Saturday, November 10, 2007

Originally appeared 1/15/06

Big Sunday in Pittsburgh

     At least from a sports perspective.  The Steelers are about an hour away from kickoff against the Indianapolis Colts.  Not that I expect the Steelers to win mind you, on paper Indy is way better, but I take more joy than the average 'Burgher in the fact that most years, you can bank on the Steelers at least making the playoffs.  People who root for such sad franchises as New Orleans or Arizona would love to have the problems that we have in our fair city.  To them, the playoffs are but a dream, to us they are almost a birthright.

 

     Sliding under the radar, but almost as impressive is the fact that the Pitt basketball team is still undefeated and ranked #12 in the country to this point.  Of course they play Louisville today (ranked #11), so this will be by far the toughest test of the year for the young Panthers, who start only one senior and rotate as many as ten players in the lineup, including playing some freshman that look to have some potential in keeping the program at a high level for years to come, which is good because the Big East is arguably the toughest conference in America right now when it comes to men's basketball.

     The week looks promising for me as well, what with me getting paid at both jobs this week, and having Saturday off.  I may get my pogo badges done in short order, though I haven't looked to see what the challenges will be.  I have two done so far this week, the two for the 2006 album, and I am in decent shape to get my personal done.  I barely slid under the wire last week, finishing my last badge (win 2 rated games of spades) just before the deadline on Wednesday.  The problem with that badge was simply that in order for a game to be rated, you had to have 4 real players (computer players not permitted).  Luckily I found some people in the same boat as me, so we just took turns throwing games in order for everyone to get their badge. 

    I plan on adding Christmas pics to the blog, maybe as early as tonight.  So those of you who drop by will get to meet some of the family, others will just have to guess what sort of people would spawn someone like me.  Rumor has it, there are even pics of me, right after I woke up Christmas morning no less, so unlike Ric Flair, I am not stylin and profilin.

     Speaking of wrestling, once again the belt has come back to the city of Pittsburgh where it belongs now that Kurt Angle has the belt on Smackdown.  This is an interesting development for those who follow the sport that isn't a sport, given Angle is supposed to be a Raw wrestler, so having him come to Smackdown and win the battle royal for the vacated title (Batista dropped the belt due to injury, an injury serious enough that he may miss upwards of a year of time, which is far too long from  writing perspective to not have title defenses).  It will be interesting in seeing how they decide that Kurt should have been allowed to compete (let alone win) on a show in which he is not part of.  Obviously, from a storyline perspective, they felt that Mark Henry just wasn't what they wanted in a champion, with a limited move set and less personality on the microphone, and the Smackdown roster is void of believeable people who could have beaten him in a match and that the fans would tune in to either love or hate.  Maybe Bobby Lashley, though he is still too unrefined as a character, or JBL could have pulled it off, though that would interrupt a promising feud between him and the Boogeyman.  Most likely, Kurt is more or less a placeholder for the belt, though the crowd reaction in Philly probably wasn't what WWE expected, and may result in Kurt holing the belt longer than they first anticipated.  As for how Kurt could be sent to Smackdown, if I were WWE, I wouldn't waste a lot of time on it, a simple explanation such as "punishment for being the first eliminated in the Elimination Chamber match" would probably suffice.   Then , until they find an appropriate foil for Angle, you can just have him beating up on people to impress the higher ups that he really does belong on Raw as opposed to Smackdown.  This allows him to have matches with anyone on the Smackdown roster, whether they be heel or face, since they are in effect defending their show, rather than coming up with any one specific feud.  Just my two cents though.

 

     See, not only do you get political commentary here, I could write for WWE as well.  At least I think I can.  lol

     I did manage to book some guests last week for the radio show that are worth a second look for those who are willing.  The students at Swarthmore College in Eastern PA started a program called War News Radio (www.warnewsradio.org).  Rather than rely on the standard media when it comes to what is going on in Iraq, they have opted to find out for themselves by calling Iraqis on the phone and actually talking to them.  A novel concept to be sure.  It should be noted that they only speak to Iraqis that speak English but still it is a fresher perspective on what is happening than someone who has no connection at all to what is going on bloviating incessantly. 

     And lastly, come this Saturday, NBC offers its second NHL game of the week.  I say this only because the Penguins will be on, most likely losing again as they take on the Philadelphia Flyers.  But for those of you who are wondering what I am talking about when I rave about the rookie Penguin Sidney Crosby, this will be a chance to check him out.  Between him and Lemieux for the Pens and Forsberg and Gagne for the Flyers, there will definitely be some offensive talent on the ice for all to see.

     Well, that is all for todfay, we are just about up to kickoff and tipoff (both are set for 1pm).  Be back later on and kudos to the people at This Week for having my favorite potential presidential candidate on, Governor Mark Warner of Virginia.

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