Pitt, Football and Basketball

The Pitt Panthers closed their football season today the same way that they began it last Labor Day evening - by giving up 41 points to a school from Florida, and losing convincingly.  Tonight it was the Miami Hurricanes who laid the wood to the Panthers and coming away with a 41-31 win, and trust me, the game wasn't as close as the score indicated.  The Panthers finish their season with a 6-6 record and will be making a trip to some meaningless...

TO ALL LOYAL READERS.....

.....my THANKS to you for frequenting this particular Grandsta...

The Pirates Make Some Moves

The Pirates have been relatively quiet in this off-season, but that changed just a little bit yesterday, which gives me an excuse to write about them as the snow falls in McCandless, PA.The biggest news, and it should come as no surprise, was the release of 1B/RF Garrett Jones.The career year that Jones had in 2012 was followed by a mediocre one in 2013, and when you combine...

Sunday Morning Insomnia - Football Thoughts

Ever wake up at 3:15 AM and then CAN'T FALL BACK TO SLEEP??????Maddening, isn't it?  So, how about some football thoughts several hours before NFL Kick-off time.....First, though how about a look back at that 37-27 Steelers win over the Lions last week. The nature of that game - 14-0 Steelers in the first quarter, followed by a 27 point second quarter by the Lions, followed by total impotence by the Lions and/or total domination by the Steelers...

JFK - The Fiftieth Anniversary

As we all know, tomorrow, November 22, 2013, marks the fiftieth anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, and if you were old enough then to carry a memory of the event with you to this day, it remains one of the seminal events of your lifetime.My story is not much different or more extraordinary than any of yours.  I was in seventh grade at St. Philomena...

Big Break Mexico Follow-Up

Back in August, I wrote about the victory of 23 year old Taylor Collins on Golf Channel's "Big Break Mexico":http://grandstander.blogspot.com/2013/08/the-big-break-mexico-champion.htmlAmong the cash and prizes that Ms. Collins received was an exemption into the LPGA's Lorena Ochoa Invitational.  Well, that tournament took place this past weekend, and here is how Taylor's...

Steelers - Lions Pre-Game Thoughts

With what many consider a lost season for the 3-6 Steelers, what does one contemplate prior to today's contest with Detroit, and for the rest of the schedule, for that matter?One way to look at it is the way Pirates fans have viewed individual baseball games for much of the last 20 seasons, prior to 2013.  That is, as individual contests that can be interesting and entertaining...

The Skipper Comes to SABR

The highlight of the Fall Meeting of the Pittsburgh SABR Chapter Meeting held yesterday at the Heinz History Center was the appearance of 2013 National League Manager of the Year Clint Hurdle.   In his one hour talk and Q&A session, Hurdle was frank, honest, open and entertaining.  He was impressive in many ways, but perhaps most of all in the way he has become...

A Grandstander Salute To Andrew McCutchen

No words today, just some scenes saluting the 2013 National League Most Valuable Player, ANDREW McCUTCHEN.Thank you for the great season in 2013, Cutch.  Here's to many mo...

On Cutch, The Big Break, Scorsese, and Christie

Random Comments.....The Page 1 story in the Post-Gazette this morning about the possible enhancement of Andrew McCutchen's "brand" should he be named the National League's Most Valuable Player today had the following interesting fact about the endorsement income of a couple of contemporary athletes.  The NBA's LeBron James earns between $40 and $50 million a year in endorsements.  Peyton Manning is the NFL's biggest endorsement earner with...

One Week From Today.....

...Thursday, November 21, is Children's Grief Awareness Day.  If nothing else, please wear blue that day in support of Grieving Children everywhere, and tell people why you are doing it.Now I know that I no doubt talk a lot about the work that is done by the Highmark Caring Place, and perhaps you all get bored hearing me go on about it, but today let someone else talk...

Hey, Steelers Fans, How Deep Is Your Love?

We all know that this is shaping to be a bad year for our favorite football team, and I have to say, to quote Claude Rains as Captain Louis Renault, I am shocked - SHOCKED - to see how quickly Steelers fans have turned from disappointment, to anger, to downright apathy.Some background:  I belong to a Chat Page in Facebook called Western Pennsylvania Football Huddle, founded...

Veterans Day 2013

With thanks.....

Pitt 28 - Notre Dame 21

As Len Martin and I were walking into Heinz Field last night, we had a conversation that boiled down into two main points.  One, that we hoped for a competitive game, and two, neither of us could remember that last time Pitt football posted a meaningful win, or a "signature" win.  There certainly had not been such a win in Paul Chryst's brief tenure as Pitt Head Coach, and wouldn't be something if such a win could possibly happen against...

DVR Alert - Starring Burt Lancaster

The Star of the Month for November on Turner Classic Movies is the great Burt Lancaster, and each Wednesday night in the month TCM will be featuring Lancaster movies.  This past Wednesday night included such classics and maybe-not-so-classic-but-still-pretty-good movies as "From Here to Eternity", "Jim Thorpe - All American", "The Swimmer", and Lancaster's very first...

An Invitation

National Children's Grief Awareness Day will be observed on Thursday, November 21.  To observe this day, the Highmark Caring Place in Warrendale, PA, where both Marilyn and I volunteer, will be having an Open House at its facility.  All details of the Open House are in the invitation above.I hope that you will consider attending this event and seeing the remarkable...

Welcome Back, Lloyd McClendon

The Seattle Mariners made news yesterday with the announcement that Lloyd McClendon will be their new manager come 2014.Count me among those who are happy to see Legendary Lloyd getting another shot at skippering in the Big Leagues.  I always liked Lloyd when stood atop the top step in the Pirates dugout during his tenure here.  He was sort of doomed to fail as Pirates...

An H.A. Citation Is Bestowed

Today, it is time to dust off the not-so-coveted Grandstander "H.A. Citation", and award it to Arizona State University head football coach Todd Graham.  Now I know what you are saying.   Things like "Hasn't Graham already won this award multiple times?"  In fact, he has not, but only because I only began making this award earlier this year, long after...

When the Devil Came to Stonebrook Village....

So, last September, it was the day after Labor Day, I recall, Satan, Old Nick Himself, stopped by my house as I was relaxing on my deck, recovering from the pasting that Florida State put on Pitt the night before, and we had the following conversation:Devil:  You're a Steelers fan, right?Me: Sure am.Devil: Season starts this coming Sunday, doesn't it?Me: It does, but I'm afraid it's gonna be a down year for the Black & Gold.Devil:  Well,...

Recent Books and Movies

Time to catch up on some recently read books and recently viewed movies.First in the store will be Gillian Flynn's first novel, "Sharp Objects".  Ms. Flynn is the author of the amazingly successful best seller, "Gone Girl", which was her third novel and which I liked but found the characters to be remarkably unlikable.  I thought I would try "Sharp Objects", and...

A Great Halloween Story

Thanks to Facebook and, more specifically, Pirate Chat on Facebook, I have made the acquaintance of a gent named Tim Baker and his wife, Maryellen Kelly (aka "Mrs Season Ticket Holder")  in the past year.  Tim is a season ticket holder for both the Pirates and the Penguins.  His seats at PNC Park are primo - first row at the end of he Pirates dugout.  No...