There will be one hell of a good football game on Sunday January 18th at 6:30 pm when the Pittsburgh Steelers play the Baltimore Ravens at Pittsburgh. Wherever you go around this country , you can find Steeler fans. Thats because for so many years many of the areas best and brightest moved on to where the pickin's were better, but they never lost the 'Burgh feeling. One can find a Steeler's fan bar in every major city and they could accurately be called America's favorite team.
The Ravens-Steelers rivalry is arguably the nastiest in all of sports. What happens when you throw the irresistible force that is Steelers wide receiver Hines Ward and the immovable object that is Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis onto the same field ? Breathtaking hits, some of them late. It is not the longest rivalry in the history of the NFL, but it is the most intense.
The Ravens-Steelers rivalry is arguably the nastiest in all of sports. What happens when you throw the irresistible force that is Steelers wide receiver Hines Ward and the immovable object that is Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis onto the same field ? Breathtaking hits, some of them late. It is not the longest rivalry in the history of the NFL, but it is the most intense.
"What else would you expect -- us and the Ravens," Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin said Sunday after the Steelers handled the Chargers 35-24. "It would be a big game if it was a scrimmage. It just happens to be the AFC Championship Game." Familiarity between these two AFC North teams breeds, well, something beyond contempt. There have been alleged late hits, reported bounties and even not-so-veiled death threats.
"Every block, every tackle -- none of them are done casually," said Steelers radio broadcaster Tunch Ilkin, who played in Pittsburgh from 1980 to 1992. "They're all done with full intensity and malicious intent. If you have a chance to rub a guy's face in the dirt on a tackle, you do. If you can put a knee in a guy's back to help yourself get up, you do it."
This season, appropriately, the Ravens and Steelers have the league's top-ranked defenses in terms of points and yards allowed. The Steelers lead the series 17-10 -- including a divisional-round playoff victory at the end of the 2001 season -- and won both previous games this season, one in overtime, by a total of seven points.
The Ravens, though, have had their moments. In 2006, they won both games and sacked quarterback Ben Roethlisberger 16 times. One of them was a brutal shot by Ravens linebacker Bart Scott. "That's the cleanest tackle I've had in my life," Scott said later. "It felt good to hear the air leave his body."
That's the kind of game it's going to be !
"Every block, every tackle -- none of them are done casually," said Steelers radio broadcaster Tunch Ilkin, who played in Pittsburgh from 1980 to 1992. "They're all done with full intensity and malicious intent. If you have a chance to rub a guy's face in the dirt on a tackle, you do. If you can put a knee in a guy's back to help yourself get up, you do it."
This season, appropriately, the Ravens and Steelers have the league's top-ranked defenses in terms of points and yards allowed. The Steelers lead the series 17-10 -- including a divisional-round playoff victory at the end of the 2001 season -- and won both previous games this season, one in overtime, by a total of seven points.
The Ravens, though, have had their moments. In 2006, they won both games and sacked quarterback Ben Roethlisberger 16 times. One of them was a brutal shot by Ravens linebacker Bart Scott. "That's the cleanest tackle I've had in my life," Scott said later. "It felt good to hear the air leave his body."
That's the kind of game it's going to be !
After this win , February 1st at Tampa will have a scene much like this one from a few years back.
Go Stillers !..............................Number 1..........
This pic says it all
.JPG)
1 comment:
You know, your Pittsburg mayo is almost as cool as our Austin mayor. ;)
(I tagged you on a meme. Feel free to take it or leave it.)
Post a Comment