BROWNS UNVEIL NEW EMPLOYEE PARKING SIGNS

This is just wrong. But hilarious. But we shouldn't laugh too hard...how quickly we forget Greg Lloyd's staph infection in 1997.

And related, from The Sports Pickle: "Browns locker room bacteria linked to Bill Belichick’s chemical weapons lab".

[Photo from reader Joe Callinger, a Yinzer in Youngstown, OH]

LINK CONTEST: WIN A COPY OF "STEELER NATION"!

It's time for a new link contest!

The rules are easy...send your interesting sports, entertainment, and bizarre news links and tips to mondesishouse@gmail.com

One winner chosen at random on September 26, 2008 will receive this week's prize:

a copy of the new hardback book from Jim Wexell, Steeler Nation:

A brief description:

It’s the trip every football fan dreams of making.

Sportswriter Jim Wexell made it and takes you with him.

This is your 10,000-mile drive through Steeler Nation.

You will discover:

• Why Willie Parker was born to run
• Why James Harrison is bad to the bone.
• The source of Greg Lloyd’s bitterness.
• The source of Troy Polamalu's happiness.
• How one of Jack Lambert’s gridiron victims is getting by.
• Why the mayor of Findlay made young Ben Roethlisberger a QB.
• How the mayor of Findlay rooted for the Steelers and lost an election.
• How the passion for Steelers football overwhelms cities and takes over stadiums.
• What they’re talking about in Kennewick, Washington; Wallace, Idaho; and Polson, Montana. (Hint: It’s not the Cleveland Browns).
• The Steelers are America’s Team and this is the proof.

This contest sponsored by Jim Wexell and Pittsburgh Sports Publishing

Business owners - if you are interested in promoting your product or company, please email mondesishouse@gmail.com for more information

The News

--The Pens reached 100 points but suffered a 2-1 loss at the hands of the New York Rangers on Monday night.

Former Little League World Series hero Chris Drury put the winner past MAF at 1:46 of OT.

--JoePa turned down a chance to meet with Bill Clinton during his recent State College visit. Why? JoePa's a Republican. Which is interesting, considering son Jay Paterno is a staunch supporter of Barack Obama.

--You absolutely have to read this article about the new breed of "rock star" superintendents. Unreal.

--Did you catch the Milwaukee Brewers lineup, with Jason Kendall batting ninth?

"We've done studies on this," manager Ned Yost said. "It's not just that we come up one day and say, 'You know, Jason Kendall's gonna hit ninth.'

--Slate.com recently had an article entitled, "How to root for one of the most mediocre sports teams ever", about, as you guessed, the Pirates. I actually got a mention in the article. Good to see that I'm so closely associated with mediocrity.

--How about some video of a fight in the stands at the Red Sox-Dodgers LA Coliseum exhibition game?

--Now you can Rent Dennis Rodman to Help You Dye Your Hair

--Here's a fresh article on the karate-chopping Greg Lloyd, who's had some legal troubles of his own in recent years.

--Just when you thought the Steelers’ offseason troubles were over, this happens…

"Davenport dumps out second seed Ivanovic”

Thankfully, it was a story about tennis.

--Here's the real story about Wrestlemania: the pyrotechnic malfunction that left dozens in the stands injured. Says With Leather: "A suspended cable used for launching fireworks above the crowd snapped, showering the crowd of easily amused simpletons with sparks and rockets."

--Found this buried in last week's "News" folder, but here's a very interesting read about a now-former Michigan Wolverine blasting off on Rich Rodriguez.

--Ben Roethlisberger is set to return to Findlay, Ohio, on Saturday night, April 5th for his second annual fundraiser, "The Ben Roethlisberger Challenge".

--Is Idaho Football too sexy?

--The experts think that Branden Albert will be your Pittsburgh Steeler first-round draft pick.

--Barack Obama bowled a 37 in Altoona. 37? Here's the video.

--Bugs and Cranks interviewed the author of a Roberto Clemente graphic novel.

--Buy Michael Jordan's old waterbed!


--Joe Theismann has a restaurant? Who knew? Well, probably a lot of people. But not I.

--Giant Eagle is claiming that they were overcharged for $200 million worth of chocolate between 2002-2007.

--From the "Let's Stop at the Headline" Department: 14 dead turtles found in feces-filled Uniontown house.

A LIST OF TODAY'S TOP LISTS
Top 10 most (and least) popular jerseys from the past 10 years
12 surprisingly and mind-numbingly controversial Wikipedia pages
The 10 Craziest Scientific Experiments Ever Conducted
The 7 Ballsiest Sports Cheats Ever

Learn From Master Greg Lloyd

If you ever needed yet another reason to move to Fayetteville, Georgia, here it is. Only in Fayetteville could you learn martial arts from the one and only Greg Lloyd.

Yes, it's true. The former Steeler linebacker, famous for his "I Wasn't Hired for My Disposition" and "Real Men are Black" t-shirts, is a 4th-degree instructor at Oh Do Kwan Martial Arts, topped only by the one and only Master Joaquin Bonilla (no relation to Bobby) in the Oh Do Kwan hierarchy. According to the always-reliable Wikipedia, Lloyd has a black belt in Tae Kwon Do.

Lloyd has had a "colorful" couple of years since his NFL career has ended. He was accused of sticking a gun in his child's mouth because of poor grades in 2001, and in 2004 he pleaded no contest to pointing a gun at his wife's head. His son, Greg Lloyd Jr., will suit up for the UConn Huskies in the fall, but a protective order preventing his father from having any contact with him expired the day Junior turned 18. From the sound of things, it looks like the Lloyd father/son relationship has eroded to the point of no return. I'd imagine that's usually the way things happen after someone "allegedly" sticks a gun in your mouth.

Think about combining the size of Lloyd (one of the biggest men I've ever seen in person) with the black belt and then mix in a heavy dash of crazy. Then take the advice of another t-shirt from back in the day: Avoid the Lloyd.

Checking in From the Bronx

The Bucs are currently battling the Million-Dollar-A-Start Man in Yankee Stadium (and holding their own through 4) in the second game of the highly anticipated series with the Yanks.

Longtime reader "Cecil from Cecil" gives us an in-person report from last night's Bucco extra inning loss against the Yankees:

"My observations from a hot and sticky night in the South Bronx:

1. Low turnout from the Pittsburgh fans! I've never been to a Pittsburgh road game (Steelers, Pirates, Pens, or Pitt) where I've seen fewer Pittsburgh fans than at Yankee Stadium on Friday night. I saw a few Clemente jerseys, a Jason Kendall, and finally a Jason Bay as we boarded the subway after the game. Shockingly, very little Steeler gear. I was sure I'd see a Greg Lloyd jersey, but maybe those will be out in force later in the weekend.

2. I can't relate to people who take baseball as seriously as the Yankee fans do. I live in NYC and I'm very fond of looking astonished when people get all worked up at a Yankee or Met game. I like to remind people that "It's only baseball. It's not like it's a football game. You guys need to relax." They look at you like you're nuts, of course. Then I ask them how many World Series titles it takes to equal one Super Bowl. I say 3....but that's just me.

3. Salomon Torres' beaning of A-Rod would have been embarrassing if it weren't so funny. In one petrified pitch, he exemplified 14 year of pathetic Pirates baseball. (Of course, I was rooting for A-Rod to hit into a double play to hear the stripper taunts rain down from the Yankee faithful. Maybe on Saturday.)

4. The loud-mouthed Yankee fan loser from Jersey or Long Island who was seated two rows in front of me stood up to taunt after the Yanks tied it at four by offering the following line: "Hey, Pittsburgh...I got two words for you: OLIVER PEREZ!" To which I responded, " I got two more....ARAMIS RAMIREZ. JASON SCHMIDT. BARRY BONDS. JIM LEYLAND. I CAN GO ON ALL NIGHT." Save it, guy. No one cares.

5. The Duffy inside-the-park HR was pure comedy. The people around us were about to cry. Again, I can't relate to this. It's just baseball, after all. No need to dump trash on Melky Cabrera's lawn tomorrow, right?

6. Another guy near my seats was a native New Yorker who went to college at CMU. As the Bucs held on tightly to their 4-3 lead, he uttered the following, "I saw 9 games at PNC while I was in college, and the Pirates lost all 9 games I attended, despite the fact that I always rooted for them. If they win at Yankee Stadium, I'm going to demand a refund."

7. So Jeter hits a little dribbler and the Yankees win, then place goes absolutely nuts. I don't understand this. You guys have beaten the Pirates. THE PIRATES. It should count as half a win. But oh no, people are running around as though they've just won the Super Bowl, except that it's just a regular season game against the lowly Buccos. I haven't seen a group of people this happy about beating the Pirates since Dave Justice dry-humped Sid Bream in October of 1992. Please....get some perspective.

In closing, it was a very entertaining game. Adding to the excitement, I saw a Bucco fan get kicked out of the stadium in the 8th inning. He didn't appear to do all that much, aside from being drunk and refusing to sit down. Nonetheless, he strutted out with his arms in the air and his #21 Clemente jersey in tow to a round of applause from the Yankee fans. Here's hoping he made it home alive."

--Cecil from Cecil (on location in the Bronx)

Greg Lloyd...Still Crazy

From profootballtalk.com....

WEIRD WEEK FOR LLOYD'S SON

The child of former NFL linebacker Greg Lloyd is in for a strange few days. On Wednesday, Greg Lloyd Jr. will sign a letter of intent to play college football at Connecticut.

On Saturday, Lloyd will become 18, and a protective order preventing his father from having any contact with him will expire.

"I can't protect him anymore," his mother, Rhonda Lloyd, told the Hartford Courant. "That's a scary thought for me."

"I'm living great without him in my life," Greg Jr. said. "I don't have to be scared every day. That's much better than the way I was living back when he was around."

The elder Lloyd was accused of sticking a gun in his son's mouth in 2001, apparently due to the child's school grades. Two trials on criminal charges arising from the incident resulted in hung juries. The issue did not go to trial a third time.

The younger Lloyd isn't interested in rekindling a relationship with his father. "If he said he wanted to try again, I would say no," Greg Jr. said. "It's too late for that."

Lloyd was an All-Pro for the Steelers in the 1990s. He pleaded no contest in 2004 to pointing a gun at his wife's head.

In Lloyd's defense, he was just trying to motivate the kid to get higher grades. I mean, who hasn't used the old gun-in-the-mouth trick to inspire their young ones?