It's taken quite a while to get it completed, but the sale of the Steelers that will help four of the Rooney brothers to Dan Rooney and his son Art will be wrapped up in the near future. According to the Post-Gazette, all of the paperwork has been signed, now it's just a matter of holding the closing to complete the deal.
To get an idea of how complicated this was, consider that the NFL approved the sale more than seven months ago.
In Chicago, Milton Bradley further endears himself to Cubdom by flipping a ball into the seats with two out, a farcical sign that 100 years without a World Series title soon will be 101. In Cleveland, the poor people still haven't won a championship in any sport since 1964 and might lose LeBron James to New York, assuming the gulls and midges don't eat him first. In Buffalo, they're not yet over the sting of reaching the Super Bowl four times and losing four times, which still trumps chicken wings as the civic identity.
"That's life," Bradley explained. "These people have high expectations. I have high expectations for myself. I never made a mistake like that (losing track of the outs) in my life. Sue me."
"Something needs to be done," the Indians' Ryan Garko said of the birds and bugs that attack Progressive Field. "There's got to be a way to get rid of them. It's kind of embarrassing. We look like a bunch of kids playing on an abandoned field. It's kind of funny, but kind of not funny."
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- One of the issues NFL owners discussed before wrapping up their meetings this morning was expanding the so-called "Rooney Rule" to the hiring of general managers as well as coaches. The rule, established in 2003, currently requires teams to interview at least one minority candidate for vacant head coaching positions or face a fine. The change would apply the same rule to vacant GM positions.
Commissioner Roger Goodell said the change could be implemented "almost immediately," though he first needs to speak with Steelers owner Dan Rooney, the father of the rule and the chair of the league's diversity committee. Rooney did not attend these meetings because he is currently undergoing the training required of him to become U.S. ambassador to Ireland per an appointment by President Barack Obama.
When the news broke that Steelers owner Dan Rooney was going to be nominated to be the new ambassador to Ireland, the Steelers emphasized how the move wouldn't impact the Steelers' day-to-day operations.
But it will impact the NFL. Rooney withdrew from all his NFL committees this week in preparation for his new job. That means that, with the owners and the players union getting ready to start what are sure to be contentious negotiations for a new labor agreement, Rooney will no longer be around to serve as a consensus maker.
Mike Tomlin is 36, just finished his second season as an NFL head coach, and all he's done is amass a 22-10 record and bring Pittsburgh its sixth Super Bowl championship, all while blazing a trail for young potential head coaching candidates who might be short on experience but long on leadership.
And the good news keeps on coming. The Pittsburgh Steelers, Tomlin's employer, are in the process of giving him a raise, even though he's only two years into a four-year deal. In general, the organization has a rule about new contracts: they're only re-worked in their last year. Perhaps that only applies to players, or maybe Dan Rooney is willing to make an exception in this case. Whatever, I don't imagine anybody thinks it's a bad idea.
In a baggy gray sweatshirt, jeans and aviator shades, he looked like one of the players who were celebrating Tuesday in Sixburgh. "What do you say to this?" shouted Mike Tomlin, addressing the gathered masses by flashing six fingers. "Steeler Nation, you're leaving us all speechless, man. We just appreciate the love. How about the Steelers? How about the greatest fans in the world? How about number six?"
He could have been Hines Ward, Ben Roethlisberger, James Harrison, any of them. Which is exactly the point. When Tomlin spoke at his job interview two years ago, a remarkable visionary named Dan Rooney slashed through variables that some scary men in the traditional old-boy network would've held against a candidate like mustard stains on a tie.
Last week, I mentioned that Steelers owner Dan Rooney, so moved by Barack Obama's candidacy, campaigned heavily for the then-Illinois senator. And in the months that followed, the two developed a bond. (Though not nearly as strong as the one Peter King and Brett Favre share. Obviously.)
TAMPA, Fla. -- Dan Rooney was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame's Class of 2000 for his contributions to the league as owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers. But one of his greatest legacies in the game of football is something he did after he was already a Hall of Famer.
In 2003, Rooney convinced his fellow owners to adopt a new rule requiring every team to interview at least one minority candidate before they could hire a new head coach. Now known as the Rooney Rule, the policy has played a major part in increasing the number of African-American head coaches -- and keeping the NFL far ahead of college football in terms of the diversity in its coaching ranks.
TAMPA -- Dan Rooney was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame's Class of 2000 for his contributions to the league as owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers. But one of his greatest legacies in the game of football is something he did after he was already a Hall of Famer.
In 2003, Rooney convinced his fellow owners to adopt a new rule requiring every team to interview at least one minority candidate before they could hire a new head coach. Now known as the Rooney Rule, the policy has played a major part in increasing the number of African-American head coaches -- and keeping the NFL far ahead of college football in terms of the diversity in its coaching ranks.
It's taken quite a while to get it completed, but the sale of the Steelers that will help four of the Rooney brothers to Dan Rooney and his son Art will be wrapped up in the near future. According to the Post-Gazette, all of the paperwork has been signed, now it's just a matter of holding the closing to complete the deal.
If the Bengals needed any more evidence that Mike Brown is lining his pockets at the expense of the team's success, here it is.
In Chicago, Milton Bradley further endears himself to Cubdom by flipping a ball into the seats with two out, a farcical sign that 100 years without a World Series title soon will be 101. In Cleveland, the poor people still haven't won a championship in any sport since 1964 and might lose LeBron James to New York, assuming the gulls and midges don't eat him first. In Buffalo, they're not yet over the sting of reaching the Super Bowl four times and losing four times, which still trumps chicken wings as the civic identity.
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- One of the issues NFL owners discussed before wrapping up their meetings this morning was expanding the so-called "Rooney Rule" to the hiring of general managers as well as coaches. The rule, established in 2003, currently requires teams to interview at least one minority candidate for vacant head coaching positions or face a fine. The change would apply the same rule to vacant GM positions.
When the news broke that Steelers owner Dan Rooney was going to be nominated to be the new ambassador to Ireland, the Steelers emphasized how the move wouldn't impact the Steelers' day-to-day operations.
Mike Tomlin is 36, just finished his second season as an NFL head coach, and all he's done is amass a 22-10 record and bring Pittsburgh its sixth Super Bowl championship, all while blazing a trail for young potential head coaching candidates who might be short on experience but long on leadership. 
In a baggy gray sweatshirt, jeans and aviator shades, he looked like one of the players who were celebrating Tuesday in Sixburgh. "What do you say to this?" shouted Mike Tomlin, addressing the gathered masses by flashing six fingers. "Steeler Nation, you're leaving us all speechless, man. We just appreciate the love. How about the Steelers? How about the greatest fans in the world? How about number six?"
TAMPA, Fla. -- Dan Rooney was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame's Class of 2000 for his contributions to the league as owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers. But one of his greatest legacies in the game of football is something he did after he was already a Hall of Famer.
