Big Lead Sports Bar

7/09/2009

THE NEWS

PICS OF THE WEEK

I'm always up for a good cheap shot at Cleveland. Like this photoshop of the Dunk Heard But Not Seen Round the World.

"As natives of the Pittsburgh area who are currently transplanted in Harrisburg, my friend Brian and I jumped all over yesterday's multi-trophy visit. Personally, we were both the most psyched to see Lord Stanley's Chalice, because it is the Trophy, not just a trophy, but hey -- who is going to say no to seeing a Lombardi as well, right? And whatever that weird pointy crown thing was that was sitting beside them. Somebody told me it had something to do with baseball, but I was born in 1982, so I didn't realize baseball had championships. Heck, I didn't even know they had a post season.* I thought the whole point of baseball was to assemble the cheapest payroll possible and change your slogan every few years. Let's go to work! But I digress...
Here are a few shots I snapped of the waiting line, and then my picture of the trophies. The line was long, but it moved remarkably quickly, mostly due to the cop/security guard guys making sure everyone had time for only one or two pictures before moving them along. I was actually rather impressed with the efficiency, overall. I swear I did nothing to doctor the trophy picture, the Lombardi was actually gleaming in the sunlight.

*Yeah, I remember the early 90s. Thankfully I had started watching baseball by that point, which I think is how I still maintain my Pirate fandom. I seriously don't know how I'll ever convince any children I might have to care about them at all." -- Mark B.
---
"I'm a Burgher transplanted in Philly, and my girlfriend and I made the hour-plus drive to Atlantic City this weekend. We were kind of surprised at how rough the city was outside of the casinos and tourist centers, and I said I had heard it was one of the top 20 or so worst cities in America. So I googled to try and validate my claim, and found a list from an old AOL archive. I didn't see AC on it, but Philadelphia was #5 worst city in America. However, the picture they had was this one:
I feel like this could be a number of things: Something that unfolded after a "Here We Go Steelers" or "Let's Go Pens" chant broke out outside Citizens Bank Park, someone finally taking action against Pirates management for embezzling the money and time of their fanbase for 17 years. But I think this would be best suited as the official photo of the Pittsburgh Pirates baseball club. Not sure why, but I just do." - Matt E.
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"I wanted to provide you with a couple of shots from my recent vacation to Disney World.
My Terrible Towel traveled with me and it was amazing to see the great opportunities.
My personal favorite is labeled Terrible Tower. That's me holding the towel and the guy two seats to my left (wearing the 'One for the Other Thumb' shirt) was from Kentucky.
He loved the photo and bought one just because the towel was in the pic. Note the two Cleveland fans sitting behind me." -- MurDelEx

INTERNET AUCTION OF THE WEEK

Raul Mondesi's game-used cleats, batting gloves, and and wrist bands can all be yours for only $109.99. A virtual steal.

LINK OF THE WEEK

The "If Celebrities Moved to Oklahoma" Gallery.
Very offensive...if you live in Oklahoma.


DAMESHEK ON E!
Dave Dameshek makes a guest appearance on the E! True Hollywood Story about baseball wives. Which is funny, because he's not a baseball player nor the wife of one. But a nice appearance by the 'Shek. And nice usage of the phrase "road beef".


VIDEOS OF THE WEEK

Franco's Italian Army, in all of its glory.

In My Hands: Salute to the Champions from Igloo Beach on Vimeo.

"We Burghers are fortunate to have so much happiness in times like these. I've been chumping all over the place trying to get a home for my Pens tribute video / ROCKIN' SLIDESHOW OF TRIUMPH, but the pitiless contentions of a certain mega-label paint it as a triple-contagious hobo hepped up on Aqua Net. My hilarity aside, the linked is intended to be uplifting, is my creation, and makes me cry. Warning: one profanity at about 0:16." -- Igloo Beach

"City of Champions - Gatorade style", from Adrian S.

And a public service announcement: Bruno opens on Friday. I have high hopes.

QUESTIONS THAT NEED ANSWERED


"I just had a question about Pitt since I don't reside in Western PA. Do you know when the Pitt Athletic Department officially switches over to the Nike apparel sponsorship? I've heard rumblings that it is definitely going to happen. Will there be any jersey changes for the football team under Nike? Also the Basketball team? I like what Nike puts out there for the most part, especially with traditional schools like Penn State. As long as they stay away from all the piping they put on the jerseys. If you know anything or have any connections to this story I'd be interested in knowing more." -- Dan D.

"Calling the soundtracks “questionable” on those two recent Steelers/Penguins montages is an understatement. The music almost made me embarrassed to have my teams featured in the videos. I have neither the time nor the technical know-how/software to put one of those montages together, but I always thought it would be cool to see some Steelers/Penguins highlights put to the theme from the movie “300”. Either the audio from this trailer (the line “They came from the blackness” just begs for shots the Steelers/Penguins exiting the tunnel in their black unis) or the song “Just Like You Imagined” by NIN would do the trick. I don’t know if you have someone among your extensive network of Yinzers who could pull this off, but I thought it would do the teams more justice. The music is a little more, how you say, masculine?" -- Phil R.

SOME LINKS

--The former roommate of Sahel Kazemi, aka Steve McNair's girlfriend, currently resides in Pittsburgh. Unfortunately, this story told me virtually nothing on the subject, so don't say I didn't warn you. [WPXI]

--Freddy Sanchez is still a Pirate at the moment, so the team's auction must not be complete. Bidders for his services include Colorado and San Francisco. So does that make Neil Huntington the fast-talking auctioneer? [PBC Blog]

--There's also spirited bidding for Matt Capps, and Florida is the latest franchise to throw their hat into the ring. [Fox]

--The Pens' preseason schedule is out, and it wraps up with...Detroit. I believe all of you are familiar with that team, no? [Empty Netters]

--Pittsburgh is grieving the pending loss of KDKA's Sonni Abatta to Fox 35 in Orlando. I know Mark Madden, for one, is beside himself. [Tuned In Journal]


--Pitt guard Jermaine Dixon, their only returning starter, injured his foot during summer league play and could be out until September. [PG]

--Is St. Louis defenseman Jay McKee going to be the next Pittsburgh Penguin? [Mark Madden/105.9 the X]

Update: Looks like they're crossing the t's and dotting the i's on the deal. It appears we've got a new Penguin.

--The Wannstache just got his 14th recruit for 2010, 6'4", 215-pound TE Brendan Carozzoni of Cleveland's St. Ignatius. He chose the Panthers over WVU, Indiana, and a bunch of MAC schools. [Trib]

--The Spurs' recent pickups of Antonio McDyess and Marcus Haislip could be bad news for Dejuan Blair, says Bob Smizik. [Bob Smizik Blog]

--Grove City's Caleb Kolb, son of former Steeler Jon Kolb, was named to the Asics High School All-American wrestling team. The nation's 20th-ranked recruit, he'll be wrestling collegiately at Nebraska. [AlliedNews.com]

AND FINALLY...

As requested on Thursday, keep that feedback rolling in. Lots of great suggestions so far. Remeember, I want to hear from you. Yes, you!

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6 comments:

Adam said...

As a Penn State fan, I gag a little every time I see the Swoosh on our jerseys. They don't belong there.

NickDawg said...

Damm Sonni Abatta...Pittsburgh's finest...I could care less about losing McClouth, Morgan, etc... but Sonni... bad day for the Burgh

PS... Adam, I vommit a little bit in my mouth every time you post on this site...

AJ said...

In regards to the crime scene photo:

It looks like somebody...

*removes sunglasses*

... was gunned down at the plate.

YYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAHHHHHH!

Andy said...

Really excited about the Jay McKee signing, have heard great things about him from Sabres fans.

HotDog_Zanzabar said...

AJ's comment is probably the best comment I've ever read.

M_Shale said...

ok, this whole concept of being "dunked on" is why i haven't watched an nba game since oj was on his way to morgantown(he heard you won't find a heisman winner there) in the bronco.

so a guy makes a perhaps desperate attempt at defense and fails, maybe it was his error, could be some one else's, either way he gets there just in time to get "dunked on". oh the insuing shame on his family name. its called trying to play defense, perhaps failing, but at least doing what you can. the foolish ego of it all makes me cringe, and i think explains why the nba highlights i accident into look like rec center bb most of the time.
what if deebo didn't chase fitz in the superbowl because he didn't want to get "housed on", or don beebe chasing lett,ben watson etc. you make the effort even past the point of expected futility. /rant