Championship Sunday 
For what it's worth, here are my picks:

Eagles 27, Cardinals 24

Ravens 20, Steelers 16

Seems like the consensus is that we are going to see a Turnpike Superbowl. I don't think so.


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A Full Day 
Woke 3:35 am
Left house at 4:20 am
Arrive at Philadelphia Int'l Airport about 5:55
Park, get shuttle to terminal, get to gate at 6:20
Board plane for Pittsburgh at 7:05
Plane leaves 7:29
Arrive Pittsburgh 8:30
Meet my ride, grab a coffee at McD's
Arrive Heinz Field about 9:35
Meet friends for tailgating 10-11:40
Walk to stadium, enter, go to my seat 11:40-12:00 (kickoff was about 12:10)
Watch Pitt beat WVU, 19-15
Meet friend outside stadium for ride back to Airport
Arrive at gate at 4:45 pm
Board plane at 5:10
Take off for Philadelphia ~5:25
Land, exit plane in Philly about 6:20
Get shuttle to car, get on Schuylkill about 7:00
Drive towards home, stop one township over for another friend's surprise birthday party 8:45 (someone I haven't seen in about 15 years)
Home by 10:30 pm

Long day.

Pitt played well for the first 3 minutes and the last 8 with 49 minutes of futility in between; moved the ball ok but couldn't score - scored on opening drive and then twice in the last 8 minutes. Game was capped with an exciting finish: Pitt scores with less than a minute left to take a 19-15 lead but WVU got the ball back and got to about the Pitt 20 for a 4th and 1 pass play, as time ran out, that ended with an incomplete and an offensive pass interference call. Game over. (And worth the trip).

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Phinally! 

Phils Win! Phils Win! Phils Win! Unbelievable! YAHHHHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!

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Sports Talk 
1. In the latest AP Poll, Pitt is ranked 24. Pitt was a preseason #25 but lost to Bowling Green (ugh) in game one. The remaining schedule is tough - at Navy, Rutgers, at N.D., Louisville, at Cincinnati, WVU, and at UConn. Albeit none of them are ranked but they are viable opponents. I see a 4-3 run for an 8-4 season which is an improvement and will keep Wannstedt employed.

2. Wisconsin over PSU this weekend. (Yippie!)

3. Phillies over the Dodgers in six. Boston over T.B. in five. Phillies need to get those bats working again but I think they are the better team and will step it up notch to combat the hot Dodgers. Rays' dream season will end facing the team of the decade.

4. I predicted this in August but don't think I blogged it: Eagles 9-7 this year.

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Bad PR 


Oops! I meant to buy tickets for the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, not the Leigh Valley IronPigs!

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Myron Cope, 1929-2008 


Fellow Pittsburgh alumnus Myron Cope has passed away. A local legend, Cope was an integral part of Pittsburghcana. Outsiders may have found him hard to bear but, just as I did as an outsider, I learned to appreciate the man and understand how much he meant to Pittsburghers. He was truly one of a kind and his golden voice and witty perspectives will sorely be missed. yoi!

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All Access at Heinz Field 
Yesterday I went to the Pitt game with two college friends and one of them had some all-access passes for Pitt games at Heinz Field. So, we spent most of the first half on the Pitt sideline. When you watch a football game you always see regular people on the sideline and yesterday I was one of those people. To say it was awesome is an understatement. At the half, we went to the club level which is heated and has a bar. Heinz field does not sell alchohol during Pitt games but on the club level they do. After spending some time there, we were able to get into a private box through my friend who knows some of the regulars in the box. In the box with us was Foge Fazio and Jamie Dixon amongst others who were probably also fairly prominent in the local sports or business scenes. Foge sat in front of us and we chatted often during the course of the second half. Coach Dixon was on the other side of the suite engaged in conversation but I was able to sneak in a quick "Coach Dixon, best of luck for another good season" and shake his hand. Coach Fazio is very personable and my friends and I had quite a pleasant time engaging in the normal chatter people engage in while watching a football game. I was never formally introduced to Foge and it wasn't until after the game I discovered it was him.

The stadium only provides the box. The catering staff, which included a chef, and food are hired by the box's owner. The spread included crabcakes, coconut shrimp, ham, prime rib, and other fine foods. The drinks included the usual beer and soda, 12-15 bottles of the most popular types of liquor and some wine. My friend suggested I have a glass of wine and I declined but when he told me what it was, I changed my mind. I couldn't resist drinking a glass wine that costs $200 a bottle. There was more than one bottle of it on the bar too.

I never thought I'd encounter, certainly not within an hour, a former Pitt football coach, the current basketball coach, and get within about four feet of Coach Wannstedt on the sideline. Actually, he got close to me as I wasn't about to intrude on the team's space but as the course of the game dictates, the head coach does have to traverse the sideline quite a bit.

Pitt played well during the first half and led at halftime 14-10. Once we left the sideline and went upstairs, they fell apart. The final was 48-37 USF with USF getting two scores directly off interceptions and setting up a third with one too. Aside from the Pitt-PSU game in 1987 (Pitt won 10-0) yesterday's game was the most memorable but more for the extracurriculars.

Some other notes: it's 287 miles from the Sheetz in Monroeville to my house. I got on turnpike in Monroeville at 5:05 and I was in my driveway at 9:45. I made two quick stops and went through the Wendy's drive-through in Carlisle.

Certainly a fun experience and something I didn't expect as I didn't know I'd be able to use an all-access pass. I won't be able to sit in my regular seats again!


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