Steelers fans, I know you’re upset about the constant shuffling. The never-ending rescheduling. The inability to stay on course.

You are fatigued of never knowing when you can mark your calendar for an event you are anticipating with great excitement.

I get it. You want “U mad, bro?” back on its steady, normal Thursday morning post time.

Me, too. Me, too.

But these are unprecedented times. And my schedule is in a perpetual state of flux right along with the Steelers, so I…

Oh. The game against the Ravens. Right. That’s what you meant.

Well, there’s nothing I can do about that. But I’ve got a few personal obligations at the end of the week, so I need to take Thursday and Friday off regardless of Commissioner Goodell’s grand decision to play or not play at Heinz Field.

Wednesday afternoon or … whenever.

And, in an effort to be “light on my feet” (as Mike Tomlin would say) depending on what the NFL does with its schedule, I figured we’d do “U mad, bro?” a little early this week.

Wednesday afternoon football = Tuesday morning “U mad, bro?”

Such is life in 2020, right, coach?

This week, fans are honked off at NFL schedule changes, national dismissiveness of the Steelers’ hot start and Pitt basketball’s upset loss to St. Francis.

Also, pie and biscuits.

Recently, Pro Football Focus and ESPN have been in a cycle of calling the Steelers overrated.

Despite a 10-0 start.

I’ve been lashing back at that notion on Twitter and on TribLive. Chris is right there with me.

How are they overrated when apparently everyone outside of Pittsburgh thinks they’re overrated. Wouldn’t that mean nobody actually rates them, hence not overrated?

— Chris (@keppy_) November 27, 2020

Precisely, Chris. I don’t know how a team can be “overrated” when apparently no one wants to give them any credit for being 10-0.

I’ve heard quite often lately that the Steelers are “the most overrated 10-0 team in NFL history.”

In fact, I’ve heard it so often, I’m now starting to think they are the most underrated 10-0 team in NFL history.

May responded to my Monday column in the wake of multiple delays of the Steelers-Ravens game. I was very critical of the NFL for failing to have a clear set of guidelines as to what it should do about covid-19 postponements.

I don’t think the @NFL really knows! They’ve been doing things on the fly when it comes to covid. No clear and consistent guidelines. Teams and fans don’t often know what to expect. Ineffective communication to say the least. It’s one big confusing mess!

— May (Steelers 10-0) (@Steeler_Babe) November 30, 2020

You nailed it, May. That’s exactly what I’ve been saying for a week now about Steelers-Ravens. Especially given the comparison to the Denver Broncos quarterback situation, the league is really stretching the boundaries of acceptable competitive balance based on its willingness to delay or play games on time.

Not to mention how heavily teams have been fined versus others.

I get that this is an unprecedented situation. And I understand that the league needs to be flexible. But there is a difference between flexible and rudderless. And, right now, Roger Goodell is leaning towards the latter in my opinion.

Based on his email, Bob used to be in this business. And he believes that the original idea of playing Steelers-Ravens on a Tuesday night was part of a greater ulterior motive.

“Fifty years as a newsboy has left me with a cynical and suspicious mind. I think the NFL is noodling the idea of Tuesday and Wednesday night football games. The coronavirus has provided a test laboratory to determine if the market (and profitability) will bear it.”

What?! Bob, are you trying to say that the NFL may opportunistically take a global crisis and see if it can come out smelling like a rose by hatching yet another way to tap into a revenue stream?

No! That couldn’t possibly be true!

Sure, that smelled funny to me, too. However, if they were really sincere about a Tuesday-Wednesday night test case, they would’ve moved the game off of NBC for Wednesday instead of stashing it during the afternoon. That way NBC could’ve still had its tree lighting ceremony on television. And the league could’ve tested the Wednesday night ratings on FOX, ESPN or CBS.

But they didn’t. So that kinda shoots down the theory.

Does this coronavirus situation give the NFL the cover and flexibility to try such options without getting blowback from the NFL Players Association?

Yes. Yes, it does. Your “test laboratory” analogy is on point.

Yet, in the Steelers-Ravens case specifically, I don’t think they tried to shoehorn that game to a Tuesday on purpose. Because that meant moving the Ravens-Cowboys off Thursday night as well.

NFL executives also made an extremely hard sell on “genomic epidemiology” as a reason why they thought the move from Thanksgiving to Sunday was feasible. They trotted Dr. Allen Sills in front of cameras multiple times. That backfired. And, as a result, he looked bad.

So, in theory, I buy your cynicism. And I’m always down for a good conspiracy theory. But I don’t think that is what happened here.

David emailed me in anger over the Pitt men’s basketball team deciding to take a knee during the national anthem in advance of an 80-70 loss to St. Francis.

“Nothing from the press on Pitt MBB all taking a knee in their awful performance in the home opener against the Frankies! Not only do they lose, they make a social statement which has no fan support.”

David, I can’t speak to any coordinated media effort to discuss — or bury — the team’s decision to take a knee during the anthem. Nor do I have a sense of the fan reaction to that decision.

I can only speak for myself. And I can assure you that I didn’t whiff on that story because I was trying to advance — or ignore — one side of the anthem debate or the other.

I whiffed on that story because I completely forgot Pitt’s basketball team was even starting its season.

And based on their outing against St. Francis, they should be happy I did.

At the end of our “U mad, bro?” entry last week, we broached the delicate topic of Thanksgiving side dish “power rankings.”

I thought apple pie was noticeable by its omission from the list we were discussing. And I wanted it properly ranked behind stuffing and mashed potatoes.

I also expanded on my hatred of sweet potatoes. In any form.

David appears to think I’m right. Half right, at least.

“Pie is a dessert. Not a side dish. I agree on the sweet potatoes in all forms. But biscuits should be on the list.”

David, I will accept your rebuke of pie because you don’t count desserts as side dishes. You must be a guy who doesn’t want designated hitters or kickers in the Halls of Fame. No goalies on your list of top 100 hockey players. Etc.

A separate category for every debate. I get it. I appreciate the compartmentalization. And we agree on the sweet potato issue. After all, we are both men of great refinement and high-level palates. Nothing more needs to be said there.

But this biscuit thing you bring up? I’ve never had a biscuit at a Thanksgiving dinner. Ever.

Now, I can’t think of a good reason why. To be honest, I’m not capable of thinking about anything else at the moment.

If they are good with white sausage gravy, why can’t they be good with brown gravy? And why hasn’t this been a tradition at my Thanksgiving dinners for my 46 years on this earth? How has this escaped me as a possibility for so long?

Needless to say, I know what is being incorporated into my mock Thanksgiving dinner, whenever this Steelers-Ravens fiasco is eventually played.

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