How tough are these Steelers?
By John Mehno

You can say a lot of things about the Steelers, which is the principle on which all-sports radio is founded.

People get so busy beating up the Steelers that sometimes one of the team's fundamental strengths gets taken for granted: The Steelers are one tough football team.

That doesn't mean they're the NFL's best team or that they'll win the Super Bowl. It means they don't cheat anyone on effort. Never was that more evident than during the mid-December visit from the Chicago Bears. The Bears came to town with a reputation as a tough defense.

But on a cold, raw day, the Bears had little interest in tackling Jerome Bettis, who wound up with 101 yards. It wasn't the first time the Steelers had more intensity than an opponent, but the Bears weren't a warm-weather or dome team unaccustomed to playing in tough conditions. The Steelers were tougher and it showed.

There's a mindset that starts from the top and is policed by the players. Hines Ward's blocking used to draw protests from other teams. If you don't think it's stunning that defensive backs complained about the types of hits being dealt by a receiver, you weren't around in the era of Jack Tatum.

In other matters:

* Every time the Steelers fail to get through a season undefeated, people start complaining about Bill Cowher. He is not without his flaws. But if you think the Steelers would consider dumping Cowher, you haven't been paying attention to your Rooney-ology. The Steelers have had more home stadiums (three) than head coaches (two) in the last 35 years. In other words, get used to Cowher.

* Michel Therrien needed one and a half days on the job with the Penguins to determine the team was lacking in conditioning.

Could there be a more scathing indictment of the way the Penguins conduct their business? Keep in mind these comments weren't made in training camp, which would be bad enough. They came 32 games into the season. Players aren't in shape? How does that happen?

* By firing Eddie Olczyk, Penguins general manager Craig Patrick put the focus squarely on himself.

Patrick has whiffed on his last three choices to coach the Penguins. The late Ivan Hlinka couldn't speak English and was fired four games into his second season. His replacement, Rick Kehoe, spoke English, but chose not to. The uncommunicative Kehoe led to the curious choice of Olczyk, who had not coached at any level.

He had no chance with a sorry group of talent in his first season. Then Olczyk failed to establish order with the current odd mix of veterans and young players, with the owner and some of his close friends on the roster. That would have challenged a more experienced coach.

John Mehno can be reached at: johnmehno@lycos.com