stillers: Super Bowl Prediction: Patriots or Giants?

Jerry Micco: Safe bet is to go with the heavy favorite Patriots. But the Giants are hot, reminiscent of the Steelers run two years ago. But under perfect conditions (indoors) and barring an injury, the Patriots should win.

stillers: Are the Pirates seriously not going to make any moves this offseason after losing almost 100 games?

Jerry Micco: I think they've pretty much done what they want to do. Love this group or not, this is the core of their top minor leaguers now on the big club. And they likely won't make a move this spring, though Neal Huntington hasn't ruled that out. But a major move? Don't count on it. The front office feeling is this team underachieved last year. So, with one more year of seasoning, maybe they get 10 games better. We'll see.

stillers: Do you think LT should have played on Sunday? Rivers played with a torn ACL, how bad could LT's injury have been?

Jerry Micco: Bad enough to keep him out. He's never injured and I'd think knowing his makeup, he'd not keep himself out of that game if he could possibly have played. But sometimes if you play hurt, you hurt your team. A lot of folks thought Ben Roethlisberger did that in 2006. Tried to come back to fast and play through it. The NFL is a brutal league. And if you aren't close to 100 percent, you can really get hurt out there.

Todd: Were you surprised by Spanier's recent comments (or lack of) about Paterno's future?

Jerry Micco: I think he said all he could, Joe's got one year left on his contract they've not looked beyond that. Why? Because looking beyond that year is pretty messy. Unless they can spend this offseason convincing him to either: A. Quit after next season, or B. Sign a 1-year extension with a succession plan, there's no other out for the University. They aren't going to fire him, so they are going to have to try to convince him (or those around him) that whatever of those 2 options are his best options.

Todd: Have you given any thought to doing a feature on the area minor league ball teams? It would be interesting to see a continuing feature about the teams, ball parks etc.

Jerry Micco: We do a pretty steady diet of Wild Things stories in our weekly zoned editions, particularly Washington and South, which is where they run. I know a lot of folks go to their games and we have a daily report on their games, but we're a city with three pro teams that demand a lot of coverage. I don't see us doing a steady diet of stories on minor league teams and ballparks. The occasional feature, sure, which we do now.

Todd: Do you think that someone whispered into Greg Schiano's ear that he should wait for the Penn State job?

Jerry Micco: They might have, but I'm not sure he's the guy they want. A good year and a mediocre year at Rutgers qualifies him for the Penn State job? I think he'll be part of the mix, but he's not the only guy in that mix. And I'm sure if he's interested in that job, he knows it could open up at any time.

Todd: Do you believe that if the Pirates are in the race at the All-Star break, Mr Nutting will truly authorize additions to the payroll?

Jerry Micco: Think about this: they grabbed Matt Morris and his $10 million salary last year and were OUT OF CONTENTION. So yes, if they are in the race and the right guy's there, they'll pay him. But if the team is solid as is, maybe a role player is what's needed. Not too expensive, so it solves that issue.

Todd: Looking at the last several Steeler drafts, do you feel that there is increased pressure on Kevin Colbert to have a strong draft this year?

Jerry Micco: I think a lot of eyes will be on Kevin as the draft looms, but I don't think he's had a terrible draft record here. I think he may have stumbled a bit last season on his No. 1 pick. Not in the pick itself, but where that guy could have been taken, which I think could have been between Nos. 20 and 25. Having said that, he may not have had a trading partner to move down. But if you look at last year, getting Woodley, who looks very good, and Sepulveda, who I think will develop very nicely, that's not bad. Spaeth is Tuman's replacement, but again, No. 3 is pretty high for that. And the pick of William Gay at No. 5 looks pretty good, too. Not his best draft, but certainly not terrible.

Todd: Of all of the area sports that your staff covers, how would you rank the reader's interest? My guess would be:

Jerry Micco: Steelers, far and away. Nothing else is even close. Next, high schools because they cover a massive territory. Then you can throw a napkin over the Pens and Pirates. Very close, maybe a slight nod to the Pirates, but not much if any. Then Pitt. After that Penn State football, which does pretty well among our readers, and pretty far back, WVU football. I base some of that on email, Web site hits, which we monitor, and gut feeling of the community (folks I talk with).

PhillyMarty: Jerry: Likely to miss your chat do to a lunch engagement. So I thought I would write ahead. Can the Pens play .500 hockey in Sid's absence or is .400 (if not lower) more likely, which would open up the possibility of missing the playoffs? I found there play in the 3rd period vs. Wash to be disheartening. Could not stay out of the penalty box, which finally cost them a win.

Jerry Micco: Sorry you won't be here, Marty, but first of all: I got your email and will respond. I think you were right in your premise of that email. On to the Pens. I think if Sid's going to miss 22 games (44 points) they need to get 24-26 of those to be in position for the playoffs. That would give them 82-84 points with 11 games left upon Sid's return. If they can then pick up say, 14 or 15 of those, they are in the mid to high 90s, good enough for a 4-8 slot. I think if they only pick up, say, 18 of those 44, then they are on the edge of making the playoffs. They need to get at least half of them to have a chance, more to solidify the seeding.

PhillyMarty: The NHL has recently been quite secretive regarding injuries either late-season or in the playoffs. The NFL seems to be headed in that direction. I do not see that as healthy for the game. Your thoughts?

Jerry Micco: I think as far as injuries go, the bettors need that information more than anyone else. Most teams and players lie about injuries anyhow. Yes, they have to declare a guy, but who's to say they are telling the truth about that? If Mike Tomlin says Big Ben is questionable with a thumb (Cowherism) how do I know if he's being honest. You can watch practice and get a feel. You can talk to Ben and swallow what he says. Or you can see what happens on gameday. It sure does play havoc with oddsmakers and bettors. And make no mistake, a chunk of the NFL's popularity is on how much money is bet -- legally and illegally -- weekly on that league. In the billions of dollars.

Jeff_Jimerson: Do you think the Pens can stay above water while Sid is out?

Jerry Micco: I think they can because they have some talented guys on that team and their goaltending is more solid than not. And, their defense is better than last year. Having Sid makes the job easier, but they can certainly stay above water. Malkin's not a bad replacement for Sid. A wonderful talent, which we all may finally be able to see blossom in Sid's absence. Be better to have both of them, but I think they can hold their own. But you want a lot more 2-1, 3-2 games than 6-5 shootouts.

StopTheLosing: Jerry, do see any reason to believe that the Pirates will unload one of the 5 potential starting outfielders we are going into the season with? Nady, McClouth, Morgan, Pearce or Bay? Couldn't Doumit even produce given he stays healthy?

Jerry Micco: They may unload one of those guys, but if Pearce hits well and you are going to keep him. Doumit can play first, OF or catch, so he'll get some playing time. And Paulino's no sure thing behind the plate. You usually carry 5 outfielders and if you want some pop on your bench, Doumit and Pearce may not be bad to have there. And Morgan for some speed late in the game helps, too. Not saying if the right deal comes along they won't deal one of those guys, but if that's who comes north, it's not a bad set of guys. Considering the price you pay for them.

StopTheLosing: What are your thoughts on Pitt Football in 2008? I see a potential for 8 or 9 wins.

Jerry Micco: I think they can win that many games. Certainly they looked much better down the stretch in 2007 and I'm thinking they can challenge for the Big East title this year against WVU. But it's early. And things like injuries can get in the way as well as other conference teams improving and maybe jumping over you. But I like what Dave Wannstedt and crew are doing over there. For the Big East to be a successful football conference, it needs Pitt to be a viable contender every year. And it wouldn't hurt if Syracuse improved, either.

Jeff_Jimerson: Does anyone really think that if Bill Cowher were coaching the Chargers on Sunday that he would have pulled Phillip Rivers at halftime?

Jerry Micco: I think Bob Smizik answered that question the other day when he pointed out that Cowher never did such a thing as a head coach here.

StopTheLosing: What free agents would the Steelers possible be interested in this year? I know that we don't make big splashes in FA, but couldn't we add a WR like Bryant Johnson or a DE to add depth?

Jerry Micco: I think they'll get one decent FA signing, and it may come on either line or WR. Or RB if the right person's there. No big splash, but someone who can help them in a need area. You can't address everything in the draft, so I'm looking for one key signing. You know you need OL big time, and DL, too. But a big WR is important as is a much better back up for Parker than Davenport. You can't do all that in seven rounds of drafting.

jimmy_g: Penguin players seem to be falling like flies. Do you think they can hold together until they get the key ones (Crosby for sure) back?

Jerry Micco: As I said earlier Jimmy, I do think they can hold together and actually play well. They have to get a couple role guys healthy and the defense and goaltending has to be very good to excellent. But if that happens and guys like Malkin, Malone, Staal and Sykora can get going together, they'll be fine.

Baxter: Injuries happen all the time, but I cannot remember the last time in Pittsburgh sports with so many major injuries to such important players. The Steelers lost Willie Parker, the Pens lose Crosby, Pitt loses Fields. The Pirates are next. Snell or Gorzo better be careful. Can you remember such a bad stretch of injuries?

Jerry Micco: I can't, but some oldtimers might. It's been a tough injury year for the teams here, no doubt about it.

jimmy_g: It's hard for me imagining Terrelle Pryor playing in the Ohio State system. Rich Rodriguez's spread offense seems to be made for him. How do you see it?

Jerry Micco: I still think Ohio State is where he'll land, but who knows. He's all over the place as far as visits, who he's adding, who he's deleting. No knock on him, it's an important decision and when I was 18 I didn't have to deal with that type of attention. Having Charlie Batch as a sounding board is a terrific decision on his part. If he went to Michigan it wouldn't surprise me, but Michigan lost a lot and is transition its offense. It may take Rodriguez a year or two to get things going. Ohio State is still pretty loaded and can transition maybe a little quicker. But Pryor would have to be a backup/role player this season. He may not want to do that.

Baxter: Can Pitt football win 10 games next year?

Jerry Micco: I don't have a schedule in front of me, but I'm thinking 8 games is probably a safer bet.

JackSplat: Are you surprised that Tomlin decided not to make any changes to his staff? And what message does this send to the players?

Jerry Micco: Well, Tomlin's very patient. And he said no changes -- yet. He still may make a move. After one year, it's tough to judge someone. Now if he'd been a head coach in the NFL for, say, 5 years, maybe he knows who can't cut it and gets rid of him after a year. But some of this may be his thinking "you know, I screwed up some stuff and if this guy or that guy wasn't around, I'd have been really sunk. I'm going to give him a year, and I'm going to give myself another year to see how this works out." Remember, it's a learning curve for Tomlin, too.

jimmy_g: Years ago I truly disliked the Cowboys because of the America's Team hype and their overbearing owner. But that is mild compared to my dislike of the Patriots, especially the coach, quarterback (even though he is the best) and the wide receiver. Have I gone overboard on this or are there a lot of people who feel the same way?

Jerry Micco: No one likes you when you're on top. Tom Brady, from every account, is a terrific guy and teammate as well as a tremendous QB. Moss is Moss. He's always been aloof and not media friendly. He's a tremendous talent, but not a guy you'd sit and chat with. Belichick is not real likeable, but privately, I've heard people say he's a great guy dedicated to the game. I think a lot of the Patriot-hating -- particularly around these parts -- comes from the fact that this team is being mentioned either favorably or as better than the 70s Steelers. Those are fightin' words here, but it's a fair comparison.

Jeff_Jimerson: Please help me understand something because you work in the media. The Kelly Tilghman comments were poor. But she apologized, Tiger Woods accepted her apology and her employer suspended her. End of discussion as far as I am concerned. Why do some media outlets (not yours) continue to make an issue out of this?

Jerry Micco: For the record, Gene Collier's column in tomorrow's PG will touch on this matter, so we're doing something else on it. And you'll see a spike in that because this is Tiger's first tournament of the year. It's an issue because race in American has been an issue for years. It's tough to talk about and it's uncomfortable, but when it comes up, it's always a hot button. Tilghman and Tiger patched it up pretty quickly, but for a lot of other folks besides Tiger, "lynching" brings back a horrible time and memory. So it gets covered because a lot of folks talk about it. Is it too much? You readers are the final arbiters of that.

jimmy_g: I agree with the report that DuJuan Blair (and not Levance Fields) is the key man for the Pitt basketball team. Without becoming passive, he needs to stop picking up cheap fouls. Can this happen soon or is it too much to expect from a true freshman?

Jerry Micco: He's a tremendous player and without Fields, he's certainly the key guy on the team. It's all a learning experience for him. Maybe he's starting to hit the wall freshmen sometimes hit in college because of the grind of the season. Maybe he's trying to do too much in Fields' absence. But I think his talent and smarts will make him back off a bit because it'll be drummed into him by the coaches that he needs to be out there for the team to be successful.

Jeff_Jimerson: Will the PG have a reporter (ed?) at the Super Bowl?

Jerry Micco: We'll have Ed Bouchette and Gene Collier there.

jimmy_g: Don't forget that one of the reasons for Pitt's disappointing football season was key injuries (WR & QB).

Jerry Micco: Exactly. And you can't predict how a season will go this early because injuries are an unknown factor. And it seems that Pitt has been part of that rash of local teams' injuries twice, doesn't it?

JackSplat: Can the Steelers get young enough fast enough, or will they be continually struggling against aging for the next few years?

Jerry Micco: You start to attack that problem this year, so they may be just on the cusp of being able to do that. You have a bit of age on defense, at linebacker, so you take two young linebackers. OK, not you may have an age thing on the defensive line, so maybe a young DL gets picked up this year via draft or FA. You have to pick your spots, but I think they started to address the aging process last season.

Getcha_Popcorn_ready: How come the P-G didn't send a writer to the NFC or AFC Championship games this past weekend?

Jerry Micco: We have to pick our spots to spend our travel dollars. I thought we could get what we needed from other sources. We haven't done either title game the past two years. When the Steelers are not in the playoffs, I don't see a reason to send a guy for a week on the road to do stories the wire does for us. We'd do them better, but it's expensive to do that. But, we now do the NFL Combine yearly and continue to do the NFL Winter meetings. They are important to the Steelers, so we want to be there. When newspapers tighten down and shrink, as we all have over the past few years, you come up with ways to try to deliver to readers the most you can on the teams you cover. That's information you can't get everywhere. That's why high schools are important coverage for us. And why Mike White, and sidekick Colin Dunlap, are big parts of what we do. You can't really get that elsewhere. We have to be strong in our area and our market. So I aim coverage at our local teams, but still have an eye to

jimmy_g: OK, let me be the first to say it, expectations for the Pirates this year are so long that maybe just maybe ...

Jerry Micco: OK Jimmy, but don't expect a big crowd on your bandwagon. The Pirates know, and the front office acknowledges this, that it has to be proven before the fans aren't skeptical any more.

batman: If the pats win, can anyone say that they are not the best team ever? Going further, better than the steelers, cowboys, 49ers dynasty?

Jerry Micco: I think if you go 19-0 in the era of free agency and in a league that is much more balanced than ever, they you have to say they are the best one-year team ever. But it's hard to compare "dynasties" against one another. Eras are different and the teams are different.

JackSplat: What are the parents in Penn Hills smoking? Is there more to the Gordon story than what's being reported?

Jerry Micco: We're reporting what we know, but it sounds like the program wants to move in a different direction. And it sounds like the PH school board has allowed Gordon to reapply for his job. Coaching big-time high school sports today is a rough-and-tumble business. Coaches have parents, boosters (who are usually parents) and school boards all at them My son played at Pine-Richland and I saw pieces of it there, too. Happens everywhere. Some are more extreme than others, that's all.

praveen: Do you think the NYG ride is much more of a surprise than the Steelers in '05? Steelers after all were 15-1 the prior year while Giants have not had a great season in recent years and Ben's knee injury hurt the regular season record in 2005.

Jerry Micco: I agree. No one could see this coming from the Giants. And what, 10 in a row on the road? Incredible in today's NFL.

praveen: I think that if teams share revenue, they must be forced to spend all that money on something. Revenue sharing is not supposed to give poor teams a good profit.

Jerry Micco: If you're talking baseball, then yes, it's supposed to go to the product. But that can be anything from salaries to building up your minor league system. Or building a new facility in Latin America so you can be competitive there one day (it'll be probably 5 years or so for the Bucs, but it's a good start).

Jeff_Jimerson: If you live in Pine Richland then I suggest you look out for Cedrick Wilson's crazy girlfriend.

Jerry Micco: That's a sad story. Sad for her, Cedrick, everyone involved. I hope she gets the help she needs.

Jeff_Jimerson: Why do you think it took the Pirates so many years to build a Latin America facility? I think it would have been a better investment than Derek Bell or Jeremy Burnitz, but what do I know?

Jerry Micco: I think with the change at the very top of the organization, fresh eyes looked at everything. I know Bob Nutting gets hammered by fans and media, some of it is deserved. But I think if nothing else, he's trying to put fresh eyes on a very tired and run down franchise. We'll see if his plan works.

praveen: After seeing SD's red zone playcalling, maybe people like me should lighten up a tad on Arians' weaknesses.

Jerry Micco: It's a lot tougher to score from inside the 10 than just about anywhere else. You have a short field and not a lot of room to maneuver. Good teams (Patriots) do that. With TDs, not FGs.

Jeff_Jimerson: Dejan is doing a great job with that Pirates building blocks series. Good read.

Jerry Micco: Thank you Jeff...I'm happy to hear that and Dejan will be, too. Like all of our guys, they work very hard to bring readers something different and get inside the teams. I appreciate you saying that.

Jerry Micco: Folks I need to run. Thanks for taking the time to talk sports with me. A very good hour in my opinion! See you next Wednesday at noon!