A Happy and Blessed Easter to you a...
Saturday, March 30, 2013
Friday, March 29, 2013
One of the neat things about the Miami Heat's winning streak, just snapped at 27 two nights ago, is that it caused some people to look back upon the team that they were chasing, the 1971-72 Lakers. It caused names such as Wilt Chamberlain, Jerry West, Elgin Baylor, and Gail Goodrich to reappear in people's consciousness. Yes, folks, there really were good basketball...
Thursday, March 28, 2013
A busy schedule of Church-related activities this Holy Thursday-Good Friday-Easter Sunday Weekend made me realize that if I want to get my Pirates Prediction for 2013 out there before Opening Day, I better do it now, so here goes. I also thought that I would lead with the Pirates' current Jolly Roger logo, which is scheduled to be out into mothballs at the close of this...
Monday, March 25, 2013
Pirate Chat / Facebook Friend John Niespodzianski posted the following from the "Battling Bucs" blog yesterday:http://battlingbucs.wordpress.com/2013/03/06/neal-huntingtons-trade-record-2/If you are at all interested in the topic at hand, I would recommend you read the entry. It lists 61 trades - not draft choices, not free agent signings, but trades - made by Neal Huntington...
Having won the prestigious Frissora Gaming Enterprises March Madness Pool (an FGE "Major") last year, I am so far down the track this year that, well, if I was a horse, I'd be headed to the Elmer's Glue Factory post haste.I have never been one to watch sports events in sports bars, but I have to say that spending last Thursday and Friday afternoons at different establishments on the North Shore with friends was a fun way to go. Already looking...
Saturday, March 23, 2013
Over the past several days, I have added three new places in my Quest for the Best Hamburger in the Greater Pittsburgh area, Valiant's Diner in Ross, TGI Friday's in McCandless, and McFadden's Pub on the North Shore.Of these, the most disappointing by far was TGI Friday's. Since this is part of a nationwide chain, I can visualize their hamburgers being spit out into uniform size and shaped patties by some robotic mechanism in a giant factory,...
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
"This is what college basketball still can be in a world of one-and-dones and broken conferences and coaches draped in Armani. Yes, there can exist a steamy night in a tiny gym high on a hill by the Pittsburgh airport where the little guy stands strong, the giant topples and a swarm of students clad in red spill from wooden stands and dance on the remains of a national champion."I...
Monday, March 18, 2013
The decision of the Pirates to send Gerrit Cole to the minors today was expected, and it is causing all sorts of chatter in the social media world. I won't get into the debate as to the wisdom of not keeping one of your 10 best pitchers in order to push back his "arbitration/free agency" clock. That's been beaten to death. Instead, I would rather focus on this quote from the GM Neal:"Everybody's going to speculate why he's being...
Old baseball fans will know the name of Ruth Ann Steinhagen, who, as a 19 year old obsessed baseball fan (groupie?) lured Phillies first baseman Eddie Waitkus to her hotel room and shot him in the chest with a rifle. Waitkus survived, Steinhagen was committed to a mental hospital, and the incident served as inspiration for Bernard Malamud's novel, "The Natural". Upon her release from the institution in 1952, Waitkus declined to press...
The Bob Smizik Blog on the PG site is buzzin' today over what the final make-up of the Pirates bench will be come Opening Day. Even I made a comment on there today!Assuming the team will carry twelve pitchers, that means five bench players. The locks to make it are platoon first baseman Gaby Sanchez and back-up catcher Mike McKenry. I would add outfielder Jose Tabata, now out of options, as another lock. So that leaves two...
Saturday, March 16, 2013
I have to give a huge thumbs up and shout out for the Fish Fry held every Friday at the American Serbian Club on Sarah Street (between 25th and 26th Streets) on the South Side that benefits Holy Trinity Orthodox Church. Our friends and neighbors, George and Barbara Topich are major movers and shakers in both Holy Trinity Church and the ASC, so we have always made it a point to hit this fish fry once every Lent, but we would make it a point...
It has been awhile since I have written about some of the Wild and Wacky quotes from Pirates GM Neal Huntington, lovingly referred to as "Nealspeil", or not so lovingly as "NHB", but that doesn't mean that Neal doesn't keep churning them out.When asked to comment on prized pitching prospect Jameson Taillon's recent start for Team Canada in the World Baseball Classic, this is what Neal had to say, as printed in both the Post-Gazette and Tribune Review:“It...
This past Thursday evening we took in the North Allegheny High School Spring musical, "Footloose". I will say what I always say whenever I attend something like this: few things give you better feeling for the future than attending a high school musical. This production was no exception.Absolutely amazing energy and talent from all of these kids on stage. My...
The line of progeny started by my parents, Frank and Ruth Sproule, back in 1939 was extended by one more a little after 8:00 AM today with the birth of William Warfield Davis. The birth took place in New York City, and both Mom and baby are doing fine!Will, as I believe he is to be known going forward, is the first child of my niece Katie and her husband Micky. That,...
Thursday, March 14, 2013
Two days into NFL free agency, and here is what it hath wrought for the Black 'n Gold....They have lost their best wide receiverThey have lost their best running back (although being the Steelers "best running back" in 2012 is the definition of the saying "damning with faint praise")They cut one of their best, albeit often injured, offensive linemenThe signed a new back up quarterback, and since he played in the WPIAL, this will go over great with...
It was quite exciting yesterday, having CNN on all afternoon with its camera constantly focused on that Sistine Chapel chimney, and then seeing that white smoke pour out, followed by the hour or so wait for the announcement of the new Pope, Jorge Mario Borgoglio of Argentina. In a world where we seem to know everything before it actually happens, it is somehow reassuring...
Sunday, March 10, 2013
Fun with the TV clicker late this afternoon and early evening.Went back and forth between NBC and watching Tiger Woods put the finishing touches on his WGC Cadillac Championship at Doral in Miami.This was a wire-to-wire win for Woods. It was his second win of the season and was his 76th career PGA Tour win, which is now only six behind Sam Snead's all time record of...
A Sunday morning look at the wide, wide, world of sports.....The NCAA tournament hopes for the Robert Morris University Colonials came crashing down at the Sewall Center yesterday with a 69-60 loss to Mount St. Mary's, and believe me, the nine point spread doesn't reflect the totality of the Mount's win. RMU took a lead early and the Mount tied the game at 15. Then the Mount took the lead and never again lost it. Late in the second...
Saturday, March 9, 2013
We departed from our usual Friday Lenten routine and did not hit a Parish Fish Fry. To describe our evening as "eclectic" would be putting it mildly. Want to guess what we did? Go ahead, take a shot. Give up? OK, here it is.We piled in with neighbors and friends, Tom Frankart, and Mark and Barbara Matera and headed down to Howard's Tavern in West View for dinner. Howard's is "neighborhood bar and grill" in the...
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
It has long been a contention of mine that a sampling of any set of recordings made by The Beatles would make great listening. It's easy to come up with a list of The Beatles' greatest songs, well, maybe not that easy since there were so many of them, but I had the idea of putting together a playlist of some of their lesser known, or at least, lesser played,...
Monday, March 4, 2013
A special edition of Sports Illustrated came in the mail today that salutes "75 Years of the NCAA Basketball Tournament". Cool idea. Even cooler was the centerpiece of the issue, which named the ten "greatest players" in the history of the tournament, and for your consideration, here they are:10. Jerry West9. Christian Laettner8. Magic Johnson7. Bill Bradley6. Wilt Chamberlain5. Larry Bird4. Oscar Robertson3. Bill Russell2. Bill...
Sunday, March 3, 2013
Yes, we continue to explore the various Church Fish Fries each Friday night during Lent. So far this year we have visited St. Theresa of Avila in Perrysville and St. Alexis in McCandless, Both parishes have been at the Fish Fry game for years and years and both put on a great event. Good fish sandwiches and both also serve a mean bowl of clam chowder. We have three Fridays remaining between now and Good Friday, and we have two...
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