Based on an article in Friday's Butler Eagle sports section, the Pittsburgh Steelers and Arizona Cardinals were keenly aware of the hazards of Super Bowl Week nightlife during the past week and committed themselves to not fall victim to it.

That should result in a better game — a game without players being lost to outside activities.

Obviously, no member of either team wants to imitate Barret Robbins, the Pro Bowl center who went missing the day before the Oakland Raiders' appearance in the 2003 title game. Robbins eventually was found drunk and incoherent in Mexico; he spent Super Bowl Sunday in a hospital while his teammates were blown out by Tampa Bay, 48-21.

Steelers center Justin Hartwig was quoted in the article as saying, "I'm just trying to stay grounded. We're here for one reason, and that's to win this game. There's a lot of hoopla and a lot of hype surrounding this game, but I'm not going to get caught up in it."

"I have listened to what some of the veterans have said as far as 'Don't go out and experience the nightlife,' and I understand that," said Steelers fullback Carey Davis. "Sunday's game is an opportunity to be remembered, and that is what we want to do."

Hopefully there won't be any change in that attitude by any of the Steelers before the big game.

When he became director of the city Streets Department last January, Councilman Joseph Bratkovich promised a plan for dealing with winter weather. He said he would attempt to have additional help available when conditions merited; one of his plans was to seek an additional full-time person or two for his admittedly shorthanded department.He also said he wanted the option of bringing in private contractors when conditions were particularly bad. That was done last month to have snow and ice removed from Main Street and some intersecting streets, but that addressed only a small part of the city's problems.The persistent bad weather of the past few weeks, and the condition that city streets are in as a result of that unending winter onslaught, are proof that city officials didn't give enough attention to winter's possibilities but relied, instead, on the hope that the bad conditions would be short-lived.Bratkovich confirmed several weeks ago that he never really put a new plan on paper for addressing winter's needs. He said he merely reviewed current procedures with streets foreman Ralph Graham and made some suggestions.Beyond that, Bratkovich obviously was unsuccessful in getting additional Streets Department help under this year's city budget and, because the department remains shorthanded, numerous streets remain a mess, with no end in sight.Streets workers, once mobilized, are adept at getting the streets salted quickly during a storm. But the buildup of snow and ice that narrows the width of the streets for travel, coupled with limiting available parking, is a situation about which city leaders should not be comfortable — but apparently are.And, weather forecasts suggest that conditions could get worse before they get better.Regardless, city residents shouldn't be content with their city leaders' lack of proper attention to winter street maintenance. Meanwhile, Bratkovich should keep asking for additional resources to enable his department to do a better job.

It would be great if there never was a reason to write a Jeer for this column. Unfortunately, critical comment is often warranted.Last weekend, it became necessary to remind Pennsylvania American Water Co. that its closing of West Diamond Street near the county Government Center had exhausted the public's patience. The purpose of the street closing was to allow Gargiulo Landscape to re-lay bricks that were removed during the water company's replacement of waterlines under the street in August.Until the work began in late December, the road had been open awaiting the final repair work.Last weekend's Jeer questioned the water company's judgment in trying to make final repairs at this time of the year, which, unfortunately, resulted in the project becoming a victim of a stretch of bad weather.But there was a brief weather window for the re-laying of the bricks at the beginning of the past week and, to their credit, Gargiulo employees completed the work Tuesday afternoon.Their quick response to the concerns expressed in the Jeer are deserving of positive notice, unlike the Butler County commissioners' ignoring a Dec. 14 Jeer calling on them to rethink their intent to close an approximately one-mile stretch of Alameda Park Road rather than make needed repairs for continued vehicular use.People who need convenient access to the Government Center after entering the city on Route 8 (Main Street) appreciate the water company's — and Gargiulo's — quick action, once the two companies were reminded that the street shouldn't remain closed any longer.