YOU CAN CALL ME WHAT YOU WANT�.
Schedule Day
By Swissvale72
My personal
highlight of the off-season was yesterday; the release of the NFL
Schedule.�� Hell with baseball, who cares
about hockey playoffs (�specially after last night);
it�s time to plan the pilgrimages, the sojourn to Heinz Field.� In fact, last night had me so forward looking
to spring & summer, that I broke down, shelled out
$20 for sunglasses at Walgreen�s.� Now�.this
may not sound like a lot, and my purchase certainly doesn�t rival a Coco
Chanel, which I understand has reinvented the definition of a 360 at Fashion Island, but my Foster Grants were double
in price of last year�s shades.� Would�ve
kept the old ones, but they cracked during my Anaheim trip in February�got
roughed up going from the Bail Bondsman to the Sushi joint, back to the Bail
Bondsman.� Tellin�
ya, absolute highlight of Anaheim was this turn off of Santa Ana Canyon Road.
Anyway, the schedule, the pilgrimage, the sojourn.�
I went to last year�s opener�.had planned to do so again versus Buffalo.� Now I don�t know.� What happened?� Don�t know�..that�s a good answer, huh?� 86 x 44�..Oh yeah, maybe that�s it.�
Did you know that Penn State plays Buffalo
(yeah�the college Buffalo) the preceding day,
and then the Steelers play Buffalo
on Sunday.� How�s that for a
coincidence.� I wonder if they�ll take
the same flight, share players??� I never knew there was such a thing as Buffalo in the college
ranks.� Though, who�s ever heard of �Lebanon Valley
College?� Recent mailings have let me know that the
old alma mater is now Lebanon Valley College of Pennsylvania��lest it be
confused with the Middle East, mom & dad send
their kid�s care packages to Beirut.�� So, the opener�s a question mark.
Have to
take my son to a Penn State-Steeler
doubleheader.� Two
choices�..Penn State-Iowa on October 6th, followed by
Steelers-Seahawks the following day.��
How about that�.root against the black & gold on
Saturday, root for the black & gold on Sunday.� Should I attend the local high school�s
football game on Friday night, I could make it a hat trick, rooting for the
local black & gold 11.� When I first
took my son to a high school game, the Sabres ran out
on the field, the little fella turns to me, says,� �Dadddy; is that the Steelers?���
Only other
choice is Penn State-Purdue on November 3rd, followed by
Steelers-Ravens on November 5th, a Monday nighter.�� My boy favors this for two reasons:
1) It�s the exact same doubleheader,
even down to the Monday nighter, that we attended in
2005.
2) He�d need to miss some school�..always
a favorite.
Of course,
I could bag the Penn State portion, go to Pittsburgh
for Thanksgiving, and let me tell you, a good Pittsburgh Dago Turkey Day trumps
the WASP Bullshit that I need to endure here in New
England any day.� Goes for most holidays.��
Let�s take the recently past Easter holiday for instance.� Personally, I have zero use for Easter unless
I�m in Pittsburgh
enjoying the likes of Ricotta Pie, and a bunch of other Dago food that I won�t
even attempt to spell.� Noon on Holy
Saturday, eat like pigs!!� Anyway, called
my Mom on Easter morning; they were having raviolis�..my all-time
favorite.� I never order raviolis in a
restaurant though, �cause they won�t give me 44 of them, which is my all time
record.� They give you like�.8 stinkin� raviolis.�
What the hell am I going to do with 8???�
Holidays we had raviolis in Pittsburgh,
I ate nothing else.� Ate
no turkey on Thanksgiving�.was all-ravioli, all the time.� Ate so may raviolis
I�d pop buttons on my shirt.� True
story!!� My brother, TonyV15220 on the
board will verify..�
Ate, shudder at the thought, no ham on Easter.�� Ham�.that�s what my in-laws had last
week.� And at one point, during the meal,
someone said the words I dread, �Hey�.this ham is really good.�� To which I automatically reply, �How fuckin� good can ham be?��
Truthfully, I leave out the f-bomb�..but it�s sure in my thoughts.
Sorry�.I�m distracted today, rambling, I know it.� Back to the sched.� Maybe
we�ll substitute a good Pittsburgh Dago Turkey Day for a Penn State
game, then stick around for the Monday Nighter against the Dolphins on Light Up Night.� I read that Peezy
has some �unfinished business.� Y�know, I�m starting
to get sick of his shit.� I�ll cheer for
him when he�s introduced, when he runs through the tunnel.� Then�.ay..ay�ay, Peezy�..your unfinished
business consists of your breaking your fuckin� leg
at Heinz Field, and I�ll be rootin� for it.
So, therein
lie my pilgrimage possibilities.�� The opener vs. Buffalo, Seattle, Baltimore, Miami.� My ass will be in the house for 2 of those 4
games.
Now�..my
brother was praying to the Football God for a bye week, or a Monday Nighter on the weekend of October 20-21, �cause his
knuckle-headed son, for some yet to be explained reason, is getting married on Sunday, October 21st.� My Mom said something about their getting
married in some church that�s a historic landmark.� Hey Bride & Groom, that historic landmark
very nearly had TVs on the alter during your nuptials,
but the Footballl God at least smiled a bit on the
family, and conceded a Sunday Nighter at Denver�there will be TVs at the reception.� Time those toasts strategically.� I mean�..what� s wrong at getting married at
Madonna Del Castello Church in Swissvale, known as
Big Winky�s.��
It seriously had the same exact roofline as the Winky�s
next door.� Remember Winky�s???� Was the oddest thing.� There was Winky�s,
then the church� was
built with the same exact roofline!! Winky�s is now a
CoGo�s.�
Swissvale had 3 Catholic churches, the Dago church, Madonna�..the Irish Chruch, St. Anselm�s�know
only as St.A�s�.and the Hunky Church�..St. Barnabas.� What the fuck kind of name is Barnabas???� For that matter, what the fuck kind of name
is Anselm.� We all know Madonna
though.� Dagos win!!!� ��By
the way, Saturday, October 20th is the day of the famous Wall Street
Parade in Donora��biiiiiiig Mon Valley
event.
I see on
the Board where people are predicting the Steelers record this year, taking a
game by game approach.� Me??� Once again, I�m predicting a 13-3
record.� Looking down the schedule, here�s
my predictions by week, W indicating win, L indicating loss.
W
W
W
W
W
W
W
W
W
W
W
W
W
W
W
W
What�s that
you say, I predicted no losses, this would be a 16-0 record.� That�s right, one of the prognosticator�s
great mysteries.� As a whole, as a sum of
the parts, as a body of work, I�m going with 13-3.� Looking at the season with each game its own
entity, we win �em all.�� Here�s the thing.� I never
predict the Steelers to lose the next game on the schedule�.never!!�
My colleague, CK, on this page, has been criticized for always
predicting a Steeler win.� If I did analysis like he does every week,
along with a prediction, I�d do the same thing��guaranteed!!� I�d offer objective analysis, breakdowns�..followed
by a prediction that our fan base can absolutely count on.� I�m not going to pick my team to lose.� No way�no how!!
Closing
thought�..I really wish the Steelers were playing in San Diego this year.� I would have tried to go to that one.� I still have this recurring dream of a
perfect San Diego
weekend.�� Ideally, would be scheduled
for the first weekend in November�.I bet that�s absolutely ideal in San Diego�..1114��Steeler victory over the Chargers�.send the Undocumenteds home in a tither�perfect
weekend!!� Maybe in �08.