Steelers beat the hated Ravens, 23-14.
I’m excited as hell, but the injury to McGahee kind of puts a damper on things. I just don’t know what you can do to stop that kind of contact, short of removing helmets from the game.
Apparently the Steelers sound crew played music during the McGahee hit, which apparently is never done, and pretty classless. I had no idea this was the case.
Nevermind. Here is the sound system blasting while Ben is carried off the field.
And that is at home.
kommrade reproductive vigor
Congrats. Now stop dancing around with Tunch before he scratches you.
Scotty
Remind me again how removing helmets would have been beneficial for McGahee or Clark…
robertdsc
Congratulations. Try to fit both arms around Tunch for the big hug. No worker’s comp for spraining your shoulders, though.
Bubblegum Tate
I’m in the same boat. I was doing victory laps around my apartment, but when McGahee got rocked, things turned somber quick. I hope he’s OK.
John Cole
@Scotty: They will alter their tackling style rather quickly.
Craigomcl
That sports science show on FSN found that football players tend to tackle much more violently than rugby players, and theorized that it’s because they know they have more protection.
Of course, shoulder-charging is illegal in rugby anyway, which went unmentioned during the broadcast.
Back somewhat on-topic: Was "the best defender in the NFL" even playing? I mean, of course, the sainted Edward of Reed, whose holy name was not spoken once that I can remember.
Scotty
The smart ones will, to say the least.
gaucho
Worst super bowl ever for this niner fan. I’m forced to root for the Cards. Steelers cannot be the first to 6 Lombardis. Plus SF leapfrogging the SB champs next year for the West will just be that much sweeter.
ding7777
A handy chart for those who believed a 2-0 team "can’t beat another team 3 times in one season",
passerby
John,
"Steelers beat the hated Ravens, 23-14."
The whole "hated Ravens" concept is egocentric, No? I didn’t hate the Ravens.
The Stillers deserve to go.
The Cardinals will give them a run for the money. This could be the year of the Underdog and, the usual suspects will call it a fluke, but the Cards are a lively team with Fitzy, Hightower, James, et alia and they’re not kiddin’ around. Warner is solid as a rock.
Hope it’s a great Superbowl.
Go Cards!
Ron
Woot. I’m pretty excited. Yeah, the McGahee thing put a damper on things. It was the worst of them, but this was a game full of nasty hits (generally legal ones) but anyone who was surprised by that knows nothing about these teams. I have to say watching Steelers-Ravens games as a fan in general was hard this year. Always down to the wire. (Okay, the "wire" here was earlier than the other games. Polamalu’s INT for a TD more or less sealed it). Now to try to beat the ex-steelers offensive coordinator.
Gold Star for Robot Boy
While McGahee was fighting for his life, or at least suffering, what was up with the Heinz Field sound system blasting CCR?
demimondian
@Scotty: The other ones will, too.
They’ll be paralyzed, and so not tackling at all.
demimondian
@gaucho: SF leapfrogging the Cards? Dude, SF won’t be leapfrogging the ‘Hawks, much less the Cards.
Hell, SF won’t be leapfrogging the Angels for victories in the NFL — and the Angels play baseball.
El Caballo de Sangre
I’m not trying to be callous when I say that there’s NOTHING at all regrettable, wrong, or that needs fixing, about that play other than the fact that it resulted in injury.
It was clearly a legal/clean hit by Clark; he didn’t lead with his head – in fact, the replay made it clear to me at least that he tucked his head and led with his shoulder. The fact that there was substantial helmet-to-helmet contact was incidental, and is just one of those things that will happen in football.
It’s a violent game. That’s one of the things that most of us who love it, love about it.
demimondian
Seriously, there is a simple, yet highly effective, change which would fix most of these helmet-on-helmet injuries: soft-surface pads and helmets. They’re much safer.
But the league wants the "crack" of the impact to carry to the fans. Otherwise, how will the drunken bums in the stands get their vicarious SM top kicks?
John Cole
What did you want them to play? A funeral dirge?
Gold Star for Robot Boy
@John Cole: How about nothing?
John Cole
@Gold Star for Robot Boy: I’m not trying to be a jackass (it comes naturally), but have you been to a sporting event in the past thirty years?
El Caballo de Sangre
How many times do you hear announcers praising a ballcarrier for "putting his head down and getting the extra yard"?
Gold Star for Robot Boy
@John Cole: Um, yeah – I worked as a sports writer for 10 years. Check your e-mail.
Usually, when an opposing player is seriously injured, there’s no music.
gaucho
@demimondian: If Shaun Hill had started all season, we would’ve challenged for the division. Next season with Hill under center and Singletary wearing the mic, we’ll be even stronger. Plus, (bold prediction time) by reaching/winning the big game this year, I could see Warner calling it a career. After Warner they have Leinert… yeah…
John Cole
@Gold Star for Robot Boy: Honestly, I don’t remember them stopping for injuries at any game when someone is injured. I will take your word on it, though. I’m just notoriously thin-skinned about the Steelers and get defensive at any criticism.
dan robinson
Maybe the zeebs will give the Steelers another superbowl.
Whatever.
It’s so super that it won’t be played again, right?
El Caballo de Sangre
Sportswriters do more to ruin my enjoyment of sports than even the celebration of murderers like Ray Lewis does.
Gold Star for Robot Boy
@John Cole: It’s OK – emotions are running high.
Important thing is, ESPN’s crawl says McGahee can move his arms and legs, but has "considerable pain" in his neck. I’ll bet.
TheHatOnMyCat
Who are these "Steelers" and why do they stand in the way of the relentless march to championship being carried out by the Cardinals?
Tell them to stand aside, or be crushed like maggots.
Punchy
I’m just glad the Steelers won without any resorting to any blantant spearing cheap shots…..
Wait….nevermind.
Bubblegum Tate
THe only time I can recall his name being spoken was when he went for the pick and missed, giving Ward that big gain in the first quarter.
Andy K
After that pick-6 with the game on the line, I think you can put Polamalu in the HoF.
I’ll be pullin’ for the Steelers, but who in hell knows which Cardinals will show up?
Throwin Stones
Not sure Cole, but I think helmets were added and upgraded for a reason…
John Cole
@Punchy: Punchy, if that had been Ray Lewis hitting Hines Ward, you would be in here telling me how Lewis led with his shoulder.
Phoenix Woman
My guess is that his neck is broken, but his neck muscles stiffened up during the hit and have stayed that way, hence the pain — and the fact that he can move his limbs; his neck muscles stiffened up and preserved his spinal cord. They’re probably putting him in a halo cast as we speak.
Gold Star for Robot Boy
PFT has a "league source" commenting on the music playing while McGahee was down.
Brick Oven Bill
Congratulations to the Steelers. This is something that has been bothering me though. "Skilled positions". I have been trying to figure out what to call the other players, so I consulted Google:
“skill positions” nfl; countless websites for the run, jump, and catch jobs
“intelligence positions” nfl; government jobs in the Obama administration
“coordination positions” nfl; St. Louis brokerage jobs
“smart positions” nfl; Seahawk site talking about different play calls
“non-skilled positions” nfl; Eureka!
This really did come as a surprise to me. Now I want to make a plea, because there are plenty of quarterbacks, offensive linemen, and kickers, off all different races, and sexes, who might become offended when people call their position a: “non-skilled position”.
Non-skilled positions! I call for this injustice to be addressed in the age of Obama. It takes skill to be a quarterback.
Punchy
@John Cole: With all due respect, STFU. If you’re such a homer that you cannot admit that was textbook spearing, face-down leading with the helmet, than I’m not surprised by your intransigence.
Not trying to say the Ravens would have won; just saying that it was clearly spearing. Either way, Pitts the bettah team.
mick
So for how many weeks do we have to listen to "are you ready for some football" before it is over again for yet another season?
While football coverage screwed with my ability to record the things I wanted to watch on television, I thought it was odd and yet appropriate that this year will be the 44th expensive bowl while we shamelessly celebrate the election of the 44th president.
John Cole
@Punchy: Spearing is leading with the crown of the helmet. That wasn’t spearing. It has nothing to do with being a homer. There was clearly helmet to helmet contact, but he didn’t lead with his helmet. Look at the video of the hit. Now go watch this video on spearing.
@Gold Star for Robot Boy: I honestly had no idea that was the case about music during injuries. I guess I never paid attention. If the norm is silence, then I agree, it was classless and the Steelers should do something.
Eric U.
I thought that the music was strange as well. Not so much offensive though. The Ravens were playing dirty, they certainly have nothing to talk about. I thought the play where they hurt Ben’s back probably should have been roughing. I don’t like the fact that you can win by beating the crap out of the other team’s quarterback. I’ve seen plenty of games where those calls would have been made.
Jim
I’m pretty sure the PA played music 3 weeks ago when Ben R was getting strapped to the back board and carted off. My guess is the PA plays whenever the play is stopped, i.e. commercials, reviews, and injuries.
I don’t think Willis or Ryan cared one bit.
Comrade Kevin
@John Cole:
Just watched those highlights from the NFL website, and there’s no way in hell that is spearing. He obviously led with, and hit the guy, with the shoulder.
dan robinson
This thread is lame.
NFL football is subsidized entertainment for the masses and you people are acting like it really matters. How much municipal money goes into this?
I’ll start to care about NFL football when the state starts subsidizing the titty bar down the street. I don’t go there either, but I think things ought to be fair.
Gold Star for Robot Boy
@dan robinson: Oh, you’re one of those guys.
For your next trick, you’re gonna brag about not owning a TV?
Adolphus
Regarding the music during the injury: I didn’t know that was the etiquette either and didn’t think twice and even sat their thinking "I know that song somewhere. Wait, don’t tell me.."
On the other hand I thought it strange that when Ivy was down from that ginormous (completely legit, no complaining) block from Sweed. While the training staff tended to Ivy they replayed the hit a couple of times on the jumbotron (according to the announcers, I don’t know this for a fact) to oohs, aahs, and cheers from the crowd, which the announcers noted. Now there was nowhere near the sense of urgency to the trainers in Ivy’s case, but still. Can’t they wait until they know he is okay?
If it’s a choice I’ll take the music over celebrating a potentially injury causing hit any day.
Comrade Kevin
@dan robinson: Congratulations. You win the pretentious dumbass award for the thread.
Punchy
You’re full of crap. Go look at 0:54ish replay of it. That’s clearly leading with the helmet.
Adolphus
Oh, and congrats Steelers. This Ravens fan will be rooting for your to take out some Cardinals.
dan robinson
To the dickwads at 43 and 45:
Whatever.
Comrade Kevin
@dan robinson:
Talk about the pot calling the kettle black.
Gold Star for Robot Boy
@dan robinson: Just call us "sheeple" – you’ll feel better afterward.
Comrade Kevin
@Punchy:
I’m not actually a Steelers fan, and you know what?
You’re fucking delusional.
John Cole
@Punchy: You are right, Punchy. And to prevent this from ever happening again, I propose all football player play with their helmets on their feet, so their helmets are nowhere near their shoulders.
You seriously can’t tell the difference between the hits in the two videos? Hell, in the spearing video, the legal hit they show before the spearing demonstration is almost identical to the hit in the McGahee injury.
It was a tough hit, it was dangerous as these kinds of hits are, it was violent, but it wasn’t spearing.
Punchy
@Comrade Kevin: If he led with his shoulder, you stupid fuck, then why was he knocked out as well? Bet you didnt see this live, did you?
He lead with the helmet. The two helmets smashed together. MacGhee’s neck did a cotagent angle 165 and was knocked out instantly. If a defensive lineman did that to the QB, not only is that called spearing, I’m guessing the lineman is ejected.
Or maybe that’s delusional.
gwangung
As a non-Steelers fan, I think you’re quite wrong.
You don’t lead with the helmet by ducking you’re head.
Jim
@Punchy
Every tackler ‘leads’ with his helmet, the head is in front of the shoulders at all times on a human who is leaning into contact.
Just like McGahee ‘led’ with his helmet when he saw Clark and ducked.
@Dan R,
Why are you posting in this thread?
gwangung
High enough kinetic energy.
Sorry, but that was in no way spearing or leading with the helmet.
Comrade Kevin
@Punchy:
Because their helmets hit? Are you stupid enough that you think that their helmets can’t hit unless he leads with his helmet?
I remember now why I usually ignore your ignorant, trollish, stupid dumbass comments. Because you’re a fucking moron.
gwangung
Mr. robinson…
Realize you’re a guest here, like any other blog…
El Caballo de Sangre
Do you have an art museum in your town, or in your nearest city if you live in the sticks? Or an orchestra, arts council, or ballet company? Do any municipal dollars go into that?
Jebus, dan – go ahead and be a pretentious dickwad if you want, but you should at least try for a minimal level of competence.
Jim
For the record here’s the PA blaring music as Ben is being carted off the field in week 17.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzNWeGthpCk
Punchy
Likewise.
Comrade Kevin
@Punchy:
Damn, you sure showed me with that snappy comeback! I feel a deep sense of shame now.
John Cole
I can’t sleep.
gwangung
And there are those of us who enjoy the arts and sports…(and some of us who DO the arts and enjoy sports…)
Dork
So just how many extra dollars and contract years does Edge James earn after leading the Cards to the SB? Talk about reviving an almost-dead career, damn.
TheHatOnMyCat
CIA — Cardinal Induced Anxiety, my good man.
Two weeks of thinking about having your eyes pecked out by a mass of pudgy red birds like something out of an Alfred Hitchcock movie.
You are the new Tippi Hedren.
Get used to it.
Gold Star for Robot Boy
@Dork: Also, Wiz looks like a genius now that his benching of Edge can be explained as "resting his legs" for the playoffs.
TheHatOnMyCat
Check my url, John. That is you for the next two weeks.
Bwaaaaaaaaahahahahahahahahaha.
Bawk!
Dork
@Gold Star for Robot Boy: Ha! Good point. Gotta bet that his body is fresher, legs more lively than Westbrook’s today (although I don’t have stats).
Ought to be a great SB.
TheHatOnMyCat
Oh yeah.
Your car? Covered with birdshit.
Cardinals — your worst nightmare.
TheHatOnMyCat
So, you think this if funny?
Here’s a cardinal you don’t want to fuck with.
Josh Hueco
@TheHatOnMyCat:
Cardinals ain’t got nuthin’ on grackles. When I first moved to Texas, I made the mistake of thinking I got lucky because I’d find a really close parking spot in the shade…until I returned to my car about 30 minutes later.
Adolphus
Except those institutions are non-profit and typically have to compete for grants and such and/or regularly have to go hat in hand to beg.
Professional sports teams are run by millionaires (sometimes billionaires) for their personal and collective profit and they would sell your city down the river for fancier sky boxes. When have you ever heard of a museum or orchestra threatening to leave a city for another city if they don’t pony up the money for a better building?
I am not agreeing with Mr. Robinson necessarily, I just reject your false equivalency.
The Other Steve
I’m not a football person, but watching the video it seemed to me that the guy doing the tackling was leading with his shoulder. His whole body is turned sideways as they hit.
The problem was the guy running with the ball comes down with his helmet bracing for the impact and as a result the helmets also collide. If the tackler had come in a bit lower they’d have been ok, or if McGahee had moved sideways to try to deflect the hit instead of tucking his head down.
I do think Cole is right though. You could put ever better equipment on these guys and it’d just mean they’d take more risks.
El Caballo de Sangre
@Adolphus: Nothing "false" about it, my friend. Subsidized culture is subsidized culture.
Now, we can debate the value municipalities or citizens place on various aspects of culture, and bemoan the wealthy purveyors of "low" culture and the relative poverty of purveyors of "high" culture, but that’s a different issue.
Comrade Kevin
@The Other Steve:
Oh christ, forget that edit box fucks everything up
Comrade Kevin
@The Other Steve:
Another try.
I agree, but we may need to wait for Kurt Warner to weigh in on which team Jesus favored in this matchup.
srv
@Josh Hueco:
I still can’t believe PETA won the UT vs Grackle war. They tried shotgun shells to drive them off Speedway and a couple died from heart attacks…
Sometimes I think the Aggies figured out some homing signal for those toilets with wings.
Comrade Kevin
@srv:
They should feel lucky they weren’t starlings.
GuyFromOhio
and
I’m pretty certain my chances of catching an STD watching the NFL or going to the museum is close to zero. Mixed bag, perhaps, but it is just one mixed bag.
and
One very mixed bag. All I know is this: these guys get paid a shitload of cash to do what they do, and no one is holding a gun to their head to do it. As long as they are willing to play by the rules, a bunch of other people will want to watch them play, and are willing to pay for it.
As for McGahee, why do you think the players so frequently cross themselves and point skyward, or stop to crouch in prayer after a score? Because any one of them will probably tell you, all it takes is one hit, one tackle, one motion, and it all ends.
You can bet your terrible towel the league goes over the replays, talks to the officiating body and tries to figure out how to make the game safer. That’s why there are things like penalties for ‘roughing the passer’ and ‘late hit’ and ‘face mask’ – even though sometimes these don’t get called when they should be – to keep the players from killing eachother.
Which makes keeping on top of this stuff even more important.
Glocksman
Evansville, Indiana.
The local Philharmonic threatened to leave town if they didn’t get the digs they wanted (a 1921 movie theater complex) because they didn’t like the acoustics in the county auditorium.
20 million 1998 dollars later, the Philharmonic got their new home and the taxpayers got stuck paying for the bond issue.
My reply would have been ‘don’t the the doorknob hit you in the ass’.
Though to be fair to the Philharmonic, they were only one of many ‘historical and cultural’ groups pushing to waste tax dollars on this decrepit building.
Crusty Dem
@The Other Steve:
Well, everyone here agrees with you, other than Punchy, who’s getting a bit touchy at this point. I did see a textbook spear earlier in the game, I think it was Bart Scott on Willie Parker, lowered his helmet and got him right in the chest. This hit, however, was not a spear, as spearing consists of lowering the crown of the helmet into the opposing player (it is helmet-to-helmet, but there’s no lowering of the crown, it’s facemask-to-facemask). Of course, the best spear ever was by an offensive player (see 12 seconds in).
Did CBS/NFL edit the audio feed here to eliminate the music? It’s strange that there isn’t any audible music (or maybe I need better speakers).
sus
I’m not a football person either. But… I’m back in the burgh, and it’s the Stillers and all. I watched. Exciting game.
Anyway… I didn’t understand "spearing", so thanks John for the links to the videos. But, then I googled and saw that spearing has a different definition in college ball. Why not in Pro-ball? Why is spearing any part of the helmut in college ball, but just the crown in Pro-ball?
Also, in Pro-ball, the ref’s must determine it was intentional.
harlana pepper
One more day, people, one more day. Woohoo!
Roza Hussein
Steelers win
Obamas in
It’s all good
Xenos
@Craigomcl: Re: hitting in rugby – the rule in rugby is that you can’t hit. No blocking, either. You can not tackle someone unless he has the ball, and then you have to grab and hold him. If you bring him to the ground, you have to go down with him, still holding on. Basic self-preservation tends to limit injuries as people do not hit harder than they need to.
While rugby can have spectacular injuries (I watched someone break a tibia once – crack!), it does tend to be safer than American Football. But there is a whole set of rules that fundamentally change the game that has this result. Not just a matter of not wearing helmets.
Josh Hueco
@srv:
When was that? I’d never heard about it. I knew Austin was famous for its bats but I didn’t know they had a grackle problem. The joke here in Waco is that this town is where they’ll film the remake of ‘The Birds.’
You mean like this?
jurassicpork
I was kinda hoping for Philly to beat Arizona, since the Cardinals winning is the only thing keeping John McCain alive. It would’ve been nice to see an all Pennsylvania Super Bowl and maybe for Philly to win another world championship.
Oh well…
dana
Burning question: what do we call it now? My whole life it was "one for the thumb."
Patrick
Am I right that the Steelers victory ended a streak where the team with a bird mascot won every game?
paragonpark
Maybe it was just coincidental but a man named Willis is down with possibly severe injuries, and the words to the jaunty tune being played are:
Early in the evenin just about supper time,
Over by the courthouse theyre starting to unwind.
Four kids on the corner trying to bring you up.
Willy picks a tune out and he blows it on the harp.
Chorus:
Down on the corner, out in the street,
Willy and the poorboys are playin;
Bring a nickel; tap your feet.
Rooster hits the washboard and people just got to smile,
Blinky, thumps the gut bass and solos for a while.
Poorboy twangs the rhythm out on his kalamazoo.
Willy goes into a dance and doubles on kazoo.
Chorus
Chorus
You dont need a penny just to hang around,
But if you’ve got a nickel, wont you lay your money down?
Over on the corner theres a happy noise.
People come from all around to watch the magic boy.
*****
anonymous41
I loathe the steelers and I think they’re the dirtiest team in the league. That’s just my personal opinion. With that said, I think the hit was legal. It’s close, but I think the defender really was lowering his shoulder to make the hit, not leading with his helmet. The problem is that Mcgahee is running directly forward into the hit and was totally unprepared for it. He’s leaning forward and so the very first think the defender’s helmet hits is the other guys helmet, which makes it look questionable. I think if Mcgahee had been slightly more prepared he would have turned away from the hit and it wouldn’t have looked nearly as bad, just a really tough hit.
John Cole
I really do not understand these “dirtiest team in the NFL” comments. They are never one of the most penalized, I don’t think they are leading the league in fines (can;t find stats), they never have hurt anyone intentionally.
They hit hard. I simply don’t understand how, especially after a week in which the Ravens openly discussed bounties on Hines Ward and watching the Ravens hit Ben late on almost every damned play, someone could come away with the notion that the Steelers are the “dirtiest team.” At the very least, they are not the dirtiest team in the NFL.
They hit hard, but they hit legal.
BTW- is there any one site that has a list of all the fines and penalties?
Bill Belichick
Let me get this straight, the Arizona Cardinals are going to the Super Bowl? The Cardinals? Can’t we just run all the commercials now and give the Steelers the trophy right away before anyone else gets hurt?
The Cardinals! They’re well rested anyway, lord knows they stayed home and sent some guys off the streets to NE. I’m sure that’s not the first time this season they stayed home while real men continued to play. The NFC needs to be renamed the Pussy Conference if the Cardinals are the best they can come up with. I hate the Steelers, but I want them to win by 50.
mark
It looked to me like he was leading with his head and jumping into the air as he was making contact. Of course, a win is a win, Disproportionate response indeed, Though I suppose Concussions, whiplash, or broken necks are an effective way to cause a fumble.
Arizona FTW. and if they have this set of officials for the Super Bowl, I’d be damn sure to take every cheap shot i could image taking. After all, if they’re going to let them play and get away with things (though, WTH was that goofy roughing the punter call? It didn’t change the game, but it was still… a horrible call), Then hell, let’s make it a hockey game and let er rip.
Keep on thinking that wasn’t a cheap and illegal helmet to helmet hit.
(Disclaimer: I’m a Falcons Fan and have no rooting interest in that game. and I was furious at the hit. and particularly when the officials just kinda ambled over and casually signaled the change of possession. Hell I’m still pissed at it, after sleeping on it.)
Bubblegum Tate
@paragonpark:
Bo Diddley’s version of "Down on the Corner" is phenomenal. The CCR one is OK, but Bo’s is the tops.
anonymous41
That’s just a feeling I entertain to maintain an interest in the game. The steelers became my badguy this season. Plus, the steelers are boringly consistent.
Yes, good defensive teams tend to look dirty sometimes. Just look at Rodney Harrison.
I do think the late hit on Wes Welker in the pats game was cheap.