Be Like Tike

Saturday, February 23rd, 2008 by Adam Wagner

On Ryan Doumit, Joe Flacco, bad Steeler veterans, and the return of Marc-Andre Fleury

Here are notes from all of the professional sports in Pittsburgh and some from Pitt. Included here are a Pirate position controversy, the breakout performance of one former Pitt prospect at the Combine, the release of three Steelers and what the impending return of Marc-Andre Fleury means to the Penguins.

According to today’s Post-Gazette, there could be a position battle at catcher where Ryan Doumit has entered camp slimmed down and ready to hit while Ronny Paulino still seems lackadaisical and defensively flawed. Doumit is very strong from the left-handed side of the plate, but he is supposedly a switch hitter and can not really hit right-handed, meaning that if he and Paulino ended up in some type of a platoon situation the offensive production from the catcher position would probably be at its highest. The other issue to consider, however, is the effect that Doumit’s being in the starting lineup on most days will have on the bench, as he was expected to be the powerful lefty who could come in during pinch-hit/replacement situations, but would not be available if he were in the starting lineup. How the Pirates handle this could be very interesting and may say a good amount about John Russell’s approach towards building a lineup.
Joe Flacco, Pitt’s former backup quarterback who transferred to Delaware because he thought that he would spend too much time on the bench with Tyler Palko at Pitt, has turned into a very legitimate prospect. The 6′6, 236 pound passer has impressed enough people in Indianapolis, the site of the NFL Combine, that he was the front page of CNNSI.com yesterday and is still the main picture on CNNSI’s NFL page. Columnist Don Banks says that, “people I trust in the NFL have him pegged as a definite second-round prospect, with an outside shot of cracking the bottom of the first round if some team falls hard for him as their starter in 2010.” Tyler Palko was picked in the sixth round.
The Steelers released linebacker Crint Kriewaldt, return man Allen Rossum, and tight end Jerame Tuman. Kriewaldt is a Penn State product who makes a good fifty-second or -third player on a roster somewhere due to his defensive versatility and ability to play special teams. He will probably end up in a Steeler uniform again at some point. Rossum had one return for a touchdown early in the 2007 season and then never really contributed again, meaning that he was basically wasting a roster spot and making his release a complete non-surprise, particularly considering that the Steelers have Santonio Holmes, Ike Taylor, and possibly Jeremy Bloom on the roster to return kicks as well. The surprise of the group is probably Tuman, who made an excellent third tight end even with the presence of Matt Spaeth. Tuman is a solid receiver who can make the necessary blocks and has been a consistent performer for several years even if it is only in a reserve role. Ultimately, none of these releases will matter to the long-term success of the team.
Marc-Andre Fleury will be recalled to Pittsburgh after playing against the Syracuse Crunch tonight, signaling the return of the former number one overall pick and decision time for Ray Shero. The general manager must decide whether to keep three goalies on the roster, to send the successful Ty Conklin back to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, or to attempt to sneak Dany Sabourin through waivers. Keeping three goalies would seem to be a little bit counterproductive as only one can play at a time and fatigue could become an issue amongst skaters during a playoff run and having another healthy body could be a plus. This is, according to many sources, the most likely alternative, though. The “best” solution would be, in my mind, to attempt to sign Conklin to a contract similar to the one that Sabourin signed prior to this season, assuring the team of a veteran backup goaltender that they have trust in for the next couple of years and making Sabourin even more expendable than his lackluster performance for most of this season has made him.

Coming up on the Pittsburgh sports slate is a game for the Penguins against San Jose at the Igloo tomorrow, Pitt heading to Louisville to take on the #18 Cardinals tomorrow, and Duquesne hosting La Salle at the Palumbo tomorrow.

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