Thursday, April 29, 2010

Capitals Lose

I’m generally a positive person, and I hope that my posts reflect this. Sure, I may complain about the Metro or the Pittsburgh Pirates on occasion, but I tend not to write discourteous posts about sports teams and their fan bases. However, to paraphrase the great E.U. in their classic 1988 hit, this post got a big ol’ butt (oh yeah). As a Pittsburgh Penguins fan, I’m happy that the Washington Capitals lost to the Montreal Canadiens Wednesday night. This is schadenfreude at its best.



I don’t know why it is, but I generally dislike Capitals fans. Perhaps it’s the fact that I attended several Caps games a year earlier this decade, and except for games against the Penguins where Pittsburgh fans took up half the building, there were a lot of empty seats. Maybe it’s because the majority of DC sports fans and media only started talking about and following the Caps 2+ years ago. No, I think it’s the way Caps fans think the Caps are the best team ever (though they won’t admit that today) and like to disparage the Penguins at every opportunity.

I’ll give you an example. I know someone who was born in Western Pennsylvania and is a huge Steelers fan. She is also one of the most rationale and intelligent people I know. However, she is also a Capitals fan and openly mocks Penguins captain Sidney Crosby by referring to him as Cindy.

In full disclosure, as a hockey fan, I would have loved to see a Capitals-Penguins Eastern Conference final this season. Each game would have been the lead on SportsCenter and the most talked about story in sports. The Crosby-Alex Ovechkin match-up is always awesome to watch. However, as a Pens fan, I’m happy that the Pens now have home-ice advantage for the next two rounds (not that this helped Washington much).

If any Caps fans are reading this, I’m sure that if the situation was reversed and the Pittsburgh Penguins won the President’s Trophy for best team in the NHL and then lost in the first round to a team that finished 33 points behind you in the standings, you would feel the same way. I guess the difference is that even if Montreal defeats Pittsburgh in the next round, Pens fans can always look at the Stanley Cup and see the names Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin & Mike Zigomanis on it from the 2008-2009 championship.

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Technical Difficulties?

When I visit my blog from my home computer, the links, followers, what I'm reading and everything else from the sidebar appears at the bottom of the page under the most-recent posts. Is anyone else having this same problem? If so, do you have any suggestions about how to fix this?

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Trivia Tuesday

Former Pittsburgh Steelers guard Alan Faneca was recently released by the New York Jets. What does this have to do with Trivia Tuesday? Well, your challenge for this week is to provide the answer with the word “guard” in it. That first line was a bit of a stretch, wasn't it?

1. Highway Safety Feature

2. Parent

3. Person Protector

4. Boat, College, Mutual Fund Company

5. Water Rescue

6. Airport Name

7. Soap Name

8. Leave Unprotected

9. Fender

10. Scoundrel, D&D Prestige Class

As always, please leave your answers in the comments section and do not use the internet to search for answers. Good luck!

This quiz is courtesy of Stump Trivia.

Monday, April 26, 2010

Amid A Sea of Implants, Tattoos and Thongs

Today's Yahoo story via the Associated Press regarding the medical condition of Poison singer, Rock of Love star and Celebrity Apprentice contestant Bret Michaels includes the following paragraph:

Before joining the third season of "The Celebrity Apprentice," Michaels starred as the lothario on VH1's lusty reality dating series "Rock of Love" from 2007 to 2009. For three seasons, Michaels searched for the women of his dreams amid a sea of implants, tattoos and thongs. He also served as a judge on the fifth season of the USA singing competition "Nashville Star" in 2007. (emphasis added)

While I certainly wish Bret Michaels well, has the title phrase ever been used by Yahoo, the AP, or actually, anyone else before?

Based on the title of this post alone, I'm scared to see what search terms people use to find this blog.

Sunday, April 25, 2010

The Iceman Returns

In honor of Pascal Dupuis' game-winning overtime goal Saturday night giving the Penguins the 4-2 series victory over the Ottawa Senators, the Iceman video returns.



(A clearer version of this video is available at the 2:20ish mark of this Post-Gazette link.)

Thursday, April 22, 2010

Thursday Night Live Blog

Join us for a live blog of game five of the Pittsburgh Penguins-Ottawa Senators series, the NFL draft, and anything else happening tonight. Due to obligations of some of the panelists, the live blog may be slow to start but will pick up as the night goes on. I'm sure that Ben Roethlisberger, Sidney Crosby and my ability to live blog and do laundry at the same time will all be topics of conversation.

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

2010 Pittsburgh Steelers Schedule

Yesterday was one of my favorite days of the year: the day when the NFL releases the upcoming season schedule. It's a day when I start making plans and set my own personal schedule for the rest of the year.

Here is your 2010 Pittsburgh Steelers regular season schedule:

Sunday, Sept. 12 – ATLANTA -- 1 p.m. (FOX)
Sunday, Sept. 19 -- at Tennessee -- 1 p.m. (CBS)
Sunday, Sept. 26 -- at Tampa Bay -- 1 p.m. (CBS)

Sunday, Oct. 3 -- BALTIMORE --1 p.m. (CBS)
Sunday, Oct. 10 -- Bye
Sunday, Oct. 17 -- CLEVELAND -- 1 p.m. (CBS)
Sunday, Oct. 24 -- at Miami -- 1 p.m. (CBS)
Sunday, Oct. 31 -- at New Orleans -- 8:20 p.m. (NBC)

Monday, Nov. 8 -- at Cincinnati -- 8:30 p.m. (ESPN)
Sunday, Nov. 14 -- NEW ENGLAND -- 8:20 p.m. (NBC)
Sunday, Nov. 21* -- OAKLAND -- 1 p.m. (CBS)
Sunday, Nov. 28* -- at Buffalo -- 1 p.m. (CBS)

Sunday, Dec. 5* -- at Baltimore -- 8:20 p.m. (NBC)
Sunday, Dec. 12* -- CINCINNATI -- 1 p.m. (CBS)
Sunday, Dec. 19* -- NEW YORK JETS -- 4:15 p.m. (CBS)
Thursday, Dec. 23* -- CAROLINA -- 8:20 p.m. (NFL NETWORK)

Sunday, Jan. 2* -- at Cleveland -- 1 p.m. (CBS)

* Times and TV network may change due to flexible scheduling


A few thoughts:

- With the likely suspension of Ben Roethlisberger, it would have been nice to have the Steelers face Cleveland in the first two weeks.

- Remember how much the media hyped the Brett Favre/Vikings vs. Packers games last season? That will be nothing compared to Byron Leftwich/Steelers vs. Tampa Bay game!

- Interesting Halloween match-up in New Orleans on a Sunday night. How many people will dress up like Kim Kardashian?

- Three home games over the last four weeks could give the Steelers an advantage in the playoff race.

- Santonio Holmes, Alan Faneca, Darrelle Revis and Jason Taylor all return to Pittsburgh as New York Jets on December 19th.

- The schedule is set up to allow Heinz Field to host the January 1st NHL Winter Classic.

- I'm looking into group tickets to attend the Steelers-Dolphins game in Miami. If you're interested in going, please let me know. (Yes, I'm being serious.)

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Trivia Tuesday: Name That Tune

Happy Tuesday to you! It's an especially happy Tuesday since the 2010 NFL schedule comes out this afternoon. I'll have much more about this later today or tomorrow. In the meantime, your challenge this week is to name the song title and artist based on the lyrics below.

1. Like a drifter, I was born to walk alone

2. Or am I origami?

3. Goddess on the mountain top.

4. And that time over at Johnny's place
Well this chick got up and she slapped Johnny's face
Man we just fell about the place
If that chick don't want to know, forget her

5. Wake up in the morning feeling like P Diddy

6. At 4:30 in the morning I'm milkin' cows
Jedediah feeds the chickens and Jacob plows... fool
And I've been milkin' and plowin' so long that
Even Ezekiel thinks that my mind is gone

7. I want to tell her that I love her but the point is probably moot.

8. Oh no, I've said too much / I set it up

9. She was there through my incarceration / I wanna show the nation my appreciation (a later line is "Closer than my peeps you are to me.")

10. Don't go for second-best, baby / Put your love to the test

As always, please leave your answers in the comments section and do not use the internet to assist you. Good luck!

Monday, April 19, 2010

ESPN Pittsburgh.com

ESPN New York debuted recently joining other local ESPN websites in Chicago, Dallas and Boston. Dan Shanoff wrote his thoughts on this based on a piece in GQ (they are both worth a read). So my question today: Is an ESPN Pittsburgh next?

Assuming ESPN New York succeeds, it seems inevitable to me that there will be an ESPN Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh is as sports obsessed as anywhere else in the United States if not more. Dan Shanoff points out that in New York, ESPN "will compete against 3 newspapers, a fairly aggressive sports-news cable network and at least one radio juggernaut." Well, Pittsburgh currently has three separate sports radio talk stations not including the Mark Madden Show and the amount of time other morning shows such as the 96.1 KISS Morning Freak Show devote to the Pittsburgh sports scene. There are also two newspapers as well as KDKA's Sports Showdown WTAE's Action Sports Sunday and several call-in sports shows. (There are still call-in TV sports shows in Pittsburgh, right?) Plus, this doesn't count the several dozen blogs that cover Pittsburgh sports.

I guess this leads to another question. How can ESPN Pittsburgh succeed and what impact will it have on the Pittsburgh sports scene? (Yes, that is two questions.) Stan Savarn and Guy Junker would give the site instant credibility. However, each of the other local ESPN site have blogs. In my opinion, I think an ESPN Pittsburgh website could do well by getting some big name bloggers. Don at Mondesi's House already has a partnership with 93.7 The Fan. Attracting the guys at The PensBlog would be genius, though those guys seem very happy doing their own thing through Bloguin as do WHYGAVS and PSAMP. I can't see the folks at Behind The Steel Curtain, Bucs Dugout and PensBurgh leaving SB Nation.

Seeing that Steve already works for ESPN, having him and Cotter from One for the Other Thumb would be who I would hire if I wanted to get a unique perspective on the Steelers. Steelers Depot should also receive some consideration. Tim of BUCCO Fans.com would make sense for Pirates coverage as would Chas of Pitt Blather for everything Pitt. Maybe the folks from Pens Universe for Penguins coverage?

While I have no idea how an ESPN Pittsburgh website would impact the newspapers and radio station in the 'Burgh, I think there could be some great opportunities to highlight local bloggers.

Friday, April 16, 2010

Notes From Anaheim

Did I mention that I went to California last week? No? So I went to Anaheim last week and thought I would share some notes from the trip.

- Although I didn’t visit Disneyland, I did spend time at the Disneyland Drive shops and restaurants area. The television/big screen outside the ESPNZone there had terrible reception. Why have an outdoor screen if it is poor quality? You’d think Disney/ESPN would have the money to fix it.

- I’ve never had a problem adjusting from the Eastern time zone to the Pacific time zone...until this trip. I woke up at 5:20 AM on my first morning and couldn’t fall back asleep.

- Worst way to start a day: Get a hotel wakeup call; realize that the phone next to the bed is broken; walk to the other side of the dark room to stop ringing phone while attempting to dodge luggage on the floor.

- Best way to start the day: Maria Quiban of KTTV Fox 11 Los Angeles's morning show.



- Speaking of local morning newscasts, did you know that both the ABC and FOX stations in DC and LA use the same theme music? I thought local stations had their own music.

- To the guy behind me in the security line at Dulles Airport: Comparing the TSA security screening process with concentration camps is a quick way to end a conversation.

- Message to the Double Tree LAX Shuttle: If you say that you pick up every half hour, you should follow through. I waited well over an hour and made three phone calls to the hotel before a shuttle arrived. After seeing me waiting so long, two shuttle bus drivers from other companies actually stopped their vehicles to ask me if I needed help.

- Bravo to United for airing an episode of Arrested Development during the flight.

- I didn't feel any earthquakes while in California.

Have a good weekend! Let's Go Pens!

Thursday, April 15, 2010

Jake Gyllenhaal: Music Video Superstar

I hereby nominate Jake Gyllenhaal to join the Eric Roberts Music Video Superstar club. You're not familiar with Eric Roberts and his music video superstardom? I wrote a post about this (um, nearly five years ago)!

For his role in Jamie Foxx's "Blame It" and Vampire Weekend's "Giving Up The Gun," Jake Gyllenhaal has had a nice run lately starring in music videos. Watch as he expertly raises his glass with Forest Whitaker and Ron Howard.



What an actor to pull off the tennis grace of Roger Federer.



I applaud Gyllenhaal for his dedication to the small screen and to be able to laugh at himself. I hope others will follow the lead of Eric and Jake, so that I don't have to wait another five years to add another member to the Music Video Superstar club!

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Penguins-Islanders Pictures (Hockey Road Trip 2010)

On Sunday, I watched the Pittsburgh Penguins face the New York Islanders live from Nassau Coliseum. Instead of describing the game and my trip, I thought I would share my Ansel Adams skills.

Sidney Crosby takes a faceoff. An overlooked part of Crosby's game is his ability taking and winning faceoffs. Did you know that Crosby took the most faceoffs in the league this season (1791; Paul Stastny of Colorado was 2nd with 1703) winning 55.9% of them?



Not overlooked is the fact the Crosby scored 51 goals this season. Here is Sid celebrating goal #50 with Sergei Gonchar, Pascal Dupuis and Evgeni Malkin. Apparently, Alex Goligoski is taking his time to join the fun.



Eric Godard scored his first goal of the season in the final regular season game. I don't have a picture of that. Instead, I have a picture of him fighting Joel Rechlicz.



My first hockey memories consisted of watching the Pittsburgh Penguins on WPGH-Channel 53. It seems like Rick Kehoe and the Pens faced the New York Islanders every game and always lost handedly as guys like Bryan Trottier, Mike Bossy, Denis Potvin and Billy Smith dominated. Of course, those guys dominated the league for four straight years!



Fortunately, I have much better memories of Trottier from the end of his career.



The Pens led 5-2 after two periods, but the Islanders stormed back to force overtime. Jordan Leopold scored the game-winner and there was great celebration throughout the land (except from some Islanders fans; others didn't mind the loss since winning would have hurt the team's drafting status). By the way, what is Bill Guerin doing?



Finally, why would someone wear a Limas Sweed jersey to a Pittsburgh PENGUINS game? Perhaps this guy knew the Steelers would trade Santonio Holmes later in the evening meaning Sweed may have an increased role in the 2010 season.



I have two other non-picture highlights from the game. First, I met Tecmo of PSAMP (Pittsburgh Sports & Mini Ponies). I've admired his work for several years and it was nice meeting a fellow Pittsburgh blogger in person. Cool guy!

Second, near the end of the first period, we learned that the Philadelphia Flyers and New York Rangers were in the shootout to determine who would advance to the playoffs. Nearly our entire section attempted to watch a television approximately a mile away and then tried to guess whether or not the team scored based on the reaction. Islanders fans were pleased with the result of the Rangers sitting home or golfing this week.

For more about the game, visit NHL.com, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and/or ESPN.

Plus, please click here for the Boston portion of Hockey Road Trip 2010.

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Hockey Road Trip 2010: Destination Boston

Trivia Tuesday will not air this week, so that I can share this special presentation.



You always knew something good was going to happen when CBS played this! In this case, I hope you feel the same way as I was able to witness NHL history live! Now that I have your attention, I wanted to let you know that I received countless (meaning zero; that’s countless, right?) e-mails asking me whether or not I took the annual hockey road trip for the 2009-2010 season. After several delays, we finally arranged to attend two games during the final weekend of the regular season. First stop: Boston, Massachusetts to see the Boston Bruins face the Carolina Hurricanes.

As soon as I entered TD Bank I knew I was walking into something special. The something special meaning Fan Appreciation Day! Just for buying a ticket, I received some sort of Hard Rock Café all access card; a poster with Bruins notes and rosters of both teams; a Boston Bruins iPhone cover/case; and a Rally Towel. Does anyone else think the Bruins’ rally towel is a rip-off of something else? (It's even worse in the video below.)



Besides the rally towel fiasco (in my mind), the Bruins actually did a nice job of thanking their fans, “the Best Fans in the NHL.” The organization gave away prizes throughout the game including a “Shirts off our Backs” promotion where fans won game-worn jerseys from the players immediately following the game.

Before I discuss the game itself, here are some thoughts:

- Tuukka Rask is an awesome name. Seriously, just say Tuukka Rask out loud, and I dare you not to smile.
- I was impressed by how many Boston fans wore Phil Bourque jerseys. While he was born in Chelmsford, MA, the former Pittsburgh Penguin never played for Boston, yet many people wore a #77 Bourque Bruins jersey. Even more odd is that Phil Bourque never wore #77 in the NHL.
- It was nice seeing Mark Recchi playing in person after first seeing him play at the Civic Arena nearly 35 years ago!
- At the conclusion of a Bruins’ goal announcement, the public address announcer yells a Ric Flair “Woooo!” I’m still not sure how I feel about this, though I do like the crowd participation with a Woooo reply of their own.
- I’m a big fan of the Boston bear.



As for the game, there was nothing out of the ordinary. Well, except for something that has NEVER happened in league history. At the beginning of the second period, Boston’s Daniel Paille scored a shorthanded goal. Less than a minute later, Boston’s Blake Wheeler followed with a shorthanded goal of his own. Steve Begin must have felt left out since he also scored a shorthanded goal moments later. Overall, Boston scored three times on the same penalty kill in 64 seconds. This was the first time in NHL history that a team scored three times while short-handed on the same penalty. If you don’t believe me that this actually happened, check out the video (listen carefully for the Ric Flair-like Woooo after the first goal announcement).



There was also one other play that was out of the ordinary. With an upcoming penalty against Carolina, Tuukka Rask went to the bench so that Boston could bring out an extra attacker. This would have turned out disastrous if not for Patrice Bergeron.



Oops. Wrong Bergeron.



We believe that Cam Ward touched the puck last for Carolina, so if Bergeron didn't make the save, Carolina's goalie would have been credited with the goal.

Overall, Boston was a great success. I'll have more about this year's hockey road trip soon, but I'll leave you with this. As part of the silent auction, there was only one item not related to the Bruins. One of these are not like the others!



For more about the game, check out Yahoo's Puck Daddy recap and the Boston Bruins website.

Oh, for any Boston fans, how does the new Garden compare to the old Garden?

Monday, April 12, 2010

Yinz Luv 'Da Guins

After a whirlwind trip to Anaheim, Boston and New York City, I finally returned home this afternoon. I will have several posts about these trips over the next few days, but I figured I would share Jim Shearer's final Yinz Luv 'Da Guins of the 2009-2010 season for your viewing pleasure.

Friday, April 09, 2010

Eric Dickerson Is Pleased

You remember Eric Dickerson, the NFL Hall of Fame running back for the Rams and Colts, don't you? Of course you do. Now, do you remember Eric Dickerson as a sideline reporter for Monday Night Football? You may have blocked that out as he wasn't very good. However, Dickerson looks like Walter Cronkite next to this guy.

<a href="http://video.msn.com/?mkt=en-us&brand=foxsports&from=metadatawidget_en-us_foxpsorts_videocentral&vid=5db0fb8f-eb7d-4905-9338-b0ce214d20ad" target="_new" title="Announcer caught off guard, misses red card">Video: Announcer caught off guard, misses red card</a>

h/t Mystery Man

Tuesday, April 06, 2010

Trivia Tuesday

These may be the most random Trivia Tuesday questions ever posted here.

1. Better movie title: Snakes on a Plane or Hot Tub Time Machine?

2. FD 50, RT 90, FD 50, RT 90, PU. Do you know what this is from?

3. Trying to date myself even more, when are the visitors on the new version of V going to start eating mice like they did in the original version?

4. Last week, AMC aired the “premiere” of Spaceballs, a movie at least 20 years old and has been on video, DVD and television for years. Does AMC understand the word premiere?

5. Why does the NCAA Tournament start after 9:30pm Eastern time? I’m too old to stay up that late on a work night.

6. There are dozens languages spoken by humans. Are there also multiple languages “spoken” by birds? For example, can crows and cardinals understand each other? Do birds in Australia and Mexico speak the same language?

7. The New York Yankees have had more 100-win seasons than any other major league baseball team. What team/organization has the 2nd most 100-win seasons? (This is a bit of a trick question.)

8. Let’s say you are flying from the East Coast to the West Coast landing on the West Coast in the evening. Assuming you spent the entire Passover on the East Coast, does Passover end when the sun sets in the East or the West?

I think for this week, it's safe to use the internet for answers. As always, please leave your answers in the comments section below.

Monday, April 05, 2010

2010 Pittsburgh Pirates Predictions

The Pittsburgh Pirates season begins today so I thought I would ask Pirates experts their predictions of the 2010 season. Unfortunately, many of them did not reply. Therefore, you're stuck with this cast of characters:

Matt of Pittsburgh Lumber Co. Matt started blogging about the Pirates in 2006 (or during the Josh Sharpless era).

Brad of This is Getting Old. His e-mail address isn't yahoo.com or gmail.com; it is pittsburghpirates.net. That's dedication!

Captain Easychord of Corsairs Affairs. I'm not sure I can accurately share his Pirates credentials, but naming a blog Corsairs Affairs shows his commitment.

Rob of my fantasy baseball league. I've actually known Rob since 1st or 2nd grade and played against him in Little League baseball.

Sean of Sean's Ramblings (you don't need to click since you're already here). I once had a special shorts/T-shirts Pirates outfit that I got specifically to wear to Kennywood Day. I miss Kennywood Day!

1. Andrew McCutchen’s stats (batting average, HRs, RBIs, stolen bases)

Matt - McCutchen will go .292, 17 HR, 78 RBI, 28 SB.
Brad - Cutch will be solid again this year. I would still rather him bat lead-off but what do I know. My guess is .290, 11, 66, 25
Captain - Since I don't play roto/fantasy baseball anymore, I haven't really paid much attention to all the numbers anymore... so let's take what he did last year, reduce the rate stats because of sophomore slumps and because he played a little over his projection... then bump up the raw stats because of extra PT (assuming no injuries) with a few extra steals thrown in because he says he plans to run more this year....277/13/63/33

Rob - .268 13 68 31
Sean - .280, 20 HR, 70 RBIs, 24 SB.



2. What current player will be traded before the end of the season?

Matt - Zach Duke, especially if he has a good start to the season.
Brad - Ryan Doumit. Fingers crossed
Captain - One of the bullpen arms, in all likelihood... let's say octavio dotel...
Rob - Dotel, Iwamura, and Ryan Church
Sean – Brendan Donnelly

3. Who will lead the team in wins?

Matt- Paul Maholm, with 14.
Brad - Charlie Morton. After watching him last year I feel he can take huge strides.
Captain - ok, I'm going to be the stats curmudgeon here and say whatever starter gets the most run support... (see what I did there? it's all on you, offense!) ... but really, among the top four starters, they all look kinda similar-ish to me, at least in terms of results... so staying healthy and getting good run support will probably be the difference...

Rob - I would like to say someone will break 10 wins, I'm guessing Maholm
Sean – Since he’s on my fantasy team, I’ll go with Maholm with 13 wins.

4. Will John Russell get ejected during the season?

Matt - Yes, once.
Brad - I just don't see it.
Captain - John Russell won't get ejected from a game, but he'll get suspended for the season after bringing a gun to pnc park to threaten an assistant coach (Don Long? Carlos Garcia?) as a "joke"... no wait, that won't happen... nobody would be stupid enough to do *that*...

Rob - No, he'll be let go before he gets a chance
Sean – No. He got his one ejection out his system last season.



5. What promotional event would you like to see at PNC Park?

Matt - I have been saying it for years. Get a Pirate ship in the Allegheny River already.

Brad - I love bobbleheads so I'm good with the SGAs. I think with the 20 year anniversary of the successful early '90's teams we need Bonds, Bonilla, Van Slyke and Drabek bobbleheads. Just not a Belinda one.

Captain - Guaranteed winner night... everyone who buys a ticket to the game that night gets to see the pirates win, guaranteed... if it doesn't happen that night, fans in attendance get vouchers for a free ticket to a game of their choice... as long as the team keeps losing when any particular fan shows up, that fan's voucher can continue to be redeemed for a ticket to yet another game... these vouchers only expire when they're redeemed for tickets to a game that the pirates win... the pirates are known for their losing, and hey... wouldn't you go to the park if you got to see 'em win? besides, it's not like they're filling the seats as it is... plenty of spare capacity at most games (all games?)...

Rob - Disco Demolition night, Take your Dog to the game, or Tiger's Mistresses get in free night.

Sean – Turner Ward bobble fence night.



6. Season prediction (please include the team’s record and place in the standings) and any other thoughts.

Matt - 77-85, 4th place. The 100-loss predictions are misguided, as this team is better than the 2009 version. While the team is not quite to the point of relevancy, it will at least approach competency in 2010.

Brad - We're not there yet, but soon. The Bucs will finish in 5th, ahead of Houston. 74-88. Another losing season. Next year we shock the world!

Captain - 74-88, fifth place. I'm on board with what neal huntington is doing with the franchise... they're headed in the right direction even if it might not show up in the wins and losses this year or next...

Rob - 65 - 97, last place ; bright side they can make fun of [my fantasy team] who has a more pathetic roster

Sean – 73 wins. Fifth place ahead of Houston. .500 in 2011!


Please feel free to share your own predictions in the comments section. Yes, I'll come back to this in October to see how we did.

Photos of Cutch and Russell via Peter Diana/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. I don't remember where I found the Turner Ward pic.

Thursday, April 01, 2010

TMI Thursday: End of an Era

I figure TMI Thursday is as an appropriate time and place as any to make an announcement. After 1,525 posts over 5+ years, I am ending my time at Sean’s Ramblings. After posting nearly every weekday over the past few years, regular readers may have noticed a slight decrease in my writing and the addition of more and more videos as posts. I still enjoy writing, but I’ve been a little frustrated lately. A few big projects I worked on have fell through. Plus, some anonymous comments like those below have worn on me.

- What's your point?
- Welcome back for the Sweet 16 presented by the worst blog known to man
- Smooth is actually from 1999.
- This may be the stupidest thing I've ever seen in my life.
- Why the f is that place called California Tortilla and its not in California

Over the years, I have struggled with the direction of this blog. Do I write only about Pittsburgh sports? Do I write only about pop culture? Do I write more or less about myself? I’ve never been able to figure out what I want to do. If I decide to start a new blog, maybe I’ll have a specific theme. I’m sure that you know the book and movie Marley and Me. Maybe I’ll start Ziggy and Zme! (I’ll have to work on the name.)



So what am I going to do with my free time? I don’t know. Maybe I’ll post more on Twitter (subtle hint to attract more followers). Maybe I’ll start Mafia Wars or Farmville like everyone seems to do on in their Facebook updates.

I’d like to thank everyone for reading and for sharing your thoughts and comments over the years. I truly appreciate all of the time you have spent reading this blog. Hopefully, I’ve given you something to think about. Probably not. At the very least, I hope that I have entertained you. With that, I’ll leave you with one final video. I can’t get this song out of my head, so it might as well get stuck in your head too.



Filet O Fish. Something else I can't eat during Passover.

For more TMI Thursdays, please visit LiLu and you can click here to see all of my TMI Thursday archives.


Update: Please note the date of this post and see some of the comments.