Damn you Harbaugh family!

Well both of my teams were bested by the Harbaugh brothers this week. The Steelers lost to the Ravens on Sunday and I'm watching the Bears get their ass handed to them by the 49ers as I type. Booo! I'm going to blame it all on key players being out with injuries; namely the QBs of both teams.
But with the coming Thanksgiving holiday it's a good time to reflect on family and to mention some of the Harbaugh brothers' accomplishments. For example, Jim Harbaugh actually played for the Chicago Bears as QB from 1987-1993, some of my most formative years (mostly spent ignoring football). John Harbaugh has always been a coach after playing for Miami University as a defensive back. The Ravens are the biggest rival of the Steelers, and John has been their head coach since 2008. It's a close rivalry, with the game count at 6-5 Steelers since Harbaugh has been coach. Finally, according to Wikipedia, the Harbaughs were the first set of brothers to be head coaches in the NFL.

Jim Harbaugh & Coach Ditka

This should also serve as a small lesson in genetics, as with the amount of siblings in the various ranks of the NFL it's clear that there is some general athletic awesomeness that is passed down through mom & dad. According the the Pro Football Hall of Fame there have been 348 documented pairs of brothers playing in the NFL. I wonder if my recessive genes are hiding some untapped natural athletic talent? Judging from my adult kickball league stats it's unlikely, but I should probably have an NFL player's baby just to make sure.



Happy Halloween!

Today marks a day where everyone can get dressed up and let their creativity (or inner slut) shine through! The Steelers broke out their Halloween costumes a little early on Sunday with their 1934 throwback uniforms. No matter what your pose, it's difficult to look "hardcore" while effectively looking like a bumble bee. As my man pointed out, Pittsburgh is a notoriously un-fashionable city and even hit #3 on the GQ list of worst-dressed cities back in 2011; so these uniforms should really be no surprise. But bad fashion doesn't equal bad football, and the Steelers kicked the Redskins' butt 27-12 in week 8.

Last post I commented on the Seattle Seahawks' new jerseys and I've noticed that lots of teams are wearing "throwback uniforms" each year, so it piqued my interest in the trend of retro uniforms in the NFL. To Wikipedia! It turns out the throwback uniforms started with Major League Baseball and got picked up by the NFL in 1991 in special retail collections. NFL teams started wearing replicas of past uniforms in 1994 to mark the 75th anniversary of the organization. Even back in 1994, the Steelers clearly had the ugliest throwback jersey of them all. It's time for the Rooneys to hire a stylist.

 

Why I like the Seahawks

Apologies for the lack of posts. I know you have all been holding your breath for my comments about the last 3 weeks' games and that whole replacement ref fiasco. In all honesty, The Fan killed me. (I would post a photo of me passed out in my Steelers shirt on the couch but my man vetoed it. Party pooper.)
I'm still in recovery mode but managed to pay attention to the second half of the Seahawks vs. 49ers game tonight. You know what? I like the Seahawks. I don't care if one of their wins was the result of a controversial call by the replacement refs in the last seconds of the game against the Packers all those weeks ago. I liked that call. It was an awesome pass and it got the people going. And people can blame those replacement refs all they want, but what about the non-replacement officials in the booth who supported the call after reviewing it on tape and then all the other "official" NFL people who continued to support the call and let the win stand days later? I personally thank them for making that call because it helped me beat my man in the weekly Pro Pick 'Em pool at work and I'm not giving my $40 back. Hands off my mani-pedi money!
I like the Seahawks for others reasons too. Their head coach, Pete Carroll, was the head coach at USC when I was there and he's a total silver fox. Seattle is a great city (from July-September when the sun is shining). Marshawn Lynch is a pretty bad ass running back. And I love their new uniforms. A little pop of neon is very "in" this year.

The Fan Comes to Town

I'm sitting in my living room watching the 49ers vs. Vikings game on this beautiful Sunday morning and i've already spent 3.5 hours dedicated to the NFL today and another 8-10 hours with the college games yesterday. I'm exhausted! (mentally that is, physically I can still jog/walk a mile in about 13 minutes)
The reason for these marathon sessions? My man's dad (hereafter to be referred to as "The Fan") is in town and this guy is is a football savant. He knows both college and NFL players like personal friends and can match them to their team in about 2.2 seconds. He might not be able to make it through the combine but he does have the stamina to devote upwards of 15 hours each weekend to watching football. And he's not alone. According to an Adweek/Harris poll in September 2011, 64% of Americans are watching NFL football on any given weekend (73% men & 55% women). The Fan probably falls in the 7% of NFL watchers who spend between 11 and 15 hours watching the game; plus he's in the Northeast region, which is home to the most football-watchers in our great nation. And this isn't even counting the college games he's taking in.
Now The Fan is a quiet guy (and an account). He's not ostentaious with his Steeler pride, he doesn't heckle the opposing team's fans, he's friendly to the person he sits next to at the stadium. Shit, I don't even think he swears! But he's a force to be reckoned with and I hope that one day I can have his football recall. In the meantime, I need to guzzle a cup of coffee and splash some cold water on my face just so I can keep up.

Same-Sex Marriage & the NFL...a surprise union

I was just as shocked to hear a piece on the radio today about NFL players openly supporting gay marriage as I was to hear about the secret weekend wedding of Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds. Now this blog is in no way an outlet to express my political views, but the story of Baltimore Ravens' Brendon Ayanbadejo openly supporting same-sex marriage and the subsequent attempt by Maryland's congressman Emmett C. Burns Jr. to get him to shut up about it by sending a letter to the Ravens' owner was too big (and awesome) to ignore. What was even more awesome was the total reaming that Minnesota Viking's Chris Kluwe delivered to Mr. Burns Jr. via an open letter posted on Deadspin. Luckily, I am not held to the same high standard as journalists so I will link to the colorful language-filled letter here.  Seeing this old team photo of Kluwe, a punter for the Vikings, I really didn't think he had it in him to call someone a "narcissistic fromunda stain" or that he would tell a congressman to "shove it in your close-minded, totally lacking in empathy piehole and choke on it".

(I guess his current team photo looks a little more menacing, but barely) But good on him to make an emotionally-charged, yet succinct and relevant response to a politician. I think more NFL players should make political statements, regardless of who or what they're supporting. It's much more entertaining and real than Angelina Jolie's or George Clooney's weepy pleas for humanitarian aid. Now we just need to get the rest of the world to listen to what these hotties in tight pants have to say.