1. Marky Mark McGwire came clean this weekend, admitting to the world, or whoever really gives a rats patoot that, yes, he did steroids in the 90's, including in '98 when he shattered Roger Maris' single season home run record.
Shocking. Jaw dropping.
Next thing you know Tiger Woods will get off his boat and tell everyone that yes, he really did sleep with 20+ women, Michael Vick will admit that he condoned and participated in dog fighting, Clay Aiken will tell everyone that yes, he is gay.
And before you know it, people will start telling other people that yes, goodness gracious, water is wet!
Mercy me. Be still my heart.
The only reason he decided to clean up the dust from under the rug is probably because he has been hired as the new hitting coach for St. Louis. Oh, to be a fly on the field during that first day of training camp....
Maris' name ought to be restored and McGwire's name fully removed from the records. The only thing that he can potentially hold credit for is when in 1987 he broke Frank Robinson and Wally Berger's record by hitting the most home runs in a single season as a rookie, with 49. Allegedly the juice did not start flowing until the 90's. So, chalk that record up, wipe away all that follows. You have to give credit where credit is due and there is nada due here.
2. Speaking of baseball, Pirate fans did you hear the good news? We hired a mental conditioning coordinator! And get this, he is from the Army to boot. If we can't play well, well then, at the very least, we might as well think right, dag on it. We may be the worst team in baseball history, but my goodness do we know how to think. We may lose games 20-0, but hey, we "outhunk"the other team. I don't care what anyone else has to say, you go Bernie Holiday, you make this team think! One thing's for certain, no more Ian Snell moments this season. Fingers crossed.
3. I watched the American Idol premiere last night. (Stop laughing.) It only took about five seconds for Ryan Seacrest to push my buttons and really tick me off. The premiere kicked off in Boston. In his introduction, Seacrest referred to Baahhston as, are you ready Pittsburgh? The City of Champions!
Um. No.
Nuh, Nuh, Noooooo.
This is the very reason why he is the host of American Idol, a mindless pop show, where some talent shines through and others just embarrass the hell out of themselves. His job is just to stand there and look short, he should never ever ever ever everrrrr make another sports related comment ever again. EVER.
Ok, fine, I have to admit, Boston is pretty dominating when it comes to championships. Like I said, have to give credit where credit is due. But coming off of a year of puck slappen, TD toe-tappen, sixburghen, city of champion-ness, I do not like to hear that term coined to any other city but Pittsburgh.
Bias? Yup! But can you blame me?
4. Can I get a round of applause for the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority (PWSA)? For more than 13,000 Burghers who use water, (um, who doesn't?) this months bill jumped up a small fortune thanks to the fact that, for reasons unbeknown to me, they have decided to use Malaysia now for their billing system. Unbeknown to them, (PWSA) Malaysia's decimal system is different than ours. Which goes to show that, sorry Lindsey Lohan but, against what you claim in Mean Girls math is NOT the same in every country...but that is beside the point. Anyhow, basically for those 13,000 some peeps, if your water bill was usually $45.00 a month, this most recent bill is telling you to pay $4,500. Round. Of. A. pplause.
Now, this minor quandry affects me in no way shape or form. However, it still makes me wonder - Why Malaysia? Doesn't the PWSA know that we need jobs here, in America, in Pennsylvania, in Pittsburgh! I went to a job fair a few weeks ago and it was like a cattle call, with lines out the door for each table. People are looking for jobs and I can about bet that a large handful would be willing to accept, at a lower pay than, say, five years ago, to handle the billing department of Pittsburgh Water. I can also about bet that this minor blip would have never happened.
5. I am all about helping other countries, we are much better off than a lot of other places in this world. But c'mon, sometimes we have to look out for our own before dishing out potential jobs across the globe. Haiti is an entirely different topic, however. What happened there is horrible.
Arguably, if it were not for Haiti, then St. Dominigue, Napoleon Bonaparte and Toussaint Louverture, in the late 1700's, America would be a very different place. What am I talking about? Haiti's slave revolt. As a result of which came the Louisiana Purchase and the American Civil War. The Louisiana Purchase doubled the United States in size, and has been compared in historic importance to the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. With the Purchase, birthed the heartland, while the U.S. began to establish itself as a country that would be able to withstand outside forces on its own. It also allowed the country to acquire the Mississippi River, as well as gain full access to the ports of New Orleans and the Gulf of Mexico. It opened a door of opportunity. A vast amount of Europeans saw it as a window of opportunity to travel to the states and explore the nation of opportunity. Thus growing the population, shaping the structural and cultural diversity. Life in America flourished because of the Haiti Revolution.
With the acquisition of New Orleans, the United States was able to lift the trade barrier that the French had on the port. It made it possible for Americans to ship goods now. Relying on England and France was no longer necessary. America would begin to focus on establishing itself as a country, while not having to worry about relying on others.
With that in mind, and as a result, the American Civil War occurred. Because of the desire to flourish and establish more states outside of Louisiana, each state was to decide whether or not slaves were free. Thus dividing the North and South.
Are you still awake? Just yawning? This is fascinating stuff. Seriously.
One good thing, if there is anything "good" post a 7.0 quake, is that the Port-Au-Prince's main airport is operating fine and is open and prepared for relief flights to land. Let's get flying people. They scratched our back over 200 years ago, now it's time to scratch theirs.
6. Quick wrap - 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver start in 30 days (Feb. 12th). Wahoo!
Penguins, more specifically, Malkin, better step it up.
Pitt Panther hoops are quieting the critics so to speak. Without Blair, Young and Fields, most thought this season would be nothing short of a struggle and a rebuilding year. Currently sitting pretty at 13-2, 3-0 and ranked 16th, the Panthers will take on #15 rivals UConn this evening. Good looking out for Ashton Gibbs, Gilbert Brown, Jermaine Dixon and Dante Taylor. Let's see what they can do. Game starts at 7:00.
Whoop whoop! Alley-Oop!
