By Tim Clark / February 18, 2024 / Column, Tim's Two Cents
Two

I love being a sports fanatic.

It is who I am. It is what I do. It has been my passion since I was 7 years old. I will never change.

See, there is never a point in the entire year when I don’t have a team to be following and cheering for. The calendar year starts with the end of the NFL season and NHL, NBA, and college hoops are in full swing. As college basketball ends, baseball begins. Baseball carries us through to the next college and pro football seasons.

I have seen my favorite teams win World Series, Super Bowls, Stanley Cups, NBA Championships, and national championships. I have seen my favorite players win MVP’s and Heisman Trophies. 

I have always been amazed how fans of the Cubs when I was growing up stuck y their team. How about Lions fans up until this year? It has to be tough to stand by teams that never win. But if you are a fanatic, generally you will have at least one of your teams winning or contending.

But what if you don’t?

Welcome to my current world. Yea, I love being a sports fanatic, but it ain’t always easy.

This is my personal tale of woe.

Let me start with the saddest part of my saga. I root for the Pittsburgh Pirates. I could leave it at that, but that wouldn’t be very cathartic.

As a kid growing up the Pirates were always good. That good stretch culminated with a 1979 World Series victory. Stargell, Parker, and the rest of the Lumber Company were a blast to root for. Little did I know that the Pirates wouldn’t sniff another World Series from when I was 13 to now at age 57. That has been a long 44 years.

1990-92 was fun, but Bonds, Bonilla, Van Slyke, Drabek, and Jim Leyland couldn’t get over the hump. After 20 straight losing seasons —some of them of the 100 loss variety— the Pirates made three straight wildcard appearances from 2013-15, but only advanced to the next round once. Now Pirates fans are headed to a ninth straight “maybe this will be the year” of contending…or not.

The worst part of being a Pirates fan is having an owner —in a sport with no salary cap/floor— that has shown no intention of spending enough to give his team a chance to win. But cheer and complain —boy, do I complain— I will. I even saw a new hat I want to purchase. I still wear my Pirates gear and fly my Pirates flag. I get mostly sympathetic looks. Maybe they are old school Cubs fans.

I hope to live a long life, but the clock is ticking. Let’s go Bucs.

I really haven’t got much to complain about as a Steelers fan. I am old enough to remember all six Super Bowl victories. But, Mike Tomlin, what have you done for me lately?

For the better part of a decade and a half Steelers fans have seen their team underperform and disappoint. Unless you are satisfied with slightly over .500 records and never winning a playoff game, that is. The Super Bowl feels miles out of reach right now.

Tomlin frittered away years he had a Hall of Fame quarterback, a would be —if not for being crazy— Hall of Fame wide receiver, a premiere running back, and a decent supporting cast. Nothing ever came of those years. Now Steelers fans have the pleasure of watching the staff keep pushing a hapless starting quarterback, an injury riddled defense, and a coach that thinks it is still 1975.

Steelers fans have been called spoiled, but the fact is 23 teams have won a playoff game since the last time the Steelers succeeded at that feat. I don’t call that spoiled, I call it thirsty. Thirsty to taste success again. Real success. Here we go.

The trifecta for Pittsburgh fans is the Pens glorious run coming to an end, and that’s where we are at right now.

Again, Pens fans my age can’t complain. First, Mario Lemieux led the team to multiple Stanley Cups. Then the team lucks into the winning ping pong ball that lands them Sidney Crosby, who leads them to multiple Stanley Cups. Include Ron Francis, Kevin Stevens, Jaromir Jagr, Tom Barrasso, Evgeni Malkin, and Marc-Andre Fleury, just to name a few, and you had a hockey dynasty.

Unfortunately, it’s over.

Crosby is still fun to watch. The rest of the team is not. Players got old and lost steam, Ron Hextall had a horrific tenure as GM, and a depleted minor league system has led to this point. Pens games are hard to watch these days. They don’t score. They really only have one line that scores. Sometimes, just one player.

It started last year, as they managed to miss the playoffs on the last day of the season. Much like the Steelers, the Pens have not been a threat in the playoffs for some time. Like I said, it is hard to complain after the run of greatness the Pens gave fans, but the current product is very frustrating. The power play makes you wonder if it is worth the Pens ever getting one. The players on the bottom two lines are terrible.

Sidney Crosby still has some good years left in him, so Let’s go Pens.

I root for the Sixers, but I am just not a huge NBA fan. So, rather than rail on an organization that has only given me real reason to cheer one time since being contenders repeatedly during my childhood and winning one championship, I will move on to college sports.

I became a USC football fan when I was 8 and John McKay was still the Trojans head coach. Then John Robinson took over for more great seasons. After a mostly subpar 20 year stretch, Pete Carroll gave me the best stretch of fandom in my adult life. It was a mini dynasty at USC.

From the point Carroll left for Seattle, things have been absolutely miserable. Lane Kiffin got fired on an airport tarmac, Steve Sarkisian drank his way out of town, and both of them were better than Clay Helton. Helton did give me a Rose Bowl win over all of my friends’ team, Penn State. Aside from that, Helton nearly destroyed the program.

As an adult, I learned to laugh off these bad times. However, the Helton era nearly broke me. I was ecstatic when he was finally fired. I was even more ecstatic when the Trojans pulled off the coup of hiring Lincoln Riley away from Oklahoma. Considering one of the alternatives was James Franklin, Riley seemed like gold.

Riley turned the Trojans around in just one season, and I got to cheer for yet another Heisman Trophy winner in Caleb Williams. Finally, something to cheer for. Then last year, the bottom fell out again due to Riley’s refusal to take defense seriously. Was the previous year just false hope?

Riley has totally revamped the defensive coaching staff, giving fans hope once again. It has been a long time since my Trojans had sustained success. I think it is time to stop bumbling around in LA and to start fighting on.

Last but not least, my college hoops black hole, the Louisville Cardinals.

I started rooting for the Cards during the Doctors of Dunk era of the late 70’s into the 80’s. Darrell Griffith, Jerry Eaves, Wiley Brown, the McCray brothers, BIlly Thompson, Never Nervous Pervis Ellison, and more made this a fantastic time to be a Cardinal fanatic. The proof was two national championships.

Legendary coach Denny Crum was replaced by legendary Rick Pitino, and another championship and more Final Four appearances ensued.

Then there were strippers, Pitino and a woman who was not his wife on a restaurant table, and potential illegal payments. Pitino was prematurely shown the door, and the winning stopped. David Padgett couldn’t win, Chris Mack couldn’t win, and Kenny Payne is currently trying to bury the program.

Payne has caused Louisville to hit rock bottom. Never in my life have I seen these types of results from Louisville. Payne was a great player and won a national title at Louisville, but coaching certainly isn’t his strength. The results have been beyond embarrassing. Four wins last year and eight to date this year, means Payne needs to win once more this year in order to surpass the worst SINGLE season since Peck Hickman started coaching in 1944. It has been an all time low for Louisville basketball. I still wear my Cardinal gear on game days.

A change is needed so that we can all start cheering Let’s go Cards once again.

So, to review, the Pirates are embarrassing, USC football and Louisville basketball have been at an all time low in my lifetime, the Pens run is over with no hope in sight, and Antonio Brown was sane and Le’Veon Bell was a running back not a rapper the last time the Steelers won a playoff game.

It is safe to say I am in a rut as a fanatic.

I am curious about the worst stretches you have had as a sports fanatic. Whatever it is, you should never stop rooting. That is against the rules of sports fanaticism. Through thick and thin and thinner, you have to stick by your squad. Take the good with the bad and the ugly.

I’ve had a lot to cheer for with my teams over the course of my 57 years. My recent stretch does prove, however, that being a fanatic isn’t always easy.

Two Cent Takes

College Hoops

~Let’s look at teams currently playing their way into(maybe) the tournament:

  • Pitt- winners of 5 in a row and 7 of 8 including road wins at Virginia and Duke. Need to win out at home and steal one more road win.
  • Providence- The Friars have wins against Wisconsin, Marquette, and Creighton. They are 6-3 in their last 9 games in a rugged Big East.
  • Seton Hall- Beat UConn and Marquette, but may need something more. Win their three home games to get to 20 wins and try to steal a road game at Creighton or UConn. Going to be close for the Pirates.
  • Michigan State- won 3 in a row, 8 of 10, and 13 of 17 since starting 4-5. Not only are they playing their way comfortably into the tournament, but I wouldn’t want to play the Spartans either.
  • Drake/Indiana State- whichever one of these teams doesn’t win the MVC is currently playing their way in for an at large bid. Indiana State couldn’t handle the spotlight of being a top 25 team, but at 22-5, along with Drake, should be enough.
  • Nevada- the Wolf Pack are on a 4-1 roll in the ultra competitive Mountain West. Why not another MW team in the tournament?
  • Washington State- Good for the Cougars. They have won 10 of 11 and will be the second Pac-12 team in the tournament. The computer numbers back up this assertion.
  • Florida- 8 of 10 with good computer numbers should have the Gators feeling comfy.
  • Grand Canyon- the Lopes, as I stated on my Musings podcast here at PennSports.LIVE, will be a litmus test of sorts. At 24-2 with a quad one win and likely to win out, will they get an at large bid if they would happen to lose in the WAC tourney?

~Now let’s look at teams playing their way out(maybe) of the tournament:

  • Memphis- The Tigers have lost 6 of 9, and they have most likely put themselves in a position where a conference tournament title is their only way in.
  • Kansas State- The Wildcats have lost 6 of 7, and it will take a miracle to get in now.
  • Texas- Horns down. Texas has lost 6 of 10 and don’t look great. They are in for now, but have a brutal schedule left. A couple wins should make them feel more safe.
  • Colorado- The Buffs are 6-4 in their last ten games, but getting blown out by Arizona and playing average basketball has them on the wrong side of the bubble.
  • Texas A&M- Buzz had his team take a peek inside the ballroom, then the Aggies lost two in a row and stepped back outside to the parking lot.

~Rick Pitino may have finally lost it. He has always been straight forward and honest with the media in regards to his teams, but this may have been too honest.

 

Here is a transcript with more Pitino quotes from Sunday.

 

I bet modern day players are lined up around the block to play for Pitino.

~This is the jump ball when the ref eats funny brownies before the game.

 

 

NBA

~That should be the last NBA all star game we have to endure. Remember when Kobe Bryant said guys play harder in summer pick up games? It has managed to get worse. Larry Bird was disgusted. Commissioner Adam Silver was disgusted. Players make too much money to risk injury in an exhibition game. So, why play?

~The dunk contest has been taken over by a G-League player. Mac McClung was clearly the best dunker again this year, despite the judges trying to screw him.

 

Why can’t McClung get a gig in the NBA?

~Adam Silver had some harsh, and well deserved, words for youth basketball in America. Silver said foreign players come with a much better sense of playing team basketball because they value practice over games. Are you listening AAU programs? Powerful words, and I couldn’t agree more.

~This crew salvaged NBA all star weekend.

 

Search Twitter for other clips. These guys are the best by a long distance because they have so much fun. Kenny Smith and Reggie Miller were great calling the dunk contest as well.

Golf

~Tiger Woods got sick and withdrew from the Genesis Open at Riviera. Jordan Spieth got sick and inadvertently signed an incorrect scorecard causing his disqualification. Tom Kim got sick and nearly missed his tee time.

 

Could this be an In-N-Out Burger conspiracy?

~Rory McIlroy continues to be an intelligent voice of reason when suggesting a World Tour to have the game become more global without diluting the North American schedule.

~Considering the LIV stuff over the last two years, it was refreshing to hear Mackenzie Hughes say that it shouldn’t be all about the money during his on course interview. He went on to say he worries about the values in today’s game. Good for him. It needed to be said.

~I genuinely feel bad for Scottie Scheffler.

 

Scheffler threw a ball in the woods, tossed his putter, and nearly snapped it in half after missing short putts. He legitimately would win 5-7 tournaments per year if he could putt. At this point, you know it is mental.

~Hideki Matsuyama shot a Sunday 62 to win the Genesis. Because of the language barrier, we never probably get to know Matsuyama as well as we could. Great player.

~Will Zalatoris’ return from back surgery hit a super high note with his second place finish at Riviera, and doing so with a heavy heart. He revealed after the last round that he got word on Thursday that a close family member passed away. Easy guy to root for.

The Weekly Shiny Penny

The entire Jaromir Jagr jersey retirement ceremony was absolutely top notch, and Jagr didn’t disappoint. His entire speech was fantastic, but the part that made people clap and laugh all at the same time was this beauty.

 

Do your thing, Jags.

A Penny For My Final Thought…

The Pittsburgh Steelers offseason is off to a good start.

Quarterback Mitch Trubisky, punter Pressley Harvin, and offensive tackle Chuks Okorafor have already been released.

Trubisky was a bad signing the second it happened. I am certain Mike Tomlin was the only person in the league that thought Trubisky was worth a tenth of what he was paid by the Steelers.

Harvin was bragged about when drafted for his ability to throw the ball in trick play situations. I don’t remember Harvin throwing the ball once, but I sure do remember him shanking punt after punt.

Okorafor got punished for telling the truth when he said the Steelers offense may as well have taken a knee.

So, that is the good news.

The Steelers approached their offensive coordinator opening just as I suspected they would. Someone told Tomlin he must go outside the organization to fill the position. He finds Arthur Smith. Smith won’t question Tomlin or challenge his authority. Smith, himself, stated he can’t wait to start learning from Tomlin.

It is the perfect hire for Mike Tomlin. A guy whose name was just slightly higher than mud. I think. A guy who is known to like running the ball. A guy who ignored offensive weapons in Atlanta like Bijan Robinson, Drake London, and Kyle Pitts. George Pickens and crew will no doubt love that approach.

So, that was the meh news.

Now the potentially bad news.

Offseason rumors have linked about 14 quarterbacks to Pittsburgh. Ryan Tannehill will want to be reunited with his favorite coordinator Arthur Smith. Mike Tomlin loves Justin Fields, so it would make sense for the Steelers to pursue Fields via trade. Kirk Cousins people say he has drawn interest from Pittsburgh. Cousins is a veteran who could maximize the current window of opportunity the Steelers have cracked open.

Then there were reports coming from those that cover the Steelers that they aren’t interested in bringing any quarterbacks in, but rather are feuding internally about whether the starter should be Kenny Pickett or Mason Rudolph.

Two things will define the Steelers offseason. What the team does in the draft and free agency is number two, and how they handle the most important position on the team will be number one. They can improve the offensive line, secondary, and even find a punter who can actually punt, but if they don’t have a competent quarterback it won’t matter.

Peter King shares my feelings when it comes to the Steelers quarterback situation.

 

 

Anyone confident the Steelers won’t screw this up?

Just my two cents…