Final Four Round: 2012 Pittsburgh Sports Blog Tournament

Happy Leap Day! We've reached the Final Four of 4th annual Best Pittsburgh Sports Blog Tournament. This has been an incredible tournament thus far, and I truly appreciate all of the support you have showed the blogs in this tournament. Now, I am proud to present the Final Four contestants.

Walter Abercrombie Division Champion: Behind the Steel Curtain



Vonteego Cummings Division Champion: Rum Bunter



Dave Clark Division Champion: Where Have You Gone, Andy Van Slyke



Kip Miller Division Champion: Pitt Script



Four great blogs that earned their spot in the Final Four. In case you're a visual learner, here is your Final Four bracket:



The graphics for the bracket are amazing! Anyway, voting for the Final 4 round begins now and runs through tomorrow (Thursday) at 9:00 PM Eastern time. Please make sure to visit all of the blogs in the tournament as well as the other Pittsburgh sports blogs included in the links section of my blog.

Behind the Steel Curtain vs. Rum Bunter




Where Have You Gone, Andy Van Slyke vs. Pitt Script




(Once again, I have no idea why this poll no longer appears. In an amazing match-up Pitt Script defeated WHYGAVS 328-279 (54%-46%). If for some reason, the results appear here but not on my computer, then disregard this message.)

Good luck to all of the blogs in the tournament and thanks to Cotter for designing this incredible logo.




Update: Voting in the Final Four round is now closed. Thanks to everyone for voting! The championship round between Behind the Steel Curtain and Pitt Script begins on Monday.

Trivia Tuesday: Fictional Musicians Edition

If you’re looking for the Elite 8 round of the Best Pittsburgh Sports Blog Tournament, please scroll down to the next post or click here. For those of you new to Sean’s Ramblings, most Tuesdays we have a fun little game called Trivia Tuesday. Very original name. Anyway, listed below are ten actors and character names. Your challenge is to name the movie based on the fictional musicians.

1. Mark Wahlberg as Chris “Izzy” Cole

2. Christopher Guest as Nigel Tufnel

3. Matt Dillon as Cliff Poncier

4. Billy Crudup as Russell Hammond

5. Jack Black as Dewey Finn

6. Val Kilmer as Nick Rivers

7. Jeff Bridges as Otis “Bad” Blake

8. Gwyneth Paltrow as Kelly Canter

9. Eddie Murphy as James “Thunder” Early

10. John C. Reilly as Dewey Cox

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

This quiz is courtesy of the fine folks at Stump Trivia.

2012 Pittsburgh Sports Blog Tournament: Elite 8 Round

We're on to the Elite 8 round of the 4th annual Best Pittsburgh Sports Blog Tournament. Two #1 seeds were knocked out in the Sweet 16 round, the Vonteego Cummings division is completely up for grabs with the #3 and #5 seeds remaining, and Behind the Steel Curtain received a record amount of votes in the last round. Eight amazing blogs remain. Here is your latest bracket:



Voting for the Elite 8 round begins now and runs through tomorrow (Tuesday) at 9:00 PM Eastern time. Please make sure to visit all of the blogs in the tournament as well as the other Pittsburgh sports blogs included in the links section of my blog. I'm also still looking for someone to create an amazing virtual trophy. Anyone? Anyone?

Anyway, you may begin voting (dramatic pause)...now!

Walter Abercrombie Division Championship

#1 Behind the Steel Curtain vs. #2 Pittsburgh Sports & Mini Ponies




Vonteego Cummings Division Championship

#3 Three Rivers Burgh Blog vs. #5 Rum Bunter




Dave Clark Division Championship

#1 Where Have You Gone, Andy Van Slyke vs. #3 Blog 'N' Gold




(I have no idea why this poll no longer appears. WHYGAVS defeated Blog 'N' Gold with 62.38% of the vote. If for some reason, the results appear here but not on my computer, then disregard this.)

Kip Miller Division Championship

#2 Raise the Jolly Roger vs. #5 Pitt Script




Good luck to all of the blogs in the tournament and thanks to Cotter for designing this incredible logo.



Update: Voting in the Elite 8 round is now closed. The Final 4 round begins tomorrow (Wednesday) at 8:00 AM Eastern time. Thanks for voting everyone!

Randomness (PSBT Update, Express Fail & Pasty Butt)

There’s a lot to discuss today, but I have to start with the Sweet 16 round of the 4th annual Best Pittsburgh Sports Tournament. Holy crap! First, there were nearly 1,500 votes in the Behind the Steel Curtain-The “Mc” Effect match-up. While there was some unusual voting patterns using the old software in previous years, this was a legitimate result. BTSC readers were out in full force while The “Mc” Effect got strong support from Waynesburg University. In addition, PSAMP defeated SteelerGurl by only 9 votes, Rum Bunter upset top-seeded Steelers Depot by only 21 votes, and Pitt Script shocked another #1 seed, Empty Netters. The Elite 8 round begins on Monday.

- After almost nine years and over 400 shows, the final Rizzo Sports Weekly show takes place on Tuesday, February 28th. I am honored to have appeared on several episodes, and best of luck to Rizzo in his future endeavors. I just hope that my appearances on the show didn’t cause him to “retire.” [Rizzo Sports]

- This story is about an effort to allow chickens in Arlington County, Virginia. I can’t get past this sentence, though:

Animal rights activists worry that owners can’t care for the high-maintenance birds, which can contract diseases like “pasty butt” and “fowl plague.”

Pasty butt? Pasty butt! I’m sure this is a serious disease, but pasty butt! Yes, I’m 12. [Washington Post]

- Pittsburgh has Anthrocon. DC has Katsucon [DCist]



- WTAE in Pittsburgh interviewed The “Mc” Effect about the “Mc” Effect [WTAE]

- Meanwhile, this may be the first time anyone ever interviewed me. [Behind the Steel Curtain]

- Finally, a brand new Express Fail! Did you know that The Rock was in movie The Pacifier? Neither did I. [Express]

2012 Pittsburgh Sports Blog Tournament: Sweet 16 Round

We're on to the Sweet 16 round of the 4th annual Best Pittsburgh Sports Blog Tournament. Not too many upsets in the first round, so I think everyone still has a good chance on winning their own Pittsburgh Sports Blog Tournament polls.

Here is your latest bracket:



Voting for the Sweet 16 round begins now and runs through tomorrow (Thursday) at 9:00 PM Eastern time. Please make sure to visit all of the blogs in the tournament as well as the other Pittsburgh sports blogs included in the links section of my blog. You may begin voting (dramatic pause)...now!

Walter Abercrombie Division



#1 Behind the Steel Curtain vs. #5 The "Mc" Effect




#2 Pittsburgh Sports & Mini Ponies vs. #6 SteelerGurl





Vonteego Cummings Division



#1 Steelers Depot vs. #5 Rum Bunter




#3 Three Rivers Burgh Blog vs. #7 This Is Getting Old





Dave Clark Division



#1 Where Have You Gone, Andy Van Slyke vs. #5 Faceoff Factor




#2 That's Church vs. #3 Blog 'N' Gold





Kip Miller Division



#1 Empty Netters vs. #5 Pitt Script




#2 Raise the Jolly Roger vs. #6 Blitzburgh





Good luck to all of the blogs in the tournament and thanks to Cotter for designing this incredible logo.




Update: The amazing Sweet 16 round is now complete. Thanks to everyone for voting! The Elite 8 round will begin on Monday.

Trivia Tuesday

If you’re looking for the Best Pittsburgh Sports Blog Tournament, please scroll down to the next post or simply click here. As a reminder, voting for the second part of round one ends today (Tuesday) at 8:00 PM Eastern.

If you’re new to Sean’s Ramblings, I include a Trivia Tuesday post every, well, Tuesday, as a nice quiz to start the week. This week’s challenge is the ten questions in the following picture:



Although the questions are listed above, I'll type them here again for no apparent reason.

1. Who am I?

2. What TV show is this?

3. What dictator is this?

4. What type of creature is this?

5. Who am I?

6. What movie is this?

7. Who am I?

8. What type of musical instrument is this?

9. What brand name is missing?

10. What capital city is this?

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

This quiz was created by PubStumpers. (Yes, I went to a different trivia night than my usual spot.)

2012 PSBT: Round One Part II

Welcome back to the 4th annual Best Pittsburgh Sports Blog Tournament. If you missed the first half of the first round, you missed a #2 seed and a #3 seed going down in defeat and three Penguins blogs failing to advance to the second round. If this tournament had any type of production budget, I would write, let’s go to the highlights. Instead, I’ll just write click here to see the voting results (you can also scroll down to the next post), and here’s the updated bracket:



Voting for the Dave Clark and Kip Miller divisions begins now and runs through tomorrow (Tuesday) at 8:00 PM Eastern time. Once again, if you're new to the Pittsburgh Sports Blog Tournament, please click here for the eligibility requirements and more information about this extravaganza. This tournament is designed to be fun and entertaining so please treat it that way. Of course in the spirit of fun and business, if you have a company/organization/website that would like to become a sponsor of the Pittsburgh Sports Blog Tournament, please let me know. In addition, I'm looking for someone who can create a virtual tournament trophy, so please contact me if you're interested.

Now that administrative stuff (technical term) is out of the way, let's get to the voting!

Dave Clark Division



#1 Where Have You Gone, Andy Van Slyke vs. #8 Cardiac Hill




#4 Steelers Gab vs. #5 Faceoff Factor




#3 Blog 'N' Gold vs. #6 Pittsburgh Sports Daily Bulletin




#2 That's Church vs. #7 Steelers Today





Kip Miller Division



#1 Empty Netters vs. #8 Joey Porter's Pit Bulls




#4 The Steelers 'n At vs. #5 Pitt Script




#3 Black Shoe Diaries vs. #6 Blitzburgh




#2 Raise the Jolly Roger vs. #7 Nice Pick, Cowher






Good luck to all of the blogs in the tournament and thanks to Cotter for designing this incredible logo.


Update: Polls are now closed. Thanks to everyone for voting. Join us for the Sweet 16 round starting at 8:00 AM on Wednesday.

2012 Pittsburgh Sports Blog Tournament: First Round Part I

The first round of the 4th annual Best Pittsburgh Sports Blog Tournament is now underway. Voting for the Walter Abercrombie and Vonteego Cummings divisions start now and run through tomorrow (Friday) at 6:00 PM Eastern time. Voting for the Dave Clark and Kip Miller divisions begin on Monday.



If you're new to the Pittsburgh Sports Blog Tournament, please click here for the eligibility requirements and more information about this tournament. Once again, this tournament is designed to be fun and entertaining. Therefore, please don't cheat!

Here is your 2012 bracket:



Let the games begin!

Walter Abercrombie Division




#1 Behind the Steel Curtain vs. #8 Hyzdu Headquarters




#4 Pitt Blather vs. #5 The "Mc" Effect




#3 Bob Smizik's Blog vs. #6 SteelerGurl




#2 Pittsburgh Sports & Mini Ponies vs. #7 Igloo Dreams





Vonteego Cummings Division



#1 Steelers Depot vs. #8 Puck Huffers




#4 Pens Universe vs. #5 Rum Bunter




#3 Three Rivers Burgh Blog vs. #6 Steelers Lounge




#2 PensBurgh vs. #7 This Is Getting Old





Good luck to all of the blogs in the tournament and thanks to Cotter for designing this incredible logo.

Update: 2/17 @ 6:00 PM - Voting for part one of the first round is now complete. Thanks to everyone for voting and for supporting these great blogs. Voting for the second part of the first round will begin on Monday morning.

4th Annual Pittsburgh Sports Blog Tournament Bracket

Welcome to the 4th Annual Best Pittsburgh Sports Blog Tournament! This is a celebration of Pittsburgh sports and a wonderful blogging community that I don’t think exists anywhere else. There are some extremely talented writers here, and I encourage you to visit each of the participants' websites (if you don't already regularly visit all 32 of these blogs).

With that, I am proud to present the 2012 bracket:



If you wonder why a blog isn’t included in this year’s tournament (ex. The PensBlog, Bucs Dugout, Pirates Prospects, Dejan Kovacevic’s Blog), please click here for the eligibility requirements.

So, get your office pools together to fill out your brackets! (Yahoo or ESPN should jump all over the opportunity to start a Pittsburgh Sports Blog Tournament Pick ‘em contest.)

First round voting in the Walter Abercrombie and Vonteego Cummings divisions starts tomorrow (Thursday) morning and runs through Friday evening. First round voting in the Dave Clark and Kip Miller divisions begin on Monday.

If you know of any blogs, websites, or organizations that may be interested in becoming the first ever Pittsburgh Sports Blog Tournament sponsor, please contact me at seanramblings at yahoo[dot]com. In addition, I’m looking for someone to create a virtual trophy for this tournament, so anyone who can do this can also contact me at the e-mail address listed in the previous sentence. I’ll be happy to include a link to the website of the best trophy.

Finally, you can follow this tournament on Twitter through #PghSportsBlogTourney

Good luck to all of the blogs in the tournament and thanks to Cotter for designing this incredible logo.

Trivia Tuesday: 2011 Movies Edition

I thought about creating a Trivia Tuesday where you would guess the top 10 or 20 highest grossing films of 2011, but I decided against it. Instead, your challenge is a test of your memory. How many of the 50 top grossing movies of 2011 listed below did you see?

1. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2
2. Transformers: Dark of the Moon
3. Twilight: Breaking Dawn
4. The Hangover Part II
5. Pirates of the Caribbean
6. Fast Five
7. Cars 2
8. Mission: Impossible
9. Thor
10. Rise of the Planet of the Apes

11. Captain America
12. Sherlock Holmes
13. The Help
14. Bridesmaids
15. Kung Fu Panda 2
16. Puss In Boots
17. X-Men: First Class
18. Rio
19. The Smurfs
20. Super 8

21. Rango
22. Alvin and the Chipmunks
23. Horrible Bosses
24. Green Lantern
25. Hop
26. Paranormal Activity 3
27. Just Go With It
28. Bad Teacher
29. Cowboys & Aliens
30. Gnomeo & Juliet

31. The Green Hornet
32. The Lion King 3D
33. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
34. The Muppets
35. Real Steel
36. Crazy, Stupid, Love
37. Battle: Los Angeles
38. Immortals
39. Zookeeper

40. Limitless
41. Tower Heist
42. Contagion
43. Moneyball
44. Justin Bieber: Never Say Never
45. Dolphin Tale
46. Jack and Jill
47. No Strings Attached
48. The Adventures of Tintin
49. Mr. Popper’s Penguins
50. War Horse

I saw a grand total of 5 of these movies: 4 in the theater (Hangover II, Super 8, The Muppets & Moneyball) and 1 on DVD (Bridesmaids). I’m not counting Lion King since I saw it in the 90s and not in 2011 or 2012. I am obviously a hermit.

So how many movies did you see? Please leave your answer and any thoughts about the films in the comments section below.

Friday Links

I'm still seeking nominations for the 4th Annual Best Pittsburgh Sports Blog Tournament. Please let me know if you know of worthy Pittsburgh sports blogs. [Sean's Ramblings]

If you have an extra copy of The Great Gatsby, send the book to Mr. Brame for his high school English class. [Mr. Brame's Blog]

Support Make Room for Kids for Austin’s Playroom Project through the Mario Lemieux Foundation at Pittsburgh's Children's Hospital. [That's Church]

Get your Valentine's Day T-shirt. [Get Fresh Designs]



Two great parenting posts. [Lemon Gloria & Deadspin - some bad words in the Deadspin piece]

Laurie visited Parkway Center Mall and the Carnegie Museum [YinzR Readin & YinzR Readin]

A guy paid off $3000 in credit card debt in four months. The author is serious, but the comments are very funny. Here's one:

He didn't come up with some big plan to pay off an enormous amount of debt in three weeks. He only owed $3,000 and he basically had it in savings and tax returns. WOW! What a revolutionary idea to solve our debt problems. [Yahoo]

Call for Nominations (4th Annual Best Pittsburgh Sports Blog Tournament)

It’s that time of year again...Umbrella Day. Apparently, Umbrella Day is an annual “holiday” that occurs on February 10th. I can’t find much online about Umbrella Day, so I guess you can play the videos for Rihanna’s Umbrella or Bus Stop by The Hollies (an umbrella is featured prominently in the song) at the bottom of this post. It’s also time for the fourth annual Best Pittsburgh Sports Blog Tournament.



I started this little extravaganza in 2009 as a way to highlight some of the best blogs that cover and discuss Pittsburgh sports and to encourage collaboration between very talented writers. Although some people have taken this tournament way too seriously over the years, please note that this is designed for entertainment only.

I plan on starting the fourth annual tournament next week, but I wanted to set the ground rules and get some feedback about who should be included in this year's tournament. There will be 32 blogs in the tournament with the following blogs almost certainly in the field:

Behind the Steel Curtain
Blog 'n' Gold
Bob Smizik's Blog (see note below)
Empty Netters
Faceoff Factor
Igloo Dreams
Nice Pick, Cowher
PensBurgh
Pens Universe
Pitt Blather
Pitt Script Blog
Pittsburgh Sports and Mini Ponies
Puck Huffers
Raise the Jolly Roger
Rum Bunter
Steelers Depot
Steelers Gab
That's Church
The “Mc” Effect
The Steelers N' At
This Is Getting Old
Three Rivers Burgh Blog
Where Have You Gone, Andy Van Slyke?

As you can tell, this is not 32 blogs. I have an idea about the remaining spots, but I’d like to hear who you think should be included. Please leave your suggestions in the comments section below or e-mail me at seanramblings at yahoo [dot] com.

Here are the ground rules and some notes about the tournament:

1. Blogs in the tournament must be in existence for at least one year as the bloggers in this tournament have paid their dues. While it’s easy to start a blog, it’s not as easy to stick with it. This is not to discourage the new bloggers out there. There are some great blogs that have only been around for a few months that should make the cut next year.

2. The blog must discuss Pittsburgh sports at least half of the time. Close counts.

3. The blog must be active and updated regularly. I don’t have a specific definition of regularly; however, if a blog follows a specific team during the season but has a three-month gap in posts during the off-season, it is not eligible.

4. The blog’s primary author cannot regularly write and get published in a newspaper. This is the Dejan Kovacevic Rule. I don’t want to diminish all of the work that Dejan and other writers/bloggers at the Post-Gazette, the Tribune-Review and other publications do but they also have much greater access to players, executives, etc. as well as resources for in-depth stories.

5. At least for now, when a blog wins once, it can’t win again. The Pensblog cruised to a relatively easy victory to become the first ever Best Pittsburgh Sports Blog Tournament Champion. Bucs Dugout edged out a victory to become the second champion while Pirates Prospects won last year. I like giving other blogs chances to win, so don’t freak out when you scan through the list of Pittsburgh sports blogs, and The Pensblog, Bucs Dugout and Pirates Prospects are missing. If there's a 10th annual Best Pittsburgh Sports Blog Tournament, maybe we'll bring back all the former champions.

6. I know that many people don’t like Bob Smizik, but he meets all of the eligibility qualifications. Plus, his posts generate more feedback and comments than nearly any other Pittsburgh sports blog. Yes, most of these posts focus on criticizing Smizik, and he’ll probably get knocked out in the first round again due to the anti-Smizik vote, but his blog is in.

7. I included Black Shoe Diaries, a blog dedicated to Penn State sports, as part of the tournament in 2010 due to the large number of Penn State fans in Western Pennsylvania. After receiving some comments stating that State College doesn’t equal Pittsburgh, I didn’t include BSD in 2011. Considering all of the Penn State coverage over the past few months, I’ve flip-flopped again, and I feel that BSD should be in.

Finally, the Best Pittsburgh Sports Blog Tournament is looking for sponsors. If you or your company/website want some extra exposure, please let me know. I'm certainly not above selling out for a worthwhile company or organization.

Thanks for reading and supporting the Pittsburgh sports blog community! I look forward to hearing your comments. In addition, thanks to Cotter for designing the incredible logo. Now, enjoy some umbrella songs.

LAX to IAD

I don’t travel much these days, but a flight from Los Angeles to Washington Dulles, including a celebrity sighting and the chance to share my thoughts about the 2011 edition of Footloose, is certainly worth a blog post.

With an almost 3-hour layover at LAX and not wanting to pay for airplane food, I searched for a snack for the return flight. I thought about getting a bag of Combos, and although I don’t usually look at calories that often, I couldn’t justify buying something that had 130 calories per serving with 7 SERVINGS per bag!

Instead I purchased three chocolate chip cookies from McDonalds even though I would have preferred a box of McDonaldLand cookies. Do they make McDonaldLand cookies anymore?



I also bought a bag of Cool Ranch Doritos, but I didn’t end up opening them on the flight. The bag provides information about winning “ultimate access to Super Bowl XLVI” in Indianapolis. I really hope I win!

The flight back to DC was delayed since the plane arriving to LAX from Chicago was late. One of the first people off of the Chicago flight was Carson Daly with his wife or girlfriend and his young son. He wore a Raiders hat as a possible attempt to go incognito. It didn’t work since my celebrity radar recognized him almost immediately (as did everyone else in my group).



If you ever need to fly from LA to DC, I highly recommend taking a Monday afternoon flight. The flight was half-way full at best, so I had my own row. I placed my bag under the seat next to me so that I could stretch out my legs. I also put my seat back since there was no one sitting behind me.

Time to briefly address Footloose. It completely lived up to my expectations as a movie that I would never pay to see. Please note that my random thoughts about this movie may contain some spoiler alerts, but really, the original film was released in 1984, so there shouldn’t be any spoilers.

The main male character moves from Boston to Texas at the beginning of his senior year of high school, meaning that he’s probably 17 or 18. We learn that he was/is a gymnast who got to go to Russia for a competition and was regularly drug-tested to be eligible for his team. He also plays football, fights, plays music loudly, is an excellent car mechanic, races school buses, and of course, dances, including flawlessly performing country line dances. I call shenanigans since this person doesn’t exist.

In addition, this character makes a speech to the town council near the end of the movie in an attempt to end the dancing ban. While he quotes several bible verses, I think he would have been more effective by quoting C + C Music Factory and proclaiming Everybody Dance Now.

While the trip was great, it’s nice to be home. This was the longest I’ve been away from my child, and I really missed him.

Trivia Tuesday: R-Rated Edition

Don't be scared by the title of this post. Listed below are the names of two stars and the year of the film. Your challenge this week is to name the movie titles of the Top 10 "R" rated comedies in terms of money made.

1. Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms (2009)

2. Zach Galifianakis, Justin Bartha (2011)

3. Eddie Murphy, Judge Reinhold (1984)

4. Vince Vaughn, Owen Wilson (2005)

5. Julia Roberts, Richard Gere (1990)

6. Ben Stiller, Matt Dillon (1998)

7. Kristen Wiig, Melissa McCarthy (2011)

8. Anna Faris, Marlon Wayans (2000)

9. Tom Cruise, Jay Mohr (1996)

10. Eddie Murphy, Brigitte Nielsen (1987)

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

This quiz is courtesy of the fine folks at Stump Trivia.

Heartbeat Vs. Heartbeat (Friday Videos)

Who has the better Heartbeat song and video:

Don Johnson



or The Fray?



This is a very difficult decision, so take your time to consider the options.

Happy Groundhog Day From G-Hog

I don't care if I used this video 4+ years ago or that the video doesn't seem to have sound anymore. Pretend like you're seeing possible Oscar-winner The Artist.

Anyway, on behalf of G-Hog and that other Pennsylvania groundhog, have a Happy Groundhog Day!



Next year in Punxsutawney!

Row, Row, Row Your Boat's Dark Side

You're familiar with the nursery rhyme Row, Row, Row Your Boat, right? If not (and seriously, how can you not know this song?), here are the lyrics:

Row, row, row your boat,
Gently down the stream.
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily,
Life is but a dream.

Although the song is a bit repetitive, it's a nice and calm song for kids. However, according to this video, there's a second verse that's a little darker.



In case you're unable to view the video, the second verse is:

Row, row, row your boat,
Gently down the stream.
If you see a crocodile,
don't forget to scream.

What the heck? That is not a calming or fun song for young children. Imagine that you're taking a nice relaxing trip on your boat down a stream like a dream. Good times! Then, there's a crocodile? Why is there a crocodile? It's not a friendly crocodile either. It's a crocodile that makes you want to scream.

Moral of the story: Despite the cute cartoons (though the kids' eyes are freaky), I'm not showing this video to my kid.