Some people are pissed that Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph was booed Saturday night. Others seem to think he got off easy.
Some people are angry at what Red Sox broadcaster Dennis Eckersley said about the pirates. Others seem to think he could have gone for more.
Some people want Bob Nutting to sell the Pirates. Now he’s buying up other companies in Pittsburgh.
Some people think discourse and dialogue are dead in America. Others read “Are you crazy brother?”
Thank you for being a good American.
Stan replied to me after I sent a sarcastic tweet about pirate owner Bob Nutting buying Wigle Whiskey and Threadbare Cider.
Is there a more disliked person in the Pittsburgh area than him?
— Stan (@Sgw_52) August 12, 2022
Yes. Me. Every time I write a negative column about the Steelers.
By the way, is there any greater irony in Pittsburgh than Bob Nutting buying a company called Threadbare? Has he seen his own team’s line-up lately?
I know Dennis Eckersley has.
Speaking of Eck’s “hodgepodge of nothingness” comments about the pirates with Dave O’Brien on Tuesday’s NESN program of PNC Park, Bethann doesn’t like the fact that I supported everything they said.
“Seriously, you agree with these guys? They were rude, obnoxious and disrespectful. It’s not the players fault. They try as best they can with the cheapness of nutting. So why should these two Red Sox announcers be credited for humiliating the players? Why didn’t they accuse Nutting by name? Why not blame the city of Pittsburgh for allowing (the) old man and his son to continue while the taxpayers pay for the stadium? Why not blame MLB who know Nutting lines their pockets? Because they are ashamed to blame anyone but the innocent players. Who cares if Eck is a hall of fame, it gives him no excuse to be hateful. And the pirates weren’t blown out. 5-3 is respectable by the way. And have the two forgotten their team is a bunch of cheaters who got away with it because MLB favors Sox and big money teams? Pooh! I can’t believe you bought this nonsense. Shame on you!”
When did he “blame” the players themselves? Eckersley blamed the assembly of these players by Nutting and his management. You mentioned Ben Cherington by name. That is not enough?
I mean it’s obvious that they talked about management and ownership. Who else would they refer to? Eckersley’s screed did not attack the players themselves. He attacked those who throw them at a major league diamond without prayer for victory and capitalize on that decision.
And as far as saying “shame on me,” I haven’t let anyone “shame me” since my mom scolded me in high school. That was in 1992.
You know, last year this franchise actually won a division title.
More Tim Benz:
• Tim Benz: Talk of trading Chase Claypool for Roquan Smith is one thing, trading him for the sake of it is another
• Tim Benz: Red Sox broadcast crew humiliates pirates – and hopefully everyone in Pittsburgh will applaud what they said
Dara agrees with Neil Walker’s recent criticism of Oneil Cruz’s approach to the record.
“Any coach can clearly see that Cruz hasn’t put his head down and is watching the ball all the way up the racquet. A better than average hitting coach should be able to rectify this, but with the team batting in the .250s, it’s clear the hitting coach doesn’t see the problems.”
That could be true. The hitting coach may not see the problems. But maybe you don’t see the stats.
“Hit in the .250s”? They wish! Try .220.
Amy emailed me and agreed with my stance that Mason Rudolph shouldn’t have been booed by Steelers fans when he took the field for Saturday’s preseason win over the Seattle Seahawks.
“Thank you for posting this. I jumped in my seat as the people behind me at the game started booing Mason as he came onto the field. He just doesn’t deserve the reaction of the crowd he’s getting. I felt smug satisfaction as he threw that ball perfectly into Pickens’ hands. Maybe I’m old fashioned, but I don’t think you boo people on your side. Save that for the enemies.”
If a player isn’t making a full effort or publicly does/says something stupid that brings negativity to the team or the city, I understand that boos may be appropriate there under those circumstances.
Booing the result of a bad game doesn’t even bother me.
But when this game is…hmm, let me see…booing a quarterback who’s sacked from behind because offensive tackle screwed up, that’s a bit of an overstatement. And Rudolph endured that on Saturday.
Also, I mean come on. It’s a preparatory game. And the guy handled the three-man QB cluster as professionally as anyone could. That’s what I thought of when I saw him take the field against the Seahawks.
He is not a person who should be held accountable for coaching and management decisions.
Unfortunately, Amy, some of the fanbase seems to have disagreed.
This guy sees the Rudolph situation differently.
Mason brought this on himself. He spent the offseason blaming Ben every chance he got. He wasn’t responsible for his mediocre game. So no, he didn’t deserve a break.
— BAD (@10THSTREETBAD) August 15, 2022
Rudolph didn’t blame Ben “every chance he got.” This is histrionic. He didn’t “bring it about himself” either. He’s not the one who drafted Kenny Pickett or signed Mitch Trubisky.
The only truth to this tweet is the description of Rudolph’s game as mediocre. Apart from that, everything is “a hodgepodge of nothing”.
Back to Eck, let’s squeeze in one more tweet.
@TimBenzPGH what do you think Tim? pic.twitter.com/Kz1u3sQDTb
— Chris Reilly (@otis4president) August 17, 2022
do you have one in black
Tim Benz is a contributor to the Tribune Review. You can contact Tim at [email protected] or via Twitter. All tweets could be reposted. All emails are subject to publication unless otherwise noted.
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Pirates/MLB | Sports | Steelers/NFL | Breakfast with Benz | Tim Benz Pillars