Troy Polamalu and his secondary mates share a moment late in the playoff loss to the Ravens. — GETTY
BY DEJAN KOVACEVIC
Roundup of a lot of randomness from a lot of time around our teams …
• The Steelers have absolutely, positively not made up their minds about any of their four classic veterans — Troy Polamalu, James Harrison, Brett Keisel and Ike Taylor — but that fact alone, coupled with what I’ve learned this week is their intention to keep other players at those same positions, is making a return look immensely unlikely.
And I mean for any of the four.
Situations can change, of course, but the current defensive priority on the South Side, based on conversations I’ve had this week, is twofold:
1. Get younger.
That means, when looking at those gentlemen above and their respective positions, Shamarko Thomas should start at safety, Jarvis Jones at outside linebacker, Stephon Tuitt at defensive end and … um, someone else at corner. They legitimately aren’t giving up on Cortez Allen, but the answer there — in addition to one of Willie Gay, Antwon Blake or Brice McCain — is almost certainly going to come from the outside in some form. To the pertinent point: It won’t be Taylor. They know that, and he knows that.
2. Keep others on the supporting cast.
McCain and Arthur Moats are two potential free agents that Kevin Colbert cited in our talk Tuesday as players the Steelers want to keep. Both were better than most might have realized, but the coaches were very much aware and would like to see more, possibly as insurance to start, possibly as depth.
Add those up, then factor into it that Polamalu’s release or retirement would result in $3.7 million in cap savings in a summer in which the primary goal is to extend Ben Roethlisberger, and the money points to these players’ departure, too. Keeping McCain and Moats won’t be free, but it won’t cost much. And if Colbert is serious about pursuing a free-agent corner — he brought it up unsolicited Tuesday — that will.
The Steelers’ stance, in general, is that this won’t be based on sentiment. They’re looking at 2015, especially on defense with Keith Butler taking over for Dick LeBeau, as a chance at a fresh start. They want that far more than they want continuity from the past, something they’re confident they’ll get from Cam Heyward, Lawrence Timmons and others who are more than sufficiently ingrained in their methodologies.
“We have to do what’s right,” one Steelers exec told me. “That doesn’t change.”
These won’t be easy calls — imagine summoning a living legend like Polamalu to inform him of an ignominious release or even to seek a pay cut — but every indication is that the Steelers are amply prepared to make them.
• The formal math revealing that the Steelers’ strength-of-schedule will rank No. 1 in 2015 shouldn’t have surprised anyone who, oh, you know, watched the Super Bowl and two opponents they’ll face on the road. But just in case it had, CBS Sports put it all together in this list that shows the Steelers’ opponents in 2015 went a combined 147-107-2 this past season.
This actually is worse than it looks: Eleven of the Steelers’ 16 opponents had winning records, nine made the playoffs, and even two of those losing teams — the 49ers and Rams — are, in my mind, poised to be much better this fall.
Any concern for Colbert?
Not judging by this terrific quote about the gap between the Steelers and Patriots: “We don’t get to compare ourselves to anyone but Baltimore because they’re the ones that eliminated us.”
• Every vibe I get from the Steelers — and know that it isn’t much — is that Roethliberger’s term would be in the range of 5-6 years. I’ve heard nothing at all about money, but logic would dictate from there it will be around $100 million.
• Jason Worilds will get a multiyear offer, and he will sign it. Bank on both.
• I’m not wild about the Penguins making Steve Downie a healthy scratch last night in Ottawa, but I heard of pressure mounting on him as far back as a week ago while out in Calgary. And I heard about it from, of all people, Downie himself.
When I asked him if the team had enough toughness up front, he replied, “I think there’s more than enough of that, if you look across our lineup. We’ve got a bunch of guys who can take care of themselves, and I know I’ll always be there for my teammates. So no, I don’t see that at all.”
Allow me to translate that, please, from hockeyspeak: ‘I’ve got this.’
Well, Downie has had his teammates’ backs this season, even as he’s also lost his marbles at times. That’s par for the course in his career, though, and truth is, it had subsided quite a bit in recent weeks. He’d been a model citizen, actually, aside from a hooking minor Wednesday against the Red Wings after a 3-0 lead. I heard no complaints from anyone.
The complaints I did hear out West were that he hasn’t been producing enough, and that’s hard to argue in light of zero points over the past seven games.
Still don’t like it. Too important a player.
• Never underestimate Sidney Crosby’s desire to have Chris Kunitz on his line.
• Jim Rutherford’s aim in acquiring a defenseman before the deadline is much more based on mobility than size or brawn. The GM has been wholly supportive of Mike Johnston’s push to keep all of his defensemen active in the rush and attack, and he won’t break that up by bringing in some bruiser.
The same is not the case up front. Management has seen enough, especially inside the division, to be convinced their size still could use an upgrade.
The only name I’ve heard attached to this is that of Daniel Winnik, expected to be part of Brendan Shanahan’s imminent fire sale in Toronto.
• I love hearing this kind of detail from the elite athletes in big-league sports:
When Patric Hornqvist made the precise pass to set up Blake Comeau’s goal Wednesday against the Red Wings, you might recall he waited a maddening extra millisecond or so before releasing the puck. Turns out that was for a reason: “I had two guys on me, and I felt like if I held on for just another second, Blake could get into an even better shooting position. That felt good, I tell you.”
I asked if he meant the assist.
“Yeah, that, but just having the timing. That’s what you lose when you’re out for a while. I mean, you lose your legs, and that’s what you notice most. But you’re also very impatient. You rush the play. If this was last week out, I make that play too quick.”
As it turned out …
• The Pirates will keep a wary eye open, I’m told, on Pedro Alvarez all spring long, and that will begin with whether he reports before the rest of the position players next week to Bradenton.
Pitchers and catchers must report — anywhere at all in the city — by 11:59 p.m. Wednesday — so the day itself means next to nothing even for the pitchers and catchers, despite all the romanticism attached to it. Position players must report Feb. 23.
It’s only a five-day gap, but Alvarez is in a different position — literally — than his peers and undoubtedly would do well to show up and work with Kevin Young at learning first base, especially after blowing off the voluntary minicamp last month.
There is precedent: When Neil Walker was learning new positions seemingly every spring for a while, he arrived early each time to get the extra tutelage on the half-field known as Mazeroski Field. (Which was extra neat in that Bill Mazeroski was one of the two or three coaches working with him.)
• Although Frank Coonelly has now publicly acknowledged having made a multiyear offer to Walker, I wouldn’t stretch out those years too far into the imagination. Taken literally, multiyear means more than one. And given that Walker has two years left at the arbitration level, 2015 and 2016, this might have been nothing more than an attempted buyout of those years. Or, at most, trying to buy out one year of free agency, which has been common for the Pirates.
That all would mean little toward keeping the player in Pittsburgh for a long time.
• All eyes in the earliest phase of spring training will be on Charlie Morton, Jameson Taillon and other pitchers who enter with health questions. Morton will be closest to the majors, of course, and his hip surgery has mended quite well, according to the team. But I’m told in no uncertain terms that, no matter what Morton shows, the default mode will be to not allow him to start the season in Pittsburgh. May is most likely.
• Yes, for those asking, Kent Tekulve is doing quite well with his new heart and, if all goes well, aims to participate in spring training. This is wonderful.
Lauryn Williams won Olympic bobsled silver at the Sochi Games last February. — GETTY
• Lauryn Williams announced her retirement yesterday, this time apparently for real. And that makes me a little … sad, I guess.
The track/bobsled Olympic medalist out of Rochester will receive accolades the rest of her life for her achievements, not least of which was making the rare transition from Summer to Winter Games. And all of it will be richly deserved. She’s special on and off the field of competition, and I feel fortunate to have covered her both in Athens for track, then just recently in the mountains above Sochi for bobsled.
But man, click those two links and you’ll see what I mean. It’s worth it.
This isn’t to minimize what she’s done in any way, but it’s just staggering to think about how close she came to becoming nothing less than an American legend.
• The Riverhounds allowed Jose Angulo to walk away, as the former USL Pro MVP signed with Fort Lauderdale of NASL. This is a mistake on multiple levels, not least of which is on the marketing end for a franchise that will welcome about half its crowd to Highmark Stadium this summer with fans wearing Angulo’s No. 18 on the back of their T-shirts. Normally, I dismiss that sort of thing, but emerging from bankruptcy and trying to push a sport to a skeptical public isn’t helped with this kind of action.
I know Angulo would have come back. He should have come back.
To the bigger point, the Riverhounds lose by far their most creative player, arguably the most creative player at this level of the game. And for what? Because he had a calf injury that slowed him down the stretch last season? Because a couple other players whined?
Teams that employ exceptional players learn to put up with a little extra. Show me a team without a headache or two on the roster, and I’ll show you a losing team.
This isn’t exactly the most inspiring start for the new front office and coaching staff.
• Good dude: Mike Babcock.
The Red Wings’ coach long has been recognized as one of, if not the, best in the business. But he’s more to that in the hockey fraternity, and it’s a role he’s always embraced. So on that note, it was ultra-cool to see him, after Detroit’s tough loss the other night at Consol, waiting in the hallway to shake hands with Crosby and Kunitz, two members of his Canadian gold-medal team in Sochi.
Those are different bonds than pro bonds, but it underscores, at least for me, yet another in a long list of reasons why the NHL must go to South Korea in 2018. It means so much to these men. It’s only two weeks when it happens, but it’s the bond of a lifetime.
February 13, 2015
Friday Insider: Steelers veering away from vets
by Dejan Kovacevic • Friday Insider • Penguins, Pirates, Riverhounds, Steelers
Troy Polamalu and his secondary mates share a moment late in the playoff loss to the Ravens. — GETTY
BY DEJAN KOVACEVIC
Roundup of a lot of randomness from a lot of time around our teams …
• The Steelers have absolutely, positively not made up their minds about any of their four classic veterans — Troy Polamalu, James Harrison, Brett Keisel and Ike Taylor — but that fact alone, coupled with what I’ve learned this week is their intention to keep other players at those same positions, is making a return look immensely unlikely.
And I mean for any of the four.
Situations can change, of course, but the current defensive priority on the South Side, based on conversations I’ve had this week, is twofold:
1. Get younger.
That means, when looking at those gentlemen above and their respective positions, Shamarko Thomas should start at safety, Jarvis Jones at outside linebacker, Stephon Tuitt at defensive end and … um, someone else at corner. They legitimately aren’t giving up on Cortez Allen, but the answer there — in addition to one of Willie Gay, Antwon Blake or Brice McCain — is almost certainly going to come from the outside in some form. To the pertinent point: It won’t be Taylor. They know that, and he knows that.
2. Keep others on the supporting cast.
McCain and Arthur Moats are two potential free agents that Kevin Colbert cited in our talk Tuesday as players the Steelers want to keep. Both were better than most might have realized, but the coaches were very much aware and would like to see more, possibly as insurance to start, possibly as depth.
Add those up, then factor into it that Polamalu’s release or retirement would result in $3.7 million in cap savings in a summer in which the primary goal is to extend Ben Roethlisberger, and the money points to these players’ departure, too. Keeping McCain and Moats won’t be free, but it won’t cost much. And if Colbert is serious about pursuing a free-agent corner — he brought it up unsolicited Tuesday — that will.
The Steelers’ stance, in general, is that this won’t be based on sentiment. They’re looking at 2015, especially on defense with Keith Butler taking over for Dick LeBeau, as a chance at a fresh start. They want that far more than they want continuity from the past, something they’re confident they’ll get from Cam Heyward, Lawrence Timmons and others who are more than sufficiently ingrained in their methodologies.
“We have to do what’s right,” one Steelers exec told me. “That doesn’t change.”
These won’t be easy calls — imagine summoning a living legend like Polamalu to inform him of an ignominious release or even to seek a pay cut — but every indication is that the Steelers are amply prepared to make them.
• The formal math revealing that the Steelers’ strength-of-schedule will rank No. 1 in 2015 shouldn’t have surprised anyone who, oh, you know, watched the Super Bowl and two opponents they’ll face on the road. But just in case it had, CBS Sports put it all together in this list that shows the Steelers’ opponents in 2015 went a combined 147-107-2 this past season.
This actually is worse than it looks: Eleven of the Steelers’ 16 opponents had winning records, nine made the playoffs, and even two of those losing teams — the 49ers and Rams — are, in my mind, poised to be much better this fall.
Any concern for Colbert?
Not judging by this terrific quote about the gap between the Steelers and Patriots: “We don’t get to compare ourselves to anyone but Baltimore because they’re the ones that eliminated us.”
• Every vibe I get from the Steelers — and know that it isn’t much — is that Roethliberger’s term would be in the range of 5-6 years. I’ve heard nothing at all about money, but logic would dictate from there it will be around $100 million.
• Jason Worilds will get a multiyear offer, and he will sign it. Bank on both.
• I’m not wild about the Penguins making Steve Downie a healthy scratch last night in Ottawa, but I heard of pressure mounting on him as far back as a week ago while out in Calgary. And I heard about it from, of all people, Downie himself.
When I asked him if the team had enough toughness up front, he replied, “I think there’s more than enough of that, if you look across our lineup. We’ve got a bunch of guys who can take care of themselves, and I know I’ll always be there for my teammates. So no, I don’t see that at all.”
Allow me to translate that, please, from hockeyspeak: ‘I’ve got this.’
Well, Downie has had his teammates’ backs this season, even as he’s also lost his marbles at times. That’s par for the course in his career, though, and truth is, it had subsided quite a bit in recent weeks. He’d been a model citizen, actually, aside from a hooking minor Wednesday against the Red Wings after a 3-0 lead. I heard no complaints from anyone.
The complaints I did hear out West were that he hasn’t been producing enough, and that’s hard to argue in light of zero points over the past seven games.
Still don’t like it. Too important a player.
• Never underestimate Sidney Crosby’s desire to have Chris Kunitz on his line.
• Jim Rutherford’s aim in acquiring a defenseman before the deadline is much more based on mobility than size or brawn. The GM has been wholly supportive of Mike Johnston’s push to keep all of his defensemen active in the rush and attack, and he won’t break that up by bringing in some bruiser.
The same is not the case up front. Management has seen enough, especially inside the division, to be convinced their size still could use an upgrade.
The only name I’ve heard attached to this is that of Daniel Winnik, expected to be part of Brendan Shanahan’s imminent fire sale in Toronto.
• I love hearing this kind of detail from the elite athletes in big-league sports:
When Patric Hornqvist made the precise pass to set up Blake Comeau’s goal Wednesday against the Red Wings, you might recall he waited a maddening extra millisecond or so before releasing the puck. Turns out that was for a reason: “I had two guys on me, and I felt like if I held on for just another second, Blake could get into an even better shooting position. That felt good, I tell you.”
I asked if he meant the assist.
“Yeah, that, but just having the timing. That’s what you lose when you’re out for a while. I mean, you lose your legs, and that’s what you notice most. But you’re also very impatient. You rush the play. If this was last week out, I make that play too quick.”
As it turned out …
• The Pirates will keep a wary eye open, I’m told, on Pedro Alvarez all spring long, and that will begin with whether he reports before the rest of the position players next week to Bradenton.
Pitchers and catchers must report — anywhere at all in the city — by 11:59 p.m. Wednesday — so the day itself means next to nothing even for the pitchers and catchers, despite all the romanticism attached to it. Position players must report Feb. 23.
It’s only a five-day gap, but Alvarez is in a different position — literally — than his peers and undoubtedly would do well to show up and work with Kevin Young at learning first base, especially after blowing off the voluntary minicamp last month.
There is precedent: When Neil Walker was learning new positions seemingly every spring for a while, he arrived early each time to get the extra tutelage on the half-field known as Mazeroski Field. (Which was extra neat in that Bill Mazeroski was one of the two or three coaches working with him.)
• Although Frank Coonelly has now publicly acknowledged having made a multiyear offer to Walker, I wouldn’t stretch out those years too far into the imagination. Taken literally, multiyear means more than one. And given that Walker has two years left at the arbitration level, 2015 and 2016, this might have been nothing more than an attempted buyout of those years. Or, at most, trying to buy out one year of free agency, which has been common for the Pirates.
That all would mean little toward keeping the player in Pittsburgh for a long time.
• All eyes in the earliest phase of spring training will be on Charlie Morton, Jameson Taillon and other pitchers who enter with health questions. Morton will be closest to the majors, of course, and his hip surgery has mended quite well, according to the team. But I’m told in no uncertain terms that, no matter what Morton shows, the default mode will be to not allow him to start the season in Pittsburgh. May is most likely.
• Yes, for those asking, Kent Tekulve is doing quite well with his new heart and, if all goes well, aims to participate in spring training. This is wonderful.
Lauryn Williams won Olympic bobsled silver at the Sochi Games last February. — GETTY
• Lauryn Williams announced her retirement yesterday, this time apparently for real. And that makes me a little … sad, I guess.
The track/bobsled Olympic medalist out of Rochester will receive accolades the rest of her life for her achievements, not least of which was making the rare transition from Summer to Winter Games. And all of it will be richly deserved. She’s special on and off the field of competition, and I feel fortunate to have covered her both in Athens for track, then just recently in the mountains above Sochi for bobsled.
But man, click those two links and you’ll see what I mean. It’s worth it.
This isn’t to minimize what she’s done in any way, but it’s just staggering to think about how close she came to becoming nothing less than an American legend.
• The Riverhounds allowed Jose Angulo to walk away, as the former USL Pro MVP signed with Fort Lauderdale of NASL. This is a mistake on multiple levels, not least of which is on the marketing end for a franchise that will welcome about half its crowd to Highmark Stadium this summer with fans wearing Angulo’s No. 18 on the back of their T-shirts. Normally, I dismiss that sort of thing, but emerging from bankruptcy and trying to push a sport to a skeptical public isn’t helped with this kind of action.
I know Angulo would have come back. He should have come back.
To the bigger point, the Riverhounds lose by far their most creative player, arguably the most creative player at this level of the game. And for what? Because he had a calf injury that slowed him down the stretch last season? Because a couple other players whined?
Teams that employ exceptional players learn to put up with a little extra. Show me a team without a headache or two on the roster, and I’ll show you a losing team.
This isn’t exactly the most inspiring start for the new front office and coaching staff.
• Good dude: Mike Babcock.
The Red Wings’ coach long has been recognized as one of, if not the, best in the business. But he’s more to that in the hockey fraternity, and it’s a role he’s always embraced. So on that note, it was ultra-cool to see him, after Detroit’s tough loss the other night at Consol, waiting in the hallway to shake hands with Crosby and Kunitz, two members of his Canadian gold-medal team in Sochi.
Those are different bonds than pro bonds, but it underscores, at least for me, yet another in a long list of reasons why the NHL must go to South Korea in 2018. It means so much to these men. It’s only two weeks when it happens, but it’s the bond of a lifetime.