Corner Bakery Free Paninis Journal

I'm getting back to my blogging roots. Last week, I made a reference to Sean's Ramblings favorite, Kevin Pittsnogle. Today, I'm sharing my experience of attempting to win free paninis for a year.

Long-time readers might remember a simpler time when I earned free burritos for a year from California Tortilla. Over the 52 weeks, I ate $278.09 worth of free food just for being one of the first 10 people in line at the Cal Tort grand opening. Therefore, when I learned that Corner Bakery was opening a new restaurant in my neighborhood with the first 100 people in line receiving free paninis for a year, I started planning. By planning, I mean that I mentioned this to my wife a few days ago and I woke up around 5:00 instead of the usual 5:40.

I started the day by shaving, getting dressed and feeding Ziggy. I said good bye to my wife and she gave me an "Are you serious? I can't believe you're leaving since both kids will probably wake up as soon as you leave" look and rolled back over.

I arrived at Corner Bakery just after 5:30, and there was already a significant line. While I expected much of the line to be teenagers, I was surprised of the age diversity among the group. It seemed like about 40% already qualified for AARP membership and there were many families in the group (though no young children). After standing in the back of the line for a minute a two, a woman that works at the Corner Bakery corporate office handed me #56. I was in! Hooray for LaMarr Woodley! (Actually, since Woodley is no longer a Steeler, hooray for, um, Jordan Zumwalt!)

Here are some notes from the morning:

- This was the first time in Corner Bakery history that they gave away free paninis to open a restaurant. Previously, the first 100 people received free coffee. I participated in an historic event!

June 30, 1936 - Margaret Mitchell's Gone With the Wind is published.
June 30, 1950 - US enters the Korean War.
June 30, 2014 - Free paninis at a Northern Virginia Corner Bakery

- The first person in line arrived at 2:00 AM. Rookie! It was the first 100 people in line, not the first 10.

- While I brought a chair, book & Walkman (yes, a Walkman!) to the Cal Tort opening, all I took for the Corner Bakery opening was an Entertainment Weekly magazine and a piece of paper and a pen to write some notes.

- I got a little concerned when a guy in a Sherriff's officer uniform came to the end of the line. I worried that he was going to shut everything down. Turns out he joined the line for free paninis too.

- I asked if we got tired of paninis during week 35 if we could switch to a less expensive item on the menu. I was told that I wouldn't get tired of paninis. Then, I was told that the coupons were for paninis only but staff might work with me.

The doors opened promptly at 6:00 AM and everyone received a wrapped stack of 52 cards good for one panini a week for a year from week 1 (7/6/14 to 7/12/14) to week 52 (6/28/15 to 7/4/15). July 4, 2015 seems like a really, really, really long time from now!

After nearly 10 minutes waiting in line to order food (and discovering that the first free panini coupon isn't good until next week), I decided to leave. I felt a little bad for getting the free cards and rolling out, but there were 55 people in front of me (though the line moved quickly) and I needed to go home and get ready for work. I'm sure that I'll make it up to Corner Bakery over the next year!

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Deck the Broncos, They're Just Yoncos!

Although the Steelers defeated the Cleveland Browns 13-9 Sunday, the Baltimore win against the Cincinnati Bengals means that the Ravens earned the AFC North Division title and a first round bye. Therefore, the Steelers as a Wild Card will travel to Denver to face the Broncos next Sunday afternoon. Despite the fact that the Steelers were 12-4 on the season while Denver finished 8-8 with three straight losses, naturally, Steelers fans (including myself) may be worried. Here’s why:

- Injuries. Pro Bowlers QB Ben Roethlisberger & C Maurkice Pouncey aren’t close to 100% with ankle injuries. Meanwhile, starting RB Rashard Mendenhall may be out for the year with a knee injury and LaMarr Woodley’s hamstring has caused him to miss six of the last eight games.

- Ryan Clark had his spleen and gall bladder removed following a game in Denver a few years ago due to some type of reaction to the high altitude. Clark, another Pro Bowler, may not play at Denver

- Every NFL analyst/expert will pick Pittsburgh to win. Remember what happened last year when the 7-9 NFC West division champion Seattle Seahawks hosted the New Orleans Saints, the defending Super Bowl Champs? Denver will certainly have the "no one believes in us" mentality, and it's always possible (though unlikely) that some Pittsburgh players could be overconfident.

- Weather. It’s Denver in January, so who knows what could happen. Snow and wind could give the edge to the Broncos who have the best rushing team in the league. The Steelers are clearly a passing team now. Jerome Bettis and Franco Harris aren’t walking through that door!

With all of this written, the spirit of Myron Cope will be on the Steelers' side. Prior to the 1984 Steelers-Broncos first round playoff game in Denver, Cope created this Christmas song, and the Steelers won.

Pittsburgh's Going To The Super Bowl

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! The Pittsburgh Steelers defeated the New York Jets to advance to their 8th Super Bowl in team history. LaMarr Woodley is so happy that he's comfortable carrying around a random helium balloon (at least I think that's what he's carrying) in celebration with Hines Ward.



Are you going to tell LaMarr Woodley that the balloon looks silly? I didn't think so.

Anyway, the Steelers played a nearly perfect first half led by Rashard Mendenhall playing arguably his best game as a Steeler. Ike Taylor and William Gay teamed up for a defensive touchdown late in the second quarter as the Steelers led 24-3 at halftime. I'm just going to ignore the second half.

So now we have two weeks until the Steelers meet the Green Bay Packers in Super Bowl 45 in Dallas. Expect this blog to be very heavy on Steelers content over the next few weeks.

Go Steelers!

Steelers-Bengals Video Recap

Here's all that you need to know about yesterday's Pittsburgh Steelers-Cincinnati Bengals game in several videos.

Down 7-0 with a fairly ineffective offense, the Steelers needed a spark. Enter Troy Polamalu.



With the game tied at 7, Pittsburgh got the ball at their own 20 with 2:21 left in the first half. Pittsburgh moved the ball to the Bengals' 40 when Antwaan Randle El made the big catch below. This led to a Shaun Suisham field goal to give the Steelers a 10-7 halftime lead.



The Steelers had a nice 15-play, 50-yard, 9:22 drive that extended from the third quarter into the fourth. The drive was highlighted by Hines Ward's 29-yard catch on 2nd and 30.



Although the Steelers didn't score on the drive, new punter Jeremy Kapinos pinned the Bengals on their 10 yard line. On the first play of the series, Carson "Mr. Pick Six" Palmer found LaMarr Woodley. The results were not very good for Cincinnati.



Honestly, this was pretty much the game. Suisham kicked another field goal and Polamalu had another interception which gave the Steelers a 23-7 victory. James Farrior, Ryan Clark, and Brett Keisel all had very solid games. Plus, remember how Terrell Owens had 10 catches, 141 yards and 2 touchdowns against the Steelers in week 9? Credit Dick LeBeau and the Steelers secondary to holding TO to only 1 catch for 22 yards.

Although this has nothing to do with the Steelers game, I can't stop watching this video of snow falling in the Metrodome as the roof collapses.



Next week: the New York Jets.

Congratulations Dick LeBeau!

I'm not sure that I've ever been this excited for someone to be enshrined into a Hall of Fame. After playing 14 seasons with the Detroit Lions accumulating 62 interceptions, third all-time among pure cornerbacks (think about how amazing that statistic is considering that passing is a much bigger part of the game than it was during LeBeau's playing days), and working as an NFL coach for over 35 years, including an extremely impressive run as the Steelers' Defensive Coordinator, LeBeau entering the NFL Hall of Fame is well-deserved.



Take a look at this historic day from around the country:

This is LeBeau's Hall of Fame speech. I wish that NFL.com would let me embed the video. [NFL.com]

Bengals' coach Marvin Lewis admires LeBeau [Cincinnati Enquirer]

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette; the Detroit Free Press; the Columbus Dispatch; and ESPN (the AFC North Blog) have more.

Plus, here are a few Tweets from members of the Pittsburgh Steelers:









OK, the last one doesn't have anything to do with Coach LeBeau, but I like Timmons' insights.

Photo by Peter Diana/Post-Gazette

Steelers Season In Review

I've written and rewritten parts of this post several times. I'm trying to balance the disappointment of not making the playoffs after coming off of a Super Bowl Championship with the fact that the organization is still one of the best in football. I'm sure many of you don't see that today, but living in the DC area, it's easy to see that the Steelers are in significantly better shape than the Washington Redskins and many other teams in the NFL (ex. Detroit Lions, St. Louis Rams).

Before I share my thoughts, let's look back at the 2009-2010 predictions by drinkyourmilkshake of Behind the Steel Curtain; Phil of Phil's Occasional Musings; Michael Rizzo of Rizzo Sports (and the Rizzo Sports Blog); Messiah, Marc & Gobo of White Nerdy Wonks; Donald of Steelers Today; Steve of Steve Is Alive; Rob of The Bluey Blog; and me.

1. Number of sacks James Harrison will have this season.
Steve predicted 12 for James and that Woodley would lead the team with 15.5. Messiah also believed that Harrison would have 12 sacks. The actual amount was 10 with Woodley leading the team with 13.5 sacks.

2. Limas Sweed's numbers (catches, yards & touchdowns).
The actual amount was 1 catch for 5 yards and 0 touchdowns. We all expected significantly more except for Rob who predicted "no more than 10 catches, 1 TD and 150 yards."

3. Stefan Logan: Reminds me of Antwaan Randle El as a Steeler; Greatest returner in team history; or Another Allen Rossum?

Well, Logan didn't have any touchdowns but he set the Steelers record for most kick-off return yards. Logan wasn't anything special returning punts and was often replaced by Mewelde Moore when a fair catch was probable. Overall, though, he was a solid returner and improved his special teams coverage as the year progressed.

Messiah - I'd say he's not quite Twaan, but certainly better than Colclough.
Donald - I predict that Logan will become the greatest 5'7" returner in team history.

Points for both Messiah & Donald!

4. Will Jeff Reed be arrested during the season?
Rob - Once, for drunk and disorderly conduct.

During the season, Reed was cited by police for disorderly conduct and public intoxication.

5. Who will lead the team in touchdowns scored?
Rob - Rashard Mendenhall. Mendenhall led the team with 8 touchdowns followed by Hines Ward, Heath Miller and Mike Wallace with 6 each. I need to take Rob with me to Vegas the next time I go!

6. Season prediction (please include the team record) + Any other thoughts/predictions:
All of us predicted division champs and playoffs. I think Phil's prediction was the closest though. 11-5. It's extraordinarily difficult to repeat as Super Bowl champions. I think we're going to have another good year and win the division but lose a close-game heartbreaker in the playoffs. Maybe that's just what I'm used to as a fan. Despite our success, I wouldn't know what to do with myself if I didn't have something to complain about when it comes to the Steelers.

Phil, that brings us to today. There were certainly positives to the season such as the pending stardom of LaMarr Woodley, the thought that Rashard Mendenhall can be a #1 running back and the fact that Mike Wallace may be the offensive rookie of the year. Unfortunately, there were more negatives. The kick return coverage was among the worst in NFL history and the defense rarely made stops when needed. The secondary struggled, particularly in the fourth quarter, though I wonder how much of this was related to Troy Polamalu's absence. Taking away one of the best players in football certainly impacts the rest of the team and especially the secondary. I'm a big fan of Tyrone Carter playing spot duty or in specific packages. Unfortunately, he was exposed playing nearly every down. It also didn't help that rookies Ryan Mundy (I know he's not really a rookie, but he never left the practice squad in 2008) and Joe Burnett were playing significant minutes and that another rookie Keenan Lewis couldn't get on the field.

Now here's the positive to all of this. The Steelers have had a history of getting little production out of players in their first season only to see great improvements during their second season. It happened with Mendenhall, Polamalu, Woodley, and Lawrence Timmons. If we get similar growth out of players like Mundy, Burnett, Lewis, Ziggy Hood, and tackle Ramon Foster along with a healthy Polamalu and Aaron Smith, I think the team will be in good shape coming into next season.

There are a few other items that should be addressed. I know that a lot of people think offensive coordinator Bruce Arians should go. I'm not so sure. The Steelers finished 7th in the league in total yards with better numbers than playoff teams such as Indianapolis, San Diego, Philadelphia and Baltimore. While we may miss the days of giving the ball to Jerome Bettis 25 times a game and watching him run for over 100 yards, the NFL is now a passing league and that's where the team excels. Unfortunately, the team isn't able to close games like we did in seasons past. To have Bettis run out the clock in the fourth quarter when everyone knows that the team is going to run. However, I don't think you can pin this on Arians. The team, and in this case I'm referring to the personnel department, hasn't adequately addressed the offensive line over the past few years.



Bottom line: Perhaps this was Super Bowl Hangover Part II. It's certainly possible that the team overlooked Kansas City, Oakland and Cleveland. They may not have said it, but I'm sure that the players came into those games knowing they were the better team and believed that they would win just by showing up. That won't happen next year. I also believe that having Polamalu and Smith healthy would have translated into at least one more win. One more win would have got the team into the playoffs.

Finally, not everything is bad in the world. The Steelers have won two Super Bowl Championships over the last 5 seasons. How many teams would dream of having even one?

Ziggy Leads Steelers to Victory

Although LaMarr Woodley, Ben Roethlisberger and Jeff Reed were the most valuable players in the Steelers' 23-20 victory over the Baltimore Ravens (along with Derrick Mason dropping a TD pass and some dumb penalties by the Ravens), 2009 first-round draft pick Ziggy Hood played his best game as a pro. Statistically, Hood had two tackles, one a sack and the other a tackle for a loss, and a fumble recovery.*

Here's what Coach Mike Tomlin had to say about Ziggy's performance (courtesy of Steelers Depot):

Question: Talk about Ziggy Hood.
Mike Tomlin: He made a few plays for us. A young guy kind of taking advantage of opportunities. Of course, he was afforded more of an opportunity because of what Brett Keisel’s been going through. He made a few timely plays for us. He’s a quality young player, he’s going to be a good player, not soon enough for us, not soon enough for him but we’re seeing strides week in and week out. We’re excited about what he could be. He helped us today which is good.

In honor of Hood's solid game, please join me in saying, Hooray for Ziggy!





If you thought I've been waiting eight months to write this post, you would be correct!


* Can someone explain why Hood was credited with a fumble recovery instead of an interception? Woodley knocked the ball off of Flacco's hand, the ball bounced off a Ravens' lineman and Hood caught it with the ball never touching the ground.


Finally, I have a dream to have 50 followers on Twitter. (I'm currently at 38.) Please click here if you'd like to follow me.

Steelers-Lions Recap: Turkey Win

If three strikes in a row in bowling is called a turkey, what do you call three sacks in a row in football? For the sake of this post, we'll call this a turkey as well.



With Pittsburgh leading 28-20 late in the fourth quarter, the Steelers defense decided to finally pressure QB Daunte Culpepper instead of playing a prevent defense that allowed Detroit to get back into the game. Let's set the scene. After marching down the field and scoring on a Dennis Northcutt (who must be approximately 58 years old) touchdown, the Lions defense forced the Steelers into a three-and-out. Then, Culpepper led another successful drive leading to a 1st and 10 from the Steelers 21 with less than 2:00 minutes remaining. Momentum was totally on Detroit's side, but that's when things changed. LaMarr Woodley and William Gay teamed up to sack Culpepper for a loss of 6 yards. Second down was Gay as the cornerback sacked Culpepper for a 5-yard loss. Lawrence Timmons then completed the turkey with a 13-yard sack. The Lions tried a Hail Mary pass on 4th and 34 but that fell innocently to the turf meaning game over.

In continuing with my fabulous theme, Sunday was the first time the Steelers played in Detroit against the Lions since the Jerome Bettis/coin flip game held, wait for it, on Thanksgiving. Plus, Ben Roethlisberger had THREE touchdowns (one each for Hines, Heath and Mike Wallace) and James Harrison had THREE sacks. As a result, turkey for everyone!


(Too soon for this picture?)

The most important key to the Steelers victory was the fact that I wore my Louis Lipps jersey for the first time this season! You may be skeptical, but the Steelers are 43-3 when I wear the jersey (this record may not be correct).

In other random notes, I made a last-minute decision to watch the game at Fast Eddie's in Fairfax. It's much nicer watching a game at a Steelers bar rather than a bar/restaurant that shows all games. (I'm looking at you Champps and Buffalo Wild Wings.*) However, I can't wait until the Virginia law stopping smoking in bars/restaurants goes into effect. I'm going to smell like smoke for days.

There were some smaller televisions showing other NFL games. The guy next to me referred to the Washington quarterback as Jason Candle. He also called Ravens QB Joe Flacco, Shane Falco. I don’t understand how either of these are insults.



Overall, the Steelers are now 3-2 heading into next week’s game against the Cleveland Browns. The team is now one game behind the Cincinnati Bengals and tied with the Baltimore Ravens in the division. Basically, the team is in pretty good shape at this point of the season and will hopefully get a healthy Willie Parker and Troy Polamalu back next week.


* I've been a Buffalo Wild Wings customer on many occasions, but I have never had a football referee or baseball manager ask me my opinion on a play or coaching decision. To be fair, I haven't visited a Buffalo Wild Wings recently, so perhaps this is a new feature.