Cannon Firing Line
Was That Really This Year?
By Ellis G. Cannon
PSR Publisher

It's that time of the year again to consider the year that was. It's both fun and challenging.

Actually, both "fun" and "challenging" offer accurate descriptions of the year that was for the Pittsburgh Steelers - all, in fact, within a single calendar year.

For what now may seem like a lifetime ago - that being the end of the 26 year run through the desert that ended in the chill of Detroit - actually happened just a few months ago, in early 2006.

Considering what's happened since then, that's almost hard to remember, let alone believe.

Indeed, as the Steelers enter the final month of their 2006 season, one that hangs their playoff hopes by the thread, it's easy to forget that less than 10 months ago, Steelers' fans were at the pinnacle. A generation that thought it might never experience what that before experienced regularly was finally satisfied.

Now that generation has likely returned from whence it came - all on the same calendar.

Perhaps, when we consider the year in review, nothing quite captures things quite as much as that.

That is if you define much of what happens through the Steelers. Others mark the year by what happens with the Pirates, Penguins, All-Star game, college hoops and football, etc.

But, what defines success or failure in a year for most fans is the fortunes of the Steelers. Or the lack of fortunes; take either, because they are both available for you from 2006.

It's not that it's impossible to understand how such wild swings happen in pro sports, particularly the NFL, which is based on the assumption such swings will occur. Any fan should be able to tell you parity practically dictates change, albeit in less drastic terms. And perhaps in other cities, not Pittsburgh.

But it's on full display here, for sure.

And when the change is that extreme, that fast, you ask, "Did that really happen? Did we experience what I thought we did just a couple months ago?"

Hard as it may be to believe, "yes" and "yes."

And it is hard to believe, which is why there are those around football who will tell you what happened with the 2005 Steelers was a fluke, something that's been exposed this season, even if Bill Cowher sought perspective by telling everyone his was not the best team in the league last season, only the team that was playing the best when it counted most. Not that he attached any apologies.

Still, fluke ignores the success of 2004 and the history made from the sixth seed, but that was the million dollar question going into the season: Just how good were the Steelers?

Now you'll have to hope the 2007 season offers a more accurate answer to that question. It may seem like a lifetime from now, but like what really did happen earlier this year, is only months away.

Just not on the same calendar.

Ellis Cannon's SportsLine Pittsburgh" airs weeknights, 6-8 p.m., on FM NewsTalk 104.7. Ellis is also a regular contributor on the "#1 Cochran Sports Showdown" aired Sundays at 11:35 on KDKA-TV.