Mike Tomlin's style and how radically different it is from Bill Cowher's was on display this week. When players weren't doing their jobs, Tomlin, unlike Cowher, didn't snarl about accountability. With barely a word, he re-signed long snapper Jared Retkofsky, who had been cut before camp. In doing so, Tomlin quietly let long snapper Greg Warren know -- and everyone else on the team -- that failure to do the job can result in dismissal, not a scowl. That's the kind of language players understand.

Here are three questions anyone who compares Roberto Clemente to Barry Bonds needs to ask himself: They involve Clemente and Al Oliver. Of those two players, who had the most hits? Who had the most home runs? Who had the most RBIs? Clemente had the most hits and the most home runs, but Oliver had the most RBIs. If Clemente can be compared unfavorably to Oliver, a good but not great player, don't even stack him beside Bonds.

Attempts by fans and media members to make something out of these Steelers exhibition games is nonsense. The games aren't meaningless, just a notch short of that. They are in no way a barometer of the season ahead.

The defense of Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt and West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez of the practice of text messaging high school recruits was pathetic. Big East coaches and many others stand strongly behind their right to bother these young men almost any time they want -- even if it cost the recruits money. The NCAA wisely banned the practice and now has stood by that ban. It's the same for all schools. Live with the rule. It's a good one.

Plenty of people were upset the Pirates honored Bonds because he has a lengthy history of being a nasty human being. They miss the point. Bonds wasn't being honored as a humanitarian. He was being honored as a great player. The honor was deserved.

On a scale of 10, Tomlin gets about an 11.5 for the handling of his duties since replacing Cowher in January. He has met every test and done virtually everything right. But he has yet to take a real test -- a regular-season NFL game. Tomlin will be judged on those wins and losses, not the power of his personality or how he runs training camp.

The talk of the Pirates moving Ryan Doumit to the outfield makes sense but is not without its drawbacks. Such a move would hand the 2008 starting job at catcher to Joggin' Ronny Paulino. Such job security is not a particularly good idea for a player so in need of an attitude transplant.

There is no truth to the report that when Penn State coach Joe Paterno was asked about the text-messaging issue, he said, "What's text messaging?"

Leo Nunez, the top prospect Pirates general manager Dave Littlefield traded for washed-up Benito Santiago before the 2005 season, is 2-0 with a 1.80 ERA for Kansas City since his recall last month. Opponents are batting .180 against Nunez, who has allowed 13 hits in 20 innings.

The notion that David Beckham will revitalize soccer is this country is one of the great media frauds of recent history.

Almost unnoticed as the Pirates fade into oblivion is the recent strong pitching of reliever John Grabow, who was a major disappointment for the first three months of the season. Going into the game against the New York Mets last night, Grabow had allowed one earned run, eight hits and one walk while striking out 13 in his past 13 innings.

Let me go out on a limb here and predict No. 1 draft choice Lawrence Timmons will not win the Joe Greene Award, presented annually to the Steelers' top rookie.

The notion that Mark Cuban would be a great owner for the Chicago Cubs is about 10 miles off the mark. The last thing Major League Baseball needs is an owner in a major market lavishing extravagant salaries on free agents, which Cuban would surely do. As for Cuban's exceptional marketing acumen, the Cubs don't need it. They're playing to 97 percent capacity at Wrigley Field.

Rather than shorten a football season in which high school teams can play as many as 16 games, the PIAA instead shortened the winter sports seasons, taking, for example, two games away from basketball. In doing so, it allowed the football season to end in the third week in December, which is absurdly late. Think that has anything to do with the revenue playoff football games produce?

The toughest job in town? Selling Pirates season tickets for 2008.