AARON DONALD, after the unveiling of the new “Aaron Donald Football Performance Center” at Pitt’s practice facility, June 19, 2019. (Photo courtesy Pitt Athletics)
by Bill Neal, For New Pittsburgh Courier
:10—Let’s start out with this…Good pitching will always beat good hitting. Now let’s look at some pitchers throughout the major leagues, shall we?!?! 1) Jameson Taillon, Yankees – 8-1, 3.19 ERA 2) Joe Musgrove, Padres – 8-1, 2.12 ERA 3) Gerrit Cole, Yankees – 6-2, 2.99 ERA 4) Tyler Anderson, Dodgers – 8-0, 3.00 ERA. Combined, these pitchers are 30-4, with an ERA of 2.81. And let’s throw in Clay Holmes, relief pitcher for the Yankees – 12 saves, 0.52 ERA and just broke the legendary Mariano Rivera’s 29-inning scoreless streak record. What do all these pitchers, who will no doubt be on their league’s All-Star team rosters this year, have in common? That’s right, all were Pittsburgh Pirates at one time, traded for prospects. 30-4. ‘Nuff said.
:09—Has anyone noticed that your Pittsburgh Steelers now have the highest salaried defense in the entire NFL? With Cam Heyward, Minkah Fitzpatrick and T.J. Watt, you’d expect it to be higher this year, along with the recent signings of Levi Wallace, Myles Jack and Larry Ogunjobi. The question is, with all the money poured into the defense in an offense-first league, has this significantly improved their chances next season? The answer is yes. The offense behind quarterback Mitch Trubisky, a much better O-line and the second-year improvement of Pat Freiermuth and Najee Harris will be tough and smooth. Expect big seasons from all involved and don’t be surprised if Trubisky is in contention for AFC Offensive Player of the Year at the end of the season.
:08—Speaking of Najee Harris, a certain sportscaster recently said Najee was nowhere near the top five running backs in the league and does not expect him to be after this season either. C’mon, man!!! Pay attention – 1,200 yards rushing behind a poor (at best) O-line last year, 74 receptions out of the backfield for 467 yards, a combined 1,667 yards total and 10 touchdowns. Behind a better O-line this season, a little less wear and tear and Harris rushes for 1,300+ yards and scores 15 TDs minimum.
:07—Aaron Donald, the pride of Penn Hills High School, the University of Pittsburgh and Super Bowl-winning LA Rams, just became the highest-paid defensive player in NFL history and well deserved. Three-time Defensive Player of the Year, should have been Super Bowl MVP, and all-around menace to NFL QBs and RBs. That being said, let’s pump the brakes on naming him the greatest defensive tackle of all-time. I’m an old school cat, so I remember how impossible it was to stop Joe Greene and Bob Lilly of the Dallas Cowboys back in the day. Those men are the two greatest D-Linemen of all-time. Period. End of discussion. That being said, a few more otherworldly seasons and we might slip Aaron Donald past Bob Lilly. Not Joe though. A person of some football knowledge, Bill Belichick, said emphatically, “Joe Greene was unstoppable and is simply the greatest defensive lineman of all-time.” When you win six Super Bowls as head coach, give me a call and we’ll discuss the D-Line. Until then, Joe is #1 forever.
:06—Do you remember watching Earnie Shavers and Larry Holmes box on a Friday or Saturday night on NBC in 1979 for the heavyweight title? As a young teen I remember going to a friend’s house where 7 or 8 of us, all knowledgeable in boxing, watched and cheered on Earnie as he knocked down Larry Holmes in the seventh round but ultimately lost in the 11th due to a TKO. There were so many nights like that back then as boxing was huge and televised fights were events to share with your best friends and brothers. Man, I miss those events; sorry, but MMA is not the same, no knock on MMA events, just doesn’t capture the zeitgeist like Earnie Shavers vs. Ron Lyle, two of the hardest punchers in boxing history, or Muhammad Ali vs. Ken Norton or Joe Bugner.
:05—How much is truly enough? How much money, on top of the multi-millions you already have, are you willing to sell your soul for? Apparently for top-flight golf talent like Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka and Phil Mickelson, the price tag is $150 to $200 million over five years. And, hey, that’s a lot of money to play eight tourneys a year. I’ve never been one of those sign-for-less, hometown-discount guys – if the Padres offer me a lot more than the Bucs, I’m gone. But the caveat here is that Saudi Arabia’s dirty, blood-coated money is behind the new LIV Tour. The crew that killed journalist Adnan Khashoggi, that had 15 of the 19 terrorists in the planes on 9/11 and primarily funded al-Qaeda for years. On top of their tragic history of oppressive human rights violations. Blowback at their U.S. tournaments has already begun and I don’t see many tournaments in the U.S. in the future. But good luck men, here’s hoping you never play on the PGA Tour again, majors included.
:04—The NBA just held its draft and Paolo Banchero out of Duke was the overall #1 pick of the Orlando Magic. Having seen Paolo play against Pitt in Coach K’s final appearance at the Peterson Events Center a few months back, I have to say he seems a singular talent and I expect he’ll live up to the pick and be a star in the NBA, along with #2 pick Chet Holmgren out of Gonzaga by the Oklahoma City Thunder and #3 pick Jabari Smith out of Auburn by the Sacramento Kings. Outside of those three it’s really a crap shoot for the rest of the draftees this year, but we know several will step up and be stars and several will be serviceable players, but not excel as you would expect a first round draft pick to do. Good luck to all, be talking about ya over the next few years.
:03—As everyone knows, I am a hockey purist and savant, extremely knowledgeable in the history and current climate of the NHL. (Yeah, just go along with it). This season of hockey playoffs, ending with the Colorado Avalanche besting the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning, will go down as one of the best, most exciting playoff seasons ever, even with another first-round loss by our injured, without-a-goalie Penguins. Yeah, that’s all I got.
:02—Back to the pitching-poor Pirates, on pace to lose 97 games this season. One night recently they fielded a starting nine that had four players hitting below .200, another at .211 and a pinch-hitter, Daniel Vogelbach, who, despite his ninth home run, is really auditioning for the WWE. The influx of young talent has, temporarily, injected some excitement into the team but that talent, Oneil Cruz, Jack Suwinski, Bligh Madris, are probably two years away from truly being productive MLB players and by that time the Pirates will have traded away Brian Reynolds, David Bednar and Roansy Contreras for prospects. And on and on it goes.
:01—It’s summer!!! Get out and cook out. Go to a summer movie, just not Jurassic World Dominion – it’s awful; go see a free concert at Hartwood Acres. Head downtown on a Friday night and enjoy some incredible food at one of the many great restaurants and then skip on over to PNC Park and watch the young men (and future of the Bucs) battle it out at the finest baseball park in the world. Pass by a street corner where the sun takes a dive behind a stone edifice and catch a band playing in the Cultural District before heading into see a play or a musical at Heinz Hall or the Benedum Center or the O’Reilly Theater. Fall in love again with your favorite somebody and with the city of a 1,000 wonders every Friday night. Enjoy summer!!!
:00—OVER AND OUT.
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