Wednesday, July 29, 2009

In this corner, weighing in at 110 pounds, pushing 89 years of age and the recent recipient of a brand new plastic hip, Joseph "Blue" Polaski.

I swear last season we were just one step away from actually using him as our punter. I promised listeners of the radio show (Monday nights 6-9pm EST www.wdsr.org) that I would post this article about Daniel Sepulveda's written during training camp last season, so you all can see just how right and yet how unbelievably wrong I was at the same time. Let's do it.

Is the Steelers Season Already Over?


Training camp is only two weeks old and already there has been a lot of discussion about the precarious state of this years Steelers team. At many positions they are just one or two injuries away from being crippled. Last year it was Aaron Smith’s torn bicep, the lack of depth behind Willie Parker and Troy Polamalu playing most of the season at less than 100%, that really slowed the team.

As the opening game of the 2008 season approaches questions about the offensive and defensive lines, the linebacker corps, and the defensive backfield dominate conversation. However, one event from early in training camp should be a greater source of concern for fans and isn’t being given enough coverage by the media. No I’m not talking about the shape that Casey Hampton reported to camp in (round), or the condition of Troy Polamalu’s hamstring (still stringy).

As far as I’m concerned on Monday July 28, the Steelers season officially ended, when #9 Daniel Sepulveda tore his ACL for the second time in three seasons.

You’re saying What? Who? The guy that punts the ball? I thought his name was Costaki Gardocki something? In fact, the Steelers 2007 fourth round draft choice Daniel Sepulveda is not only a great player, but would have been an integral part of any success the Steelers were going to have this season.

Sepulveda was one of the most consistent players last year on what was otherwise a very poor special teams unit. It was out of necessity that the Steelers traded a sixth round pick to move up and get this guy, much to the chagrin of people who are smart enough to analyze the draft, but not smart enough to get paid to make actual draft picks themselves.

Granted this was a pick they could have used to select any number of players including, former track star Michael Johnson, defensive back from Arizona, who would have added much needed speed to their secondary, Tyler Thigpen, QB from Coast Carolina, and brother of Yancey Thigpen, who they could have brought out of retirement to form and awesome 1-2 familial punch, or even Daren Stone, defensive back from Maine, who could have lined up opposite Ike Taylor and given us 2 d-backs with Stone hands. (Just missing the cut: Chase Pittman, DE LSU, any pass rusher named Chase sounds good to me. Just need to get a DE on the other side named Tackle Martin, or Sack Rase.)

However, they made the right decision by selecting Sepulveda, it’s just unfortunate that his injury likely derailed their season. What follows are the seven reasons why they can’t possibly win in his absence.


The Replacement

Paul Ernster was drafted in the 7th round in 2005. He lasted just one full season before being cut by Denver. Denver! Do you realize how easy it is to punt in Denver? It’s like punting on the moon, minus Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong’s double knife defense. Since that otherworldly rookie season he has averaged just 36.2 yards per punt, including a 12-yard beauty against the Steelers as a member of the Browns last year. He also joined the Detroit Lions roster for three and a half months this off-season before being cut. Although to his credit if Matt Millen doesn’t like him, he just might have some talent. Still, he isn’t half the punter Sepulveda is, literally, Sepulveda is huge, and I’m not counting on him to be anything more than adequate in Sepulveda’s place.


Kicking Style

Sepulveda is known for his “Aussie” style kicking in which he can make the football bounce straight up in the air, or backwards, when trying to down a punt inside the 20. While Ernster, is known for his “American toddler” style of kicking where he threatens to hold his breath until he turns blue, in the hope of preventing opposing defenses from pressuring him.


Field Position

Last season Sepulveda averaged 42.4 yards per punt, while more than doubling the number of kicks downed inside the 20 from the Steelers 2006 season, 28 up from 11. Ernster’s career averages suggest that he will likely get 19 or 20, which other than the previously mentioned number would be a five year low for a Steelers punter. Moreover, the average of 6 yards per punt difference between Sepulveda and Ernster means that compared to other teams the Steelers will essentially be playing on a 106-yard field. That may work for Devin Hester on a missed FG, but this Steelers team is not built for that.


Stability

Before Sepulveda the Steelers employed only two punters in the previous 11 seasons. Over the same period of time only Jeff Hartings and Dermontti Dawson played center for the team. While everyone talks about the consistency of the center position, they forget about how Jim Miller, Chris Gardocki, and Sepulveda have been the only Steelers punters for more than a decade. This shake-up, paralleled by the one at center this training camp, raises the chances of mistakes and conflict due to the instability of playing with their third punter in as many seasons.


Intangibles

Sepulveda completed a beautiful fake punt to Najeh Davenport last season that went for 32 yards. And with the game on the line in Week 3 Tomlin decided to trot him out on the “hands team” where he recovered an attempted onside kick.


Special Teams Coverage

Given the Steelers special teams units penchant for missing tackles, see: 2002 AFC Championship and more recently September 30 and November 11, 2007, having Sepulveda available to cover his own punts might not be a bad idea.



Touches

Over the last five years Steelers punters have averaged 70 punts a season. Over the same period of time Hines Ward, the Steelers most decorated receiver, has averaged almost 78 catches per season. Which means Ward handled the ball, on average, 1 time more than Sepulveda every 2 games. In addition, when his role as the placeholder is taken into account Sepulveda would handle the ball an average of 8.75 times per game compared to 7.88 for the Steelers top TWO receivers each of the last five years. Now imagine the reaction from fans and media alike if we lost both Santonio Holmes and Hines Ward for the season. Yet everyone is brushing aside the Sepulveda injury as inconsequential.


Conclusion

Sepulveda’s value cannot be overstated. He is the first player since Troy Polamalu in 2003, for whom the Steelers traded up in the draft to select. He brought confidence and toughness to a special teams unit who, outside of Jeff Reed, has been average at best since 2000. He had the best numbers of any Steelers punter in the last five years and he was just a rookie. And finally, he has shown that his background as a linebacker, enables him to do much more than just kick a ball, he can throw it, recover it, and yes even destroy someone who is carrying it,


(one more chance for anyone who passed it over the first time).

So get well soon Daniel, this season may be lost but there’s always 2009.


Conrad Waite likes beaches, aliens and glory. But movies will always be second in his heart to the Steelers.




We'll be back tomorrow to talk about Brett Favre (I know I know, but as a semi-professional sports blogger I am contractually obligated to talk about him), a Pirates trade, and Bert and Ernie doing gangsta rap.

Keep the Faith

-the legend

Monday, July 27, 2009

They laughed at Louie Armstrong when he said he was going to the moon, and now he's laughing at them from up there.

Ricky Henderson's in the HOF. Awesome.

Jimmie Johnson won a race. Horay.

Lance Armstrong did not. Whopee.

The Phillies did not trade for Halladay. God I can't even fake it anymore, sports just suck right now.


The good news is this dead time means we are that much closer to hockey season.

Plus, football training camp starts this week so hopefully The Law will be pouring some E85 premium octane knowledge down your throats in the near future with that shit.

Anyway, since there isn't a lot of stuff going on, we're going to throw some non-sports action at you in order to help you broaden your own realm of expertise.

First, the comedy world.

If you don't know about Jack Benny shame on you. Check out this clip with him and Mel Blanc, yes the Mel Blanc that voiced Bugs Bunny.

Warning: if you don't like good old fashioned family racism you may not like this video.




Jack Benny was one of the best comedians to come at a time when there were a lot of them. If you want to know more about him just youtube hime, I promise you it will be time well spent.

He was famous for being stingy, or at least his persona was. As one admirer put it, "his most famous joke took 20 years to write, and the punchline was silence"

A mugger asks Benny for a light then, brandishing a gun declares "Your money or your life" Pause. Laughter starts building, the pause gets longer. Finally, the mugger repeats the threat and Benny replies "I'm thinking, I'm thinking"


Second, the hip-hop world. For those of you that don't know Missy Elliot very well. She makes terrible rap songs that have sick beats and some of the best music videos bar none. Check this one out.



Sidenote Step Up 2: The Streets is an average movie but with some bad-ass dance scenes and the main girl is hot and sexy as hell.


Finally, if you haven't been watching Better Off Ted, shame on you for six weeks. Everyone on the show is hilarious. Don't believe me? I bet you that after watching this clip you won't be able to control yourself from heading straight to Hulu and catching up on past episodes.




that's www.hulu.com/better-off-ted

That's all for now. Make sure you tune into the show tonight Monday July 27 from 6-9pm, www.wdsr.org.


Keep the Faith

-the legend