Lil Wayne and Chelsea Green

This post represents two different celebrities in Pittsburgh gear. First, Lil Wayne joined Steelers' Cam Heyward on his recent Not Just Football podcast. I actually enjoy many of Cam's off-season episodes more than his in-season ones. I guess that's why the podcast is named Not Just Football. Anyway, this is a picture of Cam and his co-host Hayden Walsh with Lil Wayne. While technically Wayne isn't wearing Pittsburgh gear, I'll give him partial credit for holding a Heyward jersey.

I was a huge wrestling fan when I was in junior high. I watched matches on TV all the time (including the early WrestleManias) and attended several events when they came to Pittsburgh's Civic Arena. Although I haven't watched wrestling in years, one thing that has stuck around since my junior high days is Bob Pompeani. I still follow the legendary KDKA sports director, and Bob is probably the most respected sports media member in Pittsburgh. With WWE Smackdown coming to Pittsburgh on Friday, Bob took several pictures with wrestler Chelsea Green. 

Green attended a Penguins game and visited the Steelers practice facility where she took a picture with Joey Porter Jr. and Cam Heyward bringing this post all together!

Please click here to see all of my Celebrities in Pittsburgh Gear posts!

In no particular order, photos from Twitter, Twitter, Twitter, Instagram, and Instagram.

My NCAA Tournament Thoughts

Since I'm a credentialed media member for college basketball, I thought I should share some thoughts about the first two rounds of the NCAA men's tournament.

CBS has a "Remember Me?" segment where they highlight players from past tournaments. One video featured Kevin Pittsnogle, who was a star at West Virginia University and is now a middle school principal. Sean's Ramblings may have been a Kevin Pittsnogle fan page based on some of the early posts of this blog. I even received a comment on one of my posts from Pittsnogle's mom. Anyway, I'm happy that Pittsnogle is doing well and getting some attention.

Perhaps you saw the end of the Nebraska-Vanderbilt game. Nebraska made a lay-up with just over 2 seconds left to take a 74-72 lead. Vanderbilt had a chance to win at the end, but barely missed what could have been one of the greatest shots in tournament history. 

As a University of Pittsburgh basketball fan who remembers when Will Perdue and Barry Goheen defeated the Panthers in a major upset, this is my reaction to Vanderbilt fans.

Sean Miller was on that Pitt team that lost to Vanderbilt and is now the coach at the University of Texas. Based on his success in leading the Longhorns to the Sweet 16 in his first season in Austin, Miller should be ready to return to his alma mater and coach Pitt!

Two Atlantic-10 conference teams made the tournament: St. Louis and VCU. Both won their first round matches. Good job A-10! By the way, it would be nice for the power conference schools to play away matches against A-10 schools. Just look at the DC area as an example. Maryland or Georgetown could easily charter a bus or two to play at George Mason or George Washington, but that doesn't benefit the schools financially and there's a risk they could lose. Might as well play lower-tier teams at home or another power conference team in a home-in-home series or a neutral site. Rant over.

I'm happy that Iowa upset #1-seed Florida last night, particularly since my brother-in-law is an Iowa grad. Still, while it would never get called and I might be the only one who thinks this, it really seemed like Iowa's Alvaro Folgueiras traveled before taking his game-winning 3-point shot. Both feet seemed to move.

I'll admit that I don't follow college basketball as much as I did when I was younger. With that written, I was shocked when The Moose told me that Purdue's Braden Smith set the men's NCAA Division I record for most career assists. I thought maybe he meant in a season or in the Big Ten, but it's actually the most all-time passing Duke's Bobby Hurley.

All of my final four selections are still intact, and I picked Arizona to win it all. And baseball's opening day is just a few days away!

Photo of Pittsnogle from Berkeley County Schools.

90's Fest

The 90s are when I became a big music fan. Actually, let's take a step back. I enjoyed listening to 80s music and probably watched more MTV than I was allowed during that decade. However, it was the 90s when I started going to concerts (not including Neil Diamond in the early 80s and Debbie Gibson in the late 80s). When I started buying cassettes (thanks BMG for the 10 tapes for a penny or dollar deal!). It was in college in the 90s when I discovered new bands and musicians from friends, people playing music in their residence halls rooms, and college radio. So I was excited when my Facebook feed showed me information about 90's Fest. Seemed perfect for me. And then I looked at the lineup.

90's Fest, scheduled in July in Sheffield (Go Wednesday! WAWAW!) is apparently the largest 90s music festival in the UK featuring over 100 artists. And based on the list of artists, not many had much of an impact in the United States. UB40 is the notable exception having several monster hits such as "Red Red Wine," "Here I Come (Come and Take Me)," and (I Can't Help) Falling In Love With You." UB40 may also be the only act at the festival with more than one American hit. I mean, look at the performers. How many can you name?

Let's go through some of the other artists. I'm a big fan of 2 Unlimited's Get Ready for This, which features lines "Get ready for this, Mind your own biz" and "Feelin' kind of better, Put on a sweater." 

I really need to use the phrase "mind your own biz" more. Anyway, I think that was their only big song in America.  Same goes with Vengaboys. Of course, we all know "We Like To Party! (The Vengabus)" from the Six Flags commercials.

I went to England in the summer of 2000 and wrote about the songs from my time there including by Five and Sonique. Love "It Feels So Good" by Sonique! Other than that, I have no idea who these people are. Is Darren Styles related to Harry Styles? I'm guessing Fergie isn't the Fergie from Black Eyed Peas. If it is, good on the festival for having one American from the 2000s at the event. I hope that Lange is a tribute band for the late Pittsburgh Penguins' announcer Mike Lange.

Charlie B might be related to Cardi B or Mel B. Actually, why are Mel B and the other Spice Girls not playing at this festival? That would be a huge headliner! In the meantime, it's nice to see that there is a group dedicated to steak sauce in A1. I also think the Tidyboys make the litter that I use for my cat!

Look, I understand that this is probably a 90s festival for UK and European artists, and Oasis, Radiohead, Spice Girls, and Blur are probably too big to attend. Still, how about Bush or Garbage? Why not The Verve, Jesus Jones, EMF, PJ Harvey, Dido, David Gray, Republica, Soul II Soul, Sneaker Pimps, and/or The Corrs? I'm missing dozens of others too.

That's it. I'm going to create my own UK 90s festival!