Earlier this year, I wrote about how future NFL Hall of Famer and fellow Woodland Hills High School graduate Rob Gronkowski returned to our high school for the reopening of the school's weight room. Gronk's foundation contributed a significant amount of money to make this happen.
Earlier this week, another Pittsburgh sports legend visited Woodland Hills for a different endeavor. Cameron ("Cam") Heyward was the Steelers' first round draft pick in 2011. He is the son of the late Craig "Ironhead" Heyward, who was a legend at the University of Pittsburgh, had a successful NFL career, and is the star of one of my favorite commercials of all time.
Cam has been the anchor of the Steelers defense over the last decade plus, made the Pro Bowl multiple times, and won the 2023 NFL Walter Payton Man of the Year award for his philanthropic contributions and community impact. One of his initiatives is Craig's Closet, which provides free dress clothes to high school boys throughout Western Pennsylvania. Cam, his mother, and members of The Heyward House visited WHHS on Tuesday for the opening of a Craig's Closet at the high school. This is a very cool project, and I'm glad that Heyward is helping the Woodland Hills community. It also might be the only time where Heyward, a fellow graduate of The Ohio State University, can proudly say Go Wolverines!
More information about Craig's Closet is available here. You can also learn more about Cam's visit to Woodland Hills with additional pictures here and here.
I'm proud of
being from Pittsburgh and am quick to praise and point out people with
Pittsburgh ties especially when it comes to sports and entertainment. However,
even though Rob Gronkowski, a future member of the football hall of fame,
graduated from the same high school as me, I never seem to include him as
someone from Western Pennsylvania. The Gronkowski family moved to my school
district from Western New York just in time for Rob's senior year of high
school. As kids say these days, the move was "sus" as there were
several eligibility meetings by local and state athletic organizations. Gronk
was eventually allowed to play and graduated. His one year in Pittsburgh is why
I don't include him with other successful Western Pennsylvania athletes like
Jason Taylor and Dan Marino. It might have been different if Gronk went to
college at Pitt or Penn State or played for the Steelers, but he went to
college at the University of Arizona, completely off the radar for Pittsburgh
sports fans, and spent the bulk of his NFL career in New England and Tampa
Bay.
Less than two
weeks ago, Gronkowski returned to Woodland Hills High School to celebrate the
reopening of the school's weight room. His foundation donated $200,000 and
partnered with U.S. Steel and State Senator Jay Costa in this endeavor. I
never heard of him spending time in and around Pittsburgh after high school,
and I wasn't aware that he still had any ties or allegiances to WHHS. I'm
really happy that he's supporting the Wolverines!
In case you're
wondering, as a 3-sport athlete at Woodland Hills (soccer, tennis, and
swimming/diving) and weighing 120 pounds at graduation, you might be shocked to
learn that I spent very little time at the weight room!
More
information about this (the weight room, not my high school workout routine)
including pictures and a time-lapse video are available on the Woodland Hills School District website.
Oh, and where can I get one of these Team Gronk T-shirts?
I'm in several different soccer referee groups and receive countless emails per week from assigners looking for referees to work games. Instead of countless, I decided to see how many I actualy receive per week. From Monday, April 8 at 12:01 AM through Sunday, April 14 at 11:59 PM, I received 63 emails about working games. 63!!
We're now at the halfway point of Passover where I question the amount of food I have for the remainder of the holiday. Sure, I probably eat more fruits, vegetables, and eggs during Passover than the rest of the year and that's easy to get, but I'm never sure if I have enough matzo, macaroons, or Molly's Passover cakes, which is what my kids eat for breakfast during the holiday. We're also at the point where there is limited or no Kosher for Passover foods at most local grocery stores. By the way, the Molly's cakes aren't going to make it to Tuesday!
I miss the days when you could transfer your balance on one credit card to a brand new credit card with no transfer fees and at 0% APR for a certain period of time. It seems like every credit card company now charges a 4% transfer fee on the amount of funds transferred.
I've mentioned multiple times that I have been in the same fantasy/rotisserie baseball league since 1992. I have won the league just twice during this time in 2014 and 2016. My team is off to an amazing start where I'm in first place in 8 of the 10 categories and have a huge lead in overall points. Since it is only April, I figure there's no way that my team can keep up this pace. My apologies in advance to Mookie Betts, Fernando Tatis Jr., Elly De La Cruz, Zac Gallen, Tyler Glasnow, and William Contreras who I expect will all get injured in the next few months.
I don't think it's an overstatement that Woodland Hills High School has one of the best public high school theater programs in the country. This year's show is "Wonderland," and WHHS is one of only two high schools in the country to perform this pilot musical based on Peter Pan. Check out the story/video about the show by WTAE.
Anytime my high school is featured on national television (or international streaming in this case), I'm writing about it. During last week's Thursday Night Football broadcast, Amazon shared this video of retired NFL running back and current media personality Marshawn Lynch along with current Steelers running back Najee Harris visiting the Woodland Hills High School girls' flag football team.
As I’m sure you’re aware, there was another mass shooting on Tuesday. This time it was at a Texas elementary school. Yes, thoughts and prayers are needed for the families and friends of the victims and the entire Uvalde community. I can't imagine what the parents of kids that were killed at school are going through. But thoughts and prayers aren’t enough. We’ve decided as a country (or at least our country’s leadership has decided) that gun violence and mass shootings are acceptable. Just look at your own life. Unless you live in Uvalde, you're probably reading this post from home or work like a normal day. No sporting events or concerts or trivia nights were cancelled last night because of a national tragedy. We just acknowledge that there is another mass shooting and watch the NBA or NHL playoffs or the series finale of This Is Us.
There was a shooting in my high school when I was a senior. This was 30 years ago this fall well before Columbine, Sandy Hook, and Parkland. This was a big story in Pittsburgh for a few days, but no one died and only one person was wounded (and returned to school several days later), so I don’t believe it was reported elsewhere and was out of the news rather quickly. Metal detectors were installed pretty quickly but was a logistical nightmare for starting the day on time. There were other problems too, but that's not the point of this post.
Whenever there is another school shooting, I wonder what would have happened if the shooting at Woodland Hills High School was worse. How would my life have been different? Would there have been any type of changes to national policy? At least for the second question, based on the last 30 years, the answer seems to be no. We have mass shootings at schools, nightclubs, concerts, colleges, places of worship, grocery stores, and workplaces. Basically, everywhere. They happen in red states and blue states and purple states. There were even mass shootings at a Congressional softball practice and at a meet-and-greet event for a member of Congress and nothing changes. Hell, I wrote a similar post after the Tree of Life shootings a few years ago.
So what are the solutions? I'm not a policy-maker and have no idea what could work. Background checks and firearm registration seem like a start. But how about we fucking try SOMETHING. Anything that can help stop gun violence. I know that some people will say that if criminals want to get guns, they will get guns. So does that mean that we don't try to make it more difficult to get guns? If people are going to ignore any law, why even have them, right? How about we try doing something and see how it works?
What other suggestions are out there? Arm teachers? Some of the same people who are scared about critical race theory being taught in schools and established anonymous tip lines to report teachers now want these same teachers to have guns? Seems like a bad idea. I'd be worried about kids getting access to guns not properly stored. Besides, I'd guess that the vast majority of teachers aren't comfortable with weapons in the classroom. Just let them teach. You want more security in schools, fine. Find a way. However, if murderers like the ones in Buffalo and Uvalde have body armor, I'm not sure how that will help. Actually, maybe make body armor illegal. There's nothing in the second amendment about that.
I guess the bottom line is this: How can we say we live in the best country in the world when kids can get killed at schools? We can't. And things have to change.
What you're reading right now is my 5th or 6th attempt at figuring out what to write. My friend Chris recently passed away at the age of 46. Chris and I grew up together in the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh, and I probably haven't seen him in over 25 years. While I believe that we played baseball and participated in Cub Scouts together, we were definitely on the same "Under 10" championship-winning soccer team. (More on this momentarily.) We also starred in high school musicals together though he was a much better performer than me. (More on this momentarily too.)
There are certainly a lot of negatives about social media, however, one of the positives is that it can bring people back together. Chris and I reconnected on Facebook and on Twitter many years after graduating from high school. We mostly simply liked each other's posts, but we were supportive of each other's blogs. While Chris' The Moldy Cheese blog was short lived and long erased from the internet, it really showed his sense of humor. When I wrote about finding our soccer championship trophy, Chris wrote that he still had his trophy too. He also shared a very sweet message after my dad, who was our soccer coach, passed away.
Back in 2017, there was a show on ABC hosted by Kristen Bell called Encore! The show reunited classmates to perform their high school musicals. Chris organized us online and submitted an application to the show. Although we weren't selected, it was fun getting together virtually with everyone again. Plus, Chris starting this resulted in videos of our Lil' Abner show getting posted on YouTube.
Chris had health problems for some time, but at least online, he maintained his sense of humor. He was one of the nicest people you'll ever meet, and he will definitely be missed.
I’m 45 today. Happy Birthday to me! I’m going to celebrate by publishing this blog post where I answer 45 questions asked by friends. This is part one since 45 questions in one blog post would be way too many, and I don’t actually have 45 questions to answer yet. So please send me an email or a message on Facebook or Twitter or even in the comments with a question or two. A blog post titled 45 Years Old: 19 Questions Answered sounds awful.
1. What is your greatest regret?
I honestly don’t really have anything major. I should have asked a girl or woman out when I was younger, but I guess I was scared about being rejected or sharing my feelings. I could have met the Pittsburgh Penguins at the airport when they won their first Stanley Cup or attended a Penn State football game once when I was in State College. Maybe the fact that I lived in San Diego and actually decided to leave? Even with that, I wouldn’t have had the life I have now if I stayed in Southern California. Oh, not a great regret, but I lived in San Diego for 2 years and never visited Mexico. Not sure how that was possible. You know, there is one thing. I had a best friend from before elementary school through high school, but we lost touch and it was likely my fault. It would be cool to reconnect with him again
2. What was the best birthday you ever had?
Probably my 13th birthday. I had my Bar Mitzvah the following day, so I got to have a huge party with my entire family and friends. And I became a man and heard lots of fountain pen jokes that I still don’t understand 32 years later.
3. Which professional sports hall of fame has the most dubious standards?
I really don't know how the NHL or NBA Hall of Fames operate, so my answer is the NFL. Except for 2020 where the NFL is having a centennial class, each year a 48-member selection committee picks 5 players for Hall of Fame enshrinement (not including old-time/senior nominees). One of the journalists on the committee argues his or her (I think there's only 1 woman on the committee, so it’s basically his) case why a player should get in. While someone like Troy Polamalu or Peyton Manning are locks to make the Hall of Fame, let’s say that a journalist isn’t prepared or a good speaker to try to convince the committee to elect Hines Ward or someone who may or may not make the Hall of Fame. There’s no public forum or indication of who votes for or against a certain player either. 48 people get to pick. Seems like there should be a better system.
4. What is a favorite place in Pittsburgh, for you?
Well, it can’t be The O anymore, so I’m giving two answers. The first is taking The Incline up to Mt. Washington and staring down at the city. I could just look out at the skyline and the rivers for hours. The second is PNC Park to watch a baseball game. Sure, you can say Bob Nutting is cheap and the Pirates are bad, but I still love going to baseball games and PNC Park is the one of the best place to see one. If you’re on the third base line, you can look at a different part of city skyline and the Allegheny River.
5. Ticked off that you were Government Man rather than Lil Abner?
I made my acting debut as Government Man in the Gene Kelly-award winning Woodland Hills High School production of the musical Lil' Abner. I am completely fine not earning the title role. The biggest reason is that I wasn’t (and still am not) a good singer. I made the musical cast because I did really well in my dancing audition, and I think they needed more guys. In the first rehearsal where I had to say my lines, one of my lines was "Cough, cough water cough" after drinking some moonshine or other awful-tasting product. Instead of acting like I was choking, I actually read out “cough, cough, water cough.” I did this again after the director stopped the scene. It was at that point that the director completely flipped out. Who knew that I was actually supposed to act like I was choking in the first rehearsal? I was just saying my line. There are actually videos of my performance (but not my cough cough water cough line) here.
6. Who let the dogs out?
It was the Baja Men with some help on the inside. Why have only one security guard and post him outside? Plus, someone must have opened the doors for the dogs!
7. Of the cities you have lived in, which one was your favorite?
Going back to the first question, San Diego. I moved there in 1997 for a job knowing basically two people: a distant relative who welcomed me with open arms and let me stay at her house for a month and a friend from high school who chose San Diego for grad school and became my roommate. I mention 1997 specifically since the 1997-1998 winter was a really bad El Nino year (and the first time I ever heard that phrase) where it rained much more than it usually does in San Diego and there were days where the high temperatures were only in the 50s. People who lived in San Diego for years said it was one of the worst winters they remembered. For me, it was fantastic. No snow and some rainy days. After spending 22 years in Pittsburgh and Ithaca, New York, the winter weather was fantastic. I also loved my job and knew that I fell into an amazing experience with the best working environment I would ever have and made some really good friends. I also took a surfing class. I couldn't do that in Pittsburgh, Ithaca, Columbus, or DC!
8. Suppose you had to introduce yourself with something *other* than "Hi. I'm Sean. I'm from Pittsburgh."
Now that I’ve lived in Northern Virginia for almost 20 years, when asked, I say that I live in Northern Virginia. I then say that I’m originally from Pittsburgh!
9. If you were from another place, where would it be, and what sports teams would you follow?
Because of my parents and other family members, the answer would be the Pittsburgh Pirates and Steelers no matter where I lived. Like many Penguins fans though, I didn’t become a fan until Mario Lemieux joined the team. My earliest memories of the Pens were watching them on WPGH-53 lose to the Islanders with Denis Potvin and Bryan Trottier 8-3 regularly in the pre-Mario days. If I grew up somewhere else in the 80s, I would be a fan of that hockey team. It would be the Red Wings if I grew up in Detroit, the Blackhawks if I grew up in Chicago, or the Capitals if I grew up in the DC area. (Yuck!)
10. What's your favorite BBYO memory?
This was my youth group in high school. I was always a chapter-first guy, so my favorite memory was winning Tournies when I was my chapter’s president. Tournies was a competition between various chapters in our region in all types of events like basketball, bowling, Connect 4, a lip-sync, and a lot more. We were awesome!
I’d like to thank Leah (one of the people who recommended me for the job in San Diego 23 years ago) for giving me the idea for this post since she did it herself.
Please keep the questions coming, so that I can have parts II and beyond. (I already have some questions but can use a lot more.)
For more than a decade, I've wished everyone a Happy Thanksgiving here on Sean's Ramblings by taking a few lines from Adam Sandler's "Thanksgiving Song." I've now run out of lines from the song, so instead, I'm going back 26 years to the 1993 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Starting around the 2:06:30 mark, you'll see the Woodland Hills High School Marching Band including my brother. I mean, I don't see him, but he's there. Or at least he said he was there. He left home with his trumpet for a few days and came back with a "Tommy" T-shirt, so I assume he went to New York to perform in the parade.
Other highlights of the parade include Stevie Wonder, Joey Lawrence, Shari Lewis and Lamb Chop, and for some reason, members of the 1969 Mets singing (at the 1:32 mark).
Woodland Hills High School, just outside the Pittsburgh's city limits, is probably best known for two things: football where the team has been to the WPIAL playoffs for 22 consecutive years and produced nearly a dozen NFL players including Jason Taylor, Rob Gronkowski, and Steve Breaston and musical theater where the school has won countless Gene Kelly Awards for Excellence in High School Musical Theater. About 7 years ago, someone who graduated from Montour High School started working at my organization. Upon learning that I went to Woodland Hills, he bitterly conceded that Woodland Hills always won at the Gene Kelly Awards.
Anyway, during my sophomore year of high school, I was on the stage crew for the production of Guys and Dolls. The fact that I actually helped build a set is funny since I have no building or repair skills whatsoever. (As a tangent, I really need to replace the fluorescent light bulb in the laundry room. I'm going to have to make a Home Depot trip, aren't I? Ugh.) During my junior year, I decided that I wanted to be on stage and not be behind the scenes. Although my singing audition probably went poorly since I have an awful voice, I killed in my dancing audition. Probably more importantly, the show needed a few more male cast members, so I earned the role of Government Man and part of the chorus in the production of Lil' Abner.
Recently, videos of the (gulp) 1992 production of Lil' Abner were posted on YouTube. While it's interesting (at least to me) to check out the videos, I wanted to share a few today.
The first is a scene before, during, and after the song Unnecessary Town. I'm wearing a suit and hat seated at the U.S. Army table. The last 30 seconds or so of the video shows my true acting range.
Oh, feel free to enjoy a Pittsburgh Steelers joke around the 1:10 mark. (The Steelers were coming off of a 7-9 season.)
There are/were some really, really talented people involved in this musical. Fortunately, they carried me!
The second video shows the cast dancing/singing to Rag Offen The Bush. Again, I'm wearing a hat and tie, and you can find me at the front right (scene left).
You can see all of the videos here. 25 years later, seeing the Confederate flag displayed so prominently is a little creepy. I guess that's part of the art of the show. Overall, though, this brought back some fun memories, and I think The Moose enjoyed watching me perform.
* Someone I've known for over 39 years, who is just like a brother to me, is growing an awesome mustache for Movember. Please support him!
* I've been taking fish oil pills for over a decade to help my cholesterol and recently bought a bottle containing 400 pills. It's somewhat amazing to think that since I take one pill per day, I'll probably have to buy a new bottle at the beginning of 2019.
* Why do I have significantly more gray hair in my right sideburn than my left sideburn? Shouldn't it be about the same?
* James Santelli, a news producer for KDKA in Pittsburgh, created a tournament bracket including times and locations for an American Invitational Tournament, also known as, the Soccer NIT. The idea is that teams that didn't qualify for the 2018 World Cup, like the US, Italy, Chile, and Ireland, would play a separate soccer tournament. James also brilliantly made the schedule so that there would be no overlap between the World Cup and American Invitational Tournament matches. I hope this happens!
* I wrote a letter to the editor to my local community newspaper based on last week's blog post about Jerry Falwell, Jr. I'm definitely approaching old man territory.
* I don't understand how my two older kids can sleep just fine with no blankets or covers while I need a top sheet, comforter, and a blanket or two to keep my feet warm or else I don't sleep well.
* Not cool, Dole bananas, not cool. Why are the peels opening?
* Kristen Bell is helping create (and hosting?) a TV series where former high school classmates will perform their high school musical one more time. My Facebook messages were blowing up (is that term still used?) yesterday with friends and classmates wanting to enter. I know that the world has been waiting 25 years for me to revise my role as Government Man in Lil' Abner, so let's do this Kristen Bell!
* Finally, two Pittsburgh related things.
1. If you live in Pittsburgh's Eastern suburbs, please support the non-profit Lost and Found Pharmacy. Shannon and her husband Sean (who I've met) do really good work and were recently featured in the Post-Gazette.
2. It seems too early to think about, but if you're in Pittsburgh or want to give a Pittsburgh-related gift, check out Heidi's 2017 Holiday Shopping Guide.
On Monday, the Penguins got crushed in game six of the Eastern Conference semi-finals by the Washington Capitals. Meanwhile, perhaps inspired by the Pens' performance, the Pirates lost 12-1 to the Los Angeles Dodgers. That wasn't even the worse news for the Pirates as pitcher Jameson Taillon had surgery for suspected testicular cancer. (Best wishes to Taillon on a speedy and full recovery.) The only way things could have been worse for Pittsburgh sports fans on Monday would have been if Antonio Brown, Le'Veon Bell, and Ben Roethlisberger were all suspended for drug use.
Away from the sports world, it's never good when my high school makes national news. That's what happened last week when an extremely disturbing video was released showing a police officer and the principal assault a student. Oh, the principal was also recently hired to be the team's football coach. Even if he was the perfect principal, how can he do both jobs effectively?
Let's move to my current home of Fairfax County. I was a resident of Reston, Virginia for 5 years. There's never any national news from Reston, right? Oh, just some crazy lady at Trader Joe's telling a Muslim woman that she shouldn't be in this country. Lovely.
There's got to be some positives, right? My friend Aaron Brame had this very cool poem "Watching Hockey with My Son" published in Sandy River Review.
Celebrate Fairfax is quickly approaching too. In exactly one month from today, Bush will perform Machinehead, Everything Zen, Comedown, and the underrated The Chemicals Between Us in Northern Virginia.
(Was this video always this odd?)
Here's to a better day today and a Penguins win on Wednesday.
I mentioned last month that I was going to advertise for the first time ever in the 12+ years of this blog. This is the result which appears in the Woodland Hills High School musical program for Monty Python's Spamalot playing April 28-29 and May 4-6, 2017. (Please click here for ticket information.)
So for those of you who were intrigued enough to check out this blog based on the program, thank you. I am a Woodland Hills alumnus who performed in two musicals as Government Man in Li'l Abner and Twin #2 in Peter Pan. I'm sure that Mr. Crone still uses my acting performance as an example for the cast each year. Or it's possible that Mr. Crone never shared my acting since he knew that no would ever be able to top these performances. I mean, why have Twin #1 and Twin #2 sing each line together in "I Won't Grow Up" when Twin #2 has a below average voice and was way off tune with Twin #1? Better to alternate lines, thus giving each a solo. Brilliant directing and acting!
Anyway, I write about Pittsburgh sports, pop culture, and things going on in my life, generally involving my kids, The Moose and Pedro Tulo (not their real names). I also post trivia quizzes and share videos on occasion. Just by reading this paragraph, I can tell that you're sold, will bookmark this page (do people still bookmark pages/websites?), and visit multiple times per day, even though I only post a few times per week.
So enjoy Spamalot or I hope that you enjoyed the show if you're visiting after watching the performance. And congratulations to the cast and crew of the production. I know that it's a lot of work, but you're part of one of the best high school musical productions in the country.
Oh, you can also follow me on Twitter and Facebook. I barely know what a Snapchat is, so I'm not there.
In the 12+ years of Sean's Ramblings, I have spent exactly $0 on this blog. Based on the design, content, and the fact that "blogspot" is still part of the web address, I'm sure that this doesn't come as a surprise. This 12-year streak is about to end, and I need your help.
The back story. I am a graduate of Woodland Hills High School, probably best known for the amazing run of football players like Jason Taylor, Steve Breaston, Ryan Mundy, Lousaka Polite, Shawntae Spencer, and Rob Gronkowski that made it to the NFL. Woodland Hills has also consistently produced the best musicals in Western Pennsylvania over the past 25 years. I think it's fair to give myself a (very, very) tiny bit of credit for its success based on my work on stage crew for Guys and Dolls and "starring" roles as Government Man in Li'l Abner and Twin #2 in Peter Pan.
This year, Woodland Hills is producing Monty Python's Spamalot, and they are significant short on the budget. They are currently planning on making cuts to costumes and make up, eliminate the live orchestra, and basically cut everything besides essentials. (It seems to me a live orchestra is fairly essential for a live musical.) I personally know how much the theater program meant to me in high school as well as hundreds and hundreds and other students over the years. Therefore, I'm going to place an ad for Sean's Ramblings in the program to help make-up the shortfall. This is where you come in. I have very little design experience and skills (as you can tell by reading this blog). I also don't have much space to work with in an 1/8th page ad. I want to have some kind of ad that congratulates the cast and crew and also includes a link to the blog. Maybe I could even include an "S" logo that used to be at the top of the website, but doesn't seem to exist anymore. Any suggestions or willingness to help me put something together are greatly appreciated. While this would probably take someone who knows what they are doing about 10 minutes, it could take me hours.
Thanks for helping support a great cause (the musical, not my blog)!
On Friday afternoon, I learned that Terry, a high school classmate and one of my closest friends in junior high, passed away. He and his family took me to Seven Springs where I skied for the first time. I filled in as a substitute on Terry's paper route at times when he was away. I don't think I've ever shared this before, but Terry and I set off fireworks one day, and at one point, a firework exploded by my ear as I was about to throw it. I didn't hear clearly in my right ear for hours, and Terry laughed about how slowly it took me to throw it in some type of exaggerated pitching motion. Terry also attended my Bar Mitzvah, and we had some epic chess matches together.
Besides being friends on Facebook, I probably hadn't talked to Terry in over 20 years. I always find it strange how someone can be such a big part of your life at one point and not at all a part of your life at another time. I guess that's just growing up and growing apart. I don't remember when we stopped hanging out or going different directions, but it must have been at some point in high school. My brother-in-law actually met Terry at a Steeler bar in Atlanta probably 10 years ago. Apparently, Steelers fans or people from Pittsburgh is its own 6 degrees of Kevin Bacon game.
I don't know what happened with Terry, but I have a pretty good guess based on his obituary. My thoughts and prayers truly go out to his friends and family. For me, I'll remember the good times of us being kids since I wasn't there for the bad times. I'll also remember our chess team dominance in Pittsburgh's eastern suburbs which was featured in The Pittsburgh Press.
Ron Lippock runs the PGH Sports Daily website and also sends out Pittsburgh Sports Daily Bulletin e-mails with links to blogs and articles about, you guessed it, Pittsburgh sports. Ron has been nice enough to include some of my blog posts in his daily e-mail, and we got together to watch a Steelers game at a Washington DC restaurant last season. Through his website, Ron has interviewed hundreds of Pittsburgh Steelers players from over the years and recently (actually today!) released Steelers Takeaways: Players Memories Through the Decades available now at Barnes & Noble and Amazon among other places. Ron's a cool guy (it turns out that we grew up about a mile away from each other) and was nice enough to answer some questions about his book.
First, tell me and everyone reading this about your book, Steelers Takeaways.
The book was over five years in the making - 400+ Steelers interviews took forever - to find the players, get them to say yes to an interview, to conduct and transcribe the interviews…. But a lot of fun too. I tried to ask questions and approach these in ways others have not - to make it different. Not just due to the number of players - but really tried to get to the good stories, personal issues, racial religious stuff, humor/inside jokes, physical toll of the game….I was really surprised at how open players were. One reason may be that I intentionally interviewed guys only after they were out of the game. They were free to reveal - to open up and have fun. Less afraid of consequence - of upsetting the boss and giving away locker room secrets.
Ultimately I think this is what makes this different. Different, more personal approaches to the interviews and more openness on the players’ parts. And yes, I was pretty surprised and excited at just how open and revealing they were. And frankly, the vast majority, really good guys.
Also - because it literally spans seven decades of players - starting in the 50's - it really gives a great perspective of the team and it's journey to prominence over the years.
How did you get all of these former Steelers to talk with you?
It sounds funny…but I asked. And there is the what’s in it for me. I had something to offer - a captive audience of thousands of readers that helped give them reason to talk. An audience for them to discuss their businesses, foundations, to connect with their fans again….
Was there an interview where you thought to yourself "I can't believe he is saying this" or maybe even told the individual this?
A few days. Richard Huntley calling out Jerome Bettis. Roy Jefferson speaking frankly about his anger at Chuck Noll. A ton of inside jokes and stories - from Bradshaw stealing a player’s girlfriend, guys fighting on the freeway after a tough practice, player opinions of coaches, pranks….lot’s of great stories you never expect until you ask the questions and get those great responses.
Is there someone that you wished you could have interviewed for the book?
Eric Green and Mel Blount. Green because I really wanted to understand what happened after all of that talent and promise. I interviewed Troy Edwards and really came away fascinated and how open he was about why things didn’t work out. Those stories interest me greatly. Mel Blount as well - because he’s done so much good since the game and influences the game when he played so much.
Now that you published Steelers Takeaways, will we see a Pirates Takeaways, Penguins Takeaways, or Maulers Takeaways?
Oh wow the Maulers idea is brilliant. If only there were enough people who cared about them! I was so excited when they launched, Pirates maybe….I have interviewed former Pirates and Penguins players - but the Penguins guys are tough because there are so many that are scattered all over the world - it being such an international sport. It's hard to find those guys.
Oh - and the time…I don't know if I have that many interviews left in me!
Churchill Chargers for life! (I understand that this isn't really a question.)
Ok - now this REALLY ages me. I was there when Churchill went through “The Merger” {cue ominous music). That was when we turned into Woodland Hills. Churchill was an “ok” team before then - but now it’s a powerhouse as Woodland Hills. Clearly, they needed me out there playing….I was too busy being too small and buying pads at Walmart because none of the pads were small enough to fit me!
Where was there a Walmart near us? I don't think the Walmart in North Versailles opened until much later as there were two bowling alleys across the street from each other. If you got pads, they were from Hills or Gold Circle!
Maybe it was K-Mart? Remember we did have one of those near us!
Thanks again to Ron for answering my questions and asking so many questions over the years. Please get his book! You can also follow him on Twitter @PittsburghSport.
Anytime that a someone who was a coach at my high school while I was still attending high school gets a job as an NFL head coach, I'm going to blog about it. Congratulations to Jim Tomsula, who worked as the defensive line coach at Woodland Hills High School in 1990, on becoming the head coach of the San Francisco 49ers!
I decided to find my 1991 high school yearbook (for the 1990-1991 school year) to find a picture of Coach Tomsula. Here it is:
Um, Coach Tomsula isn't pictured or even listed as missing. Was he not a coach at Woodland Hills? Did he lie on his resume? Did I uncover some major news here?
I contacted a friend that was on the football team to see if he knew Coach Tomsula. He replied, "I had to see a pic. Yep. I remember him now. He was a defensive coach. Cool guy."
Since there is no scandal, I'll just post a picture of Jason Taylor, formerly of the Miami Dolphins and Dancing With the Stars, as a member of the basketball team instead. (I don't think he was on the football team until his junior or senior year.)
While serving as a volunteer assistant coach at his alma mater, Catawba College in Salisbury, N.C., Tomsula sent the family to Florida to temporarily live with relatives.
He slept in his car, an old red Cadillac.
Along with the family dog, cat, pet food and litter box.
I'm sure that he can now afford a much bigger car to live in with the family pets!
20 years ago tomorrow and over 6 years before Columbine, there was a shooting at Woodland Hills High School just outside of Pittsburgh. Fortunately, what could have been a life-changing event for thousands of people turned out to be a minor footnote at least for me. On Monday, September 21, 1992, I was in first period chemistry class extremely overwhelmed by the material. Although the bell rang to switch classes, my chemistry teacher, Mr. Nelson, didn't dismiss us immediately either to finish the lesson or to assign us homework. With only a few minutes to get to the next class and no flexibility from most teachers if you're late, you always wanted to leave immediately after the bell rang, particularly when you heard other students in the hall.
On this day though, the sounds of people walking and talking in the hall were interrupted by five loud popping sounds directly outside my classroom. To me, it sounded like balloons popping. It was not balloons. Either Mr. Nelson saw what was happening or was familiar with the sound of gunfire and immediately closed the door and put a rolling cart with a TV in front of the door. Although I remember the pops, I don't recall hearing any screams.
While we had no idea what was happening or happened outside the classroom, Mr. Nelson made sure that we didn’t go near the door. Although my memory about this event 20 years ago is a little fuzzy, I believe that he called the front office to let them know that he heard what could have been gunfire. My guess is that he knew what was going on but didn’t want to alarm us too much.
What did happen was that a sophomore (I think I remember the name, but I don’t want to write it here in case I’m incorrect) brought a gun into school and tried to shoot a specific person. Amazingly, in a crowded hallway he only hit one person and it wasn't the person he was attempting to shoot. He did shoot my classmate Rich who was coming from the physics classroom next door. The gunman then ran down the stairwell and exited the school.
At some point, maybe a few minutes later, maybe 30 minutes later, someone from the office announced what happened. The only thing I vividly remember from that day was that the office said this was a dispute that occurred outside school. For some reason, I thought this meant literally outside the school which was just down the street from my home. It was at this point that I started freaking out a bit until a classmate told me to shut up. That worked.
The gunman was caught later that day, and obviously, never returned to Woodland Hills High School. Meanwhile, I don’t remember what happened to us the rest of the day. I don’t think we got excused early, but no one was focused on learning and lessons that day. No one had cell phones and there certainly wasn’t internet at school in 1992, so most of what we discussed was rumors and theories. All of the local TV stations arrived at the school, so I got most of my information from watching the news that evening. Within a couple of days, the school installed metal detectors. Actually, I think that there was just one metal detector on the first day, and the school administration wanted 1000+ students to go through it. That plan didn’t work well since it was impossible for everyone to go through and start class on time.
Twenty years later, there’s not really much to discuss. Rich was shot in the shoulder, but returned to school on Wednesday, only two days later. A friend believes that the shooter died several years ago. Meanwhile, besides this minor synopsis (subscription required), I can’t find anything online about the incident since Pittsburgh’s two major newspapers at the time, the Pittsburgh Press and Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, were both on strike.
If any fellow Woodland Hills classmates are reading this, please feel free to share your thoughts about the shooting in the comments section below. Is there anything that I’m missing? What were your experiences that day?
It looks like Jason Taylor from Woodland Hills High School and a former Dancing with the Stars finalist concluded his amazing NFL career on Sunday. Taylor, a 6-time Pro Bowler and three-time First-Team All Pro, completed his 15 year career with 139.5 sacks. I remember Taylor in high school as an uncoordinated basketball center that didn’t yet fit into his body and a Tight End with inconsistent hands. Fortunately, Taylor developed significantly as a football player since he was 17.
Although I didn’t personally know Taylor, I have friends that did. I’ve never heard any negative stories about Taylor, and therefore, I’m not at all surprised by how humble he is in this video and how respected he is by his teammates.
Now that Taylor is retiring from football, the question that remains is what happens to Big JT? You remember Big JT, right? Let me refresh your memory.
With all of the Steelers injuries, could Big JT play running back or in the secondary this weekend?
There is a bit of a ridiculous article on Grantland titled "Dear Pittsburgh: Leave Batman Alone" critical of how folks are treating the filming of Batman. I have seen no complaints from anyone associated with the film as they, especially the movie company, probably love the buzz. Anyway, I felt the need to contact the author, but since he didn't have an e-mail address posted, I contacted Grantland directly.
Dear Grantland,
I am writing to respond to the “Dear Pittsburgh: Leave Batman Alone” column by Andy Greenwald. While I agree with the premise of the story that Pittsburghers should let the filmmakers work in peace, there are certain aspects that make this request impractical. First, the film used nearly 10,000 extras to fill Heinz Field for the football scenes. When you incorporate several Pittsburgh Steelers, including QB Ben Roethlisberger and Dancing with the Stars Champion Hines Ward, along with Mayor Luke Ravenstahl and former coach Bill Cowher, into the movie, that’s national news which will naturally receive coverage. If Cleveland brought out their football stars, um Peyton Hillis and Colt McCoy, for the filming of Avengers, you would see the same pictures and videos throughout the internet, including the Hollywood Reporter. (Perhaps Cleveland Browns “stars” is a poor example though.)
There is one particular part of the article that is a bit hypocritical. The column starts with a video of the Batwing “flying” through the streets of Pittsburgh. If the author wants people to leave Batman alone, why share the video that is doing the exact opposite by rewarding the individuals who filmed the Batwing and showing off spoilers that people may not want to see?
Sean
I actually received a reply:
Sean,
Thanks for the feedback. You are far from the only person who had that reaction. We’re working on getting our commenting system up and running, but until then, you can respond to Andy directly on our Facebook page. We’re going to talk to him about diving in and answering some of the questions/criticisms leveled at him there too.
http://www.facebook.com/GrantLand33
All best,
The Editors
I didn't feel the need to post my e-mail on Facebook, but I'm curious to see if the author responds.
Speaking of Batman, check out the very cool pictures (like the one below) of the Bat signal with the Pittsburgh skyline. Actually, don't look because you may bother Andy Greenwald. [That's Church]
Congratulations to Get Fresh Designs on five years of blogging. Buy one of his cool T-shirts! [Get Fresh Designs]
Not only are there six Woodland Hills football players almost certain to play in the NFL this season, but there are also four other graduates in training camp and three others about to start playing at Pitt. Go Wolverines! [Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]
I've given Express a hard time lately for various errors into their publication. Apparently, they got their revenge by featuring my school district on page 2.
I did some research, and sure enough, a bus driver for my former junior high school stopped at a police station to quiet the kids down. Lovely. Here's the entire story courtesy of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review:
Woodland Hills school officials said yesterday they will discipline students who got so rowdy on an after-school bus ride the driver took them to the Swissvale police station.
The unnamed driver for A.J. Myers and Sons drove to the station Friday when the group of junior high students refused to settle down, said school district spokeswoman Maria McCool. The driver resumed the route without incident after officers spoke with the kids, McCool said.
"There were kids on board who were acting inappropriately," McCool said. "The bus driver felt they were out of control. They weren't listening to him. He felt it was an unsafe situation, so he stopped at the police station. The police came out, and when the police came out, they calmed down."
Swissvale police would not comment. The bus company did not return a call for comment.
McCool said 35 students were heading home on the bus after basketball tryouts and cheerleading at Woodland Hills Junior High in Swissvale about 5 p.m. The bus was close to the police station when a disturbance broke out, and the driver decided on his own to stop at the station.
McCool said students made threats, but she did not know whether they threatened the driver or each other. Police did not cite any students.
Although several children decided to walk home from the police station, McCool said nobody was ejected from the bus, and all were offered a ride home. She said the walkers had an option to call their parents from the police station.
The district was investigating the incident, and McCool could not provide estimates for how many students were involved or how many walked home. She said the district would identify the offending students and punish them based on the disrict's conduct policy. Junior high Principal Dawn Golden will determine punishment.
Earlier this year, Swissvale police arrested 11 students for fighting in the junior high parking lot, and police agencies reported they were called numerous times to Woodland Hills buildings.
"It's a privilege to ride the activities bus," McCool said. "This is not a service that everyone is just entitled to. You can lose bus privileges if you don't behave. We just want everyone to know that when there's this kind of problem on the bus, we will not tolerate it."
In other news, good luck to the Woodland Hills High School football team in the WPIAL Quad A Championship against North Allegheny on Saturday. Go Wolverines (as long as you're behaved on the bus)!
Welcome to Sean's Ramblings! If you're looking for thoughts on pop culture, music, fun and informative links, random DC and Pittsburgh info, sports (particularly Pittsburgh sports), and just what's going on in my life, then you're come to the right place.
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