Last Thursday was Thanksgiving or the day otherwise known to my daughters and most likely 99.99 percent of the global female population of the planet as “Black Friday eve.” I once asked my daughter, “why aren’t you eating any turkey and stuffing? Are you okay?” “Yeah daddy I’m fine, I just don’t want to be sluggish when they open the doors at 12:01 a.m. at Macy’s.”
Last Thursday was also the day that I ventured down to M&T Bank Stadium to chronicle the game, I mean bloodbath between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Baltimore Ravens. In my opinion; “golden handcuffs” have been placed on most of the aggressive players in the NFL, especially and particularly those that play defense.
In light of these recent restrictions, there may be only two “sacred songs” left in the NFL’s future. The first being our national anthem, “The Star Spangled Banner.” The second being the timeless hit from the legendary big man with the “girly” voice, Tiny Tim. For those of you who might remember, he recorded the hit; “Tiptoe Through the Tulips.” He was a constant source of entertainment and ridicule for the late Johnny Carson and Tim even married his beloved “Miss Vicky” on “The Tonight Show,” which led the great comedian Don Rickles to ask this question. “Which one is the wife?”
But hey as long as America was entertained, what the heck. But back to the song “tiptoe.” “Tiptoe through the window, by the window, that is where I’ll be. Come tiptoe through the tulips with me. Oh, tiptoe from the garden, by the garden of the willow tree. And tiptoe through the tulips with me. Knee deep in flowers we’ll stray. We’ll keep the showers away. And if I kiss you in the garden, in the moonlight, will you pardon me? And tiptoe through the tulips with me.” (Tiny Tim)
All I have been hearing about lately is this diplomatic solution and that diplomatic solution between America and Iran regarding Iran developing nuclear devices and nuclear weapons. Let’s put it this way, even our nation’s top diplomat secretary of state of the United States John Kerry nor his predecessor Hillary Rodham Clinton, wife of Bill, could be more proficient at “disarmament” than NFL commissioner Roger Gooddell. I have come to the conclusion that the NFL is made up not of 32 teams from 32 cities, it seems to me that these teams represent 32 different states or in an extreme case, 32 different countries with flags and all of the proper decorum that goes along with the proper representation of sovereign nations.
When I happened to stumble upon the Ravens “war tent” the flags of Baltimore’s “allies” were prominently and proudly displayed. The flag that was flown proudly beside the “Stars and Stripes” was the flag from the proud country of “Bud Light.” The “Budlighter’s” as their country affectionately likes to be known will go to war for any NFL team, hey so as long as they can consume and sell a couple thousand “brewski’s.” Loyalty is to the fan that yells and screams out in the middle of a drunken stupor; “I want a…Bud Light or a…look I’m thirsty, give me something to guzzle.” This is the Aubrey Bruce NFL version of “Tiptoe Through the Tulips.” “Tiptoe down the middle, on the sidelines, that is where I’ll be.”
Game notes: As far as the game was concerned the Ravens won the kickoff and deferred which was a great choice because the Steelers ran three straight running plays with a net gain of 6 yards, without one pass. Huh? This from an offense whose quarterback was awarded the NFL offensive player of the month. As far as the kicking game is concerned, this is the second game this season that Shaun Suisham the placekicker for the Steelers who in the past was considered almost Mr. Automatic has cost the Black and Gold a game.
However, the Pittsburgh offense must discontinue each game coming out trying to “pound” the football. They ran five successive running plays in the first quarter. Always preserve time whether it is in the first two minutes of a contest or the final two minutes. Each segment of a game that has a deadline must be approached and treated as such with regularity and consistency. Steelers Head Coach Mike Tomlin was and is still at the center of a firestorm after accidentally interfering with a kick return by Ravens wide receiver Jacoby Jones.
After the Steelers lost to the Ravens Coach Tomlin had this to say. “I always watch the returns on the Jumbotron. It provides a better perspective for me.
Obviously, I lost my placement as he broke free. I started at the last second and saw how close I was to the field of play. I do it quite often like everyone else in the National Football League. I was wrong. I accept responsibility for it.” Baltimore QB Joe Flacco had a stinging critique of Tomlin and the incident.
Do you think that may be because Flacco does not anticipate facing Coach “T” again this year or the next. Flacco said, “He was looking at the big screen the whole entire time. He knew where he was. Hey Joe, do you always know where the opposing defensive back is when you throw a pick?
