I'm on the
Pittsburgh Steelers mailing list, and the team sends out multiple emails per
week. During the off season, while many messages focused on the draft (since it was in Pittsburgh), draft picks, free
agent signings, the schedule release, and ticket sales, the majority were about
various clothing and other gear. Basically, the Steelers were taking a play out
of the Spaceballs playbook.
If you want Steelers beach and pool gear, or Steelers' merchandise to celebrate America's 250th birthday, you got an email about it!
But that's not all. How about other opportunities to purchase items from official Steelers partners!
It's really impressive how many partnerships and different types of merchandise the team sells. Now let's see if the Steelers match their output in merchandising with wins on the football field!
Ah, the weekend. It's what everyone is working for. Sometimes you're busy with lots of activities. Sometimes you can relax and unwind. Maybe sleep in. The sleeping in part never happens for me. On Saturday morning, I woke up a little after 3:00 thanks to hearing Lucy throw up. After cleaning it up with a carpet stain removal, I went back to sleep...only for Lucy to again wake me up at 5:00 because she wanted food. I love this cat, but she is so annoying. And as I’m typing this she is scratching the couch.
Okay, enough about Lucy. Let’s get to some good stuff.
The big highlight of the weekend was taking my boys to a card show. My dad took my brother and me to card shows regularly when I was in middle school, and I actually sold cards several times at the Eastland Mall Super Flea in North Versailles, PA. I love the atmosphere of card shows. For sports cards (since I skip over tables with Pokémon and non-sports cards), many people love to talk about certain cards or teams or players. At this particular card show, I learned why a guy who grew up in Northern Virginia is a Bills fan. I bought myself a $1 Bryce Eldridge card since I saw him play at Madison High School in Northern Virginia, and I hope he has a long and successful baseball career. This led to a discussion about ultimate frisbee with a father and his teenage son who plays ultimate frisbee with some guys from Madison HS. And I bought a Konnor Griffin card because why not.
The Moose bought several cards that might be valuable in the future, but for the most part, they bought cards of players they like or cool cards. For example, Pedro Tulo bought himself a Detroit Pistons Rodney Stuckey card since it included part of his jersey. While it’s a neat card, I doubt there’s a huge resale market for Rodney Stuckey cards. We did not consider getting a Lamine Yamal card for $15K or a Victor Wembanyama card for $8K. Someone else was trying to sell a signed drumstick by Chad Smith of the Red Hot Chili Peppers. One guy I met named Nicholas creates his own cards via Near Mint Customs. While we talked about the absurdity of Enes Kantor declaring for the WNBA draft (he was selling some of these cards that he made), I really liked his "What If" series (though Russell Wilson should have been in an Orioles or Rockies jersey since those MLB teams drafted him).
I went out to a really nice dinner the other night and mentioned that I’m seeing the Foo Fighters on Monday night. (Future blog post?) When asked who was the opening acts, I replied Queens of the Stone Age and practically had to whisper Mannequin Pussy. At a quiet, fancy restaurant, not quite the environment to say that name loudly! Actually, this was probably a missed opportunity to say the band name loudly!
Wegmans is discontinuing its mac and cheese boxes. I don’t know why. The grocery chain should really inform me of any actions taken. Anyway, did I buy 10 boxes for 26 cents each? Absolutely. I figure that I might make a box or two and I can donate the rest at an upcoming food drive.
When I was in 5th or 6th grade, my dad put a pair of red sweatpants in the washer with whites. All of my whites turned pink. At that point, I decided it was time to do my own laundry. With The Moose about to start his sophomore year in high school, he should have at least done some of his laundry years ago. Still, he did his first load of Sunday.
When the kids were away at camp, we ran the dishwasher twice a week at the most. Now that they’re home again, we’re back to running the dishwasher every day or two. So many cups get used by them!
I'm really
enjoying The Pitt. It's non-stop action, and I'm amazed how well the actors
just spout off medical terminology. I guess that's why they are really talented
actors. Sure, maybe they don't need to show all of the blood and gore, but I
sense that this is a fairly realistic look at a busy emergency room. Completely
related, I plan on donating blood again soon.
The other day, I went on Facebook using my Sean's Ramblings profile. I follow/like dozens of people, companies, etc. In scrolling through my feed, the first 63 entries were either sponsored posts (meaning ads) or something that "matches my interests." 63! How about showing me posts for something that I follow?!?!
I saw Styx and
Chicago play recently. Definitely worth the $20 Groupon tickets. The only
negative was there were no Terrible Towels or Steelers celebrities for
Renegade.
Did you know
that geese hiss? I've mentioned numerous times that one of my favorite summer
activities is taking walks on our neighborhood golf course after the golfers
finish for the evening. I regularly see deer and foxes and geese on these
walks. Recently, while walking on the cart path, I said "hey guys" to
a group of geese who were eating and walking on the grass next to the path. My
thought was that I wanted to announce myself and not startle them. In response,
one goose lifted its head from the grass, looked directly at me, and hissed. I
walked right by and didn't look back until I was a safe distance away!
Sheffield
Wednesday plays its first match of the season in the first round of the EFL Cup
on Saturday. There's some optimism for the season under new ownership since anything has to be better than last season when the team only won league
matches. Still, I'm not ready for the season to begin or seeing Wednesday play
League One matches against teams like Leyton Orient, Burton Albion, and
Doncaster. Feel like it's going to take a few years for Wednesday to get close
to getting back to the Championship League. And I'm not sure if they'll ever
get to the Premier League.
My dentist
asked me to see a periodontist for receding gums, and I put it off for years. I
finally went, and the periodontist says that I need to have tissue graft
surgery. I'm not going to get into details, but this all seems ridiculous to
me. I feel like receding gums and graft surgery is something for people who are
AARP members. Uh oh.
Finally, the
best way to end any blog post is with Cookie Monster.
In the earlier days of this blog, I occasionally wrote posts where I pointed out and analyzed various pop song lyrics. While it turns out that I haven't done a post about song lyrics since 2019, now seems like a perfect time to bring back a classic.
Stella Lefty - Boston
On a train back
to Boston and we're jumpin' the gun
And I'm tellin' you, baby, this the part where I'd run
But I like it when you're nice, like it when you're nice to me
Like it when
your partner is nice to you? That seems like a fairly low bar.
Bella Kay - iloveitiloveitiloveit (Video NSFW due to language)
I love it when we fight and I like it when you’re mean.
We don’t have to get into what that says about me.
My apologies to Ms. Lefty. Maybe nice isn’t such a low bar.
Ella Langley - Choosin' Texas
This is the song of the summer and will likely be the song of 2026. And sure, most people think that this song is about an ex-boyfriend of Langley who decided to return to another woman in Texas. But what if this song is about something else entirely? I've included the entire lyrics to the song below. It definitely hits differently if you picture the song from the point of view of the University of Tennessee football program and its fans lamenting its loss in attempting to recruit quarterback Arch Manning, who chose (the University of) Texas!
Just when I
thought I got him to fall in love with Tennessee
I shoulda known better than to take him back to Abilene
I put him right back into her arms
I wasn't a match for that kinda spark
She's from
Texas, I can tell by the way
He's two steppin' 'round the room
And judgin' by the smile that's written on his face
There's nothin' I can do
It doesn't take
a crystal ball to see
A cowboy always finds a way to leave
Drinkin' Jack all by myself
He's choosin' Texas, I can tell
Well, I guess
he forgot about the Smoky Mountain rain
Them old Hank tunes, the Memphis blues we used to sing
He always loved Amarillo By Morning
I shoulda taken that as a warning
She's from
Texas, I can tell by the way
He's two steppin' 'round the room
And judgin' by the smile that's written on his face
There's nothin' I can do
It doesn't take a crystal ball to see
A cowboy always finds a way to leave
Drinkin' Jack all by myself
He's choosin' Texas, I can tell
When I'm
eastbound and down and I can't help but cry
'Cause I-40 gets lonelier with every mile
I'll know that his mind wasn't ever gonna change
'Cause his heart still belongs to the Lone Star State
She's from
Texas, I can tell by the way
He's two steppin' 'round the room
And judgin' by the smile that's written on his face
There's nothin' I can do, nah, yeah
It doesn't take a crystal ball to see
A cowboy always finds a way to leave
Drinkin' Jack all by myself
He's choosing Texas, I can tell, no
Drinkin' Jack all by myself
He's choosin' Texas, I can tell
Come on, baby
Oh, yeah
Just when I thought I got him to fall in love with Tennessee
Niall Horan - Tastes So Good
I freeze
When you're not swimming in my bloodstream
I don't know what this means, but no one should be in your bloodstream. Oh, unless it's like an Osmosis Jones situation.
Sabrina Carpenter - House Tour (Video is iffy but lean towards NSFW)
The couch is really comfy comfy
Got some Chips Ahoy
If you're hungry hungry
I'd love to know if Chips Ahoy is sponsoring this song. Like did they pay Carpenter $1 million for the product placement? Oh, Chips Ahoy cookies are meh. Now, chewy Chips Ahoy cookies are legit!
Olivia Rodrigo - the cure (video NSFW for one word)
But my head if full of poison
And my heart is full of doubt
I got toxins in my bloodstream
You tried hard to suck them out
Toxins in your bloodstream aren't good, but it seems better than having someone swim in Niall Horan's bloodstream or Niall Horan being in someone else's bloodstream!
(If you want to skip the intro, please go to the sentence in bold for the game recap.)
With the kids
away at camp, I have some time to do things I've wanted to do for months if not
years. I'm taking walks nearly every evening, trying to play more pickleball,
and catching up on TV. (The Pitt is really good!). The one thing I've wanted to
do most is to cover a live sporting event again. While I covered a men's George Mason basketball game this winter, I wanted to cover a professional sports team, and
the team I was most intrigued about was the Washington Spirit since they
are arguably the most successful Washington professional sports team over the
last 5-6 years. Actually, not at all arguably. The team won the NWSL
Championship in 2021 and reached the finals in both 2024 and 2025. With a win
on Sunday against the Denver Summit, the team would pass Gotham FC to move into
first place. Gotham defeated the Spirit 1-0 almost two weeks ago in a
match where the Spirit had more shots on goal (9-4) and a higher number of
expected goals. It wouldn't be a surprise to see them face each other deep
in the playoffs this fall.
I applied for
media credentials to the Spirit-Summit match and was
accepted. Although I'm a big soccer fan, played through my
entire childhood, coached my kids' teams, and have been a soccer referee for
decades, I don't follow the Spirit as much as I'd like. While I did some
research on the team prior to the game, I thought I would ask on BlueSky if
anyone had any suggestions on things to look out for. This was the actual post:
I have media
credentials to cover the Washington Spirit-Denver Summit match tonight. Besides
Trinity Rodman & the fact that the Spirit will move into first place if
they win, I know just a little about the match. Does anyone have any
information about either team or players that might be useful?
Though poorly
worded and being a little self-deprecating (not that anyone would know
that by reading it and not knowing me), I figured I might get a few
comments from friends. Maybe I would get some responses about a certain player
playing well lately or someone else losing playing time. Maybe some thoughts
about Sandy MacIver taking over the keeper role this season for Aubrey
Kingsbury who is on maternity leave (and just had a baby a few weeks ago.
Congrats!).
It didn't work
out that way. My post was picked up by Spirit fans who (rightfully) blasted me.
Who was I to get credentials? Did I take a spot from someone who deserved it
more? Several WTF replies, and not why the face. And I get it. It was never my intention to take
someone's spot (and it doesn’t seem like I did). My goal was and is to write a
post for casual soccer fans who may not have attended a Spirit match. There are
other fantastic sites and podcasts that cover the Spirit and describe and
discuss match previews and recaps as well as the day-to-day activities of the
team. (I've highlighted a few at the end of this post.) That's not me, and I
don't expect the team's biggest fans to read this blog for that. With that
written, I needed to share writing samples as part of the media credentials
application, and those that I included were soccer specific. Although I haven't
written about the Spirit (well, the Washington Spirit as I have written about the Pittsburgh Spirit), it's not like the recent men's World Cup was my introduction
to soccer. So despite several comments of go home or stay home (usually with
the "F" word thrown in), off I went…
Only to
discover that the game ended and the stadium was not letting people in!
I’m kidding. I
know that this is where Noah Kahan performs.
Outside the
stadium, I saw the Washington Spirit mobile. Cool vehicle but why a Virginia
license plate?
I found my way
to the media entrance, got my credentials, and was directed to go up the
stairs. Not the most glamorous welcome to Audi Field. (I should note that this
wasn’t my first time to Audi Field, but it was my first time seeing this gloomy
staircase. It was dark at the top.)
After settling
in, I went back down the stairs to the concourse and walked around and grabbed
some food. I would not recommend the pizza which was overpriced for its size
and average at best. Try another option. And because many of my posts come back
to Pittsburgh, of course I introduced myself to a guy wearing a Pirates hat and
this T-shirt.
Okay, let's get to the match itself:
* Leicy Santos, who has become a star for the Spirit this season, didn't start though she
entered in the 57th minute to a loud cheer. She brought a huge spark to the team., and it was not at all a coincidence that the Spirit
scored minutes after she came on.
* Lindsey Heaps,
the US national team captain, played in her second match of the season for
Denver after her return from playing in France the last few seasons. She
was everywhere in the midfield and attacking end coming close to scoring on a header in the second half. If you're familiar with the
Roy Kent chant from Ted Lasso, you can substitute her name here. I won’t write
it since I don’t typically swear on this blog, but the BlueSky commenters definitely know
the word in the chant! (Video NSFW)
* Trinity Rodman
is so much fun to watch. Not exactly breaking news here. There’s so much
energy from the crowd whenever Rodman gets the ball. In the second half alone, she drew three yellow cards and had a great pass on the goal by Sofia Cantore
who cut the ball back and shot it just outside the 18 off the crossbar.
* The attendance
was 15,169. I feel like I got insider information when this was announced
in the media room during the second half.
* As a referee, I
always watch how the professional refs call games and their positioning. I
appreciate that even at the highest level, the assistant referees check the
goals before the match. This is something I always do as a ref or ask my
assistant referees to do when I’m a center.
Overall, I
think the crew did a good job. The first foul wasn’t called until the 17th
minute but nothing was really warranted. All three yellow cards on the Summit
were deserved. I thought that a penalty called against the Spirit was correct
in real time as it seemed as though Rebeca Bernal fell into Heaps. VAR was
quite useful in this case. From my last post, the Enya fan who also likes VAR
was probably happy!
* Right before the final whistle, Santos got hit by an elbow by a Denver player
in the box. While I understand the referee wanting to end the game, this was
absolutely a foul and should have been a card.
* Denver made
things very exciting during the second half stoppage time. Several outstanding chances from close range
including a shot off the crossbar. Many neutral fans probably believe that the
Summit deserved a point from this match. I guess Denver didn't quite reach the
peak or a word similar to that.
* Although she didn't play, Washington striker Gift Monday may have the best name in sports. Denver’s Ayo Oke, if pronounced slightly differently, would be outstanding too.
I
highly recommend attending a Spirit match at Audi Field. Fun and welcoming
environment (at least in person) and a really quality team. Just skip the
pizza. The Spirit are now at the top of the NWSL standings and lead the league
in goal differential. Oh, for the folks that are big fans of Hal Hershfelt, here is a picture of the media surrounding her after the match.
Here are the complete highlights of the match including Cantore's goal, the VAR decision, and the elbow to end the match.
For more about the match and to follow the Spirit, check out some of the sites below. I know that I'm missing some.
Welcome to my annual-ish Pirates draft recap! As always, this is completely for entertainment and should not be used for actual analysis of these players. Please note that this post does not include all of the Pirates draft picks and is in no particular order.
Jason DeCaro - 3rd round, University of North Carolina, Pitcher
If you've listened to pop music over the last 15-20 years, you've heard songs by Jason Derulo, who sings his name in many of his songs.
Maybe the Pirates front office regularly listens to Derulo's music and thought it would be fun to draft a guy with a similar name. I really hope that DeCaro sings his name after recording a strikeout!
Alex Overbay - 8th round, Arizona State University, Pitcher
Overbay is the son of former Pirate great(?), Lyle Overbay. You might remember Overbay from his 103 games with the Bucs in 2011 where he hit .227 with 8 home runs and 37 RBIs. Fun fact: Alex Overbay is not a crocodile. (Unless, it's like a Teen Wolf thing where Overbay turns into a crocodile when there's a full moon or something.)
Andruw Giles - 4th round, Basic HS (Nevada), OF
Please be the son of Pirates great (no question mark needed) Brian Giles. Please be the son of Brian Giles. Please be the son of Brian Giles. Nope. Seems like his dad is Mark. Although Brian Giles has a brother, Marcus, who played in the majors, doesn't seem to be the same person. I guess we can settle on the fact that this Giles goes to a basic high school.
Griffin Stieg - 13th round, Virginia Tech, pitcher
Stieg spent the summer of 2023 playing for the Bethesda Big Train, part of the Cal Ripken Sr. Collegiate Baseball League in the Washington DC area. While not as well-known or prestigious as the Cape Cod League, there are some really talented players in this league, and it's a lot of fun attending Big Train games at Shirley Povich Field. Close seats and a terrific environment. If you're in the DC area, I highly recommend checking out a Big Train game.
Tyler Fay - 6th round, University of Alabama, Pitcher
Bryson Moore - 7th round, Florida State University, Pitcher
One of my favorite TV shows from the last 15-20 years (basically since the arrival of Jason Derulo on the music scene) was the show Happy Endings. Such a fun and funny show. The back-to-back picks of Tyler Fay and Bryson Moore reminded me of this.
Nathan Helman - 17th round, Kennesaw State University, Pitcher
Although Nathan probably likes all types of condiments, we all know that he's a big mayo fan, and Duke's Mayo isn't his favorite brand.
Rohan Lettow - 12th round, San Diego State University, Pitcher
First, S-D-S-U, SDSU, Aztecs fight. Next, you don't mess with the Rohan!
This post is just filled with references from the late 2000s and early 2010s!
Spencer Evans - 11th round, TNXL Academy, Pitcher
Spencer (is) for hire. Just wanted to make a reference from the 20th century!
Tre Phelps - 9th round, University of Georgia, 3B
Phelps' aunt is Angel Robinson who played college basketball at Georgia and three seasons in the WNBA with the Seattle Storm in 2014 and Phoenix Mercury in 2017-2018. Based on his first name and family history, Phelps might be good at shooting from a long distance. Maybe from behind a certain line.
Chris Rembert - supplemental 2nd round, Auburn University, 2B
Rembert could be a work of art for the Pirates!
Okay, trying to connect Rembert with Dutch artist Rembrandt is definitely a stretch, but this post is about more than sports. Did you know that Rembrandt's name is actually Rembrandt van Rijn? And pictured above is arguably his most famous work, The Night Watch, painted in 1642. Feel free to tell all your friends that The Night Watch is your favorite work from the Dutch Golden Age!
Dakota Stone - 20th round, University of North Florida, Pitcher
This is clearly a fake name. I mean, Dakota Stone just sounds cool. Can't be real. Oh, maybe he' s related to former Steelers wide receiver Dwight Stone. Need to continue to balance out my references from 10-15 years ago with those from the 1980s!
Damarcus Rideout-Carter - 14th round, Heart Lake Secondary School (Ontario), Pitcher
While Rideout-Carter is also a cool name, let's focus on Canada. There were 10 Canadian-born players drafted this year. 4 of the 10 played college baseball in the United States. 3 of the 10 are position players. This means that in the entire MLB draft, there were only 3 high school pitchers drafted out of Canada. Of those 3 pitchers, Rideout-Carter is the only one from Ontario. While kind of neat, to paraphrase Dark Helmet, this means absolutely nothing.
Bonus pick: Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (or whatever name they're using now)
In the 4th round, the Angels drafted Rylan Lujo, a pitcher from the University of Georgia. I know what you're thinking. Sean - Why are you including an Angels draft pick here? You don't even know their team name! Well, Lujo's grandfather is Rennie Stennett who was part of the Pirates 1971 and 1979 teams that won the World Series (though Stennett didn't play in the '71 series).
I hope you enjoyed this draft recap. Please feel free to check out draft recaps like this from previous years.
If you’re of a certain age, you’re familiar with the MTV
show, Jersey Shore. Even if you didn’t watch the show, the names Pauly D,
Snooki, and Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino were unavoidable.
Facebook and Instagram regularly show content and reels that
I never requested. Sometimes it’s advertisements, but generally it’s seemingly
random. I feel like I never see posts from my friends and the people I follow.
With all of that written, there are times when the randomness is good. And this
is an example. I saw this picture on Instagram over the weekend.
It’s Mike the Situation with his family all wearing Ithaca
College T-shirts. It’s unclear what connection the family has with Ithaca
College, but this seems like a great excuse to start a brand new series,
Celebrities in Ithaca College gear. While I doubt this will have the depth and
history of my Celebrities in Pittsburgh Gear series, I have to start
somewhere!
I'm so bad at creating blog post titles. Anyway, in less than a week, I got to attend two Washington Nationals games. That's not the story though. For the first time since 1999 or 2000, I went to Fenway Park to see the Boston Red Sox. We just happened to see them play the Nationals since tickets were half the price than they were for Boston's previous series against the New York Yankees. Is it okay to write that Fenway Park is magical? A little too much? The stadium opened in 1912, and while there have been renovations over the years, it's a historic venue. While I think that the Pierogi race in Pittsburgh and the Presidents race in Washington is fun, particularly for kids, there aren't those types of gimmicks at Fenway Park. You're there to watch a baseball game. And sure your primary view of the game is the outfield if you sit straight in our seats about 20 rows up from the right field foul pole (meaning that you need to turn your body to the left to see actual at-bats), but that's part of the stadium's charm.
Okay, one gimmick is great. Singing Sweet Caroline!
I'll admit that I don't watch many Red Sox games on TV, but sports betting advertising on the Green Monster is a bit much.
As for the second Nationals game, I saw Washington host my Pittsburgh Pirates. It was hot. Really hot. 100 degrees at first pitch. While I've seen dozens of Nationals games over the years, a few notes from this one.
The national anthem was sung by DC Washington. Perfect name for an anthem singer for a game in Washington DC and a terrific voice. Not sure if DC Washington would be as successful in Baltimore.
My biggest complaint (besides the heat) is the primary scoreboard. Look at this picture and tell me what inning it is.
Is this any better? I mean, the math doesn't math.
(The answer was the 7th inning.)
I also got to see Pirates phenom Konnor Griffin play for the first time. He seemed to enjoy the post-game fireworks.
Unsure if Griffin met the 1st overall pick of the NBA draft, AJ Dybantsa who threw out the opening pitch.
The Nationals defeated the Pirates 9-5, but the Pirates won the last two games of the series. Interesting note. Two Nationals players (Luis Garcia Jr. and Daylen Lile) both hit two home runs. Not sure I've attended a game where teammates hit multiple home runs. Meanwhile, the Red Sox defeated the Nats 6-3 in a game that featured three home runs in the first inning though the Nats won the last two games of the series.
Welcome to Sean's Ramblings! If you're looking for thoughts on pop culture, music, fun and informative links, random DC and Pittsburgh info, sports (particularly Pittsburgh sports), and just what's going on in my life, then you're come to the right place.
Any questions, comments or links? Contact me at seanramblings[at]yahoo[dot]com.
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