Fuse Box Monday

Yinzers,

Four games to cover, so this one will be dry.

Monday November 22: Pens v. Panthers
It seems like forever since the Penguins have played good against a Floridian opponent, but they out-played the Panthers dahn in Miami last week. The Pens won 3-2 with a huge boost on the power play, scoring two of such goals. The red-hot Kris Letang had one of said goals and Sidney Crosby is now hot as well scoring the other. The game-winner came from Chris Connor at 12:56 in the third period to give the Pens the 3-2 victory. The Panther goals were scored by Cory Stillman and Brian McCabe. Marc-Andre Fleury continued to shine as he turned away 27 of 29. All the dads were in attendance.

Wednesday November 24: Pens v. Sabres
Dads game number two was a shiner for Marc-Andre Fleury. Fleury turned away 30 of 30 in the 1-0 shut out of the Sabres. Pittsburgh native (and former school-mate of yours truly) Michael Weber made the starting lineup for Buffalo on defense. He generated one shot in 11:33 of ice time. I wish him the best of luck in his young career. Pascal Dupuis had the only goal in the contest at 12:05 in the first.

Friday November 26: Sens v. Pens
Black Friday did not bode well for Sergei Gonchar and the Ottawa Senators when they came to the burgh. Gonchar has had a rough go since leaving the Pens with a +/- of -12. The Penguins would take this one 2-1 in regulation with goals coming from Evgeni Malkin and Alex Goligoski, both of which were on the power play. Ottawa got the game-opening goal from Jesse Winchester. The biggest news from this game was Marc-Andre Fleury opting to drop his gloves and take a roughing penalty when Chris Neil did what he does best and got in Fleury's face. Fleury turned away 43 of 44 and continues to stay hot.

Saturday November 27: Flames v. Pens
The Penguins looked like last year's club did when the Western Conference Calgary Flames came to town. The Pens dominated this one from the get-go (not at Giant Eagle) winning handily 4-1. Aaron Asham got things started at 6:56 in the first and then Sidney Crosby took over, grabbing the hat trick. Rene Bourque broke up the natty hatty with the only Flame goal. Deryk Engelland was back in the lineup and got into a fight with Tim Jackman in the second period. What else is new? Brent Johnson stopped 30-31 and the Penguins are looking dangerous with MAF and Brent both playing great hockey.

The Pens are now 15-8-2, second in the Atlantic Division behind the Philthadelphia Flyers by two points (34-32) and fourth in the league. What is more important is that they are red-hot right now. The power play is getting goals and the penalty kill has killed off something like 70+ in a row. The Pens have won 6 straight and are 9-1-1 in their last 11.

The Pens play Monday, Thursday and Saturday this week against the Rangers, Thrashers and Blue Jackets, respectively. All games are at 7:00.

Thank god for Pittsburgh

Yinzers,

Tis the Season. Tis the start of the best of the sports seasons. Hockey is in full stride. College Football is starting to dwindle, NFL is starting to get good and decide whom is going post season, etc etc.

Tis the season to count your blessings, of the people that you know the family that you have and the place that you are from. Give thanks to being part of the black n gold family. Just think if I would have been born 147 miles to the west....the Morning Steel Mill would be some Cleavland brown spot blog....

TIs the season to start getting excited about the Panthers, Gamecocks and Lions.

Just make sure that you give thanks .

Rivals Weekend

Growing up in the Big East the one big game of the year was the Backyard Brawl. Pitt and WVU the best of the best of the big east go into this weekend looking for one team to emerge the Champion of the Big east and get to play in a BCS bowl. The other will prob end up in the Mien eke bowl in Charlotte.

The Battle of the Palmetto State is bigger than ever this year with USC having the upper hand for the first time in a decade. The cocks are riding high and going into this rival game with a swagger that has never been around these parts before. It's kinda nice to see the Gamecocks with a powerful team .

Finally the Iron bowl between Alabama and Auburn is bigger than life this year I am pulling for the crimson Tide, for Gamecock Reasons.

All in all , remember that you should be thankful for all the things in life that make you smile. Enjoy the day , football and parades.

From the Staff at the MSM

Happy thanks giving.

Wade

Truck Tuesday

Hey Yinz,

So I have been a major slacker for the past couple of weeks! My apologies!

There isnt a whole lot to report on, but I am happy to tell you all that mine and wade's trip to the burgh is less than 4 weeks away. We have our plane tickets booked, our rental car booked and our tickets to the Steelers game - only 5 rows up from the Steelers bench might I add! I hate to wish away half of Decemeber, but I am ready to get there!

Because I have lived in the south my entire life, Wade took me shopping for hard core cold weather clothes for this trip. Last January we went to the Papa John's Bowl in B'ham, Al and I almost froze...but I didnt wear socks with my flat shoes, which obviously wasn't very smart either. I'm sure at the Steelers game it will be much colder and I definitely want to be warm enough to enjoy this game. We purchased a lot for me to layer at the game...I just hope that my small jersey will fit over all the layers when we are at the game. And I am also a little bit concerned about fitting all the layers in my little carry on. There is no way I am paying $50 to check a bag.

Speaking of the airport, I am definitely looking forward to being groped in security. Apparently, it has gotten worse in the past couple of months. A Fb friend of mine even posted, " Hey TSA- If I wanted someone half heartedly patting my groin without eye contact, I'd get married." Interesting thought.

Well Yinz, thats all I have for now! I hope you have safe travels this week and a happy thanksgiving with family and friends!

Truck

Fuse Box Monday

Yinzers,

Three games again, but once the college football season is over, we will be back to the book-end weekdays for the Fuse Box. Here's what went down.

Monday November 15: Rangers v. Penguins
What is it about "King" Henrik Lundqvist that gives the Penguins such a hard time? Is it the fact that he covers post-to-post, naturally? Whatever the reason, it seems like he always stifles the Pens, this time stopping 37 of 39. This game took overtime and the only Penguins' mistake, but it was still a win for Lundqvist. Ryan Callahan and Mike Comrie went toe-to-toe in the first, making it a traditional Atlantic division contest. Scoring opened with the only goal of the second period going to former Penguin Erik Christensen on his patented wrist shot. The third picked up pace with Chris Kunitz and Matt Cooke picking up quick goals late in the period to give the Pens a 2-1 lead in the waning moments. But the younger Staal added a short handed goal when New York pulled Lundqvist with under 2:00 to tie the game at 2 and force overtime. As I said before, the Penguins made just one mistake all game and it came at 3:38 in overtime. Zbynek Michalek stumbled and fell transitioning in the neutral zone, leaving Ryan Callahan and Brian Dubinsky with a 2-on-1. Naturally, they scored and stole the extra point from the Penguins. Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 22 of 25.

Wednesday November 17: Canucks v. Penguins
The Sedin twins were in town with arguably one of the best squads in the Western Conference in the Vancouver Canucks. Once again, the game opened up with a fight, this time between Craig Adams and Kevin Bieska. Sidney Crosby scored late in the first to put the Penguins ahead 1-0, a lead that they would take into the first intermission. The rest of the scoring took place in the second period. Mad Max Talbot put a short handed goal on the board and Aaron Asham got his second of the year to give the Pens a 3-0 lead. Dan Hamhius would put one past Marc-Andre Fleury to make it 3-1, but that would be the last goal scored in the game. Fleury turned away 29 of 30 and Roberto Luongo turned away 26 of 29. The Pens moved to 10-8-2 and second place behind the Philthadelphia Flyers.

Friday November 19: Hurricanes v. Penguins
Over the summer, the Carolina Hurricanes went out to try and secure as much of the bloodline as possible when they acquired Jared Staal (the youngest of the 4) from the Phoenix Coyotes for a first round pick. He has not played with the big club yet this year, but I would look for it in the future. This game was an epic back-and-forth throughout. Scoring opened up just 42 seconds into the game when Brandon Sutter snapped a shot passed Marc-Andre Fleury. Chris "enfuego" Kunitz and Tyler Kennedy added goals in the middle of the period to give the Pens a 2-1 lead, but Patrik Dwyer sneaked one past Fleury to tie the game at 2 going into the first intermission. The teams exchanged goals in the second with Jussi Jokinen answering Sidney Crosby's tally and the game would be tied at 3 after 2. Chris Kunitz got his second-and what looked to be game winning-goal on the power play, but Jussi Jokinen got his second as well with under one minute to go, forcing overtime with the game tied at 4. A hint of controversy was added to this bag-o-chips when there were no goals scored in overtime and the Hurricanes asked the ice crew to widen the stripe of fresh ice because "Jussi Jokinen goes really wide on his shoot out attempts and he will be shooting." It wouldn't matter. Kris Letang made Justin Peters look simply silly with his trademark, double-move to the backhand. Jeff Skinner followed with a miss for Carolina. Sidney Crosby sniped the five-hole of Peters to put the Pens up 2-0 in the shoot out with the game riding on the stick of none other than Jussi Jokinen. As if on-cue, he took it nearly to the wall but MAF stood him up, getting the Pens the 5-4 shoot out victory.

The Pens play tonight at 7:30 when they travel to Miami to take on the Florida Panthers. We all know how the Pens do against Florida teams, but let's try and rectify that tonight. Then it's off to Buffalo on Wednesday at 7:00 and then back-to-back afternoon games at 1:00 on black Friday against the Ottawa Senators and Saturday against the Calgary Flames.

Let's go Pens,
B Brog

Blood Fued.

The Wind is a mighty Raider,

More like they Blow....
Here We GO!

Steelers Lab

Yinzers,

Let's all just forget about last week. The Steelers simply did not show up to play. If you read the MSM, it was a damn good game plan to win, but the Steelers simply did not show up. Even with the loss, the Steelers are still tied with the Rat Birds for first in the AFC North. Let's talk more about this week.

The Oakland Raiders are in town this week, but they are absolutely not the same Raiders that beat the Steelers just a year ago. This year's Raiders team is far better than last year's. The Raiders rank 2nd in the league in rushing offense. This is mostly due to Darren McFadden finally living up to his Heizman hype in the NFL. McFadden is getting both tough and fast yards to the total of 757, averaging 5.4 per carry. Do the math and the Raiders get a first down generally every other time McFadden touches the ball. Their pass offense is nothing too spectacular, but it is enough to keep some balance. The Raiders finally got rid of Jamarcus Russel and replaced him with a similar style QB in Jason Campbell. He can make throws when he needs to and is also fairly elusive with his legs. His favorite target is TE Zack Miller, but Darius Heyward-Bey is also coming into his own in the NFL. The Raiders' defense is also ranked 2nd in the NFL against the pass, allowing just under 185 yards per game. Richard Seymour and Kamieron Wimbley are getting to opposing quarterbacks with relative intensity, each with 4.5 sacks. If the Raiders want to beat the Steelers to get to 6-4, they will have to get Ben Roethlisberger on the ground, blitzing the mediocre Steelers line all day and stay stout against Rashard Mendenhall.

The Steelers just need to wake up. This week may be the first week where the MSM is going to say "It may not be a good idea to go deep to Mike Wallace this week." The only reason I say this is because Oakland is so athletic in their defensive secondary. It's not that they have anyone that can go stride-for-stride with Wallace, it's that the double team may actually work for this Raiders' defense. Heinz Ward, coming off a concussion last week, and Antwaan Randel El will be the key players for this week's pass offense. It's tough to go down the field on the Raiders' secondary, so the short, quick-hitter routes will be the safest way to get 5-10 yards per play. The Steelers also have to take advantage of the 24th ranked rush defense they will be facing. So basically, the offensive line needs to show up this week. On defense, the Steelers need to stay balanced. The Raiders run:pass ratio is almost 1:1. They like to pound the ball between the tackles, so the famous Dick Lebeau A-gap blitzes will be the most effective. If the Steelers are to avoid being beaten by the Raiders two years in a row, they have to stay balanced, get their blocks and control field position.

In case you haven't heard, Jeff Reed was cut by the Steelers following Sunday's loss to the New England Patriots. There were many factors involved with this decision: the drunken battles with vending machines and paper towel dispensers; his poor numbers this year including missing at least 3 important field goals; his comments about the "poor turf" and high expectations from fans. Reed is replaced by Shaun Suisham. Will Allen is still out with a concussion, Brett Keisel is still limited in practice from the hamstring, Chris Kemoeatu is limited from the ankle, Troy Polamalu did not practice due to an Achilles, Lawrence Timmons was limited due to the hip and Heinz Ward underwent a full practice in spite of concussion symptoms. The Polamalu injury is news to the MSM and I have no further info on it. Keep checking it out on FSN Pittsburgh or most likely ESPN.

Game time is 1:00pm. Get your hard hats on and get back to work.

Here we go,
B Brog

Fuse Box Monday

Yinzers,

Wednesday November 10: A Day to Forget
Last Wednesday, the Pens took on the Bruins in Consol Energy Center. The Penguins and Bruins played a tough, even first period and came out tied into the first intermission. The Penguins scored the book-end goals of the period off the sticks of Arron Asham and the ever so dangerous Brooks Orpik. The tweeners for the Bruins were scored by the Recchinball, Mark Recchi and Brad Marchand. There were also two more fights, which seems to be a common theme for this year's Penguins team. The first was a heavyweight bout between Shawn Thornton and Eric Goddard; the second between Gregory Campbell and Mad Max Talbot. These fights are most like due to residual bad blood from the Matt Cooke hit on Marc Savard a year ago. The Penguins owned the second period, scoring two goals and winning another fight. Chris Kunitz and Sidney Crosby had the goals and Arron Asham beat up on Adam McQuaid...more importantly, the Penguins led 4-2 after two. Then everything fell apart. The Penguins defense, Brent Johnson's confidence and the Pittsburgh offense. The Bruins scored 5 unanswered goals in the third period. They came from Nathan Horton, Zdeno Chara, Shawn Thornton, Blake Wheeler and Milan Lucic. This was just the second loss for Brent Johnson this year, the only in regulation and Tim Thomas moved to 9-0 on the season for the B's.

Friday November 11: Revenge?
The Penguins looked to bounce back two days after their huge, embarrassing failure when the Tampa Bay Lightning came to town. Marc-Andre Fleury came out of his coma and stood on his head in this one. He turned away 15 of 16 shots, but many of those saves were of the outstanding variety. After an idle first period for both teams, the Penguins took control for the final two periods. Pascal Dupuis and Alex Goligoski scored in the second period to give the Pens a 2-0 lead after two complete. Steven Stamkos scored a power play goal early in the third, but it would be the only goal the Lightning could muster up. Max Talbot, Sidney Crosby and Deryk Engelland finished off with goals and the Penguins took the 5-1 victory.

Saturday November 12: Back on Track
The next day, the Penguins traveled to Atlanta to take on the Thrashers. Marc-Andre Fleury played out of his mind again. Atlanta opened up with the first and only goal in the first period, but that would be the last time that Atlanta held the lead. Brent Sopel got said goal, but then the Penguins took over, starting with a fight between Chris Thorburn and Mike Rupp. Evgeni Malkin got the equalizer in the second period, the only goal scored in the second. So after two complete, the Penguins and Thrashers were knotted at 1. The third period was all Penguins with goals coming from Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin (2), giving Geno his first hat-trick this season. There was one intermittent goal for the Thrashers scored by Niclas Bergfors, but it would not help the Thrashers. The Pens win 4-2 with Marc-Andre Fleury showing signs of strength stopping 31 of 33 shots.

The Penguins have a week-long home stretch this week, competing against the other Staal brothers. It starts tonight against Marc Staal and the New York Rangers. They then play Wednesday night when the Vancouver Canucks come to town and Friday night as they welcome Eric Staal and the Carolina Hurricanes. All games are at 7:00 pm.

Let's go Pens,
B Brog

Steelers Lab

Yinzers,

Oh, to be a fly on the wall in the Steelers' locker room this week. The above picture is actually a drosophila, a.k.a. fruit fly, that I took a scanning electron microscope shot of in lab today (I finally got her to sit still this afternoon so we could take some glamour shots). But that is off topic. I bet if I were indeed a drosophila on the wall in the locker room, I would have heard one of the greatest reemings on record. The Steelers nearly pissed away a 27-7 lead against the Cincinnati Bungles. This week was probably spent on defending the 2:00 drill and keeping composure. On to this week's contest.

The New England Patriots
There are a couple reasons most Steelers fans dislike the Patriots:
1. they are named after a region
2. the media LOVES them almost as much as they love the Dallas Cowboys
3. the Tom Brady tuck rule...well, just Tom Brady
The Patriots come into this game at 6-2, one of six teams with the same record, the best in the NFL so far. That second loss was last week at the hands of the Cleveland Browns. They will be looking to rebound off of that huge, embarrassing failure. The way they operate on offense is pretty much typical New England fashion under Tom Brady. They throw a lot of short- to intermediate-routes to a lot of different players and work of a "running back by committee." Aaron Hernandez and Wes Welker get the bulk of the yards, mostly after the catch. The ground game is split between upwards of four running backs, with BenJarvus Green-Ellis (wtf?) and Danny Woodhead (all-time leader in yards in NCAA Div. I-AA) doing most of the work. Ben Green/Jarvus Ellis does have 6 scores to his name. On defense, the Patriots are struggling. They are 27th overall, including 21st against the run and 29th against the pass. If the Pats want to rebound off that Cleve Brownie beat-down, they will need to find some defense. God knows they can score points.

Your Pittsburgh Steelers
Do I have to say what needs improved on this week? Keep the hunger and anger through the entire game, fellas. This week on offense, I hope to see Bruce Ariens open up play a little bit. He started out down the field in the first quarter of the Bungle game, but never returned to it. Keep going down the field if it is working. The Patriots do not have the secondary to match the speed of Mike Wallace nor Emanuel Sanders. The cornerstone to victory, however, will be good old fashioned Rashard Mendenhall. Peyton Hillis put up 187 on the ground against New England last week, and he's a white guy. Give the ball to 'Shard early and often and let those nimble feet go to work. On defense...close out the ball game. Most of the offense of the Patriots will be coming within 7 yards of the line of scrimmage. The linebackers will be the most important part of the defense this week. As long as they keep their heads, Pittsburgh should keep Tom Brady in check. Also, if they get to Brady, swipe that ball. They didn't name the rule after him for nothing.

The Steelers have a few notables on the injury report this week. Will Allen (concussion), Chris Kemoeatu (knee+ankle), Heath Miller (knee) and Brett Keisel (hamstring) did not practice through today. I would imagine that most of these guys will be game-day decisions. On the good side, Miwelde Moore and Isaac Redman participated fully both yesterday and today. This should greatly help the Steelers on third down.

Game time is 8:20 pm on Sunday Night Football from Heinz Field in beautiful, dahntahn Pittsburgh.

Here we go,
B Brog

Bungals

Yinzers,

Don't know what happened to the Fuse Box Monday? Sorry B- Congrats to Joe PA 400,



Enjoy!
Here We Go!
Wade

Fuse Box Monday

Yinzers,

Last year, the Penguins showed just exactly how the west was won. Not so much this year. The Western Conference has proven to be a 180 so far this year. If you do not know what I mean, read on.



Wednesday November 3: Penguins v. Stars
Wednesday was a loss filled with poor play and four fights down in Dallas. The Penguins rarely play poorly when facing a Western Conference opponent, but this was a game to forget. Dallas came out on top 5-2 and the Penguins frustration was very apparent throughout the game. Stephane Robidas opened up the scoring at 3:57 in the first period and the Stars kept the lead ever since. Later in the first period, Brad Richards added his fourth of the season to give the Stars a 2-0 lead. The fisticuffs started at the end of the first with the opening round pitting Jamie Benn against Tyler Kennedy. Kennedy scored after coming out of the box in the second period to bring the score to 2-1, but Steve Ott answered for the Stars, followed by a Loui Eriksson goal on a penalty shot. Round two came up with Kris Letang fighting Brendan Morrow, which had stemmed from a few altercations from earlier in the game. Also in round two, Sidney Crosby dropped the gloves with Matt Niskanen. Crosby was quoted saying he picked the fight to stick up for Kris Letang. Round three then followed later in the second when Jamie Benn fought Chris Kunitz. The Stars led 4-1 after two complete. The third period was comparatively less exciting with Loui Eriksson adding his second of the night to make it 5-1 and Matt Cooke adding a goal late to make it 5-2. Brent Johnson had an uncharacteristic night, turning away 19 of 24 and the Penguins could only muster up 23 shots of their own. You can't expect to win hockey games like that.

Friday November 5: Penguins v. Ducks
The Western Conference frustration continued for the Penguins when they traveled to Anaheim to take on the [Mighty] Ducks. Pittsburgh native George Parros shaved his iconic mustache and is growing a new one over the next 30 days to raise awareness for prostate cancer research. A good cause for a good kid from Washington, PA. He then went on to fight Deryk Engelland at 1:42 in the first period of Friday night's game. Scoring did not open up until the second period when Bobby Ryan ripped a wrist shot past Marc-Andre Fleury. Ryan Getzlaf and Saku Koivu also added goals in the second before the Penguins answered to the tone of a Sidney Crosby power play goal late in the second. Sidney Crosby scored again early in the third to bring the score to 3-2, but that is the closest the Penguins would get. Marc-Andre Fleury turned away 14 of 17 in the loss, but the Penguins did put 32 shots on Jonas Hiller.

Saturday November 6: Penguins v. Coyotes
The Penguins finished up this Western Conference road trip in Phoenix, on a pseudo-high note. The Pens got a win against the Coyotes, but it took overtime to get it. This was Zbynek Michalek's first game back to his old team since the Penguins picked him up this summer. Phoenix jumped out to a 2-0 lead after 6 minutes in the first period, scoring 2 goals on 5 shots leading to the pulling of Marc-Andre Fleury. Eric Belanger and Radim Vrbata had said goals. The Penguins answered back with two goals early in the second period from Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, to tie the score at 2. Fisticuffs flew again in this game when former Penguin Paul Bissonette squared off against current Penguin Deryk Engelland. Wojtek Wolski (pronounced Voyteck Valllski) put the Coyotes up 3-2 before Chris Kunitz added a power play goal late to tie the game at 3 after 2 periods. No scoring in the third and overtime periods led to a shoot out. After no goals in the first two rounds of the shoot out, the man who leads all rookies in points brought home the victory for the Penguins: Mark Letestu. The Penguins finish 1-2 on this road trip to the West, bringing their overall against the West to 2-3 this season.

The Penguins' games this week are as follows:
Wednesday, "It's a hockey night in Pittsburgh" against the Boston Bruins at 7:00
Friday, another hockey night in Pittsburgh against the Tampa Bay Lignting at 7:00
Saturday is "A great day for hockey" in Atlanta against the Thrashers at 7:00

Let's go Pens,
B Brog

Let's Go Pens

Hola Yinz!

It's a beautiful SoCal Day! I don't mean to complain, but it has been in the upper 90's- TOO HOTT TO HANDLE!

Brett, Me, Joy, & Josh

(Joy and Josh are not really fans, but I made them dress for success if they wanted to sit with me :))

I got to see my Pens play last night! We drove to Anaheim to see the Pens take on the Ducks. It's so exciting to be around fellow fans! The crowd was about 50/50 Pens fans, and we defiantly out yelled the Ducks fans. LET'S GO PENS! Unfortunately, you already know the outcome, but that did not change the fact that the Pittsburghers took over the bar across the street after the game.

Oh, by the way.... I think I might be cursed. I've never seen the Pens win live... and I have been to quite a few games. Any ideas on how to get rid of it?

Overall, It was an awesome Pittsburgh moment this week.

Ready for Monday Night...Bungles!
Labuda on the Left Coast

Penn State Phryday

Yinzers,

Hopefully, a milestone will be reached tomorrow. I apologize for the use of the passive voice, but it seemed like the most appropriate grammatical structure to capture the spirit of the thing as Dicky Dunn in Slapshot would have done. For any of the readers out there who did not know, Joe Paterno is going for his 400th win this weekend when the Wildcats of Northwestern come to Happy Valley. This is an amazing feat within itself, considering most coaches do not coach in 400 games in their careers. So, here we go.

Northwestern Wildcats
The Wildcats come into this game with a record of 6-2 (2-2 in the Big Ten). Northwestern's two losses came at the hands of then undefeated Michigan State and Purdue and all six of their wins have been games in which they should have won. Simply stated, they have beaten the bad teams and lost to the good teams. Generally speaking, Northwestern has been sticking to their same game plan for the last four years, their quarterback. Dan Persa is the quarterback this year, and they have thrown 234 times in 8 games. Persa is also the leading rusher for the Wildcats with 360 yards on 121 attempts. The "balance" in the Northwestern offense simply means that they drop Persa back and give him the decision to run or pass. Persa's favorite target is wide receiver Jeremy Ebert, who leads the team with 7 touchdowns. If Northwestern is to be successful on offense, they will have to take advantage of the depleted Penn State secondary and use high percentage passing routes. The key to victory on defense for Northwestern will be to get to the quarterback...if they can. Northwestern's defense is ranked 63rd overall, so they need to step it up if they want to be successful.

Penn State Nittany Lions
The Nitany Lions are coming off a big victory in the Big Ten as they beat Michigan and Denard Robinson 41-31 last week, under the lights in Beaver Stadium. Sophomore Matt McGloin got the start and threw for 250 yards and a touchdown while Evan Royster put up 150 yards on the ground with 2 scores of his own. The score was a little bit misleading, considering Denard Robinson ran for 190 and passed for 190. All that matters is they got the win. The Northwestern Wildcats and Dan Persa are not nearly as dangerous on offense as Denard Robinson is. Penn State's balance was there, which kept the opponent's defense off-balance. If they want to be successful and get JoePa his 400th win this weekend, they will need to do the same. Feed the ball to Evan Royster and take advantage of mismatches down the field. On defense, keep Persa contained and get him on the ground early and often. These are the basic keys to success in the Big Ten.

Game time is 3:30 pm on either ABC or ESPN2, depending on your region.

For the Glory,
B Brog

Steeler's Lab

Yinzers,

This week in the NFL is the first Monday Night Football game of the 2010 campaign for the Pittsburgh Steelers. The lights will be on in Paul Brown Stadium when the Steelers travel to southern Ohio to take on the Cinci Bungles.

The Bengals are coming off of a 22-14 loss to the Miami Dolphins last week. This year's Bungle team was supposed to be the team to beat in the AFC North, according to many "experts." Thus far in the year, that does not look like a viable prediction as they sit in last place in the AFC North at 2-5. With the addition of Terrell Owens to Chad Johnson (I will not call him "Ochocinco"), this was supposed to be the receiving corps to lead all receiving corps this year. Granted the two have put up respectable numbers as a tandem, but the Bungles have done absolutely nothing otherwise. The Cincinnati defense ranks 22nd against the run and 20th against the pass. Was the addition of Adam (Pacman) Jones not enough to solve the defensive problems? The Bungles have not been getting pressure on the quarterback nearly as much as they have in the past. If they want to be successful against the Steelers this week, they will have to keep balanced on offense and get to Ben Roethlisberger.

As for the Steelers, coming off a loss to the defending Superbowl champion Saints, take some shots down the field. Bruce Ariens' "iso-iso-screen" is really frustrating the lab techs here at the MSM. You have arguably the fastest receiver in the NFL at your disposal, use him to your advantage. In addition to that, stop running the iso play to a side that keeps getting beat off the ball. If there is a deficiency in the line, don't run there (last week it was the Bronco Legursky side). The defense is continuing to play solid. Just like last week, however, the Steel Curtain will be going up against a pass-heavy offense. We at the lab would like to see a little more exotic blitzing from Dick Lebeau. Not to say that there was not enough last week, but Carson Palmer holds onto the ball a lot longer than does Drew Brees. If the Steelers are to be successful, they will have to establish the run and use that play-action-bomb to Mike Wallace.

Game time is 8:30 on ESPN. Unfortunately we will have to listen to Chris Collensworth. Pay close attention. He sounds like a drunken elderly man both in speech and in reasoning.

In other scientific news, did you know some funny stuff can be done to mice by knocking out/swapping their genes? When I say funny stuff, I mean you can make genetically altered mice that are OCD, Schizophrenic, alcoholic, bisexual and supermice all from messing around with their homeobox genes. Normally, these genes control where stuff gets put, making sure your ribs go on the right vertebrae, fingers on the ends of your hands, etc. But if you take some of these out or swap them for others, you can create mice with ailments listed above. Interesting stuff...

Here we go,
B Brog

Truck Tuesday

Hey Yinz,

The best month of the year is now over, but it did end on a good note for the Igloo club (but not so much for the steeler nation..) Unfortuately we did have a loss on Sunday night vs the Saints - but we still have a great record for the season and it was Halloween, so how can you get too upset?

The Igloo Club had its second big party of the season, which was fantastic because we got to have a Pittsburgh Halloween Party. Most people just wore jerseys which wasn't exactly a Halloween costume, but you could always argue that we have a lot of people who dressed as yinzers!

We did have a few local pittsburgh celebrities drop by, like Big Ben with his glove, gut & unshaven face. We also had Troy (who doubled as the youtube infamous "hide ya kids, hide yo wife" guy) who was drinking out of his head and shoulders bottle..now we know the secret.

Wade was Steeley McBeam and we got to pleasure of hearing him talk like steeley for most of the game. His Custome was definitely the most well thought out and put together costume that we had there. Yours Truely was a Heinz Ketchup bottle. We also had a Penguins Puck Bunny. And now that I think about it, I think those were the only costumes that showed up to the party, which is kinda lame considering we had over 20 people show up! Oh well, some people just don't know how to get into the spirit!

Hope you all had a great Halloween!

Truck

Fuse Box Monday

Yinzers,

Three games to cover so we'll jump right into it.

Wednesday October 27: Penguins v. Lightning
Martin St. Louis had two goals to move the Tampa Bay Lightning past the Penguins in a very sloppy 5-3 loss. The Pens were simply running around and leaving the Lightning players to do whatever they wanted with the puck after taking a 3-1 lead. Marc-Andre Fleury got hit with another loss, even though he turned away 26 of 30 shots. Fleury's goals against average is right about 3.5, which makes it very difficult to win hockey games. It is alarming that he is still not out of his funk, but this game was not all on him. The Penguins got goals from Craig Adams (SH), Matt Cooke (SH) and Pascal Dupuis. Tampa Bay got tallies from Dana Tyrell, Teddy Purcell, Vincent Lecavalier and Martin St. Louis (2). The Pens fall to 5-4-1 on the season.

Friday October 29: Flyers v. Penguins
The Pens dropped a close one to the Philthadelphia Flyers on Friday, taking a 3-2 loss. It is not so bad that it was a 3-2 loss, but it is bad that it was to the Flyers. The Penguins led after one period after Kris Letang got his 3rd goal of the season, but that would be the last time the Penguins held the lead. Claude Giroux (SH) and Daniel Carcillo added goals for the Flyers in the 2nd. Claude Giroux added a power play goal and Tyler Kennedy scored for the Penguins late in the 3rd, but the score would remain 3-2. Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 21 of 24, dropping his record to 1-6 on the season and the Penguins to 5-5-1, looking up at the Flyers in the Atlantic Division.

Saturday October 30: Penguins v. Hurricanes
In this first game of a 4 game road trip, the Penguins rallied behind another great game from Brent Johnson as he out-dueled Cam Ward, pushing the Penguins past the Canes 3-0. Johnson turned away all 33 shots he faced, earning his 5th win (5-0-1) this season. Johnson also boasts the league's third best goals against average at 1.16. The Penguins scored a goal in each period from Pascal Dupuis, Max Talbot and Pascal Dupuis again. The Penguins are now tied with the Philthadelphia Flyers with 13 points, atop the Atlantic Division.

At least in the poor play of Marc-Andre Fleury, Brent Johnson is having a career year. The Penguins are not playing bad hockey either, just getting some things smoothed out. The next game for the Pens on this road trip is on Wednesday night in Dallas when they take on the Modano-less Stars. Game time is 8:30 pm.

Let's go Pens,
B Brog