Wake Up With GTOG: Big Ben, Kim Jong Il, and other links

By Finesse

The Steelers are in the driver's seat for the #1 seed in the AFC.  With some aging players, especially on defense, and a lot of banged up players throughout the lineup, earning a bye in the first week of the playoffs would be ... huge.

- And that's why General Roethlisberger will be leading his men out of the tunnel tonight against the 49ers in San Francisco.  We're still holding out hope that he is driven onto the field in a golf cart.

So gingerly.

- Dejan Kovecevic takes on the concussion epidemic and advocates for bigger playing surfaces to accomodate much bigger, faster, and stronger players than when the current dimensions were created in the glass-of-milk-for-dinner early 20th century.  Creative solution, though obviously impractical to implement in the 44,675 new stadiums/arenas that have been built in the last 10 years.

- I agree with Dejan that the bigger/faster/stronger nature of sports today is a factor, but is there just an evolutionary hiccup?  It's a lot easier to design training regimens (and drugs, for that matter) that add 25lbs of muscle to your shoulders and thighs than it is to design something that makes your skull more protective of the brain.  Maybe the cranium hasn't caught up?  Wait.  What am I saying?

- Kim Jong Il is dead.  Wonder if he's lonely?



- Finally, an interesting read from Construction magazine on being a Pittsburgh sports fan.  Solid discussion about the circumstances that led to the current success of the Pens and Steelers.

Artistry hasn't been consulted on this yet, but look out for a podcast tonight that will likely be recorded during the 4th quarter of the Steelers game, mostly because neither of us will feel like staying up to record it after the game.  He may be on a physical vacation, but there is no time off from raw emotion.