Explore the Concrete Beach

Last night as many people know, the Chicago Blackhawks won teh Stanley Cup. Which means the NHL season is officially over.

This saddens me.

Now I have to wait until October to watch hockey. But there are a few things coming up hockey wise, like the draft and Free Agent Frenzy.

The win by the Blackhawks also officially ended the Pittsburgh Penguins as Stanley Cup champions (eventhough the Pens went out in the middle of May). The cup is the hardest trophy to win in sports and the Blackhawks deserved to win.

Actually anyone but Philadelphia deserved to win. Haha!

So what is the real reason the Penguins have to win tonight?

Well, for one thing it spares all of the City of Pittsburgh from having collective heart attacks at the same time, but the real reason the Penguins must end this series tonight is it will stop Pittsburgh sports writers and bloggers from posting the same story tomorrow.

If you’re asking “what story?” You don’t know your Penguins history and you can just sit tight on the bandwagon and figure out 8787 ways to yell “Shoooooooot” during a Power Play. I know every sports writer has their little anecdote ready for a game 7 piece and it probably goes something like this:

The first game played by the Penguins 43 years ago in the then Civic Arena was played against a now familiar foe, the Montreal Canadiens, but unfortunately for the Penguins that ended in a 2-1 loss to the Habs. Will history repeat itself? Will the Penguins find themselves removed from another Stanley Cup run because of a building coming “full circle”? Could the Pens time at the Mellon Arena end just like it began?  Quite possibly, if the blah blah blah criticize defense, Malkin, Fleury, the earth revolving around the sun, pigeons, Disco Dan’s tie or some other non-sense…

Yep, you’ll all read that tomorrow if the Penguins do not finish off the Montreal Canadiens tonight. So get praying to the hockey gods because any game 5-7 makes me queasy enough in the stomach to cause an acid volcano, I don’t need to add a heart attack.

And can you imagine the TV reporters going nuts with this story? I don’t to hear this beaten to death either.

So please hockey god’s spare use from “clever,” but un-original stories in tomorrow’s paper and hockey blogs and make them full of Eastern Conference Final stories. I don’t need to hear how history might repeat itself because of something 43 years ago, but I know every writer had their story ready to go before game 6 is even played.

There’s only one way the Mellon Arena should go, and that is to go out in style with  a repeat of last years history. 

And with that I say:

             It’s a sad, yet happy day in the City of Pittsburgh. Today is the last regular season game in the History of the 48 year-old Mellon Arena. Trust me when I say their will be some misty eyes and man tears tonight as the city says farewell to the oldest arena in the NHL. (more…)

This weekend I went curling. If you’re asking yourself, “What’s Curling?” then you probably haven’t watched any of the Olympics in the last 17 days.

So, where in Pittsburgh can you go curling?

Well that’s they easy part! You can learn to curl at the Robert Morris Island Sports Center on Neville Island, which is home to the Pittsburgh Curling Club. It was an open house for anyone who had an interest in curling to get the basics down and find out more information.

Not RMU but this is what the rink looks like

I will start by saying this Curling is a lot of fun, harder than many people think and you’ll discover muscles that you never knew existed and they will be sore days later, but it’s extremely fun!

After saying that I will say, “HOLY CRAP that’s a lot of people.” This was my thought when I walked into the Island Sports Center. There were lines everywhere, which was really confusing because you had to buy a wristband at the front desk to actually curl for $10, which to me was cheap so no big deal there.

After you waited in line for the wristband you had to join another line to sign a waiver at the Pittsburgh Curling Club booth, luckily I all ready had one printed and filled out so I got to skip this line. The booth was right inside the front entrance causing a traffic jam for anyone walking into the place, but due to the limited area it was probably the best spot. After waiting for a few other people we got into the last line which moved slowly.

We waited in the third last line for TWO HOURS, yes TWO HOURS. Remember I arrived at 5 we didn’t leave to almost 8:30. There were some people who just gave up and left and considered their $10 a donation to RMU.

Yes, the thought raced through everyone’s mind to leave, but at the point of wanting to leave we were near the front of the line. The members of the curling club were walking up and down the line with bowls of candy trying to keep people happy and answered questions, which did help calm parts of the crowed.

Finally we were let in. What was the reason for the long wait? Well, they were only able to take about12 people at a time. There was limited room and they really didn’t expect 600 people to show up, but that’s what happened, which was great for them, but they were really overwhelmed.

Once our group was lead to the arena we were taken through a series of stretches off ice and were told basic rules and techniques of curling, then it was off to the ice to actually throw a stone and learn how to sweep.

"SWEEEEEP! HARRRRDER!" You hear that a lot!

Now this was the fun part. While on the ice we were taught how to throw the stone, which despite what you see on TV is a lot harder than it looks. The ice is different than hockey ice as it is beaded, which we learned was to make the stone curl. It also made it easier to walk and run on. After we each practice a few times throwing (Yes, I wiped out on my first try) we played an “End” which is like an inning in baseball.

Let me tell you sweeping is hard for two reasons. 1) You’re on ice and you got to keep up with the stone, which may require running and it’s a little un-nerving on ice. 2) You have to push really hard on the broom to really sweep the ice, it’s a workout and you don’t realize how far down the “house” is from the starting area (the exact name escapes me).

So, overall I have a new found respect for Curling. It is really fun, harder than it looks and probably with a little (or a lot) of practice you can become an average player and it’s great for any age. Even though it was a 2 hour wait to curl it was absolutely worth it in the end. I had a good time and will go back for another go at some point to play again. I actually signed up for more info on learn to curl session. They also have a league and mini-leagues too.

For more information on the Pittsburgh Curling Club or general questions visit their website http://www.pittsburghcurlingclub.com/

Well, it’s another gray Monday here in Pittsburgh. The rain has been falling for a few days on and off and it looks to continue that way for the rest of the week, but at least it’s suppose to be in the 60s at it’s lowest point so that’s a good thing.

This weekend while I was working at the mall my manager and I ordered from a restaurant which is in the outside portion of the mall. We usually order from there on Saturday’s because we get sick of the food court and there food cost just as much as the food court, but it’s 100X better.

Like I said we order from this place every week so the bartender who takes our order, Lucas, knows the deal when we call. So I went to pick-up our order. I walk into the restaurant and the girl behind the podium says, “Hi,” and I say, “Hello how are you?” as I walk toward the bar area to pick up the food and then she says, “Are you the new guy? Here’s your apron.” I stopped and look toward the bar area as I see Lucas laughing as he heard the whole conversation.

I said, “No, I am just picking up food.” Slightly embarrassed she apologized and I proceeded to pick up the food from Lucas and when I walked out she apologized again and said, “You must be a waiter, somewhere because you just look like a waiter.”

Now I am required to wear all black or black and white for my job at the mall, I choose to wear all black because when I used to wear a white shirt at the store I work at it would look not so white by the end of the day because there is so much dust flying around the mall. But still I didn’t know I look like a waiter.

Is there a certain type of look that fits a waiter?

I could never be a waiter because, well, people would piss me off with there special orders and I would probably drop a tray of food on someone, which wouldn’t be good.

I get annoyed at the people at my other job in the morning that go to the café and get picky about what piece of bacon they want or how crispy a hash brown was made. I feel bad for the cook because some people are just so picky. That and these office ladies like to steal tea bags constantly. They take two cups shove tea bags, sugar packets and sometimes lemon into one cup, then place the other on top and fill it with water and it looks like they just doubled up their cup.

I just roll my eyes and try not to cause a scene. One day I will stop the office ladies and just be like why are you stealing tea bags? The kicker is the first cup of coffee or tea is free.

Sigh.

That’s it for now.

10 days until vacation.

Penguins VS Capitals Game 2 tonight.

LET’S GO PENS!

Later!

Dear NBC-

Why do you carry NHL games and strive to provide the worst NHL coverage ever. And then to top it off you seem to hate hockey fans.

The Pittsburgh Penguins have set up a large screen outside the arena to watch the hockey games for the past two seasons.

Word started circling on Friday April 17 that you would not allow the Penguins to show the game on the screen which brings about 2000-4500 people to gather around and root on their home team…FOR AN AWAY GAME!

You claimed you did not know about this screen, which was a lie, as there were shots of it all last playoff season when the Penguins went to the Stanley Cup Finals. It was mentioned several times during your broadcast and broadcast from the Versus Network. To claim ignorance that you were not aware is just a flat out lie.

Will those 2000-4500 people really kill your ratings? And what about your advertisers?

Wouldn’t be a shame if people stopped buying their products because of a decision you made? Because the way I see it the screen would be an advertisers dream. 2000-4500 people with no distractions of home sitting in front of a large TV, really if I was one of the advertisers I would be pissed at this decision. NBC just took a captivated audience and placed them in their home where during commercial breaks they could be cooking dinner, going to the bathroom, running errands etc…

NBC you made a huge mistake and if/when the Penguins make it further into the playoffs it’s going to get ugly.

I hope the Penguins organization goes rouge and take up the CBC’s offer to show their feed of the game, because it take a Canadian company to truly understand hockey fans and the support for their teams.

It’s a shame how you don’t care about hockey fans and through some of the worst commentators, coverage and awful camera angles. Get rid of the end zone cam for power plays, it’s horrible and makes people nauseas.

NBC think about what your doing to a group of, not just hockey fans, but people who may watch your shows, which there really isn’t that many because your lineup pretty much relies on shows that should be cancelled, The Biggest Loser and Celebrity Apprentice such fine TV Viewing that is., but no thanks. I may be one person, but doesn’t one person with a Nielson box reflect 1,000 people or more.

Just think about that.

I still can’t believe this weekend. The game right now was all a blur and that’ OK by me as I was probably an emotional wreck.

First there was the Penguins game. They so needed a win and they got one. Way to look sharp for once Pens, especially winning 3-0 against one of the best goalies in the league. Fluery was a wall when need be, but he didn’t have too many difficult shots to block thanks to the play of…well everyone. Best team effort all year.

Congratulations to Chris Minard for getting his first goal in the NHL well deserved.

While the Pens game was finishing up. I was standing in a parking lot across from PNC Park tailgating. There was a sense of nervousness in the air as many people who stood around me have been there before and left disappointed.

Everyone knew what was at stake we didn’t need news people to remind us, even though they milled about the lots ready to ask, “Do you know what this game mean?”

Seriously, people may be drunk, but they know “what this game means.”

The wait in the parking lot felt forever. Some people had the Arizona/Philly game on keeping tabs of the score of that game. At moments it felt like time stood still. As each second passed it felt like an hour. By about 4PM everyone was ready. Many seemed filled with nervous excitement, but ready to go, but there was still 2 ½ before the game.

At about 5:30PM we left the tailgate and headed toward gate “A” like we did 11 previous times this season (2 exhibitions, 8 regular seasons and 1 divisional play-off round).

Walking to the stadium on any given game day is exciting, but this was the AFC Championship game. The closer you go to the throngs of people waiting to go through security you can feel the energy of the fans. Yes, there were a few Ravens fans scattered through the crowed and kudos to them for showing up. Got to have respect for a fan that travels to another stadium for a game and are brave enough to show their colors.

Finally, made it into Heinz Field in about 10 minutes. Thanks for the quick and efficient security checks this week. I still remember what a disaster that was the Dallas game trying to get in.

As I traveled the escalators to the top level, I looked at the Carnegie Science Center which was projecting lasers on their building. The weather cone had the Steelers emblem the side of the Omnimax rotated between a few phrases like, “Here We Go Steelers!” I then looked across the river at Mt. Washington to see that those same lasers were being projected on the side of the “hill.” It was pretty cool.

The next 60 minutes were a blur until the 4^th quarter. I remember looking over at the scoreboard seeing 15:00 on the clock and at that point I wanted to throw up. Those last 15 minutes were painful as everyone was excited, but once again, nervous. All that nervousness turned into excitement when Troy Polamalu intercepted that Joe Flacco pass with 4 ½ minutes left and ran it in for 6 and the place went wild. You could feel the ground move and I mean MOVE. The upper level of Heinz Field can shake like a springboard at times and at that moment you would think you would be taking off into the air at any moment.

Then Tyrone Carter ended it with a fumble recovery on the scariest moment of the game. When Ryan Clark landed a strong hit on Willis McGahee, which left Clark dazed and McGahee leaving on a stretcher, which is never good, but thankfully he will be OK.

A few plays and a few kneel downs and it was over and the place exploded. The stadium PA system blared “Here We Go” and a few other songs while the assembled the makeshift stage to present the conference trophy. That part took forever, but as Jim Nantz said, “No one left,” except for the few Ravens fans who…well, flew the coup.

They showed the front page of the Post-Gazette which read, “Here We Go (Again!)” the hats and shirts were given to the players. Some players ran over the North end zone and the two side lines and jumped into the stands with the fans in celebration. Hines Ward, gimp knee and all ran down the sideline high fiving fans; it was just a surreal moment I won’t forget.

It was Mike Tomlin who, always humble in any speech or talk he gives who gave the most sincere thanks to the fans I have ever seen a coach give. I know all, well I’ll say most, coaches really do appreciate the fans, but it was the way Tomlin said it you knew it was true.

As I walked out of Heinz Field we decided to walk the ramps down. Those ramps were filled with excitement as people were singing and high fiving each other. I caught a glimps of the laser messages again, “Tamp Here We Come” and the one on Mt. Washington shown in giant letters “AFC Champions.”

It was over and I couldn’t have been more excited and dazed at the same time.

But it’s true the Steelers are once again AFC Champions and on their way to Super bowl XLIII.

So much is going on around here and in the nation as it is Inauguration Day and Barack Obama will be our new President. So it’s an exciting week all around.

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Where to begin?

I know where!

Hope everyone enjoyed their Christmas or whatever holiday you may celebrate or not.

A lot has happened since Christmas Eve to get caught up on. I have been busy running around to grandparent’s houses, aunts and uncles houses and my own house there was not much time to write.

OK let’s get the sad stuff out of the way.

Harold Pinter and Eartha Kit passed away.

Pinter was an actor/playwright who I don’t know much about other than his play “The Homecoming,” which I saw last year. He’s won the Nobel Prize in literature in 2005. Like I said I don’t know much about him except one play, but it was a good one.

The sadder passing was Eartha Kitt. Best known for playing Catwomen in the TV Series “Batman,” due to Julie Newmar not being available for the final season she got the part and for the 1953 song “Santa Baby.”  She had one of the most distinctive voices ever. I got to see Kitt back in 2000 when I was in New York. She was in a show called “The Wild Party,” which starred Mandy Pantinkin and Toni Collette. The show was OK, but it was Kitts two solo numbers that were the most memorable. I know there is a YouTube clip with the cast at the Tony Awards that I will have to post later.

Ok, on to Christmas re-cap.

As tradition in my family on Christmas Eve we order a large tray of Chick-Fil-A nuggets. I know how odd for a Christmas Eve dinner. They serve to purposes. I don’t eat fish, never ever liked it and that’s what everyone else eats so I enjoy some nice nuggets and pierogies. Second reason is that after dinner and before the family opens the gifts my sister and I purchased there is wine and drinks! Woo!

So the second purpose is when people get a little hungry while drinking they hit the spot. And if you never had cold Chick-Fil-A nuggets then you’re really missing out because they are better than hot nuggets.

So Christmas came and went with no fanfare. I got the assorted gift cards, clothes and money for books. I did not get a Muppet Whatnot, so it looks like I have to get one myself.

The Penguins won one and lost one, and the Steelers finished off the regular season witha  0-31 stomping of the Cleveland Browns. 

I just realized I have 2 weeks before classes start and I don’t have one book yet and the school has yet to send me my e-mail information.

Nothing like stress at the beginning of a new year!

Ok that’s it for now, if I have time later I have a mall story, if not later than tomorrow for sure.

OK, Later!

As I sit here at work on Christmas Eve and try to forget about the wrinkled old lady who lit a cigarette up at Pizza Milano yesterday and ashed on my food and was unapologetic, and the un-inspiring play of the Penguins last night, I just want to take the time and say thanks to everyone who has been reading.

I’ll be taking a little break over the next few days, but will post if anything interesting happens or I find something I want to write about, as this blog is really a place for me to think, vent and share what I like and keeps me from going insane at work.

Above all, Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone, I wish we has some snow here in Pittsburgh, but I guess the fake stuff here on the page will have to do.

Best Wishes

Mark

Wow! It’s only 2 days until Christmas.

Where does time go?

Last night I decided to bake, don’t know why I did since there will be way too much food Christmas Eve and Christmas day, but I decided to anyway. I had frozen sugar cookie dough in the freezer.

They came out just the way I like them with a nice doughy center so that when you reach the middle it’s like eating only the cookie dough.

Nom, nom, nom!

After that, I watched the Penguins game hoping for better results then Saturday’s massacre. Early on it didn’t look too good being down 0-2. Yes, once again, they rally in OT to beat the Buffalo Sabers, with a bunt from Sidney Crosby to win 3-4.

New Face of the Pittsburgh Pirates? He knows how to bunt.

Dear Neil Huntington,

Please sign Sidney Crosby to a contract so he can teach your team to bunt. He’ll probably work out better than those to reality stars from India. I think it’s worth the investment.

Thanks!

Mark

What’s up with the commercials during the game? Versus, of course, is a horrible place to show hockey. From the announcers, the “We love Philly” mantra, thanks to Comcast, and the awful commercials we must endure to watch the game.

I can’t believe they can get away with the “Bob the Enzyte” commercials. Did you notice the arrows kept point to wood? Or how they said, “This chubby Santa?” A little disturbing, but it could make a good drinking game. The ‘BOD’ commercials needed to stop too. What demo are they going after?

Oh, well too bad the radio is not in sync with the HD feed, or I would have listened to the radio. I hate when the radio is ahead or behind, it just ruins it for me.

As an early Christmas gift to myself, I’m going to the game tonight to see the Pens take on Tampa Bay. I actually bought the tickets at the beginning of the season since just about half of Tampa’s team is ex-Penguins.

How I want to see this tonight.

I wish Barry Melrose was still the coach because that would have been awesome to see him stand there and pretend to coach.

I don’t really blame Melrose for being pissed. The owners just signed a crap load of new people and thought it would work. May I point out that was the Penguins philosophy the year after the lockout. We all remember how that all turned out.

That’s all for now.

Later!