May 14, 2006 By John Mehno For The 3 min read

PITTSBURGH – Let’s assume for a dark, scary moment that Sports Illustrated got it right and Hines Ward really doesn’t like coach Bill Cowher. What difference would it make? Has Ward ever given anything less than a total effort in his eight seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers? Has there ever been a suspicion the Steelers will ever get less than Ward’s very best?

The guy catches passes in traffic, bounces up from hard hits and blocks like a fullback. He puts aside any concern for his personal safety every time he plays.

If he really doesn’t like his boss that much, doesn’t that give him something in common with a lot of people?

Professional sports are a business and always have been. Players are employees.

That doesn’t mean they don’t love the game, or that they aren’t dedicated. But it’s a job, albeit one more exciting and lucrative than, say, telemarketing.

The locker room is the workplace, and people don’t always get along that well in any workplace.

People often assume sports is different for some reason. Maybe it’s because of the communal showers.

But it isn’t different. There’s always someone who isn’t happy with their position, or someone who doesn’t like the boss. Roberto Clemente didn’t care much for Danny Murtaugh.

Terry Bradshaw grew irrational about Chuck Noll.

The Pittsburgh Pirates won the World Series in 1979. In the first month of the 1980 season, pitcher Bert Blyleven quit for two weeks, perturbed that manager Chuck Tanner wouldn’t let him complete games.

At the end of the season, the Pirates dumped Blyleven to Cleveland and Tanner started referring to his former pitcher as “Cryleven.”

They were family.

It’s possible Ward was misquoted or misunderstood. It’s also possible Cowher isn’t his favorite person.

If that’s the case, his selfless play shows it’s no big deal.

?????

What’s up with the Pittsburgh Penguins these days?

Good question. Since firing general manager Craig Patrick the week after the regular season ended, their only public presence has been the usual screeching for a new arena (done under terms that will enhance the sale value of the franchise for the present ownership group. please).

Supposedly 70-year-old assistant GM Eddie Johnston is in charge, but he wasn’t around the office much last week.

There’s the draft, free agency, trades and roster decisions on holdover players pending. There’s also a vacancy in the GM position with no apparent urgency to fill it.

By the way, although Patrick kept saying he hoped to return, apparently he was fairly sure he wouldn’t. Insiders report Patrick accompanied the team on trips at the end of the season without attending some of the games.

?????

If the government really is monitoring all our phone calls, maybe some helpful spy could disconnect before the Pirates can make offers to over-the-hill free agents?

John Mehno can be reached at johnmehno@lycos.com