Game 1 Press Conference vs Browns

[Steeltime]

This season, Tomlin's team needs to come out prepared, and demonstrate the ability to play up to their potential for 60 minutes. The all-too common failing of Tomlin's team is that it seems completely unprepared in the first 20 minutes, and falls behind garbage teams.

Tomlin's recent track record includes 2009, when the Steelers lost to the Chiefs, a horrible Raiders team (at home), and Browns, all with the season on the line. Three losses to terrible teams, with the common element that the team seemed "unprepared" for their opponent.

Then in the 2011 playoffs, the Steelers lost to a mediocre Broncos team quarterbacked by Tim Tebow. Uggh.

In 2012, the Steelers lost to the Raiders, Titans, Browns, and Chargers - the last one with the season in the balance, at home, to a crappy team that had lost 4 in a row and 6 out of 7.

In 2013, the Steelers lost to the Titans, the Vikings, the Raiders and the Dolphins - once again, the last one at home, against an inferior opponent, with the season on the line.

5 seasons, 12 losses to really bad teams, three of which ended the season. That is simply inexcusable.

If the Steelers bumble around in the 1st quarter on Sunday, and eke out a 13-12 win or something of that nature, then the warning alarms should be blaring - since that would show the Steelers have not changed their seemingly unconcerned approach to playing bad teams. And make no mistake, this Browns team is effing horrible.

A good coach does not repeatedly lose games, several at home, to vastly inferior opponents, with the season on the line. At some point, the Steelers are going to have to demonstrate that they are prepared to face an inferior opponent, and go about destroying that opponent in the first half. The tendency with this team is to demonstrate that it is unprepared to face the inferior opponent, play a terrible first quarter, keep the inferior opponent in the game, and then try desperately to win game in the fourth quarter. That is a reflection of the coach. Teams like Seattle, San Francisco, Denver, and New England maul inferior opponents in the first half.

Sunday will tell us a lot about this team, and whether or not Tomlin has his team prepared to play a focused and intense brand of football from the opening kickoff, or if instead we see the usual bumbling around for the entire first half against a terrible opponent. If we see the latter, then I cannot be very optimistic about the rest of the season. Seriously, an opening day game, at home, against a lousy Cleveland team? There is simply no excuse for sloppy and disorganized play that keeps Cleveland in the game.

 

[insaniti]

Injuries always hit us hard. Sadly, we have no depth at any position on the field.

KEY injuries. We always say that if Ben goes down we're screwed. He went down, and what happened, we were screwed. I guess Mike McCarthy should be run out of Green Bay and blamed for Aaron Rogers going down too right?

For some reason, we're only to consider the kinda strong finish to the season. The dominant stretch in which we were epically humiliated by the Pats, then got absolutely gashed by Matt Flynn and Ryan Tannehill, losing to the latter in Pittsburgh - that's our glimmer of hope, and proof of Tomlin's coaching acumen. The 0-4 and 2-6 start - not important. Matt Flynn throwing for 800 yards and nearly beating us - not important. Falling apart against bad teams at the end of 2012 when we were in the driver seat for the playoffs - not important. Or at least not Tomlin's fault: it was all on someone else. They only listened to Tomlin's brilliance in the first half of 2012 and the second half of 2013.

Not what I'm saying at all, but you look at it as just the opposite. You completely ignore the positives and only concentrate on the negatives. I'm not making excuses and trying to praise him as one of the all time greats. But I'm also not going to rip him apart and call him names for doing things that Cowher did as well, not to mention other headcoaches in the league. The way he is talked about on this board, you would think he was Butch Davis, Josh McDaniels, or Romeo Crennel. He made mistakes, he's still young, but he has shown the willingness to adjust and do things differently despite what you all want to say. He's far from perfect, he's far from **** as well.

If it hadn't been for STILL more bed-shittings against the dregs of the NFL (Titans, Vikings, Raiders), we wouldn't have had to rely on Ryan Succop and the Chargers-Chiefs refs. Again, it really sounds like you were cool with 8-8.

Cowher had his fair share of "bed-shittings" against some ****** teams. A game against Oakland comes to mind, we doubled them in yardage, dominated them in every way possible, and still lost...BADLY. Sometimes the breaks just don't go your way. The Cleveland game a few years ago comes to mind. Every time we got into the redzone, one of our more sure handed and dependable players would fumble. Whether it was Heath, or Ward, we kept turning the ball over and ended up losing the game. How is that the coaches fault?

Seven years into his tenure, we shouldn't be looking for promise, or glimpses of hope. We should have a cohesive, well-defined team with a strong core and solid depth. Instead, we're pointing to the refs and our annual injury onslaught to explain why THIS year doesn't count against Tomlin's evaluation.

I forgot how awesome we always were, and how much depth we always had at all positions under Cowher. Cowher's OL's didn't get ravaged by injury, but he always had solid depth at other positions... like WR right? Or how about CB? Years of average WR's and trotting out Dwayne Washington and Chad Scott as our CB's showed me that you can't have depth everywhere. One area we have never been at a lack of talent for under Tomlin is WR. Some could argue at CB as well, but then they would bring up letting Keenan Lewis go. Tomlin still has a lot to learn, but the team isn't as bad as some make it out to be. The philosophy has changed, and some people don't like it. It doesn't make it wrong, it makes it different.

This year will be the telling sign of how Tomlin is as a coach, Cowher had back to back losing seasons, Tomlin has had back to back 500 seasons. Cowher bounced back, if Tomlin does the same does that buy him some slack? or are we so spoiled as a fan base that we start to turn into Browns fans clamoring for a headcoaching change every year?



Our tailspin began that season, culminating in the most embarrassing playoff loss in team history. Two lost seasons, ripped right out of Ben's prime and the end of LeBeau's career. We'll see how big of a deal that becomes, but with middling young "talent" on board, I shudder to think of our outlook when Ben is no longer elite. Gonna take a lot of 19-yard first-quarter FGs to beat the Raiders when that day comes.[/QUOTE]

 

[Vader]

What exactly is the philosophy? You say it changed but what has it changed into? Also comparing Cowher's "losing" seasons to Tomlin's "back to back .500 seasons" totally dismisses the point of having a franchise QB. Cowher had losing seasons with Kent Graham, Kordell and Maddox. Tomlin is sucking with Ben not even missing a snap last year. He was perfectly healthy unlike the .500 year with Cowher in 06'. Cowher also had to go through a power struggle with a numbnuts like Donahoe (who drafted Troy Edwards over Cowher's objections). Tomlin has been given everything a HC could want. He has a franchise QB, a HOF DC, HOF SS and an org. that will let him do his business without much interference.

Also just to this game. There is no reason why this game shouldn't be a blowout. The clowns are a mess. They have a 1st year coach, a QB coming off of an ACL injury, a backup QB that hasn't seen a real NFL defense yet, and their #1 WR isn't playing. No reason at all to even have a close.

 

[ark steel]

Huh? Try again.

Someone said Polamalu admitted he was out of position on th big play that won the game in OT. I don't know if it is true, but I don't think anyone challenged it.

 

[Idioteque]

I'm not sure why nobody can talk up or even defend Tomlin without relying on the name Bill Cowher. As though Tomlin's cartoonish screwups are OK, because Cowher once did a similar thing in 1994. I'm not here to defend Cowher, nor am I here to tell you he was a flawless coach. Nor am I even trying to make a comparison to Tomlin. I'm not interested in comparing Tomlin to Cowher; I'm interested in comparing Tomlin to competent head coaches. And no, W-L record is not the yardstick to use. Mike Smith and Mike Martz both have/had better W-L records than Bud Grant, Joe Gibbs, Bill Walsh, Tom Landry, Hank Stram, and Bill Parcells. Tomlin has won as many Super Bowls as Mike Ditka; are we going to make that comparison?

KEY injuries. We always say that if Ben goes down we're screwed. He went down, and what happened, we were screwed. I guess Mike McCarthy should be run out of Green Bay and blamed for Aaron Rogers going down too right?

Any injury to a starter is a key injury. In 2011, we were hit by injuries everywhere - not Tomlin's fault, but we had garbage stepping in for them. Woodley, Troy, Heath, Hampton, every o-lineman we've had - when they all went down, we failed to stick a single quality replacement into the lineup. Will Allen and Steve McLendon were our success stories.

You completely ignore the positives

Can you name them for me? Hate to sound pessimistic, but which aspects of the team look objectively good right now?

The way he is talked about on this board, you would think he was Butch Davis, Josh McDaniels, or Romeo Crennel.

His fuckups are pretty well-documented and massive, and I've yet to see anyone address them. Seriously; all I've gotten in the few years I've been arguing about Mike Tomlin is stuff about injuries and Ryan Succop. So why should I assume that somewhere deep down he's a good coach? Especially when zero of his rabid supporters refuse to let me in on the secret?

He made mistakes, he's still young

He's young in age, but this will be his eighth season. He is the NFL's sixth-longest tenured head coach. How long does he get the "young" pass? Look at the Harbaugh brothers and tell me it takes just forever to develop head coaching skills.

but he has shown the willingness to adjust and do things differently despite what you all want to say.

What adjustments are we talking about here? I'm open to dialogue. As I said, which you haven't addressed, we have pretty much the same MASSIVE issues we had in 2007, only magnified. Can you name one aspect of our team that's improved since then? Not the run game, which is now pretty pathetic. Not the passing game, which is just as if not less efficient than it was pre-Tomlin. Not the o-line, which has gone straight downhill. Not the run defense, which has gone from impenetrably #1 to below-average. Not the pass rush, which has gone from feared to non-existent. You could perhaps argue that the pass D has improved based on raw yardage totals, but even that's shaky ground; we still get gashed up and down the field by tons of QBs and pad our stats when we play the Browns and such.

Cowher had his fair share of "bed-shittings" against some ****** teams.

As often as Tomlin? With the season on the line? There have already been three seasons completely torpedoed late in the year - with the playoffs in sight - by losses to AWFUL teams. Not mediocre teams.. not subpar teams.. awful ones. Teams that would go on to finish 4-12. Teams incapable of beating anyone for long stretches who would beat us, then immediately revert back to an inability to beat anyone. (And that doesn't include losing to Tim Tebow in the playoffs.) If it were a sporadic thing, as it is for all teams, it would be one thing. But it's become annual with us. Early season, late season, banged up, healthy, on a winning streak, on a losing streak - it's absolute clockwork for us.

Sometimes the breaks just don't go your way.

This is just a gross understatement and excuse. If you think we're all imagining his pattern of losses to the dregs of the NFL, then you're off-base.

The Cleveland game a few years ago comes to mind. Every time we got into the redzone, one of our more sure handed and dependable players would fumble. Whether it was Heath, or Ward, we kept turning the ball over and ended up losing the game. How is that the coaches fault?

You mean the game we managed 218 yards of offense and scored six points? We deserved to win that one, but lost on some unlucky breaks? What happened around that same time against the awful Chiefs and Raiders? Also some unlucky fumbles? And is that the only example, or one of dozens and dozens?

Two years ago, I spent an hour or so comparing the W-L record of about 10 successful NFL head coaches v. sub-.500 teams. I do not remember the final numbers, but Tomlin came in markedly behind the others. It's not a mirage. Check out our recent history:

http://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/pit/

and tell me we don't CHRONICALLY lose to subpar and atrocious teams, often in key spots with the season on the line.

you can't have depth everywhere.

But we haven't had it anywhere in years.

Tomlin still has a lot to learn, but the team isn't as bad as some make it out to be.

I can't see any reason to say we have better than the third-best roster in our division. We're clearly behind the Ravens in talent and coaching, and that's a mediocre Ravens team.

The philosophy has changed, and some people don't like it. It doesn't make it wrong, it makes it different.

What's our philosophy now? We're not good running the ball or stopping the run.. and we're hit-or-miss passing or stopping the pass. What's the new, successful philosophy that has taken hold and made us 16-16?

This year will be the telling sign of how Tomlin is as a coach

Why this year? As I said, only five head coaches have been around longer. Why do we just dismiss most of Tomlin's first SEVEN years when we evaluate his coaching?

Cowher bounced back, if Tomlin does the same does that buy him some slack?

Well of course, but I don't see the reasoning to expect the turnaround. Maybe I'm wrong, but do you? Again, list for me the positive aspects I should be glowing about. I'm not talking about a guy who flashed in preseason, or positive chatter from the Pittsburgh media about such-and-such being primed for a big year. I'm asking for a list of the aspects of our current team that are promising and at least semi-proven. DeCastro, Cam, and the receivers? Is that enough, you think?

or are we so spoiled as a fan base that we start to turn into Browns fans clamoring for a headcoaching change every year?

More of the "spoiled" stuff. Apparently, a real fan waits for 6 or 7 non-playoff seasons before making a change. A real fan takes the 8-8 status quo and rolls with it, secure in the knowledge that we're not quite as bad as the Browns or Jaguars. That's really all you can ask of Tomlin's Steelers, I guess.

 

[insaniti]

I'm not going to go thru and quote everything just to argue again. hopefully you can figure out which points I'm trying to address by the words I'm using.

First, I'm not comparing Tomlin and Cowher, simply using his history as an example to pull from. Besides, there were plenty of fire Cowher threads and even websites from all the home AFCCG loses. They are valid points because both coaches were very young and inexperienced when they took over the franchise... don't go throwing out the Cowher didn't have a franchise QB like Tomlin arguments (VADER), because Cowher CHOSE not to have that franchise QB. Never even attempted to address the position, and was always bringing in journeyman type players.

We'll start with positives from Tomlin. I know you don't want to admit it, but the last half of last year our offense isn't what caused us to keep losing games...we only lost 2 games in the second half of the year, and neither were the offenses fault. Our WR's have been way above and beyond what we had before Tomlin came aboard. Cowher was able to find LBer's growing on tree's, Tomlin finds WR's. Both are positions that they coached prior to coming to the Steelers. Our secondary play has been better, but the new rules haven't allowed that to be showcased as much as it could be. Very few defenses in today's game don't give up tons of yardage to average QB's. You also can't put ALL of that blame on Tomlin, yes he is the head coach, but when you have a HOF DC (as some of you like to point out), you tend to defer to his overall judgement on a lot of things. The few times that LeBeau has really changed his philosophy for certain games (new england a few years back for example) they have generally turned out pretty well for us. I think they are both still tweaking things with the new rules, the offenses using a ton more short quick passes, etc.

Adjustments that have been made, training camp was adjusted...until the new CBA limited what we could do. His first TC was brutal, and the players were worn down at the end of the year. The next year he lightened up on TC and we went 12-4 and won the SB. He's shown that he isn't afraid to make changes to the roster midseason at the drop of hat. He definitely learned from the Cleveland game where all our RB's fumbled and he would bench them and put in the next guy. There were a few times last year Bell fumbled and he went right back to him immediately. He's adjusted to how he handled the Mike Wallace "one trick pony" comments, you could see that this year with how he handled Bryant. He was tough with him but didn't take it to the media, and wasn't quite so "mean" about how he did it as well. He doesn't stand on the sidelines during special teams anymore (obviously this is a joke). There ARE positives, these are just off the top of my head.

The Raiders game I'm referring to is NOT the 218 yard game, need to go further back. It was 2006, here's a link to the box score...http://www.footballdb.com/games/boxscore.html?gid=2006102912

I think you are selling our team short if you think we are the third best "talent" wise in the division. I don't see this clear cut advantage the Ravens have over us, maybe you can enlighten me.

Why do I say this year is the tell for Tomlin? Because he's had THREE 12-4 seasons, one of which was just three years ago, hasn't finished with a losing record yet. With how we ended last year, did he learn from the early season mistakes or did we just happen to get lucky? This year will tell us how much of those 8-8 seasons were Tomlin and how much were injuries, bad breaks, etc. Cowher had back to back losing seasons, and if he would have had a third, he might not have lasted after that, but he bounced back. The Rooney's are a family that believes in stability, but three bad seasons and they are going to start to look at their options.

The spoiled comment is not a "real fan" argument. It's a statement that we have enjoyed A LOT of success in our history, the most super bowl wins in the NFL. We've come to just expect that we'll be in the mix each and every year. So much so, that when we do have some down years, I feel the fan base OVER analyses things and starts to lose site of the real side of professional sports. 8-8 isn't the status quo, but I'm also not just looking at the 8-8. I'm looking at why we were 8-8, especially last year when we very easily could have been a 4-12 team with how we started.

As for seeing a reason for turn around, I absolutely see a reason for a turn around. First and foremost, our offense. I'm fully confident in our ability to jump into the no huddle and go down and score with the best of them. I feel we have enough proven talent in Ben, Brown, Miller, and Bell that push come to shove we can rely on that core. On defense, I see some reason for optimism. I don't see us being able to completely shut down a teams running game (not with McClendon "anchoring" the middle), but I see enough speed and ability in the players we've recently brought in, and what we have carried over to limit the larger gains. I see Shazier as a HUGE upgrade to Vince Williams. I see Mike Mitchell as an upgrade to Ryan Clark, even if we haven't seen some jump off the page stats yet. I have hope that Cortez Allen will be healthier this year and our starting CB's won't be Taylor and Gay. I see our DL being better last year by replacing Hood with ANYONE (especially Tuitt and Keisel).

I liked our draft this year, I thought it was pretty solid over all, and I'm not even going to address the Dri Archer situation because I agree with you there, but top to bottom, probably Tomlin's best draft class. I even have optimism about our OL. I still don't like our LT situation, but Pouncy being back, DeCastro with another year of experience. They are still very much a work in progress, but we have a much better teacher than we've had in years and who knows how much correcting he's had to do. It's a positive just to have had the same five for the majority of camp and pre-season.

 

[Franco]

Idioteque and steeltime just destroyed the Tomlin supporters with facts, something they run from.

Tomlin has won playoff games in only 2 of his 7 seasons, 29% of the time, awful given the team he inherited and did not build. We are below the line at head coach and this season will be fraught with more of his stupidity and even the NFL's weakest schedule won't allow us to win the division or make the playoffs,time for the con man to take his tired act to another team dumb enough to pay him even minimum wage.

 

[bermudasteel]

Honestly, if we dump Tomlin, do you know the bidding war that will occur to grab him as a Head Coach? You don't put a horse out to pasture when they've got plenty of pep in their step.

You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to Cope again.

 

[Steelz]

Mike Tomlin has done a great job coaching and being the leader of this team, that's really all you can ask a coach to do. I'm sure some on here believes a coach should have a magical controller to determine how a QB throws a pass, RB run the ball, how they react in a game,etc. But of course that's not the case and they have no clue on how football is played. That being said I'm tired of reading these ***** *** post and don't care to respond anymore on anything Tomlin. It's time to start talking about the players who actually play the game.

 

[Idioteque]

Mike Tomlin has done a great job coaching and being the leader of this team, that's really all you can ask a coach to do. I'm sure some on here believes a coach should have a magical controller to determine how a QB throws a pass, RB run the ball, how they react in a game,etc. But of course that's not the case and they have no clue on how football is played. That being said I'm tired of reading these ***** *** post and don't care to respond anymore on anything Tomlin. It's time to start talking about the players who actually play the game.

Of course not; a head coach has no responsibilities at all. Certainly not teaching players to play well.

 

[SteelBuckeye]

Of course not; a head coach has no responsibilities at all. Certainly not teaching players to play well.

not saying a HC has no responsibilities, but isn't this the reason there are position coaches? If not, why even have them. We could have the HC running from position group to position group teaching every position how to play well.

 

[Franco]

Who the **** is responsible for the job the position coaches does moron ?

 

[obxsteeler]

I would love to see a roundtable with Belicheck, Reid, Carroll, Gruden, Whisenhut and Tomlin discussing football. The boy would look as out of his element and league as Obama or Carter would look on Rushmore.

I would pay to see a roundtable with Tomlin and 4 or 5 of his critics on this Board discussing football. That would be a real laugh.

 

[antdrewjosh]

I would pay to see a roundtable with Tomlin and 4 or 5 of his critics on this Board discussing football. That would be a real laugh.

Karma sent

 

[Idioteque]

I would pay to see a roundtable with Tomlin and 4 or 5 of his critics on this Board discussing football. That would be a real laugh.

Do you ever discuss sports, politics, music, movies, etc.? Just a yes/no.

 

[Franco]

I would pay to see a roundtable with Tomlin and 4 or 5 of his critics on this Board discussing football. That would be a real laugh.

Obfuscate all you want, I am comparing Tomlin to his peers, you want to make it Tomlin versus fans. Tomlin is a below the line coach.

 

[Omar10213245]

I would pay to see a roundtable with Tomlin and 4 or 5 of his critics on this Board discussing football. That would be a real laugh.

a real laugh because Tomlin would just SCHOOL the critics here with his football acumen, right? right???

 

[Franco]

Seems he should have been able to talk about fixing the OLine, the running game, roster depth and more with all his bullshit verbal diarrhea over the last 8 years. Talking specific football with the tool would be riveting, it would be shocking to most how little he knows

 

[Vader]

You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to Franco again.

I'm sure a doctoral failure could school non-health professionals as well. Doesn't mean I want him operating on me. Hopefully the bar is set higher than that.

 

[Idioteque]

You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to Franco again.

I'm sure a doctoral failure could school non-health professionals as well. Doesn't mean I want him operating on me. Hopefully the bar is set higher than that.

LOL. It's all they've got. Obx's post is the answer to "What does Tomlin do well?"

 

[Steeltime]

I'm sure a doctoral failure could school non-health professionals as well. Doesn't mean I want him operating on me. Hopefully the bar is set higher than that.

You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to Vader again.

Great point ... do you want your doctor or your lawyer to be more knowledgeable about his profession than somebody who never attended graduate school, or do you want your doctor or lawyer to be more knowledgeable about his profession than OTHER doctors or lawyers?

 

[SteelBuckeye]

Ok, who is a better judge of that knowledge, someone who went to school for journalism? Someone who passed H.S. Biology and gets to watch from behind the glass in an observation room? Or, other doctors. Because if it's me, I'm taking the recommendation of someone in the industry.

*sidenote: I can't read what he says, but I give my sidekick about 15 minutes before he comes on here attacking my opinion like some rabid jackass rather than replying with a well thought out response.

 

[Idioteque]

Ok, who is a better judge of that knowledge, someone who went to school for journalism? Someone who passed H.S. Biology and gets to watch from behind the glass in an observation room? Or, other doctors. Because if it's me, I'm taking the recommendation of someone in the industry.

So in other words, you assume that any decision made by an NFL team is the correct one? You feel it's impossible for an amateur to notice so much as one thing that a professional does not? Nothing personal, but I wish I were a doctor or mechanic or plumber in your town.

NFL folks screw up a ton, more often than they make the right move. Therefore, I'm not going to shrug and assume Mike Tomlin or Doug Marrone or Matt Millen are inarguably The Man For The Job, because an NFL team said so. And if that's your point of view, then I can't imagine why you visit a football message board and share opinions. According to you, any opinion any of us have is groundless and worthless, right?

 

[SteelBuckeye]

So in other words, you assume that any decision made by an NFL team is the correct one? You feel it's impossible for an amateur to notice so much as one thing that a professional does not? Nothing personal, but I wish I were a doctor or mechanic or plumber in your town.

NFL folks screw up a ton, more often than they make the right move. Therefore, I'm not going to shrug and assume Mike Tomlin or Doug Marrone or Matt Millen are inarguably The Man For The Job, because an NFL team said so. And if that's your point of view, then I can't imagine why you visit a football message board and share opinions. According to you, any opinion any of us have is groundless and worthless, right?

Please. Don't put words in my mouth. What I'm saying is that all things being equal I'd put more weight on the recommendation of a professional than an amateur. Now, we know that all things are not equal on this message board because other than a screen name and a few other misc. facts, I don't know much if anything about the qualifications of of the people posting that "Tomlin must go". The word "Amateur" at least implies some knowledge and skill in the area. So, who are these "Amateur" GMs and Owners? What relevant skill sets do they have, and where did they develop them? (owning a fantasy football team or coaching biddy league doesn't count) In short, what are their qualifications?

I'm not gonna just jump on the "Fire Tomlin" bandwagon because someone on the interwebz say so.

Yep, NFL people screw up a ton. They'd do so more often by continuously making decisions because some self-professed "Amateur" GM/Owner/Scout says "do this" or "do that".
And no, I value the opinions of the posters on this board. I'm here for just that; to see the opinions of other Steelers fans on topics relating to the Steelers. To agree and disagree as I see fit. But, not to take either myself or anyone else's opinions as "the god's honest truth" or "Gospel".

 

[BLITZ]

my 2 cents. if Tomlin was a bad coach he would have been fired. the Rooneys do this for a living. it is their passion and their livelihood. if Tomlin was hurting that he would be gone.

we all voice our opinions on here and sometime our opinions are misconstrued as fact. we are on a message board talking about topics we only know 1 side of. the Rooneys have done this their entire lives. my guess is they know a little more about it than any of our experts.