Pittsburgh Sports Report

Okay so I have to take a timeout from my regular blogging to talk sports for a few moments.

First, congratulations to Sidney Crosby on winning the Rocket Richard Trophy. Yes, he is sharing the award with Steven Stamkos of Tampa Bay (who scored an empty-netter in the Lightning's win yesterday) but at least Ovie was prevented from getting the three-peat.

Second, the Steelers just made a bold statement about players being held accountable for their off-field shenanigans. In case you had not heard yet, Santanio Holmes, facing a 4 game suspension for violating the leagues substance abuse policy, was traded in the wee-hours of the night to the New York Jets for a fifth-round pick in this month's draft. Now forget that the Jets just got a steal by picking up a former first-rounder and a Super Bowl MVP for a lousy fifth round pick (which seems like an absolutely horrible deal on surface... because it is) and let's concentrate on the PR reasons for this move.

The Steelers have had a ton of bad press over the past six weeks. There was Ben Roethlesberger in trouble over an alleged sexual assault for the second time in the past year and there was Holmes' issue with the lawsuit in Florida for throwing a glass at some chick and the undisclosed substance abuse violation (which if history is an indicator probably means he was recretionally smoking marijuana). So the Steelers had to make an example of someone and the ax fell on Holmes' neck. Which sucks for his fans and fans of the team but you have to be culpable for your actions. Now we must wait and see what Roethelsberger's punishment for being a horny bastard with poor decision making skills off the field will be. At 2pm the authorities in Georgia will announce if Roethelsberger will be charged with sexual assault for what he allegedly did to a 20-year old co-ed in a night club bathroom (and all indications say that Ben will not be charged). Later this week, Ben will meet with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell. And with Goodell's track record you would think that there is a chance Roethelsberger could be suspended for a few games for bringing bad press to the league. Although (not to make this a racial issue) but it does seem like white quarterbacks are held to different standards than African-American players.

I don't know what will happen but the Steelers line-up on opening day may look very different than it did at the end of last season.