The Daily Bongo
December 2007
Monday, December 31, 2007 -- Late Afternoon
As is usual with people on the last day of the year, I find myself looking back over the past year, remembering all the good and bad times. The Pens finally got their arena deal and will be staying in Pittsburgh. They also showed us that the future was now by making the playoffs. Of course, that gave everyone high hopes for this year that might not be realistic.This year I also went back to school to get a Master's and found a new interest in manga. Some of my favorite manga are: Inu-Yasha, Case Closed, Fruits Basket, Absolute Boyfriend, Fushigi Yugi, Maison Ikkoku, and Kindaichi Case Files. I can't wait to discover new manga, and I now subscribe to Shojo Beat in the hopes of finding new manga to satisfy my craving.
There's a whole new year ahead with new adventures. I can't wait to find out what the year will bring.
Sunday, December 30, 2007 -- Evening
The Steelers played the Baltimore Ravens late this afternoon. The game really didn't mean much to the Steelers because they already made the playoffs. However, it should have meant something to them because they spent most of the game playing like crap. Things picked up in the fourth quarter when the Steelers came within one touchdown of the Ravens. So now it is on to the playoffs. The Steelers will be playing the Jacksonville Jaguars in the first round of the playoffs next Saturday night. The final score for today's game was 27-21 with the Steelers losing.Sunday, December 30, 2007 -- Early Afternoon
The New England Patriots won their final game in the regular season last night to finish the season undefeated. What really gets my goat about this team is that they all feel that they have to "show us" something because they were caught cheating at the beginning of the season. Yeah, these are the same New England Patriots who were videotaping the plays during the game (which is a no-no in the NFL) and using that information to dictate how they would respond to the other teams' actions later in the game. Also, there was some talk about the Patriots bugging the visitor's locker room to gather information. The team turned over all tapes, and the NFL fined Bill Belichick $500,000 (but didn't suspend him as everyone wanted), and the team will lose a draft pick this year. Small potatoes for a team that thumbed their nose at fair play. So now we are supposed to be contrite because the team showed us by being undefeated in the regular season. My only comment is how do we know that the cheating actually stopped? If they really were this good, then why did they need to cheat in the first place? I think it says alot for the ethics of Belichick and is one of the reasons why I really dislike the team. I'm also not a fan of Tom Brady. The guy knocks up hiw model girlfriend, Bridget Moynahan, and then dumps her when she is three months pregnant to date Gisele Bundchen. He just seems like such a jerk. Not only that, but they showed a clip of Brady running in the tunnel after the game last night, and he really runs like a girl. No, I am not a fan of Brady or the Patriots, and I hope that they get their clock cleaned during the playoffs.Saturday, December 29, 2007 -- Late Evening
The Pens played the Sabres this evening at the Mellon Arena. The two teams will meet again in three days on New Year's Day in the Ice Bowl. That's the game that will be played outside during the day in Buffalo. The game was quite exciting, at least what I could see of it when the guy who wears the Malkin jersey a few rows ahead of me wasn't standing so HE could see the game better. He glares back at the rest of us who complain because we can't see around hiw tall frame. Ryan Malone was back on the ice and doing what he does best on the team--sitting in the penalty box. Malone got the first two of four penalities that the Pens had in the game. I groaned because I thought that Malone got the most penalities on the team. I checked in the Ice Time, and found that I was right. Malone now has 63 minutes. Sidney Crosby ricchoted a puck off of Colby Armstrong. (Of course, Armstrong got credit for the goal--and yes I am not an Armstrong fan.) Bad news for Gary Roberts! He received an honor for Ray Shero for 900 career points. Then in the second period, Roberts fell over Tim Connolly and Roberts broke his left tibia. He should be out for several weeks. Ty Conklin was in goal and got a shutout. The Pens won with a final score of 2-0. Check out my pictures of the game.Thursday, December 27, 2007 -- Late Evening
The Pens played the Washington Capitals this evening. The Pens were really sucking up the joint. You would have thought that they played last night instead of the Capitals playing last night. Sergei Gonchar was really sucking. In fact, thanks to him, the Caps got two goals. As you look at the game stats, you will see that the Caps have two goals without the third assist. That's because Gonchar was the third person to turn the puck over in the Pens' zone. Also, the Pens were sucking because they were not shooting the puck at the net. The fans were screaming and booing because of the lack of shooting and the awful puck handling. It was amazing that they managed to tie things up in the last two minutes of regulation, and that Gonchar scored the winning goal in overtime. Check out my pictures of the game.Wednesday, December 26, 2007 -- Late Afternoon
Bad news for Mark Eaton. The Pens' defenseman suffered a torn ACL when he was slew footed in Sunday's game. Eaton will be out indefinitely because a torn ACL is fairly serious.Sidney Crosby was named Canadian Press male athlete of the year. This is in addtion to the Toronto Star's Lou Marsh Award as Canada's outstanding athlete earlier this month.
This afternoon, my boyfriend and I went to see National Treasure: Book of Secrets. The movie is the second that stars Nicolas Cage as Benjamin Franklin Gates, treasure hunter. In the first movie, Gates hunted down a treasure that was hidden by the leading Masons in the early history of the US. In the second outing, Gates great-great grandfather is accused by Mitch Wilkinson of being the lead instigator in the plot to murder Abraham Lincoln. As we saw earlier in the movie, the earlier Gates was asked to solve a puzzle that would lead to a city of gold. In order to prove that his great-great grandfather was not involved with the group who assassinated the President, Ben Gates, Riley Poole, and Abigail Chase join forces to hunt for the hidden City of Gold. Gates' father (played by Jon Voight) and mother (played by Helen Mirren) join in the action this time. The movie was great, one of those fun rollercoaster rides that keeps you on the edge of your seat. Gates went to Paris, got into Buckingham Palace and searched a desk in the Queen's office, searched a twin of the Queen's desk in the Oval office, and kidnapped the President to find a secret book that is handed down from President to President with all of the secrets of the country. Sure, it's not believable, but you find yourself so caught up in the action that you don't care. I would definitely recommend this movie to anyone who loves good, edge-of-your-seat action flicks. I can't wait for the next movie in the series!
Tuesday, December 25, 2007 -- Evening
I have been reading a wonderful series of mystery novels over the past few days. The books are written by Joseph Telushkin. Telushkin is a rabbi who is known for the books that he has written about the Jewish faith. Telushkin wrote only three Rabbi Daniel Winter mysteries, The Unorthodox Murder of Rabbi Wahl, The Final Analysis of Dr. Stark, and An Eye for an Eye. The books could fall in the category of cozy because the mystery is solved by an amateur detective, Rabbi Winter. The books also contain a good smattering of explanations of the Jewish faith. So how do the mysteries compare to books written by authors who focus only on fiction and mysteries? They are very good. The mysteries were good puzzles, and the characters were well written. I found myself empathizing with many of them. The books also contain some degree of moralizing which doesn't detract from the story. The first novel in the trilogy, The Unorthodox Murder of Rabbi Wahl presents the story of women in religion. The Rabbi Wahl of the title is Myrna Wahl, a female rabbi, who unfortunately is not portrayed in the most positive light before her murder. The second book, The Final Analysis of Dr. Stark deals with the issue of gossip and how distructive it is to life. Gossip is considered a serious sin in Judaism. This started from earlier times when gossiping or tattling on someone could lead to their death. This was especially true when one ratted out on a friend or neighbor to the Nazis in an attempt to save one's own skin. Some think of gossiping or being a stooly as a victimless crime. However that is far from true because the person who is gossiped about often suffers the repercussions of the tattler. The third book, An Eye for an Eye, deals with the justice system. A doctor's young daughter is murdered by her obsessive boyfriend. The boyfriend is defended by a lawyer who assassinates the character of the woman, making it seem that she gave the boyfriend just cause to kill her. When the boyfriend is given a light three year sentence for the murder, the father murders the boyfriend: an eye for an eye. Rabbi Winter speaks at the father's bail hearing to denounce the light sentences of the judical system. Although what the father did was not right, Rabbi Winter explains that it is understandable. The daughter's life was worth more than only three years of jail time. When the boyfriend's lawyer is later murdered, the question becomes did the father kill again to avenge his daughter. The stories are well written, the mysteries are clever, and the characters are likeable. I found myself wishing that I could spend more time with Rabbi Winter. However, Telushkin only wrote three Rabbi Winter novels. So I will have to satisfy myself by reading some of Telushkin's books on Judaism. I would strongly recommend the Rabbi Winter books to any lover of mysteries or books with a Jewish theme.Sunday, December 23, 2007 -- Evening
The Pens played the Boston Bruins again today in an afternoon game. The Bruins were the first to score, but the Pens came back in the second period to score three goals to take the lead. Ty Conklin was in goal for the Pens and did a great job, earning him the third star of the game. Georges Laraque has been playing very well this season and today he had an assist and this second goal of the season. Mark Eaton was slew footed in the game (when Player A comes up in back of Player B, then Player A uses his foot to take Player B's legs out from under him.) Eaton hurt his right knee and had to be helped from the ice. No word on the injury yet. The Pens won with a final score of 4-2. Check out my pictures of the game.Saturday, December 22, 2007 -- Late Afternoon
I went to Phipps Conservatory on Friday afternoon. It was a very relaxing and enjoyable experience. There were alot of orchids in bloom, and the rooms were very nicely decorated. I plan on going back again in the spring to see how things look in a different season. Check out my pictures of Phipps.Saturday, December 22, 2007 -- Morning
The Pens played the New York Islanders last night, and it wasn't the best of games. Some of the people sitting around me commented on the fact that the Pens seemed tired and that they might have been worn out from their game last night. Jordan Staal didn't seem tired though when he scored his third goal of the season with an assist from Gary Roberts. Roberts' assist was his 900th point so there was a mini-celebration. For some reason, the Pens are having serious problems with winning in their division, and tonight was no different. The final score was Pens 2 - Islanders 4. Check out my pictures of the game.Friday, December 21, 2007 -- Early Morning
The Steelers won the game last night with a final score of 41-24.Pictures and game recap from tonight's Pens vs. New York Islanders game will be posted by Saturday morning. Check the game recaps page for information on this season's home and away games.
Thursday, December 20, 2007 -- Late Evening
The Pens played the Boston Bruins this evening, and the game started out in the Pens' favor. In the first period, Evgeni Malkin scored two goals, and Sidney Crosby scored one. Georges Laraque attempted to get into a fight with Zdeno Chara twice in the first period. That didn't work out very well because Chara is 6 feet 9 inches to Laraque's 6 feet 3 inches. As soon as Laraque would swing at Chara, he would miss and the pair would tumble to the ice. The crowd would boo because of the disaapointment of the fight. Ty Conklin started the game, and did a good job in goal. Shocker of Shockers! Crosby got the Gordie Howe Hat Trick in the second period. Crosby had a goal, an assist, and a fight. Andrew Ference shoved Sid, and Sid just had enough, and threw down his gloves. Wow! Crosby's first fight in his NHL career. The Pens scored four in a row, and then the Bruins started scoring in the latter part of the second and had things tied up by the end of the third period. The game went into overtime. No score during the overtime and it went into a shoot out. Erik Christensen and Kris Letang scored, and the Bruins couldn't get one past Conklin. The Pens win a tight one, one that they almost let get away from them. There is much to be desired on the part of the Pens. They only had four shots on goal in the third period. Final score: Pens 5 - Bruins 4.The Steelers played the St. Louis Rams this evening. The game was broadcast on our local station (KDKA), which was good because the game would otherwise only be on the NFL Network and few in Pittsburgh could watch the game. The game was going back and forth at first, with the Steelers and the Rams exchanging the lead. Then the Steelers started to pull ahead. Bad news for the Steelers. Willie Parker broke his right fibula in one of the plays. Parker will be out for the remainder of the season. Score in the third quarter is 31-17 with the Steelers leading. I'm tired so I'll be watching from bed and will report on the rest of the game tomorrow.
Thursday, December 20, 2007 -- Early Evening
Today was my last day at work for this year, and it was only a half day. Since September, I've only been working part-time as I go to school full time to get the Master's. Since I was in Oakland, and admission to the Carnegie Museum is free for full-time students, I went to check out the exhibits. I've always liked the Museum, and it has been awhile since I have been there. They recently opened a new exhibit called Dinosaurs in our Time. They closed down the original Dinosaur Hall around a year or so ago, and have been busy redesigning the area. The dinosaur bones are now placed in a environment that is meant to replicate the Earth when they roamed it. The area where the dinosaurs are now is much larger than the original area. Also, they are setup to act as if they are in their natural habitat. I have heard that some were disappointed with the display, but I thought that it was neat. I spent a few hours in the Museum and had an extremely enjoyable time. The Museum was mostly empty, and it was nice to walk around and revisit some of my favorite haunts. Check out my pictures of the visit.It is going to be an action packed night. Both the Pens and Steelers are playing this evening. I should have information on both games later this evening.
Wednesday, December 19, 2007 -- Evening
Chris Simon received his penalty today, and it is one of the most severe ever handed out by the NHL. Simon will be suspended for 30 games without pay. The Islanders are still being supportive of Simon, but I don't think that 30 games is enough. I think that the NHL decided that since Jarkko Ruutu wasn't injured that 30 days was sufficient. I think they needed to look at the fact that this is the seventh time that Simon has done something that brought about the censure of the NHL. Simon should never come back on the ice.Ryan Malone didn't play in yesterday's game because of flu like symtoms. It seems thought that he didn't have the flu, he had an infected cut in his leg. It seems that the infection was so bad that Malone developed flu like symptoms. Hopefully, Malone will get better soon. This type of infection can be quite serious.
Wednesday, December 19, 2007 -- Early Afternoon
Good news for reality TV fans! Big Brother will be returning to CBS on February 12. Usually the show starts in the beginning of July, but due to the screenwriter's strike, CBS moved up the date. It will be interesting to see what sort of spin the producers use this time around. What will the houseguests' secret be? I can't wait.Tuesday, December 18, 2007 -- Evening
The Pens played the New York Rangers this evening. The Pens were determined to lose this evening, and they did. The Pens only had three shots on goal in the first period and two in the second period. How a team would expect to win with that attitude is beyond me. I wound up turning off the game with only five minutes left in the game because it was one of the worst games that I've seen in ages. The Rangers shut out the Pens with a final score of 4-0.Tuesday, December 18, 2007 -- Afternoon
There is some news about Chris Simon. The New York Islanders have given Simon time away from the team to get some counseling to get his career back on track. You have to admit that the way Simon is going now, he's just a play away from doing serious damage to someone. It will be too late when someone is permanently injured because of Simon's actions. We can only hope that Simon does get some help. He should be meeting with officials in Toronto today to determine the punishment for stomping on Jarkko Ruutu's foot.Sunday, December 16, 2007 -- Evening
The Steelers played the Jacksonville Jacguars this afternoon. There were forecasts that the weather here might be snowy and sleety. There were a few flurries, but it was nothing big. At the most, we wound up with maybe an inch of snow. The Steelers weren't playing their best and the announcers were making lots of excuses for the team. However, I think that they have just been sucking lately. There was concern that Ben Roethlisberger wouldn't play today because of a shoulder injury, but he did. Then the announcers were making excuses for why his throws weren't that great--it was because of his injury. Well, if it was that bad, why was he playing? The Jaguars took an early lead, and held onto it for most of the game. In the fourth quarter, the Steelers tied the game, but then the Jaguars got another touchdown to win. So that means that the Steelers didn't solidify a playoff position, and with the Cleveland Browns playing better this year, we might not make the playoffs. That would be a real kicker after the good start this year. The final score of today's game was Steelers 22, Jaguars 29.Saturday, December 15, 2007 -- Evening
The Pens played the New York Islanders this evening. The game started out in the Pens' favor with Sidney Crosby getting a goal for the first time in 21 shots. In the game this past Thursday, Crosby had a couple of breakaways, but didn't get anything. It was good to get the monkey off his back. Rick DiPietro was really not doing well in the first period with the Pens really hammering him with shots. Towards the end of the first period, Gary Roberts took on Andy Sutton. Roberts is 9 years older, 40 pounds lighter, and 4 inches shorter, but he really cleaned Sutton's clock. Sure, Sutton got in some punches to Roberts' face, but Roberts didn't give up and wound up being the one to knock down Sutton. Roberts was irritated because Sutton had been putting some cheap shots on Jordan Staal. Right after the fight, the live feed went out on our FSN sports channel, so I had to resort to online streaming radio. It was probably due to the storms that have been hitting the East Coast. Finally the broadcast came on, and I got to see the Islanders tie things up in the begining of the second period. Score was 2-2 then. Tyler Kennedy gave the Pens the lead again in the second period. Things turned nasty as the third period when the thug, Chris Simon knocked into Jarkko Ruutu after play had ended. When Ruutu fell over, Simon stomped on the back of Ruutu's leg! Fortunately, Ruutu didn't get seriously injured, but Simon got a five minute penalty for intent to injury. It's thugs like Simon that give the NHL a bad name. The jerk should not be allowed to play hockey, and should not be on the ice. He is one of those thugs who go out with an intent to injure or maim someone, and that should not be tolerated! Things like this really anger me, and Simon needs to be suspended for life from the NHL. Simon has a history of acts like this--including a 25 game suspension for what he did to Ryan Hollweg last year. The Pens held off a late charge by the Islanders, and won with a final score of 3-2.Friday, December 14, 2007 -- Evening
Yesterday's Pens / Senators game was disappointing. The first period when by without a goal, then in the second, Tyler Kennedy scored a goal for the Pens but the lead was quickly lost when Dany Heatley got one for the Senators. That was just the beginning of the end for the Pens. In the last two periods, they were only able to get 10 shots on goal. It seems that we spent alot of time either in our own end or the neutral zone. It was a disappointing game. The highlight came two minutes into the game when Georges Laraque pummelled Brian McGrattan. McGrattan sprained his shoulder when he fell to the ice at the end of the fight. The final score was Pens 1 - Senators 4. Check out my pictures of the game.Thursday, December 13, 2007 -- Late Afternoon
Pictures and game recap from tonight's Pens vs. Ottawa Senators game will be posted Friday evening. Check the game recaps page for information on this season's home and away games.Wednesday, December 12, 2007 -- Afternoon
Bad news for the Pens! Marc-Andre Fleury and Maxime Talbot both have high ankle sprains and will be out for several weeks. Fleury is scheduled to be out for 6-8 weeks while Talbot should be out an additional 2-4 weeks. The goaltending situation is looking bleak, but Michel Therrien said that the Pens aren't seeking another solution at this time.Wednesday, December 12, 2007 -- Early Afternoon
Last night's Pens and Philadelphia Flyers game was something else. The entire game was filled with fights, which is typical of some of the past games between the teams. The Pens had seven roughing, four fighting, three 10 minute misconduct, and one game misconduct penalties. There were a total of 23 penalties for the Pens. It was just a rough house game, and a very lopsided scoring match with the Flyers dominating with 8 goals to the Pens' 2. Dany Sabourin was finally pulled from the net at the start of the third period after a somewhat lackluster performance. It was a great game to watch if you didn't mind that the Pens were getting their clocks cleaned. Tomorrow, the Pens will play the Ottawa Senators here in Pittsburgh tomorrow.Sunday, December 9, 2007 -- Evening
The Steelers played the New England Patriots late this afternoon. The Patriots haven't been defeated yet this season, and the Steelers weren't able to give them a loss. There was controversy earlier in the week because Anthony Smith of the Steelers, guaranteed a win for the Steelers. Of course that got the Patriots riled. The Steelers had the ball for 20 minutes in the first half, but they really didn't do much in the second half. The Patriots won with a final score of 34-13. I wish that I had listened to my boyfriend because if I did, I would be undefeated this week in the Beat Bob competition. He picked all the winners in the 14 games played so far. There are only two games, this evening's and tomorrow's, left to play. Unfortunately, I picked Philadelphia to beat the Giants and Tampa Bay to beat Houston.Saturday, December 8, 2007 -- Late Evening
The Atlanta Thrashers claimed Mark Recchi today. That means that they will only have to pay half of his $1.7 million salary. The Pens will still have to pay the rest of his salary.The Pens played the Vancouver Canucks this evening as their last game in the Western Canada trip. Dany Sabourin was in goal since Marc-Andre Fleury is still recovering from the twisted ankle. The game was a hard played one with alot of shoving and punching going on. Petr Sykora gave the Pens the early lead in the last two minutes of the first period. The Canucks tied things up at the start of the third period. Regulation ended in a time, and the game moved into overtime. Halfway through overtime, Sidney Crosby was tripped on a breakaway and was awarded a penalty shot. Michel Therrien called a time out to give Crosby a break. Crosby couldn't get it past Roberto Luongo. For the second game in a row, the Pens go to a shootout. Erik Christensen scored for the Pens, the Canucks scored one. Then we started going through the players trying to get a win. Then as the sixth shooter, Kris Letang won the game in a shootout again! It was just amazing. The team is really gelling at this point, and the players really seem to get along as could be seen as the team gathered around Letang. Final score: Pens 2 - Canucks 1.
Friday, December 7, 2007 -- Evening
The Pens played the Calgary Flames last night. It's hard to watch the west coast games because they run so late, but I managed to watch most of the game last night. The most distressing part for me was ehen Marc-Andre Fleury stumbled while blocking a shot and twisted his ankle. At first, the announcers thought it was his knee, but it looked like his ankle twisted under him to me. It turns out that was the problem. Fleury was wearing a boot after the game, but x-rays were negative. Dany Sabourin came in for Fleury and did a good job. The Pens fell behind by a goal, pulled even then fell behind to pull even. Regulation ended with the game tied. Overtime didn't bring any points, so it was on to the shootout. Petr Sykora scored in the shootout, but Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin missed. With the shootout scores tied at 1, it was down to the fourth shooter. Matthew Lombardi missed for the Flames. Then Michel Therrien had Kris Letang try--and he got the winning goal. Letang has been doing a great job since he joined the Pens a few games ago. That's why Mark Recchi isn't playing with the team, because there are so many young kids on the roster who are actually doing a great job. The Pens are on a roll now, with three wins in a row, and have moved into eighth place in the Eastern Conference. Final score of last night's game: Pens 3, Flames 2.Thursday, December 6, 2007 -- Evening
The Pens played the Edmonton Oilers last night. Because the game was on the West Coast, the game started late and ran until midnight. The first two periods of the game did not look good, and I thought for sure that the Pens would lose. However, the team showed up to play in the third period. They scored four goals in the third to win the game. The final score was Pens 4, Oilers 2. Sidney Crosby had three assists and got the number one star in the game. The media and fans turned out for Crosby's first appearance in Edmonton since Crosby entered the NHL. That's how it is in most places where Crosby goes. The amazing part is how the kid handles himself with the media. He is always so poised.Mark Recchi cleared waivers yesterday and wasn't picked up by any team. The Pens are going to send Recchi on paper to the minor leagues and then bring him back. On re-entry, a team could pick him up by just paying half his salary. The Pens would still have to pay the other half. They are hoping that with that tactic that Recchi will be picked up by someone. However, this really seems like the John LeClair incident last year. Recchi just doesn't realize that he is past it. His agent, Rick Curran, is blaming Michel Therrien for Recchi's woes, saying that Therrien didn't give Recchi a chance to play. What??? What planet was Curran on? Recchi was playing on the first line with Crosby, and was playing in the power play! Every time he would get on the ice at Mellon Arena, the fans would groan because it meant that we would be watching Recchi five paces behind everyone else, missing the puck, and just missing every play because his churning legs just weren't getting him to where he needed to go. It was a sad and pitiful performance. That's Recchi has been a healthy scratch over the past several games. It's nothing personal against Recchi. Even though I don't like him, it's because he's just not able to keep up with the young NHL.
Tuesday, December 4, 2007 -- Evening
The Pens played the Phoenix Coyotes this evening here in Mellon Arena. The game for the first two periods was fairly lackluster. The Pens only scored in the last seconds of the first period, and then there was nothing in the second period. The Coyotes tied things up at the start of the third, but fortunately, the Pens pulled ahead. I thought that Ilya Bryzgalov did a nice job in goal for the Coyotes. He made some really nice saves, and faced 33 shots. The final score was Pens 3, Coyotes 1. Check out my pictures of the game.Other big news on the Pens front, Mark Recchi was placed on waivers today. There has been talk over the past few days that the Pens are going to try to trade Recchi. What was sad was that the Pens had a bobblehead night for Recchi last night. My boyfriend thought that Recchi would play, but I knew that Recchi just hasn't been playing up to potential. He is really showing his age. He was a healthy scratch yesterday, and as the team is traveling to Edmonton for a game tomorrow, they announced the waiver move. What does this mean? Well, another team has until noon tomorrow to pick up Recchi. If no one does, the Pens can either send him to the minors or keep him on the roster. This sounds like shades of John LeClair from last year. Sometimes you have to admit your age, and move aside.
Monday, December 3, 2007 -- Morning
Pictures and game recap from tonight's Pens vs. Phoenix Coyotes game will be posted Tuesday evening. Check the game recaps page for information on this season's home and away games.The Steelers won last night's game against the Cincinnati Bengals. There was some concern that the field would be a muddy mess because of the rain we had all day yesterday, but Heinz Field held up--unlike last Monday. The problem last Monday was a yearly one. The high school teams play four games in one day on the field on the day after Thanksgiving. Then Pitt played on Saturday, and then the Steelers on Monday. Combine that with really heavy downpours on Monday, and you get a muddy mess. I think that the team should redo the field with artifical turf just because you can get injured more easily by stepping in a hole created by sod that's lifting up. There were some issues because of lighter rain on Sunday. Ben Roethlisberger was complaining about the ball being wet, and that it was causing him problems in throwing it. Also, Willie Parker was having fumble-itis that was being blamed on the weather. They weren't serious problems because the Steelers went on to win with a score of 24-10.