InkogNegro 1.5

On the day of his retirement, I would like to acknowledge Steve McNair for his achievements in Football by hanging his jersey in the rafters.

Let the Steve McNair for the Hall of Fame campaign start here.

A legend is gone.

No individual local sportscaster  represented his hometown team like Myron Cope.  You can name all the names you want…you aint touchin’ Mr. Cope.

I met Mr. Cope once downtown (dahntahn for you Yinzers).  They don’t really  come much nicer than him.

Even if his voice annoyed you to no end(and it did) Myron Cope is a legend to anyone who is from Pittsburgh or reps the Steelers.

Younger Steelers fans and Fans not from Pittsburgh don’t really understand the Love/Nails on the Chalkboard relationship that most Black Pittsburghers have with Myron Cope.

We thought it was much ado about not a whole lot, but such is the nature of growing up Black in Pittsburgh.  Sometimes he seemed Bigger than the players to Pittsburgh, and that annoyed us, but in the same way, Billy Conn is bigger than Joe Louis, depending on who you ask.  It was just the way it was.  We didn’t complain, we just gave him his space and loved him from afar.

My mother banned his sports talk show from the house, because his voice was just THAT annoying.

But even she had to shed a lil tear today.

We all did.

And then we dried our tears with the Terrible Towel, cause he would have wanted it that way.

Rest In Peace, Mr. Cope.

There is no longer period in the world than the fortnight that stands between the end of the NFL Conference championship games and the kickoff of the Super Bowl.  In what has to be some sort of karmic cycle we recieve some kind of inverted Red Sox/Yankees matchup with the Patriots playing the part of the Yankees evil empire and the Giants playing the part of the proud underdog who carry the hopes of a nation that pleads to be saved from an off season of crowing from the land of white chowder.

But for ME…it’s a bit personal.

I am the ex-husband of a Giants fan and my appreciation has thus far extended beyond the marriage itself.

The current Mrs. Ink is a NY native as well who has an intermittent soft spot for  the Giants.

The fact that I spent 11 yrs in the DC area rooting against the Redskins and am finishing up 3 years in Fort Worth rooting against the Cowboys hasn’t hurt my affinity for the G-Men.

So, in recognition of the 2007 NFC Champs, a few props.

Once upon a time,  Plaxico Burress was the future of the Pittsburgh Steelers, the official NFL team of the Inkognegro world.   He had good days and bad days with the Steelers, ultimately running afoul of the dominant portion of Steeler Nation, the part that treats Steeler football less like an enjoyable part of their life and more like a religious obsession.  Toss in the usual amount of cultural incompatibility and a few poorly timed dropped balls and you have the usual irrational hate.   After losing a home game to the Evil Empire in the 05 AFCCG, Plax went and got his $ from the NY Giants.   As a dedicated fan who knew that Burress would be a better pick than Chad Pennington for the Steelers, I have always appreciated his skills.

Today, Plex did the thing, bum ankle and all.  I hope Eli appreciates him.   He has saved Eli again and again.

Manning, Rivers, Rothlisberger.  These three, much like the class of 84 and the Class of 99, will be linked together forever.  Way back when Manning orchestrated his landing in NY, I was positive that Ben was the best of the three, followed by Rivers and THEN Eli.  Between his pedigree and the way he bullied his way into NY, I freely admit that I was amused by whatever struggles he had and I was always standing by, shovel in hand, waiting to smooth out the dirt over his football playing grave.  After tonight?  He gets a lifetime pass.

Still not better than Ben.  But his pass from me has been stamped.

I will not say a bad word about the long term prospects of Eli Manning ever again.

and Now….we wait.