Not even sure what this is about, but Mike Tomlin isn't human.

When I blink, both my eyelids shut real quick, then open back up...usually at the same time. If I'm winking at someone, one eyelid closes while I scrunch up part of my face. Mike Tomlin seems to have the ability to exist somewhere between the realms of blinks and winks, and then his left eye just goes and does whatever it wants.

The file name is Mike Tomlin Reptillian Shapeshift Caught Live!

I'd add more to this post, but I'm entirely creeped out.

I'll be honest, I was nervous when Dan subbed in Miro Satan for the struggling Petr Sykora midway through the first round of the playoffs. I didn't throw him under the bus, like some critics, but I was concerned that the move might backfire. Bylsma has had nothing but positives in his short time in the 'Burgh, but you'd be fooling yourself if you didn't think Shero was closely watching his interim coach. If that move would've ended our season in the first round, Shero might aggressively consider outside candidates for the head coaching position.

Winning the series probably aided Bylsma's case to remove the interim tag. Today, Bylsma was announced as the current and future HEAD coach of your Pittsburgh Penguins, agreeing to a multi-year deal. And it's sick that Shero invoked Badger Bob in his explanation for Bylsma's new deal:

“Dan has impressed us all with his knowledge of the game, his relentless work ethic, his communication skills, and his ability to relate to the players and staff,” Shero said. “When Badger Bob Johnson was the coach of the Penguins, he said every day was a great day for hockey. Dan approaches the game with that same type of enthusiasm. He accepted the challenge of being our interim head coach in February and made this a very easy decision for our ownership and management.”

Bylsma is doing all the right things...winning games, getting contract extensions...but remember that Michel Therrien is not that far removed from his own good times/contract talk in the 'Burgh. I'm anxious to see how far Dan can take us in this playoff bracket, and how his style reflects over an entire season.

This job is tough, and there's a lot of pressure given the history of players and coaches that have come through the City of Champions. Bylsma has my full support, as a run to the Cup is now firmly in his hands.

Cheers to my parents for sending these in. They were in Philly this past weekend (keep in mind they also went to Game 4 at the Wachovia Center). Apparently, my dad walked right up to the fence, got the cool mini pony's attention like he would a dog and the little guy came right over. And my dad got to pet it.

Yeah, I'm jealous.

If you do one thing today, go here. Pesonen and the Pens has video of the Game 6 clincher with Mike Lange's audio synced up to the highlights. Unreal. [Pesonen and the Pens]

Yo rook, you're not going to beat the Steelers. [OFTOT]

Why does Ned Colletti get all the love? [Sharapova's Thigh]

My buddy Paneech interviewed Kelly Pavlik's trainer. Sick! [Paneech]

Oh yeah, Ethan's other blog got a sweet facelift. [PWNED Video]

There was a buzzer beater at the Steelers charity game. The video sounds like people are dying. [Mondesi's House]

Solids links today, if I do say so myself.

China Jack comes through again with a lovely little toast for the Pens, acknowledging their Eastern Conference Quarterfinals series win over the jerks from Philadelphia. However, Jack has some words of caution:

"Listen up, all jobbers from The Pensblog. Pay attention, Nicholas from Pittsburgh Sports and Mini Ponies...now is not the time to get cocky. The Flyers proved the Pens are not invincible."

Truer words may have been spoken at some point, but not by someone as badass as China Jack. He just knows how to get the message across. Video is below:

So much respect to my buddy Gavin.

HEE SHOES HE SCORES! Go Pens!

Remember when the Penguins sucked earlier this season? Everyone hopped on the "Fire Michel Therrien" bandwagon, and the positive results of the coaching switch became apparent right away. However, there was something else that happened right around the same time that might have had a more profound effect on the team's star player, Sidney Crosby.

I told you all about the Pens and Pins bowling tournament that was set up by the Penguins' Wives Club or something. Some kids from the Make-A-Wish Foundation were able to roll a few games with the Pens, and the event seemed to be one positive in an otherwise underwhelming season.

Sid couldn't make the event due to an illness, and his partner, Bryce Cunningham, wanted to give something to his absent hero. He gave FSN commentator Dan Potash a hat to give Sid, with Bryce's name stitched into the side. I had heard rumors about the hat after seeing Sid wear it repeatedly following the February event, but couldn't get confirmation on the source of the hat.

The Penguins website made a fantastic mention of Bryce today, his hat, and the the team's turnaround since Sid's been wearing the hat at all times.

Don [Cunningham, Bryce's father] said the decision was made to get Crosby a new hat. When Crosby couldn't attend the event, Don said he approached Dan Potash, a reporter for FSN Pittsburgh, and asked if he would give the hat to Crosby the next night in Toronto.

"Usually I just have a hat a year kind of thing and stick with it," Crosby told NHL.com. "I had been wearing one a lot until two months before the season ended, then he gave me this one and said the other one was a little too dirty, so I switched it up. We started to win some games and it worked out pretty good."

Nice. Now the world knows a little more info about how one kid helped turn the Penguins' nearly-dreadful season around. Also, today is Bryce's 11th birthday, so PSAMP sends out the most awesome birthday wishes to someone who has influenced one of my favorite teams in a dominating way.

And Bryce had the burn of the century at the Pens and Pins fundraiser. WithSid out, Bryce was paired with Fleury, who is absolutely terrible at the game. Said Bryce:

"I already beat him, I don’t know if he’s that good at bowling,” Bryce Cunningham, 10, said. “It’s pretty fun because you just all get together and bowl."

Wicked.

Go Pens!

It's always good to have friends.

My buddy Mike went to the draft. [Steady Burn]

The Chiefs got Mister Irrelevant. [Arrowhead Addict]

Some great draft images. [Kissing Suzy Kolber]

The Pirates won...again. And their numbers are intense. [WHYGAVS?]

Greg LOLaus. [LOL Jocks]

Giant Cheetos are a farce. [Black and Gold Tchotchkes]

Down 3-0 in the game, Talbot knew what was up.

Big-time momentum-swinging fight. He may not have won it, but he showed that the Pens weren't going to just roll over. How pompous were the Philly fans after the lead and that fight?

Talbot and the Pens quieted them.

Bring on anyone. Go Pens!

My buddy Jim came out to our NYC Pens fans meetup last night, and shot some scenes for Game 5's Yinz Luv Da Guins despite a poor performancefrom said Guins. You can catch me real quick with the blinking Yuengling pin on my chest, as well as mentioning that a power play was imminent during the "Adam" bit.

Big ups to everyone in the group that got featured...Adam, Sid, Peter...some other people whose names I can't remember. Fun times.

The game sucked and the group was pretty low-key with nothing to really cheer for, but Jim held it down and we had as good of a time as we could've given the outcome.

Guess we'll just close out the series in Philly, then.

My buddy Benson checks in again with a new Burghability parody video.

This time, Mikey and Big Bob of 96.1 Kiss FM's Morning Freak Show join forces with Benstonium to pick appropriate playoff beards for the Penguins. I gotta say, the "George Michael" is smooth.

And hopefully, the dude with the Pirates' '92 playoff beard will have something to cheer about come October.

Thanks to Chris at First Cuts via Pasta Padre for passing this along.

Steelers S Troy Polamalu is your new coverboy for the Madden 2010 video game. Hopefully, the Madden Curse is not nearly as bad since there's more than one player on the front. Pittsburgh actually can claim both Madden representatives, with current Cardinal and former Pitt Panther Larry Fitzgerald sharing space with Troy.

So maybe Troy won't suffer any ill effects from the curse, but the 'Burgh itself might want to be on the lookout.

Ben is relieved.