Football Blog

–Tough 3-0 loss for the Penguins on Tuesday night against Boston. Not only did they get shut out for the second game in a row, but they also lost Brooks Orpik in the first period after he smashed into the boards.

The Boys of Winter have now been outscored 13-2 in their last three games, Letang and Orpik recently joined the lengthy list of injuries, and their team president had a heart attack. In other words, it’s been a long week for the champs. [ESPN, PG]

–Remember what I was saying about Rookie of the Year columns? SI’s Don Banks lists his top three as Percy Harvin, Mark Sanchez (the caretaker QB of a 4-4 team) and Michael Oher (a lineman on a 4-4 team). And Mike Wallace is not mentioned why, Mr. Snap Judgment? [SI.com]

–One Steeler made Peter King’s Midseason All-Pro Team, and it’s probably not someone you would think of. And no, it’s not Limas Sweed. [SI.com]

–For today’s Pitt-Penn State debate fodder, how about this recent observation by Paul Zeise from Sunday’s “#1 Cochran Sports Showdown” on KDKA:

In the past 10 seasons, Penn State is 5-20 against Ohio State, Michigan and Iowa.

In the past 10 seasons, Penn State is 5-10 against non-conference BCS schools with a winning record.

The title of the article is “How Good is the Penn State Program?” and as of this posting, it has 38 comments and counting. As far as I can tell, none are from Adam the Penn State Fan. [KDKA]

–The Cowboys’ Jason Witten gave a 9-year-old student contest winner a ride to school today, and guess what? The kid is a massive Steeler fan, proving at a young age that he’s smart enough to not get involved with the Cowboys. [Dallasnews.com]

–Who’s signing Larry Johnson? Not the Texans. And Mike Tomlin not saying anything about LJ is apparently a story in itself, even though he never talks about any free agent. [PFT]

–Former Bucco skipper Danny Murtaugh is up for enshrinement in the Baseball Hall of Fame on the 10-man Veteran’s Committee ballot for managers and umpires. Hopefully he gets in, because I don’t see the Pirates getting too many inductees in the near future. [PG]

–Matt Capps was recently offered in a trade to the Milwaukee Brewers for SS J.J. Hardy, who was instead dealt to Minnesota for OF Carlos Gomez. Hardy’s numbers fell off a cliff last year and was welcomed to Minnesota with a “What Went Wrong with JJ Hardy” column. In the meantime, the Yankees and Red Sox are deciding which elite free agents to add to their already-loaded teams. Don’t you love baseball? [PBC Blog, Twincities.com]

–In addition to Pitt-ND and Steelers-Bengals, there’s a whiskey festival coming up at Heinz Field this weekend. And no, it’s not being held in the parking lot. [Trib]

–In honor of Veteran’s Day, here’s ESPN.com’s list of the 10 greatest patriotic moments in U.S. sports history. Not making the list: defending the U.S. flag against blatant disrespect by Nikolai Volkoff and the Iron Sheik in the mid-’80s. [ESPN]