Tiffany's Tuesday Tunes: Let's Go Bucs!

HAPPY BUCTOBER!  What the heck us Buctober, you ask?  It is the fever that is sweeping Pittsburgh, as tonight, October 1st, the Pirates host the wildcard playoff game at PNC Park.  First time a playoff game has ever been held in our gorgeous stadium, and the first playoff game for our Buccos in over 20 years.  YINZ GUYS!  GROUP HUG!

I desperately wish I could be there tonight to feel the crackling energy of an entire city in love with our team. For the first time in years, we actually have not been able to go to a single game this year, due to a lot of other commitments and the fact that the games are actually selling out now. But that has not reduced my Bucco love, I simply love them from afar.

I, along with thousands of others, will be thinking about the game all day today, daydreaming about pennants and World Series games along the river.  So, was there ever any doubt what today's playlist theme was going to be?  Listen to this playlist on repeat, get pumped up, and let's do this!

Come on boys.  Raise the Jolly Roger.

Tiffany's Tuesday Tunes: F is for Fifteen

Last night the Pittsburgh Pirates secured their spot in the playoffs for the first time in over 20 years.  This season has been a dream for the Pirates, breaking a losing season streak, and making the city of Pittsburgh tremendously proud.

When the Pirates began their journey to this moment, dealing with 20 years of losing seasons,  I was just 15 years old.  Fifteen seems like it was a lifetime ago. Some things about me were so drastically different from how I am now (like the fact that I still had my natural hair color).  And some things about me were uncannily the same (even then I always had a book in my hands).  But one thing that has remained a constant over those years is Bucco baseball.  My entire life has been filled with Pirates games, many of them losses.  Because I have 3 cousins who have played major league baseball, the game is in my blood.  And because Pittsburgh was the closest city to where I grew up, the Pirates were the hometown favorite.  

I have incredibly fond memories of games with my childhood friend and her family, my college and grad school friends, and of course my own family.  I remember taking my nephew to his first game.  I remember the first game Hubby and I went to when we were dating.  I remember the highs, the lows, the strikes, the homers, the cotton candy, the hot dogs, the bobbleheads, the 7th inning stretches, the fireworks, and most of all the tremendous excitement I felt watching a major league team play.  It never really bothered me when the Bucs lost.  Sure I preferred a win, but I loved them just the same.  They were my team, and have remained my team.

In honor of the tremendous journey this team has taken over the last 20 years, today I compiled a playlist of some of the top songs from 1993, when I was just 15, and the Pirates began their journey to where they are now.

Raise the Jolly Roger.

35 Day Project: Richard G. Snyder YMCA Triathlon Volunteer

Hopefully by now, most of you have read about how I am celebrating my upcoming 35th birthday with 35 days of kindness, and that many of my friends are also performing acts of kindness during that time to help me celebrate.  Well, the kickoff for the 35 Day Project was today.  I decided to kick this project off with style (and a little early) by spending both mornings this weekend volunteering.  

I live very close to the Richard G. Snyder YMCA campus, and this beautiful new facility is such an asset to our community.  I am also a board member for the United Way of Armstrong County, and the YMCA is one of our recipient agencies, so I was excited to be able to support them on a personal level.  The YMCA held its very first triathlon this weekend, and I was pretty excited to be helping out.  The event was being broken into two days.  Saturday, March 16th, was the adult triathlon.  It consisted of a 5k run, 300 yard swim,  and 10k bike ride.  I woke up Saturday morning and it was cold and wet, and I was wondering how these athletes did it.  I had no idea what was in store.  When I got to the event, I helped with the registration process.  Once all participants were registered, and the run portion had begun, I then moved out to help make sure all runners crossed the finish mat, to ensure their times were correctly recorded, and direct them to the pool area. Once they finished swimming, I helped direct them to the start line for the bike ride.  Then I got to stand at the finish line and watch all the participants finish.  What. A. Rush.  I was totally in awe of every single participant.  The weather was certainly not pleasant, as rain/snow/ice fell intermittently, and parts of the bike train were muddy and mushy.  But they pushed on.  I have so much respect for the tenacity of these participants.  After everyone was finished, times were tallied, and awards granted.  All in all, it was a great morning.

Today, the second half of the event was held, a kids' triathlon for children 14 and under.  Their event consisted of a 1 mile run, 100 yard swim, and 5k bike ride.  These kids were hard core!  Our youngest participant was a 6 year old girl!  I helped for registration again this morning, then I moved out to the running and bike trail to help as safety patrol.  There are spots where the trail intersects with a street, so I was positioned at one of those points to stop any car traffic and allow the kids to safely continue along the trail.  This meant that I got to see each participant twice during their run and twice during their bike ride.  I was so tickled to see these kids pushing themselves, and they seemed like they were having a total blast in the process.  To see the looks of accomplishment on their faces made standing in the cold totally worthwhile.  One of the perks of being stationed on the trail was the fact that I got to cheer for each and every participant as they competed.  And the thing that impressed me was, as I cheered, nearly every single child thanked me for the encouragement.  (This whole kindness thing is totally working.)  I even got a hug from one girl after it was all over.

What a great resource the YMCA is to our community, offering a wonderful facility and fantastic events such as this to help support a healthy lifestyle.  It was such an honor to help out with the triathlon, and I can think of no better way to have kicked off the 35 Day Project.

To see more photos from the triathlon, view my flickr set here (sorry they are grainy, all I had was my iphone and it was so cold out!)

In the Big City: Pittsburgh Power

Ever since Hubby learned that Pittsburgh would be getting an arena football team, he has been wanting to go.  He asked me several times if I would want to go.  I am pretty sure he expected me to say no, or complain about going, because I am not one terribly interested in football.  I mean, I am a Steelers fan, because that is sort of the law in Pittsburgh, but other than that, I am usually not too interested.  Despite my years as a cheerleader/marching band member/ dancer for junior and high school football games, I have never understood the rules of football all that well.  So no one was more surprised than me, except maybe Hubby, when I not only enthusiastically agreed to go to the game, but also had a heck of a good time.

Thanks to an offer from CBS local, we got lower tier seats at a huge bargain.  The seats were fantastic to say the least. We got there quite early, so we had time to watch the teams warm up. For those who are unaware, arena football is played on a field that is half the size of an NFL field. Hubby talked more about the rules and stuff over on his blog. Like I said, I still do not know the rules of football.

What I do know is that the Pittsburgh Power, as well as their dancers The Sparks, know how to put on a show. Starting with a powerful entrance.

The action was fast paced, in part due to the smaller field, and much more physical than I anticipated. And the teams were fired up, there were lots of altercations.

The crowd was encouraged to participate by being vocal and getting on their feet, which was cool, but the announcer was getting annoying by the end of the game. Also, I was frustrated with the poor quality of the sound system the officials used, you could not hear the calls at all. But that did not stop the crowd from getting really fired up.

While the Sparks dancers were talented, and attractive, I agreed with one of the other women in attendance at the game: Pittsburgh does not need cheerleaders. Our fans are all the entertainment we need. Frankly it reminded me of the "Hairography" episode of Glee.

Oh well, at least the ladies get a little eye candy too in the form of head coach Chris Siegfried. Ooooo la la.

While I did not totally understand what was going on during the game, Hubby did a great job of explaining it to me, and we did have a super fun time. This is a great affordable activity for families, and I can pretty much guarantee we will be going again.

You can see more of my pictures from the game here.

Sweet and Sour Tiffany: Don't Tase Me Bro

The Pittsburgh Pirate's home opener was this past Thursday, and already we have an example of why I hate the behavior at public professional sporting events.  On Saturday, a fan had a run in with a police officer, his billy club, and his taser after being belligerent and what looked like an assault of a PNC Park employee.  I say "what looked like" because part of the action was caught on video, and quickly uploaded to youtube.  If you have not seen the video, I will warn you, it is not pretty, at least not in my opinion, but watching it will make my Sweet and Sour assessment a lot more sensible.

The Sweet

I personally love baseball.  I think there is nothing better than going to a game, getting some cotton candy, doing the wave, and praying the Pirate Parrot will pose for a photo with me.  The Pierogi Race turns me into a big kid.  And while tickets to baseball games are way more reasonable than football or hockey games, at least in the 'burgh, I absolutely hate when fans near me are obnoxious.  Last September, we sat in front of a bunch of hoodlums with vuvuzelas, and it almost ruined the night for me.  So, I totally understand PNC Park's policies when dealing with rude and obnoxious fans.

Spectators from the game in question are saying the fan at the center of the controversy was extremely intoxicated, rude, using foul language, and eventually he was asked to leave.  This is where the video starts.  While being heckled by the frat boys around him, the fan then shoves a PNC employee, and refuses to cooperate with police.  Clearly something needed to be done.  PNC is intended to be a family park, and obviously this behavior cannot go on.

The Sour

Having said all of the above, just watching the video is a little brutal.  It does not tell the whole story, all we see is a fan being beaten with a billy club, tasered, and arrested.  All while some woman shouts STOP in the background, amid the frat boy chants of USA (because the fan in question was wearing a USA jacket).  Many people are asking if this was excessive force.  The fan gets cracked on the noggin a couple of times before being taken down.  It is actually kind of scary.

The thing that angers me most of all is the fact that this was video taped, to float along the internet for people to mock, and ridicule.  I think it is a shame that this was uploaded.  It makes the fan look bad, it makes the cops look bad, and it makes Pittsburgh bad.  This is not who we are as a city.  But people will heatedly pick sides, saying who was to blame with absolute certainty.  Don't believe me?  Read the youtube comments.  We as a city are a laughingstock over this.  Need more proof?  Google the phrase "PNC fan tasered".

***

At the end of the day, we will never ever know the full story here.  We will not know what the fan's behavior was leading up to the tasering.  We will not know what exactly was said between the fan and the cop.  And we will not know the motivation of the videographer who loaded it in youtube.  I find the whole thing sad.  Sad that a fan acted this way, sad that it was handled this way, sad that the frat boys egged him on, sad that alcohol was most likely at the root of this.  I am sure there were kids in the stands near this unfolding drama.  What did they think, how did the adults explain this to them.  I am sure in a week or so, some celebrity will do something stupid, and this will be forgotten, but in the mean time, I am saddest of all that the reputation of our city is now slightly more tarnished.



So that being said, if the Sweet and Sour didn't completely fill you up, move along to the fortune cookie.

Thankful for... Black Friday

Today, I am thankful for Black Friday.  Not because of the sales, or the football games, or travelers or any of the usual things.  I am thankful that all of those things, in addition to some other circumstances, led to an unexpected day of fun with my Hubby!

Early this morning, I got a text from an old college pal saying he had 2 extra tickets for today's Pens game up for grabs, because his fellow season ticket holders could not attend for a couple of reasons.  When I asked him how much and he said free, I jumped at the chance for us to go.  How often does someone offer you free Pens tickets?  I have know R. since my first day of my first class of college, and he has asked me to go to games in the past but I have never been able to go. The fact that he had 2 tickets on a day when both Hubby and I could go?  Serendipity.

We got there just in time to get out tickets and get to our seats.  While we had gone to a game in September, it was a preseason game, so this was my first OFFICIAL Pens game.  I was so pumped.  As always, our seats were great, because there is not a bad seat in Consol.

It was great to catch up with my friend, and it warmed my heart to learn he recently proposed to his girlfriend.  It makes me happy to see people in love!  Also, I got to be with the man I love, my wonderful Hubby.  Despite being a little sick (he caught what I had last weekend), he had a blast!

It was a really good game.  It started slow, and I have to say, the Pens had a lot of sloppy passes.  I would like to think the reason my sweet baboo Letang was sloppy was because he was distracted by my saucy redheaded presence in the building.  But his hair is as hot as mine, so I will let it slide.

Sid the Kid looked a little tired today, he must have had too much turkey yesterday, but hey, even superstars like him need to rest on their laurels now and then.  He still helped to lead the team and assist on a goal.

And then there was Fleury, more like Fury today.  He took a lot of hits by the Senators, before fighting back. It is rare to see a goalie get a penalty, but I say good on him, he needed to defend himself, as well as our net.  And he did one heck of a job.  To be fair, so did the other goalie.  Just not as well as The Flower.

Despite the fact that I was just regaining my voice, and Hubby might be losing his, we helped cheer on the team with some LET'S GO PENS.  What an awesome sound that is, to hear 18,000 people yelling that!

The game was tense for the whole last period, and nothing was certain, right up until the end.  No matter what the outcome, this was going to be a hard fought battle for both sides.

But in the end, our black and gold boys were victorious once again.

We wanted to take R. out afterwards, but everything in the city was packed, and he needed to head back to Columbus, where he lives, so I told him I would take him to lunch the next time he is in the Burgh as a thank you for the tickets.  What an awesome, unexpected blessing this was!

Since traffic on 28 looked bad, we headed to Cranberry and went to dinner, just me and Hubby.  We went to one of our old date spots, and it was an unexpected dinner date.  We had a blast.

So, thank you, thank you, thank you, R., for the tickets, and helping make this "old married couple" have an unexpected date!

(ps I got a new camera.  We were in the next to the last row of Consol, opposite the Pens bench, and I got these AWESOME pictures, you can click on them to see bigger versions.  How cool is it that my camera can zoom this well??!!  Hubby got me the camera.  Sigh.  I am a lucky lady!)

Small Town Elements: High School Football

In high school, I loved football season, because I was in the band.  For the first 3 years, I was just a standard, clarinet playing band geek, but my senior year I shot up the coolness chart when I made the dance line (thats me on the far lower right of that picture).  My senior year, our football team was decent, going 9-1 or something like that.  The year after I graduated, we made it to the playoffs.

This year, my nephew is a sophomore in high school, also in the band (he plays drums).  He has the awesome experience of the football team being undefeated for the first time in something like 37 years.  They also won their first two playoff games, and next week, the team competes for the regional championship.  I have never been so proud to be a Bridgeport Bulldog as I am right now.

I find it ironic that a local team, the Ford City Sabers, also had an undefeated season, and won their first two playoff games.

Best of luck to my Bulldogs and to my local team, the Ford City Sabers, in their next games.  Show them who is boss!

In the Big City: Grand Opening

On Saturday, Hubby and I once again found ourselves venturing into Pittsburgh, full of excitement.  For those of my readers who may be hockey fans, I am sure you are aware that the Pittsburgh Penguins are getting a new arena.  Well, on Saturday, the grand opening was held, and we got to attend.  It was pure awesome.  You see, because the new arena is called the Consol Energy Center, the grand opening was primarily for Consol employees and affiliates.  Some friends of ours, M and J, are in that category and had tickets, but were leaving for vacation that morning, so they offered the tickets to us (a million thanks M and J!).  We readily accepted them. 

We got into town, and it was a gorgeous day.  The Consol Energy Center is located right across the street from Mellon Arena.

 The front of the center is all glass, and the cityscape reflects off of it so beautifully.

We got inside, and we got a little swag bag with a schedule of the day's events, and a commemorative puck.  You immediately notice all the high tech gadgets all around.  A virtual Stanley cup.  Scrolling LED banners.  Flat screen t.v. EVERYWHERE.  This place is the ultimate mancave.

Hubby excitedly spotted Iceburgh, the mascot, and requested a photo, which was quickly arranged.

Finally we were all corralled into one seating area.  The number of people there filled about a quarter of the arena.  We sat and waited for the presentation.  The place is just spectacular, so we had no problem just sitting and looking.

Finally, there was a short presentation, mostly geared toward Consol employees, which I thought was pretty awesome.  Then two employees got to do the ceremonial first official face off in the arena.  It was quickly followed by a cheer of LETS GO PENS!

After that we got to explore the place for the next 3.5 hours.  There was tons to do.  They had a station where you could get a free t shirt made (it was my first stop, I was ridiculously excited).

There was also a chance to skate on the ice (we did not), get temporary tattoos (nope), meet and greet retired Pens players (the line was ridiculously long, so, no go there), but mostly we just wondered around and drank in the sites.  The tickets for admission were also good for $12 worth of concessions, which Hubby used, but I did not, as that would not have been good for my weight loss goals.  The food all looked and smelled amazing though!

We got to go into the ultra swank Lexus Club, which had an actual Lexus convertible in it.  Sit in it and try it out?  Don't mind if I do!

We also got to tour a Party Suite.  Very cool, having your own private party at a Pens game.  A girl can dream, I suppose!

There is all kinds of Pens pictures and artwork lining the walls of each level, but this was one of my favorites.  Who doesn't love Geno?

There is a great Kids Zone, with activities for the kids, including some Wii interactive sports deals and this cool little Crosby Dryer Challenge.

As you can imagine, I took a ton of pictures, and we had a blast!  It was so cool being part of the first few to really get to experience the arena.  We had a wonderful day!

Now we just need to wait a little while longer to hear those magic words.....

IT'S A HOCKEY NIGHT IN PITTSBURGH!  LETS GO PENS!!!!!!