A STEELERS FAN in Cincinnati honors the late Dwayne Haskins. Haskins, a quarterback with the Steelers, died on April 9 after being struck by a vehicle on a highway in South Florida. Haskins was 24. The Steelers are honoring Haskins all season by wearing a No. 3 decal on their helmets. (Photo by Courier photographer Mike Patton)
by Bill Neal, For New Pittsburgh Courier
:10—Trust me, I know what you’re thinking…There goes “Neal” again, calling the game score after it’s all over!?!? Not so little Jimmy, you only need to replay Soul Take/Champions Live Sports Talk Show on www.pghdsn.com to hear me call the prediction a week in advance…I said that your Pittsburgh Steelers would beat the “Bungles” 24-21. Missed it by a few points but what do you want for nothing? I am not Vegas, boys and girls! I still have the Black and Gold at 11-6 at year’s end and playoff-bound.
:09—And yes, you guessed it right. Here’s where I slip in my free plug for our sports talk show if I can get this by my sports editor and best guy in the “Whole Wide World,” Rob Taylor. You may have caught it last week but Soul Take/Champions Live is back with the force of the Steelers defense. Streaming live every Tuesday from 6 to 8 p.m. at http://www.pghdsn.com or call in at 412-213-8995 or 412-889-8319. Listen or call in…just get in!
:08—Back to your Pittsburgh Steelers. Here’s another prediction for you and you can take this to the bank, but remember the banks close early… wait, what? Anyway I am telling you they’re going to pull Mitch Trubisky sooner rather than later for Kenny Pickett. Now don’t get me wrong, I am not hating on Mitch, he did an OK job, but OK is not gonna be good enough. You saw it; short passes, slow decisions, but most importantly, he doesn’t have the “it” factor. Pickett has the “it” and they’re going to need it to ignite this offense, seemingly from the 1950s, especially with T.J. Watt out. Right now we’re unsure how long he’ll be out.
:07—One more thing while I’m here. Granted the O-Line is not their strong suit. So if that’s true, why does your offensive coordinator keep trying to run the ball between the tackles? For goodness sake, man, run the ball outside to give Najee Harris an opportunity to use his talent, speed, agility and power. Most importantly, not get beat up like in the game against the Bengals from Sunday. Duh!!!
:06—A special shoutout and thanks to our on-air guests last week, Darnell Dinkins (Schenley High School, Pitt, New Orleans Saints Super Bowl team) and Major Harris (Brashear, WVU and NCAA Hall of Fame) for their locking into the show to do battle before the Pitt/WVU game. Although it wasn’t much of a battle, they’re both retired gentleman now… who knew? Add to that the follow-up after the game. Thanks to the Perry H.S. and WVU ankle-breaker also known as Vaughn Rivers for his postgame commentary. Love you legends and thank you.
:05—Look, it goes without saying I could do a book on the great Serena Williams and her “Last Dance” at the U.S. Open. But here’s this – Thank you and a maybe farewell to the greatest female tennis player of all-time, and that includes the old era, the modern era and the I.R.A…. oops, my bad, that’s a whole different fight altogether.
:04—I’ve got to add something nice here about the Pirates or I’ll lose my complimentary tickets for sure. How about this for nice… Hang in there boys, this will all end real soon!
:03—Since we’re all talking baseball, let’s all hope that the great Albert Pujols gets at least three more home runs to put him at 700 for a career before he retires this season. Hitting #697 Sunday, Sept. 11, at PNC Park gave him one more than steroid posterman Alex Rodriguez to become #4 on the all-time list. No problem for me, as you know I have issues with the so-called A-Rod because he dogged my ex Jennifer “J-Lo” Lopez! (Oh, shut up, you don’t even know!)
:02—Oh, I have to get you in on this. My co-host on S.T.C.L., Kevin Cameron, who, due to no fault of his own, missed the voices of the late ‘60s and early ‘70s which is why he doesn’t know the greatest male R&B singer of all-time is David Ruffin, lead singer of the “Mighty” Temptations…bar none! What say you??? Text me and let me know so I can help him understand. Y’all know he’s from the sticks – Aliquippa. Not sure if they even get the music out there??? (Oh, just relax Suzie, just a little cultural humor!) Hey, I could have said Hopewell… where Tony Dorsett is really from.
:01—This just in – Pitt had Tennessee beat and the late Johnny Majors knows it. But mistakes cost them the game as they let it slip through their fingers, plucking defeat from the jaws of victory. Again. But it was a non-conference game so For-Get-About-It.
:00—GAME OVER.
About Post Author
