dans.blog


The miscellaneous ramblings and thoughts of Dan G. Switzer, II

Steelers offer Fantasy Football Camp!!!

The Steelers, for the first time ever, are offering a football fantasy camp for men. I wish I would have found out about this sooner. I wonder why the Tribune-Review only publisized this a week before the camp was supposed to start? Anyway, I'll have to keep an eye out for this camp next year!

The Steelers will give their male fans an opportunity to taste the life of a professional football player when they hold their first fantasy camp for men June 6-8 at St. Vincent College, near Latrobe.

Participants will receive on-field and classroom instruction from Steelers assistant coaches Mike Mularkey, Tim Lewis, Tom Clements and Kenny Jackson. and former players Jon Kolb, Louis Lipps, Edmund Nelson, Andy Russell and Mike Wagner.

The package includes two nights' lodging and five meals, including a Saturday night banquet emceed by former Steelers offensive linemen Tunch Ilkin and Craig Wolfley, who are current members of the team's radio broadcast crew. The evening also will feature Hall of Fame running back Franco Harris and WDVE's Jim Krenn.

Registration must be made in advance and costs $349 per person. Further information can be found on Steelers.com or by telephoning 412-697-7713.


Hybrid surface being installed at Heinz Field

Workers were installing a new playing surface yesterday at Heinz Field.

The new sod is a combination of natural Kentucky bluegrasses reinforced with polypropylene fibers that are sewn into the sod every three-fourths of an inch to make the surface more durable.

Since Heinz Field opened in August 2001, the all-grass playing surface had taken a pounding with games played by the Steelers, University of Pittsburgh Panthers and local high schools. The Steelers were forced to replace the chewed-up Heinz Field grass three times last year.


First day of Draft is over...

The Steelers traded up to the 16th spot yesterday to get Troy Polamalu (USC)—they gave up a 3rd and 6th round pick to move from the 27th to the 16th spot. He definitely was a player at need, and seems like a real monster. The Steelers have proven that they know how to draft, so I trust them. They also picked up Alonzo Jackson (Florida State) a DE end whom they plan on converting to a outside linebacker. From the scouting reports, he seems a little slow for the outside linebacker position—especially with players like Boss Bailey still out there—but like I said, I trust the Steelers scouting. They've definitely found more than there share of gems in the past, and I don't see the trend ending any time soon.


NFL Draft Day is here!

Here we go Steelers, here we go! Here we go Steelers, here we go! Here we go Steelers, here we go! Here we go Steelers, here we go!


Eight days until the NFL Draft!

Eight days until the NFL Draft—can't wait to see who the Steelers pick up in round one.


Bengals: Akili Smith/David Klingler Anyone?

Bengals Open Negotiations With Leftwich -
5:01 PT: The Cincinnati Enquirer reports the Cincinnati Bengals have opened contract negotiations with Marshall QB Byron Leftwich.

While I think Leftwich has a lot of qualities to be an NFL caliber QB, his durability is in question. The Bengal have the uncanny knack to be able use their first round draft pick on injury prone players or players who turn out to be total busts. It appears they may be reaching in their bags of tricks again to waste another overall first pick.

I think the Bengals would be much better off trading down and drafting Leftwich—if he's the guy they really want he should be available later on. Heck, some moch drafts have him going as late as the nuber 27 pick (Steelers.)

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With their first 2 picks in the draft, Dallas selects...

cokehead.jpg
from Marshall University....

Don't believe the above image, check out Marshall's 2002 Football Roster.


NFL Schedule Released

The 2003 NFL schedule was released today! I can't wait until football season. Anyone else looking forward to draft weekend?

http://www.nfl.com/schedules


Proposal: Laser replaces NFL chain gang

It's similar to the yellow line superimposed on the TV image for home consumption, but it's visible to the players and fans in the stadium as well, under the lights or in bright sunshine.

I'm not sure how I feel about this. From a fans prospective, it's great, but I'm not sure I want the players to see the line. There's no doubt the "yellow line" has been the best innovation to viewing football on TV since they first starting airing games nationally. I'm just not sure if I like the players being able to see it. I guess it just makes the game a little more sterile. I like the fact that it's not perfect now (even with the little yellow line) and sometimes the two don't match up. It just add some suspense to the game. I just think the game could get sterile with the laser lines. Then again, maybe the game becomes more exciting. Either way, I'll still be watching the Steelers so I guess it doesn't matter much to me. :)


New PGA.com Site Online

PGA.com The new PGA.com site went live this week. It's a huge improvement over the old one. I know a couple of the developers working on the site, so I know a couple of the ideas that they're working on. When they get completely done implementing the new features, it'll be the best golf resource on the net.

http://www.pga.com/