High Octane Football, Low Octane Twitter.

Coach Todd Graham announced today that he was placing a ban on his players using their Twitter accounts during the season. 

Bravo!

Most of what players post is gibberish anyways, so I don't really see why anyone should be upset about this move.  It also keeps the players more focused on the task at hand, which is to win the Big East championship.

Maybe if some of the players were more focused on the task at hand last year, this team could have won a weak Big East Conference and secured a BCS bid. 

You have to do the small things first.  Every detail matters and that's why I like Coach Graham.

I'll admit I've not been a big supporter of Pitt in the past mostly because I am more of a Penn State fan, and several of my Pitt fan friends talk so much crap about how much better their team is and then I just laugh when they fall flat on their faces.

Coach Wannstadt lost control of this team last year, despite what some of the players wanted to tell you on Facebook and Twitter.  There was no discipline, and worst of all there was no proper coaching.  Wannstache couldn't outcoach a Youth league head coach.

Once again, hats off to Coach Graham for putting the kabosh on Twitter and leaving the relay of sports information to the team.

Another step in the right direction for this program.

Lonnell DeWalt Shafted in AFL Ironman Awards Process

The definition of Ironman in AFL football used to mean a guy who played on both offense and defense.  These days the award is given to the league's best kick returner.

Lonnell DeWalt finished the season with 52 tackles and 4 interceptions on defense to go along with his 45 catches for 489 yards and 21 TD's.  It wasn't enough to qualify him as one of the top five "Ironmen" in the league.

The only defensive member of the All-Ironman team as announced by the league was Orlando's Marlon Moye-Moore who had a whopping 6 touches on offense for 4 scores.  His damage came on defense where he had 73 tackles and seven interceptions.    All other candidates won because of their prowess on offense and special teams.  Not defense...

DeWalt was a midseason switch to defense, and his play at the jack linebacker position was key for some of Pittsburgh's biggest wins during the season.  He should have been on the All-Ironman team at the very least, and to be honest he should have won the JLS Ironman Award hands down.

Don't get me wrong, P.J. Berry is a dynamic player, and should be in the running for awards like Nifty Playmaker of the Year, if there is such an award.  Leave the Ironman Awards to people who legitimately play both ways.

Diehard Arena fans will agree with me on this.  The award is a joke anymore.  Restore it to its original status and reward players who truly play both sides of the ball. 

What a joke!

Summing Up The Pirates' Homestand

This should sum up the level of play we saw from our Pittsburgh Pirates as they wrapped up an 0-7 homestand against the Chicago Cubs and San Diego Padres.  In the 124 year history of this team they've never had this bad of a homestand. 

To steal from the NHL commercials, "History Will Be Made."  Not exactly the history we want to see though.

Derrek Lee is bashing the Pirates on Twitter.  Here's some of his tweets this week.  "The #Pirates are going down faster than Carlos Zambrano's wife. Abandon ship! #letsgobucs #DLee #cubs", and "I'm covered in KFC grease and shame. Should have gotten a live chicken. This f'ing sucks. #pirates #DLee #cubs"

That should teach me to get my hopes up again.  I'll just wait for the Penguins, Steelers, and Power to bring respectability back to the city of Pittsburgh.

I think it is entirely possible Neal Huntington just waited too long to pull the trigger on a deal to improve the club.  I also think he underestimated how taking players who hustle like Josh harrison and Chase d'Arnaud out of the lineup would impact the team. 

Instead we got Pedro Alvarez and Steve Pearce called up and flailing away at pitches.  The pitching staff has imploded, and to be honest, there's no real end in sight to this 10 game losing streak.

The dream is officially dead. This team has given up and I seriously doubt they can even rebound to finish .500 on the season.

I bought the hype, I honestly believed this was going to be a magical season and, at the very WORST, the streak of losing seasons was going to be over.

I almost wish they had just stunk from the beginning like they were supposed to.  Then at least the Pirates could have entertained the thought of trading off some players to continue adding to the core.  It would have been best for the long term future of this team.

Don't even try to convince me this team still has a chance to win the NL Central, because that just isn't happening.

Oh well, time to turn my attention to football.

Worst Loss Of The Year For The Pirates?

93.7 The Fan's Chris Mueller (@937LateShift) just tweeted "Worst loss of the year for the Pirates? I'm willing to say it. #twitteronthe40s".

I am inclined to agree with him.  Here is why.

This team has been in a funk overall since Jerry Meals botched the call to end that 19 inning affair in Atlanta.  What is it with awful losses in Atlanta putting this team into losing streaks anyways?  Back in 1992 it was the Sid Bream game, and now in 2011, history repeats itself.

Tonight was yet another chance to get back to winning baseball against a Cubs team with nothing left to play for.  You had seven freaking shutout innings from Charlie Morton who has been awful for the past few starts.  Surely this was the night to end it all.  I mean, the offense has been producing a bit more, surely they could eke out a few runs right?

WRONG!

Instead, the Pirates start off their half of the 9th inning with Derrek Lee getting hit by a pitch.  Waste an out to move him over and then Pedro Alvarez and pinch hitter Ryan Doumit both strike out to end the game. 

This loss also puts the Pirates under .500 again, and while I am trying to remain positive, you really do have to wonder if they have lost their mental edge because of that blown call.  That's inexcusable mind you, but partially understandable with such a young team.

Hopefully Clint Hurdle gets the men gathered up and lights a fire under their ass.  It's probably too late at this point, but one never knows.  Hurdle took a Rockies team in virtually the same position and rattled off 21 wins out of 22 games and took his team to the World Series.  Stranger things have happened.

The Beginning Of The End?

You had to wonder how long the Pirates could continue to play at the level they were going heading into the All-Star break.

This last week's stretch against St. Louis, Atlanta, and Philly really showed how bad the offense was, even though the pitching looked very respectable for the most part.  The bottom line though is contending for a division title and this current four game losing streak, combined with a seven game winning streak for Milwaukee, is putting a lot of distance in between the two clubs.

Derrek Lee tweeted before the game that he would go 4 for 4, and hit two HR's off Carlos Zambrano.  He was half right on his batting stats, but he did indeed hit two bombs to give the Pirates some offense.  Unfortunately the rest of the team was not on board with the plan to pummel Zambrano.

I'm just as hopeful as the next Pirate fan that they can get things turned around, but you can't be losing to the Cubs if you want to contend for the division.  Milwaukee just smoked these guys, and it is clear the Pirates need a spark.  Lee and Ludwick generated some offense tonight, which is why they were brought in, but the pitching was not enough.

Let's just hope the Buccos get back on track tomorrow, because they need to piece together a nice winning streak soon.