Steel Balls

You bet your sweet bippy! We are pleased to announce the 2021 Baller Prognosticator of the Year. Although this strange and stressful season is not yet over, we know that playoff results cannot change the outcome of our competition, so we can announce the winner now.

First, here is the chart of “wins”, actual versus predictions. A half-win is awarded for the tie:

And here is the “delta” chart which shows the difference between actual and predictions. Lower values are better:

Both MWalsh26 and EstimatedProphet came closest to guessing the Steelers result, missing only by a half game. (If we were not counting the tie as a half win, EstimatedProphet would be the winner on this question). So, participation trophies go to Walsh and EP, but they went on to whiff badly regarding the rest of the division.

And let’s face it – we all whiffed on the Bengals. We knew that they had the best young QB in the division but we just didn’t trust the Bengals organization to be able to get the job done, and we were wrong. Sure, the Bengals had the easiest schedule, but they also beat the tar out of the Steelers twice, and won a number of other impressive games, so we give credit where it is due.

In the end, copanut and Tuskegee_Brown tied with the best overall result of 11.5. Both of them predicted the Steelers will win a single playoff game before being bounced from the tourney,  so copanut and TB would remain tied regardless of playoff outcome.

We need to go to tie breakers to determine the winner. Because TB predicted the Steelers would get into the playoffs as a wild card team, whereas copanut predicted they would be division winners, the tie breaker goes to TB. As icing on the cake, TB had a closer guess in Steeler wins.

All hail the new champion, Tuskegee_Brown!

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In an act of desperation, I have given up on my old hosting company and moved to a new hosting company. You should find all the expected functionality here without change. Sorry for all the hassles, folks, but hopefully our problems are behind us now. I don’t believe in jinxes.

We might consider moving the Sound Off back to the right panel rather than in its own page, or having it in both places. If you have an opinion on the subject, vote here.

[Update: opinions seem to be evenly split, so we’ll keep the full page Sound Off that gives you a broader and SFW view, while restoring Sound Off to the right panel, which gives a quick view of current activity and also is easier on mobile devices.]

[yop_poll id=”5″]

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I must agree with abennihana about the inexplicable stupidity of NASCAR as a “sport”. However, his opening salvo of the hideous bovine with manicured backhair is somewhat unfair. After all, the NFL has produced some of the ugliest spectators in the history of sport. Out of courtesy to our readers, I’ll keep the evidence of this crime off of the home page, but read on if you have an iron stomach.

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The Steelers use the offseason to tweak their capabilities and performance (or so we hope), and Steel Balls must do the same. As many of you know, we’ve been trying to get a handle on a couple of problems here on the site. I can report on the status of those efforts and potential impact.

1. Login problems. Up until now, it has been difficult to log in consistently to the site. I’m pretty sure that situation has been resolved, and I want to encourage you all to try logging in rather than visiting as a guest, and please report here if you have any difficulty doing that. I have logged in and out multiple times over the last couple of days without error, so my fingers are crossed.
2. High CPU usage problem. This is a problem that is invisible to users, but my hosting company has been pushing me on this for weeks and to be honest we haven’t figured out the cause. However, there is some indication that it might originate with our beloved chat system (Sound Off). As such, I will be tinkering with it over the next few days, experimenting with changes such as requiring you to log in to see and use the chat, or possibly moving it off of the home page, or maybe experimenting with a different chat system. It’s important to resolve this CPU issue because if I am forced to move to a dedicated server it’s going to cost considerably more money to host this site, and I really want to keep it free.

On another administrative issue, I have disabled public registration on the site. This is a response to the relentless deluge of spam registrations being perpetrated by bots and apparently even some humans capable of getting past the captcha code, no doubt slaves in India or the like, bartering their time as spammers in trade for a bowl of kibble. Anyway, if you need to register or re-register, send me an email and I’ll do it for you.

Your patience is appreciated.

[Update] Please note…  as part of my cleanup effort, I have reviewed and deleted approximately 500 bogus account registrations from the site. It is difficult for me to know for sure that a registration is bogus unless I recognize the username or there is something obvious to indicate that it is legitimate (like a Steeler-related avatar) rather than a registration generated by some a-hole spammer. Therefore, I almost certainly have removed a few registrations that were actually legitimate. If you fall into that category, send me an email and I will create a new registration for you. For the time being I have disabled public registrations. If anyone is curious, we currently have 76 legitimate registrations, although probably only about half of them are regular contributors.

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It was a well fought battle, but in the end it was Roger Goodell by a foreskin. The Harbaugh brothers finished in second place, only one point behind, following a stunning write-in campaign. The bronze medal goes to perennial tool Warren Sapp. Better luck next time, guys. Final results:

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Peyton whiffs the first play of maybe the last big game of his career. (Animation on next page).

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As I’ve said before, I’m pretty much always wrong about the draft from top to bottom. Then again the experts are usually wrong too, so what the hell.

This isn’t so much a mock draft as a list of the kinds of picks I’d like to see in the first four rounds. Bear in mind that I haven’t watched tape and am going only by various descriptions I’ve seen on these prospects. Also, I’m not taking character issues into consideration because I haven’t seen a lot of insight in that regard.

• Round 1:  Darqueze Dennard (CB Michigan State)  or Eric Ebron (TE North Carolina)
• Round 2: Austin Seferian-Jenkins (TE Washington) or Marcus Roberson (CB Florida)
• Round 3-c: Daniel McCullers (NT Tennessee)
• Round 4: Terrence Brooks (FS Florida State)
• Round 4-c: Brandon Coleman (WR Rutgers)
• Round 4-c: Terrance West (RB Towson)

In subsequent rounds, I’d stock up on best available DL, LB, CB, and S prospects. I’d be tempted to spend one of those late round picks on a top punter.

I know the nose tackle is further down than some would like, but I think there has to be a realization that the team will have to live with its current NT situation for a year or two until someone big can be developed. McCullers is a mammoth human specimen that could be that guy in 2015. Here is his analysis from CBS Sports:

STRENGTHS: Despite his inexperience, McCullers’ size and ability to disrupt things from the middle often made him the focus of an opponent’s blocking scheme. Has been double-teamed on most snaps and has even seen triple-team blocks often. Despite the attention, McCullers’ size and strength make him tough to move in the running game. He plays with better leverage than one might expect given his frame, holding up well inside and sliding off blockers to handle two-gap responsibilities when playing the 3-4 nose guard. He was equally impressive against the run when Tennessee switched to a four-man front in 2012.

WEAKNESSES: While McCullers’ is tough against the run, he offers little in terms of a pass rush. He certainly has the strength to simply push opponents into the pocket but possesses below average foot-quickness and lateral agility.

I would also try to supplement this with a decent FS and/ or CB from free agency, if available.

There you have it. Blast away.

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BIGINTN asked, “COPA Can you create a space for us to list our “special” players in the draft and who we would pick if they are available at #15? It sure looks like there could be an impact player available that also fills an immediate need”.

Ask and you shall receive.

You can comment on this thread to highlight your faves. Sometime closer to the draft we can gather up final predictions.

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Sorry guys… we’re working on it. Please check back later.

If you’re curious, apparently our site was under automated attack and so the hosting company shut down part of it. Getting them to bring it back up is taking longer than I would like.

Meantime, post comments here.

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