Chapter 1: What is discussed at the start of this section?
Bob's not here. Felt like I should mention that first. Feels very sad. Then again, we're used to it. Bob is not here on Fridays. We understand that. I hope that nobody tunes out because Bob is not here, but I fear that they will. Although the ratings show they don't. Maybe some even tune in because he's not here. I never thought of that. Probably not many, but maybe some. One or two.
That's obviously not city limits. That is Sean. Don't call me Seth Meyers. Let's get started here. It's a busy Friday. A busy Friday. Busy with good things. And that's where we start. That's where we start. Right here in our fine town of Pittsburgh, where we all live. Where I'll be out on the town golfing and I'll run into people who want to talk sports all the time.
I'll be in a restaurant and people want to talk sports all the time. What a sports town we are. Jack Hughes said it last night after the ovation he got. What a sports town. And this is the story today. And I hope you're watching on YouTube because for extra effect, I'm pointing right into the camera. These are better times all of a sudden. I don't know what comes of it.
I don't know what comes of all the pirate optimism, all these stories on Connor Griffin, Jeff Passon, the latest to weigh in. Other than the labor crap, as far as baseball goes, the Pirates are the biggest story in Major League Baseball right now for good reasons. For good reasons. Paul Skeens...
who might be, by the way, about to become an even bigger name, depending on what happens in the World Baseball Classic, and especially right now, Connor Griffin. The Penguins from last night, from this season, from everything that Kyle Dubas touches turning to gold. And even the Steelers, in a way at least, Things have changed like somebody's rustled the sleeping Steelers.
There's no toilets to use, but somebody has rustled the sleeping Steelers. Mike Tomlin, ironically, was the guy who did it. He fired himself. He's no longer here. I'm not going to say things are looking great for the Steelers, but at least things have changed. Point is. For these last how many years, the general theme has been, my God, these are bad times in Pittsburgh sports.
When has it ever been this bad? When was the last playoff series or playoff game win for any of our pro teams? When was the last time it sucked like this? Well, guess what? The times, they are a changing. Sean, don't call me Seth Meyers. Or maybe they are. At least there's hope. The most precious commodity in all of sports. We suddenly have it. It's undeniable with the Pirates.
Like I said, I don't know how this turns out. They could screw up a lemonade stand. I don't know how it's going to turn out. But right now, as we sit here today, they're the biggest story in baseball for all good reasons. Two good reasons, mostly. Skeens and Griffin. People are pumped to see this team, to see this guy. Just had Noah Hiles on from the Post-Gazette.
He thinks Connor Griffin's going to start with the big club. I'm not sure I believe that. But as he said, we're getting real close to the point where if he's still here, that becomes a much better bet. He said that Skeens was sent down the first week of March. We'll see. We'll see in about a week, week and a half what's happening here. The Pirates are suddenly a feel-good story.
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Chapter 2: What recent developments are making Pittsburgh sports hopeful?
Cold? Something. Listen, man. It's been years where things have not been good here. Truly. Things have not been good. You don't have to look far to see a headline. Are these the darkest times in Pittsburgh sports in a long, long time? When was the last time it was this bad? That's changed. Or is changing. How do you feel about this? At 412-928-9370, they had a good topic yesterday on the PM show.
Again, they have a lot of good topics. And this one was Andrew talking about how the Penguins in terms of percent capacity, how much of the building is filled, are second last in the NHL. When will people start catching on? I think very soon. And I think in some ways, again, I haven't been over there.
But the energy that's popping off that screen, there's something special happening with the people who are in the building. And I think more people will get into that building. Although, as an aside, I agree with Donnie Hockey that the simple explanation for that is expense. It's one of the reasons I don't go down there anymore.
I couldn't even get a parking spot when I was writing columns about the team, for God's sakes. Let alone now the parking is is laughably ridiculous in terms of price. Then to get into the building and then and then you want to get, you know, a beer and a burger. My God, I come home. My 401k is drained. What are we doing here?
Chapter 3: How are the Pirates shaping up this season?
It couldn't be more obvious to me. You combine, you know, whatever it is, three years of no playoffs with playoffs with a lot of money put out for a night of hockey. And it's to me, there's let's not make it complicated type thing. But winning cures all and it's starting to become way more believable. And that was just a fun third period. And the way that they.
Found a new gear in that third period with something. And you can feel it. You can sense it and see it. It may all go to crap without Sid, but I don't think so. I really don't. I think they're a playoff team. I think they're a good team. I think Kyle Dubas has done an amazing job, and I wasn't a fan at first. I mean, he had a terrible first year, right? Just brutal.
The level of mistake that he was making was beyond alarming, but he's erasing all of those, most notably in the form of Tristan Jari. He's practically turned Tristan Jari into a brand new roster plus picks, for God's sakes. What is Edmonton doing? What have they done? Everything this guy touches turns to gold in the meantime. And I don't see any reason why that's going to slow down.
And then can you imagine the excitement around here if Connor Griffin comes north for the opener and beyond? And if the Pirates start to win? It feels, and I want to know if you agree with me, because you're the ones out there that we see, that I see, that I'll see again today if I go hit golf balls or if I walk into a Sheetz. I love sheets. Do you? I'm a big fan. Yeah. Anywhere.
People want to talk sports and they want it to be good. And it hasn't been good for a long time. When you really think about it, there's always pockets of, and cool stuff that happens, right? I mean, when you have Sidney Crosby and you have the Steelers at the ends of seasons still in it, I will say that much for them. There's cool times, but you know they're not a real contender.
The Penguins have been horrible for a while. The Pirates have been horrible for a long time. It feels different to me. It must to you. 412-928-9370. 928-9370. Again, the greatest commodity in all of sports is hope. And even the Steelers have a bit of that. Of course they do. They've got the draft coming up right here in Pittsburgh.
They've got a new regime, even if you think it's Tomlin 2.0, as I do, actually. But at least it's not Tomlin. At least it's not we know what we're going to get this year. Maybe it'll be 4-13 and we can revel in that and they can get their quarterback. At least it's new. By the way, did you see who they interviewed yesterday? Oh, Limitless Wonder, who's not the Limitless Wonder?
Would it be Caleb Downs? Is that who you're referring to? No, although they did interview him, I think. I don't know if they did. Ty Simpson. Ty Simpson. I don't know if that excites people or not. Probably not. But he said, I love Coach McCarthy. I love the Steelers. And by the way, Sean. I'm 100 percent right.
And limits and Donnie football are wrong when I say that if there's going to be 700000 people on the North Shore and they announce the Steelers have drafted quarterback Ty Simpson out of Alabama, that place will go crazy. And the reason why is because when people are in that mode, when they're at a giant party with hundreds of thousands of other people, it's like a concert.
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Chapter 4: What are the Penguins' playoff prospects?
You walk into somebody's basement, and right in the middle of the room is a bare toilet. I had to clear out room for my ping pong table, so the toilet got the old heave-ho. How much does a toilet stall cost? Come on, Art. What are we doing here? By the way, as another aside on that, I don't really think it matters as far as like competitively.
All you need to know is that those Players Association grades, which we all knew were going to leak, pun intended, the Dolphins have the best grades. So how much does it really matter on the field? And the Steelers have the worst grades. And you might have heard they have a 19-year or 22-year or something year non-losing streak. Have you heard about that? So it's really not about that.
It's about them portraying themselves as one big family where we really take care of the players in a different kind of way than anybody else. We're a big family. Well, you know what, Art? Families need toilets. Get them a few more, will you? What are we doing? And it's not just that. It's a bunch of other things.
They're the lowest graded franchise on that whole list, including Accra Shore Stadium, where now I read they're going to have a new surface by next year. Well, that's good, but it's been a total embarrassment. To the point where Aaron Rodgers came out and ripped it. But that's not what I came here to talk about today. I came here to talk about hope this morning.
It struck me as I was reading actually Jeff Passan's piece, considering the Penguins game from last night. And how fun that was, man. How fun that was and how that place is going crazy and the energy emanating from people like Gino as a perfect example. All these years later. All this guy does is love hockey and want to win, and he still helps them win.
I think they're going to survive this time without Sid. Give me a call. Let's talk about this. Even though there's nothing negative on the table. 928-9370. Hope is back in Pittsburgh sports. Am I speaking the truth here? Also, and this fits right in with the positive theme, The word incringulant has come up again from a major American sports figure. Uttered it yesterday. I'll tell you who.
Next, fan Twitter brought to you by South Hills Kia Pittsburgh, Peters Township. Visit them at SouthHillsKia.net. Fan text line on which you can communicate with our dear friend, Sean Myers. Brought to you by Edgar Snyder and Associates, a personal injury law firm. where they always say there's never a fee unless we get money for you.
And the fan hotline presented by Sullivan Super Service, Pittsburgh's trusted plumbing and HVAC provider for over 50 years. Negativity sells, but positivity reigns right now in Pittsburgh. It really does. After years in the desert, we've stumbled upon an oasis here.
And waiting for us with a nice cold cup of water is Paul Skeens and Connor Griffin and Evgeny Malkin and Igor Chinnikov and Ben Kindle. And who knows who on the Steelers. I'm not going overboard with them. But again, if I would have told you, you know, eight months ago. Tomlin won't be here. At least you would have said, well, they got a chance to change then. At least change will be in the air.
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Chapter 5: What are the implications of Ty Simpson's interview with the Steelers?
You know about the Vegas casino incident. You certainly know that he was late to meetings and everything like that from what I've heard. A lot of the stuff he did in Pittsburgh, he's still doing in Dallas.
Chapter 6: How does Ty Simpson's injury history affect his draft prospects?
I think Jerry Jones is a little bit more willing to tolerate it. And when you play like he did, and he was happy there, it's a little bit easier to tolerate. I mean, let's be real here. The Steelers did not maximize him in their scheme. They certainly didn't maximize him in quarterback play. They did not have a Dak Prescott around. They did not have a C.D. Lamb around to compliment him.
He was in a beautiful, kind of perfect environment for him to just explode. I will say this, Joe, and this is kind of something that I continue to find interesting this week as I talk to people. The Steelers never got an offer higher than a third-round pick for the Cowboys or anyone else. In fact, many teams wouldn't be willing to trade more than a sixth or a seventh-round pick.
Chapter 7: What are the expectations for Connor Griffin in the upcoming season?
I thought that was fairly interesting hearing that. So, you know, around the league, there was a kind of perception about George Pickens last year that, maybe he couldn't lock in and maybe he couldn't be a guy that explodes because he would get in his own way. And the Cowboys took that chance. And listen, they reaped the benefits of that.
He had the best year of his career and he was one of the best wide receivers in all of football. So good on their gamble.
And then we move on to Ty Simpson, who is making news today. He talked, told everybody he's ready to show NFL talent evaluators that he's a franchise quarterback. Says the Alabama locker room is as close to an NFL locker room as you can get, which I guess, as Sean said here, they must have more than five toilets in that locker room. Yes, Nick?
Yeah, they probably do.
In the meantime, the Steelers have formally met with Ty Simpson. So say what we want, he's gotten into the room with them. He's had an interview.
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Chapter 8: How does the Pirates' current roster influence their playoff chances?
Where is this headed, do you think?
So I heard Ty Simpson's interview was also particularly impressive, which I think speaks to the Steelers liking him. But I don't think they love him. And what I mean by that is, I don't think he's going to be a pick at 21. I don't think that's where this is heading. I think this is heading to a, if he falls, we would like to take a shot on him. So second, third round.
He's not getting to the third, but if he falls to the second, would you maybe move up for him? Would you maybe even move up into the back half of the first? I mean, there's questions to that. But I've gotten this vibe that they like him, but they're just not enthralled enough to take him at 21. There are some prospects. I know that they love, that I think are firmly in play at 21.
But I just don't think Ty Simpson is. And there's a few limitations there. You know, the durability I've talked about, that's come up multiple times. The tape at the end of the season, I mean, he just fell off, man, in significant fashion from the mental processing standpoint, from winning inside the pocket, from managing the pocket. There was a lot that really... was a red flag.
But I do think the Steelers were impressed by his work on the board. I think that they thought he was very smart when given situational calls within that meeting. I think he did a very nice job. And I think they're interested in him at their own value. But I don't think that value is the 21st overall pick from what I'm hearing.
Very interesting. Very interesting to me that he had a good interview. And I do, I hear what you're saying. I don't want to make too much of it. But, man, let's put it this way. If he doesn't go before 21, you're going to have people on the edge of their seats when the Steelers get up with the 21st pick, I'll tell you that.
No doubt about it. I mean, he is the type of quarterback prospect that is going to be polarizing in a lot of ways. Much like, you know, when we talked about Dart and Shuck last year and Shador Sanders, too, I think you could throw into that bucket because he was talked about in the same kind of class as those two. Those guys were polarizing players.
And, you know, I think that you get into that bottom half first round, early second round range by having things that you obviously do well. And there's things he does do well. I mean, he is tough as nails. He throws with anticipation. He is fearless throwing into tight windows, especially over the middle of the field. I think that is a very admirable trait.
And I think mostly speaking, he's accurate. I don't think the tools are great, but like there is a base to work with with Ty Simpson. And so when I talk about, you know, detracting his kind of his game, like let's keep it, let's talk about it here.
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