Hailed as a queen in and around St. Louis, and hated in Southern California, Georgia Frontieri was, to say the least, well-known in the sporting world. She passed away early Friday, succumbing to the battle with breast cancer she had been fighting for several months.

Her philanthropic efforts in and around her native St. Louis were inspiring. Her legacy, though, is that she moved the Rams - based in Los Angeles, she moved the team to Anaheim in 1980, then to St. Louis in 1995 in her tenure - out of California, and into baseball-mad St. Louis.

She rewarded St. Louis with a Super Bowl championship in 1999, and a Super Bowl appearance in 2001.

Frontieri is survived by two children - daughter Lucia Rodriguez and son Chip Rosenbloom - six grandchildren, and Earle Weatherwax, her companion of the last 19 years. Her sixth husband, Carroll Rosenbloom, owned the Rams until his death in 1979.

NFL Commissioner Roger Gooddell wrote this in a statement released Friday:

“Georgia Frontiere was the first lady of sports in her native St. Louis…Her philanthropic work was legendary and wide ranging, but her special focus was retired NFL players and the arts. She was a talented and wonderful person.”

John Shaw, President of the Rams, said this in his statement:

“It’s been my privilege for twenty-eight years to work for a loyal, generous, and supportive owner who was totally committed to her football team.  This is an enormous loss for me and for the Rams’ organization. All of our prayers and sympathy go out to her family.”

Member of “Steel Curtain” dies in car accident (posted from Die Hard Steel)

Ernie Holmes, a member of the Pittsburgh Steelers famed “Steel Curtain” defense in the 1970s, died Friday in a car accident outside Beaumont, Texas. He was 59 years old.

Holmes (nicknamed “Fats”) played alongside Hall of Famer “Mean” Joe Greene at the defensive tackle position, and L.C. Greenwood and Dwight White, the ends. With Holmes, the Steelers won two of their four Super Bowls during the decade, was a two-time All-Pro lineman, known for his unpredictable behavior, and this somewhat humorous story (depending on your perspective).

Holmes is a paramount example of how the Steelers, much like what the Patriots are doing today, and the Cowboys were able to do in the 1990s, drafted nearly flawlessly. He was an 8th round selection out of Texas Southern in 1971.

In fact, the Steelers fleeced the state of Texas for the bulk of their talent on defense, all from small Texas schools. White attended Texas A&M University-Commerce and Greene went to North Texas State University. Holmes went to Texas Southern University.

Jamison Hensley of the Baltimore Sun is reporting the Ravens will hire Eagles secondary coach John Harbaugh to replace Brian Billick as the team’s head coach.

Hensley writes the team will announce Harbaugh at a noon press conference tomorrow.

Harbaugh was the Ravens second choice, behind Cowboys offensive coordinator Jason Garrett, who turned down their offer in favor of Dallas’s offer to remain in his current role.

Stephen at Ravens TD stopped at a McDonalds in Nowhere, Ill., to get a WiFi connection so he could write about it.

The former Miami University defensive back, until his hire, was known as a fast-rising assistant. Harbaugh has had more than his fair share of interest over the past two seasons. He was a finalist for the head coaching position at UCLA, which, incidentally went to Rick Neuheisel, who was Baltimore’s offensive coordinator in 2007, and their quarterbacks coach in 2006. Hensley writes:

Although Harbaugh might not have the typical credentials of some other head coaching candidates, he has been on the radar of several NFL teams. One high-ranking Ravens official predicted last year that Harbaugh would be an excellent head coach if a team took a chance on him.

Harbaugh will become the third head coach in Baltimore Ravens history, behind Ted Marchibroda and Billick - who was fired after the Ravens’ 5-11 season in 2007.

Harbaugh, Steelers coach Mike Tomlin (former Vikings defensive coordinator), Bengals coach Marvin Lewis (former Ravens defensive coordinator) and Browns coach Romeo Crennel (former Patriots defensive coordinator) rounds out the AFC North’s head coaches, all of whom have a defensive background.

Harbaugh is the only one without a Super Bowl ring, however. Tomlin was the secondary coach in Tampa Bay when they won the Super Bowl in 2003. Crennel won three titles with New England, and Lewis was Billick’s defensive coordinator in 2000 when the Ravens last won it all.

Harbaugh rose through the coaching ranks fast enough to be able to skip the traditional ascent. While most NFL coaches have at least a season as a coordinator, Harbaugh was the Eagles’ special teams coach for nine seasons, before being named the secondary coach just this past season.

He is the brother of former NFL QB Jim Harbaugh, the head coach at Stanford.

Sports Cartel is fresh off two days of watching America’s Worst audition at the feet of Britian’s most sardonic man, and despite that “Brother” song getting stuck in our heads, it gave us a nice respite away from the intense world of the NFL.

But what a great time of the year…

It may not mean anything, but glancing at San Diego’s participation report compared to New England’s, it might seem a little daunting.

San Diego was without RB LaDainian Tomlinson, QB Phillip Rivers, TE Antonio Gates and NT Jamal Williams. The Patriots were without S Mel Mitchell and OT Ryan O’Callaghan. Obviously, Mel Mitchell was a huge part of the team’s 17-0 record thus far…we’ll have to ask Amy who he is.

Meanwhile…Derek at Giants Bits has a quasi-depressing shot of Cowboys coach Wade Phillips looking as if Cowboys owner Jerry Jones is about to pull out the Beatin’ Stick. It’s weird, Derek goes out of his way to pay Giants Offensive Coordinator Kevin Gilbride a compliment, too.

I’ve killed offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride plenty but for the most part, his playcalling in these two big Giant wins which brought their road record to a remarkable 9-1 has been very good giving Eli and a balanced offense a chance.

KEVIN Gilbride? You mean the guy who was mostly responsible for the Chargers finishing low enough in the standings to get Tomlinson, and the guy who destroyed Kordell Stewart JUST enough in Pittsburgh to earn Ben Roethlisberger? Apparently, Gilbride’s accomplishments have earned him consideration for the open head coaching position at the University of Hawai’i.

Hey, if June Jones can coach there…

Either way, though, Derek makes a required point:

Wonder what Tiki “Me-ki” Barber’s thinking right about now about Eli and this more together bunch? Maybe he and his brother Ronde will write a book about it!

Sports Cartel directs Derek - and everyone else - to the Green Bay Gazette, where they have pictures of Packers fans “celebrating the Giants victory.”

So what you’re telling us is that Packers fans are excited to take on the that’s 9-1 on the road because they beat them three months ago? That makes sense. Colts fans were pumped as hell when Pittsburgh beat the Bengals back in 2005. Then Broncos fans were really excited when the Steelers beat the Colts.

We’re not saying the Giants should or shouldn’t win this game, just simply that there is plenty of recent evidence that strongly indicates it’s unwise to dismiss any team that plays well on the road.

No hate toward the Packers. Read Tina Hollenbeck’s piece on Ryan Grant for some levity on the whole matter.

At Chargers Coverage, however, there’s no hatin’ at all. Quite the opposite. Jeff Williams (who was available to practice on Wednesday, incidentally) writes about the return of the last quarterback to bring the Chargers to the Super Bowl. Stan “The Man” Humphries will be the honorary captain for San Diego Sunday in the AFC Championship game.

How sweet is that?  The last truly-gifted, pre-Rivers, Chargers QB will be back to represent the Chargers as honorary captain.  Stan “The Man” will leave the comfort of his Louisiana home to brave the 15-degree weather of Foxboro to help get things started on the right foot.  Dare I say we will win the coin-toss, and it’s probably not a stretch to think that Sproles is a lock for a big return.

Apparently, Drew Brees wasn’t a gifted quarterback. But Jeff doesn’t predict a victory Sunday, mind you, just a coin-toss win and a big Darren Sproles kick return. Hey, think of it this way, everyone laughed at the thought of Stan Humphries taking the underdog Chargers to Pittsburgh and coming out not only alive and breathing, but with the Lamar Hunt trophy.

Steelers fans still remember that bitter January well. Maybe some of Humphries’ mojo is still there. An excerpt from Steeler Tribute’s chronicle of The Worst (Steelers) Game of the 90s:

Humphries began to drive from his own 20. Faced with 3rd and long on the Steelers 43 yard line, Humphries threw a pass that will linger in the minds of Steelers fans forever. The Steelers blitzed, as was their style. The Chargers picked it up, and that left CB Tim McKyer isolated on man-to-man coverage with WR Tony Martin. Martin burned McKyer, and the Chargers were shockingly in the lead.

Clearly, one of the finest moments in Chargers history. Clearly, the team is much better today than it was then. And the Patriots are better than the 1994 Steelers. These kinds of games have a tendency to become closer in reality than they are on paper.

A quick wish of support for Our Fearless Blog Leader Stephen, who was hospitalized last night for severe tendonitis in both wrists. The affliction was brought on after several postings on the Ravens coaching situation. Is it Jason Garrett? Maybe. Probably not though. Not yet, anyway. It’s enough to drive a newlywed mad.

At the very least, Stephen can flip on his hospital TV and wait with bated breath on whether or not Jerry Jones will pull something off. According to the Baltimore Sun, Garrett is deciding between the Cowboys’ offensive coordinator position, and the Ravens head coaching job.

Hmmm…this doesn’t seem to be too difficult of a choice. Obviously, ya gotta go with the Cowboys job.

That was below the belt. I’ll amend. One in the air beats two in the bush. Garrett would be crazy to not take the head coaching job now, leaving all respect to Jones and the Cowboys, his current employer. Hey, Jones was responsible for hiring Wade Phillips, not Garrett. Why should he wait another year for Phillips to get axed?

Big shocker, though, Tony Sparano (lookin’ forward to hearing Bryant Gumbel biff that name a few times next year) was hired as the head coach of the Miami Dolphins. Yeah, no one saw that coming. Here’s to Vikings defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier, the 2008 recpient of the Token Rooney Rule Candidate award, getting some interviewing experience, and using it positively.

It was 21 degrees when the Packers last beat the Giants in Green Bay in the playoffs. That was in the NFL Championship game Dec. 31, 1961, with the Packers routing the Giants 37-0.

The Packers also defeated the Giants in the same game the following season in New York. Temperatures were said to be around 12 degrees, and with 40 mph winds, the Packers again prevailed, 16-7.

Sunday, in the NFC Championship game at Lambeau Field, it will be colder. The forecast in Green Bay for Sunday shows a high of 11 degrees, Perhaps the coldest playoff game the Frozen Tundra has seen since the infamous Ice Bowl in 1967.

Is it a coincidence the Packers won that game as well? It’s worth mentioning, with all the mystique surrounding Green Bay in January, the Giants are 9-1 on the road this season, winning both their playoff games to get to this point away from the Meadowlands.

The Steelers won all three of their conference playoff games on the road en route to the Super Bowl championship in 2006.

Granted, Pittsburgh didn’t have to play in arctic conditions. In typical midwestern fashion, the predicted temperature gets colder the more the weather is discussed. Pete Dougherty of the Green Bay Gazette says the National Weather Service calls for a high of seven degrees, and Packers Chairman Bob Harlan said it would be six degrees. Either way, Tampa Bay and Dallas, the Giants last two opponents, carried with them tropical paradise compared to what Sunday will have in Wisconsin.

I’ll preface this by saying that I hope the Brain Trust is smarter than this. The rumors are out in full force in Cincinnati and Baltimore that Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis could interview for the Ravens HC position.

I’m against this for a bevy of reasons. Here are a few:

• Marvin Lewis has enough trouble controlling the players on his own team. We need a hard-ass coach, not Lewis.
• Much like the prospects of the 2008 election, it’s time for some fresh blood. Let’s not keep picking up apples that fall from the Billick coaching tree.
• Regardless of the amount of success (or lack thereof) Lewis achieved in Cincinnati during his tenure as head coach, he is not worth draft pick compensation. With 3 years left on his contract in Cincinnati, that’s exactly what it would take to pry him away from the Bengals. Ozzie Newsome’s success has come from building the team through the draft - picks are precious commodities.
• Mike Preston and I are like oil and water — and he appears to really enjoy the idea of bringing Lewis on board. Therefore, I’m not. (Just kidding, Mike)

What do you think? Is Marvin Lewis worth a look? Is he worth the draft pick that the Ravens would most likely have to give up? For historical context, Herm Edwards was “traded” to the Kansas City Chiefs from the Jets for a 4th round pick in 2006 and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers picked up Jon Gruden from the Raiders for $8M in compensation and 4 draft picks (two first round, two second round).

A good friend of ours always says “Football Rules the Universe.” You know what? He’s right.

Today, we’re taking a look at all of the AFC North teams in our first-ever AFC North roundtable. We start with last year’s AFC North champions, the Baltimore Ravens.

Ravens Touchdown, our Baltimore Ravens Blog kicks off the six question roundtable with a very detailed analysis of the upcoming season:

What did the Ravens do this off-season to improve?

For starters, they got rid of Jamal Lewis - that’s a big step in the right direction. He was coming off a rather uneventful season (admittedly by his standards - he set the bar rather high), and it looks like the team wanted to go another direction (something that Jamal wasn’t able to do well with his size and ankles). He was an awesome back for a while (see also: 2003), but injury and fatigue caught up to him like most defenders, judging by his lack of separation/acceleration speed. 3.6 average yards per carry isn’t going to cut it in today’s NFL, and certainly not in the AFC.

The acquisition of Willis McGahee is going to be enormous. The U guys - Ed Reed and Ray Lewis - will all stick together, and with leadership like Reed and Lewis on the other side of the ball, I don’t think that there will be any problems with McGahee like there were in Buffalo. Hey, he’s already been to OTA’s, which is more than he did last year!

The Ravens had an above average draft, as they drafted for need. I really think that Ben Grubbs (1st round pick) will make an immediate impact - much the same way that Haloti Ngata did in his rookie season. For those of you who missed it, here are the draft picks:

1st round, #29 overall–Ben Grubbs, G, Auburn
3rd round, #74–Yamon Figurs, WR/KR, Kansas State
3rd round, #86–Marshal Yanda, G/T, Iowa
4th round, #134–Antwan Barnes, LB/DE, Florida Intl.
4th round, #137–LeRon McClain, FB, Alabama
5th round, #174–Troy Smith, QB, Ohio State
6th round, #207–Prescott Burgess, LB, Michigan

With BJ Sams on the mend, will Yamon Figurs compete for a starting role? Or will the Ravens split duties, having Figurs return punts, while Sams returns kickoffs? It’s too early to tell, but I have a good feeling that these questions will all be addressed in training camp.

Moving along, Die Hard Steel, our Pittsburgh Steelers Blog, chimes in with a pre-camp look at the Steelers:

What players did the Steelers lose that you wish they could have kept?

I think our fearless Blog Leader is trying to trap me into talking about OLB Joey Porter. Since he is my Blog Ambassador of Coin, I will swing at the slider in the dirt, and go with the easy answer.

Every Steelers fan will miss J-Peezy for one reason or another. If it wasn’t his abs-exposed verbal taunting of a selected opponent of his choice while he paced up and down the 45-yard-line like a caged animal during stretching, it was the way he was able to turn on the pressure nearly every down when he got into a three-point stance. People who don’t follow this team overestimate Porter’s impact on the field, and his leadership ability, though. ILB James Farrior has been the defensive play leader for three years. Porter has just been the loudest, most noticeable player on a great unit. He provided the nasty. It’s not as if that can’t be replaced.

I couldn’t imagine the team’s decision to release him was a pleasant one, but it was a no-brainer. I wrote a few months ago, the decision doesn’t come down to this season. Porter had one year left on his deal, and he had been bitching about getting another one all season. It was highly likely he would have been standing in line with Faneca venting to the microphone at the onset of mini-camp. Peez is too old, and his production had dropped enough where it was clear the team had no interest in giving him another five years at the money he was making. When he was cut, they had a draft coming up with some OLBs catching their eye, and they gave his back-up, James “Silverback” Harrison, an extension the previous season anyway. So, in short, Porter was cut long before they made it official. The real impact of his declining skill may not be felt this season, but in two years, the Dolphins will have a choice of their own to make.

I wish him the best, and I will miss the energy he brought to the game, but a team is not going to compete with an aging defensive player at a motor position making as much money as the Dolphins are now paying him.

Bengals Brigade, our Cincinnati Bengals Blog, has a look at what the Bengals are up to this season:

Going in to the season, what do you see as the Bengals biggest weakness?

I’m sure this will be a shocker to anyone that watched a Bengals game last year but the biggest weakness will be the defense. They did add some pieces and there is potential for them to play much better than last year but we’ll have to wait and see if it actually happens. There’s no one particular part of the defense that needs to get better than the others, it has to get better as a whole.

They’ll also be hurt by Chris Henry’s suspension. Several wide receivers are battling to get that 3^rd receiver spot behind Chad and TJ. Unless someone steps up, they could have some rough patches until Henry can come back.

Last but not least, The Brown and Orange, our Cleveland Browns blog, provides us a glimpse of what to expect this year from the lowly Browns:

Going in to the season, what do you see as the Browns biggest strength?

Their biggest strength this year will be their special teams as it was last year. However, this year we will be counting on them to put us in position to win games. Dawson will have to make 40-45 yard field goals. We will need big return yards from Cribbs and whoever punt returns if it is not him. This part of the team will have to shine the first part of the season if this team wants to start learning how to win.

So, there you have it. The first ever AFC North Roundtable. Links to the complete roundtable questions (with answers) can be found here:

• Ravens
• Steelers
• Bengals
• Browns

Next we’ll take a look at the AFC East. The Jets are getting better… but so are the Patriots. What are the Dolphins and Bills going to do?