Every day there are three things, none worth devoting an individual post to, but each worth at least mentioning. These are those three things.
1) It's Steelers Week. I mean, it's Steelers Week!!!!! Man, the NFL's best rivalry was kicked up a few notches yesterday with the Randy Bullock signing. The new Bengals kicker most recently kicked for Pittsburgh two weeks ago. I bet Mike Tomlin and his coaches had to scrap the entire game plan once they caught wind of Bullock's defection.
I have two major wishes this weeks. Of course, I would like for the Bengals to win and stave off elimination just so we can convince ourselves that, you know, there's still hope. (They need six games to go their way to win the AFC North, one of them being a Steelers/Browns tilt, and they need approximately 112 to fall in their favor to grab a wild card. There, I acknowledged that there is a chance.)The other is for Bengals and Steelers players to start some shit this week, take off their muzzles and verbally go after each other.
The main storyline is Vontaze Burfict. He didn't play in the week two game that even among a bunch of other close losses and the tied game against Washington, remains the one game I'd like to do over, and so Vontaze and the Steelers get their first respective cracks at each other since last January.
This will be interesting.
I love everything about the way Vontaze has played since the bye. He's played himself into better shape (it'd be cool if he didn't report to camp next season as fat as he was last summer), and he's not acting like a jackass. Instead, he's playing like one of the few elite linebackers in the sport, and even as these games have lacked meaning, he's been really fun to watch.
You'd like to think he's grown up. You'd like to think that the suspensions and the thousands upon thousands of lost dollars have added up to him getting a clue.
Let's see if we feel that way on Sunday.
2) The Pro Bowl. I know, the Pro Bowl is the lowest hanging fruit in all of sports, but I can't help myself. Last night, I saw tweets from the NFL reminding fans that yesterday was the last day for fans to fill out their ballot.
There is not a dumber exercise in sports.
Do we really believe that the average fan casts an informed ballot about who the best guards are? The best interior defensive linemen? The top special teams specialists?
One aspect of this year's Pro Bowl that I'm all in on....
Pro Bowl Dodgeball.
Yes. I'm all in on this. 100%. Tell me you won't watch this. You're lying.
3) The Bearcats. (They were going to be number two this morning, and the Knicks were going to be the third item, then Jeff Hornacek decided to give Ron Baker minutes in the fourth quarter of a close game against the Suns, and so to Hell with them.)
UC beat Texas Southern at Fifth Third Arena last night. There were no major takeaways, other than to wonder if Kyle Washington got whatever message Mick Cronin was trying to send by starting Quadri Moore in his place.
Every game between now and the conference opener against Temple is about the bench getting better. Last night, the bench produced. Ask me in a month if it meant something.
My guy Lance is all worked up about UC's non-conference schedule this morning....
Look, I'd prefer the Bearcats play home games against area schools, but that's so much easier said than done. I'd also like it if there were more schools from conferences that had membership that I could recite off the top of my head, but that too is more easier said than done, because everyone wants home games, and UC, like most programs, has to be judicious about who they play on the road.
This year, though, I have little complaints about the schedule.
Remember, they were supposed to play a home game against Michigan. That fell through close to the last minute, so the Wolverines were replaced with Marshall. They had a game against a MAC opponent in Bowling Green that was a return tilt from a profitable road trip to BG last year. The Brown and Albany home games were a part of an event that included a (then) ranked Rhode Island team and Duke. (By the way, two pretty reliable people have told me that UC was supposed to play Duke in Connecticut with the winner playing the winner between Rhode Island and Penn State. Coach K bitched, got his way, and Duke ended up opening with Penn State). If the Michigan game happens, and if the Bearcats would've beaten Rhode Island - which they should have - you're talking about a pre-conference slate that had Rhode Island, Duke, Michigan, Iowa State, and Butler.
Not bad.
So they essentially had four games they could control. I wish those buy games were against better opponents. I don't blame anyone for not wanting to see UC crush Texas Southern. But I think they're doing the best they can when they draw up the schedule.
Radio Show: We have James Rapien in the locker room today, talking with Bengals players about Steeler week. Gunner Kiel is scheduled to join us, sometime in the 4:00 hour, and we're going to try to do something with this, which I'm hoping for your input on. Join us today at 3:05 on ESPN1530.