Do you believe the hype?

[flippy]

Re: Do you believe the hype?

1. Sweed - the writers have said that he has done well and seems more comfortable. However, most temper that with this is only a few days of camp. No one is saying that he will challenge one of the starters for time. I think you are off on this one.

2. Hood - maybe he is a bit overhyped so far. But, he is the #1 pick. He has won some one on one battles and had some scrimmage sacks. No one has talked about him stacking a double team though. I think he'll be a situational pass rusher this year and give Keisel a rest when he needs one on running plays. But, no one has compared him to seymour or more appropriately Aaron Smith when stopping the run.

3. Gay had a big hit and looks comfortable out there. That is good, right? I don't see the hype.

4. Urbik "is the anchor of our line." I missed this one. In fact, I've only read two or three positive comments about the kid. Mostly I've heard how Essex is the front runner for the RG job and how Urbik has been beaten or so so in drills and scrimmages.

5. Oline- strength. You have a point here. Multiple articles about how the line is young and will benefit from staying together. Most of the titles and some of the suppositions have been stretches at best.

6. Colon - again, you have a point. I'm not sure why anyone is trying to pump up colon as the best on our line. But, you have to consider the source here. Zierlin is usually the one quoted. His point is simply that Colon grades out well (at least in his book). I hate Zierlin and wish he were not retained.

7. AQ - haven't heard much at all about him. But, to be fair, he is a 7th round pick. He will have to earn his opportunities with strong play in the second half of the preseason games.

8. Essex - well pro bowl talent is a huge exaggeration. He is a smart kid who has good versatility. The franchise had to tell him that he could win a starting job to resign him. They will give him that opportunity. Looking better than Simmons and perhaps Stapleton is hardly a resounding endorsement.

9. Mike Wallace making Hines unnecessary. Please. No one has said anything of the sort. I think the comparison to Nate Washington is fair though. Wallace does have suspect hands and even Ben joked the other day about that.

10. Nance making the roster because of his relationship with Ben. I've never read this, but if all things were equal between him and someone else. I'm certain Ben's influence would count for something. However, I've heard nothing specific about Nance playing well.

11. Woodley deserves a little hype. Dude is a monster.

12. Mendenhall has looked good and missed a few open holes. No surprises from the reports.

13. Grisham compared to Welker - I thought that was laughable too. But, I do look forward to seeing him play.

14. Dan Sepulveda's 90 yard punt. Ok, I think you missed some math here. The blurb said that he punted from the 10 to the shadow of the opposite end zone. If he punted from the ten the snap would have come from the 25. The shadow of the end zone is a tough one to figure out, so I'll go with the five yard line. This would have been a 70 yard punt (or so). Impressive. But, not close to 90 yards.

15. Ben looks bad early in camp. No surprise here. Ben isn't exactly known for offseason work or coming to camp ready to light things up. I don't think anyone has expressed much concern over his poor throws so far.

16. I missed this article, I guess.

17. Reed. I don't even know what you are talking about.

18. Tank better than Bus. Haven't heard anything of the sort. In fact, I've read a few accounts that say he runs to upright and is not displaying much power.

19. Dennis Dixon - folks are talking about him challenging Batch for the backup job. Nothing more. I've read a few accounts of him making bad decisions still.

20. Moore - Arians has recently said that we wouldn't have won the Super Bowl without Moore. I think you are imagining this hype, and I would like to see the articles you've read that posit such notions. I suppose they don't exist.

21. Lewis - has been described as physical. he has had some good practices. he has also been beaten deep on more than one occassion. I don't see this hype.

22. Timmons was compared to Brooks in style. He hasn't earned the comparison yet, but I get it.

23. Mike Tomlin is God. Yeah, he gets a lot of respect. But, he has earned it. His players seem to like him very much and are comfortable with him. There is a little hype here, but he is a young phenom of a coach.

I was overstating everything to support the point that it's hard to tell what's really happening. I think there are individuals out there who think like these and take some of what's reported to the extreme.

It's all good brother. I get this enthusiasm from the writers and fans. But then I wonder how does that help us know what's really happening unless we see it for ourselves.

Perception is reality.

All media is going toward hype.

We get tons more info, but the quality goes down.

Or it makes it harder to find the quality.

Either way, I love the Steelers so I read everything.

It's partly my fault for wanting info so bad.......

And as RB or Jooser would say WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

[ANPSTEEL]

Re: Do you believe the hype?

Steelblood, steelblood, steelblood....responding to a manic flippy kool-aid post with point-by-point analysis of actual camp happenings??? Tsk, tsk, brother. Just say "WOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" and move on to another thread.

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

[Captain Lemming]

Re: Do you believe the hype?

[qIn one report, Ziggy Hood looks unblockable and Kraig Urbik looks like a turnstile. In another report describing the same sequence of drills between those two rookies, Urbik is dominating Hood two thirds of the time.

Interpreted properly, neither account should be considered a knock on hood.
If a Dlineman beats his man a third of the time, the guy is the next Joe Greene.

Frankly you dont want Hood to have any greater success against Urbik. If Hood beat Urbik half the time, I would be more down on Ubik than high on Hood.