My New Crush: ESPN's James Walker

I now have a huge crush on James Walker, who this week called the Steelers the NFL's "lone dominant team." LOVE. Here are some excerpts from his blog post:

"...the league's lone dominant franchise resides in Pittsburgh. The Steelers (3-1) have been winning quietly and playing at less than 100-percent capacity without quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, who is returning this week from a four-game suspension. Still, they are 32 seconds away from being 4-0, which virtually throws out the aforementioned stat everyone wants to talk about. Don't let a late Joe Flacco touchdown pass fool you: Pittsburgh is elite. Now at full strength, Pittsburgh is ready to show its dominance Sunday against the Cleveland Browns (1-4)."

Here are Walker's top reasons why we are the best in the league:

1) Roethlisberger is back (DUH)

"Roethlisberger is a top-five quarterback and a two-time Super Bowl champion. It's like acquiring a $100 million free agent in Week 6 to boost an already strong team."

2) We've faced tough opponents and come out on top.

"The Steelers didn't pad their record against creampuffs. In fact, Pittsburgh's first four opponents have a combined record of 14-5, tops in the NFL entering Week 6."

3) Kids in the Mendenhall

"As one Pittsburgh star was suspended, another star for the Steelers emerged in Mendenhall. The third-year tailback recorded his first 1,000-yard season in 2009, but is on pace to shatter career highs in yards, attempts and touchdowns. Mendenhall is playing at a Pro Bowl level."

4) Our defense is "dynamic" (Again, DUH)

5) Remember 2005? 2008?

"Pittsburgh is the only team playing with that championship swagger"

Oh and did I mention that Walker is really cute?

Yep - really cute. Read the whole thing here:

http://espn.go.com/blog/afcnorth/post/_/id/18948/steelers-are-nfls-lone-dominant-team

#7 Returns - Food Edition

So I've gotten over my outrage regarding Big Ben's text-affair with Ray Lewis. I forgive him, begrudgingly, and I'm excited for him to return to the field this weekend and put all of this nonsense to rest. To celebrate the Prodigal Ben's return, I dedicate this blog post to recipes involving the number 7. You could always make Roethlisburgers, but I thought I'd try to be a little more creative.

7-Layer Dip

This was the first food that came to mind. Rachael Ray's Lucky 7-Dip has received great reviews online. Even though her personality makes me want to barf, her recipes are usually delicious. You can find it here.

7 Onion Soup with Parmesan-Garlic Bread

This soup is really flavorful and is appropriate for the chilly weather we're having. I've made many of Emeril's recipes, and you really can't go wrong with them tastewise. If you're cooking for the health conscious set, though, you might want to try substituting whole or 2% milk for the cream in the recipe. You can find it here.

7-Up Cake

I've never actually had 7-up cake, but a co-worker recommended it to me and I found a good recipe for it on Epicurious. I'm told that this cake tends to be on the sweeter side, so if you want to cut the sweetness you can swap some fresh lemon-lime zest for some of the 7-up.

I wouldn't recommend serving all three of these if you are trying to present a cohesive meal. But if you're like me and only care about serving delicious food and don't really care about courses complimenting one another, then knock yourself out. Of course, if the food turns out poorly, you can always wash it down with a 7 and 7 (Seagram's 7 Crown Blended Whiskey, 7-up and lemon).

First there was polka... now hip hop

I've been wondering for a while when a 2010-2011 edition of Here We Go will debut, but Wiz Khalifa's "Black and Yellow" certainly fills the void I'm feeling. Not only is Black and Yellow really catchy for a rap son (seriously, I've been dancing in my cube all morning), but the music video showcases the Burg unlike anything I've seen. Some highlights:

1) Terrible Towels Galore

2) LaMarr Woodley cameo

3) Burgh beauty shots

4) and Kiss FM's Dj Bonics

Check it out.

WTF Ben?!!!!

Just when I had totally forgotten about Big Ben's misgivings, when I was ready to shout his name from the mountaintops, he disappoints me again. Ray Lewis, the biggest thug on our biggest rival, told reporters this week that he and Ben Roethlisberger have been communicating via text message. VOMIT.

This, during the week where we face the Ravens at home, is unacceptable behavior. Lewis claims that Ben needed to take comfort in someone who had been through an ordeal similar to his. And because they both used the same lawyer, Ben felt Lewis was the obvious choice for trusted confidant.

I am so upset about this I've avoided writing this post for several days. Ron Cook at the Post-Gazette defended Ben this week, saying that he should heed Lewis' advice because people have largely forgotten about Lewis' murder accusations.

I see where Ron Cook is coming from, but I just can't agree. I would be totally fine with Ben confiding in any player on a team that isn't named Ravens this week. Any player that isn't named Ray Lewis. I realize that Ben needs advice and companionship. However I also realize that there are many, MANY other people that would be ecstatic to help Ben in his time of need.

I'm sure that yinzers with criminal records would line the streets of Pittsburgh to talk with Ben about his ordeal. He wouldn't even have to promise them free sammiches and Iron City, because they believe in him and they believe in Pittsburgh. I just wonder if he believes in them too.

Gameday Girlnotes: Steelers v. Buccaneers

1) A win today would be the first (3-0) start since Tomlin's rookie year in 2007, and just the third (3-0) start since 1992. (Really?)

2) Chaz Batch is our starting QB.

3) Look for the defense to dominate again this week. They have to, mainly because our offense has yet to score a touchdown. And, our defense has to win this game yet again because well defense wins games. And because Tampa QB Josh "Little Ben" Freeman stands 6'6," and is oft compared to our once-again-beloved Big Ben. Okay. That height and skill will just make sacks like this all the more Taz-tacular:





4) Casey Hampton and Max Starks are back - yay!




Oh wait... that means we'll be looking at these pouches all game. Still Yay?

Wait I seem to remember many, many sacks that went something like this...




Ok... still yay - bellies and all. In fact, maybe Ill make them some pancakes.

5) Pouncey v. Tampa DT Gerald McCoy: The two played against each other in the 2009 BCS Championship Game. An interesting matchup to watch.


6) Watch out - this could be a trap game. Coming in to this season, most thought that this game was the only guaranteed win of the first four. We just can't count on that now because a) we're down to our 4th string QB and b) Tampa is 2-0 as well. In fact, some Tampa football commentators are even billing this game as a Super Bowl Preview.


7) And finally, watch for our beloved Troy Polamalu to take out tight end Kellen Winslow, who the Cleveland Browns drafted instead of Ben Roethlisberger in 2004. Whoops. He lost favor in Cleveland because of a number of injuries and some bad publicity (sounds familiar). They traded him to Tampa in 2008 where he's set several records and become a real asset to the team.

My bet? Troy will take him out. Then he'll help him up, and we'll get a gameday glimpse of those adorable smiles you see below.

Remember This?

As much as I love love love Charlie Batch as a person, I'm nervous for him to start at QB today. Ok more like shakin' in my boots. Let's be serious here - he hasn't started at QB since 2007, and has been injury prone for his entire career. Oh and he had serious problems with his passing game last week.

Should Batch have to leave the game, it's likely that Tomlin will put Leftwich in to see how well his knee holds up. But why do that? We will absolutely need a healthy Leftwich next week against the Ravens. Though they look terrible so far, no Pittsburgh fan ever writes off a game against Baltimore - and I'd feel a lot better if a healthy Leftwich took the field.

Today is the day for Tomlin to take a chance on Randel El at QB. He's not pulling his weight at wide receiver anyway. From Ed Bouchette:

"He has yet to throw a pass in his second stint with the Steelers, but in his previous eight NFL seasons, Randle El completed 20 of 25 passes in the regular season for four touchdowns. His near-perfect passer rating of 153.1 is the highest in NFL history among players who have thrown at least a dozen.

Those numbers do not include his biggest completion of all, the one he threw to Hines Ward for 43 yards and a touchdown in the fourth quarter that helped the Steelers win Super Bowl XL. He is the only wide receiver to throw a touchdown pass in a Super Bowl."

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10269/1090400-66.stm#ixzz10e4vTV9X

As I Was About to Write My Game Recap...

I saw this totally amazing post on That's Church. Must. Read.

What They’re Really Thinking: Turnover Edition