I also live in/near Cincinnati, and here I was thinking this rant was going to be about Goodell being in the Rooney’s pocket (Goodell is a Stealer fan), Goodell accepting cash from the Rooney’s in exchange for ordering the refs to make sure that the Stealers didn’t lose the game…it’s a vast conspiracy, you see, dating back to when The Chin had Kimo assasinate Carson Palmer’s knee on purpose…
The other Rooneys are trying to figure out how to tell their shares in the team. Dan Rooney is trying to buy them out.
Anyway, while I agree with your rant in principle- the trophy should be handed directly to the team captain* or head coach- under the system in place, it’s not really the commissioner’s job to say anything about anyone except “the organization”.
Once the owner gets on the mic, it’s his job to thank the coaches and players and tell everyone how awesome they are. I didn’t bother watching the trophy presentation, but I’m pretty sure Rooney did that.
*Most owners don’t show up to press conferences when the team sucks. Why the hell should they get first crack at the glory when the team wins?
Ah, you Bungles fans are a bitter lot. I was there when good ole Mike raped and pillaged the Queen city and I daresay we were complacent in the whole assraping. You can hardly call it rape when the recipient willingly bends over.
Now, if Mike Brown were to be presented a trophy, most of the Bengals coaches and players, including the incarcerated ones, would probably rather see sonny boy sit and spin on the trophy as anything else. Not that Mike Brown will ever have the pleasure, mind you. 
Its a good thing you didn’t watch the other 42 Superbowls. Its what they always do. Don’t watch the Oscars either. They give the best picture to the money guys, not the ones that film the movie.
I’ve never lived in Hamilton County so I didn’t pay much into the stadium fund, but your image of Mike Brown sitting and spinning on a Super Bowl trophy* amuses me, and I’d like to start receiving your newsletter.
*as if the Bengals will ever win a Superbowl!
C’mon ** Spartydog**, tell us how much you lost.
Jesus Jumpin’ H Christ on posicle stick on a cracker, who fucking cares???
Dan’s father, Art Rooney Sr, aka, “The Chief”, was one of the most beloved figures in Pittsburgh. Dan may not be as popular, but he’s still loved by the team and by those of us in da’burgh.
To make a long story short, Dan and his son, Art II, bought out Dan’s brothers’ shares because they owned a series of casinos and racing tracks-a violation of NFL rules-and didn’t want to give those up. So they get to keep THEIR businesses, and the Steeler franchise remains within the Rooney family, rather than be sold out to some faceless loser who doesn’t give a shit about Pittsburgh, or the Steelers’ Nation.
The Rooneys are Pittsburgh, they ARE the Steelers, and we wouldn’t have gone here without them. They’re just as much part of the team as anyone. And I have the feeling that Tomlin and the team would kick your ass if they heard you-or anyone else-say otherwise.
I didn’t lose anything. How has that got anything to do with the rant?
If you would follow sports, football, the news, the medical news on NFL players, the Collective Bargaining Agreement or anything else remotely related you would understand the the NFL players have gotten a raw deal when it comes to the money involved. Gene Upshaw was a tool for the owners and only managed to get the players the worst CBA of any of the major sports even though the NFL has, by far, the highest revenue. If I was a pro football player (and could get away with it) I would rip the GU decal off my helmet.
Back to the OP. I would think that somehow, some way, when the commissar presents the Lombardi Award he should at least MENTION the players. If you don’t get that concept then I guess it’s end of discussion and move on.
And what has that got to do with Goodell’s presentation that conspicuously omitted any mention of the players?
I have nothing against the Rooney’s, Pittsburgh or the Steelers. Do you think Goodell gives a shit about the city of Pittsburgh? He would move that franchise to LA in a second if he could.
So, what the fuck, you think the players care about who gets the stupid trophy presented? What are they going to do, pass it around like it’s preschool show-and-tell? They’re in it for the money just like everyone else.
You think they’re offended that some NFL bureaucrat didn’t mention them in a stupid ceremony that hardly anyone even gives a shit about watching?
I like Dan better than the old man, God rest his soul. Art never ran the team well and the Steelers didn’t become a winning organization until Dan took over day-to-day operations in the late 1960s.
The decision to hire Chuck Noll, the major scouting innovations, the philosophy to build the team from the draft - all that came from Dan Rooney, Art Rooney II and the coaching staff - which they personally built and didn’t screw with much.
It’s apparent that you never played sports at any level that could be considered “competative”.
As only you could see, those guys out on the field played like it was just another game. (Yea, right). What I saw was a winning intensity on both sides that is rarely seen.
You must be truly clueless.
Very true-but I’m just pointing out to our little friend here that the owners aren’t just a bunch of greedy fatcats, who don’t give a shit about anything but the money. Art was more of the father figure to the team, from what I gather.
(My dad actually knew him a bit. At his first job he worked for a funeral home that had a location on the North Side. He told me that Art Sr. would come to some of the local funerals. He was a very nice guy, Dad said.)
And that the Rooneys-be they Dan, Art II, or the old man himself, are as much part of the Steelers as anyone of the team or the coaches. They’re certainly no “lame dick owners.” In this instance, Goodell was correct.
As for Sparty-move the Steelers to LA? Not unless you want the entire city of Pittsburgh to riot. I doubt Goodell’s that fucking stupid.
You must have never seen a Superbowl before. It is tradition. The commish gives the trophy to the owner, congradulating the organization. After all, the team not the players get to keep the trophy. Then the owner hands the trophy to the coach. Then after some words the coach hands it off to some key players. That is the way I have always seen it done. The trophy is for the team (and the owners). The players get their individual recognition when they get their rings.
Nobody has ever played sports at any level that could be considered “competative”. It’s not a word.
In the interest of fairness, neither is this.
Considering that the Rooneys were given time to figure out how to secure the money and buy out the brothers who are involved in the racetrack and casino business, and that previous suggestions that the Steelers be moved out of Pittsburgh (not even as far as LA, but to have put Heinz Field in Beaver County or Washington County) were immediately shot down, I don’t think the Steelers are going anywhere.
Part of that is that you would lose the fan base that makes the Steelers one of the top three (and often the number one) merchandise revenue makers in the NFL.
I cannot see the Steeler Nation supporting the Los Angeles Steelers.
Art Rooney provided the raw materials that Dan Rooney and Art Rooney II turned into the beloved champions we have today. I would have to give Art Rooney credit for creating the team that will be loved, win or lose, as a part of Pittsburgh’s family.
I remember a story told to me by a guy who did Steeler radio broadcasts that one day a young rookie player and a veteran player were in the locker room and they saw an older man with a cigar cleaning up trash. The rookie asked the man if he was the janitor, and the older man said ‘I just like to keep the place clean.’
After that older man left, the veteran player said to the rookie ‘You idiot. That’s Art Rooney.’
And the Steelers will have a ceremony for that which will (likely) be closed to the media, then they will have a party. That’s what they did last time.
Teams win the Stanley Cup, Teams win the Super Bowl. Teams don’t win the Lombardi Trophy. The Lombardi trophy is awarded to owners whose teams win the Super Bowl. It’s a fine distinction, but a real one.
Really, catsix? That’s pretty cool. It also fits what I’ve heard of the Rooneys-very informal, blue collar beginnings, etc.
Spartydog, if you had seen the streets of “Sixburgh”, today, I don’t think you would have had ANY complaint that the team didn’t get the proper recognition. (No, I didn’t go to the parade, but I watched the whole thing on tv-it was absolutely INSANE!!! If there are any other fans more intense than the Steelers’ Nation, you’d have to have them locked up.)
I’m dying to go see the “Hall of Champions” over at Heinz Field-next Pitt-Dope Fest, yinz? We could have it at Grill '36?
Springsteen won the Stanley Cup?
When ???