Photo by Andy via Wikimedia Commons

Good news, everyone! Troy Polamalu is cleared to play and available for Sunday’s game in Arizona. Troy passed a concussion test and is expected to practice.

Troy left last Sunday’s game with “concussion like” symptoms after making a key stop on third down. The Steelers have been facing a lot of injury issues of late, but Steeler Nation can breathe easy for once.

In related news, a video has surfaced featuring Hines Ward dancing with Troy Polamalu, Brett Keisel, and an epic Keisel Beard. I don’t understand it either.

http://youtu.be/EtM0nefKoiU

How long will it be until we see Troy or Brett competing on “Dancing with the Stars”?

• If you’re still really amped about Hines’ “Dancing with the Stars” win, then you’re in luck! The city of Pittsburgh will be hosting a rally for Hines and Kym on Thursday. Because the Mirror Ball Trophy truly is the sparkly Lombardi of televised competitive dance reality shows.

“City residents and the Steelers Nation have contacted my office asking for the city to properly thank our hometown hero for once-again shining the spotlight on Pittsburgh,” Mayor Luke Ravenstahl said.

• On the injury front, Ben Roethlisberger’s broken foot seems to be “healed up.” Surgery may be required if the pain returns. Roethlisberger injured his foot against the Buffalo Bills in November and wore a special cleat for the remainder of the season.
• I don’t know about you, but the Lock Out (LA-LA-LA-LA-LA) is making it impossible for me to finalize my summer travel plans. My sister and I had planned on making the trek from Ohio to Latrobe for training camp, but it’s kind of difficult to make these plans when training camp is up in the air. On the bright side, the Steelers have not issued a “drop-dead” date as far as training camp goes. So there still is hope! For training camp. And a season, I guess.

• According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Dan Rooney plans on being the U.S. ambassador to Ireland for another year.
• Speaking of Dan Rooney and positions of diplomacy, is there any chance of Mr. Rooney stepping in and putting an end to this Lockout (which is not happening, LA LA LA LA)? Not this time. Mr. Rooney, who helped end strikes in 1982 and 1987 has not and will not be involved in current negotiations. His son and Steelers’ president Art Rooney is involved in negotiations by serving on the management council executive committee.
• You know what I haven’t talked about lately? Hines Ward and “Dancing with the Stars”. It seems that Hines’ triumph on the dance floor has given his popularity a bit of a boost. I am shocked, I tell you. SHOCKED.
• Finally, I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking, “Is it just me, or have the Steelers been kind of boring on Twitter this offseason?” Fear not, friends. Ryan Clark has rejoined Twitter! I am actually really excited, as Clark was one of my favorite football players on Twitter.

Pittsburgh is once again the City of Champions. Granted, “Dancing with the Stars” Champion isn’t even in the same arena as say, a Super Bowl or a Stanley Cup, I’ll take what I can get. That’s right folks, Hines and Kym are the Season 12 winners of “Dancing with the Stars”.

After an hour and a half of filler, including a performance by the Black Eyed Peas, the final three couples performed one last dance for the judges. I’m not sure why the judges even bothered, as everyone scored a perfect 30. That really helped narrow the field.

In the end Hines and Kym, with some help from Steeler Nation, prevailed over Rebecca from Cheers. And there was much rejoicing.

“Dancing with the Stars” is almost over and I can get my Mondays back. I’m sorry show. I have enjoyed you, really. But it’s asking a lot of a girl to sit through at least two hours of cheese, Tom Bergeron, filler, and Mark Ballas every week. If it weren’t for Hines, I wouldn’t have stuck around this long.

Hines and Kym were having fun once again last night. Their first dance of the evening, the quickstep, earned them 29 points from the judges. The judges gave Hines and Kym’s second dance, a freestyle dance with a marching band theme, a perfect 30 tying the pair with Mark and the Disney Girl.

Hines and Kym will have one more dance during tonight’s results show and then it will be all over. I just hope Hines doesn’t give up dancing once the show is over. Personally I’d love for his new touchdown celebration to include picking up and twirling Mike Wallace. It would be well worth any excessive celebration penalty.

“Dancing” by the Numbers and videos after the jump.

» Continue reading “Ward Earns High Marks on ‘Dancing’”

Instead of a blow-by-blow recap of last night’s episode of “Dancing with the Stars”, I’m just making this post a Hines Ward appreciation party.

Last night’s episode showcased why I love Hines Ward and why Steeler Nation is lucky to have him in the black and gold. I love that he takes a reality show dance competition as seriously as a football game. He puts so much effort and emotion into everything he does from the football field to the dance floor and it showed last night. I miss football, but Hines Ward on “Dancing with the Stars” has been a fun offseason distraction in a not-so-fun offseason. Mad props to you, Hines.

“Dancing” by the Numbers and videos after the jump.

» Continue reading “Hines Ward Appreciation Party”

We’re getting down to the wire on “Dancing with the Stars”. Hines and Kym had to prepare for two dances this week. The twist? They did not know the music for their second dance until last night. Oh “Dancing with the Stars”, you and your crazy twists.

Hines and Kym’s first dance of the evening was the foxtrot. In their practice segment, Hines and Kym seemed to focus on telling a story with their dance. This story required Hines to smile, be cheesy, and playfully propose at the end. Dancing was also involved somewhere in there.

After receiving his scores from the foxtrot, Hines randomly selected the music for his second dance of the evening. He and Kym then had twenty minutes to change costumes and prepare their jive so that it matched up to the music. Despite having a short amount of time to learn the music, Hines and Kym received solid scores that kept them near the top of the leaderboard.

My only disappointment for the evening was the fact that Troy Polamalu was in attendance and he did not make a flying tackle on Mark Ballas. C’mon Troy. You’re the Defensive Player of the Year. Use your talents for the greater good.

“Dancing” by the Numbers and videos after the jump.

» Continue reading “Ward Brings the Cheese in Week 8 of ‘Dancing’”

Hines Ward posted solid numbers in yet another week of “Dancing with the Stars”. With six contestants remaining and two hours of airtime to fill, each pair had to dance twice. The first dance, a team dance, featured the cha-cha. Since Ward has the highest point total so far, he got to choose the members for his team and selected Kristie Alley and Kendra Wilkinson.

Ward’s second dance of the evening was the tango. Former Steeler Jerome Bettis dropped by during Ward’s tango practice to pretty much just point and laugh. This seemed to motivate Hines, as his scores left him tied for first with Daniel-san.

Videos and “Dancing” by the Numbers after the cut.

» Continue reading “Hines Ward: The ‘Dancing’ Silent Assassin”

Just a few items on this Wednesday.

• The second Aerys NFL Huddle focused on the draft and we held a quasi-mock draft for our teams (parts one and two are available of the two-part Huddle). I did a little cramming on draft prospects and in the end threw a bunch of names in a hat for my second and third round picks (Marcus Cannon of TCU and Joe Lefeged of Rutgers respectively). My first round choice was Jimmy Smith out of Colorado. I really like him and with Ike Taylor’s future as a Steeler in question, it would be a smart move to use their first round pick on improving the cornerback position.
• But what do I know? Apparently the Steelers are interested in trading up to draft Maurkice Pouncey’s twin brother Mike. What? Don’t get me wrong. The Steelers need more depth to their offensive line. I’d love for them to draft Mike Pouncey. However, the Steelers should really focus on the cornerback position.
• In case you missed “Dancing with the Stars” last night, Hines was safe and will be dancing for another week. I certainly hope he has a sparkly costume.
• In AFC North news, Cleveland Browns running back Peyton Hillis has been selected as the next victim cover boy of Madden football. This year fans were charged with the great responsibility to vote for who would have the curse honor of being on the cover of Madden 2012. This means that fans really love a gritty running back with no neck or they really hate the city of Cleveland.