THIS IS WHAT RONNIE FLORIAN'S BEEN UP TO

Last year, a series of TV spots for the Pirates identified some local die-hards telling their stories of why they love the Pirates so. Some of these were on the boring side, but then we were introduced to one Ronnie Florian. The rest, as they say, was history. My recap from last year:

At long last, my Holy Grail has been delivered. I present to you the much-anticipated, much-hyped, RONNIE FLORIAN, Pirate Fan [video]. The accent, the mustache, the Pirates sweatshirt...it's the perfect storm of everything that Pittsburgh is all about. The only way they make this more Pittsburgh is if he would be wearing a Steelers sweatshirt and was holding an Iron City in the Heinz Field parking lot. But this is a Pirate ad, so I'm sure they made him change outfits before they started taping.

He became an internet phenomenon, easily the biggest non-celebrity in Mondesi's House history next to the famous GwenJen.

Readers were tracking him down at Pirate games, and he graciously posed for pictures, beer in hand. What we thought might be a fictional character made up by the Pirates' PR department was all too real. It was like getting a picture of Bigfoot. Readers even found him at the Pirates-Yankees series in New York.

Fast-forward to a few weeks ago (May 12, to be exact). I got an interesting email from a longtime reader. This was shortly after that huge local story about the wedding night brawl in Pittsburgh that left groom/dentist David Wielechowski looking like this:

So the email drops what I would call a bombshell on me:

Anyways, my dad heard a rumor that the person who tried to help that married couple who fought each other on mcknight road... was RON FLORIAN HIMSELF....tell me that wouldnt be the craziest bit of news you heard in months if its true...

While I certainly believed it could be possible, I decided to wait and see if I could find out more details. You know I'm not big on rumor-mongering. And today, the emails started coming in, from the PG and the Trib. An excerpt:

"I got him in a headlock and I was lumping him and lumping him," the elder Florian said, demonstrating the headlock and his punches to the dentist's head while glaring at Dr. Wielechowski across a courtroom table that separated them.

So what was the most bizarre story of the year in Pittsburgh now gets a million times crazier. Ronnie Florian, I never thought you could get any cooler, but somehow you've managed to pull it off.

RELATED:

Recapping a Busy Day (Florian at the Yankee game) [Mondesishouse.com]

Ronnie Florian is Real...Again [Mondesishouse.com]

At Long Last, Ronnie Florian [Mondesishouse.com]

STORY OF THE DAY (Wedding brawl) [Mondesishouse.com]

Brawling newlyweds to stand trial [PG]

Shaler newlyweds held for trial in brawl with other wedding party [Trib]