WHO SAID TALK is cheap? Probably not Steelers linebacker Joey Porter. On Thursday, the National Football League fined him $10,000 for calling a Cleveland Browns player a derogatory term associated with gay men. (Earlier in the season, he was fined $15,000 for other comments made to an official in a game at Atlanta). To his credit, the Steelers player apologized for the anti-gay remark to anyone who was offended -- anyone, that is, except the target of his wrath, Kellen Winslow. Unfortunately, that is part of the problem -- an insult draws from a common pool of prejudice and a player can't throw it at one person without splattering the larger group. Not too long ago, anti-gay slurs were part of the common language of men's sports, but then so were racist remarks. The NFL is right not to tolerate hate-filled words of any sort.

MIKE WEBSTER, a Hall of Fame center, gave his all with the Steelers from 1974 to 1988 and later with the Kansas City Chiefs in 1989-90 -- and he paid a terrible price in butting heads with his opponents. Iron Mike's work-related injury took the form of head trauma, but he found another stubborn opponent in the NFL. Although he died four years ago, his family carried on his fight for benefits -- and on Wednesday the player and his family were vindicated. A three-judge federal appeals court panel upheld an earlier decision that the former player should have received payments from 1991. The total award, which could reach $2 million, is believed to represent the first defeat for the league's disability plan in an appellate court. The decision gives hope to other players with brain injuries. Steelers fans should applaud Mike Webster's final victory.

OUR LAST BLACK-AND-GOLD Aside on another Steelers Sunday does not involve any transcendent principle like the last two items, but it is one of the most talked-about topics in Pittsburgh: It's the great Bill Cowher question. Is he going or is he staying? For the first time this season, he broached the subject last week in a conference call with media in Charlotte, N.C. In March, he and his wife, Kaye, purchased a $2.5 million home in Raleigh, N.C., and his wife and daughter have since moved there. "There will be something [a decision] at the end of the year," Coach Cowher said. "I'll sit back and put a lot of thought into it and make a decision accordingly. Right now, my focus is purely on trying to find a way to win these last three games and see where that takes us." So Happy New Year to Steelers fans. Or not.