Chris Boswell: Serial Killer

On Sunday, the Steelers started the 2025 NFL season with a 34-32 win over the New York Jets. While the game featured quarterbacks Aaron Rodgers and Justin Fields facing their former teams, one of the big stories was Steelers kicker Chris Boswell hitting a 60-yard field goal late in the fourth quarter to essentially win the game. A 60-yard field goal is extremely difficult, particularly with a roaring crowd in a pressure situation.

Following the game, Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said this about Boswell at the 3:30 mark of the video:

You heard that correctly. Tomlin called Boswell a serial killer. And meant that as a compliment. Maybe Tomlin recently watched the new version of Dexter featuring a "good" type of serial killer who only kills bad people. Or perhaps Tomlin saw the Netflix show Mindhunter (filmed in Pittsburgh), where FBI agents interview serial killers to try to understand their behavior. I don't remember the killers talking about a low pulse rate, which is something that Tomlin attributed to Boswell though. (Maybe Tomlin's statement is a setup to get Mindhunter to return for a third season or even as a movie. If Tomlin helps motivate show creator David Fincher to make this happen, Tomlin should immediately get inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame and get a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame! And Boswell needs to be in the show/movie too!)

In future weeks, Tomlin should accuse Boswell of other crimes. The next time Boswell makes a game-winning kick, Tomlin should refer to Boswell an arsonist. Since he’s on fire! (And yes, an arsonist starts fires and aren't actually on fire.) Or maybe a thief. You know since Boswell stole the hearts of opposing teams’ players and fans. Boswell is definitely a money launderer since he’s clearly money making the kicks. He is so money, baby! 

(This is video is not suitable for work.)

 

Photo from the folks at Ya Jagoff!

2025-2026 Pittsburgh Sports Predictions

For years, I've asked people to share predictions about teams and even elections. For example, before the 2025 Pittsburgh Pirates season, I asked for predictions about the overall record of the team, the status of the team's manager (I hope that you're doing well, Derek Shelton!), and who would lead the team in home runs. This is a little different. Today, I asked people for predictions for multiple Pittsburgh-area teams in multiple sports for over a one-year period.

Here are our fabulous participants in these festivities:

Josh: Author of Josh’s World and the reason why I included Penn State questions here. (Bluesky)

Chris Carter: Steelers Reporter and host of North Shore Drive Podcast for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Host of Locked On Steelers too and regular on WPXI. Chris is everywhere and can always be found when there’s a score of 13-9. (Bluesky)

Matt Gajtka: Broadcaster and fitness coach among his multiple roles. (Twitter)

Chris Dokish: Covered Pitt for many years and may know the program better than anyone. (Twitter)

Saxboy: World-traveler, creator of amazing videos, and host of The Saxcast podcast. (Bluesky)

Sean: Founder of Sean’s Ramblings in 2005. Been doing this way too long! (Bluesky)

2025-2026 Steelers

Josh: 10-7. They miss the playoffs

Chris: 11-6, 2nd place AFC North, lose AFC championship game

Matt: 11-6 and they win a Wild Card playoff game, before falling in the Divisional round. I think Rodgers has one last solid season and Pittsburgh will be the beneficiary of it. They are not Super Bowl caliber, but we can finally stop talking about the playoff win drought. 

Chris D.: The defense should be excellent, and if it's not there's going to be a lot of explaining that they'll need to do. The offense, with Aaron Rodgers, should at least be average, which should improve them to 11-6, and maybe finally a first round win. Also, I think Payton Wilson is going to become a star this season.

Saxboy: 9–8, miss playoffs mid draft pick, rinse and repeat. 

Sean: Makes the playoff and win a first-round game.

2025-2026 Penguins

Josh: Yikes, I have not followed the off-season at all. I will say 44 wins, with a first round playoff win

Chris: Miss playoffs again

Matt: 87 points and a couple of wins out of the playoffs. This isn't truly a 'tanking' roster and Malkin gives it an extra boost with a final-season push. But, there's not enough here to put them in the top half of the NHL. At least one more year with the also-rans.

Chris D.: It's hard to say what's in store for them at the moment. They're finally starting to ramp up their rebuild, and if they do that by trading some of their better veterans, then they'll almost definitely have a worse season than this past year. As the roster looks now, they're not really bad, but they may get to that point if they make those trades.

Saxboy: Tank season successfully executed, high draft pick, draft 18 year old kid from Ontario

Sean: Finishes about 10 points out of the playoffs. Team trades Erik Karlsson during the season and Letang and/or Malkin retire after the season.

2025 Pitt Football

Josh: 6-6. Then a loss in a bowl game

Chris: 8-4 regular season, decent bowl game

Matt: 8-4 and they beat West Virginia as part of a 3-0 start. After that ...

Chris D.: They have two All-Americans in Desmond Reid and Kyle Louis, a returning offensive coordinator, the returning starting quarterback in Eli Holstein, who looked like an All-American at the beginning of the season, skill players that now fit the system, a veteran offensive line, and a potentially excellent defense. They flopped the last two seasons, but on paper, they should be a 9-win top 25 team. But it's hard to give them the benefit of the doubt because of how the last two seasons went. I don't predict records including a bowl because those are total crapshoots now, so I'll say an 8-4 regular season record. Anything less is a failure, and I'm not sure with all that they have that 8-4 wouldn't even be a little disappointing. The only other teams that have two All-Americans are elite programs. Like it usually works with Pitt, and especially Narduzzi, it will come down to how well the quarterback does.

Saxboy: 9-3, would love that. Holstein is gonna do his thing.

Sean: 8-4 and a bowl win at either the Go Bowling Military Bowl in DC or the Pop-Tarts Bowl in Orlando.

2025 Penn State Football

Josh: 12-0, National Champs!

Chris: 10-2, College Football Playoffs make Final Four

Matt: One-loss national champions. Don't know much about college football, so why not.

Chris D.: On paper, there may not be a more talented team in the country, but James Franklin has a way of being out coached. Until he shows that he can coach better than his opponents, I have to assume that he'll come up short again.

Saxboy: 11-1, lose Natty 

Sean: Loses to Ohio State in conference play and then in the quarterfinals of the playoffs. Makes Josh sad.

2025 Pitt Men’s Soccer

Josh: Ummm, they win the ACC

Chris: sweet 16

Matt: A trip to the NCAA tournament again, and a berth in the national quarterfinals.

Chris D.: Don't know enough about them

Sean: Makes the NCAA tournament but loses in the second round.

2025 Pitt Women’s Volleyball

Josh: Final Four

Chris: National championship loss

Matt: Another tourney trip, but this time they fall out before the final four.

Chris D.: The best program at Pitt over the last few years, but until they win a championship, they're going to be looked at always coming up short when it counts the most. That sounds harsh, but that's what comes with being No. 1 for most of the year, and also having the best player in the country in Olivia Babcock. Pitt needs a national championship again, and hopefully this is finally the year.

Sean: Not as good as last year. Loses in the national quarterfinals.

2025 Penn State Women’s Volleyball

Josh: Back-to-back National Champs!

Chris: Final Four loss

Matt: Another big year, even if it ends in the national semifinals.

Chris D.: Don't know enough about them

Sean: Trip to the championship, but not back-to-back titles.

2025-2026 Pitt Men’s Basketball

Josh: Slightly better than Penn State men's basketball

Chris: Bubble team just miss NCAA Tournament with 21 or so wins.

Matt: Let's call it a winning season, but a .500 season in the ACC and not enough to make the tourney.

Chris D.: Jeff Capel is very good at accumulating talent (from high school, the portal, and internationally), but I don't think he's a good enough coach for his team to be better than their talent. And the talent this year is not among the best in the ACC. I don't think they'll be bad, but I don't see a tournament run either. I would guess that they'll have somewhere around 16-18 wins. On the other hand, nobody thought a team of Nelly Cummings, Jamarius Burton, Blake Hinson, and Greg Elliott would make the tournament a year after the Panthers were 11-21. Probable starters Damarco Minor, Dishon Jackson, and Cam Corhen are solid, but not game changers, so if the team performs better than expected, they'll have to have big seasons from at least three of Beebah Cummings, Omari Witherspoon, Roman Siulepa, and Barry Dunning, Jr., but that may be asking a lot.

Saxboy: NCAA tournament berth by play in game. L in that

Sean: For no reason other than being a homer, the team makes the NCAA tournament and advances to the round of 32.

2026 Pirates

Josh: 74 wins

Chris: Losing record, no playoffs

Matt: 82-80. I figure they almost have to be better. It'll be another banner year for Skenes and we start to see some supplementation from the farm. I have a hard time saying they'll be legit playoff contenders, though, even in an era of three wild cards per league.

Chris D.: Not to be dramatic, but I honestly see no hope as long as Bob Nutting is the owner. They are both cheap and incompetent, and that's a deadly combination. They have the best pitcher in baseball, and the top prospect in the minors- one a superstar, and one on the verge of being a superstar- and there still feels like there's no hope because Nutting simply doesn't care if they win or not. He just wants the money.

Saxboy: I can’t

Sean: The team finally either trades for a good hitter or signs a free agent hitter under 32 and the team finishes over .500 and competes for a Wild Card spot.

Will any 2025-2026 Robert Morris or Duquesne men’s or women’s basketball team make the NCAA tournament?

Josh: Yes

Chris: No on RMU/Duquesne

Matt: I'll go ahead and say the RMU men's hoopsters make the tournament again. They've gotten in a nice groove in the Horizon League. 

Chris D.: Don't know enough about them

Sean: Not this season.

Will any player on any team win an award? (If yes, who and what?)

Josh: Skenes-Cy Young

Chris: Jalen Ramsey DPOY

Matt: Rodgers gets votes for Comeback Player of the Year, and a freshly-engaged Skenes wins the NL Cy Young in '26. Dan Muse gets some support for the Jack Adams.

Chris D.: I think Paul Skenes is pretty much guaranteed to be the National League Cy Young Award winner.

Saxboy: Bad decision of the year award: saxboybilly18 - for going to the Seattle-Kansas City-Minneapolis

Sean: Olivia Babcock wins national player of the year in volleyball. She’s Pittsburgh’s best athlete not named Skenes or Crosby!

Please share any other predictions here (ex. Steelers draft pick, coaches fired, etc.). 

Josh: Steelers trade up to get a QB in the first round. The Pirates do not sign any hitters, aside from their usual reclamation projects

Chris: Steelers pick LaNorris Sellers first round in 2026 NFL Draft

Matt: The Penguins have a few lottery balls in the hopper, but there's no Gavin McKenna lifeline coming their way!

Chris D.: The Steelers are going to get their next starting quarterback in the first round next year, even if they have to trade up to make sure they get the one they want. And it's going to be a very dramatic scene since it will happen in front of a huge throng of Pittsburghers. Don Kelly won't be retained. If Pitt basketball has a poor season, I would not be surprised, if the buyout isn't high, that they get rid of Jeff Capel. But it would take a really bad season and a very low buyout.

Sean: Snoop Dogg, Pat McAfee, and Bret Michaels will all have some role in the NFL draft in Pittsburgh.

Finally, will Paul Skenes and Livvy Dunne get engaged before the end of the 2026 MLB season?

Josh: No, they get engaged at Taylor and Travis' wedding

Chris: No comment on Skenes/Dunne LOL

Seems like Matt answered this question above with a yes!
 
Chris D.: No. He's too busy dominating.
 
Sean: Yes!

Please feel free to give your own predictions in the comments section below, and we'll see how we did at the end of 2026!

Photos by the incredible Dave DiCello, the Pittsburgh Panthers website, Ethan Shulman of The Pitt News, and Roe Ethridge of GQ.

So High School

I have a lot of friends sending their kids off to college for the first time this fall. While I'm still several years away from this, The Moose started high school a few weeks ago. A few observations:

* I went to back-to-school night last week to meet his teachers and get a very brief introduction to each class. Although I've been to the school gym, auditorium, and athletic fields before, this was the first time I've truly walked around the school. And it's massive! No idea how the kids can get from a class on one side of the building to another class on the other side of the building in time.

* I dropped off The Moose and his friend at the team's first high school football game. This will be the first of many, many, many times that I'll drop off or pick up one of my kids at the high school over the next 9 years!

* Those of you who have known me since high school know how close I lived to the school. It was about a 5-minute walk. Now that we need to get my son to or from school for after-school activities, I know that I definitely took that for granted growing up.

* The Moose's homecoming is in two weeks, which is ridiculously early in the school year. He and some friends were talking about going to the homecoming dance and taking dates. Apparently, one friend has a date. I definitely didn't think about going to a dance as a 9th grader. That's what I  thoughtt before I sat down to write this post. As I started writing, I realized that this is not true at all. My high school was only 10th-12th grade, and I went to my homecoming dance in 10th grade, my first year at the school. I actually wrote about it. Thanks again, Doogie!

Plus, we had a 9th grade formal at the end of school year. I went with a girl who ended up leaving me for someone else in the middle of the dance. There were several of us who got dumped that evening. Not that we were dating, but it was definitely an awkward car ride when my parents (or her parents) drove us to our respective homes. Fun story: the girl who left me at the dance and the guy she left me for got married, and I believe have two kids and are still together today.

Not sure if I'm ready to be a high school parent! 

Another August 2025 Random Ramblings

I received an email a few months ago from my health insurance company about getting a "Move Kit" and participating in an exercise program. The Move Kit basically consists of a generic version of a FitBit that I wear on my wrist. It syncs up with my phone and tracks my steps. The key part of this program is that it is free, so I signed up. While I've tracked steps on my phone for years, it only works when I actually have my phone in my pocket. Since I don't carry my phone when I referee soccer games, I always wondered how many steps I take during these games. Over the weekend, I finally got the chance to try it. While I'm not completely sure of the accuracy of the device on my wrist, in three 70-minute games (one as a center referee and two as an assistant referee on the sidelines) including walking to and from my car and the restroom, I took about 15,000 steps in less than 6 hours. 

Debbie Gibson has a book coming out in a few weeks. (I've written about her before.) While I'm not willing to buy it (yet?), I put it on hold at my local library.

After four years as the Dining for Dollars chair for my kids' elementary school PTA, I'm finally out! My job was to contact restaurants to set up events where a portion of the sales would go to the PTA. It wasn't a very difficult job, but it took up more time than I wanted in coordinating dates with the restaurants, the board, getting flyers made, etc. I told the PTA president at the end of last school year that I was done but would stick around if they couldn't find anyone new. I sold it as being a great position for someone who wanted to ease into getting involved but not ready for a leadership position. Someone took the role and has ideas for the school year. More importantly, I'm out!

Well, I was due. After nearly 20 years, I received a summons for jury duty. I wrote about my very limited experience years ago near the start of my blog. Might be some new blog content later this fall! (Though not nearly as good as the TV show.)

The Moose last played organized baseball in the fall of his 6th grade year. As someone who throws with his left hand, it was at this level where he could no longer play infield positions other than 1st base. He wasn't great at first, so he mostly played outfield. Although he had/has a good arm, I'm not sure if he pitched that season. Anyway, it was at this level, where you could clearly see a distinction between players. The good players were really good. There were a few kids who hit home runs and pitchers who could really throw. I don't think The Moose had more than 1-2 hits that season (though he had a good eye and walked a lot). I mention this because he just started high school last week and announced that he wants to play on the high school team this spring. As a pitcher. Not exactly sure how this is going to go, but I wish him luck.

Dad Camp 2025

Every year, I take the week before school off to spend time with the kids. Camps are over, and they're still too young to stay home for a week by themselves, so we (meaning me) come up with ideas of things to do. I write this post annually as a reminder of what we did each year.

Monday: Costco, Miniature Golf

Errands need to get done, and this was a chance to let the kids pick snack options for lunch and after school. Plus, free samples! And it turned out not to be exactly free samples. They enjoyed both the Chobani flip yogurts (which I bought on sale) and Pickle Balls (which I bought not on sale). 

We almost always go miniature golfing during Dad Camp week. This year, we tried out Perch Putt located 11 stories up in Tysons. Thanks to Groupon for the deal.

Tuesday: Movie

Fairly low-key day. The Moose had a dentist appointment (he should get his braces off in 2 months!), and then we saw Bad Guys 2. It doesn't seem like I missed anything from not seeing the original Bad Guys movie. An unexpected surprise was hearing the voice of Alex Borstein in the film. I'm currently watching the last season of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, and it was different hearing her not swearing! (And yes, I know Borstein has been been a voice on Family Guy for decades.)

Wednesday: Pinball Arcade

I thought this would be something different and that the kids (and I) would enjoy. While it was about 45 minutes away, we went to Jackpot Pinball Arcade in Purcellville, Virginia and played for hours. Took a break for a delicious lunch at Magnolias at the Mill. Big success. 

Oh, while it was mostly pinball games, I got the second high score on Centipede!

Thursday: Back to school day. 

The Moose had high school(!?!?) orientation in the morning, and Pedro Tulo and Luigi met their teachers in the afternoon.

Friday: Pickleball & Soccer Match

Played pickleball in the morning which is always an adventure with the three boys. The Moose thinks he's Ben Johns (a really good pickleball player) against his younger brothers. Later in the day, we attended an exhibition match between Pitt and George Mason men's soccer teams. Pitt is ranked #7 this preseason but didn't look like it in the first half with Mason taking an early 1-0 lead and Pitt not getting many chances. While I'm not sure how much or how many starters played for each team, Pitt absolutely dominated the second half and ended up winning 2-1.

Throw in a Nationals game and the pool over the weekend, and I think it's been another successful week of Dad Camp. Now, I'm excited that the kids are going back to school!

Iceland Pictures

Last week, I wrote about my experiences watching soccer in Iceland. Consider this part two of my Iceland adventures. Today, I'm sharing pictures from my trip. I know what you're thinking. Sean, you're just going to share amazing pictures and videos of waterfalls, the ocean, and puffins. You're such a tourist, Sean, posting what everyone shares when they travel to Iceland. I hear you, so instead of doing that "boring" stuff, I'm sharing random pictures of the trip.

Ranch is one of America’s greatest culinary accomplishments, so what better way to celebrate Cool America.

Gulfoss is an incredible waterfall. I could show you pictures and videos of it, but I know that you want to see that the visitor center has Heinz condiments.

Meanwhile, a food truck at the Jökulsárlón Glacier lagoon has whatever this is.

While this museum (which was right around the corner from my hotel) has good reviews, it wasn't on my list of things to do. Did check out the gift shop though.

Many, many years ago, I remember being amazed by the Dyson Airblade hand dryer. Apparently, the next step in hand dryer technology is at the Keflavik Airport. It's an individualized Dyson Airblade at a sink!

Of course, I took a picture of cereal at the grocery store in Vik. Seems like Weetos is a better value than Marshmallow Mateys.

The Gruffalo has been one of my favorite books to read to the kids over the years. I saw a version in Icelandic  at a Reykjavik bookstore and really considered buying it as a gift for them, but 40 American dollars seemed a little steep for a book I probably wouldn't attempt to read more than once or twice.

I just want to share that accreditation is important.

The Sun Voyager is a well-known sculpture in Reykjavik. A picture of this landmark doesn't seem to match with the rest of this post. I'm including it here because of the woman in the picture. I waited patiently for her to make all kinds of poses in front of it until finally I decided to take a picture of her in action!

Quick story about the Yoda Cave. We drove a lot of hours the day we visited this and missed the turn to the "road" to the cave. When you miss a turn, it's miles before you can turn around since there's not just an intersection two blocks away. The road to the Yoda Cave itself was gravel and possibly the bumpiest road I've ever been on. I was really worried about potential damage to the car and needing to deal with insurance. So we finally arrived at the cave but were also getting hungry since it was late in the day and frustrated that we missed the turn. We got out, took a few pictures, and left, and I thought of  Leonard Nimoy on The Simpsons while I was there.

This is outside our first hotel room just after 3:30 AM! 

Fine. I'll share a video of puffins.

Yes, there will likely be a third Iceland post, so stay tuned!

Random Ramblings: August 2025 Edition

* My kids are home after being away at camp for three weeks. Each year, it's amazing what they bring home and don't bring home. So far, I've found several socks that don't belong to any of them and a random pillow case that belongs to someone else. Meanwhile, how did all three of them lose their camping / folding chairs?

* I averaged over 10,000 steps a day in July. It certainly helps to have two vacations in the same month! First time I've averaged that many steps in a day for an entire month since June 2022.

* I recently saw a commercial for Nemluvio, a prescription medicine to treat eczema. While I appreciate the usage of Black Box's Everybody, Everybody in the ad, replacing Everybody, Everybody with Nemluvio, Nemluvio doesn't work. It's the same amount of syllables, but it's just off. 

As a comparison, o-o-o Ozempic works perfectly. 

* It's difficult being a Pittsburgh Pirates fan. As of Sunday evening, the team is 51-68. At the trade deadline, the Pirates did not trade three veterans with expiring contracts, and instead, traded other players for individuals who likely won't make the majors for several years. Understandable if the Pirates were in a "rebuild," but the team has been awful since 2018. (In 2018, the team finished with a winning record. Not in the playoffs but not awful.) While it's possible that the Pirates will finally spend money and sign free agents for 2026, based on the team's history with the owner unwilling to spend money on players, this seems unlikely.

With all of that written, the Pirates are an exemplary team compared to Sheffield Wednesday. The team has not paid players and staff on time in months, let about a dozen players leave the team (or sold the players for well-below market value), and the manager is gone. Oh, the North Stand is currently closed, deemed unsafe. The entire team is a mess. The best case scenario seems to be that the owner sells the team and maybe the team doesn't break a record for fewest points in a season and somehow avoids relegation. To dream the impossible dream!

Voting is underway through August 22nd for Pittsburgh City Paper's Best of PGH. I love the fact that there's still a Best Blog category. There are so few blogs remaining, and this is a fantastic way to highlight blogs and bloggers. This year's finalists are: 

Ana Eats Pgh

Horrorpgh

OneBURGH

Straight Facts Podcast

What Sleeps Beneath

Ana Eats Pgh seems like a website and what she posts are reels, mostly on Facebook. Ana has good stuff and maybe you can make a case that it's a video blog. Probably a stretch though.

No idea what Horrorpgh is. I found a substack that hasn't been updated since 2023. There's a YouTube page with 8 videos, and some postings on Instagram.

Straight Facts Podcast is a podcast. It's right in the name. It seems like they have videos of their podcast on YouTube. Not a blog.

OneBURGH and What Sleeps Beneath seem like actual blogs, so please vote for one of them.

Icelandic Football / Soccer

With all three boys away at camp, we took our first vacation without kids since The Moose was only a few months old. He’s starting high school in two weeks. And even that vacation wasn’t really a vacation. I was a groomsman in my friend’s wedding, so while we had a great time, it wasn’t actually a vacation. So with the kids away and to celebrate our 20th anniversary a year late, we went to Iceland.

As you might be able to tell by the title, this post is not about the beautiful natural wonders of Iceland and our experiences traveling around the country. That will come in a future post. This is about football in Iceland which I will now refer to as soccer for the rest of the post. Sorry to anyone in Iceland reading this who prefer football to soccer. For non-sports fans, please don't click away yet. You might find this interesting. Seriously. There's Icelandic music here too!

After flying overnight, we arrived in Iceland and essentially went straight to the Blue Lagoon. Is this geothermal spa an overpriced tourist destination? Yes. Was it worth spending the money for several hours in warm, remarkably blue water? Also yes. 

From the Blue Lagoon, we checked into the hotel and took a nap. I woke up and decided to walk around the neighborhood, and almost immediately after leaving the hotel, heard crowd noise and followed the sound. What I discovered was a soccer field with hundreds of kids in the stands and a stage in the middle of the field. It turned out to be the opening ceremonies for the annual Rey Cup youth soccer tournament. There were club teams from throughout Iceland as well as Germany, the UK, Faroe Islands, and several from the United States. The opening ceremonies included a performance from Icelandic hip-hop artist Herra Hnetusmjor. 

Shifting away from soccer momentarily, I really enjoyed listening to Icelandic radio. The pop stations played a mixture of songs from musicians you would hear on any American station (Ed Sheeran, Alex Warren, Dua Lipa) as well as songs in Icelandic, and others songs in English I was unfamiliar with likely by British artists. What made it even better was I couldn't understand anything said by the DJs. Sample dialogue in Icelandic:

Something, something, something (that I couldn't understand) Natalie Imbruglia Torn. Something, something, something...

The Weather Girls It's Raining Men something, something, something...

There were two songs in Icelandic that I heard several times that I liked, so I tried to figure out the title and artist. I ended up going on a deep dive of the Icelandic Billboard chart and listening to Icelandic songs on YouTube. Justin Bieber has a new album with several songs on the chart. Our friend Herra Hnetusmjor had a song in the top 5 that had previously reached #1. Pretty cool that someone with a #1 hit played the opening ceremonies of a youth soccer tournament. I couldn't find either song I liked on the Billboard chart, but while heading to the airport, one of the two songs played on the radio, and I was able to figure out it was this:

No clue what the lyrics mean, but I like the sound. Oh, there was no editing of English song lyrics on the radio. You clearly hear Sabrina Carpenter singing swear words that do not make American radio.

Back to soccer, the opening ceremonies were right next to Iceland's national stadium. While I wasn't able to go inside, I walked around the gates. The stadium is nice, but it's also much smaller than what I think a national stadium looks like. It's not Wembley in England or Azteca in Mexico. It seems like there is a seating capacity of 9,500 which would be less than my high school football stadium, The Wolvarena.

We left Reykjavik for several days to tour the south coast of Iceland, but I knew we would have time on Sunday evening when we returned. After discovering that the National Theatre of Iceland was near the hotel, I started looking into potential shows to see and got very excited at the potential of seeing Frozen, I mean, Frost.

If I'm going to see a show where I don't understand the language, at least this is one where I know the story. Although I never did figure out the theatre's website, it seems like the show already happened and was on the website as part of the season schedule. The other option was going to a professional Icelandic soccer match. And again, it was difficult to get information. I finally figured out that Valur Rejkavik, the top team in the Besta delid karla (or Men's Best Division) had a home match about a 10-minute drive from the hotel against FH. In case you're wondering, FH is short for Fimleikafélag Hafnarfjarðar. Since that's impossible to pronounce, I'm now referring to FH as the Fire Horses.

I struggled to find information about the game online, so I emailed the team twice to ask questions about how to buy tickets and where to park. I also commented on Valur's Instagram and Facebook posts to try to get this information. I received no responses to the emails or comments. Finally, a few hours before the match, one Valur fan sent me a message letting me know that I had to buy tickets via an app. This was extremely helpful.

About 30 minutes before the game, we arrived at the stadium and found parking to be extremely easy. There was only one entrance (which looks like the entrance to an apartment building) with no one in the ticket booth and one person watching people scan tickets to enter, or taking Icelandic krona from the few people who didn't have tickets electronically. We got tickets through the app's website and scanned my phone to get in.

I am clearly used to going to American professional sports venues. This felt more like attending a high school game. There were no assigned seats and only one of the four sides had stands. There were a few places to buy refreshment and one booth sold a limited amount of merchandise, but you come to Hlíðarendi (that's the stadium name) to watch soccer. Well, or basketball or handball since there's a large indoor court connected to the field. There's no pregame activities or halftime show. It's a soccer match. According to Wikipedia, the stadium holds 2,465 people including 1,201 in seats. I have no idea where the remaining 1,264 people would stand. I included several pictures and videos below so that you can see the stadium for yourself.

This picture makes me laugh. The kids were getting soaked by the sprinkler system. Plus, the boys wore Pepsi shirts, and Coca-Cola is clearly a stadium sponsor. Don't think placement of both Pepsi and Coke would happen at an American stadium.

Aron is on the Valur, but A-A-ron is not.

 

As for the game, Valur won 3-1. These are the highlights though without sound:

I really enjoyed going to the game. If you talk to anyone who visited Iceland, they probably went to the Blue Lagoon and stopped along the Golden Circle (again, future post). My guess is that I'm the only one who went to a Besta delid karla match!

Oh, the waffle (or vofflur in Icelandic) with cream and rhubarb jam was delicious! 

I'm Officially Old

The title says it all. You're reading the blog of a brand new member of AARP. Let the discounts begin! I signed up for a 5-year contract which included an insulated trunk organizer where I can place refrigerated or frozen grocery items. My contract runs slightly longer than the one T.J. Watt just signed with the Steelers, and I had to pay $60 instead of receiving $108 million. Otherwise, it's almost exactly the same.

In the last two months, I had two people ask if I plan on retiring soon. The first was my dentist of nearly 25 years though I think this was a set-up for me to ask her the same question. Her youngest child recently graduated from college, and she said that she will probably retire in 2027. While I appreciate the notice, I don't want to look for a new dentist. We have an excellent relationship, and I don't want a new dentist criticizing me for not flossing.

Last month, I saw a former board member of my organization for the first time in nearly 15 years. He also asked about possible retirement. In both conversations, I mentioned that my youngest is about to start 3rd grade, so retiring is still many, many years away. 

Finally, I'm terrible about getting new shoes. I wear my shoes out well beyond their life expectancy. My primary tennis shoes (basically the shoes I wear when not wearing "dress" shoes) have seen better days. I went to two stores, and shared several pictures with my wife to get her opinion. One shoe was completely black, and she replied that old men wear those shoes. 

While I didn't buy them, I think I'm starting to meet that profile and demographic!

2025 Pittsburgh Pirates Draft Recap

I wasn't planning on writing my annual-ish Pittsburgh Pirates draft recap this year. There are a few other things I want to write about, and I just don't have much time to write right now. And then the draft started. And I started seeing names of players and had ideas of fun things to write about them. So welcome back to another draft recap. If you're new to these posts, please don't expect a detailed analysis of each pick with player comparisons and future predictions. While there might be a few interesting items below, this post is mostly silly things that amuse me. Oh, I'm not going to write about every draft pick either. Enjoy.

17th round: Carter Gwost - OF, Little Falls HS (MN)

Although I've never met him, I think Carter is a friendly Gwost.

14th round: Connor Hamilton - P, Montgomery Bell Academy (TN)

He's not going to throw away his shot.

Competitive Balance-B round: Murf Gray - 3B, Fresno State University

I had to read this several times to make sure that the Pirates didn't draft Smurf Gray. At 6'4" and 230, no one is going to call him Smurf.

4th round: Gustavo Melendez - SS, Colegio Nuestra Senora de la Merced

Melendez was one of only seven players born in Puerto Rico to be drafted. I don't know how many players from Puerto Rico are usually drafted, but this number seems low for a place with so much baseball history. And also...

7th round: Brent Iredale - 3B, University of Arkansas

Since Brent was born in Australia, I was ready for lots of Crocodile Dundee jokes. Instead, I wanted to learn how someone from Australia winds up playing college baseball in Arkansas, so I contacted my friend Phil who just happens to be the play-by-play announcer for Razorbacks baseball.

Brent played at a junior college in New Mexico the previous two years. Our team likes to get players from JUCO and he was one of the top JUCO recruits from 2024. He's athletic and strong. Runs well. Good strong and accurate arm. 

He just chose baseball as a kid even though his family was more into rugby or soccer. It's tough to get noticed in Australia, especially considering the competition they're playing. So he went to New Mexico JC because he needed to play in the states to get noticed properly.

My reply: I guess that makes sense. LIke if I was a really good Aussie Rules football player in Pittsburgh, I would need to go to Australia to get noticed (or something like that).

Phil wisely ignored my comparison and wrote this:

He's also one of just a few people ever to play in the Little League World Series and College World Series. 

Sorry. I couldn't resist.

9th round: Jared Jones - 1B, LSU

Love this pick, and it's not about his heroics in the College World Series. It's about the fact that the Pirates currently have a player on the roster with the same name. If there is another Paul Skenes or Oneil Cruz eligible for next year's draft, I hope the Pirates select him!

19th round: Brandon Cain - P, University of Oklahoma 

If he makes the majors, the Pirates need to acquire pitcher Mick Abel who is currently on the Phillies. Nothing like a little Bible humor for you.

12th round: Cameron Keshock - P, Samford University

Would you be Keshocked if this is the last player included in the post? Well, it is.

As always, you can read all of my Pittsburgh draft recaps from over the years here.

Texas Tragedy

During my teenage years, I spent five summers as a camper and counselor at an overnight camp in West Virginia. Camps are an amazing place where you gain independence and get to have constant fun with friends with few responsibilities (well, except as a counselor). Decades later, I'm still friends with people from camp. My boys are heading to an overnight camp for their 4th, 3rd, and 1st summers respectively. After his first year, The Moose cried on the way home because he was going to miss it. As I'm writing this, Pedro Tulo is at a Scouts camp.

Maybe it’s because of my love of camps, but I'm finding the tragic floods in and around Kerr County, Texas just devastating. Over 100 people were killed including at least two dozen campers and counselors at Camp Mystic and over 150 people are missing as a result of floods. It’s truly awful and sad.

President Trump and his administration are certainly not to blame for the floods. Anyone claiming this is being ridiculous. Before last weekend, it's unlikely that Trump had ever been to Kerr County or even heard of it. Still, looking into whether cuts made to the National Weather Service, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and FEMA had any impact on the alert system before the flooding and during the recovery is definitely warranted. So is looking into the state and local emergency systems and policies and procedures. 

This is what Texas governor Greg Abbott said after a reporter asked who was to blame for this tragedy. 

“That’s the word choice of losers.” “Every football team makes mistakes,” he continued, referring to Texas’s popular sport. “The losing teams are the ones that try to point out who’s to blame. The championship teams are the ones that say, ‘Don’t worry about it, ma’am, we’ve got this.’” (Abbott's quotes available here).

Staying with the football metaphor, this is a really stupid statement. Every football team, particularly at the college and professional levels and likely at most Texas high schools, does extensive film study and evaluates how to improve. If a team wins 17-14, they don't say to themselves, we're good. We don't need to have any more practices. We don't need to evaluate how we gave up 14 points or why we didn't score more. Just show up a few minutes before next week's game to warm up. We've got this. Ma'am.

Now maybe "blame" wasn't the right word in the question, but you absolutely conduct an investigation so that this type of tragedy doesn't happen again.

Photo by Ronaldo Schemidt - AFP via Getty Images

Hersheypark

Pedro Tulo's 5th and 6th grade chorus took a trip to Hersheypark this spring. They drove about 3 hours from Northern Virginia, performed a few songs at a church near the park, and then got to explore the amusement park before driving home. Hersheypark is a cashless facility, and we certainly weren't giving an 11 year old a credit card. Instead we bought him a $25 prepaid Visa card which had a $5.95 fee. What a scam! Anyway, Pedro Tulo had a great time, said that he rode a few roller coasters, and wanted to go back this summer.

The fact that I finally have a kid who is old/tall enough to ride roller coasters and interested in riding them made me very excited. So the two of us went to Hershey a few weeks ago. While we had a great time, and I'm really happy that we spent time together, Pedro Tulo is still a little hesitant to ride many coasters. We ended up riding three. Cocoa Cruiser is a roller coaster by definition only with the biggest hill being 14 feet high. Trailblazer went faster but with no big drops. We also went on the indoor coaster called Laff Trakk which was pretty good. Still, my hope of spending a significant part of the day riding on "real" roller coasters didn't quite happen.

The next morning, we went to Chocolate World to buy some treats for home. During our time at the park and at the store, products like Hershey's Kisses, Hershey's Chocolate Bars, Kit Kat, and Reese's Peanut Butter Cups are featured prominently and even in mascot form. This isn't surprising since these are the top selling products. However, I couldn't find my favorite Hershey's product, the Symphony milk chocolate bar, anywhere in the store. I asked one employee who said that he wasn't aware of the product. I was about to riot. Fortunately, another employee directed me to the right place. Symphony bars were hidden on a shelf with no signage whatsoever. This is a travesty. 

While I understand that Hershey's has dozens of products (I learned that they make the terrific Dot's pretzels), more needs to be done to promote Symphony bars. It doesn't have the history or the symbolism of other Hershey's products, but it's their best chocolate treat. 

Alexandra Daddario & Finn Wittrock In Pirates Gear

I've been in a bit of a writing rut lately. Just generally busy with the end of the school year, the start of the summer, and some work projects. Fortunately, the Pittsburgh Pirates are here to provide some content. In case you're wondering, this post is not about the team's performance or lack thereof. Instead, it's about actors Alexandra Daddario and Finn Wittrock throwing out the first pitch at Saturday's Pirates game.

Wittrock and Daddario are playing Milton and Kitty Hershey in the upcoming movie Hershey currently being filmed in Pittsburgh. The film does not appear to be about my trip to Hersheypark with Pedro Tulo last week. (That may be a future post.) I'm not familiar with Wittrock, who seems to be best known for his role in American Horror Story. Daddario was in the first seasons of True Detective and White Lotus and is not unattractive. (You can say the same about Wittrock too.) Other notable cast members who all get favorable marks in my book are Richard Kind (from every single TV show and movie), Alan Ruck (Spin City, Succession, and Ferris Bueller's Day Off), David Costabile (Breaking Bad and Billions), and Helene Yorke (The Other Two). This could easily turn into a Richard Kind appreciation post (there's a snack named for him too...maybe), but I'll just share these two recent videos of him.

Please feel free to click here for more Celebrities in Pittsburgh Gear posts.

Photos from the Pittsburgh Pirates.