Some Football Thoughts......

Some pigskin thoughts....

• The Steelers season came to a practical end with that loss to the Dolphins on Sunday, although the NFL PR machine will still churn out the fact that they are still mathematically in the hunt.  
• The Steelers of 2013 are most certainly not a very good team, but you can't say that their games have not been entertaining.  You've got to give them credit for that.
• In trying to find some positives, I will say that Le'Veon Bell looks like he will be a good to quite good NFL running back, that Cameron Heyward is starting to look like he was worth that first round pick, and that Ben Roethlisberger remains an elite NFL quarterback.
• In the comments made by readers to Bob Smizik's blog post following Sunday's game, a reader stated that he "will never forgive" Antonio Brown for stepping out of bounds on that final wacky play of the game.  I feel sorry for a person like that.  He must have a pretty empty life.
• In the beginning of the season, I said that the Steelers would be somewhere in the range of a 7-9 to 9-7 team.  At 5-8 with three to play against the Bengals, Packers and Browns, I'm thinking 7-9 would be an achievement at this point.
• End zone dances and celebrations after touchdowns by players don't usually bother me, but I can do without the histrionics after a routine first down.
• Pitt is going to the Little Caesar's Pizza Bowl in Detroit on December 26 against Bowling Green.  It's easy to make fun of this, but what the hell?  As friend John Kraemer noted recently on the Facebook W. PA Football Huddle page, since the only "meaningful" bowl game will be the BCS Title game between Auburn and Florida State, then every other bowl game played, even the biggies on New Year's Day, are every bit as "meaningless" as is Pitt's contest with BG.  So enjoy the game if you are so inclined.  No one is forcing anyone to watch a single one of these contests.
• However, spare me the rhetoric of the importance of the extra fifteen practice sessions that schools gain by playing in a Bowl Game.  This will be the sixth year in a row that Pitt has had these fifteen extra practices and they have enabled them to put together two back-to-back 6-6 seasons.
• When I was a high school student, the Catholic High Schools did not belong to the WPIAL or PIAA.  They competed in a Catholic League.  Well, the number of Catholic Schools have diminished, and schools such as one time fierce rivals Central Catholic and North Catholic compete on different levels in the WPIAL and do not play each other any more.  I think that that is a shame, but I know that I am in the minority on that.  In any event, both Central and North will be playing for State Championship football titles this weekend in Hershey, so good luck to them both.  It allows some of us old-timers to reflect upon the old days of the Catholic League.

Fish Fries and Other Random Thoughts for a Sunday Morning

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 "definites" penciled in:  Howard's Tavern in West View (not a Church, true, but owned and operated by fellow St. John Neumann parishioners), and the Serbian Club on the South Side.  This one benefits our neighbors and friends, George and Barb Topich's Serbian Orthodox Church.  That leaves one upcoming Friday in the "TBD" column.

A word of warning.  Our friends Fred and Susan Shugars had a not-so-great experience by opting for take-out at St. Alexis this past Friday, so you may want to consider eating in, which is what we did.  When it comes to take-out, always remember what Joe Pesci said about going through the drive-through (or, take-out window, in this case) in "Lethal Weapon 2".



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Congratulations to the Robert Morris University basketball team for their first place finish in the Northeast Conference this season.  This means home court advantage throughout the NEC Tournament.  It also means that March Madness begins this coming Wednesday night when RMU takes on St. Francis (NY) in the opening round game.  Survive and Advance.  Be there!

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The Pirates now stand at 2-7 in Grapefruit League play.  So, who cares, these are exhibition games.

On the other hand, Starling Marte is now hitting .417 in grapefruit League Play.  Now THAT is something to get excited about. 

This is what is great about Spring Training.  You get to pick-and-choose what's important.

Speaking of the Pirates, their game this past Friday was televised and it was great to watch some Pirates baseball.  Catching for the Bucs that night was Lucas May.  Now, I like to think that I keep close track on my favorite ball club, but I have to tell you, I had NEVER heard of Lucas May.

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The stories about the "fractured" Steelers locker room this past season that are now coming out are sort of interesting, but, to be honest, I'm not putting a lot of credence in them, nor am I paying too much attention.  However, one item that did catch my eye was the retired Hines Ward talking about too much "finger pointing" taking place among the team this year, a team, by the way, that, lest we forget, Ward was not a part of.  This is coming from the same Hines Ward who a few years back accused Ben Roethlisberger of dogging it for not playing when he had a concussion.

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It's High School Musical season.  We took in Seneca Valley's production of "Annie" last Friday.  In two weeks, it'll be North Allegheny doing "Footloose", and next month it will be "Legally Blonde" at Montour.  Few things make you feel better than seeing the energy, talent, and just plain fun of these kids - cast, orchestra, and crew - putting on a show.

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So Mayor Luke has decided not to seek re-election as Mayor of Pittsburgh.  In his column today, John Mehno talked about the "frat-boy sensibility" that the Boy Mayor has brought to the office, and that was certainly reinforced when you read Luke's Mayoral "timeline" in the PG the other day, and saw about Luke's Seven Springs birthday party, crashing a party to meet Tiger Woods, attending concerts at Star Lake in city vehicles, airplane rides with Mario Lemieux, appearance in the Batman movie, and you could go on and on..

Davey Lawrence, he wasn't.

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A DVR Alert for tonight, Sunday:  "Annie Hall" is on TCM at 8:00 PM.  One of Woody Allen's very best.  Oscars for Best Picture, Actress (Dianne Keaton), and Director and Screenplay (Allen).  Terrific movie.

Do You Feel Sorry for Either Party Here?

Interesting story in the Post-Gazette this morning about the Steelers' planned addition of 3,000 seats to Heinz Field for the 2013 season.  

My own feeling on this is that adding these seats will take away the one design feature of Heinz Field that makes it unique - the open ended south end of the Stadium that gives one a view of the riverfront and the city.  The Steelers say that that will not be lost in the redesign. We'll see.

Anyway, it seems that the Sports and Exhibition Authority (SEA) has not given the final rubber stamp on this that would enable construction to begin and be completed by the opening of the 2013 season.  The SEA is saying financing has not been finalized.  One financing feature being proposed is a $2 or $3 surcharge for parking at the Heinz Field lots.  Parking czar Merrill Stabile says that this is "unfair" to the public.  Oh, by the way, Stabile also mentioned that he is considering an increase in the parking price for Steelers game anyway.  Last time I heard, it already cost $35 to park for a Steelers game.

The Steelers have also proposed that they, the team, will finance the construction.  How are they going to do this?  You guessed it - seat licenses and an additional surcharge on all tickets.  In other words, the ticket buyers, not the Steelers, are paying for this.  The Steelers will also tell you that they want to add these seats for "the fans", especially those people who have been on the waiting list for so long.  The fact that these seats will bring in another $2.4 million a year (and that includes the two practice games that they force on you) has little to do with it as far as the altruistic Art Rooney II is concerned.

So who do you sympathize with the most here?  Art II or Merrill Stabile?  I'm just gald that they both have the public's interest at heart here.