Draft Day Suit

Antwaan Randle El

It’s been a rough year for Steeler fans. Our season sucked. Polamalu was struck down by the Madden Curse. And several of our more prominent players took it upon themselves to act like psychopaths, which is really problematic for an organization that strives to remain above the cliches of dumb, young, rich athletes gone wild. (I realize that I’m probably being way too flippant about serious matters like sexual assault accusations. I just don’t want to get into it right now.)

But there was some promising news on Tuesday. Wide receiver Antwaan Randle El re-signed with the Steelers for a three-year deal after being released from the Washington Redskins, where he’s played the last four seasons. Randle El left Pittsburgh on a high note in 2006, tossing a 43-yard touchdown pass to Hines Ward to win Super Bowl XL. During his last year in Washington, however, he started only three of the team’s 16 games.

As Ward gets a tiny bit older, it will be good to have someone like Randle El on the roster. Wide receiver Limas Sweed is still a little…dodgy.

Ashton Gibbs

I thought last night’s game against Providence was over. Brad Wanamaker was unable to secure the tie-breaking shot and then fouled. After they were able to pull ahead by 1 with 3.5 seconds to go, I left the room in disgust. I was in the kitchen when I heard my husband yelp, “HUH HO! OH MY GOD!” I ran back in asking what happened and he could only answer, “GIBBS!”

I watched the replay in disbelief. Gibbs took the ball, made several inhumanly long strides to just past mid-court, and just milliseconds before time ran out, drained a 3-pointer that seemed to come directly from heaven.

The win secured them a double-bye in the Big East tournament and maintained their chance to be seeded #2. They also vindicated themselves against Providence, who beat Pitt last season. Awesome game and incredible fodder for the highlight reel. Video of the amazing moment is here.

Bob Costas

If you were hoping to watch sporting events this Olympics, allow me to chuckle at your cute naivete. If, however, you’re really into commercials, Bob Costas’ fireplace, and blimp shots, then you are probably in media heaven these days.

Complaints about NBC’s coverage of these games is nothing new. My Twitter friends have been pretty vocal about it and we even heard from our own HeadlessMom about the absurdity of not being able to see coverage of the Olympics, even though they’re happening in her own time zone.

But what separates bitching and serious criticism is raw data and David Bireman at the Wall Street Journal has given fuel to our fire.

An analysis of NBC’s 3 ½-hour program Friday night showed that there were 56 minutes, 41 seconds of commercials over 24 breaks—that’s three more minutes than actual event action that was showed.

Even more damning? This chart:

NBC Olympics Coverage Breakdown

By the way, charts = science, so don’t even try to question it, mkay?

Obviously, this is not groundbreaking bad coverage. Most major sports events have a similar focus on advertising dollars over actual sports. But I think people are angry because the Olympics offer a chance to see sports that you don’t normally catch. I get that it’s a rare marketing opportunity, but the fact that these events can captivate even the most indifferent viewer should be at least a little respected and NBC should let us see a little more of the awe-inspiring feats that we tuned in to see in the first place.

Ski jumping is one of many sports that I only see every four years when it’s featured in the Olympics.  Despite pretty much forgetting that it exists in the interim, unless I happen to play it on the Wii Fit, I’m always enthralled by it and it’s one of my favorite events.

I didn’t think there was really much room for scandal in ski jumping. You sit at the top, go really fast down the hill, jump, lean forward at a freakish angle while birds look UP at you and say, “Holy *&^),” then land gracefully. Repeat. But, alas, there is a ski jumping scandal afoot.

Apparently, Austria and Switzerland are BIG ski jumping rivals. And the Austrian team isn’t quite sure that Swiss ski jumper Simon Ammann earned his gold medal last Saturday in an honest manner. They informed the International Ski Federation that they suspect Ammann is using improper bindings on his skis, which allow him to be flatter in the air and therefore go much farther. The bindings are also generally considered unsafe.

The Austrian team informed the ISF and the Associate Press that if Ammann does not change his bindings for tomorrow’s event, they will protest the results. Well, they’ll protest if he beats an Austrian, that is.

NBC has the full story and video of Ammann’s gold medal run. Take a look. What do you think? Something not right there?