Preseason makes me happy and angry

The NFL preseason always makes me happy because it is the only time of year that you get to see some of the talent that the Steelers will relegate to the practice squad or simply cut. It is also the one time of year that pisses me off to no end because all the games are meaningless unless you are trying to make the team and the threat of injury to key players is 10x greater than in the regular season because of the inexperience of the players on the field.

Once again, the Steelers have injuries that could carry over into the regular season. Big Ben is down with a "foot" injury. You can only speculate as to what happened after Max Starks stepped on him in practice. Some reports say foot, others say ankle, I even saw one that said his knee. The Achilles reports scare me a bit but the fact that he was standing the entire time on the sidelines during the Washington game made me think otherwise. Either way, it is still a little bothersome to know that our main QB is down for awhile.

Speaking of QBs, Dennis Dixon also went down with a shoulder injury and will miss the rest of the preseason. He didn't have much of a chance to replace Charlie as the #2 but he was the solid #3 and he has a rocket for an arm. I was hoping to see some "trickery" with him in the offense but I guess that will have to wait for the season.

Mendenhall averaged over 5 yards/carry so that was encouraging. Stefan Logan was a missle on special teams, racking up yards that I haven't seen since Woodson ran back kicks. He is also like 5' 6" and disappears once he hits the sidelines. Most impressive, at least for me, was the play of Ziggy. He had 2 sacks, 3 solo tackles, and an assist. At this rate, he will be a beast on defense once he develops.

I have some card trades brewing and will be getting some Steeler goodness soon so that I can start posting my collection. It should be interesting.

Mid-Afternoon Ramblings

I can't say that I have a whole lot to say right now other than the fact that I am soooooo amazingly happy that football season is back. That lull of time between when the Stanley Cup Finals ends and Training Camp begins is excruciating. I watched so much football between the NFL network and other local stations that I feel refreshed and rejuvenated. Just a few thoughts...

- - My Steelers looked pretty decent at home against AZ on Thursday. Not much from the starters but the prospects and hopefulls were very impressive. I hope there are spots for Frank "The Tank" and Redman. Those guys were beasts.

- - Was I the only one that thought Donald Brown, the running back for Indy, looked scary good?

- - The Bears still suck, The Bears still suck, The Bears still suck, The Bears still suck. They really really really really really really suck. Yes the Bears, stil, suck. (Everyone sing along).

- - Jay Glazer...go away!

- - Ladell Betts with a wardrobe malfunction. Wishful thinking??

- - I'm not even commenting on Vick to the Eagles. It speaks for itself and further entrenches my disdain for the other PA team.

- - How long before an NFL team signs Usain Bolt to a special teams contract? He would need two contracts; one for him and one for his ego. I'm looking your way Dallas.


That's all for now.

My collections...

I don't think I ever formally introduced my collections to the world.

Growing up in Pittsburgh, it is a given that I am a Pittsburgh sports fan. My personal collection is comprised of both Steelers and Penguins cards.

My Pirates collection has been stagnate since about 1996 when I stopped collecting baseball. I held onto the Pirates, thinking that someday they would return to their status as an elite National League team. I think the Cubs will win a series before the Pirates ever get back to form. The philosophy in Pittsburgh seems to be that there is no sense in spending money on a baseball team when you have two other perfectly good sports teams to compete with.

My Steelers collection is on version 3 as it is the third attempt at building a substantial collection. The first time was sold off back in 1993 after deciding to stop collecting football. The second time came after the 1995 Super Bowl debacle. The current incarnation was only started in 2004 with the draft class featuring Big Ben. I wish I could make a substantial impact to this but most of the bloggers/forum traders/dealers that I work with seem to keep their Steeler cards for their own collections.

My Penguins collection has been accumulated over the past 20 years. I have small player collections of some of my favorite past Pens including Paul Coffey, Ron Francis, Joe Mullen, Kevin Stevens, Mark Recchi, Tom Barrasso, and Phil Bourque. I have some larger collections of Mario Lemieux and Jaromir Jagr, the best 1-2 Punch in all of Hockey for about 12 years. Over the last few years, I have developed a small cluster of cards from some of the current greats like Malkin, Crosby, Staal, Fleury, Letang, and Gonchar.

I keep reading on others blogs about these "packages" that they receive from readers. How does that whole thing work and how do I get in on it?