Happy New Year, Steelers Fans

Yes, this is how I spend New Year's Eve, alone in my apartment blogging away.

I've been meaning to update this blog to let my fellow Steelers fans know what's going on with Respect the Towel, and this is really the first time I have a chance.

Hopefully most of you know I've started writing about the Steelers for Bleacher Report. My goal is to be read by a wider audience and hopefully get some sort of return on all the time I spend blogging about the Steelers.

In my first month on Bleacher Report, I've already been promoted to Steelers Featured Columnist. So it seems like a good move so far.

However, if you've been following me on Respect the Towel and Bleacher Report, you might be wondering why I didn't post any columns on the Steelers' last two games on either site.

I feel I need to explain this since I posted columns on every Steelers game from Week 1 of the 2007 season until the Steelers' win over the Browns this season.

As a Bleacher Report Featured Columnist, I'm required to write at least two columns a week. These aren't necessarily live game reactions, but rather assigned titles that call for analysis or opinion on the season in general.

The Steelers' game against the 49ers came during my trial as a Steelers' Featured Columnist. By the following afternoon, I had to post a Bleacher Report article about how Rashard Mendenhall ranks among AFC North running backs (second to Ray Rice). I really couldn't blow that, so I wrote that rather than an article specifically about the game.

Then I crammed most of my Christmas shopping into three days, wrote another assigned Bleacher Report article and went home to New England for Christmas.

I watched the Steelers' win over the Rams at a sports bar in Rhode Island, but then visited family right after the game. No time for a blog post about the game, especially with my Bleacher Report requirement fulfilled for the week.

With the holidays behind us, hopefully I can get back to doing game articles. Most likely I'll be filling assigned Bleacher Report titles directly related to the game. Hopefully the Steelers provide plenty of games for me to write about over the next month or so.

I'll post occasionally on Respect the Towel so this blog doesn't wither away, but most of my Steelers writing going forward will be on Bleacher Report.

Thanks for reading. Happy New Year and Go Steelers.