THE STEELERS ARE BORING

Here's an excerpt from my latest TribLive.com column:

The Steelers are excruciating to watch. It feels like we’re already in Week 11. The games take forever because nothing happens. We just wait for Chris Boswell to trot onto the field. That’s the high point.

It’s supposed to be fun to watch. That’s the whole point of buying a ticket or turning on the TV.

The Steelers got into the red zone twice at Denver. Not at all in the second half.

The Steelers got two first downs in the second half, one via penalty.

The Steelers committed 10 penalties for 78 yards. (Denver took nine flags for 124 yards. The game’s theme song should have been “Yakety Sax.”)

The main priority is, obviously, winning. But this is deadly dull. Really bad football.

To read the entire column, click HERE.

Sports in general have stopped understanding that they're in the entertainment business. The NFL most of all, because football knows people will never stop watching.

The fun has been coached out of most sports. Strategy negates fun.

Baseball is a prime example. Devotion to the Three True Outcomes - home run, walk, strikeout - may be the most effective way to compete. But fans want to see players running the bases, fielders chasing down balls. A triple is more exciting than a home run. (You know that if you saw Roberto Clemente play.)

Hockey has become a game of less skill. It's trading sprints up and down the ice. Speed trumps all. Stickhandling is disappearing.

Pitt football is 3-0. That may be fool's good, just like the Steelers at 2-0.

But Pitt is the fun team in town. That offense is fast, and it cooks.

The Steelers don't score. They bore. Boswell is on pace to kick 68 field goals. ZZZZZzzzzz...