I am going to do something a little bit different for this week’s post, as there were plenty of events from this past weekend. The lone bright spot in an otherwise miserable sports weekend was Manchester City’s 3-0 triumph over crosstown rivals Manchester United, proving once again that the city of Manchester is sky blue, not red. Pitt seemed to have read my article about hitting rock bottom last week and asked me to “hold their beer”, as they were absolutely thumped by Notre Dame. The Penguins showed again just how inconsistent they can be, following up a 4-0 win over Colorado with a blow-out by Ottawa. The Steelers again demonstrated no semblance of offensive firepower, only scoring 10 points against what is generally considered to be a poor Jacksonville Jaguars defense, and Kenny Pickett got hurt again. Some of these results will be investigated in greater detail throughout this entry, as I explore the increase in injuries across the NFL, the decrease in excitement and angst in traditional rivalries, and the “same ****, different day” stagnation displayed by the Steelers and, to a lesser extent, the Penguins.
Is Too Much Medical Knowledge a Bad Thing?
This may seem like a curious question. Advancements in sports medicine have been a marvel and have greatly contributed to the increased longevity of players’ careers. An ACL tear is no longer a frequent career-ending injury, but simply an ailment that can be fixed by surgery and rehabilitation. A pitcher’s arm can now actually be stronger after a torn UCL thanks to the improvements in Tommy John surgery. Every year, there seems to be a medical marvel that makes us reconsider the limits of the human body.
Conversely, it seems as though the advancements of modern medicine have generated more injuries. This is purely anecdotal, but it seems that there are more reported injuries with each passing season. Part of this may be more meticulous inspections of the body through these advancements, thus leading to more accurate diagnoses. Part of it may be that the athletes are more physically gifted, causing hits and whatnot to be more impactful. But there are questions to be asked of the abundance of muscular and other non-contact injuries: should the better methods of taking care of one’s body not reduce the number of these incidents? One would think that innovations in nutrition and body preservation would reduce the number of hamstring strains, groin pulls, and ligament tears. That does not appear to be the case. Yesterday alone, the list of star NFL players’ injuries included, but was not limited to:
Kirk Cousins (likely torn Achilles, non-contact)
Matthew Stafford (right thumb, contact)
Drake London (groin, non-contact)
Kenny Pickett (ribs, contact, probably a penalizable hit but I digress)
Darren Waller (hamstring, non-contact)
Minkah Fitzpatrick (hamstring, non-contact)
Tyrod Taylor (rib cage, contact)
Kendrick Bourne (knee, non-contact)
DeVante Parker (head, contact)
I am under no illusion that these injuries are all the result of seemingly random muscle pulls—hence why I denoted some of them as contact injuries—but the amount of injuries that stem from the absence of contact with another player is staggering. It certainly seems like fewer injuries occurred before players started taking better care of their bodies. Nolan Ryan never got hurt when he was guzzling beers between innings. Babe Ruth was hitting home runs on a steady diet of hot dogs. Terry Bradshaw only seemed to miss games when he got dropped on his head.
There appears to be some sort of correlation between the advancements of sports medicine and the increased prevalence of injuries. Again, some of that could be the plethora of methods recently developed to diagnose injuries. However, many of them seem to be the result of lean muscle surrounded by less fat than players maintained 30-40 years ago. Maybe taking less care of your body is key to avoiding injuries? That is something for sports physicians to discuss. Nonetheless, it is frustrating to see players in such good physical shape sidelined so frequently.
Are Rivalries Dead?
When the final whistle blew at the end of Manchester City’s walloping of crosstown rivals Manchester United, there was no chippiness from either squad. The United faithful did not heckle City players, but rather their own, whistling them after a dreadful performance from the club that represents the pinnacle of historical achievement in the English Premier League. This is a far cry from even a decade ago, when Mario Balotelli scored a goal for City in their 6-1 drubbing of the Red Devils, lifted his kit, and revealed an undershirt with the phrase “why always me?” scrawled across it. The animosity between the clubs is all but gone. Instead of getting physical in the final 20 minutes, United laid down and waited for the match to mercifully end.
This is becoming increasingly common across sports—the pure hatred and vitriol between traditional rivals has almost completely dissipated. There are no longer full-line brawls in the NHL just out of hatred for the opponent. Pitchers do not often plunk batters intentionally to send a message anymore, thus eliminating the charging of the mound by the beaned player. Rivalries do not bear any resemblance to the days of old. Players are friendly off the field, spending time together and even working out with one another in the offseason.
Occasionally, feuds boil over. We saw that earlier in the MLB season when Guardians’ third baseman Jose Ramirez slid into second base in a manner that caused White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson to take exception, leading to punches being thrown. These events, however, seem to be few and far between these days, as the evolution of social media has led players to become more friends than adversaries.
Can you imagine a world where Larry Bird and Magic Johnson were buddy-buddy during the height of Celtics-Lakers rivalry? Bird is probably the greatest trash talker in the history of sports. Back then, players cared more about sticking it to the opposition than exhibiting good PR.
Not all elements of rivalries are good, I will admit. No one needs to be stretchered off the ice after a disgusting Todd Bertuzzi hit. But there are key elements that players and fans alike should seek to reclaim, including bragging rights, an “ownership” of the other team, headline-grabbing moments, and vengeance for past losses or other incidents. These are fewer in number with each passing year, causing the competitive part of sports to basically become an afterthought.
Same S**t, Different Day
There is a common theme in recent years for Pittsburgh sports: for the Penguins, it is immeasurable inconsistency, while the Steelers have proven to be consistently inept. This past week, the Penguins gave up a ton of goals against the Stars, shut out the high-powered Avalanche, and then gave up a ton of goals against the Senators. There was neither rhyme nor reason to the drastic difference in results between the Avs game and its bookends, but it is symptomatic of something that this Penguins team has endured since winning the cup in 2017—a roller coaster of form. There is absolutely zero consistency in the Penguins performances. Their quality rises and falls like the tides. As frustrating as it is to watch—and believe me, it is painful—it seems inexplicable. How do you account for giving up 5 goals, then zero, then 5 again, considering the team that you shut out is arguably the best of the lot?
The Steelers are completely different. They are too consistent in their poor performances, at least offensively. The past three years have been mired in frustrating, low-output performances from which the team has barely strayed. Perennially ranked in the bottom third of the NFL in offense, the Steelers refuse to make changes (hence Matt Canada still being employed as opposed to being catapulted into sun).
The link between the Steelers teams of recent years and the Penguins teams since their last Stanley Cup triumph is the adage “same s**t, different day”. For the Penguins, that would be inconsistency. For the Steelers, consistency—but not anything consistently good. The bottom line is this: both teams need to make staffing changes. Change what is being done in the facilities, and different results may follow. I am sick of watching the Steelers open a game with 4 straight punts. I am tired of thinking the Penguins finally found their game, only to get blown out by Detroit. I cannot be the only one either. Management, please make the necessary changes.