What a weekend.  Here is the list of Pittsburgh Fail:

• Pens lose 3-0 to the Caps
• Christina Aguilera botched the National Anthem
• Steelers lost to Green Bay

But we move on, as we must, and as we always have.  It was a fantastic season and we still have a lot more of the NHL season to go.  The weekend could have been better, but I hope you at least got to spend it with family and friends, like I did.

I’ve been camping this weekend, and if everything went to plan, there were posts that showed up (I think I have the knack of scheduled posts).  I’ll be back later today to talk about the game.  More to come!

Kotaku is reporting about this weekend’s Madden Bowl.  While it is different than the EA simualtion of the game, it all seems a bit confusing, a bit of overload.

But, more importantly, Willie Parker will be representing The Steelers (although he does not necessarily have to play as The Steelers).  Other professional and collegiate athletes will be participating, as well as visits from other celebrities as well.

Want to get in on the action:

For a chance to battle NFL All-Pro Linebacker Ray Lewis (Baltimore Ravens) on Xbox 360 direct from the Madden Bowl, send a friend request to the Xbox LIVE gamertag “RLewisGWF” between 8:00 – 9:00 PM

I don’t have a 360, and have never been on Xbox LIVE, so I don’t know how friend requests work there, but hey, good luck!

Ok, so, as promised, here is the story of how I acquired my own The Terrible Towel.

I posted yesterday about how I’m not a huge football fan to begin with, although one thing that really did bother me was not having my own The Terrible Towel.

So in the beginning of summer 2005, I headed to Duquesne for a conference.  I got there ahead of most others, since it was a national conference, but I just had to come from Monroeville.

So as I wandered around the dorm we were staying in, waiting for my randomly assigned roommate (as it turned out, I had the only single, which was a bit unnerving, waiting all night for an unknown roommate, not having been told I didn’t have one), I decided to open all the drawers and take a look around.  Throughout my search I found nothing: until I lifted up the mattress and found a neatly folded yellow piece of fabric – my very own The Terrible Towel.

Strange, yes.  Potentially questionable, absolutely.  But hey, that’s how I got my own The Terrible Towel!

Update: ESPN has an article about The Terrible Towel, check it out here.

Finally I get a chance to tell the story about my tie!  So, the big thing, is that I’m not a huge football fan.  I’d much rather watch hockey (or curling, if I’m flipping through and see curling, I always stop to watch) or soccer, tennis or even bowling.  I just find football boring.

Not that I would ever root for anyone besides the Steelers though (the phrase “17 and 1″ still makes me smile!).  Having gone to St. Vincent, I think that I kind of got hit with Steelers overdose.  The thing that many fans who visit training camp forget is that there are classes going on, students doing research, monks praying: everything that normally goes on does not stop for the Steelers, except for the fact that everyone not associated with the Steelers are instantly treated like second-class citizens.  Training camp is fantastic, consistently rated the best to visit, and for families, there really is a ton to do.  Just do me a favor, be kind to each other, and stop littering, the ground looks awful by the end of the camp (that’s also the Boy Scout in me urging me to do about 36 hours of litter sweeps).  Oh, and if you really want to get an autograph, never underestimate the ability of a cute kid holding out a Sharpie to stop a pro football player.

But I digress…so needless to say, I always watch the Super Bowl, and really am glad that the Steelers are playing in it this year.  It’s given me a chance to do this blog series, and when else would I be justified in posting a smilie cookie?

(more…)

Countdown to XLIII : 4, originally uploaded by Mike @ pittsburgh.metblogs.com.

Banners downtown – Grant Street

0117092000.jpg, originally uploaded by Mike @ pittsburgh.metblogs.com.

Countdown to XLIII: 14

Got this cookie a few days ago, snapped a picture just in case.  Smilie is happy, and so is Pittsburgh!