Oh Chin Where Art Thou?
By John Mehno

The Pittsburgh weather forecast has been devoid of spit showers this fall. That disappoints a lot of people, who figure the Steelers' lousy start developed because coach Bill Cowher is no longer a madman on the sidelines.

They have fond memories of Cowher sprinting 20 yards to scream at punter Josh Miller. The cap, sunglasses and headset would go flying as Cowher raged. That was a while ago, though. Miller left after the 2003 season and it's probably just a coincidence that Cowher has toned down.

He still has his moments, but he's matured as a coach. You no longer see assistant coaches making lateral moves out of Pittsburgh to get in a more reasonable working environment. So people see Cowher standing placidly on the sideline after a foul-up and they take that to mean that he doesn't care any more, that he's just counting the days until he moves into that mansion in North Carolina.

Even if that were true-and no real evidence suggests it is-why exactly would that allow the players to start slacking? Aren't they playing for future contracts? Did the pride and professionalism that allowed them to win eight straight games and a championship less than a year ago evaporate?

If Cowher does leave, Kevin Colbert, the team's director of football operations, will still be on the job. He's the one who hands out contracts.

The Steelers started poorly for a lot of reasons: They turned the ball over too often, their special teams missed Antwaan Randle El and Chidi Iwuoma, their quarterback has been through a traumatic experience, Hines Ward's injury weakened an already ordinary group of receivers, and every opponent takes its date with the Steelers as a measuring stick of playoff worthiness.

There's a long list of issues and, believe it or not, it doesn't include Cowher's plans for 2007.

In other matters:

o There was a revelatory replay on a recent Penguins telecast. It showed Sidney Crosby stopping an errant pass with his back skate, kicking the puck ahead to his other skate and then pushing the puck onto his stick. Without breaking stride. Crosby is better with his feet than most players are with their hands.

o The Pirates re-hired Roy Smith as a special assistant to the general manager. Smith left a couple of years ago to take a similar job with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Under former GM Cam Bonifay, Smith was the scout who turned in glowing reports on Nevada high school player Chad Hermansen. Later he recommended the Pirates get Brant Brown to play center field. Now he's back. Sometimes you wonder what they're thinking over there.

John Mehno has been covering Pittsburgh sports since 1974. He can be reached at: johnmehno@lycos.com