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Someone get Alexander Ovechkin a tissue.

Remember just a year or so ago when people actually wanted to debate whether Alexander Ovechkin was the best player in the NHL?  At least he was putting up stats to warrant such discussion.  He also had to dodge all of the complaints for his constant dirty hits.

Last year he put up 32 goals, far off his usual 50 goal pace.  At least he still had his dirty, errr "physical play."  Not anymore.  The NHL finally cracked down on Ovechkin for his patented style of leaving his feet to deliver checks.  No more charging, no more spearing, no more headhunting.  No more fun of any kind!

What is a guy with declining goal scoring ability to do now that he can't be a dirty player.  Apparently he is going to add being a whiny crybaby to his resume.  Ovechkin announced that he will not attend the NHL All-Star game as a result of his suspension. 

He also used the childish "Why didn't Michalek get suspended mommy" line upon learning of his suspension.  He also saw absolutely nothing wrong with his hit.  Nope there's nothing wrong with leaving your feet at all Ovie except for the fact it's against the rules. 

The fact he's gone this long without a suspension speaks to how much bias the league gave to its superstars.  Matt Cooke was a "repeat offender" and got the equivalent of an 18 game suspension at the end of last year's regular season and the first round of the playoffs. 

At least Cooke has shown the ability to learn from his suspension and has changed the way he plays the game.  I wonder if Ovechkin will be able to drastically alter his game by just staying on his feet.

It's bad enough he acts this childish, but this buffoon is the captain of the Washington Capitals.  That's right.  This level of stupidity is what passes for leadership for the hockey team that resides in the nation's capital.  

Of course what else do you expect from that city in which our nation's leaders are just as adept at pointing the blame to everyone else but themselves?  No wonder the Capitals never win anything.  There's no accountability.  Perhaps this is just leftover remnants of the Bruce Boudreau regime.

The best part of this suspension, and Ovechkin's refusal to play in the All-Star game might be that it should open up a roster spot for James Neal, who is more than worthy of getting a nod to the team. 

You just have to get past the temper tantrum to see the golden lining.

Joe Paterno's legacy is still unwritten.

Trying to sit here and sum up my thoughts about Joe Paterno isn't easy.  My entire childhood and early adulthood, I saw much of my grandfather Edward in Paterno and vice versa.  They were the same age and, in a strange twist of fate, both men died on the same January day nine years apart. 

Both men absolutely loved Penn State football, and could be cranky with the best of them.  Both men were also very loyal to their respective families.  There was nothing my grandfather wouldn't do for his children and grandchildren.  There was nothing Joe Paterno wouldn't do for his Penn State family, players and students alike. 

Just listen to all of Joe's former players on the radio today talking about how much they loved and admired Paterno, and how they wanted to thank Joe for teaching them how to be men.  Just look at how several former players were quick to come to his defense in November when he was removed from his position as head coach.

Paterno gave his entire life to educating young men and women to aspire to greatness.  "Believe deep down in your heart you are destined to do great things," is one of his memorable quotes.

The longer Joe Paterno continued to patrol the sidelines, the more familiar he became to generations of Penn State fans.  It's not often we see a coach last that long in one place.  In fact, I would argue Paterno was the last of his kind.  Loyal to the very end. 

The end of his tenure was straight out of a Greek tragedy, and not the way Paterno deserved to live his final days.   I am not attempting to downplay the awful things that Jerry Sandusky allegedly did to his victims, or the appalling lack of action by Penn State administrators after discovering what was happening. 

Paterno himself isn't completely blameless in all of this.  By his own admission he wishes he had done more.  He did what he thought was right, and many will argue for the rest of time whether he was right or wrong.   Show me a single person on this Earth who doesn't wish they'd done things differently in their past.   No one is perfect. 

All we can judge is the ideals and ways a person chose to lead their lives.  Paterno never seemed to put his needs first over Penn State.  He turned down offers of more lucrative coaching gigs because he believed in what he was doing at Penn State.   He also chose to give much of his earned wealth from coaching football back to the university. 

How fitting is it that the library at Penn State bears the name of the football coach while the stadium is currently named after a former university president?   It's usually the other way around.  And yet that's exactly the way Paterno would have wanted it.

People will always have their opinions of the man, and nothing you really say will change how they feel.  The fact remains that to many in the Penn State and State College community, he was like a grandfather to us.   His words of inspiration will resonate throughout Penn State University for the rest of time. 

I am reminded of a line from one of my favorite baseball movies from my childhood, The Sandlot.  "Heroes get remembered, but legends never die."

His death will not end our memories of him.   He lives on in the spirit of every student and player he inspired to be the best they could be. Future generations of Penn State students will be impacted by the donations he generously gave back to the school. His legacy is still being written.

I know that Nittany Nation will grieve over his death, but focus on the good memories.  Focus on being the great person he wanted you to be.  That is the best way to honor Paterno.  That's exactly what he would have wanted.

R.I.P. Joe.  You will be sorely missed.

Bruce Arians announces his "retirement."

Well Steeler fans, many of you have gotten your wish. 

Bruce Arians announced his "retirement" from the position of offensive coordinator for the Pittsburgh Steelers.  I use that word lightly because there are a lot of indications that the Steelers ownership wanted a change to be made.

During his tenure as OC, the team went to two Super Bowls and won one of them.  He was also the wide receivers coach from 2004-2006 which coincided with the 2005 Super Bowl championship run.

Were the Steelers an offensive juggernaut under Bruce Arians?  That depends on your definition of the term.  Under Arians, Ben Roethlisberger posted two 4000 yard passing seasons.   We saw six 1000 yard receiving seasons, Mendenhall hit the 1000 yard mark twice and we saw a 1000 yard season out of Willie Parker in 2007.

That yardage did not always equal success on the scoreboard.  The Steelers never ranked higher than 9th in the NFL during any of Arians six seasons.  Conversely during that time frame New England never ranked LOWER than 8th in scoring even when Tom Brady was injured for almost the entire season.

No one can dispute that the Steelers are usually able to move the ball up and down the field.  It's the redzone playcalling that leaves many Steeler fans scratching their heads.  Calling a delayed handoff when you are in the shadow of your own end zone and taking a safety is simply infuriating. 

Pounding the ball at the one yard line makes sense.  Giving it to Mewelde Moore instead of Isaac Redman does not. 

Now that Arians is gone the focus will shift to who will replace Arians as OC.  Some names have popped up immediately.  The leading internal candidate was running backs coach Kirby Wilson, but he remains hospitalized trying to recover from the horrible burns he suffered in a house fire before the Denver game.  

Quarterbacks coach Randy Fichtner might earn a promotion if he has a strong rapport with Ben Roethlisberger, but if you promote from within you run the risk of falling into the same trap or running the current offense.  I think it's pretty clear the Steelers need to move in a new direction, especially with all the weapons they now have on offense.

If we look outside the organization we see names like Todd Haley and Jim Caldwell.  Green Bay quarterbacks coach Tom Clements is now likely out of the mix with Packers OC Joe Phillbin taking the head coaching gig in Miami.  Clements should earn a promotion to run the Packers offense.

I like Todd Haley.  He did a lot of great things with the Arizona offense that basically carried an 8-8 wild card team to within a few minutes of upsetting the Steelers in the 2008 Super Bowl.  If you upgrade the offensive line a bit, I think this offense would have an easy chance of being a lot more explosive than that Cards team.  Imagine how much Antonio Brown and Mike Wallace could improve with a teacher like that.

Jim Caldwell I'm not as fond of.  In my opinion, Peyton Manning ran that Colts offense, not his coaches.  The Colts completely fell apart offensively without Peyton in the lineup.  I think that shows how strong of a quarterback Manning as well as provide an indictment of how poor the coaches were.  New England hardly missed a beat when Tom Brady was lost for the season a few years ago.

Regardless of who the pick is, there is a lot of strong potential for this Steelers offense.  Antonio Brown and Mike Wallace are superstars.  Heath Miller is one of the most underrated tight ends in the game. 

You also have strong veteran presence in Hines Ward and Jerricho Cotchery if they decide to return to the Steelers next year.  Add in Emmanuel Sanders who continues to show improvement and that is a lot of weapons in the passing attack.

Also look at Rashard Mendenhall and Isaac Redman and the pieces are in place for a solid running game as well, perhaps if the new OC decides to use a fullback we'll see immediate improvement.

No matter what though, many Steeler fans have gotten what they wanted. 

I just hope they don't come to regret it.

Khem Birch needs to grow up.

So let me get something straight.  Khem Birch calls his former Pitt teammates "self-absorbed" but is upset that they didn't respect him because he was an "All-American?"  It's all well and good to exceed at the high school level, but once you move up to the college ranks and don a uniform for your new school, none of that matters anymore.

Maybe if Birch stopped being such a prima donna because he wasn't getting enough playing time and worked on improving his skills he would have gotten the playing time he craved.  Maybe if he had taken the time outside of practices and games to be part of the team socially, he would have seen that these guys are a team and want to win together. 

Jamie Dixon doesn't seem to care about egos.  If you play for him you know it is all about the team.  That's why I find Birch's comments about the team being self-absorbed to be laughable. 

I also find it laughable that Birch thought Pitt was going to play a fast uptempo game all of a sudden.  Maybe in a year or two as all the new recruits began to mesh together, but this year was always going to be the style of basketball Pitt fans have been accustomed to during this run of success.

Don't get me wrong, every player wants the numbers.  That's why we compete in sports.  We want to shine.  No one wants to be the worst player out there.  Birch wants to standout but I'm not sure he's willing to do the hard work.  His former prep coach said that Birch didn't like the physical play in games and of course we all know when the going got tough, he quit on the team. 

I think the best part was the fact he didn't even seem to know he'd lose some eligibility by transferring to UNLV.  Who the hell is advising this kid?  It's probably family members who have been feeding his attitude since he was a kid.  "You're better than everyone else.  It's not your fault, it's theirs." 

It's not easy to go from being the top dog and it's obvious Birch wasn't ready to handle the adversity.  It's just a shame he has to lash out at those he abandoned and try to tear them down just to make himself look better.  That shows an awful lot of immaturity.

Unfortunately these days a lot of people seem to be lacking the work ethic that used to define this country.  Everyone wants to take shortcuts.  Everyone wants to be handed a six figure wage fresh out of college.  No one wants to pay their dues or do the grunt work.

I don't even think Birch grasps the situation either.  In an interview earlier this week he was asked if he had any regrets about quitting on Pitt midseason and he flat out said no.  He doesn't think he did anything wrong.  What do you expect from someone who goes by @MTLsGift.  Yeah everyone is blessed to have this gift in their lives.

Time to grow up Khem...