Mick Foley Meets Franco Harris & George Washington

I was a big wrestling fan in the 80s. I attended a few live matches at Pittsburgh's Civic Arena and watched several Wrestlemanias at my friend Brian's house. This was during the heyday of Hulk Hogan, The Junkyard Dog, Jake "The Snake" Roberts, Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat and Andre The Giant.

Mick Foley arrived on the scene after I stopped following wrestling. However, I'm aware of Foley, not only from being a wrestler but also from being an author and appearing on television shows such as The Daily Show and Celebrity Wife Swap.

Foley was at the Pittsburgh Airport yesterday and posed with Pittsburgh legends Franco Harris and George Washington. Enjoy!

Spending day #156 of @IamSantaMovie #ShowMeTheSanta with #Pittsburgh's 2 greatest icons - Washington & Franco Harris. pic.twitter.com/fK4uuRh6zT

— Mick Foley (@realmickfoley) May 29, 2014

Foley tweeted that he appeared with Pittsburgh's two greatest icons. While Franco may be near the top of the Pittsburgh icon list, I don't think he trumps Andy Warhol, Mister Rogers or Roberto Clemente.

Reminiscing

I've had some time to reminisce during late night feedings over the past few weeks. Sure, I mostly think about how much I want to go back to sleep, but I've also thought about people from various points of my life. I was a Resident Assistant (RA) in college which significantly helped with the cost of room and board. I also made some great friends, and this job truly introduced me to the world of student affairs. It's been fun thinking about people that lived on my floor and to wonder where they are today. Here are two such cases. (I've changed the names in case they don't want their life on my blog.)

1. Jordan was a theatre major that had a lot of fun in college. Fortunately for me, Jordan was one strike away from losing his on-campus housing so he went off-campus to do most of his partying. I rarely remember seeing him study, but he was a nice and fun guy. Today, he is the general manager for a company that makes handmade cloth diapers. I definitely didn't see that coming in college.

2. Scott was one of the biggest sports fans I knew. He was a huge Philadelphia sports fan and one of the guys you could see booing Santa Claus at Veterans Stadium. He was going to be a sports journalist and certainly had the passion for it. I will be forever grateful to Scott for letting me watch the 4-overtime Petr Nedved Penguins-Capitals playoff game in his room since he had ESPN2 while I did not. (The game ended well after midnight and he went to sleep since he had a final the next day. I kept watching even though I had a final or paper due.)



Scott is now a New York Times correspondent who has spent significant time in Pakistan, Indonesia, Afghanistan, and, well, pretty much everywhere. He is Carmen Sandiego! Scott also brought Malala's story to the world and has already had a remarkable career. (I'm sort of making him not so anonymous.)


Anyway, this has been a fun exercise. Maybe soon I'll see where people I went to kindergarten with are today!

Fat Joe Wears A Pirates Jersey, Pedro Alvarez Does Not

While watching the MLB Network recently, I noticed several commercials for a show on MTV2 called Off the Bat. The show seemed interesting though I'm probably too old for the MTV2 target audience. However, I noticed that Pedro Alvarez will be on tonight's show, so I want to check this episode.

It looks like Fat Joe isn't as fat as he used to be. Good for Bald Joe! Anyway, here's a description of the show:

MTV2 and Major League Baseball team up to bring you a one-of-a-kind show that goes way beyond baseball, Off the Bat from the MLB Fan Cave.

Each week Major League Baseball players and celebrity fans will drop by the Fan Cave to hang out with our hosts: MTV News correspondent Sway, hip-hop heavyweight Fat Joe, and Guy Code stars Chris Distefano and Melanie Iglesias. Together they'll cover all the bases on the biggest stories in baseball, pop culture, and entertainment.

This show isn't about stats, or about what happens on the field. We'll highlight players in a way that no one's ever seen before, from locker room pranks to hilarious interviews, in-studio games, lifestyle features and much more.

Get ready for a totally new look at your favorite athletes and celebrities.

I'm not sure if I'll still be awake at 11:00 tonight, but this seems perfect for my DVR. Maybe I'll even include a link to an episode here.

Two more points.

1. Is Chris Distefano related to former Pirate Benny Distefano?

2. This would have been a perfect post for Pittsburgh Sports and Mini Ponies who had a regular feature of celebrities including hip-hop stars wearing Pittsburgh sports gear. I hope Tecmo returns to blogging soon!

Judge Strikes Down Pennsylvania Gay-Marriage Ban; Singles Over 50 Rejoice

I learned about yesterday's news that a federal judge struck down Pennsylvania's gay marriage ban from this e-mail from The Washington Post.

Does the juxtaposition (SAT word!) of the news and the advertisement to meet singles over 50 seem a little odd? After seeing their commercials during the hockey playoffs, I'm surprised it's not a Farmers.com ad.

Is Tom Brady In The Fitz And The Tantrums Video?

While the answer is clearly no, the main character that is not Fitz or a Tantrum sort of looks like Tom Brady in the video for The Walker, right? A little bit? Even if the answer is no, the video is even more entertaining if you think of the guy as Tom Brady.



Overall, I really like this song. I'm dating myself here, but the message of the song reminds me of Break My Stride by Matthew Wilder. Yes, I really am dating myself.

Don't Wait! Order Now, Baseball Fans

For no apparent reason, I received the MLB Insiders Club Magazine recently. I am not part of this club and did not subscribe to this magazine, but as long as I don't get charged, I guess this is fine by me. Actually, if I'm part of the MLB Insiders club, do I get any perks like free tickets or the opportunity to vote on rule changes? (I'd like for teams to be able to trade draft picks. Revising the whole Super Two thing would be nice too.)

Anyway, the magazine features the following ad for the MLB Love Bug Music Box.

While this could be a cute gift for people who love baseball, Take Me Out to the Ballgame, and, um, bugs, there is one part of the ad that bothers me. The ad states that this gift is "essential for any baseball fan!" What the ad doesn't state is that this gift is essential for any baseball fan...unless you are a fan of the Pirates, Orioles, Blue Jays, Rays, Royals, Twins, Indians, Athletics, Mariners, Astros, Braves, Nationals, Mets, Brewers, Reds, Rockies, Padres or Diamondbacks. Plus, if you are going to pick only 12 baseball teams, why the Miami Marlins? Is there a higher demand for love bug music boxes among Marlins fans than any of these other 18 teams?

Trivia Tuesday

We have a special Trivia Tuesday today since I created this quiz. Your challenge is to name the 10 people below and then indicate what all of these people have in common.

1. This 28 year-old Twilight actor has probably been in other movies besides the Twilight series.

2. This 64 year-old Motown legend may be considered superstitious.

3. The Dolphins make this 48 year-old singer cry.

4. This 50 year-old TV host just got replaced by one network because he got a new, very high-profile job.

5. This 45 year-old guitarist has a name based on something he wears on his head. He also goes by Brian Patrick Carroll, but you probably know him by his other name.

6. This 53 year-old former NBA player is friends with Kim Jong-un.

7. This 28 year-old actress/writer graduated from Oberlin College. She also likes fun.

8. This 75 year-old actor born in Brooklyn may be best known for his roles in Quentin Tarantino films though he was nominated for an Academy Award and played Adam Sandler's dad in Little Nicky.

9. This 36 year-old pitcher made $20 million in 2013 and had a 5-11 record with a 5.74 ERA.

10. This 39 year-old blogger runs one of the most critically-acclaimed blogs for blogs that are at least 9 years old though he is still waiting to be able to make millions from the blog.

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

2014 Pittsburgh Steelers Draft Recap

Let me preface this post by writing that if you're looking for an in-depth, analytical look at the 2014 Pittsburgh Steelers draft class, I suggest going to Behind the Steel Curtain or Steelers Depot for that. I have my own unique thoughts on draft recaps (see my posts about the 2012 and 2013 Pittsburgh Pirates drafts for example) THAT YOU WON'T READ ANYWHERE ELSE!

1st Round: Shabazz Napier - PG, UConn

Napier led UConn to the NCAA men's basketball championship this past season. Steelers coach Mike Tomlin stated that he liked Napier because of his speed and that he's a defensive playmaker. I completely agree though I think he's known more for his offense than his defense. Oops. The Steelers drafted Ryan Shazier, LB of Ohio State. Maybe Ryan Shazier and Shabazz Napier are cousins.

2nd Round: Stephon Tuitt - DE, Notre Dame

Ice Cube's You Can Do It must be the theme song for Tuitt. Yes, get your back or, um, butt, in to it. (Surprisingly, this video is SFW-ish as all of the bad words are removed. With that written, you may not want your boss seeing you watch this video.)



3nd Round: Dri Archer - RB, Kent State

I'm a big fan of Archer, though I'm not sure if he's going to be a good teammate. (Some bad words in the video below, so probably NSFW.)



4th Round: Martavis Bryant - WR, Clemson

He is already the most successful Martavis in Steelers history!

5th round: Shaquille Richardson - CB, Arizona

Richardson is listed at 6'0". If you're name is Shaquille, you should be at least 7'0".

5th round: Wesley Johnson - OL, Vanderbilt

Wesley Johnson played college basketball at Syracuse and currently plays for the Los Angeles Lakers. I think he's the first person to ever play for the Lakers and Steelers.

6th round: Jordan Zumwalt - LB, UCLA

When reading through the all-time Steelers roster, Amos Zereoue will no longer be listed last.

7th round: Daniel McCullers - DL, Tennessee

I should probably make a Crayola reference here.

7th round: Rob Blanchflower - TE, UMass

The Blanchflower family is less successful than its neighbors, the Mayflower family.

Undrafted free agent: Howard Jones - LB, Shepherd

Underrated 80s musician. Personally, my favorite Howard Jones songs are Things Can Only Get Better and Everlasting Love. No One Is To Blame for Jones not getting drafted.

Mother's Day Message

On this Mother's Day, "Word to your moms. I came to drop bombs."

That's a compliment, right? Happy Mother's Day!

Grocery Store Conversation

At a recent trip to Wegmans, I was unable to find bug spray, so I finally relented and asked a grocery store employee who was putting eggs into the refrigerator for help.

Me: Excuse me. Do you know where I can find bug spray?

Grocery Store Guy (GSG): Sure.

He then reached over and showed me a bottle of butter spray.

Me: No. I'm looking for bug spray.

GSG: Can you describe it?

Me: Um, if there are mosquitoes you spray this so you won't get bit.

GSG: Oh, bug spray.

Me: Yeah.

GSG: I thought you said bun spray. It should be between aisles 2 and 4a.

So what the heck is bun spray? According to Google Images, this is bun spray.

With my receding (receded?) hairline, I certainly am not in the market for bun spray.

$2 Bill Spotted at Madison Square Garden

In the second period of last night's Pittsburgh Penguins-New York Rangers Eastern Conference semi-finals game, I noticed something odd in the crowd.

Despite the crooked picture, for some reason, this Penguins fan had a $2 bill against the glass. While I really would like to get to the bottom of this, I have a few theories behind the $2 bill:

She is a big fan of #2, Matt Niskanen

The 2 represents the number of goals the Rangers scored in games 2-4 of the series.

There is a Thomas Jefferson High School in suburban Pittsburgh, so clearly the former President is a Penguins fan.

The 2 represents the number of games the Rangers lost at home to the Penguins in this series.

Thomas Jefferson repealed the whiskey tax nearly a decade after the Whiskey Rebellion that occurred in Western Pennsylvania. I have no idea how this has any connection to the Penguins.


P.S. It looks like The Pensblog also has no idea why there is a $2 bill against the glass.

Update! It looks like we have two more theories.

@seansramblings "Brian Leetch isn't walking through that door..."

— Captain Easychord (@CapnEasychord) May 8, 2014

@seansramblings from this tweet, looks like it was just for good luck https://t.co/XV6P9vQF2G

— Mikey (@fsmikey) May 8, 2014

@fsmikey @Pensblog I was sitting in that section last night. Each seat along the glass had a $2 bill for good luck. How'd that workout...?

— Shawn Harvey (@Harv313) May 8, 2014

Mystery solved?

Metro's Blue Line Problem

To be a true blogger in the Washington DC area, you need to have a post where you complain about Metro. While I've written several of these posts over the years, I feel the need to share another Metro story today.

I'm an Orange Line guy. I take the Orange Line daily and only seem to go on a different line when I transfer to go to Nationals Park. However, I recently attended a meeting in Pentagon City, so I had to transfer to the Blue Line. I arrived at Rosslyn at 8:05 AM in the middle of rush hour on a Friday and went downstairs to take the Blue Line train in the direction of Franconia/Springfield. I did not barely miss a train, yet, the sign stated that the next Blue Line train wasn't for 12 minutes. 12 minutes! During rush hour! Even more insulting was that there were 4 Orange Line trains that stopped to take passengers towards Vienna before my Blue Line train arrived.

While I understand that there are more passengers on the Orange Line than the Blue Line, this is absurd. I really feel bad for people who need to rely on the Blue Line. They are going to get screwed even more whenever the Silver Line actually opens.

Yo Homes, Smell Ya Later

With a new child, it's time to find a bigger home for the family. While I'm not really looking to leave the DC area, there are two job openings in Los Angeles that interest me: the head coaching job for the Los Angeles Lakers and being the owner of the Los Angeles Clippers. Sure, I don't have the experience for the first position or the money for the second one, but I think I can sell myself and be effective for either job. The best way to do this is to show off my potential new house in the Holmby Hills section of Bel Air.

The asking price is $65 million, but I think I can get them down to $60 million for the 11-bedroom, 14 full bathroom (and 3 half-bathroom) home. While the pool and tennis court are a nice touch, what really attracted me to this home is the 12-seat theater and the climate-controlled wine room. You need to make sure that your Manischewitz wine is served at the right temperature!

Here are some more pictures of my new home:

I'll make sure to invite you over!