at the PG...

Bouchette on the Steelers: So you expected this for the first half of the season?

Why Dan Rooney fell for Obama. This may be political but it's a good article, especially if you were an Obama supporter. We only say that because it seems that some fans didn't like Dan's choice to publicly support Obama, especially his giving the Steelers jersey to Obama on his last visit to Pittsburgh, and tend to get heated. One statement included in this article includes a woman who vows to never watch a Steelers game again after being a fan for life and burning all her Steelers gear. We feel that's a little far and quite ignorant. We'll be honest, we supported Obama and had for months so we do agree with Dan Rooney, but he could've supported McCain and that wouldn't have changed our feelings on the Steelers. Dan stood up for what he thought was best for the country, not his pocket, and we give him a lot of credit for that.

These links may be worth a read, although we know the game has started and you probably won't see them until after.

Peyton Manning will test Steelers defense

Game 9 Matchup: Steelers vs. Colts

Head to Head: Steelers RB Mewelde Moore vs. Colts S Bob Sanders

Steelers add LB, drop Davenport

NFL Notebook

Pens beat Islanders in shootout 4-3

Sorry for the late post today, we had a few minor setbacks last night and didn't get to get our post done. Right now we're watching the Steelers play Indy and they just got into the red zone with a pass to Santonio Holmes. HERE WE GO STEELERS, HERE WE GO!

Last night the Pens played the Islanders in New York and it was a bizarre game at times to say the least. The ice appeared to be in horrible shape with people falling all over the place and pucks bouncing everywhere. But nothing was more bizarre than Dany Sabourin's final save in the shootout when the puck was stuck in his leg pads. (TD Mewelde Moore!) Looked like that could have been called a goal since Sabourin seemed to slide all the way back into the goal, but since the puck wasn't visible, there was no way to know for sure. 

Jordan Staal had a nice goal last night for his first non-empty-netter of the season. Tyler Kennedy also had two goals, as well as a shaving creme covered face after the game:

Looks like the boys are having fun. And you can't tell us that Dan Potash wasn't in on that little stunt.

Sidney Crosby had some nice chances to score, but unfortunately they didn't go in. No points for him last night. Geno had a hand injury after getting hit with a puck. Hopefully it'll be okay, it appeared to be last night after he came back into the game. Petr Sykora had the game-winning shootout goal, which was a nifty one. Overall, good effort coming back for the Pens to beat the Islanders.

Box Score/Recap from Yahoo!

Recap from PG

Pens notebook

Aftermath: Penguins 4, Islanders 3 SO 

Injuries, fines, and good deeds

Sidney Crosby may not play against the Islanders tonight because of his apparent hip problem. He sat out practice yesterday, but he did participate in some power-play work before the regular practice. He has traveled with the team and plans to join them in the morning skate. Coach Therrien says they will see how he feels today and they'll go from there. He hopes he will play. We all know Crosby will play if he thinks he can.

Ryan Whitney has been skating for the last few days for about an hour each day, which is good news for him. He says it's good to get back out there and skating really helps his weak ankle. He says no matter how much work you do off the ice, the skating really helps to strengthen it. The timetable for his return hasn't changed, although it is possible he could be back before late December, early January. He didn't travel with the team, but will skate again today. That and more in the Pens notebook today.

If you've read our blog for a while, you know we're not huge fans of the Trib, but we figured we'd pass this little gem along to you today. Joe Starkey says the Malkin-Ovechkin feud is festering. He says this has to be the most bizarre feud in sports, and considering how Ovechkin goes at Evgeni Malkin like he's the devil himself, we'd have to agree. Seriously, what did Malkin ever do? Steal his girlfriend? Call him a bad hockey player? Tell a bad joke about his Mom? Tell him he doesn't "measure up?" That last one could work considering guys tend to take that insult to heart, but hey, what do we know? In all honesty though, this so-called feud is odd. Why would one superstar go after another in such a fashion? It's blatantly obvious and while he's doing that, he's not helping his team. He didn't score against the Pens and part of that could be because he's too busy trying to kill Geno. This may be exciting to some, but to us it's just stupid. Plus, if Ovechkin finally does land that powerful hit and takes Geno out, he better be suspended after all this BS. Then hockey is down two superstars and that's not doing anything good for the league.

Moving on still on that topic, no one knows why this is going on other than a possibility that Ovechkin punched Malkin's Russian agent, Gennady Ushakov. Ovie denies the story but Malkin said "Yes, bad situation." Hmm...someone isn't telling the truth here. We're gonna go Team Geno, maybe we should make t-shirts. Who's in?

You can read Starkey's article here.

In Steelers news, LaMarr Woodley was fined $10,000 for a sack on Jason Campbell. Anyone want to take bets on how long till every player in the Steelers locker room is fined at least once? This is getting ridiculous. We see the line in this play considering Campbell's head was bounced off the turf, but let's get real here, that happens in football. There, of course, was no penalty on this play. The NFL needs to get their act together and make this more uniform. There is no rhyme or reason to these penalties and fines, and that's making the NFL look bad. The fans are outraged, as are the players. Something needs to be done and fast. Anyone with us?

Woodley's chances of playing Sunday are 50-50, and if he can't, Timmons is expected to fill in even though Keyaron Fox got the bulk of the repetitions in practice. Speaking of practice, Ben Roethlisberger did participate in drills yesterday, which would make him ready to play tomorrow. He threw with limited effectiveness and had ice on the shoulder afterwards. He is listed as probable. Davenport and Woodley are questionable, Polamalu, Roethlisberger, Carter, Hampton, Russell, Ward, and Townsend are probable. Mike Tomlin also was selected as Motorola coach of the week from among three finalists as voted on by fans at NFL.com.

Lastly, two articles for you, one on Steelers' backup TEs Spaeth, McHugh get a chance to step up, and a nice article on Hines Ward's Helping Hands charity which helps bi-racial children believe in themselves and tells of how he has brought some children from Korea to the United States to see a Steelers game and other activities. Great story there. There is also a video on the left side of the page. Enjoy.

Pens beat Oilers 5-4

The Pens were scoring left and right last night until the third period when things started to unravel. Thankfully, it didn't unravel to the point of a loss. We have to say we really like the Talbot - Crosby - Satan line, it looks pretty damn good right now. We also like Geno and Sykora, but that's a given. Geno's faceoff win that went to Sykora for a goal was beautiful, it was in the net in a blink of an eye. As nice as all that was, the Pens still have some issues with the third period obviously. If they hadn't scored so much early, giving up four goals generally doesn't earn you a win easily. The Pens need to sharpen a few things and get that intensity up in the third period so as not to constantly make us fans a nervous wreck. Especially with back-to-back goals in less than a minute, it's a little defeating. 

On to some links...

Penguins hold on to win.

You've all read the interview from Alexander Semin by now and what he had to say about Sidney Crosby. Sid has downplayed it and kept his thoughts to himself, but Michel Therrien has some questions for Semin:

"Is he talking about the youngest guy to get 100 points in the history of the National Hockey League?" Therrien said yesterday. "Is he talking about the [second-youngest] guy to win the Hart Trophy and [the youngest] leading scorer? Is he talking about the youngest captain in the history of the National Hockey League, and to bring his team to the Stanley Cup final?

"That's all I have to say."

Also in Penguins notebook, Hal Gill's next game will be the 800th of his career and Crosby tends to be popular in Canada.

You can check out Seth's live game blog here. We like the "best message sent to the video board": "Obama names Fleury secretary of defense."  Nice.

As for the Steelers, Willie Parker will not play Sunday against the Colts because of a shoulder injury and will be replaced by Mewelde Moore. Big Ben didn't practice today but will attempt to today, meaning the Steelers intend for him to play against the Colts. Hines Ward, Deshea Townsend, Marvel Smith, and LaMarr Woodley did not practice but all are expected to play Sunday except Smith. Also on the not playing list is Heath Miller, who Troy Polamalu considers the most complete tight end in the NFL, because of a *GASP* high ankle sprain. We don't know about you, but we basically hate hearing that injury after all the high ankle sprains the Penguins dealt with. You can read all that and more in Steelers notebook.

Gerry Dulac writes about Ike Taylor's awesome play as of late.

Big Ben, the Pens, and some eye candy for the ladies

Ben Roethlisberger had a meeting with head coach Mike Tomlin today and after he emerged he promised to play better from here on out. That's really great, except his shoulder seems to be back to square one again after he was hurt by a Mario Williams hit in week one. He also has a brace on his left thumb because a ligament was torn in it during the game against the Giants. He says it feels better but he probably has to wear it for eight weeks to keep his thumb from bending all the way back. He says that he wants to play Sunday and does not want to take a week off because he doesn't think it will help since it didn't heal during the bye week. Mike Tomlin says he's checking his progress day to day and will allow Big Ben to play without practicing like before the Jags game.

Willie Parker has a new injury, and it's not to his knee, but his shoulder. Tomlin says he should be fine and hopes he can practice tomorrow as he didn't today. Heath Miller doesn't appear to be playing this week and will be replaced in the lineup by Matt Spaeth who has been wearing a soft cast to protect and injured right hand/wrist. He says he'll be find and won't wear anything that will restrict him during the game and also says it's precautionary. Other players who didn't practice because of injury are Casey Hampton (toe), Marvel Smith (back), LaMarr Woodley (calf), Najeh Davenport (hamstring), Tyron Carter (ankle), and Bryant McFadden (forearm).

Byron Leftwich is also really tired after not getting much sleep the past two nights. Between the game in Washington and staying up to watch Barack Obama's victory speech and calling friends and family, he's beat.

Romeo Crennel had some kind words for his new starting quarterback who will face the Broncos Thursday night. "Knock wood, I hope the guy doesn't fall on his face." I'm sure Quinn was more than appreciative of the kind words. Is it just us or does it seem like Crennel doesn't want to do this? Could it really be any worse? We doubt it.

Also in NFL news, the Raiders cut ties with DeAngelo Hall after just eight games in Oakland. He had signed a seven-year, $70 million contract and they sent a second-round draft pick in 2008 and a fifth-round pick next season to Atlanta in March to get him. Are the Raiders completely nuts? Do they even know what they're doing? We doubt it on this one too.

The Pens will play the Oilers at home tonight at 7:00. It's a half hour earlier than normal to accommodate Canadian TV. Pascal Dupuis is going to play tonight even though he's not 100 percent yet. He won't say why he hasn't played but says it's something he can obviously play with. He was on a left wing with Geno and Sykora yesterday and says changing linemates won't impact how he goes about his work. He said the only difference is Malkin likes to shoot a little more and that they're both unbelievable players. Ruslan Fedotenko will probably not play tonight.

Satan and Crosby are figured to be together again on a line tonight with Max Talbot on the left wing. They're hoping that they have meshed their skills and will create more scoring this time around.

Seth over at Empty Netters has pictures of the new uniforms that were unveiled yesterday at the Mall in Robinson. They're basically just like the ones they wore in the Winter classic. You can check out the pictures here.

And last but not least, a fan of the Pens sent PittGirl and her blog "The Burgh Blog" some pictures of the Pens' soccer game the other day. What's so special about that you ask? Well, if your of the female variety or like shirtless guys, you're in luck. The guys played shirts vs. skins so unfortunately we do not get to see Sidney Crosby sans shirt as he played on the shirts side, but there's still plenty of skin. Go here to check out Marc-Andre Fleury, Hal Gill and others without their shirts. Enjoy ladies!

Lastly, for real this time, we just saw that FSN is going to air Penguins Instant Classic games from 2008 all day Thanksgiving Day. At 11:00 am and 5:30 pm you can watch the Winter Classic from New Years Day last year, and at 2:00 pm and 8:30 pm you can watch the Triple Overtime Cup Final Game 5. Be sure to check out Penguins Report and other good info on the Pens' site while you're there.

Big Ben's MRI, a new punter

Just a quick update on the Steelers today. Big Ben had an MRI and it showed no significant difference that it has all season and Coach Tomlin says he is "day to day." Tomlin also said "His injury status is no different, the MRI was very similar if not the same as it has been." His shoulder was separated in the season opener. Big Ben did not practice today. He said he wants to play against Indy on Sunday, but will have to see how his shoulder feels as the week goes along.

The Steelers also have a new punter. They re-signed Paul Ernster today and released Mitch Berger, who has had hamstring injuries in both legs. Ernster was with the team in training camp but was released on August 30th when the Steelers made the decision to keep Berger to replace Daniel Sepulveda. Berger's average was 41.9 yards in eight games this season, but his punts against the Redskins were 27, 32, and 35. Mike Tomlin said about the moves, "We feel at this point he gives us the best option in that regard."

There is also a poll on the Post-Gazette website asking if Mike Tomlin should rest Ben Roethlisberger and his ailing shoulder Sunday regardless of whether he is capable of playing and when we were there, out of 833 respondents, 699 (84%) said yes, while 134 (16%) said no. What do you think?

Links for today

First off, we would be remiss if we didn't mention that this country is now going in another direction as Barack Obama has been elected the next President of the United States, and the first black President in US history. People are partying all over the country, including outside the White House. We wonder what George Bush is doing...? No matter how you feel about the outcome, we hope you got out and had your voice heard.

On to the Steelers...

Tomlin admits Roethlisberger's shoulder never healed full since opener

Despite myriad injuries, Steelers in Super spot by Bob Smizik

Steelers Notebook: Miller doubtful, but Clark will return

Ed Bouchette's Steelers chat transcript

On the Pens...

Penguins' Staal wants to control his own emotions better

Penguins Notebook: Crosby mostly avoids responding to Semin

You can vote for the NHL All-Stars, including Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Marc-Andre Fleury, Sergei Gonchar, and Ryan Whitney beginning Wednesday at vote.nhl.com

Martin Brodeur of the New Jersey Devils is expected to miss three to four months after undergoing elbow surgery

Lastly, new episodes of Yinz Luv 'Da Stillers and Yinz Luv 'Da Guins. Enjoy!

Links for everyone!

Here are a few links from the Steelers game Monday night and a little info about the Pens:

Steelers overcome bad start, injuries as defense put a big hurt on Redskins

Defense ruled the game for Steelers by Gene Collier

Steelers Report Card: Game Eight vs. Redskins

Leftwich more than fills in the gaps by Ron Cook

Steelers notebook: Parker fills usual role in return to lineup

Photo Slideshow: Steelers vs. Redskins

NFL Notebook: Quinn takes over as Cleveland QB

Included in that is the news that the switch to Quinn was announced just hours after coach Romeo Crennel said he had no plans to make a change. Gee, did he think maybe his job was on the line? Also, Daunte Culpepper has agreed to a two-year deal with the Lions.

On the Pens side:

It's a hockey night...oops, it's a soccer day for Penguins

"Mad Mike" going soft? (From the Trib)

According to Rob Rossi, Sidney Crosby and Matt Cooke were the goaltenders in that soccer match. We're sort of surprised this was allowed to go down, especially with the likes of athletes getting injured by McDonald's bags.

On the Pens site this goalie info is confirmed and Crosby says they played "sockey."

Other headlines here.

An onside kick? Whaaaaaaat?

It was Monday night football and the fate of the USA was in the hands of the Redskins and Steelers on election eve. The last Redskins game in Washington before the election has correctly predicted the winner of the White House in 15 of the past 16 elections so of course the election is over right now before millions of people have even voted! If the Redskins lose, as they did tonight, that means that the party in the White House now is going to lose the election. So folks, you heard it here first, Barack Obama is the next president of the United States. No ifs, ands, or buts here. *Sarcasm* Seriously, go out and vote tomorrow no matter who you're voting for and don't be an ass and believe the fate of a football game tells the fate of this country, you need to let your voice be heard.

Now that we've lectured you on your right to vote and how you should exercise that right, let's talk about football! First off, what was with the onside kick to start the game? Seriously, WTF?! Who does that? What a way to start the game, giving the Redskins a nice present. They couldn't even get a first down but got three points anyway. Then on their next possession they get another gift from us and another three points. Six points in four minutes while they've done basically nothing. We thought, here we go, and fortunately we were wrong. Things didn't turn around right away for the offense, but the defense looked great. Lots of three and outs for the "D" and seven sacks, including two for Woodley and one-and-a-half for Harrison. Ike Taylor was playing really well and has been the last couple games we feel, he needs to keep it up. And how about that blocked punt? Insane. The defense was definitely doing it's job. And speaking of people doing their job, James Farrior was on fire, making tackles left and right. His play on fourth-and-goal near the end of the game to bat away that pass from Campbell was awesome. He's how old? I don't think anyone cares.

While we're discussing James Farrior we feel the need to bring up that roughing the passer penalty. What was that? He lead with his helmet? Yeah, their helmets touched, but that's about all we could call it. That was also quite a show put on by Campbell but we'll leave that alone. Our main point is the fact that the NFL really needs to decide on strict guidelines for these calls. It's ridiculous. Justin Tuck of the Giants had a roughing the passer call on him for an extremely clean hit, while another player we can't recall right now hit Trent Edwards of the Bills, slamming his head into the ground and that was fine. This is an embarrassment that needs to be cleaned up.

Big Ben had another rough night out there and things weren't looking good when it came to getting beat on by the opposing defense once again. He ended up leaving just before half-time while Washington had the ball to head to the locker room for x-rays. The injury appears to be the same type of shoulder injury he had before and doesn't appear to be serious. Mike Tomlin said he was potentially capable of coming back into the game, but Big Ben never did return and that left the Steelers in the hands of Byron Leftwich, who turned out to be very capable. Completing seven of ten passes for 129 yards and a touchdown with a passer rating of 145.8, he led the Steelers to a victory. Only one player complained about Leftwich and that was Santonio Holmes. He said it was tough to adjust to him because the ball gets there in a hurry. When told of that comment, Leftwich didn't say anything at first and then said he needs to work on that. We agree, Holmes dropped a few too many passes. Heath Miller also stayed out of the game with an ankle injury that we hope is not too serious, he's an important part of that offense.

We can't end this post without mentioning Willie Parker or the Steelers fans tonight. Parker looked good after not playing for a month with a knee injury. He also looked good after the game talking with the ESPN crew, quite the charming guy. The ESPN crew also had to compete with Steelers' fans chanting HERE WE GO STEELERS, HERE WE GO! after the game. It still always amazes us how many Steelers fans there are in visiting stadiums and how they can actually compete with the home crowd. In watching ESPN after the game, one of the announcers said he had a friend in radio who said there were about 30,000 Steelers fans there. We have no idea how close to a real number that is, but it sure sounds good.

Before we go we feel the need to mention that this Thursday night the Browns are going to start Brady Quinn at quarter back against the Broncos. Should be good how the kid does. At least the fans got their wish after chanting BRADY! BRADY! during their last loss. We'll have to keep an eye on him...

We'll probably be back later with links. For now, here's the box score and recap from ESPN.