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Steelers count on Chiefs to self destruct

Photos by Jeff Martin

by M. Stewart
The Pittsburgh Steelers often play their worst games on national television against weak opponents, and Sunday night was no different. Oh yeah, they won they game by a score of 13-9.

The Kansas City Chiefs defense, one of worst in the league, looked like the Baltimore Ravens as they held a bumbling Pittsburgh offense to a touchdown and a pair of field goals. Unable to conduct any business at all in the second half, the Steelers' offense looked like it had been modeled on the Cleveland Browns. They wouldn't have scored at all if KC hadn't handed them four turnovers.

One has to wonder what was going through offensive coordinator Bruce Arians' head when he decided to sit his first- and second-string running backs in favor of third stringer Mewelde Moore in the red zone. On his only carry of the night, Moore fumbled the ball away on the goal line. This is after Rashard Mendenhall scored on two tough red zone runs last week. I guess Bruce wanted to punish him.

Despite a broken thumb, Ben Roethlisberger managed to play well enough to outscore Chiefs' quarterback Matt Cassel, who didn't play at all due to injury. Ben barely played well enough to beat Tyler Palko, who threw three interceptions right to surprised Steelers' DBs. But it's hardly Ben's fault. He was under siege most of the evening from the Chiefs' pass rush. The Pittsburgh offensive line played it's worst game of the season. It happens.

It seems too that Mike Wallace is no longer a deep threat, if for no other reason than Ben can't throw the deep ball with any accuracy. If it were just this game no one would notice (broken thumb and all), but Ben hasn't been able to throw the long ball for several games. It probably wouldn't have mattered last night. Uncharacteristically, Wallace played like he had greased fingers.

If you saw the game, you know that as bad as Palko played, he nearly engineered a winning drive in the last two minutes. It was ended by an interception in which his wide receiver literally folded his arms against his ribs rather than attempt to catch the ball. Forever on film, Chiefs wide receiver Dwayne Bowe will go down as the NFL's biggest pussy.

But, as the cliche goes, a win is a win, especially a road win. In a week or two, no one will remember the Kansas City game. A win truly is a win, even if you look terrible in getting it. It won't be the first or last time the Steelers escape a loss with a disappointing performance. Good teams win even when they don't play well.

NOTE: Former Morning Journal reporter Jeff Martin was at Arrowhead Stadium last night. He promised to send some photos that I'll post as soon as they arrive.

Chief McVay's passing a blow to the city

by M. Stewart
Like everyone else in East Liverpool, I was shocked yesterday to hear about the sudden death of city police Chief Mike McVay.

I cannot say that Chief McVay was a close friend, but he was a much admired acquaintance, and I am very saddened by his death on both the personal and community levels. It was his leadership that made the ELPD the best police force in the Tri-State Area. The entire department took its strength from Mike's own personal and professional dignity.

I know that our PD will get through this difficult time and continue to live up to Chief McVay's high standards, but there's no getting around the fact that our community has suffered a tremendous loss. Perhaps we can take some comfort in knowing that the next chief will have learned from one of the best.

Goodbye Mike.

Max Keiser Report

Posting inspired by Doug Arner.

For the readers among you, check out Paul Krugman's editorial on how the elite of the elite operate in American politics.

Thanksgiving leftovers

by M. Stewart
I didn't get to see the Baltimore Ravens beat the San Francisco 49ers last night because I no longer get the NFL channel; however, I listened to the game on Westwood One radio. Although it was close at the half, I knew Baltimore would win. By the end of the game, the Ravens defense had run up nine quarterback sacks out of a coverage set. When that happens, there's no hope for the offense.

I keep hearing Pittsburgh sports talk guys saying that they won't believe in Baltimore until they beat the Steelers in a big game--as in playoff game. First of all, the Ravens have won every big game they've played this year, including the Steelers twice, the Bengals, Jets, Texans, and 49ers. The losses to relatively weak opponents--Jacksonville, Tennessee, and Seattle--have shown that Baltimore is capable of emotional let-downs, but that doesn't say anything about their ability to prep for big games with quality opponents.

Especially with the emergence of speedster WR Torrey Smith in the deep game, great play from veteran Anquan Boldin on middle routes, and the running and receiving of Ray Rice, the Ravens offense is a threat from anywhere on the field. Robot quarterback Joe Flacco is the wild card, but he is coming into his own, and I look for Joe to shake his can't-win-the-big-game monkey this year.

But Baltimore depends upon its defense to win games, and it does. That's the difference.

What I'd love to see is the Steelers trouncing the Ravens in the playoffs, but I'm not getting that vibe this year. In fact, I'm going to reverse the trend and say that until Pittsburgh shows it can beat Baltimore in a big game this year, I can't take them seriously as a Super Bowl contender. In other words, Baltimore is the team to beat in the AFC.

And how about Detroit's Ndamukong Suh stomping on Packers offensive lineman Evan Dietrich-Smith in full view of a national holiday audience? I'm guessing Suh will be suspended 2-4 games and fined in six figures. Just curious. How many of you have considered naming your next male child "Ndamukong"? This guy's issues gotta go back to childhood.

The Packers weren't happy about the incident, of course, but since nobody was hurt, it's but a twig in the road. Nobody in the NFL is playing well enough to beat the Packers at this point. Key injuries down the stretch could change all that, but this is a very good football team steamrolling its way to the playoffs.

By now you've all heard about the Black Friday pepper spray incident at the California Wal-mart. Ever media outlet has something on it. In a world filled with closed-circuit cameras and smart phones, competitive shoppers know that any BF incident will get them their 15 minutes of fame. So why not pepper spray a crowd in a toy department in Los Angeles? Can you buy pepper spray in Wal-mart?

As people riot in stores across America this Thanksgiving, we should all take a moment to remember the economic crisis. On Black Friday 2011, most Americans are poor. They can't afford to fly home to mom's for Thanksgiving dinner. They're cutting back to just one Apple toy per month.

The new American poor live in squalor. Their children go without shoes and coats. Some of the little ones have flies wandering in and out of their noses and mouths. In many cases, their parents have been forced to downsize their homes and cars--or worse yet, forced to work at a lesser job to pay the banks and utility companies.

Meanwhile, the patrician class lives it up on the backs of the suffering, dying middle class. The patricians laugh at government's attempts to curb their power. They have demonized government in the eyes of the common folk, who are lining up to stick their heads up any rich man's ass. Everyone in America wants to be rich. Everyone. They deserve it. In America, money is the only thing there is, and the more of it you have, the closer you get to God.

Tebowing

M. Stewart
Even at this early stage of his career, no one should be surprised at what comes out of Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow's mouth, but I admit that this guy continues to stun me.

An article at NFL.com quotes Tebow as saying, "If you're married, and you have a wife, and you really love your wife, is it good enough to only say to your wife I love her the day you get married? Or should you tell her every single day when you wake up and every opportunity? That's how I feel about my relationship with Jesus Christ."

Am I missing something? His relationship with Jesus Christ is the same as between a husband and wife? I don't even want to think about what that means.

The point isn't his faith or his bizarre relationship with Christ. Truly, nobody cares what he believes, but apparently he thinks we all do. It's his inappropriate public gesticulations and comments that make people dislike him. Nobody likes a show-off. The kid doesn't seem to realize that there is a difference between being religious and using the NFL spotlight to make himself, his team, and his faith look silly.

In a post-game interview last Thursday, Tebow responded to a football question with a tribute to his "personal lord and savior, Jesus Christ," as if that had anything to do with the question or the reason he was being interviewed. As I recall, he said the same thing twice--perhaps thrice--during the brief interview. Everything else was just a bunch of football cliches.

I'm sure Tebow isn't the only Christian in the NFL, but never before has anyone in the NFL had less class about his faith. Denver fans will support him as long as the team wins. If it doesn't, they'll want to nail him up.

Aside from the crass behavior, it remains to be seen if Tebow can even be a pro quarterback. He has shown absolutely nothing in that regard. The guy can't hit the broad side of the proverbial barn with his passes. Instead, the Broncos have hidden their quarterback inside a college option set that good NFL defenses will shut down in a heartbeat. Try that shit on Pittsburgh or Baltimore and see how far you get.

When Denver quarterback legend John Elway, now the the team's executive vice president, refused to drink the Tebow Kool-aid and testify that the young quarterback is the Bronco messiah, he was criticized by Denver fans. Some took the attitude of, "What does Elway know about it?"

How quickly they forget.

I lived in Colorado during the Elway era and saw every game he played for five years. He was the best pure quarterback I've ever seen, and that includes Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, Peyton Manning, or anyone else. So I'll go out on a limb and say that John Elway does know what he's talking about, and when he says it's too early to anoint Tebow, he's right. It's way too early. The kid has only started a handful of games, and based upon every way the NFL measures quarterback performance, he has been terrible.

How terrible, you ask?

Go to NFL.com's stats pages and look up passing and quarterback. You won't see Tebow's name (as of this writing). Every other starting quarterback is on that list, both good and bad. But no Tebow. Why? Because to be considered a statistically relevant quarterback, you must throw at least 14 passes per game. In short, Tebow's performance at his position is so bad that he doesn't even register as an NFL quarterback.

But the Broncos have won 4 of 5 games with Tebow at the helm, and that's the bottom line. What's so strange is that he and Jesus have taken all the credit. There are other players on the Denver team whose hard work may have had something to do with those victories. Did Jesus throw the blocks, kick the field goals, make the tackles, intercept the passes? If you listen to Tim Tebow, the answer is yes.

So given that Tebow plays his position so badly, what has made him so instantly famous? You tell me.

Darwinism and contemporary economics

Check out this story on how the rich get government welfare--a lot of it. How about a pair of oversized antlers for the person who has everything? Or how about cheese made of gold? Think I'm kidding? Think again.

Reading the news

by M. Stewart

So it turns out that Newt Gingrich received “at least $1.5 million” from Freddie Mac “for consulting contracts stretching from 1999 to 2007.” And just when Republicans were starting to take him seriously for the first time in two decades!

Of course, there is still time to recruit Sarah! Or perhaps the party of greed can bring puppet master Grover Norquist out of the shadows and finally come clean.

The way things are going, I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that Michelle Bachmann got caught using vodka-soaked tampons and that Herman Cain was tending bar. 

Did you hear about the Georgia man who is facing 105 years in prison because he won’t plead guilty to protecting his own property, and this is after police, who were involved in shooting a reality show, shot him in his own house.

Some people have been asking what I think of the Occupy Wall Street thing, so here goes. I think Republican Party-sponsored greed is the country’s biggest problem, and of course I support people’s right to protest, but I don’t believe protesters should be allowed to camp out indefinitely in urban parks and public spaces not designed for camping--barring a genuine revolution, that is. The answer to our economic problems will not come from the far left anyway. 

Having said that, apparently there are more people in the United States who prefer a communist state than approve of the U.S. Congress (11 to 9 percent). Let’s not forget that these guys didn’t just walk into Washington and take seats. Somebody elected them, and it’s becoming abundantly clear that the Tea Party movement’s recent “success” is ancient history. Even the most uninformed, stupid Americans have been able to see the TP’s real agenda, and it didn’t take long.  

Finally, it turns out that former Penn State coach Jerry Sandusky has hired an attorney who, when he was 49 years old, fathered a child with a 15-year-old girl. The first thing said pedophile attorney did was to arrange a prime-time interview for his client with NBC's Bob Costas. In just a few minutes, Sandusky convinced everyone who heard him that he is guilty. 

And the results are . . .

Nick Swardson's Pretend Time	Wednesdays 10:30 / 9:30c
Uncensored - Alien Paternity Test
www.comedycentral.com
Lady Gaga's Brother: Garry Gaga Wheelchair Cat Nick Swardson on Jokes.com

Steelers beat Cincy; Ravens blow it in Seattle

Someone must have reminded the Pittsburgh Steelers defense at halftime that interceptions are permitted in the NFL; otherwise, the team wouldn't have beaten the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday. Without William Gay's game-changing pick near the end of game, the Bengals had a real good shot at knocking Pittsburgh out of the playoff hunt.

Instead, thanks to Baltimore's loss to the Seattle Seahawks, the Steelers find themselves in first place by a half game. Because Cincy plays the Ravens next weekend and the Steelers have a bye, someone will be sharing that spot with them. Steelers fans hope it's the Bengals.

In other NFL stories, the football media continues to deify Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow, whose unbelievably bad performance on Sunday was lauded coast-to-coast. Tebow's team managed to beat a mediocre Kansas City Chiefs team by a touchdown, yes, but Yahweh's quarterback went 2 for 8 for just 69 yards. Win or lose, if any other NFL quarterback went 2 for 8, he would be crucified by the pundits. But not Tebow. Instead, it's "Tebow leads Broncos over Chiefs."

Here's the truth: Tebow is a college-level quarterback for a bad team that has been able to beat a couple of other bad teams in spite of his terrible play.

But the NFL also has a quarterback sponsored by another mythic god--Satan. That would be Michael Vick of the Philadelphia Eagles, whose team lost at home to the Arizona Cardinals. Vick went 16 of 34 for a measly 128 yards. Arizona came to town with backup quarterback John Skelton, who was 21 of 40 for 315 yards and 3 TDs. Despite Skelton's remarkable performance, I was unable to find any headlines that read "Skelton leads Cardinals over Eagles." Maybe Skelton needs to make a bigger show of his religion on the field.

I wasn't surprised by the New England Patriots beating the New York Jets in last night's game. The Pats were pretty much in the same boat as Pittsburgh. Another loss would have placed them into the "also ran" category, and Tom Brady wasn't about to let that happen. The Pats blew out the Jets 37-16.

The Cleveland Browns? They can't even kick a chip-shot field goal to beat the lowly St. Louis Rams. The Browns are literally hard to watch. Somehow they have managed to win three games this year, but for the life of me, I can't figure out how. It's hard to imagine a team with less talent and promise. The only good player the Browns have, Joshua Cribbs, seems doomed to waste what could be a great career in Cleveland.

The Republican presidential field needs to keep quiet

by M. Stewart
This week, Republican presidential candidates continued to make fools of themselves on national television and blame the media for their own idiocy. Ever since Ronald Reagan, Republicans have blamed "the media" for everything. GOP Rule #1: Never accept responsibility for your own actions.

As if to prove how out of touch the Republican Party is, Herman Cain continues to be the front runner in the weakest field of presidential candidates in living memory. Yet polls of the general electorate repeatedly show that Cain is unelectable, which naturally leads Democrats to hope and pray that he ends up being the Republican nominee. Of course, God himself has chosen Herman Cain for the job of president--or so says the loony front-runner. Read about it here.

Myself, I was hoping for Sarah Palin, but the red-clad symbol of American ignorance didn't have the stomach for it. Instead we have Herman Cain, whose response to American foreign policy questions is, "I don't know nothin' about no Becky-beckystan." A new hero for the Tea Party indeed! Cain also told us all that somehow he can't remember paying hush money to two women who accused him of sexual harassment. It was, after all, a long time ago.

Would-be dictator Rick Perry couldn't remember which government agencies he would eliminate if elected . . . er. . . ah. . .what office is he running for? In an effort to recover, Perry's crack campaign team got him a gig on a late night comedy show to make him look even more foolish. But he's a fighter, this Texan. He's not giving up.

Mitt Romney, the only Republican candidate who stands a chance of succeeding in a general election, is a closet liberal, who spends most of his time trying to convince the conservative faithful that his past record as Massachusetts governor doesn't count. It's no wonder the Republicans don't want him.

Newt Gingrich, the only serious Republican contender without brain damage, remains one of the most unlikable people in American politics.  But affability is overrated. If I were a Republican, I'd go with Newt.

All the while, each member of the Republican field remains hard at work trying to make America forget which party tanked the world economy in the first place. They blame President Obama for not creating jobs while running around telling everyone that the federal government should turn the country over to the same greedy businessmen who refuse to hire American workers.

At the state level, Republican politicians have failed in their own misdirection quest that involves blaming educators, firefighters, cops, and every public servant for all their revenue problems. They do this while continuing to preach tax breaks for the wealthy. It never occurs to them that the only money government gets is from taxation, and a working middle class--even if they work for the government--pays a lot of taxes and buys a lot of stuff. I wouldn't want one of these guys to balance my checkbook, let alone run my state. Wait a minute. One of them does run my state!

While it's obvious that the Republicans only answer to the sluggish economy is to keep reducing taxes for the rich and demonizing public servants, others are seeing the big picture of America's rapid decline. If you watch Fox News, you will not have heard of Niall Ferguson. Others of you no doubt have. If not, check out this article describing the broad strokes of Ferguson's new book on how the U.S. might avert its continued collapse.
[WARNING FOR AMERICANS: The article includes references to history.]

Penn State: "Success with Honor"?

by M. Stewart
I'm sure you've all been following the recent news out of State College, Pa. involving the child sex scandal coverup. The events that led up to the firing of head football coach Joe Paterno and university president Graham Spanier were about as bad as it can get, but last night's student reaction sends a message to the rest of the world that Penn State is anything but serious academic institution.

Not a single student hit the streets when a grand jury investigation showed that a university-sponsored kids program was nothing more than a way for ex-Penn State coach Jerry Sandusky to recruit children to for sex. Not a single student protested when the world discovered that Joe Paterno and others at the university covered up the actions of a serial child predator for years, allowing Sandusky to continue stalking his prey. But when "JoePa" gets fired by the university board of trustees, students hit the streets to riot.

I'm glad I have nothing to do with Penn State. It's going to take a long, long time for that institution to restore it's credibility on any level. The students can blame the media all they want, but the shame is on them.

Elections

by M. Stewart
Ohio voters finally saw through the Republican agenda and voted down Senate Bill 5/Issue 2. The Tea Party/Republican effort to destroy the public sector has been unmasked and revealed for what it is: an attempt to turn the country over to corporate interests at the expense of the middle and working classes.

I think the local issue was heavily influenced by the national Republican presidential candidates, who have done everything they can to show that they are nothing more than shills for the greedy rich. The politics of greed under the last Republican administration brought the country to its knees, and this field of candidates assumes we all have amnesia. The attack on public servants that SB-5 represented is all part of an elaborate misdirection campaign, and everyone--even those who voted to support Issue 2 --should be thankful that Ohio didn't fall for it.

Let me also extend my congratulations to Susan Haugh, who was elected mayor of Wellsville. I know she will do a great job in restoring public confidence in the mayor's office.

Art reception Thursday at Mary Pat Gallery

Newell, W.Va. artists Randy and Kathy Railing will be on hand Thursday evening from 6:30 - 8:30 p.m. at the KSU-EL Mary Patterson Gallery to open their Ohio Valley Regional Arts Council exhibit. Stop by if you can. As always, food and beverages are free.

Baltimore shows Pittsburgh how it's done

by M. Stewart
Well, it's official. The Baltimore Ravens are a better football team than the Pittsburgh Steelers. Last night's big win for Baltimore at Heinz Field can be summed up fairly easily: the Ravens made big plays when they had to and the Steelers didn't.

If you have a four-point lead with two and a half minutes left to go, and your opponent has the ball on its own eight yard line and no time outs, chances are you're going to win, especially if you have a great defense that has played well all night. Right?

Now here's a multiple-choice question for all you high-school football coaches and arm-chair quarterbacks: If you're in that situation, what do you tell your veteran secondary?

A. Whatever you do, don't let any receiver get behind you. Keep the play in front of you.
B. Let a rookie wide receiver beat you into the end zone, and when he fails to catch a perfectly thrown ball  for a game-winning touchdown, give him a second chance.

If you chose "B," you are the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Anyone can make mistakes, but when you make mistakes in critical situations at the end of big-time NFL football games, you're going to lose. Having said that, Sunday night's game was a team loss for Pittsburgh. Ben Roethlisberger's ridiculous interception to Terrell Suggs (of all people!) that ended a scoring drive to open the second half, poor special teams coverage that gave Baltimore a short field all night, both offensive and defensive failures in the final two possessions of the game: pick your poison.

From the Ravens side, this was a welcome-to-the-elite game for quarterback Joe Flacco. Maligned as inconsistent, Flacco was brilliant on third down all evening. He made the big plays when they had to be made. He engineered the final winning drive with the kind of precision, confidence, and toughness that only elite quarterbacks can muster.

The bottom line is that with Pittsburgh out of the way, this is Baltimore's year. Make no mistake about it, the Steelers remain a good football team, but they don't have what it takes to beat the Ravens. Not this year.

CNN update on Judge Adams beating story

Check out this extensive update of the Texas teen-beating incident. Talk about a dysfunctional family!

Texas judge beats daughter for using Internet

This is how sadistic parents express love in Texas, but the daughter got her revenge. How? By secretly filming her beating and posting the video on the Internet. Now that's what I call justice! The beating shown here took place several years ago, but the video has just recently been posted on YouTube. The judge admitted that he is the person delivering the punishment in the video. Are you surprised that the parents are now divorced? Are you surprised that Judge William Adams presides over child abuse cases?  Read an update here. Earlier this week I passed on a story about an Oklahoma judge who was caught masturbating in court. And then there was the Pennsylvania judge who sentenced teenagers to private prisons for kickbacks, and it doesn't stop there. It's time we quit buying into the mystique of judges. They are lawyers with robes, nothing more, and they do not deserve respect merely because they put on those robes. No question about it, we need to find a better way of vetting attorneys before we hand them so much power.