Morning Reading: Ah, the Steelerettes
The
Pittsburgh Steelers
were graced with the presence of cheerleaders during one point of their history. From 1961 to 1969, the team had the Steelerettes. Since then, sadly, the Steelers have been without cheerleaders. The Steelerettes were made up of
Robert Morris Junior College
students and when the school got a football team of its own, the girls left the pro team they had so diligently supported. To this day, Pittsburgh remains sans cheering girls. They do have quite the head coaching history though.
From Chuck Noll to Bill Cowher to Mike Tomlin, the last three coaches have each led the team to Super Bowl victories. Tomlin has been rewarded for his success since he took over for Cowher and has signed a three-year contract extension. Although the Steelers missed the playoffs in 2009 (and will have an uphill battle in 2010 thanks to the actions of a certain quarterback), the Super Bowl victory ensured Tomlin isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. Good move by Pittsburgh. Tomlin is a solid, young coach who has a number of good years ahead of him.
Think the Miami Heat are a year or two away from being a legitimate championship contender? Think again. Bringing back Dwyane Wade made them a playoff team. Adding Chris Bosh and LeBron James made them one of the top teams in the East at the very least. Resigning Udonis Haslem and bringing in Mike Miller may have punched their ticket to the Eastern Conference finals for the foreseeable future. And what they continue to do may make them the team to beat as early as this upcoming season.
The Cleveland Cavaliers have yet another reason to dread the day the Heat come to town. Zydrunas Ilgauskas is headed south as well. Ilgauskas will sign a two-year deal with Miami and provide them with the big man they lacked. While Ilgauskas isn’t the same player he once was, he gives the Heat important minutes and six fouls a game. Another good signing for a team quickly assembling a ridiculous roster.
The Heat also appear close to adding Juwan Howard. He’s not the Howard of 15 years ago, but he’s still a solid role player that provides Miami with depth as they pursue another championship.
Al Jefferson is already that player everyone likes, but also forgets. A young, productive big man with the Boston Celtics early in his career, Jefferson will always be remembered as the key player traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves for Kevin Garnett. In Minnesota, he got lost as most other players do.
Jefferson has found his way out and into the arms of a potential playoff team – the Utah Jazz – but he’s still that guy we won’t remember in 20 years. We’ll remember the trade, but we won’t remember Jefferson on the court. He’s a good player, but not a great one, and an important pickup for the Jazz. But that’s about it for Jefferson. Maybe now he’ll get a taste of what it’s like to be on a winner, but that might not be guaranteed with Utah losing Carlos Boozer and Kyle Korver.
No sports today. Well, none of the major sports. This is one of those two days a year when there is nothing on. Not that I watched what was on yesterday. I did catch the first inning of the all-star game before switching to an episode of Sopranos. A few thoughts on the mere minutes I saw…
Rod Carew still has some zip to his throws. It was nice to see someone toss out the first pitch that could actually, you know, throw the ball.
If you had asked me to guess how many times eventual MVP Brian McCann had been an all-star, I would have guessed this was the Atlanta Braves’ catcher’s first appearance. It was his fifth.
Jonathan Broxton, John Buck, Matt Capps, Hong-Chih Kuo, and Matt Thornton all appeared in the game. I hadn’t heard of any of the five of them until last night and still can’t tell you what teams they play for.
It’s been a long time since I’ve had a favorite baseball player. It was Ozzie Smith for much of my childhood and I’m interested to see how Tim Beckham’s career pans out, but right now it might be Robinson Cano. I seem to have some sort of weird draw toward middle infielders. I have no idea why. I spent my one little league game chewing on my fingernails in right field.
Having World Series’ home-field advantage decided by the outcome of the all-star game is one of the stupidest sports ideas ever. It’s a fun event played out mostly for the fans not to decide where the World Series starts. The team with the best record should be the one that gets home-field advantage. That’s part of their reward for finishing so well. Basing it on the all-star game makes no sense. It’s a ploy to get fans more interested in the game. In the end, McCann’s heroics may have helped a number of other National League teams, but could have nothing to do with his own. Stupid.