New Exhibit at the Heinz History Center

Okay, this post is nothing more than a bold and unabashed commercial for one of my volunteer activities, the John Heinz History Center.  A new temporary exhibit will be opening this weekend and will run through Mother's Day.  The exhibit is called  "1968: The Year That Rocked America".  I had a chance to take a preview tour today, and it is a fantastic...

Another Big Night for "Argo"

As it did two weeks ago at the Golden Globe Awards, Ben Affleck's "Argo" was the big winner at the Screen Actors Guild Awards last night.  At the Globes, "Argo" won best picture and, more significantly, Affleck was chosen Best Director, after his snub by the Motion Picture Academy.  Last night at the SAG awards, "Argo" was awarded the "Best Ensemble Acting" award,...

Movie Review: "Hyde Park on Hudson"

We went and saw the movie "Hyde Park on Hudson" this afternoon.  The movie stars Bill Murray - yep, Bill Murray of Saturday Night Live and Caddyshack fame - as President Franklin Roosevelt.  Hard to imagine that the guy who can play Carl Spackler can also play the aristocratic FDR, but Murray pulls it off.  In fact, early on, there had been some buzz that Murray...

The Great 2013 Hamburger Quest, Part 3 - BZ Bar and Grill

The Quest for the Best Hamburger in Pittsburgh took me to the BZ Bar and Grill on the North Shore yesterday afternoon.  This is the newly opened sports bar across from PNC Park in the space that had been occupied by Firewater's for many years.Operating on the theory that if can't say something nice about something, don't say anything, this post will be brief.  The interior of the place is rather stark, the service was slow, and the hamburger.......

From This Week's Sports Illustrated

The newest Sports Illustrated arrived today (John and Jim Harbaugh on the cover), and so far, it is proving to be an good issue, and I haven't even gotten to the Super Bowl stuff yet.  However, more than any story I've read thus far, I was most struck by the full page ad placed by Budweiser which I have scanned and shown above.  Well done, Budweiser.  And...

We Succumb to Downton Abbey

So, let me tell you what Marilyn and I have been doing over the last five days.We spent much of that time - more than is probably good for any human being - sitting in front of the TV plowing through Seasons One and Two of the hoity-toity PBS Masterpiece Theater British soap opera, Downton Abbey.  Today, thanks to the magic of the PBS iPad app and the DVR, we will watch...

The Games of Sunday

Someone made the comment on Facebook that NFL Conference Championship Sunday is better than Super Bowl Sunday, and it is hard to argue that point.  The games of two days ago are certainly a case in point with two home, higher seeded (one a #1 seed at that) teams losing and NOT SCORING a point in the second half of each game.  Remarkable.And here's an amazing fact...

Conference Championship Predictions

Despite my horrific 1-3 record last week (which assures that the very best I can do this year is to equal last year's 7-4 record), I'm going to try it again.In the NFC game, earlier in the week when I was asked who I thought would play int he Super Bowl, I quickly said "49'ers and Patriots."  I figured that the performance of Colin Kaepernick, which was historic, would continue and would carry the Niners to New Orleans.  Upon further review,...

The Great 2013 Hamburger Quest, Part 2 - The Tilted Kilt

My Quest to find the Best Hamburger in Pittsburgh continued yesterday when, upon the recommendation of Fred Shugars (The Official Actuary of The Grandstander), we visited The Tilted Kilt on the North Shore.  Now, I now that the cynics among you are thinking, "yeah, sure, he was going there for the burgers"..........but I can assure you that the visit was really all about...

To Absent Friends: Stan "The Man" Musial

The news came last night about the death of Hall of Famer Stan Musial at the age of 92.  When I arrived home after attending a basketball game last night, my Facebook feed was filled with posts from people expressing their sorrow upon his passing, and the sheer wonderment of the ballplayer that he was.  Simply put, Musial was one of the greatest ballplayers EVER....

To Absent Friends: Earl Weaver

Hall of Fame Manager Earl Weaver died yesterday at the age of 82.  If you read the obits, you will see words like "feisty" and "fiery" used to describe Weaver.  Not to speak ill of the dead, and I know this depends on what team you are rooting for, those words can be taken as euphemisms for, to be kind, "obnoxious", among other less flattering terms.A few years back,...

On Manti Te'o

(NOTE:  As I allude to in this post below, facts continue to come out.  Shortly after I completed the post below, I read the story of the Tuiaososopo kid in California now admitting to perpetuating the Girlfriend Hoax on Manti Te'o.)So, I suppose that it is obligatory that I weigh in on the whole Manti Te'o Affair.  Actually, stuff keeps coming out on this at such a rapid pace, that I am already way behind the curve, and God only knows...

That Was The (Football) Weekend That Was

I am pretty sure that you are expecting my ruminations on the football weekend that just was, and that is just what you are going to get, but why, you are no doubt asking, am I leading with the picture above, albeit one of the more famous photos in American political history?For you youngsters out there, this was taken on election night in 1948 when just about everyone thought...

The Oscar Nominations....and Snubs

The Oscar nominations announced yesterday are more notable for who was NOT nominated than who was."Lincoln" led the way with 12 nominations.  No surprise there.  I'm going to go way out on a limb right now and call a win for Daniel Day-Lewis for Best Actor.  You don't need to be Nate Silver to call that one.Next with 11 nominations was "Life of Pi." I have seen the previews to this one several times.  It appears to be about a...

NFL Playoff Predictions - Part II

Before getting to my playoff predictions for the NFL Divisional Round games this weekend, let me recommend an article from this weeks Sports Illustrated (Alabama football on the cover).  It is the feature article at the end of the magazine call "Hello, My Name is Thomas, and I'm a Falcons Addict" by Thomas Lake.  In the article, author Lake recounts his lifetime, going back to 1991, of experiences as an Atlanta Falcons fan.  Even if...

Sanctimonious Sportswriters

Is there a more self-important and sanctimonious bunch than sportswriters who vote on membership in various Halls of Fame?  In recent weeks the Buster Olneys and Jayson Starks of the world have been pontificating on how that would be casting their Hall of Fame ballots, and I can only imagine the follow-up pieces that will be forthcoming in light of the results of this year's balloting.  No one rides a higher horse than does Peter King when...

The BBWA Throws a Shutout

The big baseball news today, of course, is that the Baseball Writers of America elected no one into Baseball's Hall of Fame for this 2013 class.  This is the first time that this has happened since 1996, and it is most noteworthy today because this is the first year of HOF eligibility for noted PED users Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, and Sammy Sosa.  These men,...

First Book of the Year: "Ike's Bluff"

My first book of 2013 is in the, er, books.  It is the one you see here, "Ike's Bluff" by Evan Thomas.  The book focuses on the eight years of the Eisenhower Presidency, and if you are a fan of our 34th President, as Thomas obviously is, you're going to love it.  Ike is painted in glowing terms by Thomas as being kind, sage, cagey, almost a saint when compared...

A Football Overdose - Most of It Not Very Good

In the 72 hour period that ended shortly before midnight last night, I watched six football games.  I wish that I could say it was all great football, but alas, when the Cincinnati Bengals, Tino Sunseri, and an over-matched opponent in a Showcase Game are involved, you are going to get your share of clinkers.  Taking them in order.....Pitt gets thumped by Old Miss in the BBVA Compass Bowl.  Pitt was never in this one, and Tino Sunseri...

Tessaro's

With the Holiday Season behind us, we ventured out to Bloomfield yesterday to have lunch at Tessaro's, a terrific and cozy little neighborhood bar/bistro.  The inspiration for this visit was Tessaro's, and specifically the hamburgers at Tessaro's, being featured on Rick Sebak's latest WQED Pittsburgh special, "25 Things I Like About Pittsburgh."  After seeing the...

"The Dark Knight Rises"

I finally got around to seeing the latest Batman movie, the partially filmed in Pittsburgh "The Dark Knight Rises".  I have to be honest, I didn't like it.  For one thing, I couldn't understand a word Christian Bale said.   Was he supposed to talk in an intelligible whisper, or does he actually talk that way?Anyway, rather than go on about it, I thought I would turn the review over to another prominent Pittsburgher, whose views...

Happy Birthday, Chuck Noll!

Happy birthday  to Coach Chuck Noll, the true architect of the Steelers Dynasty of the 1970's.  He turns 81 today, and is said to be in poor health.  Hope it is a great day today for him.turns out that January 5 is the birth date for lots interesting, if disparate, folks.  One of Noll's coaching rivals, Sam Wyche, 68, former Vice President Walter Mondale...

Pirates To Change Logo in 2014

I discovered yesterday that the Pirates are planning on changing their logo for the 2014 season (apparently, you need that much lead time with MLB to make such a change).  One blogger who goes by the name of "Kipper" is applauding this as he calls the current one, seen above as the 1997-2011 logo, the "McClatchy Logo" and feels that if they get rid of it, it will end...

The NFL Playoffs Begin

The NFL Playoffs begin on Saturday with the Wild Card Round, and there are some interesting match-ups on tap.  The Grandstander looks ahead and makes some predictions, a much looked forward to annual tradition.  I am trying something different this year and am going to base my predictions largely on the quality of the quarterbacks in each game.  As always, watch, but don't bet.Cincinnati Bengals vs.  Houston TexansFor the first...

A Little Known Fact About "Trouble With the Curve"

WARNING: Post contains a possible spoiler.I got around to watching one of my Christmas gifts last night - the DVD of the Clint Eastwood baseball movie, "Trouble With the Curve."  Despite the fact that you could see the ending to this one coming like a Kevin Correia hanging curve ball, this was a pretty good movie, one that certainly deserves being a part of your baseball...

First Post of the Year - A DVR Alert!!

First Grandstander post of 2013.  What shall I talk about?  I'll bet you thought it would be something about the Pirates!  Maybe tomorrow, but first, a DVR Alert.In perusing the Turner Classic Movie program guide for January, the pickings are slim, but here's a couple for the coming Friday, January 4:1:45 PM (Eastern) - "Night and Day" (1946)  This biopic of songwriter Cole Porter is not all that true to life (no mention of the...