Big Lead Sports Bar

5/20/2009

THE NEWS

*Before we get into The News, thanks to everyone who helped out and sent stuff in. I couldn't post all of it, but I hope you enjoy what's here

PICS OF THE WEEK
"Solid Picture of Captain Jolly Roger and Geno at last Friday's game...My friend took the Picture as he came by" -- Beans
"My boyfriend, Rege, and I were lucky enough to get tickets for Game One of the ECF on Monday, but had to sit in different seats, at opposite ends of the arena – the only way I could score two tickets right at 10 AM when they went on sale. I was in the second row of E16, my seat was smack-dab behind the “Pens shoot twice” goal, which was great. The seats in front of me were empty up until right before the game started, and this guy sat down in front of me, with all kinds of stuff in his hands, this cowbell being one of them.

It was one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen – there was a chain of sorts attached to the cowbell’s handle, with a black carabiner attached to that, which he rigged up to hook onto the railing in front of him (he was in the first row of the section). Every time he’d get up during the intermissions, he whipped out this little lock and key, and would lock the chain onto the railing, so A) no one would steal it, and B) he didn’t have to carry with him to the bathroom, concession stand, etc. Pretty clever if you ask me.

After I got past the cowbell thing, he takes out this really long piece of string and a cut-open ziploc bag, basically just a piece of plastic folded in half, filled with sparkly confetti. He spent a good while rigging this up so that he could pull the string easily and the bag would open up completely and the confetti would shower the people in the sections below us, every time the Pens scored. And then after the goal, he’d do it all over again, filling up the bag with more confetti (that he kept bags of in his pocket), and rigging up the pull-string. It was such a well-thought-out process, I found myself watching him and forgetting there was a game going on after each of the three goals were scored.

So next time you’re watching on TV, see if you notice it, or maybe you already have, but I thought it was pretty sweet. I talked to the guys around me, and they said he has season tickets – he brings the cowbell along all season, but saves the confetti-throwing bit for the playoffs." -- Lauren B.

"Just this past weekend, I pulled the trigger and dropped (to me) a lot of money at Dicks on my fav. Pens player. My faith was justly rewarded 5 hours later, when my Aunt called me saying she had 2 Thursday night tickets she couldnt use! My first Pens playoff game will be a great way to break in the new jersey. Anywho, after bringing it home, I realized something... see the attachment.... all I ask is.... Coincidence??? Go Pens!" -- Ian M.

"Attached is a picture of a friend of mine on semester in France… Her name is Lee Ziesche and she brought out the sacred Terrible Towel on top of the Eiffel Tower. GO PENS!" -- Max P., Michigan via Pittsburgh
"Here is a pic of me with a Maasas Mara warrior while I was in Kenya a few years ago. The guy loved my shirt so much (and I had 2 of course) that I had to give one to him so he could represent "Pittsburgh Pride" in Kenya! I'm also from the great "tahn" of Greensburg, PA and a Yinzer for life! Let's bring home the cup, Let's go Pens!!!" -- Matt D.
"I created this picture for the playoff run" -- GrizzlyBlair

"I have a Terrible Towel picture for you that I took at the Super Bowl while Large Benjamin was holding up Lord Vince and it just so happened that while the picture was snapped, one of the 30,000 Terrible Towels there was waved right in front. Just a cool picture that I thought other Yinzers would like." -- Jeff M., displaced in Chicago



VIDEOS OF THE WEEK

An awesome 2009 Penguins Video Tribute from Benson

"The Stinky Penguins", from The Nigerian Nightmare

LINK OF THE WEEK:
"Who are the franchise QBs?"
1. Manning
2. Brady
3. Brees
4. Palmer
5. Rivers
"On the Fence" - Roethlisberger

[From the National Football Post]

Since I've written on this topic roughly 8 billion times, I'll just link to the excellent response from Elvis Has Left and move on.


MORE LINKS

NHL/PENS:

--Bill Cowher WILL sound the siren for the Canes in Game Four against the Pens. He's officially dead to Pittsburgh. [Morning Freak Show Blog]

--Mellon Arena has not been friendly to the Hurricanes, from an injury point-of-view. [Empty Netters]

--Tampa Bay Lightning multi-millionaire Ryan Malone is pulling for the Pens. [NHL.com]

--Great article about a guy from Montreal who grew up in Mario's neighborhood visiting the Burgh and basking in Steeler and Penguin Nation. [Concordian Online]

--37-year-old Todd Reirden has been named the permanent coach at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. [KDKA Pittsburgh Sports Insider]

--Matt Cooke might have a little "Do as I say, not as I do" going on. [Puck Daddy]

--Here's your chance to learn how ice is made at Mellon Arena. [WPXI]

--SI names the most rugged players in the NHL. If only Favre played hockey... [SI.com]

--Bill Simmons announces to the world that he is once again a hockey fan... [ESPN.com]

...and if you like Bill Simmons, you can hear him in audio form talking hockey with Dave Dameshek. [ESPN.com]

MLB/PIRATES:

--The Pirates edged the Nationals 3-2, giving the Battlin' Bucs a five-game winning streak. Tonight, Ian Snell takes the hill against Craig Stammen, who makes his MLB debut. I'm sure you'll all skip the Pens game to watch. [PG]

--Bob Smizik ranks the top 5 Pirate surprises of 2009. Where's Rinku and Dinesh? [Bob Smizik Blog]

--A recent study shows that the side effects of steroids include fame and fortune. [Sports Pickle]

NFL/STEELERS:

--Big Ben does not have skin cancer. I must be slipping, because I never even heard that one in the first place. [PG]

--Andrew Stockey looks back at the story he had a major hand in, the James Harrison White House controversy. [Andrew Stockey Blog]

--And Mark Madden says Silverback should attend the ceremony out of respect for Dan Rooney. [Mark Madden/WXDX]

--Chief Nate Harper and four officers who were among the first on the scene at the Stanton Heights shooting will be at the White House with the Steelers today. [PG]

--Terry Bradshaw was on The Tonight Show recently, and if you missed it, here's the clip. [NBC]

--James Walker looks at position battles in the AFC North, and of the seven he mentions, only one involves the Steelers. [ESPN AFC North Blog]

--Big Ben's foundation bought an $11,000 German Shepherd for the Cambridge Springs police. That must be one awesome dog. [PG]

--From The Onion: "Steelers Jersey Worn to Pirates Game".

--The Top 5 Joe Namath endorsements are counted down.

I've often mentioned how much fun it would've been to blog about Joe Namath in his heyday, but luckily it looks like Mark Sanchez is trying to replicate the experience before he's even played a down in the league. I believe the early candidate for top nickname is "Jose Namath". [Manolith, With Leather, KSK]


--Very thorough analysis of the Michael Vick saga from Lester Munson. [ESPN]

--In the "No Surprise" Department: Chad Ochocinco and Carson Palmer are not on the same page. [Cincinnati.com]

COLLEGE:

--In an interesting interview, Tyrell Biggs talks about bodegas, Primanti's, and being 6'5", 230 pounds in middle school. [IMG Academy]

--Recently reprimanded Pitt WR Jonathan Baldwin is named the 6th best player in the Big East conference. [ESPN Big East Blog]

--Looks like TE Andrew Devlin might be transferring from UVA to Wannyville. [Pitt Blather]

MISCELLANY:

--The Pittsburgh Riverhounds have some loyal supporters. [Scarves Up!]

--Bruce Springsteen apparently rocked Mellon Arena on Tuesday. [PG]

--Nothing says Pittsburgh like playing jump rope with a snake. [TMZ]

--A Rostraver man claims he's God and attacks a 'Devil Dog'. [WPXI]

--Pittsburgh's Kurt Angle just might be on the next edition of Dancing with the Stars. [Talent Network News]

--The Coupon Queen visits the Lawrenceville Shop N Save, and gets $168.94 of groceries for $7.13. [PG]


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3 comments:

BurressWithButterflywings said...

I don't really agree with anything Puck Daddy says anymore. I am not pleased with what Matt Cooke did and would prefer to see him punished properly; the same way that I thought Ovechkin should have been. However,something that is entirely out of Cooke's hands doesn't make him a hypocrite. His hit was illegal yes, but didn't look as vicious as Ovie's( probably because of the difference in speeds).

Puck Daddy takes shots at Cooke for this hit after he defended Ovie for doing worse to Gonch when AO is as wreckless a player as any constantly lining up players from damn near center ice and leaving his feet every time without consequence.

It's funny that Greg analyzes the officials non call on the Cooke play and also whether it was proper to call Cole for goaltender interference, but makes no mention whatsoever of Eric Staal stripping MAF's stick out of his hands and then shooting it away from him which led directly to their second goal.

Maybe he should join the Stevens/Boudreau/Julien team of incessant whiners because that seems to be all we hear about. I am glad the Bylsma ignores it and just focuses on winning games!

Anonymous said...

Great comment on the Raleigh newspaper's comment section where the story was originally posted about Cowher running the siren..........."Let him do it. Nothing spells defeat like Bill Cowher in a home conference championship game."

Jeff_King_Fan said...

i dont think its that big of a deal, cowher rooting for carolina. it would be different if he was still the steelers coach. in my opinion, the fact that he won a super bowl ring, and gave me one of the greatest moments in my life, i can let him rooting for another hockey team slide. let him have his fun with his cute little siren. he can even play with it when the penguins win the series in 5 games and he's watching the stanley cup finals from the empty RBC center. PEACE I'M OUTTA HERE!