18 Years and Counting

October 14, 1992 is currently the third worst Pittsburgh sports day of my life.  (Numbers one and two are January 28, 1996 and May 14, 1993.)  On this day the Pirates choked in the 9th inning of game 7 of the NLCS and lost to the Atlanta Braves.  They haven't had a winning season since.  For the past 18 years I've struggled with who to blame for this.  Should it be Barry Bonds for failing to throw out Sid Bream, an aging first baseman with two bad knees?  Or maybe Jose Lind, for failing to come up with a ground ball which should have been routine for a player of his defensive ability?  Blame could also be thrown upon Stan Belinda for having his worst outing of the season in the least opportune time.  I can still see the hit, throw and slide in my mind as clear as if it happened yesterday.  And it still stings just as much each time.  The fact of the matter is, however, I still don't know who to blame.  Barry has been a large target for so many years now and really, how many Pirates fans remember Stan Belinda?  So that leaves Jose Lind.  Sorry Chico, but I have to lay blame on you.  You should have made that play, thwarting the rally before it even had a chance to start.  I don't know where you are right now Jose, but this 18 year curse is your fault.  Come back to Pittsburgh, make the play (even just in an infield drill) and maybe the losing will stop.  You can even crash at my house.  No hard feelings.

Not a girl, not yet a woman revisited

So Miley Cyrus is beginning to make sexy videos.  Did any of you really think this was not ever going to happen?  Her two latest videos, "Can't Be Tamed" and "Who Owns My Heart" have caused a buzz due to their provocative nature.  Pay attention people.  Miley is growing up.  Her next birthday will be her 18th. She can't make teeny-pop bubblegum videos forever.  Britney Spears debuted to us all as a schoolgirl gyrating through the hallway.  (Now I don't want to see Miley have a Britneyesque meltdown, but Brit came with the sexy a lot sooner than Miley.)  We all watched multiple transformations of X-Tina (and should see another one with her pending divorce).  Miley has the right to grow and change as a performer in any way she (and Achy Breaky Billy) sees fit.  I'm not going to breakdown and cry and ask you all to leave Miley alone, but I will this: kid stars grow up and artists change.  If you expected different from Miley, then you're living in a Disney world.

Crime and punishment in the NFL

OK.  Brett Favre, while a member of the New York Jets, allegedly sent unsolcitied dirty pictures to a female coworker and left creepy voicemails inviting her to his hotel room.  To me, whether or not he sent this pictures and left these voicemails is very simple to prove/disprove.  So why has this story taken so long to break?  Why has ESPN, a network which new about it months ago, tried so hard to sweep it under the rug?  But when Ben Roethlisberger is accused of sexual assault, nearly all programming at said network is devoted towards coverage of Mr. Roethlisberger.  Let me make this clear in case you have forgotten: Ben Roethlisberger was never arrested or charged with a crime.  The police in Georgia decided there wasn't sufficient evidence to prosecute (persecute?) Ben.  Charges or no charges Ben sat out the first four games of the season for violating the NFL's code of conduct.  How many of you believe Brett Favre will see a suspension for his creepy old man antics?  It wouldn't be shocking to me if he was given a free pass (no pun intended) on this one.  After all we all watched so many amazing performances from Favre, especially the Monday night game the day following his father's death.  Yes, the entire country was moved by it.  However, being a legend doesn't put you above the rules.  Now, it seems there is hard (no pun intended) evidence (OK, the pun was intended.) Brett did was he is accused of doing.  Shouldn't sending unsolicited lewd pictures to a coworker be a violation of the NFL's code of conduct?  Doesn't Favre deserve at least a two-game suspension for these pictures and voicemails?  Yes I do believe his wife will lay down her own punishment, but Roger Goodell and the NFL must also lay down theirs.  Or else it makes them out to be hypocrites.

How much would buying an ad on Ben's jersey cost?

I heard today on the radio European soccer teams generate millions of dollars in revenue by placing advertising on their teams jerseys.  It got me thinking, what if NFL teams were to follow in their footsteps?  Could you imagine the Pittsburgh Steelers or Green Bay Packers adding a Budweiser or Gatorade logo to their jerseys?  No, of course not.  They are two of the most iconic and traditional franchises in all of the NFL.  Adding advertsing to NFL jerseys would not only be wrong but laughable.  How could anyone take Ray Lewis seriously as an intimidating linebacker if he has a Crystal Light patch on his jersey?  Could you not keep yourself from breaking down in laughter if Tom Brady had a K-Mart logo on his jersey?  Tom Brady hasn't set foot in a K-Mart since high school.  Or how about an ad for Super Cuts on Polamalu's jersey?  Yeah.  The NFL must avoid following in the footsteps of European soccer.  Think about it, ads for Coors Light or MGD 64 don't have a thing on Guinness or St. Pauli Girl.

On my final day of a mini-vacation...

I've spent the past few days relaxing at home since the club is closed due to aerification of the golf course.  I haven't posted a blog the first two days, not because I haven't had any material, but because I wanted to relax my mind as well as my body.  Well, as I was watching a super-cheesy b-horror film I started thinking.   Why does a supposedly abandoned house have electricity and running water?  Seriously, even for a low budget horror film, that's bad.  (OK, it was a parody of 80s slasher films, complete with jelly bracelets and a character dressed like Madonna circa 1985, but c'mon.)  I am a self-professed aficionado of low-budget horror.  Movies such as Sorority Babes in the Slime Ball Bowl-o-rama and Evil Toons are great fun.  But sometimes the cheese gets piled on way too heavy.  Take the movie I am currently watching (I love watching movies online from Netflix), Stupid Teenagers Must Die.  It is set in the 1980s and has the typical cast of 80s horror film characters including the virginal uber-dork, the black guy acting more macho than necessary and the blonde slut who, for whatever reason, wore a bra with a shirt that did not require one.  (Oh, and how many interracial couples appeared in 80s horror films?)  I can't decide if the movie was made to look grainy on purpose or if the film's budget was about what I make in a year and even for a b-movie, that's bad.  I can't say I had high expectations going into this film, but I did expect a clear picture for the gratuitous nudity which always accompanies these types of films.  The grainy style of movie making has its place, but for purposes of artistic integrity, please give us all a clear picture for the boobies.