Enough About Hines

Enough about Hines Ward. Listen…he’s playing, OK?

And if he doesn’t, to be honest, it doesn’t really matter. I know he had solid numbers this year (80+ grabs and over 1,000 yds) but he’s really not the focal point he once was.

In fact, you could argue that Santonio Holmes is more important to the offense, especially considering his production as both a wideout and a punt returner in the postseason. He’s the deep threat and the only Pittsburgh receiver who should command double coverage.

Hines is a warrior and a great possession receiver. But he’s lost a step. Or two. And his injury won’t help that. Pitt is still going to do what it always does: pound the ball with the run, hit a little play action to Heath Miller and toss a few bombs down the field to Holmes. They literally do the same thing on offense every game.

And if it’s tied or the Steelers are trailing late in the fourth, the ball is going to Nate Washington. Seriously, the amount of times Pitt has been on TV here in the Northeast, everytime they needed a late 3rd-and-15 or 4th-and-8, there was Washington making a circus catch for 17 or 10 yards and the first. He could be quiet all game but he always – ALWAYS – was making plays in the clutch. It was eerie actually, because you started to expect the ball to go to him in those situations.

This is no knock on Hines. He’s a great player and all, but I just think I little too much has been made of a player who will have less impact on the game than everyone thinks. The real benefit of having him out there is it keeps Limas “Timeout killer” Sweed off the field.

Prediction for today: Pittsburgh 24 – Arizona 17.
Get your Pitt bets in at -6.5, or if your guy is stuck at 7, try to work a teaser.

A Tribute to....The Super Bowl

And no...I'm not talking about THIS Super Bowl in general, this is a tribute to the whole event that IS the Super Bowl. It is one of the great man days of the year (right up there with national blow job day...a holiday I'm still trying to create).

For dudes this means sitting around together watching the big game, getting drunk, eating awful food, talking about chicks, and farting. In other words, its heaven. The only way it could be improved is if lingerie models were there to serve us all the buff chicken and doritos that we wanted.

So enjoy the game this weekend, and even though the lingerie bowl (due to the nudist colony which was holding it) was cancelled, make sure you put on some halftime show which showcases a bunch of dimes, because I don't know about you, but Bruce Springstein is NOT an adequate replacement for half naked hot chicks.

- The STILL Internet-less JPerk

Anquan Baby

A few reports after the NFC Championship indicated Cardinals wide receiver Anquan Boldin wasn’t too happy about the focus of Arizona’s offense Sunday, namely the amount of balls thrown Larry Fitzgerald’s way and the lack of balls thrown his own.

While Fitz had another monster game Sunday (see below) Boldin had four catches for 34 yards. On the field, Boldin was seen arguing with offensive coordinator Tom Haley and after the game, while him teammates were going crazy like they, you know, just defied all odds and made it to the Super Bowl, Boldin was seen sneaking out the back door and didn’t participate in any celebration.

Um, bro, YOU JUST WON THE NFC CHAMPIONSHIP! Hello. What’s wrong with you? How big of a baby can you be?

The Cards used Fitz on nine of their final 14 plays in their 32-35 victory over Philly. Boldin, who despite missing two games had only four less ypg and one less touchdown than Fitz in the regular season, has taken a back seat to Fitz in the postseason, mostly because of a nagging hamstring that has taken him in and out of the trainer’s room.

But if you can’t swallow your pride for two seconds, soak in the a feat that very few players get to ever accomplish, and instead pout about stats…you have no place in a championship team’s locker room. I’m sorry, but that takes the me-first athlete to a whole new level. That’s TO ish right there.

Boldin did say all the right thing’s mostly when a reporter caught him on his way out:

"That's not an issue," Boldin said, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. "Like I told you guys at the beginning of the season, my main goal was to do this. I've come through with all of my promises. I fought. I gave my heart to this organization. It's paying off."

Hmm.. at least he didn’t go public with his gripes. But when you don’t party with your teammates, your boys, after you clinch a trip to the Biggest Game on the Planet, something is wrong.

I actually forgot about this, but Boldin requested a trade back in August over a dispute with his contract. Apparently he doesn’t like his 4-year $22.75 million extension he signed after 2005. Well, he has three more years left of it, so that must mean he signed it with two more years left on his initial rookie deal, meaning he got some guaranteed money well before he should have. Bet he wasn’t hating on the extension then.

I got an idea. After the emergence of Fitzgerald has an all-world wideout and the ability Steve Breaston showed in Boldin’s absence, how about after the season just say slayyyttttaa Boldin. Go put up numbers for the Lions, bro.