Just a few quick-hit items this week:
-Not much to say about the Patriots-Steelers game. The Patriots are a great team with an offense that’s probably the best in history, and the Steelers’ secondary did not play well at all. As I said in another forum this week, for Anthony Smith to give a stupid ‘guarantee’ of victory is bad enough…to then play as badly as he did only adds insult to injury. I still have no clue why he felt it more important to sprint forward on a play-action pass, and ignore Randy Moss going deep – you know, the guy who leads the NFL in TD receptions! Even at that, the team made a respectable showing until halftime, I liked the offensive gameplan. If there’s a rematch in the playoffs, a healthy Troy Polamalu should help greatly on defense.
-More important, I think, is how the team bounces back. No rest for the weary, as the Jacksonville Jaguars come to town Sunday, also with a 9-4 record, and traditionally they have given Pittsburgh fits. The Steelers have lost arguably their best defensive lineman, Aaron Smith, for the season with a torn bicep. If they can overcome that loss and handle the Jaguars, they may yet make some noise in January.
-In hockey, the Penguins are home after a weeklong, 4-game roadtrip that saw them go 3-1, with 3 solid wins over western Canadian teams. Last night they laid an egg, losing 8-2 to the Flyers, but as much as losing to the Flyers always burns me I think it’s important to look at the big picture. The roadtrip was a success, more players are chipping in offensively for the Pens, and their goaltending, last night excepted, has been good to excellent for two weeks. No rest for the Pens, either, as after hosting the conference-leading Ottawa Senators Thursday night they embark on another 3-game roadtrip. This one is perhaps more crucial than the last because they are playing the Rangers, Islanders, and Bruins, all teams near Pittsburgh in the standings. The Eastern Conference race is VERY tight this season, the next month will be crucial to the Pens’ chances of making the playoffs. Just as I was finishing this article up, I read that the Pens’ #1 goalie, young Marc-Andre Fleury, will miss 6-8 weeks with a high ankle sprain. This puts even more pressure on their relatively untested backup, Dany Sabourin, and also on the Pens’ offense to outscore a few opponents over the next 20 games or so. We’ll check back on the Pens’ situation in late January and see how they fared without their top netminder.
-Let’s finish up with some local action – the Clearfield Bison wrestling team faced a tough schedule early on, competing in the Top Hat tournament then facing a powerful Bellefonte squad. Tuesday evening they crushed an overmatched Bradford team, 73-4. Next week the Bisons have two crucial dual meets – at Punxsutawney and home vs. Bald Eagle Area. Clearfield had a down season last year but has 9 freshmen and sophomores on the squad in 2007-08. This is a team on the rise, and they figure to improve greatly as the season wears on. Bald Eagle is a bit down this season, and Clearfield hasn’t defeated them since 1986. Is this the year? Come on out next Thursday and find out. If the match is as close as I think it will be, the crowd will be electric – and there’s NOTHING like a fired-up hometown wrestling crowd at Clearfield.
Dave Glass lives in Clearfield with his wife, Suzanne, and their six children. He can be reached at buggyracer@verizon.net.
