It would be remiss not to give the Pittsburgh Steelers a jeer for their quality of play this season.

In this season after their Super Bowl championship, the Steelers' play was synonymous with a team of just-above-average talent. Of course, the Steelers have much more talent than that.

Injuries and more than a few bad breaks — plus, no doubt, quarterback Ben Roethlisberger's motorcycle accident prior to the start of training camp — contributed to this season's mediocre record. But hopefully the adversity of 2006 will ignite a new drive and determination to return to the kind of excitement and glory that marked the 2005 and 2004 seasons in 2007.

Die-hard Steelers fans — and the Steeler front office — should demand nothing less.

Few Steeler fans could ever have imagined that the 2006 edition of their team could play so badly. Players who are fearing their status for next year are deserving of that uncertainty.

Fans are no doubt looking forward to how the team will address its needs during the draft of college football talent in the spring. Fortunately for the Steelers, they have an excellent foundation in place for building a 2007 team that will return to post-season playoff action.

Following last season's championship performance in Detroit, it was acknowledged that repeating as Super Bowl champion would be difficult, despite the team's talent. Those who voiced that sentiment didn't realize how right they were.

The success of Butler Junior High School's new Stand Tall anti-drug club and program must not go unnoticed within the Butler School District and other school systems in the county.Organized with the hope of attracting 20 to 30 students, the membership in the club and program instead has ballooned to nearly 400 students. That is nearly one-third of the school's student population.Modeled on a program that exists in the Titusville School District, Stand Tall requires that students sign a statement saying they will not use drugs or alcohol and, with written permission from their parents, they participate in oral swab drug testing by the Visiting Nurses Association.According to an article in the Dec. 22 Butler Eagle, if test results show evidence of drugs, or if a student refuses to take the test, parents and the in-school Student Assistance Program are notified.Legal authorities are not notified of a positive result, and students don't receive disciplinary action. However, the assistance program is there to find ways to address the problem in what presumably is its early stage.Funding and development assistance for Stand Tall has come from the program Butler County Against Heroin. Those who have worked hard to make Stand Tall so successful deserve plaudits from those who have the schools' and community's best interests at heart.It is to be hoped that many more students at the junior high school will decide to participate.

Four companies merit praise for their determination to find the person or persons responsible for a fire May 10 that destroyed the Diverner Trestle in Donegal Township.The companies — Buffalo & Pittsburgh Railroad and the Indspec, Penreco and Sonneborn chemical companies — are together providing $40,000 for a reward leading to the arrest and successful prosecution of the individual or individuals who set the fire.The trestle was vital to the operation of the three chemical companies. Those three companies and the railroad estimate that they lost a total of $8 million during the six weeks that the rail line was being rebuilt.Instead of rebuilding the trestle, it was decided to fill in the valley that the trestle had spanned and install the tracks on land.Dave Dorko, Indspec plant manager, was right in reminding the public that the fire threatened the livelihood of the employees and emergency responders.He said the decision to offer the reward wasn't primarily based on a desire to recoup the financial losses that the companies incurred."Recovery isn't the issue as much as justice," he said. "Someone needs to be accountable for that."It's likely that someone besides the arsonist or arsonists knows who started the blaze — or at least harbors strong suspicions about the person's or those persons' identity.Revealing that knowledge or suspicion will no doubt remove a heavy load from informants' consciences.The four companies are correct in making a financial reward available as an incentive for someone to come forward with the vital information.The fire occurred during a strike at Penreco. A direct connection between the strike and blaze has never been conclusively ascertained.