Cut Down Day
While today is the official cut down day with a deadline of 4pmET to get to 53 players on the active roster, the Steelers spent Monday beginning the process of culling their ranks.
Most of the names would only be recognized by friends, relatives, and Bob Pompeani & Charlie Batch.
There was a very notable exception, though.
If it indicates anything, it could be another case of the Steelers roster crunch – much like on the interior offensive line's reserve roles, where Spencer Anderson's camp and preseason work helped cause the trickle-up effect that took out Kevin Dotson – causing a veteran to be looked at as expendable because there is a younger, perhaps practice squad eligible player at the same position, as Trenton Thompson could be at safety.
Much like the situation at interior offensive line, an issue shouldn't present itself at safety unless there are multiple injuries.
Can't Spell Bat$#!+ Without AB
As the great Ozzy Osbourne once said, "All aboarrrd!"
The Crazy Train is once again departing the station with Antonio Brown at the helm.
Yesterday's tweetstorm seemed to be aimed at anyone who shared the story of the warrant issued for Brown by Miami-Dade County last week for failure to make child support payments.
You've been warned: There's plenty of NSFW language in the tweets below.
Or, perhaps more accurately, AB's anger was just aimed at anyone in general.
In the end, he came back around and seemed to indicate everything was just fine.
Whatever the case, let's all remember a simpler time. A time when Brown wasn't loonier than a stack of Canadian dollars.
All Coasts Conference
It sounds as if the ACC will soon span all the way to the Pacific.
Stanford, Cal, & SMU or not, the ACC minus Florida State, Clemson, and/or North Carolina will be the American Athletic Conference/Big East 2.0.
Yes, let's not forget that time San Diego State, SMU, Boise State, and Houston were momentarily in the Big East.
NESN South?
AT&T SportsNet employees were told late last week that there would be a Town Hall-style meeting this Wednesday, and now it sounds like there may be at least a little more clarity about what will happen at that meeting tomorrow.
Fenway Sports Group taking over makes things rather seamless for Penguins broadcasts, although there is a fear among some current AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh employees that FSG will use NESN production facilities in Boston, and some Pittsburgh roles could be cut to avoid duplication.
What this could mean for Pirates broadcasts in 2024 and beyond is still unclear.
They could make a deal with Fenway to continue airing games on AT&T SportsNet (or whatever it may be called), or they could sign over rights to Major League Baseball, as several teams whose Regional Sports Networks went under this summer have already done.
The question then is where those Pirates games would air, and just how many current AT&T SportsNet employees would be eliminated if MLB takes over production of the games.
Again, perhaps Wednesday's meeting will shed more light on the situation. It sounds though, as if the Pirates will have the majority of the offseason to decide how they ultimately would like to proceed.
