Cup of Joe: Starkey on sports in 400 words or less
The NFL Draft is days away, and the Steelers are suddenly the third-biggest sports story in town. The Penguins and Pirates have stolen the spotlight.
It might be different if the Steelers had a top-10 pick or were weighing the merits of a bunch of potential first-round quarterbacks, but let’s be honest: The Penguins in a playoff series (should they qualify) and Konnor Griffin on a baseball field are way more interesting than anything the Steelers are expected to do in the draft.
Having said that, the NFL Draft obviously is a huge deal for the city, for businesses of every kind, and that will remain the case. It’s going to be an incredible party. It’s the biggest sporting event — in terms of sheer size — the city has ever hosted.
It’s also a huge deal for the Steelers, who haven’t come close to winning a playoff game in nearly a decade. But it’s mostly significant for the city. The only way the Steelers would truly recapture the spotlight is if they draft a quarterback in the first round (Alabama’s Ty Simpson being the only apparent candidate).
If you’d asked me six months ago what April might look like around here, I’d have said I’ll likely be repeating people’s mock drafts like a parrot, quoting the likes of Mel Kiper Jr., Pete Prisco and Walter Football (which is not a reference to a person, like Donny Football, but rather a website).
What else would be happening this month, or more specifically, April 23, the first night of the draft?
Well, as it turns out, a lot.
Griffin will be with the Pirates in Texas that night, and as you saw Friday, he has exploded onto the scene like a teenage Sidney Crosby. He is must-watch television. It’s also possible Skenes could pitch that night, or the next night in Milwaukee.
The Penguins could be knee-deep in a riveting first-round playoff series — possibly against the hated Flyers.
This is all good. It means we’re suddenly an eventful sports town again. We can still talk about, say, Wyoming tight end John Michael Gyllenborg and whether the Steelers might take a chance on him in the fourth round.
But that doesn’t have to be the lead story.