True Metro Story

I was on my way home this evening just like any other night. But it was not any other night (insert some type of scary music here). The Metro got to my stop at West Falls Church as I stood in front of the train door like everyone else ready to exit. But the doors to my train never opened (more music). We watched as people from the other train cars exited and headed to the escalator. Still, the doors to our car didn't open (last time for the music). No big deal since we figured the train operator was trying to figure out why our doors didn't open. That was fine until the train started moving, and next thing we knew, we were on our way to Dunn Loring. At Dunn Loring, I, with 40-50 of my closest friends, exited, walked across the platform and waited to take the Metro back to West Falls Church. I wonder if the train operator noticed that more people than usual exited at Dunn Loring or got off the Metro, but instead of exiting the station, went directly across the platform. All in all, my commute ended up being an extra 20 minutes, and I have a new Metro story.

Crossword Puzzle

I don't really like crossword puzzles. I tend to get frustrated by them very easily since synonyms and definitions are not my strength. However, People magazine may have the easiest crossword puzzles anywhere. Here are some sample clues:

37 Across (4 letters) - Actor Sandler (costar of 9 Down - Woody Harrelson - in Anger Management
41 Across (3 letters) - Yoko ___
43 Down (5 letters) - Cinderella Man star Zellweger
57 Across (4 letters) - The Tonight Show host Jay ____
46 Across (3 letters) - "I Left My Heart in ___ Francisco"

Seriously? How about a little bit of a challenge? I'm surprised they don't have the following questions:

2 Down (3 letters) - Furry animal that purrs and makes a "meow" sound
7 Across (5 letters) - The former U.S. President that is buried in Grant's Tomb
27 Across (4 letters) - Write in the name Sean

Quick Hits

DON'T READ THIS IF YOU HAVE NOT WATCHED GREY'S ANATOMY YET. I'll mention the show a little further down so that you don't accidentally read something about it if you don't want to.

Peter King from Sports Illustrated predicts that the Steelers will play Denver on Thursday, September 7th to start the 2006 NFL season. He has a good argument. Of the teams the Steelers could play, the Bengals would have been good, but the NFL can't risk having Jon Kitna or another backup playing QB in the opener if Carson Palmer is not ready to play. A rematch of the AFC Championship looks like the "sexy" match-up for the first game on NBC in many years, especially if the Bronocs sign Terrell Owens.

Grey's Anatomy: Last night, George professed his love to Meredith and they promptly hooked up. The consensus around the web (I had off work today so I was able to look at Grey's Anatomy stuff online late last night) is that George is the greatest guy ever. I'm amazed at how many people online are professing their love for George. Anyway, the other consensus is that Meredith is really going to hurt him. I'm happy for George as he is representing the average guy here, but a relationship is never going to happen. (Yes I know they are not real people.) Personally, I thought George should have gone for Christian Ricci's character from the two-part Super Bowl/bomb episodes.

TV Shows for Women?

In his latest column/mailbag, ESPN's Bill Simmons, the Sports Guy, received a question about shows that guys watch with significant others in order to "take one for the team." Here is his Hall of Fame list (the ground rules are included in the mailbag): Party of Five, My So-Called Life, Friends (not including the first two seasons), Grey's Anatomy, The Gilmore Girls/Felicity/Dawson's Creek, The OC (third season), The Bachelor, male figure skating in The Winter Olympics and How I Met Your Mother. I can't say much about most of the shows on the list, but I currently watch and enjoy How I Met Your Mother and Grey's Anatomy. Oh, and I don't watch these shows with my wife. I'm not sure if I should make any points here or not, but feel free to add comments.

Pre-Weekend Notes

A few quick notes before the weekend truly begins:

* Vanilla Ice was on Washington Post's live discussion today. My favorite Vanilla Ice quote: "A lot of people don't remember anything since Ice Ice Baby, but I've got 3 records out since then and they're all successes -- but not commercially." How do you measure album success without commercial success? I would say critical praise, but Vanilla Ice bashes critics throughout the chat. According to Vanilla, he's huge in Estonia.

* Here's a somewhat amusing song and video: everythingsoundslikecoldplaynow.com

* Except for the Flying Tomato, the big name American athletes (Michelle Kwan, Bode Miller, Jeremy Bloom) have not done well at the Olympics. The latest disappointment was Johnny Weir, who blamed his fifth place finish on missing the bus and not being comfortable in the building. I think I may have used that excuse once for a job interview.

George Mason Hoops

After attending approximately five games per season since I moved to Northern Virginia in 2001, I FINALLY attended my first George Mason University basketball game this year. It wasn't pretty, but Mason defeated Drexel 67-48 to go to 20-5 on the season. Jai Lewis, who is listed 6'7" and 275 pounds (if he is really 275, the Bus must weigh 210. I don't know if that makes sense. What I mean is that Lewis has to be heavier than 275), dominated the second half scoring 17 of his game-high 19 points.

There was an interesting moment in the game when a player on Drexel (Sanchez) appeared to have walked either right over on actually on one of Mason's best players, Tony Skinn, when Skinn was on the floor. As you can guess, Skinn wasn't happy. The game was delayed for 10 minutes as the officials met, discussed and reviewed video of the "skirmish" (I didn't see Skinn do anything). After about five minutes, it was announced that Skinn and Sanchez received Technicals. Five minutes later and after more review, both players were ejected. This is a big deal since it was suspected that Skinn would be suspended for the game against Wichita State Saturday night on ESPN2. Fortunately, it was recently announced that he will not be suspended.

To promote Saturday night's game and the entire "BracketBusters" weekend, Lamar Butler (the third of the outstanding three Mason Seniors - along with Skinn and Lewis) was on a chat on ESPN.com. My favorite part: Lamar received a question from both his brother and mother.

Check out Mason and Wichita State this Saturday on ESPN2 at 8:00pm Eastern.

Why Not Me?

I found the perfect show for me: THE WORLD SERIES OF POP CULTURE. According to the VH1 website, VH1 and Entertainment Weekly are "scouring the country to find 16 three-person teams who think they've got what it takes to compete in the most intense pop culture trivia tournament to date." That's me. I just have to find two other people. The other problem is that VHI and EW are not "scouring" enough. If they were, they would come to Washington DC. Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas, Atlanta and New York are not at all convenient.

Songs of Sean

Stupid title, I know. Anyway, there are two songs out right now that I really like but probably should not admit it. Actually, I don't mind admitting that I like "Unwritten" by Natasha Bedingfield. She's a cute singer from the UK with a nice voice and positive lyrics. I'm also a big fan of any song where you are able to include a choir. On the other hand, I feel embarrassed writing that I like the music in the song "Boyfriend" by Ashlee Simpson. The beat and the chorus are very catchy; however, the lyrics such as "Don't put words up in my mouth" are just silly (and not a good "silly" like the Junkies' lingo).

Weekend Update

As you may have heard, I was involved in a hunting accident this weekend so I haven't been able to write. OK, I am making light of an unfortunate incident involving the VP, which is precisely the reason why I will never go hunting. I have had enough experiences shooting a teammate while playing XBOX to know that I shouldn't shoot real ammunition.

I actually was away this weekend in Atlanta where I was able to avoid the 8-12 inches of snow that hit Northern Virginia. We had no problems flying back into Dulles today. Some quick notes from the trip:

* I think I took the placebo version of Tylenol Cold. I was sick nearly the entire weekend which is never fun, but especially on vacation.

* The Georgia Aquarium is very impressive. If you are traveling to Atlanta, the aquarium should be on the top of the list.

* Heinz is a great name for a dog, especially for a very cute Boston Terrier puppy.

Day Off

Even though I am sick, it's nice having the day off from work. Hopefully the orange juice and Tylenol will start to kick in soon.

Since I'm at home, I'm writing a lot today about a wide variety of topics. Here are a few more:

* I just came back from the grocery store. It was about 1:30 in the middle of the afternoon and packed. Since we've had such a mild winter in the DC area, I almost forgot what happens when there is any threat of snow.

* In early December, I received this article that argued that Cowher could never win the Super Bowl, stating, "I think it’s time to take this dog out behind the shed, Old Yeller style." Fortunately, the author was wrong. I wonder if he has retracted the article?

* Have you always wanted to follow Ithaca College interns in Torino for the Winter Olympics? If so, here's your chance.

I Don't Understand

My long-time readers know that I tend to write almost exclusively about Pittsburgh sports, TV and random things that happen in my life. I rarely write about politics, mostly because it is pretty depressing. Today's headlines are as follows: Libby: White House 'Superiors' OK'd Leaks and White House Knew of Flooding Night of Katrina. The first article discusses Scooter Libby, Vice President Cheney's former chief of staff, telling a federal grand jury that his superiors authorized him to give secret information to reporters as part of the Bush administration's defense of intelligence used to justify invading Iraq. This speaks to a larger issue of why we are in Iraq when they never had weapons of mass destruction and Hussein had no ties to Al-Qaeda. Why didn't we use our military resources on Osama bin Laden, who if you haven't noticed, has yet to be captured? The second article says that the Department of Homeland Security and White House knew about the flooding earlier than they said they did. At least Brownie was doing a good job.

Oh yeah, there may have also been illegal wiretapping, some U.S. companies in Iraq have not been using millions of dollars from the U.S. government contracts properly and the U.S. Trade Deficit is at an all-time high. At best, you can say that some of this is poor leadership. At worst, you are talking about criminal activity. So why is there no outcry? Do most Americans just not care? Is it because Congress in Republican and no one is willing to step up and make the administration accountable? Is it because people are more interested in American Idol?

President Clinton was impeached because he had inappropriate relations with Monica. Not a smart move and he may have deserved to be ridiculed for his actions, but at least no one got killed for his mistakes. Jason has a great PG-13 picture of a billboard on his blog. Maybe that's what has to happen for anyone to truly investigate some real issues.

Backyard Brawl

Congrats to Pitt for a 57-53 win against #10 West Virginia! Ronald Ramon and Aaron Gray each scored 16 points, and Pitt was able to hold Ramblings favorite, Kevin Pittsnogle to 0 (zero) points. Pittsnogle averages nearly 20 points per game. Pitt seemed to dominate the game; however, 18 turnovers (including 7 by Gray) kept the Mountaineers in it. After losing consecutive games at #1 UConn and #16 Georgetown, this was an important win for Pitt.

I think Pittsnogle had a good excuse for not playing well last night. His wife gave birth last Friday to a 9-pound, 5-ounce baby boy named Kwynsie James. Congratulations to the entire Pittsnogle family (especially if they are still reading this)!

One other college basketball note: I have not been able to attend a George Mason game this year, and I'm really missing something special. Mason is now 18-5 after winning at a very difficult place and team to play, Virginia Commonwealth. Watch out for Mason over the next month and hopefully in the NCAA Tournament.

Quick Grammy Hits

I didn't get home until late tonight, so I missed most of the Grammys. The Sly and the Family Stone performance was cool, especially will.i.am, although it would have been nice if Sly Stone stayed on stage for more than two minutes. In the forty minutes that I have been watching the Grammys, I have only seen one award which went to U2 for best song (I think). I also liked the beginning of the Kanye West-Jamie Foxx performance as they came out in full marching band gear. Green Day just won the Grammy for Record of the Year for Boulevard of Broken Dreams. Maybe it's just me, but I like American Idiot and Holiday more than Boulevard.

That's all I have, which happens when you miss the first two hours and go to sleep before the end. I told you it was going to be quick.

Yes, Even More on the Super Bowl

I really will change topics soon. In the comments section of yesterday's post, Messiah wrote, "It's just unclassy for Holmgren to not only refuse to shake hands but also to say "We knew it was going to be tough playing against the Steelers, but I didn't know we were going to have to take on the guys in the striped shirts, too." Holmgren said this during a Seahawks rally in Seattle yesterday, almost a full day after the Super Bowl ended. This means that he had plenty of time to think about and analyze the game. Maybe (hopefully) he was just saying to get crowd support. Maybe he is trying to distract Seattle fans from the horrible job he did coaching. Gene Wojciechowski of ESPN shared many of my thoughts about the game on ESPN.com. Anyway, I'm tired of Holmgren and am not going to talk about him anymore. Holmgren should go join his wife and daughter on their medical mission in the Congo. At least he will be doing some good there and will be out of the news.

Finally, I have heard some mixed reviews about the Rolling Stones performing at halftime. The consensus has been that someone younger should have performed. Stevie Wonder or Bruce Springsteen would have been good, although neither is that much younger than the Stones. So my question to anyone out there is who would be your Super Bowl halftime choice to perform assuming that they would have performed this year in the post-Janet Jackson entertainment world?

More Steelers

I apologize if I’m all over the place, but I have a lot to write about.

I wondered last night why Terry Bradshaw was not present while the NFL honored the MVP of each Super Bowl. You would figure that since the Steelers were in the Super Bowl, Bradshaw would definitely be there and enjoy a huge ovation like Lynn Swann and Franco Harris received. Depending on who you believe, Bradshaw was not present because he wanted to be with his family or he wanted more money.

I didn't see it and I have not read about it anywhere, but according to a local talk radio show, Seattle coach Mike Holmgren did not even attempt to shake Bill Cowher's hand after the game. Classy guy.

Speaking of classy people, check out the thoughts of Seahawks fans. Apparently, it was entirely the refs fault that the Seahawks lost.

I know that I'm biased, but let's go through the big calls.
* First, the offensive pass interference on Darrell Jackson. While I don't have the NFL rulebook, I'm guessing it does not say "it is not pass interference if the receiver pushes off just a little bit." Most of the time, the receivers will get away with this. However, this occurred only a few feet in front of the official who saw that Jackson got an advantage (even if it was a slight advantage) by pushing off.
* Ben's TD run. It's iffy. I think Ben's hand was covering the tip of the ball as it touched the goal line which is why it looked like he didn't make it. The shady part of the play was that the official initially ruled Ben down and then signaled TD.
* The holding call on Sean Locklear. I personally thought he tackled Haggans. That's not legal.
* The personal foul blocking call on Hasselbeck. Bad call, although Faneca got called for the exact same foul even though he made the tackle, earlier this season.

Maybe next time, the Seahawks can manage the clock better, hit some field goals, pin the Steelers inside the 10 in the punting game, stop the Steelers from making three big plays and not drop as many passes. Oh converting a few more third downs (the Seahawks were 5 of 17) and stopping the other team on third down (the Steelers were 8 of 15) would also help.

How much money do you think Dan Snyder is going to offer Randle El to play for the Redskins next year?

Who knew that Diddy was a Steelers fan?

So Tired

Although I'm going to be smiling all day, it's going to be tough making it through work. I'll be writing more this evening, but here are some quick thoughts on the game:

* How could Seattle not have seen the Randle El pass coming? As soon they saw him running toward Parker, they should have had at least two defenders on Hines.

* Shaun Alexander may have had the quietest 95 rushing yards in Super Bowl history.

* In part of his Washington Post column, Michael Wilbon writes, "Jerramy Stevens (three dropped passes) was even softer than Joey Porter suggested." For all of his talk, Porter did not play as well as in the past games, but he didn't make the mistakes that Stevens did.

* Here's the breakdown of how Ike Taylor played yesterday.

* While not all of my predictions were correct, I got the winning team right and predicted that "Randle-El will be involved in a TD (maybe even throwing it)."

* Although no one is talking about this, Seattle punter Tom Rouen helped keep the Steelers in the game in the first quarter when the team had no first downs. Rouen kicked at least three punts into the end zone, which made a huge difference in field position.

More later...

Have You Heard the News?

Apparently, there was a football game earlier this evening and this team from Pittsburgh won. Congratulations to the Rooney family, Cowher Power, The Bus, Hines, El, Fast Willie, Big Ben and the entire Steelers team and organization! I feel like I deserve maybe .0000001% credit for the win since I was again wearing the magic Steelers T-shirt. I just wish I had a 2-hour delay tomorrow like many Pittsburgh-area schools!

Please Start!

It's now about two hours before Super Bowl kick-off. I can't get the Polamalu song about of my head, which is actually a good thing. Although it's probably okay to do this today in Pittsburgh, I learned that people don't really like it when you yell, "Here We Go Steelers, Here We Go" at the grocery store.

On to the TV coverage, Ray Lewis is doing commentary on the NFL Network. I was wondering what happened to him since his football career ended. As for ABC, I'm already tired of seeing the Pizza Hut commercials with Jessica Simpson and Miss Piggy. At least Puppy Bowl II on Animal Planet seems to helps the time to go a little quicker.

One final note before kick-off, two weeks ago, Pitt lost to St. Johns and the Penguins lost. I remember saying before the Denver game that if only one Pittsburgh team could win this weekend, I would definitely choose the Steelers. Well, the Penguins lost (again) and Pitt lost to Georgetown today, so hopefully this is a good sign for the Steelers.

Two Days, Two Phone Calls

I was asleep last night when my brother called. I don't remember any of the conversation, but I'm pretty sure he was at a bar in the Southside and I heard a chant of "F*#k Seattle" in the background.

On Friday evening, an old friend called and wanted to know if I was in Detroit because he thought he saw me on TV. Unfortunately, I am not in Detroit; however, the same friend e-mailed me about five years ago and asked if I moved to Buffalo because he saw me on Sportscenter after Game 7 of the Sabres-Penguins playoffs in Buffalo. Of course, I was at that game as I drove from Columbus.

Today may be the longest day EVER. Pitt-Georgetown will be on from 12-2, but that means 3 hours before friends come over to watch the game and 4.5 hours before kick-off. On today's desert menu all the way from Pittsburgh: Terrible Towel Cookies and Ben Burger Cake.

I Need to Get Out

I've spent the last hour searching the internet for the Steelers Polka and other Steelers fight songs. I have to give credit to Steelers in Hoboken for the most comprehensive list I have seen.

I didn't see this until now but there is a website to show support for Big Ben and is beard.

A very appropriate article from the P-G regarding dealing with stress and nervousness for the Super Bowl. Suggestions include "stick with routines to help you control your emotions and approach the Super Bowl like it's any other football game" and "that's where rituals and superstitions can help the fanatic stay relatively sane." This confirms that I am sane for wearing the same Steelers T-shirt and not shaving on game day. The Steelers have won consistently when this happens.

I'm a few days late on this too. Here are two video clips to Steelers songs: The "Here We Go" song and the Troy Polamalu song.

Don't forget to make your Super Bowl predictions below.

Prediction Time

Time to make your picks.

Who do you think will win and what will be the final score?
This may be a surprise, but I'm going with the Steelers. 30-20

Who will be the MVP?
I'll go with Ben. Although I wouldn't be shocked if someone like Polamalu or Farrior gets it. By the way, Polamalu "tweaked" his ankle and is listed as probable for the game.

Any other thoughts on the game?
Bettis will have at least one TD; Randle-El will be involved in a TD (maybe even throwing it); Joey Porter will have a sack.

Feel free to provide your predictions in the comment section. Whoever is the closest will win a prize. (The prize being your name listed here on Monday.)

Other Sports

Surprisingly, there is more going on in the sports world than just the Steelers. For example, on Tuesday night, the Ithaca College Women's Basketball team erased a 22-point deficit in the final 6:30 of regulation to beat Oneonta in overtime. Ithaca’s rally from 22 points down was just two points shy of the largest margin ever overcome by a NCAA Division III team. In addition, my high school has four players who made verbal commitments or signed with Division I colleges for football. The colleges: Pitt, West Virginia, Akron and Notre Dame. Not too shabby.

NOOOOOO. I just went to the Post-Gazette to verify the colleges and saw that Troy Polamalu injured his ankle in practice today. Why didn't NBC cut into My Name is Earl or The Office to report about this? I will now be spending the next few hours trying to figure out how Troy is doing. Pittsburghers, what is going on?

Did You Think I Was Kidding

when I wrote the title of yesterday's post as Groundhogs for Steelers? Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow, but the entire Groundhog Day celebration became an impromptu Steelers rally.

Groundhogs for Steelers

I really, really thought about taking the five hour drive from the DC area to Punxsutawney tonight so I can make it in time for Groundhog's Day. According to the groundhog.org, the official site of the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club, I need to arrive before 5:30am. However, it's not going to happen this year. I should probably be at work tomorrow and I don't know anyone else who would join me. Maybe next year. On to today's Steelers links:

This just in, Joey Porter likes to trash-talk. As further proof, here's what he said today in response to Seattle tight end Jerramy Stevens.

Carrie Welling wins the award for #1 Steelers fan! She insisted on being induced so that she could watch the Steelers in the Super Bowl at home with friends. Alexandria Joella (which stands for Joey Porter, Antwaan Randle El and Alan Faneca) was born today at a healthy 6 lbs 12 oz. Mazel Tov!

Were you looking for an article about Steelers rookie Shaun Nua? If so, this is for you.

Finally, I forgot to add this from last week's Penguins-Islanders game. Courtesy of CBS Sportsline, "Pittsburgh RW Eric Boguniecki appeared to injure an arm in the third period when he was slammed into a partition along the Penguins bench by Satan." I hate when the devil hurts Penguin players.

The Countdown Continues

That's right...Groundhog Day featuring Punxsutawney Phil is less than 36 hours away!! Oh, you thought I was going to talk about the Steelers. Give me a minute. First, the #1 team in the country UConn is playing the #9 team in the country the University of Pittsburgh. And I can't watch it at home. Instead, ESPN is showing Illinois-Wisconsin while ESPN2 is airing Florida-Mississippi.

On to today's Steelers links:

It's Michael Wilbon's turn to write that Detroit is pulling for the Steelers and that the Black and Gold is taking over Detroit.

Here's the Sean Morey story. Not only did he graduate from Brown and have side jobs in home construction and lobster fishing while trying to reach and stay in the NFL, but he was also told by Joe Paterno to give it up. Fortunately, he didn't listen to JoePa.

Finally, all of the attention has been on The Bus going home to Detroit. Larry Foote is also returning to his hometown. As an added bonus, here is a very nice article about Foote off the field.

Today's Steelers Links

Last week was odd. I was really looking forward to the Super Bowl, but a Sunday passed, and there was no game. I'm not a big fan of having two weeks between the AFC and NFC Championship games and the Super Bowl. Anyway, now that the teams are in Detroit, the hype and my excitement are growing. Therefore, I thought I would share some Steelers related links throughout the week.

Leonard Shapiro has a good article about the Rooney family in The Washington Post.

Since Deadspin linked to me last week, I'll return the favor. They have two stories from KDKA; one shows a Terrible Towel in Seattle's Space Needle, the other is a permission slip by Allegheny County Chief Executive, Dan Onorato to celebrate Black and Gold Week.

Thanks to Andy for sending me this article by Mitch Albom in the Detroit Free Press about Detroit rooting for the Steelers.

I'm sure there will be more links throughout the week.

Steelers' Anatomy

I've written this before, but Grey's Anatomy is my favorite show on TV these days. The preview for next week's episode, which will air after the Super Bowl looks great, although I have no idea what a "Code Black" means for a hospital. While I applaud ABC for showing Grey's Anatomy after the Super Bowl (a much better choice than Emily's Reasons Why Not), I don't know if I will watch it. If the Steelers win, I'll be celebrating and will be on the phone talking with friends and family for hours. If the Steelers lose, I will be extremely depressed and will have no interest in doing anything other than laying in bed in the fetal position. Another reason for me to get Tivo.

Help Answer a Question

I had a discussion with someone recently who said that at a previous job, the company had alcohol in the office and that people would drink at work on Friday afternoons, even before the end of the day. She said that this was especially true at law firms and offices on or near the Hill. I have only worked in education and at non-profits and have never seen alcohol at work. There have been happy hours at a bar or restaurant after work, but never any alcohol or drinking in the office. So I'm wondering if drinking in the office is common or if this person is just making things up or worked at a wacky place. Anonymous comments are certainly fine on this one.

I'm Popular Today

I just checked my blog for the first time since 7:00am this morning and saw that I have had 70+ hits today. Since I rarely receive more than 40 visits, the investigation began. It turns out that Deadspin, a website with sports news and gossip, linked to my entry about Big Ben and the Penguins. Thank you Deadspin! I've never heard of you before today, but I will definitely be checking the site out regularly now.

While I'm at it, thanks to Pittsburgh Tribune-Review for adding Sean's Ramblings to their website.

Roethlisberger Leads Penguins to Victory

The Penguins broke a 10-game losing streak by defeating the Washington Capitals last night 8-1. Yes, the team actually scored 8 goals and only gave up 1 goal. Although Big Ben didn't play, he sat in the owner's box as a guest of Mario Lemieux. Although I have no statistical evidence to support this, I'm going to say that the Penguins are undefeated this season in games where Roethlisberger is sitting next to Lemieux in the owner's box. I'm sure that most of the credit for the win will go to Sidney Crosby, John LeClair and Mark Recchi, but Ben may deserve just a little bit of the credit. If you want to see Ben waving to the crowd, check out the picture here.

Celebrity Feuds

VH1 regularly has shows about lists. I happen to be watching one of these today since I'm working from home. (Yes, I really am working; I need background noise plus I am writing this during my lunch break.) Anyway, VH1 has a show of the 40 Greatest Celebrity Feuds. At #12 was Nancy Kerrigan vs. Tonya Harding. I have no idea why this is not in the Top 5. This was worldwide news and really launched figure skating into the success it is today. If you don't believe me, check out the ratings for figure skating at the upcoming Winter Olympics.

OK back to work. The TV is being turned off since there is no way I can concentrate on work while "The Flavor of Love" starring Flavor Flav is on. I really hope New York loses; I'm not a big fan of her.

Steelers Notes

Can someone explain to me why the Steelers are 3 & 1/2 or 4 point favorites against Seattle? I can buy the explanation that the AFC is better than the NFC and that there will be more Steelers fans in Detroit. However, Seattle was 13-3 in the regular season, won 11 in a row before losing a game that meant nothing, was the #1 seed in the NFC and is coming off a dominating performance against a very hot Carolina team. Although the NFC was 30-34 against the AFC, that is a much better record for the NFC than the 2004 season. Plus, the Steelers were the AFC's #6 seed. It really seems like Seattle is getting no respect (I watched Rodney Dangerfield's Back to School on Friday night so this phrase seems appropriate). This scares me a little bit since I feel that this is extra motivation for the Seahawks. We'll see.

Here are a few Steelers links that are all over the internet. Thanks to Messiah for sending these to me: Steeler Baby and a nice montage to get you pumped up for the game.

I like the fact that the Steelers are wearing the road white uniform for the Super Bowl.

Non-Steelers Story

Don't worry; I'll write a lot more about the Steelers very soon.

I think I mentioned a few weeks ago that I watched the series premiere of ABC's "Emily's Reasons Why Not" with Heather Graham. It was a terrible show, and I turned the channel after about 10 minutes. ABC agreed with my assessment and cancelled it after just the one show. ABC entertainment president Stephen McPherson said that the show "was not going to get better and we had to make a change." Ouch. What I find funny/scary is that ABC spent millions of dollars advertising and promoting the show before seeing a script! Next time, have someone read the script. If ABC wants to pay me to do it, I will.

I Got A Feeling, Pittsburgh's Going to the Super Bowl!

There's not much else to say. The Steelers played a perfect first half and made plays when they needed to in the second half. Big Ben looked poised and made smart decisions and the defense led by Foote, Joey, Troy, Face Me Ike and Brett Keisel(!) really held the Broncos running game in check and forced Jake Plummer to look like the Jake Plummer of old.

There's a very good chance I'll be writing more about the Steelers over the next few weeks. It's going to be difficult to concentrate at work since I'll be thinking about the Super Bowl.

Killing Time

The Steelers-Broncos game is five hours away, and if you are like me, you need something to keep you busy until kick-off. I'm going to head to the gym and go to the grocery store. If there's still extra time (which there probably will be), there's always XBox.

If you don't want to leave your home, scroll down on this page to take the Super Hero quiz and share your results. If you want Steelers-related links, check out the Post-Gazette's Watching the Game with Myron Cope column by Chico Harlan and visit Joey Porter's website and Ike Taylor's FaceMeIke website.

GO STEELERS!

Louis Lipps Jersey

I won the EBay auction last week and the jersey arrived today. The jersey is now hanging in my closet where it will probably stay until next football season. The Steelers have won the past six weeks while I have been wearing a particular Steelers T-shirt, so I'm not changing anything now.

Electric Youth

Is it bad that the only reason I may watch Skating with Celebrities is because I want to see how Deborah Gibson looks? I had a crush on her when I was in junior high and (should I really admit this to hundreds, OK ten, people?) actually went to see her in concert at the A.J. Palumbo Center.

More Steelers

I can't see or hear enough coverage and stories about yesterday's Steelers-Colts game. ESPN played the radio call of both the Indianapolis and Pittsburgh radio broadcasts of Vanderjagt's field goal on Sportscenter. The Indianapolis broadcast team knew and announced that he missed it right away. However, I would have gone crazy if I listed to Bill Hillgove. He said that the kick was high enough, long enough and then finally, he and Tunch Ilkin yelled that it was no good.

Peyton Manning is taking a lot of heat for losing another big game and for blaming the offensive line for the loss. However, the Colts really could have won if Nick Harper went right instead of trying to cut left or if they got a little closer (they had 2nd and 2 from the Steelers 28) for the field goal attempt. If the Colts won the game, it would have been right there with Game 7 of the 1992 National League Championship Series for the worst moment in Pittsburgh sports history. Fortunately, it didn't happen, so now we look forward to next Sunday against Denver. The Steelers were clearly the best team on the field yesterday and deserved to win. As for Peyton, he can spend the next few months coming up with the next MasterCard phrase. Cut That Meat and D-Caf are pretty good.

This just in...the NFL is saying that the referee made a mistake in ruling Polamalu's interception as an incompletion. The ref could have saved millions of people a lot of stress if the correct call was made during the game.

Superhero Quiz

Your results:
You are Superman

Superman 60% Spider-Man 60% The Flash 55% Green Lantern 55% Robin 53% Supergirl 43% Iron Man 35% Wonder Woman 33% Hulk 30% Catwoman 30% Batman 10%

You are mild-mannered, good, strong and you love to help others.

Click here to take the Superhero Personality Quiz


It appears that Superman barely won, but Spider-Man is demanding a recount!

WOW!!

Is it possible to be exhausted after watching a football game? After today, I'm going to say yes. The Steelers-Colts game today may have been the most stressful game I've ever watched. After Manning was sacked with about 1 minute left, there were high-fives and hugs all around; followed by the complete shock of the Bettis fumble and then jubilation when Vanderjagt missed the field goal.

I want to give credit to Merril Hoge and Joe Theismann for picking the Steelers to win. They were the only two of eight ESPN experts to predict the Steelers win. All six of the Sports Illustrated experts predicted a Colts win.

Since there were about a dozen of us Steelers fans at the bar, they were nice enough to dedicate one TV to the Pitt-Louisville game. Big win for Pitt. They should be ranked in the top 5 this week.

As I wrote earlier this morning, GO STEELERS & GO PITT!!

A Good Day for TiVo

The University of Pittsburgh men's basketball team is one of only three undefeated teams and is ranked #12 in the AP poll and #11 in the coaches poll. Today, they play at Louisville against a team ranked #10 in both polls and who advanced to the Final Four last year. This is a fantastic Big East match-up and will be on ABC (I'm not sure if the game is being shown nationally, but it is on here in DC). However, 90% of Pitt fans WILL NOT be watching the game. The game starts at 1:00; the same time as the Steelers-Colts game. While some people may be able to switch to the game during commercials, I will be out at a sports bar watching the game, and I doubt they will be showing the Pitt game. With all that said, the more Pitt wins, the more chances everyone will be able to see them throughout the season and hopefully into the NCAA Tournament. GO STEELERS & GO PITT!!!

eBay Question

To anyone who uses eBay or remembers the old Steelers jerseys: I'm interested in bidding on this Louis Lipps jersey. Any thoughts?

Random Stuff

* Pittsburgh Penguins coach Michel Therrien blasted the team to the media after losing 3-1 last night against Edmonton. This is from the Post-Gazette: "That defensive squad, I'm really starting to believe their goal is to be the worst defensive squad in the league," he said. "And they're doing such a great job at being the worst." The team must have been very encouraged by the coach as they were crushed by the Columbus Blue Jackets, 6-1.

* It could be just how they looked on TV this week but I think the woman that is not Alyson Hannigan on "How I Met Your Mother" and Elliot on "Scrubs" looked better than Heather Graham. Yes, this shows that I watched "Emily's Reasons Why Not." I won't be watching it again; however, "Jake In Progress" was decent.

* As we have learned in the past, Pat Robertson is great at making outrageous comments particularly since there are generally no repercussions. What happens when something he says comes back to bite him? We may see. Israel has suspended contact with Robertson after his comments about Ariel Sharon's stroke.

How about that for random? Did you ever think you would see something about Pat Robertson, John Stamos, Michel Therrien, Sarah Chalke and Cobie Smulders (the women from Scrubs and How I Met respectively) all in one place?

Things I Find Interesting

* All eight NFL divisions have one team remaining in the playoffs, no more and no less.

* All four NFL games this weekend are rematches of games played during the regular season.

* Courtesy of a piece by Michael Wilbon in today's Washington Post, Clinton Portis was fined $20,000 earlier this year for wearing the wrong socks and a tinted visor; Sean Taylor was fined only $17,000 for spitting in the face of Tampa Bay running back Michael Pittman. What a joke!

* VH1's new show Flavor of Love. It's essentially the same as The Bachelor, but with Flavor Flav. It may be one of the worst shows on TV, but it's great to watch. I can't change the channel when the show is on.

One Year & One Day Anniversary

On this day, one year and one day ago, I started this little journal/blog thing. I've averaged almost a post every day (360), which is a lot more than I thought I would write. I've had 7,900 visits, which is a lot more than I thought I would have. Half of those visits have probably been by me, my wife or my mom, but that still means that I've had almost 4,000 visits by other people.

This has become a nice hobby of mine. It's the journal I never had. I like writing about what's going on in my life and sharing my thoughts on the important topics of the day (or at least topics like the Steelers). 

So happy one year & one day anniversary to me. Here's to a great second year and second day!

Survive and Advance

As everyone who is reading this knows by now, the Steelers defeated the Bengals 31-17 earlier this evening. I'm sure Bengals fans are going to say that the reason the team lost was because Carson Palmer got hurt very early in the game. There may be a little bit of truth to this, but I don't think so. Jon Kitna is a good quarterback (in 2003, he threw for 3600 yards and had 26 TDs) and played very well in the first half. Plus, as a Pittsburgh fan, I fear the back-up player or the guy no one expects to do well (see Drew Bledsoe in 2001 and, I hate even writing this, Francisco Cabrera in 1992). However the Steelers made a great adjustment in the second half. It seemed like they blitzed a lot less and put more players in coverage. Plus, the Bengals defense showed their true stripes. They are suspect to giving up points. You could tell that the Bengals gave up as soon Cedrick Wilson caught the TD pass.

One final note...I went to Wegmans after the game and saw four other shoppers wearing Steelers gear. GO STEELERS!

New TV Network

I was awake late last night and decided to flip around to see if anything good was on TV. Near all of the movie stations that rarely play good movies, I found a station that was playing music videos. I was intrigued since, as a part of the original MTV generation, I like TV stations that actually show music videos. The show was called "The Click List: Top 10 Videos" and was on the LOGO network. I have never heard of this station, but figured it was named either for Jerry West or possibly the old computer program I used in elementary school where you had a turtle and made a house (FD 50, RT 90, etc.). The first video I saw (#5 on the countdown) was the new one by Beyonce followed by a video by (#4) Mary J. Blige. Sometime in the middle of this video, I selected the info button on my remote to find out more about this countdown. Here was the description: "The top lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender music videos of the week." WHAT? Not that there's anything wrong with that, but I don't see the connection. What does Beyonce, Mary J. Blige, Kelly Clarkson, James Blunt and Madonna (I watched the end of the countdown) have to do with lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender music videos? Are there no current lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender artists that have music videos? If not, you can always show old Elton John, Melissa Etheridge and George Michael videos.

For Jeff, Marc & Brian

And all other Penn State fans and alumni out there. Congratulations to Penn State on their 11-1 season. I will admit that I was wrong in thinking that Penn State was overrated. They proved that they are the 3rd best team in college football. Linebacker Paul Posluszny and the entire defense were solid all year, and Quarterback Michael Robinson made big plays when needed.

Now that I got that out of the way, here’s my prediction for the 2006 college football season: Pitt will have a better record than Penn State. First, who would you rather have at QB: Pitt’s Tyler Palko or Penn State’s Anthony Morelli? Second, Penn State is really going to miss All-Americans Tamba Hali and Alan Zemaitis and nearly the entire offensive line. Third, Pitt is going to be better having played one full year under Dave Wannstedt and learning his system.

Of course, it would be great if the two teams actually played each other to determine which team is better. However, Joe Paterno does not want to have an even rivalry where the teams alternate home games. He would rather have two games at Penn State for every game in Pittsburgh. That seems fair.

It's Just Pat

Last August, I wrote "I'm waiting to hear Pat Robertson say that his quote about assassinating Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez was taken out of context. I'm sure that the liberal media twisted his words." While he did provide somewhat of a retraction at the time, he's at it again. This time, he is saying that Ariel Sharon's stroke was divine punishment for dividing Israel. I'm going to go out on a limb and say probably not. There was a good 1,500 to 2,000 years when Israel was not the Jewish homeland and even when it was, it was divided among tribes and other nations. (I may be a little off on my history here, so please add a comment if I'm wrong.) Plus, Israel agreed to the 1947 U.N. partition plan which divided what is currently Israel into a Jewish state and an Arab state. But that's just history. Let's go to the present. Sharon was working toward peace between the Israelis and Palestinians. Anyway, I'm getting away from my main point. Why is Pat Robertson still on TV? It seems like he says something outrageous every few months. Is it just so people don't forget about him and the 700 Club?

What to Write?

There's so much going on that I'm going to briefly touch on a few topics. I guess I'll start with the tragedy of the miners who died in West Virginia, and the mistaken report that 12 of the 13 miners were safe. Terrible story.

Meanwhile, all eyes are on Israel and Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who suffered a massive, life-threatening stroke. I certainly hope that he is able to recover, but the initial reports are not good as he had/is having surgery to drain blood from his brain.

On a much lighter note, it is 10:30 Eastern time on Wednesday evening as I am typing this. Yet, the Rose Bowl between USC and Texas is only at halftime. This game won't end until 12:30. I'm not staying up for the end. Actually, I'm going to sleep now. Good night.

Sports Talk

There's a lot to talk about in my sports world, so here we go:

* Congrats to my grad school alma mater, The Ohio State University Buckeyes, on the impressive win against Notre Dame last night in the Fiesta Bowl.

* Congrats to one of my other favorite college athletics programs, West Virginia University (home of Mr. Pittsnogle) on the even more impressive victory over Georgia in the Sugar Bowl. Since the game was in Atlanta, WVU was essentially playing an away game. Although I was asleep at the time, what a gutsy call of a fake punt with less than 2 minutes to go.

* I wish I was kidding, but there are a good number of Redskins fans here in the Washington area who think the team is going to the Super Bowl. The reason: they beat Seattle (because the Seahawks kicker missed a field goal at the end of the game), Chicago and barely lost to Tampa Bay (the locals including Joe Gibbs blamed the refs for the loss).

* I saw a music video on ESPN2 the other day by the Cincinnati Bengals. It looked like Bootsy Collins was involved in the video/song, but he didn't seem like he knew how to play the guitar, so maybe it wasn't him. Anyway, the video got me pumped up. I can't wait until Sunday's game and I would love to see the Bengals lose. GO STEELERS!

* It appears that Jeromy Burnitz is going to be the new right-fielder for the Pirates. I don't like the deal. Why spend $6 million on a soon-to-be 37 year-old? I know that he hit 24 home runs and had 87 RBI last year, but he also batted .258 with 109 strikeouts. That is similar to what Craig Wilson (who is 7 years younger and $3 million cheaper) hit in 2004. There's more. In 2003-2005, Wilson hit .284 against left-handed pitchers. Why is that important? The Pirates also have Jody Gerut, who hit 22 home runs in 2003 for Cleveland, and hit .288 against right-handed pitchers in 2003-2005. Seems like a perfect platoon situation. The big assumption in my equation is that both Wilson and Gerut stay healthy.

* Oh yeah...Pitt is still undefeated!

Say It Ain't So

To anyone in Pittsburgh...I need some clarification. According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, The Original Hot Dog Shop (better known as the "O") is for sale. However, the Tribune-Review is reporting that the O is closing. Can anyone tell me what's going on? Is the O really closed/closing? If the O is sold, is everything expected to stay the same besides the actual ownership?

End of FlyI

After about 18 months of service, Independence Air will be ceasing operations on Thursday. For people who fly in and out of Washington Dulles regularly, this will be a big loss. I have flown Independence Air for 4 or 5 times (round-trip) and have been very impressed with their customer service and especially the cheap fares. They just expanded way too quickly and did not budget for the significant increase in fuel costs. I received an e-mail from FlyI today saying the following:

"Today we must announce that we will be ceasing scheduled service operations this Thursday evening, January 5. The financial pressures in the industry have prevailed. We have run out of time.

It has been an amazing 18 months. We set out to challenge the status quo and to re-set your expectations about air travel. We set out to introduce you to lower fares and a new level of service delivered by employees who care. Currently ranked #2 in customer satisfaction among all US airlines, we are proud that we did indeed earn your respect and loyalty. We are proud that we built a brand so universally praised by over 8 million customers. We are proud of the mark we have made."

I'm guessing that the customer satisfaction is going to go down significantly especially from folks who have tickets for upcoming flights.

Happy New Year!

Sarah already touched on some of this, but it was really sad watching Dick Clark last night on New Year's Rockin' Eve.

I am tired of the Elton John glasses with the year on it. I'm looking forward to 2010 when they will hopefully stop making them.

Hilary Duff looked scary thin last night. Hopefully her New Year's Resolution is to eat something.

I didn't realize that 2006 is the year of Tab.

It was nice to see The Bangles back. While Susanna Hoffs still looks good, the bass player just looked scary. (Yes, I know I just described two people as scary.)

Memo to Chris Brown, I think we all know that many artists lip-sync these days (or at least use back-up tracks), but at least pretend like you're trying to sing. By the way, maybe you should pick a different name. Chris Brown is somewhat plain for a musician. C. Brown or Usher Jr. would be fine.

Waiting for the New Year

The new year is less than nine hours away and it is about three hours until I leave to go to a New Year's Eve party. In the meantime, I'm a little bored. The San Diego-Denver football game is still an hour away and I have no interest in the college football games currently on TV (TCU vs. Iowa State and Fresno State vs. Tulsa). I'm listening to the end of the Pittsburgh Penguins hockey game thanks to NHL.com. Apparently, the Penguins just scored in overtime but it was called off because the referee blew the whistle when he thought the puck was under the goalie when it was really in the net. I could watch another episode of Law & Order since the USA Network is showing it non-stop. Hey, Sidney Crosby just scored so the Penguins won! Way to go Sidney! I'll have to check and see if the Penguins are out of last place now. Paul Steigerwald just called Crosby the "Wizard of Croz." I've never heard that before, but I don't think I like the nickname.

Anyway, Happy New Year everyone! (& Go Steelers!)

Cell Phone Film Contest

If there's an Ithaca College story, you know that it will be here. Maybe you have seen the story that an IC dean has invited high school and college students across the country to submit a 30-second movie shot entirely with a cell phone. The prize: $5000! I liked the idea of it even before I know that IC was involved in the contest. Here is the official contest website and if you missed the story, you can see it on ABC News, The Seattle Times, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and CBS News. It is almost exactly the same story but it's nice to see it in so many places.

Pittsburgh Basketball

Pitt's basketball team defeated South Carolina 58-51 last night. Even though this was not technically an upset, I have seen several national college basketball commentators criticize the Panthers for not leaving Pittsburgh yet this year for a game. On Andy Katz's "The Weekly Watch" on ESPN.com, he said, "The Panthers are undefeated. Ho-hum. Let's see what happens when they leave the city for the first time this season." So I guess Pitt earned a little respect nationally last night. Next up is a difficult game at Wisconsin on Saturday.

This may be the first and only time I discuss Carnegie Mellon University and athletics. CMU defeated Princeton 51-46 last night becoming the first Division III team to defeat the Tigers in 23 years. I don't know the actual statistics, but Division III teams do not often beat Division I teams.

Year in Review

The other night, I decided to click the "next blog" feature at the top right of the page to see what else was out there. I found this idea on one blog for a year in review to take the first line of the first entry of each month and post them in order to produce a random and (hopefully) interesting review of 2005. Here goes:

January: Over the past few months, I have had a lot of free time at work.

February: If you're reading this on February 2nd, Happy Groundhog Day!

March: It's nice to know that other people living in the DC area can make fun of people's reaction to (or threat of) snow.

April: I am leaving for Chicago today for my fantasy baseball league draft.

May: Congratulations to Sarah and Gobo on the impending arrival of their new blog, I mean baby. :)

June: Congrats to Ravens running back, Jamal Lewis on being released from jail today after serving four months for being a part of a drug deal.

July: Since I still haven't figured out how to fix the large gap between the headline and text, I'm probably going to change templates over the weekend.

August: At this time exactly one year ago, I was in the pool and hot tub at the Hilton Garden Inn in Southpointe/Pittsburgh, PA. And in less than three hours from this time one year ago today, I got married. :)

September: The pictures tonight of people dead or dying on the streets of New Orleans and thousands of people needing medical attention, food and water is awful to watch and is even more amazing to know that this is happening in this country.

October: Thank you ABC for showing the premier of Commander in Chief again since I missed it on Tuesday.

November: Trick: We didn't have any kids last night.
Treat: I guess that means candy for me and people at work.

December: I know it has been a week since Thanksgiving, but I wanted to share a story about the day. My primary contribution to helping with the Thanksgiving meal was to go to the store and buy the ingredients.

Happy December 25th!

Happy Hanukkah & Merry Christmas to everyone out there!

(Mostly) A Good Day

Anytime the Steelers win, it's a good day. It's especially good when they beat Cleveland and win impressively. As much as I and almost all Steelers fans are critical of the Steelers, even in wins, the team played nearly perfectly today: 41 points scored, 0 points against, 8 sacks by the defense, big games for Hines, Big Ben & Fast Willie, the offensive line played great, a blocked punt and few penalties. Just as good for the Steelers is that Jacksonville won and the Chiefs beat the Chargers. Therefore, the playoff picture is very easy for the Steelers; if they win against Detroit next Sunday, they make the playoffs.

The only negative of today was that my fantasy football team lost in the championship game. My opponent got huge games from Larry Johnson, Frank Gore(!) and stupid Josh McCown (he's beat me in championship games in two of the last three years). Although I got a solid performance from Torry Holt and Carson Palmer, it wasn't enough (thank you Jerry Poter, Willis McGahee and Jason Witten).

The Washingtonienne: A Review

As promised, here you go. The Washingtonienne is about a small town girl trying to make it in the big city and wanting to help all Americans through her work on Capitol Hill. Maybe not. It's really about a woman who gets dumped by her fiancée in New York after cheating on him and comes to Washington where she sleeps with a Presidential appointee, a high-powered lawyer, two Hill staffers and a few other folks while working in a Senator's office. Oh my gosh, sex on Capitol Hill! I'm guessing that has never happened with any member of Congress or Presidents. What's more is that she shared her exploits in a blog, which was picked up and became big-time news, causing her to be fired. The book makes it sound like all of Washington was talking about it. I'll be honest that I live in the DC area, and I don't remember seeing anything about it or seeing her give TV interviews. The only time I heard about it was when I read an article in the Washington Post Magazine, probably several months after she was exposed. Here's the real shocking news of the book, she never slept with any Senators or Congressman!

While I'm not a therapist nor play one on the web, she has some issues with alcohol and drugs (this was mentioned by a real therapist in the book) and does not have a very supportive cohort of family of friends. All in all, I'm glad I checked it out of the library and I'm glad that I was able to return it. It was an interesting read, but certainly not worth $17 to buy it.

New Link

I haven't posted any fun links lately, so here's one for Reportervote, where you can vote on whether or not a reporter is hot, credible or cool. The leading woman for the "Hot" category is Amy Robach of MSNBC (who is she?), while the guy in the lead is Sean Hannity. I have to say that I have never heard anyone say that "Sean Hannity is hot." Katie Couric is in last place for all three categories among woman. While I like the idea of the site, I have never heard of most of the reporters. Almost everyone is from FOX, CNN or MSNBC. They really should add more reporters from ABC, CBS and NBC.

Let's Get Political

Yes, I do this once in a while. Last Thursday, Congresswoman Jo Ann Davis of my state of Virginia introduced Bill Number H.RES.579 with the purpose to express "the sense of the House of Representatives that the symbols and traditions of Christmas should be protected." I wish I was making this up. Apparently, there was a lengthy discussion on the House floor about this bill, which passed overwhelmingly but with slightly different language (the line in quotes above was taken out).

You would think the House would have more important things to do like discuss Iraq, Social Security or health care.

Book Help Needed!

I really need some suggestions for good books to read. I finished The Washingtonienne (I'll give a review of this later) and am currently on the waiting list for two books at the library, The Education of a Coach by David Halberstam and The Scorpion’s Gate by Richard Clarke. In the meantime, I have a book by Walter Cronkite (because I was embarrassed to check out The Washingtonette by itself) and a Kurt Vonnegut book which I should finish in a few days.

Please, please, please give me some book suggestions. Thanks!

Don't Tell My Wife

that I have already bought her Hanukkah gift. Actually, I bought it more than a few weeks ago. I'm generally not good with the whole gift-giving thing, and when I do buy gifts, they tend to be the day before the occasion.

Anyway, since my wife will read this, she'll know that I have a gift and will now be wondering what it is. I won't be sharing that here or with her!

A Tale of Two Teams

Last night, I switched back and forth between OLN for the Penguins-Blues hockey game and ESPN2 which was showing highlights of 1995 AFC Championship game between the Steelers and Colts. The Penguins are just pathetic at this point and for some reason were on national TV on back-to-back nights. The only highlight was the great play of goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, but as I wrote a few weeks ago, it does not matter who the goalie is, the team is still going to lose.

The Steeler highlights were much better to watch. It was fun seeing former Colts QB Jim Harbaugh say that Greg Lloyd was the only player he was scared of. I didn't realize (or I must have forgot) that current Steeler Chris Gardocki and annoying announcer Tony Siragusa were both on the Colts. I also forgot how great Kordell Stewart was in the Slash role and that he caught a TD pass in the game. Stewart really could have had a nice career as a Wide Receiver. In a completely unrelated note, if anyone wants to buy my Kordell Stewart jersey for the holidays, please let me know!

Florida Trip

As I wrote yesterday, my wife and I spent a nice and warm few days in Florida visiting my parents. We did have a few adventures along the way. First, we were honored to sit two rows in front a woman who sounded like a drunken Granny from the Beverly Hillbillies. She was extremely loud but made me laugh several times. She was constantly talking to the probably terrified person next to her and provided some wonderful quotes like, "You didn't think that you would sit next to an old woman telling you the secrets of life" and "I'm the Christmas elf thing." I also heard her say "Tower Power" (I believe in reference to cell phone towers) and Bermuda Triangle Phenomenon (possibly describing herself). Good times all around especially when I had XM radio on very loudly.

Another highlight was a trip to the Festival Marketplace Mall, which is a super flea market. There is a huge mix of nice stuff and junk. Festival features more wig stores per capita than anywhere else I've ever been.

In all seriousness, it was nice getting away for a few days and to see my family and friends. The 75 degree weather and ocean weren't so bad either.

My Return

I've been in south Florida the past few days escaping the whole winter thing that is here in the DC area. I'll talk about the trip tomorrow, but I wanted to share a quick observation about AirTran. This was the first AirTran experience and I really enjoyed the fact that they had XM radio on the plane and gave everyone free headphones. However, there was no XM radio on the flights back. Why not have XM available on all flights or at least on both portions of the same flight.

Iron City Troubles

The Pittsburgh Brewing Company has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Although all Pittsburghers and Iron City lovers hope things turn out OK, I had to laugh at the following line from the Post-Gazette story: "Iron City beer has been a staple at Western Pennsylvania weddings, funerals, picnics and sporting events for more than 100 years." (I added the bold text.) Apparently, nothing says a funeral like Iron City!

When my brother was in college, he had a marketing internship with the Pittsburgh Brewing Company. He was paid in beer. I believe it was two cases every two weeks, but I'll have to confirm that with him.

Much to Discuss

Since it's December, why not start with the winter sport of, um, baseball. The Pirates made their most significant move since the free agent signings of Derek Bell and Pat Mears in trading for Upper St. Clair native Sean Casey (who because we share the same first name is welcome to add posts here). There seems to be a lot of excitement in Pittsburgh about the move and has temporarily knocked the worry about the Steelers off the front of the sports page. In a somewhat related note, are the Pirates worried that Brad Eldred could become the next Ron Wright or Mark Johnson (it's OK if you don't know who they are)?

Grammy nominations will be announced tomorrow. The favorites to receive the most nominations are Kanye West, Gwen Stefani and Mariah Carey. I'm guessing Kelly Clarkson and Black Eyed Peas will also get a good number of nominations.

Here's something about a real winter sport: hockey. I went to the Washington Capitals game this past Saturday night and saw them beat the New York Rangers 5-1. Rookie Alexander Ovechkin had a goal and three assists and was clearly the most dominant player on the ice, including future Hall-of-Famer Jaromir Jagr.

Finally, congrats to JQ for winning on Jeopardy tonight There was some difficult subjects (Barry Manilow songs?), but he was able to survive and will be back on Thursday.

I'll Take Therapists for $100

Ladies and gentlemen, start your Tivos. JQ will be appearing on Jeopardy on Wednesday, so check your local listings.

I Love Snow

Actually, I love the reaction to people in the DC area to snow. A couple of inches on the ground, and everyone freaks out. There are many schools closed or opening two hours late today. Here is the current list of closings/delays. I've said this before, but people in Minnesota, Vermont and upstate New York are laughing at us.

Positive News

The University of Pittsburgh basketball team was supposed to receive their first test this season in tonight's game against Auburn. Although Auburn was picked to finish near the bottom of the SEC standings, they are still in the SEC, so I am pleasantly surprised by Pitt's 37-point win. The fact that Pitt out-rebounded Auburn by 21 and shot 57% from 3 are both very positive signs.

Frustrated Incorporated

I am using this post as therapy. It is probably better to share my feeling in writing than to keep them inside, so here I go. The Steelers did everything they could to lose the game against Cincinnati today. Three interceptions on poor decisions by Ben Roethlisberger, a lost fumble by Hines Ward, three fumbles (2 by Parker and 1 by Staley) that were lucky not to be recovered by the Bengals, penalties at bad times of the game and an awful performance by the defense who produced 0 turnovers, 1 sack, little pressure on Carson Palmer and allowed Rudi Johnson to have a big game. After losing three straight games to go to 7-5 overall, the playoffs look doubtful. The Bengals pretty much clinched the division today, so the Steelers are fighting with Jacksonville (9-3), Kansas City and San Diego for the two wild card spots. KC and San Diego have tough schedules the rest of the season but have also looked much better than the Steelers over the past few weeks.

To be positive, so I'll end with these two items. Thanks to Washington's CBS affiliate (WUSA) for showing the Steelers/Bengals game over the Ravens game. Second, it was nice to see the Nextel commercial with the two guys dancing to the Salt N Pepa song "Push It" again. Makes me smile every time I see or think about it.

Thanksgiving Adventure

I know it has been a week since Thanksgiving, but I wanted to share a story about the day. My primary contribution to helping with the Thanksgiving meal was to go to the store and buy the ingredients. While I got everything at Giant (the grocery store around the corner), they were out of shredded Swiss cheese. No big deal, so I went to Harris Teeter which is about a mile away. No luck there. I then tried Trader Joe's about a 1/2 mile from Harris Teeter, but they were closed for Thanksgiving. At this point, I went to Safeway about 2 miles from Harris Teeter. It is amazing how many types of shredded cheese they had, but no Swiss. Actually, they didn't even sell a block of Swiss cheese. How can a store have absolutely no Swiss cheese? At this point I was determined to find shredded Swiss cheese. Next stop: a Hispanic grocery store just down the street from Safeway. You can guess how I did there. Finally, I went to a different Giant about 7 miles away where I found what I was looking for (maybe shredded Swiss cheese was what Bono was referring to).

You may be asking (if you even made it this far), why did I go to six stores to buy shredded Swiss cheese? The answer goes back to my role in preparation for the Thanksgiving meal. When I said that my primary contribution was to buy the ingredients, I should have said it was my ONLY contribution (well, besides eating the food). I felt it was my duty and responsibility to find the cheese. Maybe someone moved my cheese, but I was going to find it. I should also add that we do not own a grater, which will probably be holiday purchase I make for our home.

The end result was that I found the cheese and the food was good!

Penguin Talk

Since I really don't feel like writing about the Steelers today (What else is there to say? They were never really in the game against Indy and now they have a must-win game against Cincy.), I thought I would do something different and mention the Penguins. You may remember them as Pittsburgh's hockey team with high expectations and going into tonight's game are the 13th best team out of 15 teams. That would not be very good. Therefore, the team has apparently made goalie Jocelyn Thibault their Lee Flowers (or scapegoat) by waiving him. While Thibault has been below average (that's a nice way of putting it), even if the team had Patrick Roy, Billy Smith or Tom Barrasso in their prime, the Penguins would still not make the playoffs.

Then again, maybe waiving Thibault will be the best thing to happen to him and the team. At least I hope.

NFL Rules

Why is it that I learn a new NFL rule every time the Steelers are on Monday Night Football? According to Al Michaels (would it have hurt him to try and jinx Vanderjagt too?), on a change of possession, a player can't go through another player to make a tackle. I have no idea what I'm writing because I have no idea what this rule is. However, it cost the Steelers 15 yards and helped Indy get a field goal to end the half.

During the Steelers-Chargers game earlier this season, we learned that a punt returner has the right to catch a punt after bobbling it when calling a fair catch. As long as the ball doesn't hit the ground, only the returner can play the ball; no one can touch him. Do I have this right?

Damn You Al Michaels

You had to say that Jeff Reed went from Heinz Field to fantasyland (i.e. an indoor dome). As soon as he said that, I knew Reed would miss the field goal.

Considering the terrible start, the Steelers are actually in this game down only 10-7 with 9+ minutes left in the 2nd quarter. I may be writing more throughout the night since I'll be up for a while.

80's Music Quiz

If you have a free 10-15 minutes, check out this 80's music lyrics quiz.

I got an 80.5 or Pop Junkie, but after seeing the answers, thought I should have done better. Good luck (and feel free to share how you did)!

Happy Thanksgiving

As Adam Sandler once said, "Turkey with gravy and cranberry. Can't believe the Mets traded Darryl Strawberry."

Here are a few things I am thankful for this Thanksgiving:

- Ben Roethlisberger will be starting on Monday night. (I'd be even more thankful if Marvel Smith was also playing.)

- I am still using the same can of shaving cream since June.

- Not only are there two NFL games today, the Backyard Brawl will also be on national TV at 8:00.

- I am thankful that Tom Cruise bought Katie Holmes sonogram machine. How romantic! I am hopeful this means that they won't ever have to leave their house.

- Carl Krauser is still at Pitt and that Kevin Pittsnogle is still at WVU.

- I have a four day weekend!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!

Apology

I've thought about what I wrote yesterday and realize I was totally unfair to Christina Aguilera and her husband Jordan Bratman. Although I can't claim to know any of these people, the Agulera-Bratman relationship seems much more, I don't know the word, maybe normal, than Spears-Federline one. I can't see Christina having a terrible TV show like the Spears-Federline one from earlier this year. I also don't expect to hear any stories about Bratman being the father of two kids and then leaving his girlfriend/wife for Christina or hear about him borrowing money from Christina to buy the engagement ring.

With all of this said, I really do want to congratulate Jordan & Christina on their wedding and apologize for even trying to compare them to Britney and K-Fed.

Quick Links

There are less than 9 days left to vote in the Campbell's Chunky Soup Click for Cans. The Green Bay Packers have a big lead but I'm hoping the Steelers can make a big comeback. You can vote once a day until November 30th.

Congrats to Christina Aguilera who got married over the weekend. Her website has a message saying, "Congratulations Christina & Jordan! They were married on Saturday, November 19th in Napa Valley, CA." I think I speak for everyone in saying that I hope Jordan Bratman doesn't try a rap album like Kevin Federline. Christina will always be a genie in a bottle.

Nevermore

Thank goodness I don't have to watch another Ravens/Steelers game this year. Both games, especially today's game, were tough to watch. The only consolation in the Steelers' loss today was that Tommy Maddox was the QB. In fact, listening to the Ravens post game show on the radio was very interesting. The Ravens broadcasters said that the Ravens would not have won if Big Ben was playing. In addition, they were criticizing Kyle Boller saying that he will never be a good quarterback. The one announcer said that high school quarterbacks don't make as dumb a play as the one Boller made when he tried to pitch the ball from his knees (the Ravens got very lucky on that play), and that he wouldn't feel comfortable driving behind Boller. Ouch.

My main concern with today's game was the offensive line. The Ravens seemed to get sacks or at least pressure on every big play. The Steelers really missed the injured Marvel Smith today.

Prediction

I wanted to have this on record before the game, but was unable to because I was refereeing soccer games all day (more on that later). However, it's still early enough in the game to make a prediction: Penn State will lose to Michigan State. (Currently Penn State is winning 3-0 with about 4 minutes left in the 1st quarter.)

Please note that if I am wrong I have the right to delete this message. :)

UPDATE: There was a typo in my earlier prediction. I meant to say that OHIO State would beat Michigan.

Harry Potter Movie

Did anyone know this movie was coming out? I haven't seen any advertisements, articles, stories or heard about people who went to the first showing Thursday at midnight.

The Washingtonienne

Should I feel dirty by checking out The Washingtonienne from the library? The book is by Jessica Cutler, who was a big story last year when she got fired as a Senate staffer after posting information about "relationships" she had with important Washington people on a blog or online journal. I also took out a book by Walter Cronkite to balance things out.

Stupid Redskins

Typing that title sounds really offensive. I am referring to the Washington Redskins football team, but I already on a tangent from what I was planning to write. The Redskins really should change their name. It's not going to happen anytime soon, but it probably should. (And I'm sure I just upset a million people in the DC metropolitan area by writing this.)

What I was going to talk about was my thoughts for this upcoming weekend. Yes, I know it's only Tuesday night. I was thinking that since the Steelers are playing Baltimore and Ravens games (no matter how bad the team is) are always on local TV, I would invite some friends over to watch the game. However, the Redskins are going to be on CBS meaning no Steelers game on local TV. Oh well, I guess I'll have to go out to watch it. And now a lot of Washington area residents are probably going to tell me to move back to Pittsburgh if I want to watch the game.

What Not To Do With an Old Jersey

I've written several times about my quest for a new Steelers jersey. My Kendrell Bell and Kordell Stewart jerseys are in the closet and will probably stay there until I move (which is several years away). I've never thought about doing what two people did at last night's Steelers game. They were both wearing a #80 Plaxico Burress jersey. However, they covered up "Burress" with duct tape or masking tape and wrote another name (not Wilson) on the back. It looked ridiculous.

Pittsburgh's own (apparently) Povertyneck Hillbillies performed the National Anthem and the halftime show at the game. I've never heard of them, but the announcer made it sound like they were a big deal (or at the very least a rising star) in country music. They sounded OK, but I think they need a new name. Maybe they can change it to the Oneders. A special congratulatory message to anyone who knows this movie reference.

Steelers Win!

I just got back from the Steelers game within the last hour. I'll write more about the game tomorrow (well, today) and about the rest of my weekend. The only negative about being at the game is not knowing the status of injured players. I still haven't heard what happened to Charlie Batch (I know it involves his hand) or when he got injured. Is Ben going to be back next week or am I going to get a call to be the back-up?

Time to go to sleep, although I'd like to see Grey's Anatomy. They are showing it in ten minutes (2:00AM) due to the game, but I don't think I can stay up that late and drive safely back to Virginia in the morning. I feel bad for any Steelers fan (especially those at the game) who has to be at work in the morning. Good luck!

Sean's News & Notes

* I visited a kindergarten class today for their fall celebration. I got to read a Clifford book and basically helped out while class participated at five different stations: cookie decorating, fall bingo, storytelling, pumpkin measuring and another one that I can't seem to remember at the moment. The kids are very cute.

* Thanks to VH1's Best Week Ever, I learned that the Tony Danza Show had a Who's the Boss Reunion. How did I not hear about this? Was Alyssa Milano there?

* "The Biggest Little Game in the Nation" takes place Saturday. (I didn't make up the name; Sports Illustrated did.) I'm sure that you know that I'm referring to the Cortaca Jug game between Ithaca College and SUNY-Cortland. Here is a preview of the 64th Bombers/Red Dragons game and here is another one if want more. If you can't make it to Ithaca for the game, go to Crystal City Sports Pub in Arlington (which is where I will be).

* Today is November 11th. Isn't it a little bit early for college basketball? George Mason has already played two games including tonight's 83-78 overtime loss at Wake Forest. Although there is no such thing as a moral victory, hopefully Mason will be able to build off this game for a successful season.

* Finally, thank you to all of the veterans for their service and sacrifice.

Rogan's Pizza

I recently learned that my favorite pizza place from college is gone. I ate Rogan's Pizza at least twice a week when I was at Ithaca College, and nearly every day during Finals Week. I actually had a different name for Finals Week with some friends: Week of Rogan's. My favorite was a plain cheese pizza with blue cheese dressing. It may sound terrible, but it is really, really good. The dressing was their specialty and they refused to give out the ingredients. Rogan's also had a double dough pizza where I could never eat more than two pieces.

Anyway, I heard about Rogan's being gone a few weeks ago and finally got around to doing some research about what happened. According to a March 24, 2005 article summary (I didn't want to pay $2.95 to view a 683-word article) in the Ithaca Journal, Tim Reynolds and Brian Carvill took over the restaurant, gas station and coin laundry in the Rogan's Corner complex. They even have a website that says King Subs & Pizza (formerly Rogan's). I've heard from two different sources that the pizza is not the same and that's putting it nicely.

I don't understand why someone would change Rogan's. Who are these guys that bought and changed Rogan's? The place was a goldmine; the only convenient pizza place right next to a campus of 6,000 students. I don't get it.

Make It Stop

I can't get Madonna's new song "Hung Up" out of my head. Besides the ABBA sample, it's not a good song.

Congratulations to...

Sarah & Gobo on the addition of Freebird who arrived yesterday afternoon. He is 8 pounds, 8 ounces and already a Steelers fan!

Tim Kaine for being elected Governor of Virginia.

Virginia residents who no longer will have to receive campaign mail and phone calls and watch constant TV ads.

Ice Princess

Back in July, I gave a review of the Disney movie "Ice Princess" that I saw on my flight from San Diego to Washington. You can probably guess what movie was on my flight back from Puerto Rico today. Do airlines regulate or monitor what movies they show on flights, or am I going to get stuck watching Ice Princess again on my next flight?

PR Update

* I lost $40 in the hotel's casino playing blackjack last night. I can thank most of my losses to people who have no idea how to play. Hitting when they should not be not hitting (or staying when they should hit) really affects the cards for the rest of the players and the dealer. It is certainly OK to watch before you play or even ask other people at the table. Stupid people!

* A few blocks from the hotel is a place for cockfighting. I didn't have time to go, but it seems like it would be an interesting sport (I don't know what else to call it) to see. I'm sure PETA would not approve.

* The emergency message on Friday night turned out to be an Amber Alert message. I haven't heard any other information since, but hopefully everything is OK.

* I really want to watch Grey's Anatomy tonight, but it does not start until 11:00pm San Juan time. I could really be hurting tomorrow morning if I decide to stay up that late.

* I was very tempted to crash a hotel at the wedding last night that must have cost a minimum of $100,000. I definitley do not have the courage to do it. If someone asked who I was or if I knew the bride or groom, I would have said my name is Sean and I am staying at the hotel. Maybe they would have appreciated my honesty! Of course they could have called security and banned me from the hotel.

* Although this trip has been for work, swimming in the warm water of the ocean is very nice!

Little Help?

There was just a message on every TV station from the Emergency Alert System with a Civil Emergency Message. That's what it said on the TV screen. Then a voice came on the TV with the message being in Spanish, which makes sense since I'm in Puerto Rico. I really hope that they said in case of a real emergency we'll let you know. If there is a real emergency, I hope someone will tell me. In the meantime, I'm going to watch the end of White Chicks (I missed the beginning; I hope I'm able to pick up the plot) and go to sleep.

Good Morning From PR

I made it to San Juan and the hotel and weather are beautiful. I was able to be a tourist for a little bit yesterday. If you ever visit Puerto Rico, I highly recommend visiting Old San Juan and especially the incredible fort which was built by the Spanish army starting in 1539. Off to work. Have a good Friday!

Do You Know the Way to San Juan?

I actually don't, but hopefully the pilot does since I'm flying there tomorrow (Thursday). I will try to post some notes from the trip, but I'm not sure about the internet access in the hotel. While I am very excited about going to Puerto Rico, it looks like I'm going to miss my first Steelers game of the year. The 88 degree weather and being on the beach should more than make up for missing the game!

New Month, New Ramblings

* Mr. (Creigh) Deeds is running for Attorney General in Virginia. I don't know anything about him, but he has great name recognition. Younger voters may remember Adam Sandler as Mr. Deeds. Older voters may remember Gary Cooper as Mr. Deeds. I like his chances.

* Did anyone else know that the NBA season starts tonight?

* The best show on TV right now may be Grey's Anatomy. Good storylines, good cast and characters that you actually care about. Plus a sort-of regular role for My Big Fat Obnoxious Fiancé who plays Joe the Bartender. It may make my list of "must watch" shows each week. Right now, the only show on that list is the Steelers game.

* One final thought on last night's Steelers game. I'm a little concerned that the Steelers never really got much pressure on Ravens QB Anthony Wright. I'm not sure if it was by design (playing more players in pass coverage), but it seemed like Wright had a lot of time to complete passes.

* I have a theory of why Freebird has not yet arrived. He/she was waiting to see the Penguins to win another game. Any coincidence that the Pens won in New Jersey?

Final Halloween Message

Trick: We didn't have any kids last night.
Treat: I guess that means candy for me and people at work.

Trick: I didn't go to sleep until 12:30 last night/this morning.
Treat: The Steelers won, so at least I was happy about going to bed so late.