Walking Luigi

Luigi recently turned 18 months, and he celebrated this milestone (a few weeks later) by deciding that he was comfortable walking consistently on his own. Before this, he walked while holding someone’s hand, the couch, or by pushing his music cart around the house. Here is Luigi in action:



Both of his brothers didn’t start walking until around the 18-month mark, so there was no concern about him not walking until now. (There was concern among The Moose’s (the first child) parents when he wasn’t walking at this point.) As you can tell by the video, Luigi loves throwing things. Unfortunately, one of his favorite things to throw is food and his milk/water cups when he’s done with them. Otherwise, Luigi enjoys going to daycare and can easily nap 2+ hours there. On weekends at home, he may or may not nap at all, generally since he doesn’t seem to want to sleep while his brothers are also home playing (or making noise to ensure that Luigi won’t sleep).

Luigi’s favorite word is ball, and he often points at and says “Gee” when he sees Ziggy. He loves Ziggy.

The Moose (now 8!) loves making Luigi laugh, and Pedro Tulo (almost 5) can be really sweet like this morning when he gave Luigi multiple hugs before they left. Now that Luigi is on the move, I can see the three of them causing trouble together very soon.

Interview with Sean Leahy

Over 10 years ago, I wrote a post highlighting other blogs with "Sean" in the title. I'm sure that you're shocked that many are no longer in existence. With that written, I thought it would be fun to come back to this topic and turn Sean's Ramblings into Seans' Ramblings. How cool would it be to hear from other people named Sean like Sean "Diddy" Combs, Sean Connery, former Pittsburgh Pirate Sean Rodriguez, and others?

First up: Sean Leahy, NHL writer for NBC Sports. I've been a big fan of Sean's work from his time writing the Going Five Hole blog and then when he jumped to Yahoo's Puck Daddy. Here we go:

I guess my first question is how did you become a hockey writer? Did it start with Going Five Hole (one of my favorite hockey blogs and how I first saw your writing)? What is your background? Were you a hockey fan growing up? (Yes, I realize that this is more than one question.)

I originally had started a blog with a few friends with the idea we'd cover sports, pop culture, technology, and wrestling. Quickly my buddy and I realized our other friends who were going to take care of the non-sports stuff weren't going to contribute as much as they originally promised, so PopJocks became a sports blog. Eventually, my partner was going through grad school and preparing for his wedding, so his time was limited to work on the blog. More and more I started writing strictly hockey and then decided to create my own hockey-only blog, and that's how Going Five Hole was born in the fall of 2007.

I was always a hockey fan. With two older brothers, we played a lot of street hockey growing up on Long Island. I've always wanted to work in sports, but just didn't know what specific job I wanted to do. When I was getting Going Five Hole going, I was working a full-time job with a USL soccer team. Within a year, I was laid off from the soccer team and started writing more and more with Puck Daddy, which I started contributing to in its second day of existence in April 2008.

In my opinion, Yahoo’s Puck Daddy with Greg Wyshynski, you, and others was the preeminent place for hockey over a several year period. Can you share your experience at Yahoo?

Writing for Puck Daddy was such a fun time. Our editors let us do our thing and be creative and have fun while also covering the sport from all angles. It was cool to watch the site's popularity grow over the years and then explode really after Twitter became a huge part of our daily lives. The interaction with readers and doors being opened for us (ex: getting press credentials) really helped us make the site grow.

What happened to cause Puck Daddy to no longer exist? As I mentioned before, I thought it was one of the best places for hockey coverage anywhere.

Verizon purchased Yahoo in 2017 and they basically laid off thousands of people, including me and two others on the Puck Daddy staff after the 2016-17 NHL season. Wysh was only there another few months before leaving for ESPN. Puck Daddy wasn't going to be the same and he didn't have the desire to try and recreate it.

You’re now at NBC. What has been your role there?

I've been with NBC since October 2018 and I oversee four writers -- Joey Alfieri, Scott Billeck, Adam Gretz, and James O'Brien. I also do a lot of the behind the scenes stuff in regards to planning and scheduling and being a liaison to NBC HQ. I still write often each week, trying to find unique angles to stories like I did at Yahoo.

Since you’re with NBC, do you get to watch the filming of "The Good Place" or hang out with Hoda and Kathie Lee?

My requests to appear on "Men in Blazers" and "Law & Order SVU" have not been approved yet, but my fingers are still crossed.

What is the coolest thing you’ve been able to do or experience through your work as a hockey writer?

I've been able to play NHL2K11 against Ryan Kesler, hang out with Jim Craig and his "Miracle" gold medal, spend an hour chatting with Willie O'Ree, and drink water out of a giant Stanley Cup fountain in Times Square. There's been so many cool things I've been fortunate enough to experience over the last decade. I definitely feel lucky.

When not writing and covering hockey, what does Sean Leahy do for fun?

I love watching other sports like football, soccer and baseball. They're a good outlet for me to get away from the game for a bit. I also spend a lot of my summer reading books, catching up on plenty of non-fiction and biographies. Fishing is also a nice thing to do to get away. Grab a 12-pack and hope the fish are biting that day.

Finally, who do you think will win the Cup this year? Actually, a better question may be: Tampa or the field?

I had Tampa vs. Nashville before the season and I'm sticking to that. And even though picking the field might be the smarter bet, it's so hard to think of anyone beating the Lightning four times in seven games. They've only lost back-to-back games twice this season. They've come up short three times in the last four years. I think they finally get it done this June.

Thanks to Sean for taking the time to answer my questions. Please follow Sean on Twitter and read his work on NBC Sports.


Tampa Bay Lightning photo by Chris O'Meara of AP. Picture of Sean from his Twitter page.

Sexual Harassment Story

On Facebook last week (yes, I still use Facebook), two friends from different parts of my life shared a New York Times article about philanthropist and retired hedge fund founder Michael Steinhardt and accusations of a pattern of sexual harassment by him. Steinhardt denies the allegations. This story hits close to home for several reasons. My first job out of college was partially funded by Steinhardt's generosity, and his name was formally listed as part of the position title. I actually met Steinhardt briefly once when he visited San Diego State, and I played a quick game of foosball against him in a two-on-two match.

Meanwhile, one of the people prominently mentioned in the New York Times story is someone that I don't personally know, but we have several mutual Facebook friends. It turns out that we also went to the same college (nearly a decade apart) with the same major. She works for a non-profit organization, and has no reason to make up a story which could jeopardize her career and the relationship between the organization and a big donor. I believe her 100%. She bravely shared her story and has my support and the support of so many others.

I don't really have an ending to this post or anything else to add. I was shocked to see this story come across my timeline but maybe I shouldn't have been. Steinhardt has given millions of dollars to causes and organizations I support, but I and most others know nothing or little about him. It's just sad all around.

Sean's Ramblings Giveaway

Glasses and young children can be a dangerous mix. I don't know what it is, but all of my kids have grabbed my glasses off of my face as infants or toddlers. I guess it's a fun toy that they can reach pretty easily. While I've been fortunate that they have never broken my glasses (though they have bent my frames), my brother and brother-in-law weren't so lucky with my nieces and nephews. In each case, they had to take their glasses to an eye doctor to repair them. But what if there's an easier way to fix them?

Enter the Snapit EyeGlass Repair Kit, the easiest and quickest way to repair your spectacles. Simply drop the screw in the hinge, screw it down and snap the end off. Plus, it's much simpler and less expensive than giving up, throwing your glasses away, and buying a new pair!

I recently received the Snapit Eyeglass Repair Kit, and I hope that I never need it. However, with my kids, particularly 18-month old Luigi, it's nice to know that I have the kit since I'll probably need to use it sooner than later. You can also win your own repair kit by entering below. More information about this product is available on Amazon. Good luck!

Win A Snapit Glasses Repair Kit #7

2019 Celebrate Fairfax Headliners

I moved to Northern Virginia in August 2001 and got involved with the Celebrate Fairfax festival almost immediately. My first experience at Celebrate Fairfax was in 2002 as CHIP, the short-lived festival mascot.

I worked as a staff member in 2003 and 2004 before becoming a volunteer again in 2005. The 2005 festival was, um, interesting. Although I only helped out at an admissions gate for a 3-hour shift, many long-time volunteers, exhibitors, and even sponsors approached me while I walked around the site (as a civilian not a volunteer) to share their frustrations about the event. Fortunately, most of the people in attendance didn’t realize the chaos going on behind the scenes. One part of that year that everyone did notice was the inexplicable decision to have two headliners perform at the same time on two separate stages about 1500 feet away from each other. However, this poor decision led to one of my favorite Celebrate Fairfax moments. While Blue Oyster Cult performed on one stage, Better Than Ezra got a guy from the audience to come on stage to play a cowbell. Then, with the guy hitting the cowbell, the band performed a cover of Blue Oyster Cult’s (Don't Fear) The Reaper.

I mention this because Celebrate Fairfax announced its 2019 headliners featuring Better Than Ezra performing on Friday, June 7. I enjoyed seeing them perform in 2005, and imagine that the band is even better now having more years on stage. Here are a few Better Than Ezra songs that you may know.





Then, Smash Mouth will take the stage on Saturday, June 8. Smash Mouth is an interesting band. They had several massive hits in the late 1990s, but they seem best known lately for getting in Twitter fights with trolls and the Oakland A’s. The band also had this fun exchange with current Washington Nationals pitcher Sean Doolittle last year. Anyway, I'm excited to see them, so count me in!





Sunday, June 9th features the third annual Sunday Brew!

More information about Celebrate Fairfax is available on the festival website. Tickets go on sale on April 1st.

Friday Video: Johnny Cash

When I went to Nashville as part of my hockey road trip a few years ago, I visited the Johnny Cash Museum. Even though I'm not much of a country fan, I highly recommend going if you're in Nashville. It's a very cool place. I've also shared before that I'm a Neil Diamond fan and even wrote about my extremely odd experience getting tickets for one of his concerts.

Despite visiting the Johnny Cash Museum and being a Neil Diamond fan, I never knew that Cash covered a Neil Diamond song. Enjoy his version of Solitary Man. (I also believe that Tom Petty is singing back-up on this.)

My Luke Perry Story

Actor Luke Perry passed away earlier this week at the way-to-young age of 52. Perry is best known for his role as Dylan McKay on Beverly Hills 90210. The show debuted in October 1990 when I was in high school. I don't remember watching Beverly Hills 90210 very much, but the show was unavoidable, and the cast were seemingly everywhere.

While the show had high ratings, there was definitely some 90210 fatigue by the mid to late-90s. Sometime during the end of my college career, I saw the move The Fifth Element starring Bruce Willis in the theater. I believe that these were the opening credits.



At the sight of "and Luke Perry," there was a collective groan throughout the theater, followed by some laughter at the fact that so many people groaned. (This was at a time before IMDB where you didn't know the entire cast before the movie came out.) I think there was definitely some relief among much of the audience that Perry wasn't in the movie after the opening sequence.

R.I.P.

Photo of Luke Perry in 2001 by Leslie Hassler/AP


(Of course since this blog is old, and apparently I have few blog ideas, I already wrote about this in 2010.)

Christian and DeAngelo (and Roosevelt)

Welcome to the latest edition of Pittsburgh Athletes with World-Renowned Athletes! (At this point, it’s more than a working title. I think it’s the actual title. PAWRA!) Recently, former Pittsburgh Steelers running back DeAngelo Williams shared this picture of him with Christian Pulisic.

I asked DeAngelo where and when this picture was taken, but I did not receive a response. My guess is this was from the summer of 2018 when Pulisic’s Borussia Dortmund faced Portuguese club Benfica as part of the International Champions Cup in Pittsburgh. Of course, English club Chelsea recently signed Pulisic to a $73 million deal, making him the highest-paid American player ever and by a significant amount.

Maybe we'll see Pulisic visit Pittsburgh again someday, but the next time with a World Cup trophy. (I can dream, right?)


Photo from DeAngelo Williams' Twitter account.

You can also click here for previous PAWRA posts.

UPDATE: The Steelers posted a picture of Roosevelt Nix with Pulisic. Apparently, he (and I assume Williams) spent time in Germany with the American Football Without Barriers Foundation. Here's a video of Nix and Pulisic.

Two Videos

It’s been a busy February for me. Nothing very exciting, but between sick kids and home repair stuff, it’s been busy. While I would love to share some thoughts about the Oscars, the ceremony was already three days ago, and I understand that most people have moved on. (Plus, I didn’t see any of the nominated films except for Won’t You Be My Neighbor, the documentary about Mister Rogers. And yes I know that this film wasn’t nominated which may be the biggest oversight in the history of the Academy Awards, but I'm going to pretend that it was.) Instead, I want to share videos from two sporting events that occurred over the weekend.

First, my favorite soccer team Sheffield Wednesday defeated Swansea in the English Championship League game on Saturday. This goal by Steven Fletcher was pretty good.



Maybe he was offsides, but the call was that he was on, so GOAL!!!!

Meanwhile, this happened at the end of the Liberty League title game between Ithaca College and RIT.

WE'VE SEEN THIS BEFORE! Annie Giannone hit this game-winner with 3.3 seconds left to give Ithaca a 75-73 overtime win over RIT in the @LLAthletics title game! #SCTop10 @ithacawbb pic.twitter.com/GOnvGKNpOC

— Ithaca Bombers (@BomberSports) February 24, 2019

Senior Annie Giannone was 1 for 7 from the field and 1 for 4 from the line before this game-winning shot. She's listed as only 5'4" and still managed to take on four defenders! Ithaca College is now on the Division III NCAA Tournament!

The Head and Shoulders Commercial Is Wrong

It’s quite possible that this commercial has aired for months, but I only saw it recently.



I have so many thoughts on this commercial.

- First, why is the Kiss Cam guy or girl showing these two? They definitely don’t appear to be a couple.

- The Steelers fan is way out of the Pats fan’s league.

- Rob Gronkowski attended Woodland Hills during his senior year and is a WHHS graduate. Perhaps this Pats fan is really a Steelers fan but is friends or family of Gronk, so that’s why he’s wearing the #87 jersey. Therefore, the two really struck up a rapport before the Kiss Cam came along.

- Okay, that last point seems highly unlikely.

- There is no chance that the Patriots crowd would support this kiss. There would be many more jeers and boos than cheers.

- Smart move by Head & Shoulders by having the Steelers fan wear a JuJu Smith-Schuster jersey than an Antonio Brown one.

Thanks again to Head & Shoulders for providing me with blog content for nearly a decade. (And if you click on the link, you'll see that some of the posts are so old that the videos no longer work.

Friday Video: Make Me Feel

I'll admit that while I've known about Janelle Monáe for years, I don't think I was familiar with any of her songs before her performance of "Make Me Feel" at last Sunday's Grammys. Spoiler (to no one) - She's really good! Monáe has to be the closest artist to Prince out there too. While I plan on checking out more of her music, here is Monáe at the Grammys.

My Life In Pictures: February 2019

It's been a busy month so far due to forming an exploratory committee to run for President. Apparently, donors aren't all that interested in contributing to a campaign of someone with no political experience or name recognition. Here's everything else going on in my life:

Luigi had a fever last week and took a nearly three hour nap on me. I considered trying to transfer him to his crib several times but figured that he really needed the rest, so I didn't want to disturb him. Luigi is 17 months now, so I don't think there will be many more opportunities of having a child sleep on me.

Meanwhile, Ziggy took his own nap (on a cardboard box?) just a few feet away.

A year after dislocating my wrist from slipping on my stairs, we got carpet for the stairs. Not pictured: Ziggy sleeping on the stairs.

I don't know how it happened, but Pedro Tulo somehow broke my Christina Aguilera CD. This CD is probably worth thousands! I mean, can you get a Christina Aguilera CD anywhere anymore? The Pittsburgher in me is devastated by this.

I took the two older boys to a Chinese new year celebration at the mall. It was cute seeing Pedro Tulo sitting on The Moose's lap, and the older one allowing this.

I haven’t bought a pair of non-work shoes in at least 3-4 years, so I feel the need to share a picture of my new purchase. It's nothing fancy, but I'll probably have these shoes for the next decade.

Finally, we don't watch Paw Patrol that much anymore, mostly due to The Moose outgrowing the show. One of the show's characters is Mayor Humdinger, the mayor of the neighboring town of Foggy Bottom. Mayor Humdinger has always done things like cheat in races or try to get treasures before anyone else, but in a recent Paw Patrol episode, he actually stole a car that can turn into a plane. He needs to be in jail and impeached! What kind of criminal justice system do they have on this show? Adventure Bay should declare war on Foggy Bottom unless Mayor Humdinger faces serious actions!

Major Announcement: Sean 2020

I'm concerned about the present state and future of our country. Too much division and not enough working together to find some common ground. I think I can help bring the country together. Therefore, I am proud to announce that I am forming an exploratory committee for the a 2020 Presidential bid. You’re probably thinking, Sean, why would I vote for you to be President of the United States? My response is that I created a comprehensive platform back in 2012, and I still stand by this today. (Well, except for the NHL lockout part since there currently isn’t a lockout, but as President, I pledge that I will ensure that there is no lockout or strike when the current agreement between the players and owners ends.)

You’re probably also thinking, we’re a divided country, so how are you going to bring us together? I have several ideas. The first is to force Tom Brady to retire from the New England Patriots after this Sunday’s Super Bowl. I realize that I may lose significant votes in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, Connecticut, and Maine, but I feel like I can win them back with this argument. The rest of the country is tired of seeing the Patriots appear in the Super Bowl, so forcing Brady to leave that team is an automatic win. For Patriots fans, don’t you want to see how the team plays without Brady but with Bill Belichick still as coach? This has been a hypothetical discussion for years. Now we can see it happen. Plus, can Brady win as QB for another team without Belichick? The country can really get behind this.

We can also bond on criticizing the Academy Awards for making the absurd decision not to nominate Won't You Be My Neighbor for Best Documentary. Instead, the Academy gave a nomination to Free Solo, even though we saw that movie 30 years ago when it was called Return of the Jedi.

I'm still not sure what we can do about this injustice. Maybe sanctions? Maybe it's just teaching the country about the legacy and importance of Mister Rogers.

You probably wonder why I'm announcing my candidacy now. It's still many months before the primaries and the Iowa caucus begin. (Something else we can agree on...caucus is a funny word!) Well, one year ago last week, I had surgery on my dislocated wrist. Many people thought I would never become a PGA golfer, compete in a tennis Grand Slam event, or pitch in a MLB game. Well, I proved everyone wrong. I mean, I haven't done any of these things (yet), but my wrist is as healthy as it's going to be, so I'm just waiting for the call.

This is the difficult part. I need volunteers to serve on my exploratory committee. Your important job will be to poll the country and see if I have a chance to compete. I also don’t have Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz money, so if you could contribute a few million dollars, that would be great.

I’m thinking that being on this committee will not be a very time-consuming endeavor!


The Brady-Belichick picture is from USA Today.

Learning Geography

After yesterday’s debacle where I wrote a blog post only to discover that I wrote a similar post on the exact same subject 9 years ago, I’m doubling down today. I listed to a local sports talk radio show today, and there was a discussion about the Senior Bowl where college seniors are essentially auditioning to be drafted by an NFL team. They mentioned some of the players on the North and South rosters and something didn’t seem right. I thought this sounded familiar, and sure enough, I wrote about my confusion about geography with this nearly 10 years ago to the day. Well, I’m expanding on this topic today!

Take a look at this map.

The locations in red represent colleges and universities for players on the "North" team. This includes players like Memphis running back Tony Pollard (please be related to former Steelers RB Frank Pollard!) and University of Southern California* linebacker Cameron Smith. Meanwhile, the blue locations are for players on the "South" roster such as Buffalo and Washington State quarterbacks Tyree Jackson and Gardner Minshew II, respectively.

You would think that the NCAA, an organization "dedicated to the well-being and lifelong success of college athletes" would do a little better with making sure that students learned simple geography!

Join me tomorrow where I recap episodes of NBC's Hit Me, Baby, One More Time!




* Southern is in the name of the school!

Found In My Basement: 1980s Pirates

It’s a long story, but we had a leak in our home over the summer, and as a result, we need to replace our hardwood floor. My home currently looks like a scene from the TV show Dexter without the blood. Anyway, before the floor people arrived, we needed to move the smaller items. This included so many books and toys. As part of this process, I also came across my scrapbook from growing up and wanted to share this page today.

Autographed pictures from Pittsburgh Pirate greats! Or at least Pittsburgh Pirate goods! I have no idea how I acquired these pictures. It's likely that my dad took my brother and me to some type of appearance featuring John Smiley and Jim Gott. I wonder if they discussed writing "Best Wishes" on all of the pictures before the appearance. Bill Madlock must have been in such a charitable mood that he autographed the picture twice. My favorite of this group is probably catcher Junior Ortiz. It's not autographed or even in color. Was he just somewhere passing them out like ads for a new club opening?


Please click here for more Found in My Basement blog posts.

Update: My first Found In My Basement blog post was published on August 16, 2010. Why am I mentioning this today? It's because I included this exact same picture in that blog post. Apparently, I've run out of blog ideas and am recycling content from several months before the first episode of Game of Thrones aired!

Dallas (2019 Hockey Road Trip)

I strongly considered having "Sean Does Dallas" as the title of this blog post, but I went with the less controversial title instead. Over the weekend, I visited Dallas as part of my annual hockey road trip. Here are some pictures:

When I checked into my flight, I realized that I purchased a "Basic Economy" ticket. This means that I got to take one personal item on the flight or pay $25 or $30 each way for a bag, even if it's a carry-on bag. Yes, I managed to fit everything I needed for the weekend and the flights into a backpack.

I'm going out of order, but besides the hockey game, the one thing that I had to do in Dallas was see The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza. The trees are much taller now, but this picture is from the sixth floor of the building formerly know as the Texas School Book Depository, just several feet away from where Lee Harvey Oswald shot President John F. Kennedy. Despite the assassination occurring 55 years ago, this museum seems to be the top tourist attraction in Dallas. I'm sure that city and corporate officials want the focus to be on arts, sports, and other things, but I get a sense that the assassination is always going to be a significant part of Dallas. (As an anecdote, I asked the waitress and hostess at a restaurant what's one thing we had to see in Dallas, and they both replied, separately, the JFK Museum.) Anyway, I highly recommend visiting the museum.

Oh, I didn't expect to see the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette available at the gift shop.

I also didn't expect to see this T-shirt available a few blocks away from the museum. I noticed the don't take pictures sign about a minute after taking this picture.

The reason for going to Dallas during a cold January weekend was to see the Dallas Stars, making it the 24th game/arena my friend and I have seen together over the past decade.

I really like the Dallas Stars green and even the giant star that comes down onto the ice during the pregame ceremonies. It's not as good as the sabretooth Nashville Predator, but it's a close second (until I see the San Jose Shark in person).

I couldn't get a great picture, but it's nice to see someone appreciate Dallas Stars legend Jaromir Jagr.

One neat feature of the American Airlines Arena is that there is no room for the visiting back-up goalie on the bench. Therefore, he needs to sit way over here.

There's no reason why the North Stars moved to Dallas and why they keep the retired numbers of the Minnesota players.

You'll notice that this was not my picture. I really, really, really, really wanted to take a picture of and with the Stars' mascot Victor E. Green (better known as Texas Youppi!), but it didn't happen. Maybe if I got a picture with Victor, the Stars would have won. Instead, the St. Louis Blues won 3-1 with Vladimir Tarasenko scoring two goals. In the two Blues games we've attended, Tarasenko scored 5 goals. Coincidence?

For breakfast at the hotel, a Texas waffle! (Not pictured: This waffle covered with chocolate chips, whipped cream, and syrup. I make sure to eat healthy on vacations!)

We also saw the Allen Americans face off against the Wichita Thunder in an ECHL minor league hockey game. If you're holding a baby in a front row seat and feel the need to bang on the glass, you got to do what you got to do.



Even though the team is called the Americans, this seems like some Communist propaganda celebration after goals. By the way, I hope that Zachary Pochiro makes it to the NHL, so I can say that I saw him score 4 goals in a game for the Americans! I also feel like the Americans should have pictures of Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys throughout the arena.

Deep Ellum appears to be the cool, trendy area. We drove through on Sunday morning, and I felt the need to take a picture of this odd robot statue dude who likes to hold pigeons.

Finally, I arrived back to Dulles Airport to this. Actually, Dulles was closed, so we got diverted to Philadelphia and sat on the plane, refueled, and were able to fly back when Dulles reopened. I got home about 3.5 hours later than expected, but at least I made it home on the same day.

And this was Monday morning back in Virginia. Time to shovel.


Victor E. Green picture courtesy of Getty Images. (Not pictured or mentioned was a visit to the George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum. If you're in Dallas for an extended period of time, check it out.)

2019 State Of The Ramblings

Sean’s Ramblings turned 14 yesterday making this the oldest, continuous non-subject specific blog on the planet.* What I mean by this is that there are probably other blogs that have been operational longer, but they are about one particular subject (sports teams, a genre of books, etc.). This is just a personal blog about whatever I feel like writing about on a given day where I make little to no money. Whether this is the first time you’ve visited my blog or, like Kevin Pittsnogle’s mom (no one is going to get this reference), you've read this for years, thanks for checking out Sean’s Ramblings!

A quick update about the last year. I started 2018 with the intention of writing more posts than in 2017. Then, I promptly dislocated my wrist and had a cast for 5-6 weeks making typing (and everything else) much more difficult. A sincere thank you to Christine for writing a guest post about her experiences living in South Korea right before the beginning of the Pyeongchang Olympics and to Shannon, Josh, and John and Rachael for agreeing to interviews in early 2018. They provided fantastic content while I was on the disabled list.

Overall, I accomplished my goal of writing more posts in 2018 than 2017. Hooray for me and for you in that you got to read more of my posts! With that written, I find it more and more difficult to write as often as I’d like with three kids. While I’d love to make a goal this year to write more than last year, I’m not sure that’s possible. Instead, I may try to write longer, more meaningful posts. This sounds good in theory, so we’ll see if this actually happens.

I also want this year to be the year that I become an “official” blogger. Whether this means I’m successful in my quest to be a blogger for the new Loudoun United soccer team or that I get to cover some type of event such as a grand opening, an awards ceremony, or a press pass for a sporting event, 2019 is the year this will finally happen!

Thanks again for all of your support, and I hope to continue to provide you with some fun and thought provoking (well, probably not thought provoking) content in 2019.


You can click here to see my previous State of the Ramblings posts. In addition, please like/follow me on Instagram and Facebook too!



* This statement may or may not be true, but if you can find an older, continuous non-subject specific blog on Earth, please let me know.

Sean On Pittsburgh Sports

The biggest story in Pittsburgh sports clearly involves the son of now former Riverhounds assistant coach Mark Pulisic. If you haven’t heard, Chelsea signed his son Christian Pulisic from Borussia Dortmund for approximately $73 million. Not too shabby.

(I'll miss seeing Pulisic in black and gold though.)

Oh, did something else happen in Pittsburgh sports? Perhaps you want to read all about the Penguins scoring 7 goals (chili goal! chili goal! chili goal! chili goal! chili goal!) in a 7-2 win over the New York Rangers on Wednesday, extending the team's winning streak to 7 games.

Oh, not what you're looking for? Fine. The Steelers finished 9-6-1 and failed to reach the playoffs. The team had a turnover differential of -11, good for 28th out of 32 NFL teams. If the team had an awful but slightly better turnover differential, they would have reached the playoffs, and Pittsburgh sports fans would be talking about a playoff match-up this weekend instead of this mess.

I don't really want to get into this, but I will. Ben Roethlisberger is the best QB in franchise history, but he also tends to call out teammates on his radio show and threw way too many interceptions this season. He is a good teammate or not a good teammate. Mike Tomlin is still in the top tier of NFL coaches or his team lacks discipline and his players have tuned him out. The defense was inconsistent and gave up too many second half touchdowns. Chris Boswell had an awful season. Unfair penalties. The Le'Veon Bell saga. Ugh, make this all stop. Again, if the team made the playoffs, most of this stuff would have gone away. Winning hides a lot of things.

Now, to top it all off, there's Antonio Brown. Basically, Antonio Brown may or may not have had an injured knee, but he failed to show up to his MRI. He may have been unable to play on Sunday due to an injury or he was suspended. Regardless, he didn't play and now it sounds like he's asked to be traded. Except that Coach Mike Tomlin says that he hasn't asked for a trade.

Here's my two cents. Brown can be difficult and he's a diva. He also remains one of the best wide receivers in the NFL. Brown had 104 catches for nearly 1,300 yards, and an amazing 15 touchdowns in 15 games. He's probably a bad teammate, yet, he's so productive. The Steelers would be worse without him. Plus, you can't discount the money. As ESPN's Bill Barnwell tweeted, "If you’re reading that the cap isn’t an issue with an Antonio Brown trade, just ask this: has a team ever eaten 10% of the cap in dead money to trade a Pro Bowl player in the prime of his career?"

While I may dispute the prime of his career part of this Tweet, the rest is accurate. You can't give up 10% of your salary cap to one player not on your roster. Brown isn't going anywhere. With the season over, let's let cooler heads prevail. Brown and the Steelers organization will take some time away from each other and realize that they both need each other.

Again, just make this all stop!

In the meantime, can we have a little joy in our lives? Antonio Brown was (spoiler) good on The Masked Singer, FOX's new show Wednesday night. Yes, really!







By the way, Robin Thicke was an excellent judge on the show. I may need to have a separate blog post just about The Masked Singer. (The terrific Emily Yahr wrote a terrific piece about it.)


The Christian Pulisic picture is from Sports Illustrated.

Sean's Ramblings 2018 Year In Review

Welcome to my 14th (yes, 14th!) annual year in review, where I take the first few lines of the first entry of each month in order to produce a random and (hopefully) interesting summary of 2018. Please note that these are not my picks for best of and worst of 2018 since I posted that last week. This is simply a summary of 2018.

January: Happy New Year! Even though we're now into the second week of 2018, since this is my first post of the year, I find it completely appropriate to include a Happy New Year message.

February: Using only one hand has been quite difficult. While I can type and drive with only my left hand, it's the little things that are bothering me. I cut myself shaving four times yesterday. I can't tie my shoes or put in my contact lenses. Opening Ziploc bags are also tough. Putting toothpaste on a toothbrush is impossible. And of course, I'm not going to be able to pick up 4 month-old Luigi for many weeks.

March: Here are some of the things going on in my life captured in pictures. Please note that I am not a photographer and do not play one on the internet, and these pictures were all taken using my phone.

April: On Monday, the Pittsburgh Pirates defeated the Minnesota Twins 5-4 to remain undefeated through four games of the 2018 season. The Pirates scored all five runs in the first inning with four courtesy of a grand slam by one of the newest Pirates, Colin Moran.

May: Back in 2010 (again, this blog is old), I wrote a post celebrating the fact that the Washington Capitals lost a playoff series. Why am I bringing this up today, 8 years later? Last week, I was featured in a Washington Post article where I said I felt a little sympathy for the Caps (in response to the question of if I feel sympathy for the Caps).

June: Today's video is "Sober Up," the very cool song by AJR.

July: In September 1998, the sports world centered around Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, and the single-season home run record. I lived in San Diego at the time and attended the Cubs-Padres game where Sosa hit #63.

August: Seemingly overnight, craft breweries have exploded in Northern Virginia.

September: Over the weekend, we took a trip to the National Capital Trolley Museum in Colesville, Maryland. It's a small venue with a room of about a dozen trolleys/streetcars, and then you can take a ride on one of the streetcars.

October: Sean’s Ramblings is generally a light-hearted blog, and I try to inject some humor in most of the posts. Sure, I may be the only person who finds some of my posts funny, but after 13+ years, I haven’t been canceled yet. (Just checking...can a blog get cancelled? And if I do get cancelled, can WordPress or another platform pick me up?)

November: When I knew that I was going to be in Charleston, South Carolina, I decided that I wanted to attend Shabbat services at Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim, one of the oldest synagogues in the United States. The congregation was founded in 1749 with the current sanctuary built in 1840. After the tragic shootings at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, I definitely wanted to attend Friday night Shabbat services.

December: Happy Hanukkah for those of you who are celebrating! 2018 marks a milestone year in the Hanukkah tradition. It’s now been 20 years that pickles have been part of Hanukkah festivities.

And that's basically my blog for 2018. Well, except for all of the posts about my kids and being a father.

Have a Happy New Year!

Sean's Best and Worst of 2018

Welcome to my annual list of the best and worst of the year. I still don’t understand how publications can share their best and worst of lists in November when there’s still an entire month of the year to go. That’s why I publish my list in late December. My apologies for any new books, movies, television shows, etc. that debut on New Year’s Eve.

Best song: High Hopes by Panic! At the Disco

My criteria for best song is that I have to feature the song in a separate post at some point during the year. For 2018, it comes down to High Hopes by Panic! At the Disco, Sober Up by AJR, and No Tears Left to Cry by Ariana Grande. (Lil' Jon and Kool-Aid Man also deserve an honorable mention for All I Really Want For Christmas.) I have a bit of an issue with pop music lately. It seems like everything is about the chorus. Sure, you get a first verse and second verse (though rarely a third verse), but it’s limited. All three of these songs follow this framework. Of course, I recently heard Sweet Dreams by Eurythmics from about 35 years ago, and there are no lyrics to that song (you’d think there would be since Annie Lennox travelled the world and the seven seas).

While Ariana Grande had a monster year professionally, my winner is High Hopes. I just love the positivity and the horns.



In hindsight, I wish I included Say Amen (Saturday Night) by Panic! since I really like that song more. If you told me this time last year that two of my favorite songs in 2018 would be by Panic! at the Disco, I probably would have laughed.

Worst Song: Meant to Be by Bebe Rexha & Florida Georgia Line

I wrote about this several months ago, but the lyrics really bother me. In response to Bebe Rexha singing about awful past relationships and how she wasn't treated right, Florida (or Georgia) basically dismisses her by saying that she's beautiful, so she'll be fine. Jerk.



Best Movie I Saw In The Theater: Crazy Rich Asians

I saw a whopping four movies in the theater in 2018. That’s by far the most since I had kids. I should probably mention that the four movies I saw were Ferdinand, Paddington 2, Crazy Rich Asians, and The Grinch. Although Hugh Grant was great in Paddington 2, I’m going with the grown up movie. I'm pro Constance Wu, and I really want go to Singapore now.

Best TV Show: Speechless

I think that most readers will find this to be the biggest surprise on here. There are so many good shows out there like Killing Eve, Better Call Saul, and The Good Place. I also finally started watching The Americans in 2018 (I just finished season 2), and really enjoyed Barry and Mindhunter. The episodes of Black Mirror I watched were unlike anything I've seen. Full disclosure: I really need to start watching Atlanta, and I didn't see this season's Game of Thrones yet. With all of that written, the fact that I’m picking a standard sitcom is kind of amazing. It just seems like at least once an episode I laugh out loud at this show. John Ross Bowie is comedy gold.

Worst TV Show: Below Deck

I don't know why this is a show. Let's watch spoiled crew members who seem to fight constantly serve spoiled rich guests who spend probably hundreds of thousands of dollars on a luxury boat.

Best Book: Quackers by Liz Wong

I honestly didn’t read as much as I wanted to in 2018 and most of the books I read were good though not great. The one book I read over and over and enjoyed way more than I should have since I’m clearly not the target audience was Quackers.

It’s a cat who thinks he’s a duck until he learns he's a cat but still has his duck friends. It’s adorable!

Crankee Doodle by Tom Angleberger and Cece Bell about Yankee Doodle who doesn't want to go to town or call a feather macaroni is also quite good.

Best Sports Moment: Belgium's Soccer Team

The second half of the World Cup round of 16 game between Belgium and Japan was unreal. After Japan took a 2-0 lead, Belgium tied it at 2. In stoppage time, Japan had a corner kick and a chance to win. Instead, Belgium countered and scored the winning goal.



I’ll give this a close second:



Worst Sports Moment: Tom Wilson

Being in the DC area, it was amazing seeing the excitement surrounding the Caps during its Stanley Cup run. Winning the Cup was good for the region and good for the sport. The only negative (besides the Caps defeating the Penguins) was Tom Wilson getting to celebrate and having his name inscribed on the Cup. What a jerk. He's even worse than the Florida Georgia Line guys.

Best Podcast: Planet Futbol with Grant Wahl

You’re probably seeing a soccer theme here. On his podcast this year, Sports Illustrated’s Grant Wahl interviewed nearly every candidate for the US soccer presidency. Then, he did a podcast every single day during the World Cup, so a podcast for over 30 consecutive days. My personal favorite podcast was his interview with Abby Wambach. If you’re a fan of soccer, I highly recommend his podcast. (One word of caution. He had Bill Simmons on a recent podcast. I read everything Simmons wrote when he was with ESPN/Grantland and still listen to many of his podcasts, though not so much the past few months. I was excited to see that Simmons was on Wahl's podcast, but he just seem to whine the entire time. Wahl's interview with Katie Nolan was very good though.)

Best Blog: Josh’s World

I have no idea how Josh does it. He (allegedly) has a family and (allegedly) a full-time job, yet he cranks out post after post on a wide variety of topics. I enjoy his writing and am really curious to see if he actually slows down when his second child arrives in 2019. (By the way, vote for his child's name to be Sean!) Oh, here's the link to Josh's World.

Sean's Ramblings Best Blog Post: The Attack at Tree of Life Synagogue

This post is about as raw and emotional as I get. I'm still upset thinking about what happened at the synagogue of my youth and how little has changed over the last few months.

Sean's Ramblings Worst Blog Post: Trivia Wednesday

I'm done doing trivia posts. No one replies with answers or guesses.

Feel free to click here to see my best of and worst of the last few years and see if my picks hold up.