The Steelers take pride in having a first-class NFL operation, from management to coaches to their scouting operation to talent to medical and support staff.

They believe their stadium also to be among the best.

So where is there any pride in having one of the worst playing fields in the NFL?

OK, so their players prefer it and say it's safer (although see Dan Kreider, below), and that's often cited as the primary reason for keeping it the way it is.

This is not the cement-like Astroturf that used to dominate NFL fields from the 1970s through the end of the century. The new generations of artificial surfaces are good enough and soft enough that playing football on them for three hours 10 times a year should not jeopardize anyone's health.

In fact, it may save it. Offensive tackle Max Starks said one of the problems with the Heinz Field goop is that his feet stuck.

"In that situation, longer cleats wouldn't even help just because your feet sunk all the way into the ground anyway,'' Starks said. "A couple of us put on longer spikes but in the end it really didn't make a difference ... you're still going to mush everywhere and there's still going to be potholes."

Imagine, an offensive lineman having his feet stuck as a defensive lineman bull-rushes him, knocks him sideways and his feet won't give. Snap! There goes the ACL.

I'm not sure how fullback Dan Kreider's ACL was torn Monday night, but it occurred in Heinz Field and not on artificial turf and it's the most serious Steelers injury of the season.

And this idea that it's the same for both teams does not wash, either. The Steelers were 16-point favorites. The weather and the field combined to help the Dolphins, not the Steelers. Conditions like those almost always help the underdog or the team with less talent. It's not called the great equalizer for nothing.

What the Steelers are doing at Heinz would be similar to someone at the Indianapolis Speedway looking over his track and saying, rip up the artificial stuff and let's install real dirt. Real dirt is what auto racing should be. It's old-school. Plus, it would give Impalas a better chance against the Porsches.

So the players prefer dirt vs. the kind of modern surface that would better serve everyone (although Kreider wasn't consulted this week on the debate), plus allow perhaps even more high school and college teams from Western Pennsylvania to experience it. The Rooneys should listen to the players, then go out and order a new artificial surface for Heinz Field for 2008.

So you want your NFL Network?

For those looking to watch the Steelers' Thursday night game at St. Louis Dec. 20 in Somerset, Bedford and beyond and don't have the NFL Network, here's a tip:

Order the NFL Network the morning of the game. Watch the game. Cancel it the next morning.

It will cost you a buck or two.

The NFL sounds so much like a bully when it encourages customers to call their cable companies and demand they put the NFL Network on basic cable, thus raising the cost of cable TV for everyone.

The NFL Network is available to anyone who wants it, but they have to pay a higher price or get a satellite dish. Otherwise, stop complaining.

There are those of us who remember when no home games were shown on television and most Steelers fans thought their players only wore white uniforms. There are still teams in this league who aren't on television in their own market when they play at home because their stadiums don't regularly sell out (Hello, Jacksonville!)

If you want to watch the Steelers in St. Louis and you live in the boonies, at least you have a choice -- get the NFL Network, switch to satellite, find a friend or establishment who has one or the other, or drive closer to Pittsburgh and watch it on KDKA.

It is a better choice than fans in the home market had in 1972, when the Immaculate Reception game at Three Rivers Stadium was not shown in the Pittsburgh market because, well, that's the way it was done. Back then, you had to drive to Bedford in order to watch the Steelers play.

A second thought

If what NFL officials boss Mike Pereira told us is true, the league needs to add one more penalty to its list of those in which 10 seconds is automatically run off the clock at the end of a half or game.

After Miami's John Beck completed a pass near the end of Monday night's game, the Dolphins tried to lateral their way to a Cal-like touchdown against Stanford and its band. One lateral went to Marty Booker, who then weaved back behind the line of scrimmage and threw a pass to Beck, who did not field it.

There were two seconds left and many, including two ESPN broadcasters and Steelers coach Mike Tomlin, believed the clock would be wound down by rule. But referee Jeff Triplette announced instead a penalty, then had the temerity to say the Steelers declined it (Tomlin said he was never given the choice) and the Dolphins got another play.

Pereira said there is a 10-second runoff on that play only for an illegal forward pass thrown beyond the line of scrimmage. In other words, had Beck crossed the line and then thrown his first pass, the game would have been over. Or, if Booker had not gone back behind the line and thrown it, game over.

The difference is a silly one. And how Triplette could say the Steelers declined the penalty is insane.