Sean Freaks Out, Then Calms Down

Just before Sunday’s Steelers-Bengals game, I saw this Tweet from Dale Lolley of The Observer-Reporter of Washington (Pa.)



Since there’s a good chance that I’ll attend the December 4, 2011 Steelers-Bengals rematch, I freaked out. Attending a Sunday night game in Pittsburgh with the game ending around midnight and then driving back to Washington, DC to get to work by 9:00 AM is virtually impossible. I could have done this 10-15 years ago, but there’s no way I can make the late night/early morning drive now and be coherent at the office the next day.

I did a little research about Lolley’s statement, but couldn’t find any other information about the possibility of the night game becoming a reality. Therefore, I went directly to the source. In a quick reply, Lolley stated the following:

They have decided not to move the KC game, which at this point means that the Cinci game is still at 1 because the Steelers already have the most night games a team can have. But they may try to flex a different game to make that a prime time matchup because the two teams are good. I heard this from a TV source, so it's definitely true.

While I’m not exactly sold on Lolley’s “definitely true” statement, I do feel much better than I did on Sunday. I guess possibility of Pitt QB Tyler Palko return to Heinz Field with the Chiefs was too big of a storyline for NBC to pass on!


Update: Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette confirms Lolley's story.

The kickoff of the Steelers next game, at Kansas City, will remain at 8:20 p.m. There was speculation that NBC-TV might opt to show another game at that time under the NFL flex schedule and move Steelers-Chiefs to an earlier kickoff.

Now, I'll only need to worry about the Pittsburgh weather for a December game!