The Pittsburgh Power Roster Now Numbers One

The Pittsburgh Power's first player in team history is a quarterback from Marshall. Is it Byron Leftwich? Not quite.

Meet the Pittsburgh Power

More details have been released on Pittsburgh's 2011 entry into Arena Football, including ownership details, a name, logo, and website.

RIEMERSMA FOR CONGRESS

Remember tight end Jay Riemersma? If not, here's a brief history: played college ball at Michigan, plucked by the Bills in the 7th round of the 1996 draft, and parted ways with Buffalo after the 2002 season. He signed with the Steelers in 2003 and played two seasons in Pittsburgh, starting nine games and suiting up for 22 of 32 regular season contests. I guess you would say his best season with the Steelers would be 2003, when he had 10 catches for 138 yards and one TD. After tearing his achilles tendon during the '04 season, he would never play in an NFL game again.

These days, Riemersma is following in the footsteps of Steve Largent, Lynn Swann, and Heath Shuler as pro football players who ventured into politics, as he announced his intention to run for Congress in his native Michigan. He will be running for U.S. Rep. Peter Hoekstra's 2nd District seat in southwestern Michigan, as Hoekstra will be running for governor in 2010.

Former Steelers tight end running for Congress in Mich. [PG]

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SENATOR FRANCO HARRIS?

Don't laugh - it could happen, says the Trib's Eric Heyl, who reports that Franco Harris could go after Arlen Specter's seat in the U.S. Senate next year:

True, the last time a Steelers great ran for statewide office, he fumbled the ball. Hall-of-Fame wide receiver Lynn Swann was trounced when he sought to unseat Gov. Ed Rendell in 2006, winning less than 40 percent of the vote.

But Swann was a Republican going against a deep-pocketed Democratic incumbent who faced no primary opposition — in a state where Democrats held a commanding 600,000 voter registration edge over the GOP.

What Heyl's saying makes a lot of sense. With the likely backing of President Obama, which presumably would go hand-in-hand with the support of one Dan Rooney, Harris could be on to something. And as Heyl points out, Harris' status as a Democrat would be a big asset for a Pennsylvania campaign. Now all we need is someone to coin a clever campaign phrase featuring the word 'immaculate' and this story could really get some legs.

Franco's unlikely to drop a Pa. election [Trib]

Send your news, tips, and links to Mondesishouse@gmail.com.

The News

--Your Pittsburgh Penguins are first in the East after a 3-1 victory against the Rangers. This game had it all: a rare glimpse of what Sidney Crosby and Marian Hossa could do together, Brandon Dubinsky's skate cutting Geno Malkin's cheek and subsequent stitches, and the always-exciting Max Talbot goal.

A few notes:

-Malkin now sits at 46 goals, and 104 points, still trailing Alexander Ovechkin's 109.

-The Pens are 7-0 at home in March and 9-0-2 at home since February 13.

-Marc-Andre Fleury is 13-1 in his last 14 decisions

-The game was the 421st for Jaromir Jagr at the Arena. Could it be the last?

Only a matchup with the Rangers and two games with Philadelphia remain, and then you can buy your secondary-market playoff tickets.

--Speaking of the Rangers, did you know that Sean Avery's name turned up on the client spreadsheet of Manhattan madam Kristin Davis?

--Your Final Four is set: #1 seeds all around (just as I so gutlessly predicted in the Mondesi Madness poll, thank you very much).

--Floyd Mayweather KO'd 7-foot, 440-pound "The Big Show" at Wrestlemania 24. Doesn't look like it in this picture.

--What happens when you combine Barack Obama, Jerome Bettis, and Franco Harris?

--George W. threw out the first pitch at the Nationals' new stadium last night. He also called the first home run in stadium history. Yes, that's really him and not Frank Caliendo.

--Happy Valley turned into Obama Country this weekend.

--81-year-old Joe Paterno broke his three-month silent treatment to talk about coaching 10 more years, his celebrity, and drinking bourbon. Seriously.

--The Pitt women are in the NCAA Tournament no more, dropping a 72-53 decision to Stanford on Saturday night. I'm guessing that wasn't on the minds of most of you when it played out around midnight on Saturday.

--Mike Tomlin is confident that the Steelers will be competitive in 2008. That makes one person.

--Cedrick Wilson was ordered to seek anger management. And not the cute, Jack Nicholson kind.

--Happy days are here again: Matt Kata has re-joined the Pirates via trade.

--The Pirates open at a lowly #27 in the PG's Power Rankings, ahead of only Houston, Washington, and San Francisco, in a poll obviously taken before they re-acquired Matt Kata.

--"Headline Says it All" Department: Nipples Nowhere To Be Seen On Wrestlemania Ad

--What does a crowd of 115,300 look like in the 7th inning? In LA? Like 25,000 people.

--Here's a hard-hitting interview with Reggie Bush squeeze Kim Kardashian.

--Hideki Matsui's porn collection is at 55,000 videos and growing. Strange, yes, but so was his introducing his wife by displaying a drawing of her.

--Kathie Lee Gifford returned to TV today, as she will host the 4th hour of NBC's Today show. Try to contain your enthusiasm.

--Read the story of Johnstown junk accumulater Dr. Chandan Vora, who carries her legal documents in BiLo bags stacked on a baby stroller.

A LIST OF TODAY'S TOP LISTS
24 best Wrestlemania matches of all time (T and Hogan vs. Orndorff and Piper only #24?)

11 Hollywood Tips on Becoming a Better Gambler

Bill Raftery Just Likes To Be Naked (Bill Raftery Quotes)

The Five Pirates Most Likely To Be Traded

Real Beer Pong Tables, More Anti-ESPN Sentiment, Notre Dame, Jordan Staal

That Lynn Swann Beer Pong post was popular. Really popular. So popular, it was Mondesi's House's #1-ranked traffic day of all time. That post reached so many people that I even heard from the maker of the Beer Pong table in the picture! So check out bingbongtables.com for the entire line of their wares.

Continuing my anti-ESPN rant from yesterday, "ESPN and Big-Market Trends". Make sure to catch that comment by "Mel Ott". By the way, try and catch Dan Patrick's radio on Friday (1-3 PM here in Pittsburgh)...he'll be talking about ESPN's overcoverage of the Cowboys, I believe with Peter King. Apparently I'm not the only one upset with the Worldwide Leader.

Dan Onorato bumped into Jim Balsillie at a Penguin game last week.

The Cardinals scout who discovered Albert Pujols is now stocking shelves at Wal-Mart.

Stewart Mandel says that Notre Dame is actually ranked too high in the polls. And he gives you evidence why.

Charlie Weis is upset, fat: a beautiful rant on the team people love and love to hate. (via Deadspin)

Heck, let's go for three anti-Notre Dame links: Mondesi favorite DJ Gallo's "What Planet ya From, Charlie?"

SI.com's Allan Muir weighs in on the Great Jordan Staal Debate.

Future Governor Lynn Swann Plays Beer Pong

Just in to the Mondesi Tipline from a loyal reader...

The Story:
While tailgating in Philly for the Steelers vs. Eagles preseason game we hear that Lynn Swann will be making his rounds to visit the Steeler fans in hopes of winning more votes for the upcoming election (to which I have no interest in as you all know). Being that we were the first people in the lots, 7 hours before kickoff, we were an instant draw of other Steeler fans to park next to us and our tailgate had a pretty nice turnout by game time.

As the Hall of Famer approaches us people are surrounding him with cameras, and microphones and body guards that could seriously throw me a good 20-30 yards on the fly. He gets to me and shakes my hand and I say, "I was wondering if you could do me a favor" as I hold up the ping pong ball. "Could you take one shot for us before you move on?"

He takes the ball without question and we walk to the table. He then says, "Just throw it in the cup?" I agree with him and give him a little advice because the wind was kicking up at this fine day (which is when the picture attached was taken, thank you Janine).

He makes a few arm motions warming up a bit, eyes the red cup at the other end of the table filled slightly with IC Light, takes a breath and let's it fly. The crowd that surrounded the table was at least 30 deep by now with Steeler fans cheering for him like he was back on the field again. Cameras flashing, video camera's rolling, his bodyguards and marketing team thinking about the damage this might do to his campaign and then...

SPLASH DOWN....

The crowd erupts with cheers as the ball lands inside the cup. He turns to me and gives me a high 5 before fleeing the scene and probably having his marketing team erase all video of this ever happening but it doesn't get much better than this


Swann for Governor!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Governor Rendell Visits Our Church Festival

For the past several years, my Dad volunteers my brother and I to assist him in manning the Philly Cheesesteak booth at the St. John's parish festival in Perryopolis, PA.

The Perryopolis Circle: site of the original Mardi Gras before it migrated to New Orleans

Perryopolis is what some would call a quiet, sleepy town, about an hour south of Pittsburgh. There's not usually too much to get excited about, other than when the gas station added a McDonald's a few years ago, and the weekly Perryopolis Flea Market, one of the East Coast's Premier Spots for shady merchandise. The city's homepage features news as hard-hitting as "Bingo on July 19" and "More Bingo on July 30". The most distinguished alumnus of their high school is current Grand Rapids (Arena Football) QB Chad Salisbury.

Chad Salisbury: as many championships as Peyton Manning

Hopefully I have painted the picture for you: it is not a place to find much hoopla.

So we are manning the 2-8 PM shift at this year's fair on Sunday, July 16, and we hear the news: Governor Ed Rendell is going to make an appearance! The festival is abuzz...what will Rendell be doing? Playing the chuck-a-luck wheel, in support of gambling that will be coming to our fine state? Buying a chance ticket on a Pittsburgh Steelers Super Bowl XL throw rug? Maybe even buy one of our Philly Steaks, given his Philadelphia roots, for a photo op? Well, no, no, and no.

Ed Rendell signaling a first down

Governor "Lansky" (as he is called on a daily basis by ESPN Radio 1250's Mark Madden) showed up shortly after 3 PM, following the Official Ed Rendall Governor Bus. He was wearing a parking-cone orange shirt, which I was able to capture on my camera phone, only to be reminded of the fact that I haven't yet mastered the art of transferring camera phone pictures to the internet.

The Rendell bus: eating away Rendell's campaign fund in gasoline costs.

He was immediately bombarded by well-wishing Democrats of Fayette County, and posed for several pictures while in the church hall. He then proceeded outside to the food gauntlet, a Murderer's Row of festival favorites like funnel cakes, garlic pasta and halushki. Rendell's iron will was able to pass on everything. He moved at a brisk pace down the aisle, and approached the cheesesteak booth. Would this be our face to face with the Governor? The man that from many vantage points appears to be a shill for Harrah's Casino, a Penguin-killer and Philadelphia fan at the same time? No, he actually walked right past our booth, and over to the hip DJ spinning polka music. He asked the DJ to play the Pennsylvania State Song , which, of course, this guy did not have. So the DJ took the liberty of choosing another song: The Steelers Polka of the 70s. Harmless selection by the DJ, right? Well, not when you consider who Lansky's current opponent is...a certain integral member of that team:

If this were 2006, this play would have been challenged. And Tom Landry would have lost the challenge. And Tom Landry would have cried the entire offseason.

And that, my friends, was a statement louder than any one we could have made. Rendell quickly walked away, boarded his bus, and probably visited the next church festival on his route, this time adding a request of no implicated Lynn Swann references.