Steelers-Ravens-Trip To Charleston (Part II)

Welcome to part two of my trip to Charleston and leftover thoughts on the Steelers-Ravens game. Click here to read part one.

I am not an aquarium aficionado, but the South Carolina Aquarium doesn’t come close to the aquariums in Baltimore, Boston, Atlanta or Monterey Bay. However, the South Carolina Aquarium does have Alabaster, an albino alligator, which is definitely something I’ve never seen before. Hmmm, perhaps, I am an aquarium aficionado!


(Alabaster barely moved while we were there, and we weren’t able to get a good picture of him. This picture is from Charleston’s ABC station via “the internet.”)

The aquarium is located right on water, and we saw several dolphins swimming. It was like the dolphins were mocking the other fish and animals. Yes Dan Marino, Mark Clayton & Lousaka Polite mocked Alabaster and friends. It definitely wasn’t Chad Henne; I don’t think he mocks anyone.

I'm not an offensive lineman and I'm not going to play one on the internet, but it seems to me that if you see the football on the ground and do not hear a whistle or see a referee waving his arms to indicate an incomplete pass, you pounce on said ball. Yes, I'm looking at you Ramon Foster.

With the Jets and Steelers meeting in the AFC Championship game, have you seen any articles where Neil O’Donnell, former QB for both teams, offers his take on the game and who he is supporting?

There is a plaque at Fort Sumter that commemorates all of the Federal soldiers that defended the fort during the Civil War’s first skirmish. I noticed that Captain Abner Doubleday was listed as a member of the 1st U.S. Artillery. I made a note of this and decided to see if this Doubleday was any relation to the supposed creator of baseball. Sure enough, it’s the same guy. According to Wikipedia, Abner Doubleday was “a captain and second in command in the garrison at Fort Sumter, under Major Robert Anderson. He aimed the cannon that fired the first return shot in answer to the Confederate bombardment on April 12, 1861, starting the war.” I never knew this.

I also learned that there were exactly zero casualties during the Fort Sumter battle. After the 34-hour siege, Major Anderson agreed to a cease fire (apparently it was not a surrender) in which the South Carolina troops took over Fort Sumter. The Federal forces were permitted to return to New York, but before leaving, performed a cannon salute. One of the cannons exploded prematurely causing the first fatality of the Civil War. Yes, the first Civil War death occurred during a ceremony.

The College of Charleston has a Cougar Club. Insert your own joke here (or actually in the comments section).

We stayed at the Embassy Suites in Charleston which is located in the original Citadel Military College. Pretty cool.



When is it a 15-yard penalty for blocking a player to the ground (Hines Ward on Ed Reed)? When is it not a penalty for head butting an opposing player (Ike Taylor on T.J. Houshmandzadeh)? Was the non-call on Taylor a make-up from the first penalty?

Doris Roberts, best known as Ray Romano’s mother on Everybody Loves Raymond, is now featured in a series of Zaxby’s commercials that were shown regularly during the Steelers-Ravens game. I really don’t understand using Doris Roberts as your celebrity spokesperson in commercials during football games, but I’m not Don Draper, so what do I know?

While I didn't actually see a Zaxby's (solid fast food restaurant in my opinion), I did locate, but not eat in, a Waffle House and Little Caesar’s. If only my vacation lasted longer!

Major plus for Charleston: Free trolley service to get around downtown!

Although we did not see a South Carolina Stingrays hockey game, there was apparently some type of youth hockey tournament in town. We met a family where the parents were originally from Pittsburgh and the father and son wore Penguins gear. It was cool (and somewhat random) talking to the father about the Penguins in the middle of South Carolina. (Well, technically the eastern coast of South Carolina.)

The Steelers were a different team coming out in the second half. I'd love to know what was said in the locker room during halftime.

That pretty much wraps up my trip to Charleston. Very cool city if you have a chance to visit. I didn't even mention the beautiful Magnolia Plantation & Gardens, the good restaurants, and overall friendliness of everyone there. In addition, I can't wait for Sunday's AFC Championship!

Steelers-Ravens Playoff Recap (Notes From Charleston)

It may seem silly to write/read a recap of the Pittsburgh Steelers-Baltimore Ravens playoff match-up four days after the game finished. I know that you’ve already moved on from this game to this weekend’s AFC Championship, so I thought that I would include notes about my Charleston, South Carolina vacation with thoughts about the Steelers-Ravens game.

Thanks to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s list of Steelers bars, I found a place, King Street Grille, located only a few blocks from the hotel to watch the game. I even called King Street Grille twice to make sure that they were in fact a Steeler bar. We arrived at the restaurant to find an American flag and a Steelers flag hanging from the building. Good sign! I also visited the restaurant’s website prior to game and saw the picture below on the top of the main page. Very good sign!



However, I’m not convinced that King Street Grille is truly a Steeler bar. When I go to a Steeler bar, I expect there to be only Steelers fans. I expect there to be loud cheers when the Steelers make a big play and silence (or swearing) when the opposing team scores a touchdown. Yes, the majority of people in the bar wore Steelers jerseys but there were also a significant amount of folks wearing Ravens gear and/or supporting the Ravens. Therefore, I was not pleased to hear cheers when the Ravens scored. I may be spoiled by The Pour House in Washington, DC and Fast Eddie’s in Fairfax, Virginia.

My theory is that King Street Grille is the only (or best) sports bar in downtown Charleston; therefore, it can’t truly be a Steeler bar since the restaurant attracts fans for all sports. For example, I learned that the place was packed prior to the Steelers game because of a University of South Carolina-University of Florida college basketball game. I’m just glad that the football and college basketball games didn’t overlap.

Oh, an indication that a restaurant isn’t a Steeler bar: I had a beer in a Carolina Panthers glass featuring Panthers’ “Past Great” Steve Beuerlein.

Ike Taylor may be the most underrated cornerback in the NFL. He is never selected to a Pro Bowl and is overshadowed by defensive teammates Troy Polamalu, James Harrison, LaMarr Woodley and others. It seems like the only time I read something about Taylor is when he drops interceptions. Taylor quietly does his job, which generally consists of shutting down the opponent’s top receiver. Did you happen to notice the stats put up by Ravens’ receivers on Saturday? Houshmandzadeh, Mason and Boldin combined for only 4 catches and 41 yards. Taylor deserves a lot of credit for this.

My wife (and by my wife, I mean me and my wife) gets very excited when the announcer points out plays made by Ziggy Hood. Ziggy seemed to be everywhere against the Ravens. He also seems to be everywhere in our house. Even in this picture, he's just taking a break in the huddle before the next play.



This is not meant as a slight to Daniel Sepulveda, but if I was an NFL GM looking for a punter, I want Sam Koch on my team even if he spells/pronounces his name incorrectly. Koch is the former New York City mayor. If your last name is pronounced Cook, there should not be an “H.”

I love U.S. history, so visiting Fort Sumter was cool. What I found interesting was a pamphlet the National Park Service distributed to guests about being safe (ex. Watch your step and climbing is unsafe). The pamphlet also warned visitors to beware of fire ant mounds. Awesome! You don’t see that at the Liberty Bell now, do you?

The pamphlet did not include a warning about the bathroom sinks on the island. The water coming from the Fort Sumter sinks was freezing. I’m surprised that ice cubes didn’t shoot out.

Pittsburgh’s James Harrison and Baltimore’s Terrell Suggs are both beasts. The only difference in favor of Harrison is that he generally did his damage against a 1st round draft pick with a movie made about his life while Suggs dominated back-up offensive linemen. Forget this previous sentence; I’ll call it a draw.

There was a huge scare during the first quarter. I thought I dropped nacho cheese on my black Louis Lipps jersey, but it turned out that the cheese spilled harmlessly on the black napkin.

Where does Antonio Brown’s 58-yard, pinned against the helmet catch rank in Steelers history? It can’t be a top 5 catch (Immaculate Reception and Super Bowl catches by Swann, Stallworth and Holmes are definitely more important), but I think it could be among the top 10.



This is a really long post, and I’m not even close to finishing. Join me tomorrow for more about the Steelers and my trip to Charleston.