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.
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.
There are a handful of Pittsburghers who have gained some level of greater notoriety through the wonders of the internet and specifically this site. Penguins fan GwenJen comes to mind. And who could forget the great Ronnie Florian, my personal all-time favorite?
But one colorful character from the past seemed to have completely vanished into thin air. He was known as "Adam the Penn State Fan", he was a local high school kid, and he was best known for his blind praise of all things Penn State Nittany Lions in the Mondesi's House comment section.
Adam's partisan arguments would bait Pitt fans time and time again, and the next thing you knew, we would have a full-fledged comment war on our hands. Judging from the recent survey I conducted, I know many of you long for those days.
After visiting and commenting on the site with consistent regularity, suddenly there were no more Adam comments to be had. As hard as it was to admit for them, many of Adam's adversaries have written and wondered about his whereabouts. I'd compare it to the reaction of Steeler fans when the Browns left town; they were rivals, but they enjoyed the fight.
Well, today is a lucky day for those of you who wondered what happened to Adam. I'm happy to report that he is in fact alive and well. How do I know this? Well, another loyal Mondesi reader happened to email me this clip from a recent edition of the Sunday night KDKA/#1 Cochran Sports Showdown. Guess whose anti-Pitt email is read by Jory Rand at the 7:15 mark? That's right, Adam the Penn State Fan, who appears to have graduated to griping on television as opposed to blogs.
Earlier in the week, I wrote about everyone's favorite Pirate fan, Ronnie Florian, being spotted by some friends of mine at last Friday's Bucco game. I thought this would verify their existence to the doubters out there that thought they were an incredible creation of the Pirates' PR department. But readers "Hicks and Zema" did my friends one better: not only did they converse with Mr. Florian at the same game, but they got their picture taken with him as well. In their words...
Mondesi,
Just thought you’d like some information on Ronnie Florian. We were at the Bucco game on Friday night June 1. We were sitting in the left field bleachers with a bunch of people from Slippery Rock, when low and behold sitting in the first row of left field was Ronnie! As he was getting up to go get a brew, we yelled for him and he came up and talked with us.
Ronnie was friendly and down-to-earth–just like he appears in the FSN ads. We got some nice pics with him and we talked about the last 14 futile years of Bucco baseball. He was extremely knowledgeable about the team, and it was easy to see his passion for the team was real. He is as down and out about the Pirate’s lack of success as any true fan. Ronnie came off as a humble, big-hearted guy.
Ronnie Florian is LEGIT!!!
At this point, I'm getting several emails a day about Mr. Florian. To say he's becoming "beloved" in this city is an understatement. At this point, he rivals only the infamous "GwenJen" as the biggest Mondesi's House celebrity of all time.
The pic heard round the world
It's amazing how the internet can drive these things. In fact, ol' GwenJen's page is still driving debate, four months later. In an even bigger sign of the apocalypse, I actually get Google searches for "GwenJen". And then there's recent comments like this, taken from the original GwenJen rebuttal:
Jessica said... Wow, this is an interesting read for sure. I can SORT OF relate to the thing about being a good looking girl and liking sports and blah blah blah. BUT, and that's a big 'but', if you don't want to be called a puckbunny or have people judge you in the wrong way, you don't take slutty pictures with hockey players, regardless of where they are posted or who had access to them or whatever lame excuse you have to justify your sluttiness. I don't want to sound arrogant, but I think I am definitely better looking than this GwenJen character (actually, probably most girls are), and I have taken pictures with hockey players out at the bars, but I guarantee if I posted them on MySpace no one would give a s*** because I look like I'm dressed normally. You can give all the excuses you want for why you were wearing body paint in a picture with hockey players, but quite frankly, you wouldn't catch me in body paint period. That's just slutty without adding in the factor of the hockey guys. Oh, and by the way, I'm not from Pittsburgh. Live in a whole different city with a whole different hockey team and I've even heard of GwenJen. That's how pathetic it is because she acts like she's upset that people don't like her, but she's the one going around promoting herself and splashing pictures of herself and her friends with bras on at the bar and holding their boobs and so on and so forth. So, hey, what else can I say? I think her original 'interview' is really a load of s***. She's using the goodlooking woman card. Pathetic really.
Why do I spend time talking about things like this? Because the Pirates drafted a relief pitcher in the first round and a guy that projects as a 4th or 5th starter in the second round. And Ronnie Florian and GwenJen are simply much more interesting to talk about. That's why.
Pitt Blather breaks down the Bob Huggins hiring, describes him as a villain, and tells us what it means for Pitt...specifically, with the recruitment of Terrelle Pryor to WVU.
Stock photo of Huggins
Pens win, Pens win! And a late goal by Maxime Talbot equals lots of Google searches for "Maxime Talbot". Which then means that GwenJen became very well known in Canada last night. Just one game left (tomorrow vs. the Sons of Jaromir) and then it's time for some playoff hockey!
Someone posted on Craigslist that there was a house in Tacoma, WA, where people could take whatever they wanted. Here's what happened:
Broncos cheerleader tryouts! And some photographer with a sense of humor chose this photo to lead off his story.
A New Hampshire baseball team asked their fans to help shovel snow from the stadium. In return, the team has offered free tickets for any Monday-to-Thursday game to anyone who shows up with a shovel Thursday afternoon and helps clear snow for a few hours. By 3 p.m. Thursday, one fan had showed up.
Tuesday, March 13, 2007. It's a day that will live forever in Pittsburgh sports history. It's the day that Mario Lemieux, Ron Burkle, Ed Rendell, Dan Onorato, Luke Ravenstahl, and Gary Bettman ended years of uncertainty about the Penguins' future in Pittsburgh with the announcement of a plan for a new arena. And it's the day the Penguins also happened to be facing off with the top team in the Eastern Conference.
The Buffalo Sabres rode into town with hordes of fans, a 44-19-5 record, and a three-game losing streak. A few hours later, the Sabres rode out of town with hordes of disappointed fans, a 44-19-6 record, and a four-game losing streak. Today was a day when the Penguins would not be denied, on the ice or off.
Despite blowing yet another lead, this of the two-goal variety, the Penguins got their wish and forced the game into a shootout, ultimately winning by a count of 5-4. As the Pens held on to a 4-3 lead late in regulation, Buffalo pulled goalie Ryan Miller in exchange for an extra attacker. The Penguins quickly moved the puck down the ice and towards the empty net, but Mark Recchi's shot hit the post. Then Ryan Malone was unable to score into a net manned only by a defenseman. At that point, I told my brother, "I hope this isn't one of those situations where a team misses the empty net and it comes back to haunt them".
For those of you with short memories, I was specifically thinking of this game:
Erik Christensen kicked his extra point past the goalie for the first goal, giving the Pens a 1-0 edge. Marc-Andre Fleury stoned Daniel Briere, then Jarkko Ruutu was stopped by Miller, keeping the 1-0 count intact. Drew Stafford was able to get one past MAF to tie things at one; but then the clock hit "Crosby", and Crosby Time went just as planned. What better way to end a day of Penguin hysteria than a Sidney Crosby shootout goal? Fleury ended the contest with a stop of Buffalo's Thomas Vanek, and happy times were had by all (who didn't drive down from Buffalo). Pens win, Pens win.
So the Pens have a new arena, another shootout win in the books, and two more points. But everyone must regain their focus quickly, as the team travels to New Jersey for another meeting with the Devils on Wednesday night.
Observations on a day of Penguin Mania:
--"At the end of the day" is the official cliche of 2007. I didn't take an official count while watching the 5 PM press conference, but it was uttered over...and over...and over...and over. It's a Lemieux favorite. He even managed to squeeze one in an intermission interview with OLN's Jack Edwards.
--I missed the presence of Georges Laraque tonight. I thought he might be injured from Colton Orr ramming his head into Laraque's fist on Saturday, but it was back spasms. Get well soon, BGL.
--That Quizno's commercial where the woman talks about real women wanting meat...disturbing.
--The pregame PA address was Vintage Lemieux. Brief, to the point, and well-said. As one of the biggest Mario fans on the planet, it was a chilling moment.
--I'm looking forward to a new arena, but to be honest, I'm really going to miss the old Civic/Mellon Arena. I experienced a lot of exciting times in the building, including countless playoff games, sitting five rows behind the net for Sid's first-ever shootout goal last year, having Mario hold his elevator to sign my jersey as a kid, and getting put in a headlock by Gordie Howe at the 1990 All-Star Game.
Of course, I'll also remember the disappointing moments I was in the stands for, including the 5-OT loss to the Flyers in 2000 and the 1996 Game 7 loss to the "rats" Panthers team in the Eastern Conference Finals.
--OLN did a decent job with the broadcast, but I missed the local Fox coverage on such a special day in team history.
--My final word on the arena: lots of feelings were hurt, many accusations were made, but somehow these two sides came together in lieu of the IOC plan to make a deal. Congratulations to both sides, because you made the fans the big winners for at least 30 more years.
This weekend was simply a disaster for Pittsburgh sports teams. Pitt lost control of the Big East to Georgetown. The Penguins suffered a bad loss to Tampa Bay. Even the XPlosion lost, dropping their record to 4-30 after a defeat at the hands of the Butt Daredevils. It was pretty depressing all around.
We'll go chronologically, which means the Panthers are first in the firing line. During the game, I made an executive decision. The nickname "T.O" is hereby taken away from Terrell Owens and now bestowed upon Pitt's Mike Cook. There's never a good time for a turnover, but the ridiculous move Cook made with under 30 seconds to go was the topper, passing up an open shot for a pass, which, you guessed it, was stolen by a Hoya. Game, set, match, drive home safely. The only thing that held me back from launching the remote through the TV screen was the fact that I'd have to buy my father a new TV.
I thought for a brief instance that I was Marty McFly, as I watched Pitt lose to a team coached by John Thompson that featured Patrick Ewing. Who's next on the schedule, Rollie Massimino and Villanova? The way Pitt is playing, they wouldn't beat them either.
As you can tell, I'm down on Pitt right now, despite their incredible RPI ranking of 6. When you take an honest look at their results, they've only defeated one team in the RPI top 20: the same Georgetown team they just lost to (16th).
The Panthers have picked the wrong time to put it in reverse. They have zero momentum right now. I don't think they've looked the same since that shellacking at the hands of Louisville. Even their wins over Washington and Seton Hall were much tougher than they should have been. If Jamie Dixon doesn't get this team straightened out soon, we could be shown the door in an early round once again this year.
Pitt has nothing on the Penguins, though. The Pens' 5-1 loss in the land of Jon Gruden, Bubba the Love Sponge and Dwight Gooden was one of their worst efforts of the season. In fact, they've only suffered two four-goal losses all year, and both were at the hands of the Carolina Hurricanes.
Watching their offense was like watching the Steelers' offense for most of the 2006 season: simply no rhythm whatsoever. The Pens could not even get near the net, let alone get shots off: 4 in the 1st, 10 in the 2nd, 4 in the 3rd. Ugh. This was one of the most difficult Penguin game to watch in a long, long time.
Tampa Bay continues their ownership of the Penguins, having now beaten them an amazing 12 times in a row. Jocelyn Thibault gave up three goals on 12 shots and was given the hook in the second period for MAF. But Fleury made little difference, because when you can't generate offense, it's hard to win games.
I'm glad the Pens picked now for such a horrible showing, especially after the valentine I wrote to them on Friday. But here are a few other things to consider about Sunday's game:
-Tampa filled the arena to a count of 21,119, or 106.9% full. And I thought it was a baseball town.
-Pirate Zach Duke is now 7-1 in Penguin games he's attended. And last year, Zach Duke was 10-15 in games he started. Maybe he should give up the baseball thing and become the new Penguins goalie.
-NL Batting Champ Freddy Sanchez gave Sid an autographed, inscribed baseball bat. That didn't help with his scoring: he's lit just one lamp in his last 13 games.
-The game had some chippy moments, as Ryan Malone dropped the gloves in the first period and Maxime Talbot threw down twice in the 3rd, including a spat as time expired. Unfortunately, we missed the start of both Talbot fights as a result of FSN not being able to switch cameras like a normal hockey broadcast should.
-The Pens were called for Too Many Men on the Ice in the 3rd period. No, they couldn't score with six guys either.
-Next up: Tuesday vs. the Devils. Maybe you'll see David Puddy there. Well, probably not. But you might see GwenJen.
Also this weekend:
--#1 Ohio State downed #1 Wisconsin, 49-48. Exciting, high-scoring Big Ten basketball at its best. And a classy move by novice OSU basketball fans, who rushed the court. Guys, stick to football. By the way, I think we're getting close to the point that the court will be rushed at the end of each and every college hoops game.
--Corey Dillon wants out of New England. Come on, Steeler fans...who's going to be the first to start the "Let's Sign Dillon" campaign?
--NFL players proposed a "three strikes and your out" conduct policy, as they've tired of the Pac-Men types now populating their fine league. Some of the attendees included Dan Rooney, Marvin Lewis, Lendale White, Steve Smith, and T.J. Houshmandzadeh. When the meeting was over, Houshmandzadeh shined Rooney's shoes with a Terrible Towel.
--Kenny Wiz blames the motorcycle crash for Big Ben's struggles last year. As to who to blame for that horrific picture of Roethlisberger in the article, well, you can only blame Ben for that.
--The Denver Broncos added another chapter to one of the most tragic offseasons of any pro team ever. Running back Damien Nash collapsed at a charity basketball game. The game was a fundraiser for his 25-year-old brother, Darris, who had to have a heart transplant. This comes shortly after the death of Bronco Darrent Williams on January 1.
Sorry about the lack of goods on Monday. Hopefully you passed the time by clicking on some of the excellent links you sent this weekend. Which reminds me, the Sid card contest winner is announced on Wednesday, so make a last push and send in your best links!
But I digress. It's time to get up to speed with a busy Monday of sports.
--I caught the Pens-Isles game (with a fine recap by the P-G's Empty Netters, by the way), and I was disappointed with the outcome. But it was just a matter of time until "the streak" would come to an end. One issue I had with the streak is when people referred to it as an "unbeaten streak"; the flaw in that statement being that the Pens did lose during the streak. Unless I'm wrong, and "Montreal 4, Pittsburgh 3" now counts towards an unbeaten streak. But I certainly didn't see any Pens celebrating that day. National media members: it's a POINTS STREAK. Learn the rules of the game, please.
--As for the actual game, Ryan Malone scored a hat trick, which goes under the category of "borderline-amazing". I'd be less surprised to see Crosby score eight goals in a game. Speaking of Sidney, he added not one, but four assists. Mark Recchi chipped in with two goals. The offense certainly made the trip to the Island. Scoring five times on Rick Dipietro should be enough to pick up a "W", but not when your goaltender/defense gives up six. Marc-Andre Fleury has an interesting season stat line: he's fourth in the league in wins, yet ranks a lowly 25th in goals-against average and 21st in save percentage. His stats remind me of Randy Johnson, circa 2006, with the Yankees: 17 wins and an ERA of 5; the similarity being that the Penguins, much like the Yankees, light up the scoreboard on a nightly basis, not only bailing out Johnson/Fleury from losses, but garnering them wins in the process. The Pens are 2nd in the NHL in goals per game; the Yankees topped the majors in runs scored. Let's hope that's where the similarities end with these teams, because the Yankees' campaign did not end on a high note.
--Pitt, now ranked 8th, squeaked out a closer-than-necessary three-point win over Seton Hall in Jersey. The Panthers were playing sans one Aaron Gray, who was there nonetheless, rocking a sweet adidas warmup and cheering on his comrades.
Can Pitt ever start a game with a lead? Ever? 3-2 gives way to 5-2 which moves to 9-2 and grows to 14-4 in a matter of minutes. This is one trend that simply has to go away before the postseason rolls around. I know that Pitt usually outlasts teams with their depth, but the deeper they go into March, the deeper their opponents will go as well. Pitt is not a team that will score in bunches and at will, which is a recipe for another early exit if they continue to dig early holes.
I realize that Grayzilla was riding the pines, but Pitt struggled more than they should have with a team sporting a 3-10 record in the Big East. Pitt is a TOP 10 TEAM. This was a division bottom feeder. If Gray is that important to Pitt's team (and I'm pretty sure he is), I hope that ankle heals quickly.
Jamie Dixon scored his 100th career win tonight, so hats off to the man. It must be sweet redemption to succeed so well so fast, especially when Skip Prosser was the guy Pitt really wanted for the job. But if he wants to stave off 100 losses, he needs to introduce Mike Cook to the bench more often. Cook is the college basketball version of the 2006 Steelers: a turnover machine. He rang up five of them tonight, fresh off the four he had in the Louisville loss. In between, he had a 15-point, 4-rebound, 1-turnover assist against Washington. Efforts like that show the upside he displays just enough to make Dixon keep him on the floor.
Pitt closes with three ranked opponents: at #12 Georgetown, #18 WVU, and at #16 Marquette. The Panthers stand at 24-4 and 11-2 in the Big Easy. Panther Nation is hoping Aaron Gray is back and The 100 Win Man can right the ship ASAP.
--I was really looking forward to the NBA All Star Game on Sunday. I thought there would be some real one-upsmanship between such mega-egos as Kobe, Agent Zero, and T-Mac. But the game was a few hours of missed alley-oops, ugly shots, and errant passes.
The highlight of the weekend was the NBA.com article that wrapped up the Celebrity Game on Friday night. Check out this sentence in the last paragraph:
"Among the many other notables in attendance tonight were Giants outfielder Barry Bonds, Mya, Ronald McDonald, tennis legend Boris Becker, Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman with his traveling entourage of showgirls, a handful of WNBA All-Stars and more. "
OK, back it up. The potential all-time home run king is mentioned in the same breath as a fringe R&B singer who peaked five years ago, a sideshow mayor, and a fictional clown. Don't tell me the media, even the NBA media, doesn't hate Barry. I only wonder why HE would be caught at such an event.
--A reader points out some Mondesi-bashing in the Pittsburgh blogosphere. Some site called "Just Sayin" was critical of yours truly for the GwenJen saga of a few weeks back. To quote said blogger:
"I would like to weigh in about the rediculous Mondesi's House non-story of Evgeni Malkin posing with some busted sixes outside the Igloo or wherever. Seriously, the picture is innocuous, the girls aren't hot and it doesn't come anywhere close to comparing with drunken quarterbacks. Drunken quarterbacks aren't really a story either. Stop it, you're hurting us."
Yeah, that non-story was pretty rediculous, I'll give you that. But do you know what's even more rediculous? A site that writes about how boring another site is. But they link to Mondesi's House, which means at some point one of their authors was a fan. So they can't be that bad. They just have high expectations. I'm sorry we failed to see eye-to-eye on this important matter.
*FYI, the GwenJen trilogy was one of the top-5 most visited features of all time. Hits were well over five figures. So someone thinks they're interesting, even if Just Sayin' doesn't.
--No action yet on the $6,000 Sidney Crosby autographed chair. If it sells, I'll be booking an appointment with a furniture maker in the area very soon to capitalize on the craze, because that's about 10 times the price of an autographed Sid sweater.
--A lot of people clicked on the Penn State snowball fight/brawl video, so here's another entertaining clip from the increasingly-watchable break.com: a kid getting awaken with flying pizza on his head, then smacked across the face with a bottle of Aquafina when he voices his displeasure. Sophomoric, yes. But who among us hasn't attempted a similar prank in their heyday?
The good folks at the Post-Gazette wrote in today to inform me of a new, blog-style feature they'll be running about the Penguins. It's called "Empty Netters" and is presented much like the popular "Blog N Gold" feature that the PG runs for the Steelers.
The first installment of Empty Netters kicked off with who else? GwenJen. Their debut page linked to the Legend of GwenJen article from a few days back, but better judgment kicked in and they decided to take it down as a result of the rather randy language that some of you display. I felt like a parent embarrassed by their bad kid.
Since then, I now see that the presence of GwenJen is back up on Empty Netters, this time with a simple link straight to the infamous photo that started it all.
I also received an email from the person who informed GwenJen of this photo, who I can now credit/blame for creating this monster. I would release his name but I'm not 100% sure that it's supposed to be public information. He told me that he's been friends with her since age 12 and that he tipped her off to her recent Mondesi appearance. I can only say that a legion of people who enjoy arguing on my comment boards, as well as the infamous GwenJen, thank you greatly for your intervention.
Pittsburgh's favorite Penguin fan, GwenJen, takes me up on the offer to rebut to some of the harsh criticism received from readers. For those of you who are in the dark on this, I'd suggest reading this post before going any further.
So without futher delay, here are the words of GwenJen, totally unedited and uncensored:
"I have never turned down the opportunity to take the floor when given the chance.
I am not going to sit here and bash the folks that filled Mondesi's thread with harsh ridicule and criticism of my picture taken with Evgeni Malkin.
Instead I am going to take this opportunity to stick up for all female sports fans. Hockey, baseball, basketball, football whatever your poison, I personally find it very difficult in the twenty-first century to be a female sports fan. I know there are many of you out there who agree with me.
All it took was one blog and the thread that followed to open my eyes. To see what the general public had to say about an innocent picture of two attractive females with one of hockey's most talented up and coming stars. The comments that insured were a very harsh eye opener.
Now my question to the readers…If we were two “unattractive” females, or better yet males…would the picture have gotten the same amount of attention? Well, I can answer that myself.
No.
In today's society, many women who love sports, for the most part are considered groupies or whores. With the slang terms “puck bunny” and “bat whore” to name a few, women, like myself find it very hard to enjoy the same sports as men, simply because of gender and looks.
I could post link after link after link of websites with guys and “unattractive” females posing with the same athletes as myself. But would this be of any pleasure? I think not. Would that provide you with ammunition and entertainment? Not a chance.
So why is it that when a good-looking female does pose with professional athletes it sends people into an uproar? I know there are certain women who ruin it for the rest of us, but until a few days ago I did not think I was in that category. But apparently I am. Apparently posing with Malkin was such a big deal to some that they had to hit hard. Blow after blow…low blows about two girls who's only wrong doing was posing for a picture and posting it on the Internet.
So again, going to take this opportunity to stick up for women everywhere. It is okay to be a female fan. It is okay to go to games, meet the athletes, have your pictures taken. People see my pictures, they make assumptions, but they do not know my love for hockey, nor do they care. They do not know that I do not just follow the Penguins, as a matter of fact some of my favorite players in the NHL are not even on the team. As far as the Penguins I am not a fair weather fan, I do not “like” them just because they happen to be on fire right now.
Everything happens for a reason. I guess you could say this is my mission. To break the stereotype of the “puck bunny” to liberate attractive females from the stigmas unfairly attached. Isn't this just so pathetic? That in 2007 this has to be an issue. If I had cock and balls instead of boobs this would have never been an topic of conversation, yet alone an interesting one. That's all. For now......
Ohh wait...One more thing. In Raul's "The legend of GwenJen" he made reference to Jen Sterger who ended up posing for Maxim and Playboy. Well Ironically I received a phone call today from Maxim saying I was selected for the first round of Hometown Hotties 2007. Before all of this came about……..Not so "busted" now, am I?
Can't wait to see what all my “fans” have to say about me now………"
As many of you know, I have a standing offer to readers to send in their most interesting findings from around the net. It's become a nice little segment that people really enjoy...especially those looking for some good ways to kill time while at work. Plus, it saves me some time, gives me content I never would have found on my own, and gives one lucky person each week a nice prize. I would think of it as a win-win situation.
So a few months ago, a reader sends me a link to a site called Photobucket, where people can load on their own photo galleries. Don't ask me how, but our reader had found a particular personal gallery chock full of your favorite Pittsburgh Penguins...off the ice. There were a few PG-13 shots, but for the most part, they were pretty clean, just people partying.
On Thursday, I was again informed of another photo in the gallery, this one featuring Evgeni Malkin innocently posing with a few female fans. So up it went, I threw a borderline-witty comment, and I brainstorm as to what to post about next...or so I thought.
As I was surprised to see, the girl on the left, "GwenJen", showed up in the rapidly-expanding comments section of the Malkin photo post. After her intial comments, in which she covered a variety of topics and settled a few bets, Gwenjen got into some serious verbal jousting with some of the regulars and a handful of the thousands of visitors courtesy of Deadspin.com picking up on this.
At the very least, I can say two things about GwenJen, based on her comments:
1. She is a very devoted Penguin fan.
2. She seems to be a very good sport about the whole thing.
My thoughts? Not that they matter much, but since a few readers were speculating, here they are...
-I'd say whatever the Penguins are doing or whoever they're hanging out with, keep it up. It's obviously working. In fact, I'd suggest to try it with the Pirates.
-Do I mind debate in the comments section? Quite the contrary. In fact, I prefer it. It's an open forum, my friends. All you have to do is register.
-I read someone in the comments suggesting GwenJen is now a celebrity. In a world where Jenn Sterger parlayed an on-air shot during a Florida State game into a column for SI.com, I'd say anything is possible.
-If GwenJen cares to personally address or rebut any comments in a post rather than comments, the floor would be hers. All it takes is an email. I did it for that Hines Ward rep and all he did was bash me, but hey, it makes for good reading. And that's the name of the game.
-Finally, for any readers mad that we're discussing things like this and not actual sports, hang in there. I have plenty of goodies lined up for today. But hits don't lie, and the Malkin piece is getting them by the boatload.
