This and that

Pretty Steelers-heavy, I realize, but it is Steelers' (short) week ...

• Nate Livings and Anthony Collins likely will form the left side of the Bengals' line tomorrow night against the No. 1 ranked defense in the league. Yikes. Livings is a free agent who's been on the practice squad for three years and has never been active for a game. He's confident though. Good quote from him in Geoff Hobson's article on Bengals.com.

• The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review's Scott Brown talked to Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin, who said he "cut down on the mileage that we put on the wheels as we prepare" because of the short week, pointed out that "both teams are dealing with the short week," and agreed that his defense can be considered great.

• Hines Ward links: ProFootballTalk.com's Mike Florio points out that just because Hines Ward's hits are clean doesn't mean he's not an ass. Ward remains unapologetic, insists it's football and you've got to keep your head on a swivel, and says he's not worried about the possibility of revenge. The DDN's Chick Ludwig offers a Q&A with Ward as well as a blog post where he suggests that "you've gotta admire the dude for doing everything in his power to win football games." So with the Florio post and the Ludwig post, you've basically got a point/counterpoint. If you've got any Bengals fan in you and/or you feel bad for Keith Rivers and others Ward has blown up, it's tough to agree with Chick on this one.

• To recognize the anniversary of Sean Taylor's murder, ESPN.com has a package about NFL Security and how safe players are. Big Ben is among those to offer his point of view.

• On SI.com, Baseball Prospectus offers its Hot Stove Preview of the NL Central. Nothing too earth-shattering about the Reds. Needs are shortstop and centerfield. Agree, more so about shortstop (like I said before, Dickerson might be serviceable in center). What are they likely to do? Shop Arroyo, it says, which I think makes some sense. You're still selling high on him after the great second half he had. What should they do? Acquire Milton Bradley (interesting) and try to get Alcides Escobar and whatever else from the Brewers for Arroyo. Which is funny, because my fellow OMGReds contributors who were tired of me shooting down every rumor made me come forward with a player I thought the Reds SHOULD pursue and I said J.J. Hardy, who the Brewers might be more willing to part with BECAUSE they have Escobar.

• Little known fact about new Mariners skipper Don Wakamatsu: He was an 11th round pick of the Cincinnati Reds in the 1985 draft. The Reds released him in 1989. Talk about the definition of a career minor-leaguer. He caught 18 games for the White Sox in 1991 and that's it as far as MLB experience.

• Non-local link of the day: Milan Simon Tuttle, a 5-year-old girl, puts on a dribbling exhibition that makes a pro jealous. Crazy video.