Steelers - The 1940's (1940-1949)

Steelers – The 1940’s (1940-1949)

In 1940, the Pirates were renamed the Steelers through a public contest. Thank goodness. The NFL struggled to fill out rosters during World War II, as thousands of young men joined the military. Perhaps the Steelers’ greatest success was staying intact as a franchise during the forties.

Tag Line – From terrible to bad

40-64-6 (.364 pct)

Winning Seasons: 4/10

.500 Seasons: 1/10

Playoffs: 1 season

Well, they did get better. However, they still pretty much stunk. With World War II draining the supply of athletic-age males, the Steelers were forced in 1943 to combine rosters with the rival Eagles. After a 5-4-1 season (the first winning season in Philadelphia history and only the second for Pittsburgh, Art Rooney joined forces with the Chicago Cardinals for 1944. The Cardinals were 0-10 in 1943. The Card-Pitts (referred to as the ‘Carpits’ because everyone walked over them) went 0-10. It was the only winless season in Steelers history. Fortunately World War II ended and Pittsburgh returned as a solo franchise in 1946, leading to the successful 1947 season.

FIRST PLAYOFF GAME! (sort of…) – In 1947, the Steelers finished tied for first place in the Eastern Division. This meant they would host a ‘playoff game’ against the rival Eagles. The winner would go on to play the Western Division Chicago Cardinals for the NFL Championship. It was the first post season action in team history.Unfortunately, the team lost 0-21, the same score as the first game against the Eagles that year.

BULLET BILL - The decade did see their first real star player: Bullet Bill Dudley. Though he was only a Steeler for three seasons (1942, 1945-1946: he served in the military for two years), he was a two time pro bowler and had a fantastic 1946 season. He led the NFL in rushing, interceptions, punt returns and lateral passes attempted (no, I didn’t make up that last one). This was after leading the league in scoring the previous year.

Unfortunately, the team was only 7-13-1 those two years. Dudley was traded the Detroit Lions before the 1947 season (perhaps Pittsburgh would have been in the title game if Dudley were still around) and went into the Hall of Fame in 1966. Dudley was the first of many who would enter the Hall based on their on-field performances as a Steeler (Prior inductees and short-time Steelers  Johnny McNally and Walt Kiesling were inducted for their play with other teams).

JOCK – A FORGOTTEN LEGEND - The Steelers were coached by Jock Sutherland in 1946 and 1947. The Scottish-born coach had been a college legend, leading the Pittsburgh Panthers to nine national championships (it was quite different back then and multiple organizations declared champions. The University officially acknowledges five of Sutherland’s championships). Sutherland’s combined record of 13-9-1 accounted for the team’s best back-to-back seasons until 1962-1963 (16-9-3). His hiring marked the first time Art Rooney got really serious about the Steelers: he had hired friends and over the hill coaches up to that time, with poor results.

Studying film back in the day

Sutherland died somewhat unexpectedly of a brain tumor in the spring of 1948. It would take until 1972 (.786) for the Steelers to top the team’s 1947 winning percentage of .667. They would only have one other postseason appearance in the next 24 seasons: and that wasn’t even a real playoff game (see the Sixties). It’s possible that Jock Sutherland would have turned the woeful Steelers into a competitive NFL franchise, but his premature death ended the momentum he had generated.

You know what: someone needs to write a biography of Sutherland. He was born in Scotland; became one of the most successful American college football coaches in history; resigned after winning a national championship because the University of Pittsburgh president was de-emphasizing the football program; coached the Brooklyn Dodgers (yep, that was an NFL team) to the two most successful seasons in team history; joined the Navy in World War II and became a Lieutenant Commander; took over the Steelers after the war ended and guided them to their first ever playoff appearance; died suddenly at age 59 and was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as both  a player and a coach three years after his death. That’s quite a story!

SUMMARY – 1940-1949 saw a bit of growth in the franchise, but the Steelers largely remained losers. Back then, there were no baseball playoffs: just the winners of each league’s regular season meeting in the World Series. The Pirates wouldn’t make the World Series from 1928 to 1969. In 1946 and 1947, the Pirates finished a combined 66 games out of first place. So, fans in Pittsburgh weren’t getting much to cheer for in either sporting season.

TRIVIA – The Chicago Cardinals won the 1947 championship, 28-21. Violet Bidwell (owner via widowhood) moved the team to St. Louis after the 1959 season, effectively blocking the fledgling AFL from placing a team there. It also moved the Cardinals out of the Bears’ long shadow. Her son, Bill Bidwell (who is one of the NFL’s worst owners) would himself abandon St. Louis for Phoenix in 1988.

The Cardinals (on-going) sixty-three year title drought is the longest in the NFL. They were only 35 seconds away from ending that streak when Santonio Holmes caught the game-winning pass in Super Bowl 43. 

This is not THE program, but it's from the same season. And it's memorable.

Baker Street Essays - My thoughts on Sherlock Holmes

I realized today I haven't referenced any of my writings about the world's first official consulting detective. I refer, of course, to Sherlock Holmes. I have written extensively about my favorite fictional character: much of it for my defunct website, Sherlock Holmes on Screen. 

My sporadically ongoing Holmes efforts (excluding those in Sherlock Holmes Mystery Magazine) are for my own free, online newsletter, Baker Street Essays (BSE). Click on the link at the bottom of my Solar Pons website. Below is a sample from issue one of BSE. I'm overdue for a fourth issue, but I do enjoy writing about Holmes when the mood strikes.

BLACK PETER: Whither the Missing Securities?

John Neligan’s father had set off with a tin box full of securities that he had taken from his bank. Black Peter Carey sold some of the missing securities in London. After everything has been cleared up, Holmes tells Hopkins to return the tin box to John Neligan, noting that the securities that Peter Carey had sold were lost forever. Can this be taken to imply that the remaining securities were in the tin? If they weren’t, wouldn’t Holmes have commented on them as well? And perhaps contributed something more profound than explaining that the securities already sold are gone?

But if the missing securities were in the tin, how would they become the possession of John Neligan? It would be a strange case of law that granted ownership of stolen securities to the son of their embezzler. Shouldn’t the recovered securities be returned to the banking firm they were taken from?

But perhaps the missing securities weren’t in the tin. Of course, Patrick Cairns would be thoroughly grilled about this since he stole the box and admitted he opened it. In addition, wouldn’t Hopkins wonder about their location? Why wouldn’t Holmes or Watson broach the issue? A thorough search of Black Peter’s cabin would be in order, likewise wherever Patrick Cairns was staying. Did everyone simply assume that they were lost forever?

A third option that we will not explore further here is that Neligan senior sold some of the securities before encountering Peter Carey. Carey sold the remainder; thus, there were no securities left in the tin box. Speculation on this aspect would significantly extend the length of this entry.

So, either the remaining securities were in the tin and John Neligan was going to attempt to restore his father’s name, or: they weren’t in the tin and no one was overtly interested in them. Did Sherlock Holmes have an ulterior motive regarding the missing securities…?

Have You Read....The Hole in our Gospel

Matt Maher sings “Your Grace is enough for me.” But is that enough for God? Is our being saved the end of the story, or do we owe more? Richard Stearns, head of World Vision U.S., tackles this issue in The Hole in our Gospel.

Stearns opens up his book recounting the tale of visiting Richard, a thirteen year old boy in Uganda. Stearns sat in a small hut, listening to a boy who was trying to raise his two brothers alone, their parents having died of AIDS. His mother and father were buried in the ground right next to the doorway; the children passed by the graves constantly. When Stearns asked if Richard had a Bible, the boy ran into the other room and returned, saying “I love to read the Book of John, because it says that Jesus loves the children.”

Only two months before, Stearns had been the CEO of Lennox, makers of those fancy plates. He lived in a ten-bedroom home on five acres outside of Philadelphia. He sat on his church board, ran a multi-million dollar company, drove a Jaguar and flew first class to Tokyo, Paris, etc. Now he was the new head of World Vision, a global, Christian non-profit organization. And he was in an African hut talking to Richard. Word Vision’s founder, Bob Pierce, had said “Let my heart be broken by the things that break the heart of God.” Richard Stearns truly understood these words now.

The crux of this book is Stearns asking the question, “What does God expect of us?” Is being faithful, studying the Bible and going to church enough? “Have we embraced the whole gospel or a gospel with a hole in it?” He then tells his story in the context of the issues that World Vision tackles. The book has lots of statistics and numbers. For example, about 9 million people die every year of hunger or related causes. Every day, 904 children die of an AIDS-related illness, while another 1,150 become infected. Stearns breaks down what some of the overwhelming numbers mean on a more understandable level. He also relates some of his personal experiences since joining World Vision. Be prepared to hear God’s heart breaking.

Stearns greeted God’s call to move to Seattle and run World Vision with about as much enthusiasm as Jonah headed off to Nineveh. He even initially refused the job before realizing that God was guiding him and accepting the call (no whale needed). There is an incredible amount of content in this book that makes Stearns’ call to compassion and justice just plain common sense. Though he’s not a preacher, he knows his Bible and uses verses effectively.

We are saved by Grace: I’m not about to open up the ‘Grace vs. Works’ debate. But during my Catholic upbringing, I learned Ephesians 2:8-10, “For it is by Grace you have been saved through faith – and this is not from yourselves, it is the Gift of God - not by your works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Read that last sentence again. Stearns believes (as do I), that we are saved by Grace, but as saved, God expects more from us.

This is reflected in Vineyard Columbus' vision statement, “To be a relevant church that does not exist for itself, but for Christ and the World.” Vineyard didn’t build a Community Center for the membership: it was built for the central Ohio community, to do the work of Christ. The Hole in our Gospel is about being a relevant Christian.

We started with a contemporary worship reference so we’ll close with one, from Casting Crowns’ If We Are the Body:

“If we are the body, why aren’t his arms reaching? Why aren’t his hands healing? Why aren’t his words teaching? And if we are the body, why aren’t his feet going? Why is his love not showing them there is a way?”

Richard Stearns’s arms are reaching and his words are teaching. If you enjoyed reading The Hole in Our Gospel, there is a free, six-week group study guide available for download at World Vision’s website. I was profoundly impacted by this book and recommend it unreservedly.

Steelers - The 1930's (1933-1939)

And today we kick off a series of posts that should take us through the off season and get us to preseason. Assuming we'll be having the latter somehwere near it's usual time. Hopefully you'll find some interesting stuff and get a better understanding of how fortunate we are as Steelers fans. It's a bit grim through the sixties. But starting with 1970, I'll break this down into five year blocks. The numbers are really impressive. The posts will vary in length, but I can assure you a lot of research went into the numbers and the stories. So....here we go!

Steelers – The 1930’s (1933-1939)

On July 8, 1933, the Pittsburgh Pirates were born: No, not those Pirates. This was an NFL franchise, founded by Art Rooney and playing home games at Forbes Field. Yes, the Forbes Field that was home to the baseball Pirates. In fact, both franchises would play at Forbes from 1933 through 1957. The Steelers split their home games between Forbes and Pitt Stadium from 1958 to 1963 before abandoning the baseball stadium altogether.

Tag Line – Pro football comes to Pittsburgh

16-49-1 (.242 pct)

Winning Seasons: 0/7

.500 Seasons: 1/7

Playoffs: 0 seasons

The people of Pittsburgh had professional football; albeit, bad football. The 1936 team managed to go 6-6 under Charlie Bach. This high water mark was the only non-losing season of the decade. But when the team lost the season finale to the Boston Redskins, Art Rooney fired Bach.

THE WHIZZER – Other than playing their first game (a 3-22 loss to the Giants), the thirties were pretty much a wash. However, one notable event did occur. Byron ‘Whizzer’ White was an All-American halfback for the University of Colorado. Coming off a 1-7 season (real momentum builder after that .500 year), the Pirates signed White to the biggest contract in the history of the sport ($15,800). He paid immediate dividends, leading the league in rushing and giving Pittsburgh football fans a rare gift: something to cheer about.

White was a Rhodes Scholar but had put his education on hold to play for the Pirates. After one season he went off to Oxford and returned to the NFL for the 1940 season: as a Detroit Lion. He led the league in rushing, played one more season, went into service for World War II, graduated from law school after the war and ended up as a Supreme Court Justice. The Pirates/Steelers are a footnote in the story of one of the twentieth century’s most remarkable men. Of course, it was also a kick in the teeth, which summed up the Steelers’ fan experience for decades.

JOHNNY MCNALLY – Nicknamed ‘Blood’ because he played for Notre Dame on Saturdays under his real name, and for pro teams on Sunday as Johnny Blood, McNally was a hard-drinking, hard-partying halfback and head coach. He won six games in almost three full seasons in charge. To give you an idea of how different the game was back then, he was the team’s leading passer in1937: 10 completions for 168 yards. Passing was unmanly in the thirties. McNally is in the Hall of Fame, but for his earlier work, not his Steeler accomplishments.

SUMMARY – 1933-1939 was exciting in that Pittsburgh received a franchise in the still young and developing (read: struggling) National Football League. The Pirates were simply bad. They were coached for two-plus seasons by future Hall of Fame running back Johnny ‘Blood’ McNally. He was succeeded by another Hall of Famer, Walt Kiesling (who had three stints as head coach). Unfortunately, neither man won very many games.

TRIVIA – The common belief about the founding of the Steelers is really a myth. Legend says that Art Rooney had a particularly good day at the Saratoga horse track and used his winnings to buy the NFL franchise. That’s not true, as it happened several years after he obtained the franchise (for a buy-in of $2,500!), although it is generally agreed that he helped keep the team afloat in the lean years with his gambling earnings.

Steelers -The Pittsburgh Iron Men (1940s)

After a 2-7-2 season in 1940 (the first playing as the Steelers, rather than the Pirates), Alex Thompson, a wealthy financier, offered to buy the Pittsburgh franchise for $160,000. That was a lot of money: especially if you consider that Art Rooney had gotten the team for only $2,500 seven years earlier. Thompson made it very clear that he was going to move the team to Boston after the sale.

Now, future NFL Commissioner Bert Bell had bought the dormant Frankford Yellow Jackets (also for $2,500. Talk about an investment that appreciated in value!) and renamed them the Philadelphia Eagles the same year that Art Rooney got the Steelers and the two were close friends. Rooney did not want to sell the Steelers and leave Pittsburgh without a team. So, he and Bell decided to turn the Eagles into the ‘Keystoners’ and make them Pennsylvania’s team. They would play half of their home games in Philly and half in Pittsburgh. No, I am not making this up!

The NFL actually approved the sale, but a group of team owners, led by racist bigot (I know that’s double-stating, but it’s fitting for the man) George Preston Marshall, owner of the Redskins, blocked the move. Co-founder of the Boston Braves, he had moved them to Washington after five seasons, having renamed them the Redskins a few years earlier (the Braves were also the town's major league baseball team). Marshall did not want the competition of a Boston team: nor did he want Rooney and Bell to essentially be united owners of an entire state and fan base.

So, things weren’t working out for Thompson, Rooney or Bell. But Art Rooney was a bright and slick fellow. Rooney and Bell convinced Thompson to take the Philadelphia Eagles, which he did. Bell was having serious financial problems with the team, so this worked to his advantage. The two friends then became co-owners of the Steelers (actually, they received the Pittsburgh Iron Men in return. Thompson had renamed the team after being blocked from Boston. Rooney quickly threw out the name and went back to the Steelers). Bell coached two games in 1941 (losing both) and was one of three that the Steelers had that odd year.

Rooney eventually regained sole ownership of the team but the two remained close through Bell’s commissionership. All of this happened during one off-season. Imagine something like this going on today.

I Bought Dice!

I played tabletop Dungeons and Dragons back when I was in grade school. I played off and on into grad school. I don't remember playing after that, although I was pretty deep into PC RPGs by then. I tore through the SSI gold box games back then. I think my first computer RPG was Temple of Apshai on an old Atari 1200 XL.

But last year, I decided to give tabletop role playing a try again. Things had changed a bit since playing AD&D, I discovered. I dug into things a bit and settled on learning the Pathfinder system.

I hope to be starting up a skype-driven game in a few months. We'll have players from three different states on-line to play.

This week, I went to a local gaming store and bought dice. Not the ones below, but a bunch, ranging from four sided to twenty sided. I had given my old ones away many years ago.

It's kinda cool to have D&D dice again (even though we're not actually playing D&D). I'll be GMing four players and I think all of us have virtual dice rolling apps/programs, but there's something about tossing an actual 20 sided die on a table.

Hopefully we're only a week or two away from rolling up characters. We'll see how it goes, as none of us have played in about twenty years.

Defenses: more than the numbers

On the one hand, most of the pre-SB talk seems to be about Ben vs. Rodgers. But these two teams are built on defense.

On the other hand, they played just last season and it was a crazy, 37-36 shootout that Pittsburgh won on a long pass on the game's final play.

Both teams have better defenses' this year.

DEFENSIVE STATS

Points Per Game
1 - Steelers 14.5
2 - Packers 15.0

Total Defense
2 - Steelers (276.8 ypg)
5 - Packers (309.1 ypg)

Passing YPG
5 - Packers (194.2)
12 - Steelers (214.1)

Rushing YPG
1 - Steelers (62.8)
18 -Packers (114.9)

The Packers score 24.2 points per game: the Steelers, 23.4. The Packers threw for about 20 yards more per game. The Steelers ran for about 20 yards more per game.

You have to go beyond the numbers for this game.

Can the Packers O-line hold off the Steelers and give Rodgers time? Pittsburgh had 47 sacks and Rodgers is not very mobile in the pocket. Knock him silly (he's been concussed twice this year) and Matt Foley (formerly of Boston College) comes in.

Can the Steelers patchwork line (Pouncey is doubtful) keep the Packers at bay? Green Bay had 4 sacks, but no QB in the NFL is better at keeping plays alive than Ben.

Can the Packers receivers (five guys caught between 43 and 76 passes. Gregg Jennings is the only downfield threat) get open on Taylor, McFadden (probable to play) and Gay? Clark will have more opportunity to cover since he isn't going to be needed much in the run game.

Charles Woodson was Defensive Player of the Year last year. He and Tramon Williams are regarded as much better corners than the Steelers' guys. But on any play, Ben can go to Wallace, Ward, Brown, Saunders and Miller. And lately, Mendenhall. That's a lot of coverage needed. After you're certain it's not a run play.

Pittsburgh can run the ball. Green Bay can't (and won't against Pittsburgh).

Both defenses are very good. But Green Bay doesn't have as many big play guys. If the D keeps Rodgers from breaking out, they're done on offense. If Ben has a decent game (think Cardinals, not Seahawks), the Steelers have more weapons than the Packer defense can handle. Mendenhall will likely get a lot of work over the first three quarters as they try to slow down the linebackers. And if play action pass is working, Ward and Miller will get open underneath. And a safety needs to give help on Wallace's deep routes.

Green Bay doesn't run well, so the Steelers' #1 strength (run D) doesn't matter too much. But knowing that, the D can scheme more to stop Rodgers. The Packer D will have to respect Mendenhall while accounting for Ben's playmaking to a variety of receivers.

Again, I feel good about this matchup. The idea the Packers are this high-flying offense is a bit of a misconception. They tore apart Atlanta, but they only managed 21 against Chicago. I think the idea that Rodgers can throw for 350 yards and put up 30 points is wrong. And if it comes down to the fourth quarter, Ben has the experience; in the Super Bowl.

On D, I think Troy makes a big play or two and Lawrence Timmons has a monster game. On O, it's Ben.

HERE WE GO STEELRS!!!!