Steeler fans’ obsession with Stewart baffling
Does Stewart’s race contribute to the venom? If you don’t think it’s a factor, you’re naive enough to buy oceanfront property on Neville Island. But it’s more than that. Just ask Cliff Stoudt and Mark Malone, two other quarterbacks who made the deadly mistake of not winning four Super Bowls. Then again, they were never the target of vicious, unstoppable rumors, either.
Maybe it was Stewart’s sideline tears. Maybe it’s the earring. Maybe it’s the stats: He hasn’t been a consistently good quarterback but others, like Bubby Brister, have certainly fit that description without evoking such strong feelings.
People don’t just kick Stewart when he’s down, they make sure they’re wearing boots instead of sneakers.
In the last 30 years the Steelers have had one quarterback who even approached beloved status – Terry Hanratty. Naturally, he rarely played.
After being out of the game and playing in Arena Football and the XFL, Maddox seems to be pretty resilient.
That’s a quality that will serve him well in a city that devours quarterbacks more viciously than the Steel Curtain defense ever did. You’re never more than an interception away from having an obscenity become part of your name.
—
The Pirates revamped their staff, so now there’s speculation that new third base coach John Russell is the manager in waiting should Lloyd McClendon vacate the job.
New bench coach Pete Mackanin has a solid resume, too – he’s managed in the minor leagues and coached in the majors.
That’s not a bad thing. If the staff has people with the ability to manage, it means the staff is better.
—
The Stanley Cup champion Detroit Red Wings visited the White House last week.
President Bush had a scripted line about making Scotty Bowman vice president, which at least shows they’re preparing better.
The Pittsburgh Penguins visited when Bush’s father was still in office. The chief executive sized up the tall man handing him a Penguins jersey and asked Mario Lemieux, “And you are?”
—
There was much anguish in Penguins land last week because referees Paul Stewart and Dan O’Halloran seemed to be ignoring the NHL’s mandate to call a penalty every 30 seconds.
Maybe the overreaction could wait until a trend develops. One game means little in a season that’s just getting warmed up after six months.
The officiating in Wednesday’s game was no more indicative of a pattern than the Penguins’ season-opening 6-0 home loss to Toronto was.
—
How can you be expected to take TV shrink Dr. Phil seriously when he bears such a resemblance to long-time local radio-TV guy Bill DiFabio?
Sports correspondent John Mehno can be reached online at: johnmehno@lycos.com.