Sunday, Sunday, Sunday

Finally, the lulling preseason games are over and the grueling regular season can get underway for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Saying that the Steelers' schedule is difficult this season is like saying water is wet. It's a no brainer to determine that it will be a challenging year. However, they have the opportunity to start off right on Sunday when they take on what you could call an "easier" team than what the rest of the season's opposition is proposing.


Pittsburgh will take on the Houston Texans for the third time in history. Each team claiming a victory on the road. Hopefully the pattern does not stand true for Sunday's game to start at 1 p.m. at Heinz Field. Pittsburgh has yet to lose a home opener since 2000.



Most of the Steelers are finally healthy and in shape for the game. Concerns of Larry Foote have been dismissed as Tomlin has expressed his confidence in his return against the Texans. The greatly missed Troy Polamalu will be back in the lineup to help contribute to the defense. And we are all praying to the sweet Lord above that rookie Rashard Mendenhall's mental stability has recovered after fumbling the football three times in two games.

To add to the line up, C Justin Hartwig finally stole the spotlight from Sean Mahan as Mahan was shipped off to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. With Mahan off the roster, the Steelers were able to aquire tight end Sean McHugh from the Detroit Lions.

Under the official title as captain, Big Ben Roethlisberger will look to lead his team to another AFC North Championship. Despite falling short of a strong playoff rally last season, Roethlisberger threw impressive numbers during the season, proving that he is much more of a threat in the air than some may have predicted. Last season alone he threw 32 touchdowns and a total of 3,154 yards. He also managed to cut his interceptions in half from 23 in 2006 to 11 in 2007. Add all of those numbers up and you get an impressive 104.1 quaterback rating, falling just under Tom Brady.

You can also expect to see a lot more out of second year linebackers LaMarr Woodley and Lawrence Timmons this season. The biggest hole that has most likely left the most question marks is whether or not the shoes of guard Alan Faneca can be filled. Chris Kemoeatu is most likely to be the one to come closest to taking on the challenge.

With the second half of the 2007 season proving to be less than subpar, the Steelers have a chance to start off the 2008 season with a clean slate and with a solid victory over the Texans. Game time is set to kick-off at 1 p.m. We can only hope Jeff Reed won't be the only point scorer for this game.

Let's Go Bucs!

I realized last Friday, as I was sitting there enjoying the Bucco game at PNC Park with my family, that the only true point to doing "The Wave" at a baseball game is merely an indirect form of the crowd expressing their complete and utter boredom and disinterest in what is going on in the game at that point.

It started off a little weak at first, late in the top of the 8th inning when fans began to realize in between yawns that the score was still 0-0 and hopes of anyone scoring anytime soon were looking slim to grim.

Then, from a far off corner along the 3rd base line we saw a glimmer of hope in shaking off the sleepers about to form in our eyes, the slightest hint of The Wave was forming. Yes, some calisthenic entertainment was about to come my way. This was even better than the seventh inning stretch. I got to stand up and sit down while flapping my arms gracefully through the air countless times and then got to sit down and watch the effects of it swirl around me like a funnel cloud before it made its way back to where it was my turn again to take part in the oh-so-strange, yet oh-so-entertaining tradition.

For a second there, I had my own "wave" of nostalgia wash over me when I began flapping my arms for the second time as if I were auditioning for a part in Angels In The Outfield. And for another second I almost found it a reasonable gesture to be flapping my arms as if calling for angels to come save the Pittsburgh Pirates from yet another horrendously embarrassing season. (Don't get me wrong, still love you guys and will keep going to the games.)

Not only does The Wave give me the opportunity to stretch my cramping legs, but it also gives me the chance to exercise my vocal cords a bit. Since Lord knows the last few innings have been so dull that I have only muttered a few words to a family member to the left or right of me, when the wave comes curling my way, this means I get to also make that little "Woooo" noise that the rest of my seating section chimes in with me.

It's typically a shame when The Wave dies down, there are usually a few dedicated souls, God bless them all, who try and savor the last few bits that are left and continue to do it for at least five more extra rounds than need-be. But hey, whatever it takes sports fans, keep on waving.

We will always have Italy.

I am still there. Mentally, metaphorically, theoretically; but not literally. It didn't take long to fall in love with. It was easy to part with because I had to. But now, sitting back at home, in the states, all I can think about is that place.

Italy. People ask me how my trip was and I respond with an enumeration of typical words like fun, amazing and awesome. But they cannot do it justice. I took hundreds of pictures. Some of my friends took thousands. And even they will not do it justice.

Its authenticity almost gives you a feeling as if you have landed not just in another country, but on another planet. It puts America to shame when you take the time to realize how wasteful our economy is while you walk through the ruins of when Caesar reined, or step foot into the church built atop where Peter was believed to be crucified.

It also reminds you of how economically savvy they are when you see women in stiletto heals, decked out in a business suit, weaving in and out of traffic on a moped on their way to work with their briefcase strapped to the back. Or the endless row of Smart cars lined up along the streets you walk through that look like a riding tractor would barely fit driving through.

You look at churches (or duomos, as they call them in Italy) that took 600 years to build in the 14th century with little to no technological assistance. Today, because of technology, we can build things and blow them up quicker than it takes me to type this post. There is no such thing as artifacts unless its a dinosaur bone uncovered in the desert, and our definition of antiques are the silver spoons and oil lamps handed down to us from our grandparents, which eventually find there way to a storage bin in the attic until a garage sale takes place.

The pace of life they choose to set is relaxed enough to enjoy lunch and your glass of wine while looking out over the country side; yet it is still fast enough to get things done and make a living somehow, someway.

I can't even remember what I had for lunch yesterday.

Wine is a delicacy. It is their pride and joy. Red wine with lunch and dinner. White wine with cookies...at least that is what they say. I am more of a white wine drinker myself so I indulged in about 20 bottles of Pinot Grigio throughout the week for breakfast, lunch, dinner, with cookies or with friends.

We drove through the country side, between the mountains and the ocean, and squeezed down small alley-ways to get from one place to the next. We walked, and walked and walked and walked.... No wonder they can eat all those carbs and still remain thin. We rode on a boat across Lake Como, shopped all day in Milan, bought leather in Florence, wine in Tuscany and souvenirs everywhere we went. Oh, yeah, and we did play a little soccer here and there.

Essssssspresso

This may make me sound like a petty asshole but I cannot STAND when people order espresso and pronounce it "expresso." Expresso isn't even a word. Let me spell out the correct word for you E-S-P-R-E-S-S-O. It's like you start off saying the letter "S" and then before you say the letter "O" you throw the word "PRESS" in the middle. Put it together and you get ESPRESSO. WaLa, just like that you get esssssssspresso.

If you haven't figure it out yet, it really irritates me. I work in a coffee shop on Tuesday's and when people ask for that extra shot of eXpresso, I'm almost tempted to look at them quizzically and politely ask them what the fuck that is. And then I'll pretend to have an epiphany and that I've decoded their jibberish by saying to them: "Oh, what you meant to say was espresso."

I am more than obliged to fix everyone their drinks with a smile on my face and a chipper tone in my voice, but deep down inside I am boiling for a solid five seconds after I experience the mispronunciation. I appreciate all of my customers and love making them drinks so that they can get their coffee fix in for the day in order to help them survive the dreaded hours couped up inside a windowless classroom that looks more like a jail cell than a place for learning.

I pity them and am slightly tickled with joy at the thought that by making them that caramel latte or vanilla frio...or my fave is the lady that orders the large sugar-free vanilla cappuccino with soy milk and decaf espresso...but anyways, that by making them that drink, it will make their day a little better. Whatever makes the customer happy makes me happy. But please people when ordering, throw caution to the wind and think before you speak when making that special request for that extra shot of the jitters. Just remember, it's essssspresso.

Where have all the cartoons gone?

Saturday morning: I wake up around 9 a.m. and head into the living room to start a pot of coffee. I plop down on the couch, remote in hand and flick on the television set in search of an epic Saturday morning cartoon. After fixing myself a steamy mug of joe I settle back down and continue my channel surfing.

Soon to my dismay, after hitting all of the hot cartoon channels I realize that my best program of choice for the morning is either the Anime on Cartoon Network or SpongeBob on Nickelodeon (which is what I rest upon for the time being). My comfort zone has completely crumbled and a wave of panic washes over me. "Where have all of the cartoons gone?!" I exclaim.

Honestly? Where are the Doug Funny and Patty Mayonnaise love stories? The Tommy Pickles and Chuckie Finster dynamic duo adventures? Rockos Modern Life or Hey Arnold! ??? How could I not mention Talespin or Rescue Rangers...I still get the theme song stuck in my head every now and then. And Duck Tales! I loved watching those ducks swim their way through all those coins...Pinky and the Brain wasn't too bad, but not one of my favorite choices. Regardless, it was still a much better cartoon than the ones they have now.

I've heard rumors flutter around about how you can still watch basically all the shows I just mentioned on a special digital cable Nickelodeon channel of some sort. Problem is I'm in college and can only afford basic cable that doesn't even include the history channel. Thank goodness I'm 21 and had the privilege of experiencing and watching the shows then, as opposed to what I would have to settle on now.

These days kids are extremely deprived of the good life when it comes to Saturday morning. It's the one time that I truly believe that kids really do have it rough. Granted they do have some choices but they are slim-pickens....There are only so many SpongeBob episodes I can take before his high pitched, bubbly giggle forces me to either mute the TV or just turn it off completely.

After becoming extremely distraught over the fact that my Saturday morning lineup was not going to go as planned, I decided there was no longer a use in even trying to pretend to enjoy a mediocre episode of animated entertainment. I merely turned the television off, dumped out my coffee and went back to bed. There is just no use in waking in the a.m. on Saturday ever again, unless the cartoon industry makes a major U-turn and brings back the good stuff.

Until then...