Update: Sometimes you can beat Walgreens...
In December we featured the residents of Park Place protesting against the Walgreen's plan to knock down some houses and a gas station and put in a 24 hour Walgreens (
Hey Hey, Ho Ho, Greeting Cards have got to go), noting that 10x the number of people turned out for that protest as turned out for a protest against being in Iraq a couple of corners over. The
Park Place Blog appreciated the humor in the post and linked to Sully's Stuff.
Well, the 1st round goes to Park Place residents. The Post Gazette
reports that the Zoning Board of Adjustment agrees that the Walgreens violates current zoning. Congratulations.
Pittsburgh Pirates Tickets Trading At A Preseason Discount...
Individual game tickets for the 2006 Pittsburgh Pirates season go on sale Saturday morning at
PittsburghPirates.com, and the PNC Park Box Office. But if your really interested, and you want to save some money, single game tickets are already available through secondary outlets like Stubhub where significant discounts are available for most 2006 Pirates games already.
On Stubhub, Pittsburgh Prates tickets are available for below individual ticket face value for more than 45 games! These dates span the entire season and include games against the Dodgers, Cardinals, Phillies, Diamondbacks, Marlins, Reds, Astros, Brewers, Padres, Twins, Nationals, Rockies, Braves and Brewers. The cheapest tickets, $5 for the April 11 night game against the Dodgers, are almost 45% BELOW FACE VALUE.
Astoundingly, fewer than 20 games command a premium price. These include the home opener against the Dodgers on April 10, the series against the World Champion Chicago White Sox, the series against Jim Leyland's Detroit Tigers, an August series against the St. Louis Cardinals and what might be Barry Bonds' last visit to Pittsburgh in July. Even so, at the low end of the ticket spectrum, these seats are commanding only $1-$2 premiums, less than 25%.
Contrast these with tickets to see the 2006 Pittsburgh Steelers, whose schedule has yet to be announced. Season tickets that do not include the rights to purchase tickets to playoff games (there weren't any this season), will set you back more than $200 per game, even if you include those exciting preseason games in the equation.
This glut is partially caused by artificially high season ticket sales because of the desire to secure tickets to the
2006 All Star Game, causing season ticket purchases by out-of-towners, speculators, and fans.
If you are an extreme speculator and have some money to burn, and you think the Pirates can sneak into contention for the wildcard this year, now may be the time to move into Pirates tickets, especially for promotion-rich weekend matchups.
Links:
Stubhub Pittsburgh Pirates Tickets
Stubhub Pittsburgh Steelers Tickets
Stubhub All Star Game Tickets
The Blast Furnace for February 26. 2006
Putting a gumband around the week that was in Pittsburgh, PA, here's The Blast Furnace, for February 26, 2006:
- Microwave Whizzinator. Giant Eagle is instituting a new no drinks in the microwave policy following a McKeesport run in with a full Whizzinator. Was this story more or less disturbing when they though it was a real member?
- Sing a song of Pittsburgh. The Post-Gazette is looking for a song that captures the spirit of Pittsburgh – the thing of it is, thanks to Mr. Rogers, we already have one.
- IB gone. Dr. William Sulkowski (a dentist), Dr. Daniel Iracki (internal medicine) , Dr. Mark Trombetta (an oncologist), David Bluey and Carol Coliane go all red state on the Upper St. Clair School district, killing the International Baccalaureate Program, arguing that its un-American, anti-religion and its expensive. Over beers they told me the real reason – they thought it had something to do with chiropractors.
- Black and Gold in fashion. Pittsburgh Steelers gear accounts for 40% of NFL licensed merchandise sales so far this year. Even the Pirates and Penguins are wearing it.
- Plan B. Ed Rendell, Dan Onoroto, and Bob O’Connnor want you to know that the Penguins will get a new arena, even if you have to pay for it.
- Honus Slept Here, but you can’t. A proposal to turn “the Carnegie House That Honus Wagner Lived In” into a bed and breakfast is derailed by parking, savings baseball fans from having to go to Carnegie on purpose. Ironically, a Honus Wagner house at $135,000 only costs 10% as much as a Honus Wagner baseball card.
- The Sequoia Voting Machine. Dan Onorato selects Sequoia Voting Systems Inc. over Diebold, saying “it was much easier to program it to give me 2 votes for every 1 cast than the competition and its functionality for making sure dead voters continue to vote is 1st rate.”
- The Pittsburgh Movie. Carl Kurlander’s dermatologist wants a movie about Pittsburgh (A Tale of Two Cities) told in the style of “Super Size Me” and “Roger and Me.” Now, he’s trying to sell The Pittsburgh Movie. Isn’t that what we have Rick Sebak for?
- Alcoa’s NYC home. Alcoa quietly moves corporate headquarters to New York City. Apparently CEO Alain Belda was looking for a shorter commute and an office with walls.
- Tartans go dancing. Carnegie Mellon’s Tartans win their 20th game and first outright UAA men’s basketball title and head for the Division III NCAA tournament, their 2nd ever (many warmly recall the 1977 squad that lost in the 1st round). Congratulations Coach Wingen!
Chad Hedrick and Shani Davis showed me something...
I caught myself watching the Olympics again last night (I must be a cold war kind of guy).
I was impressed to see Shani Davis down by the rail at cheering Chad Hedrick (who showed a ton of grit in the last 3 laps) skate to silver during the 10,000m (A 10k on skates!). Shani has taken his lumps, and as I said a couple of days ago (
Does Shani Davis sound like a 2 time Olympic medal winner to you?), I think he deserved some of them. But coming out to cheer on
Blackjack Chad shows that some true respect exists between the two competitors, a roller blader from Texas and an inner city kid from Chicago, are not exactly welcomed by the sports establishment.
I'm willing to bet that by the time they get to
Vancouver 2010, Davis will have taken a few steps closer to the US fold, partly because the Olympic experience may make him want to be a part of the team, and I hope
US Speedskating will welcome him more. To me, this complex rivalry has been one of the fascinating things about the Torino games.
***UPDATE: Blogger Christopher King points that Shani Davis has some good reasons for his guarded approach. (Has any other sport been impacted by more "outsiders" over the course of the last 4 years than speedskating?)
Does Shani Davis sound like a 2 time Olympic medal winner to you?
"Eff the U.S. Media and NBC-
U.S. Speed Skating and Chad Hedrick need to be exposed for their satanic plot."
That is the headline and lead sentence to the top story on ShaniDavis.org.
Personal conflicts between elite athletes are generally played out in a subtle theater. Statements of mutual respect, sideways glances, tepid handshakes. But after the 1,500 meter speed skate on Monday where Shani Davis took Silver and
Chad Hedrick finished bronze, they both were forced to submit to a withering 30 minute press conference where they were repeatedly asked to comment on their "relationship."
The questioning concluded with Davis commenting that he wished Hedrick could have been a good team mate and shook his hand after Davis won the 1000m to become the first black athlete to win a gold medal at the winter Olympics, as he had been when Hedrick won the 500m (There's that phrase again -- Peyton Manning seems to have started something, to talk about actively being a good team mate when your first inclination is to be a jerk).
I'm sorry, but Shani Davis talking about being a good team mate is like Andy Dick talking about being sober -- possible but unlikely. This is a man that lives and trains in Calgary while the rest of the "team" lives and trains in Salt Lake City. He didn't just blow off the team pursuit-- he blows off everything it means to be on the US Speed Skating team, and then takes it personally when others take that personally.
At the end of it all, speed skating is an individual sport, and whatever Shani Davis does on the ice works for him -- he's won two Olympic medals -- but he's trying to have his cake and eat it too. Shani Davis needs to understand the difference between being a team mate (forget about being a
good team mate) and being gracious at the finish line. I have no doubt that if Shani Davis had truly been a team mate, Hedrick would have been there at the finish line to congratulate him.
Does Pittsburgh need a song?
Pittsburgh’s looking for a song, well at least
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette is, and they were kind enough to ask our input. (Sometimes coming up with material for a blog is too easy.) A few people were kind enough to turn their attention away from writing songs just about the Steelers and try writing something about Pittsburgh in general. So based on a thorough listening to the full version of each of the 5 entries, gsully and I offer these humble comments.
Pittsburghby Rodney McBride, performed by Sharon Fisher.
Sister Sledge meets The Chamber of Commerce. At first I thought this one was actually written by Tom Murphy. This one makes the cut because of the catchy beat – but forced lines like
“Where you can catch a game on the shores of fame” and
“you’ve got a friend in PA and in Pittsburgh too” doom this train before it leaves the station.
The Pride of Pittsburgh by Stephanie Riso, performed by Olga Watkins w/ Mason Embry.
First, let me say that this one is well sung, and I liked the piano. The first eye roller is its generality “We’re a city of of champions, We come from North, South, East and West.” Second, the song slides from pure boosterism into a response to the city’s critic’s (such as columnists that say it is
“butt-ugly”: “It’s the pride of Pittsburgh, it’s a cleaned up city no grime or gritty.”
Shot and a Beer Town, by Rick Malis.Rick channels Bruce Springsteen. Like many Bruce Springsteen songs this one is best enjoyed with whiskey and sleeping pills. Groaner line (but so true): “Some things never change in a shot and a beer town.”
The Place Where I Come From, by Dave Kincade and Dave Hanner.THE WINNER. This one has something the other 3 don’t, a soaring chorus which makes it appropriate for local news promotions. This one is almost as good as
the jingle Hanner wrote that American Idol runner-up Bo Bice was going to sing for Eat 'n Park. I am docking it because of this one little section where they seem to imply that somehow everything isn’t hunky dory around here:
“I laid my head on the pillow last night
I saw the future it ws shining bright
And now I know, now I know everything’s gonna be alright"
I Love Pittsburgh,
by Jimmy Sapienza.
Pittsburgh doesn’t seem like a place that can be captured by the Sinatra, Connick supper club vibe, but Jimmy Sapienza gives it a try. If Sapienza were a blogger he would be tagged with gratuitous use of the term Yunz – just ask Mike Madison. I couldn’t go with Jimmy because:
1. At the end of the day he seemed to imply that we had the Steelers, Pirates, Panthers, Penguins, rivers, an airport, pretty girls, and friendly people, and that’s it; and
2. In this era of globalization, Jimmy’s ambition was to best in the USA – come on where’s the comparisons to Dubai, Shanghai, and Paris?
Sapienza does get extra credit for the most honest content at the end of the song when he says "look out for that pot hole."
Nice try guys, but you won’t be replacing the theme to The Fish that Saved Pittsburgh on my iPod anytime soon.
To listen to these songs about Pittsburgh, click here.
The Blast Furnace for February 19, 2006...
Putting a gumband around the week that was, here's The Blast Furnace for February 19, 2006:1. The cold warm cold weather. There’s nothing something no way there’s anything to this global warming thing.
2. Quail hunting. What a boon it would have been if Dick Cheney had his accident in Ligonier.
3. Betsy the painted cat. Painting live cats turns out to be a horrible experimental successor to putting painted dinosaurs around town.
4. Spring training. Pittsburgh Pirates Manager Jim Tracy takes the field for the 1st time in Bradenton and sees his shadow meaning 6 more months until the Steelers report to Latrobe.
5. The Pro Bowl. The NFL’s gift to Bob Pompeani for logging an astonishing 250 hours of live local television in the month of January listening to Craig from Kilbuck dissecting the stitching of Ben Roethlisberger’s gloves.
6. $34,180. The cost of an entire year of academic humiliation at Carnegie Mellon University is still less than the $51,840 that 4 Home Plate Club seats will set you back at PNC Park, not including All-Star Game tickets -- and you get more meals included.
7. Crossing the tracks. Increase in suicides from overpriced subpar chain store restaurant meals causes Homestead to shut dangerous railroad crossing within a month of making the previously preferred method, taking the Homestead (“Hi-level”) Greys Bridge virtually inaccessible.
8. Valentine’s Day. Trust me, an Alan Faneca jersey is not a good present for your wife (and no, the white one is not “slimming”). Go with the teddy bear with a heart.
9. Powerball. Because even though I have a better chance of being struck by lightning than winning the $365 million, I’m even less likely to earn it.
10. (No) Voting Record. Why didn’t Lynn Swann vote all of those times? He had ballet lessons.
Don't Jacobellis
Jacobellis became a verb last night.
Jacobellis: verb. To lose while counting your chickens on the way to victory.
With a seemingly insurmountable lead,
Lindsey Jacobellis inexplicably
grabbed her board and fell while doing something called a "backside method grab," allowing herself to be bumped from certain gold to silly silver. It's a little bit poetic that the first "must see" moment of the Torino Olympics on NBC was a blooper, a moment of embarrasment where Lindsey Jacobellis seized the opportunity to join Bill Buckner and snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. After all, when you know the results in the past, there has to be something out of the ordinary to make you want to tune and see -- but after I read about I knew I had to see it. It was like Jerome Bettis fumbling on the 1 against the Colts without Ben Roethlisberger there to make the tackle.
But really, the day after, whose in a better position than Lindsey Jacobellis? Can you name the gold medal winner? (Someone named Tanja Frieden from Sweden...I had to look it up.) Can you name the American winner of the men's race that happened the day before? (
Seth Wescott...again, had to look it up.)
Jacobellis is now in the perfect position. Many will remember her and her story. Her path to redemption in the
2010 games in Vancouver is brightly lit. Sure, she'll get tired of seeing the replay from last night, but she'll probably cash-in talking about it.
So be careful...as you approach triumph in your life don't Jacobellis. But don't feel too bad for her, it will all come out in the end.
Being a management consultant myself, I like to maintain an air of mystery about the profession. Just what type of person is a firm looking for? What are the secret methods they use to evaluate that?
But for those of you that think the word consultant might be a synonym for arrogant jackass, I give you the following from today's USA Today (
"Jobs heat up for MBA grads") on how one deep thinker made his decision:
"During my sell weekend with (a consulting firm), I made a bet with one of the (recruiters) that if he could beat me in a milk drinking contest or vomited while trying I would sign on the spot. He managed to take down a half-gallon of milk in just over a minute, completely anhilating me in the contest. The fact that he was willing to do that not only made me feel important but it also spoke volumes for the culture and personality of the office."
In other news,
demand for coal miners is up...
In my visitor log, I noticed a strange referral address,
translate.google.com. I clicked it an low and behold, the good folks at
Google had been kind enough
to globalize this blog into Japanese.
I have no idea about the quality of the translation, but it looked kind of cool, and it helped one visitor from Shizuoka, Japan read
More on Puhlamalu (That's Polamalu).
Dry Cleaning For Honey Mustard On Pants...
A Picture Share!
Originally uploaded by justinsullivan.I made my Monday morning commute today...from Pittsburgh, PA to Seattle, WA. After barely making my plane in Pittsburgh, watching the United ground crew at Dulles try to get their baggage handling equipment started in the cold,and flying 5 hours cross country in the coldest 757 ever, I arrived at my date with destiny...lunch at the Rock Bottom Brewery's Seattle location (1 of 30 nationwide) and our waitress Jennifer.
Jennifer (who according to my colleague looks a bit like actress turned poker player Jennifer Tilly..or was it Meg Tilly) was cooly dropping off a seared ahi appetizer (recommended) with house salad (a little heavy on the cheese, egg and bacon) when I hear an "Oh, s**t" followed by the feeling of a giant glob of honey mustard landing on my right leg with several more teaspoons balancing precariously on the surface of the table in front of me.
This was soon followed by the profuse apologizing, the bringing of the club soda, the gentle touch on the arm directly preceeding more profuse apologizing, a visit from the manager with the pictured note promising dry cleaning reimbursement, followed by more apologizing by Jennifer which included "we're still friends, right", followed by the bringing of the compensetory complementary Triple Chocolate Stout Cheesecake (combines cream cheese, cocoa, bittersweet chocolate and smooth stout with a semi-sweet chocolate wafer crust -- and a dry cleaning bill).
Oh yeah, in the middle of this the kitchen also got my colleague's order wrong, for which they sent it back to the kitchen and promptly forgot.
I'm sure this is just the way the staff at the Rock Bottom Restaurants Inc drew it up in the manual.
The Blast Furnace for February 12, 2006...
Putting a gum band around the week that was, here's The Blast Furnace for February 12, 2006, "What are we going to do with the rest of the year?" edition?1. One for the thumb. Pittsburgh wins Super Bowl XL at X:XII on II/V/VI, its first in XVI years and Vth overall, following IV in VI years in the LXXs, Superbowl IX, X, XIII, and XIV.
2. Bus goes to the garage. Jerome Bettis rolls into retirement through Detroit, Disney World, a Pittsburgh and Leno. Don’t worry Bus, retirement can be more lucrative than your career, just ask a PAT operator.
3. Beard-lisberger. David Letterman shaves Ben Roethlisberger’s beard (brought to you by Gilette!) despite being one of the few Super Bowl winning QB’s to have a passer rating lower than his age.
4. A-Ward winning. Hines Ward goes from training camp holdout to Super Bowl MVP in 19 games.
5. Front runner. Republican officials’ questionable calls cost the Seahawks…I mean Bill Scranton the Republican nomination for Governor. Lynn Swann says “I made the plays I needed to win. I didn’t make James Seif drop the ball.”
6. Boscov’s. New Reading-based retailer coming to 2 vacated Kaufmann’s locations. Boscov’s competes with boring department stores by being an old-fashioned and boring department store.
7. Vitale-ity. ESPN’s Dick Vitale watches the Pitt Panther basketball team stay undefeated at home by beating West Virginia on Thursday. Enthusiastic fans allegedly draw distinctive trio of hypocycloids on his bald spot.
8. Destination Downtown. 250,000, some of whom hadn’t been downtown in 26 years, line Fifth and Liberty to celebrate
9. Little G. Jiwa Hati, the Pittsburgh Zoo (and don’t forget PPG) Aquarium’s new baby orangutan was born on Friday, takes a look around and immediately asks, “Hey, did I miss something?”
10. PTSD. Post Triumphant Super Bowl Disorder, Pittsburgh’s strange new disease. What do we have to with the next 5 months until training camp begins.
Recent Links to Sully's Stuff...
Thanks to the following sites that have recently linked to
Sully's Stuff:
S/asht*r and
Loosely Coupled by Tim Marmon
The Irish Trojan's Blog by Brendan Loy
My Brilliant Mistakes by Cynthia Closkey
CWinters.comThanks and happy reading!
The Sandra Sully cycle...
In the past 3 weeks, if you weren't looking for the Troy Polamalu song, and search brought you to this site you were probably looking for Sandra Sully. To further enforce the virtuous cycle of relevence, I am now shamelessly writing another post on Sandra Sully, positioning myself as the United States foremost expert on Sandra Sully. (Judging by the searches she recently celebrated a birthday...Happy Birthday Sandra, if you
Self Google.)
You may be interested to know that the United States literally has its own
Sandy Sully, CIO of Xilinx, but I don't think the Australians landing here are looking for her.
To give you an idea of the market size of Australia relative to the US, a
Google search for Sandra Sully returns 288,000 records, and 112 images. A similar search for Today Show anchor
Katie Couric returns 2,070,000 records and 4,090 images, despite being
FHM magazine's 6th "hottest Australian of all time." finishing above Nicole Kidman.
As with anything, there is a certain strange ardor that comes from fans...for example,
this site has 23 different portraits of Sully in ASCII text. On Wikipedia, she is apparently often confused with the
song writer who has helped pen hits for Bobby Womack (who?) and Mariah Carey (ugh.), but is worthy of
her own, slightly longer, entry.
UPDATE: March 9,
Sandra Sully birthday leads.
Today's the day we move on...
A Picture Share!
Originally uploaded by justinsullivan.Today's the day we begin to move on with the rest of 2006. The Steelers didn't make the front page of the Post-Gazette today. (Does anybody know how many days it has been since the Steelers were on the front page? 3 weeks...a month) So as the bus pulls into the garage after the Steelers first Super Bowl win in XXVI years, here's a look back at a season's worth of Steelers posts:
August 1, 2005: Here We Go (To A Super Market in Pittsburgh, July 31, 2005). The first day of training camp.
August 15, 2005: Dy-no-mite. Hines Ward returns to training camp.
September 12, 2005: Running by the first regular season Steeler Sunday.
September 26, 2005: Edgewood Mayor arrested at Steeler Game.
October 21, 2005: Who trashed Tommy Maddox's house?
November 1, 2005: Halloween brings a sea of Roethlisberger's and Wards and a subpar performance.
December 24, 2005: A Moose in a Hines Ward jersey waited patiently for Santa (he came).
January 8, 2006: A Steelers Fan's guide to Cincinatti Chili.
January 15, 2006: The debut of The Blast Furnace
January 20, 2006: Sunday Steeler Sunday launches the Puhlamalu link phenomenon
January 29, 2006: Seahawks rally in downtown Pittsburgh...sporting the kelly green and royal blue lands this fan in The Morning File.
and virtually every day for the past 3 weeks, and like a 22 year old English major graduating from a small liberal arts college, we have to decide what we want to do with the rest of our lives, but what a ride this has been.
What no Steigerwalds?
All Steelers all the time have become our local news watch words since the AFC Championship Game. So after the Steeler victory (we had a great time in Regent Square last night, more on that later), as we prepare to move on to life after football, I thought it might be fun to look back...way back.
On January 20, 1980, the Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Los Angeles Rams to win their 4th Super Bowl in 6 years, and Pittsburgh celebrated by partying in the streets. In a lot of ways it was the same as last night...but different.
KDKA has a video archive of it's newscast, and it's a fun browse. You'll see partying in the streets, Harold Hayes in his Franco Harris jersey, Patrice King Brown and Wayne Van Dine, and live video from Market Square -- but no
Steigerwalds. The true gems, however, are at the end after the weather -- so fast forward.
First, if you thought my post about
the Seahawks pep rally in Pittsburgh was original, you should see the Jaws parody of Rams fans on the Allegheny being chased in a canoe by Jaws' cousin "The Terrible Shark" while Steeler fans on the shore cheer while holding tasteful signs with slogans like "Ram this LA" and "Wham Bam Thank You Rams."
Second, if you've come to my blog looking for
Steeler songs, you'll want to listen to the song that concluded the newscast. It'll make you want to pull out your leisure suit and hit the dance floor. It's amazing to me that the Polka survived and this didn't. Imagine an up-tempo, end of disco-era melody based on sounds that probably can only be made electronically -- and these lyrics (note the liberal and prominent use of the terms "2" and "Super"):
"Here's 2 our Super Bowl Steeler Team,
Here's 2 a Pittsburgher's dream.
Let's win it 1 more year,
Let's keep that trophy here,
Right here for Super XIV.
Here's 2 the best.
Put to the test.
Four years of steel,
This one's for real,
Here's to our Super Bowl Team
We're from the home of the Super Steelers!
To see the video, go to
KDKA.com. Click on video. Click on the search tab. Enter XIV into the search box. Click "Watch our Super Bowl XIV Newscast (1/20/80). Fast forward...these gems take place in roughly the last 2 minutes. From "the home of the Super Steelers," enjoy!
The Blast Furnace for February 5, 2006, Super Bowl Sunday Edition
Red up yer house, put on your black and gold, putting a gumband around the week that was, here's The Blast Furnace for February 5, 2006, Super Bowl Sunday edition.
1. The Ohio Turnpike. For once the road to the Super Bowl goes through Cleveland.
2. Big Ben's Bender. Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger is one of the rare 23 year old men that drinks and woos women. Hey, Jeff Reed's the one that drinks milk.
3. Steeler Baby. Primanti sandwich slurping, fight song singing Steeler Baby becomes Pittsburgh's youngest celebrity since Christina Aguilera.
4. Marty Mc-Going. Mellon Financial CEO Martin McGuinn names his successor, Nova Scotian Robert Kelly, who may become Pittsburgh's highest paid Canadian non-professional athlete.
5. Bus' Banquet. Casey "Big Snack" Hampton's 3 plates lead the Steeler charge as Gladys comes through with a Super Feast.
6. Foote Bawl. In his old high school, Steelers LB is a football hero, and a big softie.
7. Antkowi-whacked. (Ominous voice-over) Coming up at 11. Which KDKA news anchor was involved in this rear end collision between her SUV and a Port Authority Bus, and is she alive?8. The Tweak. Where were you when you heard Steeler free safety Troy Polamalu "tweaked" his ankle? Did your heart skip a beat?9. Over-shadowed. Phil sees his shadow and pees on the Terrible Towel. Has a groundhog ever had a worse week. Gus may get his chance to shine next year.10. Porter mouth. Joey Porter channels the aggression of Steeler Nation. "We're going to try to tap out as many [Seahawks] as we can....make them quit, send them to the sidelines...That's all you need to know. Every chance we get to tap somebody out, that's what we're going to do."
Saturday Night Blogout!
Sorry to all the visitors who tried to get through to the site last night and couldn't. Blogger experienced a long outage beginning just after 5 PM yesterday that continued for at least 4 hours.
We don't pay
Blogger or
Google to host the
Sully's Stuff, so we don't have much to complain about, but it was inconvenient. Better the blog goes on the fritz the night before than to have your TV go out 20 minutes before.
I've just scared myself...I'm going to send gsully to
Home Depot for a generator, just-in-case.
I'm Ready To Go
A Picture Share!
Originally uploaded by justinsullivan.
"Just how much of a nut-out should one person have over a football game? It's an
exciting game, but winning the Super Bowl probably won't change the course of
history." --Seattle Post-Intelligencer Website, Friday February 3, 2006
"We've waited a decade...to make history..." --WTAE 4 Commercial
That's a pretty good summary of the difference between Seattle and Pittsburgh's mindset about the Super Bowl on Sunday. No doubt about it, Pittsburgh's hype is much more fun.
I'm ready to get back to a city where it's OK to put a statue of Franco Harris next to one of George Washington, has at least 4 different Steeler decorated dinosaurs, and there's enough gold on the streets to make up for the lack of sun.
Twelve!
A Picture Share!
Originally uploaded by justinsullivan.Seattle. So I'm out walking around Seattle tonight when I begin to notice the number 12. It's on big flags on top of buildings and on buttons. It's even hanging over the front entrance of Tom Murphy's retail Waterloo, Nordstrom's (shown here -- poorly).
What does the number 12 mean?
One guy told me that the number 12 honored Terry Bradshaw, the only bald QB to win 4 Super Bowls.
Another lady told me that it was the number of espresso shots in a triple doppio squared macchiato.
The concierge at the W told me it was the average number of shares in Microsoft that the average Seattle household owns.
A kind waiter told said, "Duh, can't you count? It's the number of letters in "Ichiro Suzuki". Then he spit in my food.
I may never know what the number 12 means, but I did hear a couple more Seahawks Songs that I can at least respect.
Check out the Bob Rivers Show (a kindred spirit of DVE's Jim and Randy, also found at 102.5) look for Hasselbeck (channeling Bob Seger, particularly appropriate to a Seattle Super Bowl), and 50 Ways to Beat the Steelers.
Hopefully, I'll be able to evacuate to the airport in time to avoid tomorrow's Seahawk pep rally.
KING 5 Seattle TV Reporters Love The Steelers
A Picture Share!
Originally uploaded by justinsullivan.SEATTLE. After arriving in downtown Seattle late last night and waking up at 4 AM simply because I was on east coast time, I thought the perfect way to shake my cobwebs out would be to take a run. So I put on my Under Armour, running shoes, #91 Kevin Greene jersey, grabbed my Terrible Towel and headed for Qwest Field, home of the NFC Champion Seattle Seahawks.
After noticing that the Steeler banner had a sign directly underneath it noting that it was under closed circuit surveillance 24 hours a day, I immdiately abandoned any plans I had to liberate the banner.
As I came around the corner, I ran into this man, Tim Robinson, a reporter for Seattle NBC affiliate KING5 and his camera man. He was down at Qwest doing this live shot, about an NFC Championship Hotdog for sale that costs more than a ticket to the game.
I agreed to talk to them (I usually don't do media on Wednesdays) about my expectations for the game. I was sure to tell them abou the Seahawks rally we had downtown. They agreed to pose with my Terrible Towel. Now they said that they were holding it upside down as a sign of distress, but I couldn't help but notice their complimentary tag team black and gold ensembles. Now that's a news team -- thanks guys.
Overall, it was a very pleasant run. Two cars honked, a couple more cheered, one car booed, but no one threw even so much as a crumpled piece of paper at me.
Sully's Stuff caps off a fantastic January and kicks off February by being featured in the Post-Gazette's
Morning File, the often humorous Page 2 roundup compiled by Peter Leo and Gary Rotstein. Today's file picks up yesterday's post on the
little known Seahawk rally that took place downtown last Friday.
This caps a really fun month for this site, with over 13,000 visits and 33,000 page views this month alone -- most of you looking for information on
the Puhlamalu/Menah Menah Phenomenon (try typing Troy Polamalu song into your web browser and see what I mean).
Please take a moment to bookmark this site, subscribe to the RSS feed by clicking the FeedBurner button, or subscribe by e-mail, both of which can be found in the right hand column under subscribe.
P.S. I've arrived in Seattle -- more after I get some sleep.
