Griggsy is back with a vengeance. Not really, he’s just got more thoughts on various things (hooooorrrrraaaaayyyyy football is back). While he’s gripin’ on the internets, I’ll be gripin’ as I mop the floors at my weekend job. All things depending, I plan on getting the new Pens Preview up between tomorrow and Tuesday. Until then, here’s Griggsy
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A couple of odds and ends to tie up to start off this week’s show.
First, in two weeks, I will be on vacation in an undisclosed location (one that hopefully has lots of sun and sand). So, no Gripes from me that week. Be strong, you’ll make it through. Second, I do encourage you to leave feedback, whether you love what you read here, or hate it, or just think it’s OK. I’m always trying to get better at this, so please do let me know what you think. I am still debating whether I should give Walt my e-mail address to put out there to get more feedback. More on that in coming weeks.
For now, here come the Gripes:
->I’m finally excited for the NFL season. No, it has nothing to do with the preseason games that started this weekend. And no, it definitely has nothing to do with the precipitous decline of Das Buccos (more on this later) leading to me turning my attention elsewhere. In actuality, my excitement comes from the text I got from my best friend last night.
“Sending out the FF info e-mail out tonight.”
Yep, fantasy football. Woooo!
I know there are a ton of people out there who think fantasy football is a pointless waste of time where grownups play armchair GM/coach for a fake sports team. And I get that. Which is why I am very selective about how much fantasy sports I do. I have one (very intense) fantasy baseball team, one (extremely intense) fantasy hockey team, and this is my single fantasy football team. The reason for my participation, especially in the football league: It’s a blast to do it. There are 10 guys who play. My (above mentioned) friend is the commissioner, I assist him with the league, and all 10 of us just enjoy the hell out of making fun of each other, each other’s teams, and everything under the sun, really. Anything that allows you and your friends to have more fun for a couple of months out of the year, do it.
Also, it gets me more interested in the NFL as a whole. I am not going to be drafting only Steelers, so this requires me to keep tabs on every team’s goings-on across the league. It’ll make me watch a few more preseason games, and will have me watching pregame shows early on Sunday mornings during the season. It forces me to have more knowledge about the league, and I am a fan of gaining knowledge.
I know they’re not for everyone, but if you are making fun of those who do fantasy sports leagues now, you’re in the minority now…
->The insanity of Steelers fans struck again this week. Well, that might be too strong. Let’s just say that some fans were a bit ridiculous after finding out about an injury. There is a segment of fans that get attached to players very fast, and sometimes they do so without real merit. They showed it again this week when it was announced that rookie late-round draft pick Baron Batch, a running back, suffered a season-ending ACL tear during practice Wednesday. Batch was making a decent name for himself in training camp by picking up on the playbook fast, and impressing coaches and fans with his skills when given the opportunity to do so. However, Batch was still a long shot to do anything beyond making the team as a 4th string running back and special teams player.
If you read the Twitter accounts of many Steelers fans, though, you would’ve thought this was a sign of the apocalypse. Reactions of shock, horror, and unmitigated depression. If you had removed the player’s name from the reactions, you would have expected this to be the aftermath of the loss of a Harrison, Woodley, Miller, or Wallace. Someone needed to slap some sense into these people. I liked what I heard about Batch’s showings in camp, but losing him will not have an effect on the result of any single game. Perspective, people. Save your wailing and gnashing of teeth for when Ben throws 3 interceptions in one half, or when the defense collapses in a 4th quarter. Or, you know, you could just not do that either…
->As mentioned above, the Buccos’ slide has taken them well below .500, putting them in serious danger of a 19th losing season. While there are still plenty of games left between now and the end of September, a lot of those games are against Milwaukee and Saint Louis, two teams that have absolutely crushed the Pirates in recent seasons. That’s not encouraging at all.
Was it nice to win two of three games from the World Series champs in San Francisco? Of course. But they didn’t face the Giants’ two best pitchers (Lincecum and Cain), and new acquisition Carlos Beltran sat out all three games. Let’s not start thinking that things are right back on track. A weekend in Milwaukee will tell the tale on that…
->Despite saying that, I don’t want to hear anyone say the Pirates should start looking to lose a majority of their remaining games to get another high draft pick for next season. That is absurd at this point. The team can’t go from 54-54 to residing in the bottom five in the league standings, and to try would be a pointless venture. Not to mention, that would not win the hearts of any fans. Now, I don’t think that teams need to take fans into account for every decision they make. But this team, with these beaten-down fans, are a special exception, for sure…
->As expected, over the last few days I’ve started to watch DVD’s of old Pens playoff games, trying to hold me over until hockey starts picking up again. And something struck me as I sat here watching the post-series celebration and handshakes. I am honestly surprised that a sports company hasn’t put the footage together from the numerous camera angles they have available and used it to make a DVD of these celebrations in uninterrupted form. Half of the time, there are interviews or handshakes going on, making us miss something that would be great to see: two guys that tried to maim each other all series having a conversation while shaking hands, or two teammates sharing a moment of unbridled joy away from the middle of the ice.
I am stunned this hasn’t been done yet. Hell, I’m stunned that no one’s had this idea yet…
Um, you know what? Ignore these last few sentences. Nothing to see here.
Now, where the hell is the number for the patent office? It was here a second ago…..
Avoid the Clap 
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