A Night Out

Hola Yinz,

I am not in SoCal this week. I am spending time in South Carolina with my fam and the World Famous Wade Nixon! We watched the Pens play the Senators, sad. Nonetheless we celebrated.

We spent some time scouting out fellow Pittsburghers. We met Donny; I have a way of finding others like me.

We chatted about all things Pittsburgh. So for this week, I am making a reccomendation; Check out the Hofbrauhaus in Pittsburgh. It is modeled after the Hofbrauhaus in Munich, Germany; and a great place for food, beer, and most importantly Polka. If your in the area you must eat in the Bier Hall and enjoy a Shotski! It's my new favorite place in the Burgh!

The Pens take on the Red Wings 12:30 tomorrow...LET'S GO PENS!

All Things Pittsburgh,

Labuda on the Left Coast (actually on the Right Coast this week)

Penn State Phriday

Yinzers,

I apologize for the late blog, but I am home in da'Burgh this weekend for a couple of meetings. So without further a-do, here is your Penn State Phriday. Here we go again...how many times to I have to say "Penn State men's basketball continues to lose Big-10 games." That's right, since last week's PSU blog, the Nittwits have dropped two more Big-10 games. This brings their current losing streak to 8, all of which were Big-10 matchups. Last Sunday, the Nittany Lions traveled to the Kohl Center in Madison to take on #19 Wisconsin. Don't get me wrong, them there Nittwits put up a good fight, tying the game up in regulation to force overtime; however, Wisconsin proved to be the better team in the end pulling out a 79-71 victory. Taylor Battle added to his improving stat sheet with 28 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists. Chris Babb also banked 16 points and David Jackson bucketed 12 points and grabbed 6 rebounds.


Wednesday night, the Fightin' Illini rolled into the Beej Center looking to bounce back from losing three straight. What a better place to go than Penn State, right? The Nittwits were in dire need of their first Big-10 win if they even want get their NIT hopes to come back. The Illini had other plans. The bottom line "Penn State is still win-less in the Big-10." The Illini defeated the Nittany Lions 77-67 in regulation. Taylor Battle had another 20 points, Chris Babb 18 and David Jackson had 13. The Nittwits are now 8-12 overall and 0-8 in the Big-10.


The Lady Lions have also had two games since last Friday. They, however, split theirs. The Lady Lions defeated the Lady Illini 70-66 on Sunday in the fourth annual WBCA Pink Zone, wherein donations for breast cancer awareness were taken. Penn State also dropped a close one to Purdue last night 80-76. For more on either of these games, check out www.gopsusports.com.

Can't get enough from Penn State and the MSM? Log-on and listen to the Western PA Sports Showdown with my man Geno, the Western PA Sports Guru and friend of the MSM on Wednesday nights from 9-10 at www.comradio.comm.psu.edu. Just click on the headphones in the logo and open up iTunes or whatever music program you run. Call-in, he'd love to hear from you.

For the Glory,
B Brog

Thursday Igloo Update

Yinzers,

There has only been one bout for your Pittsburgh Penguins since Monday's blog post, and that was Monday night against the New York Rangers. Out of the woodwork came the dark horse, Chris Connor (not to be confused with the Dark Horse Tavern, best wings in State College and perhaps the world). Just like every time the Pens and Rangers face-off, it was a tightly contested, defensive battle through the first two periods with a lot of time played in the neutral zone. Chris Connor opened up the scoring at 2:47 in the first period, the only goal in the period. The second period was also characterized by stingy defense, with Artem Anisimov putting one behind Marc-Andre Fleury at 13:04. The scoring opened up in the third period with 4 total goals. Artem Anisimov added his second of the game at 9:15, followed by 3 unanswered Penguin goals coming from Evgeni Malkin on the power play (9:46) followed by Chris Connor's second of the night 60 seconds later (10:46) and an empty net goal by Pascal Dupuis at 19:20. Sidney Crosby, Kris Letang and Sergei Gonchar all had 2 helpers on the night. The Pens seem to be getting the hitch out of their giddyup headed down this stretch toward the Olympics.


The Pens next game is tonight at 7:00 as Daniel Alfredsson and the Ottawa Senators come to town. The game will be on FSN-Pittsburgh and whatever TSN stands for.

In other hockey news, the SHL continues to go strong as your White team beat up the Green team on Tuesday night, dishing out a 6-3 beat-down. White is now 2-1 on the season.

Let's go Pens,
B Brog

Old Skool

 Nix wins the Oscar for most believable performance.  Manny, best supporting-actor.  

Stone Cold Stunner

Yinzers,

What a night in the Capital City( Columbia SC) where the hometown South Carolina Gamecocks Stunned the Nation and the #1 ranked Kentucky Wildcats. Needless to say it was a one man show- D. Downey took over with 11 minutes left in the second half and never looked back. This is the Gamecocks First win over a #1 Contender ever( 0-7 previous).Congrats Gamecocks my unofficial (final )college team.

Whore Devours

Since the Steelers exited the playoffs around the final minutes of the loss to the K.C. Chiefs my football season ended. Now I am not a sore loser but I will tell you this, I just don't like any other teams. Truck can attest to that. When People Ask Wade what is your second Fav I just answer the Penguins. Needless to say I won't be pulling for Mayton Panning or dude Breeze But instead I would rather what working girls are easier on the eyes come Super Bowl Sunday.

Lets start with the Baby Horses:

Now I will give you this, I think one of my parents neighbors had a pair of chaps like these when I was growing up, I also think this is the same guy that had to be committed when he was found pants less in his front yard singing Christmas carols on Halloween night.

SaintSations:

As for those Bayou Beauties I am going with the lesser of two evils and the Voodoo that you do...I guess I am going for the Saints because they have never been to a Super Bowl before. I also Am really excited for their fans and their city. You can say what a catastrophe Katrina was, but what about the Saints first 42 seasons- bad bad bad( step child bad).

Finally we are just a few weeks away from the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, I am looking Forward needless to say for all the Curling I can handle, and oh yeah some Hockey too!

Have a great Hump...day!

Wade

Too Many Johnsons

I don't know if anyone else has this problem - but now that the Pens have added Nick Johnson for a couple games, and Brent Johnson has been playing a lot lately, there are just too many Johnsons to keep up with.

So who is this extra Johnson?

Nick Johnson is 24 and originally from Calgary. In his NHL debut with the Pens last thursday against the Caps, he scored one point which tied the game at that point. Pr

etty impressive for his first game. Johnson was The Pen

s third round pick in 2004. He played hockey at Dartmouth scoring 125 points in 133 college games. Before College he played for St. Alberts Saints of Alberta Junior Hockey League and he was named Canadian Junior A player of the year in 03-04.

Well he was off to a strong start, I guess we will see if this Johnson sticks around.

And how can you profile one johnson without the other.

Brent Johnson has been playing a lot of games lately with Fleury being hurt. This Johnson is 32 and from Farmington, MI. He is the son for former Penguin goalie Bob Johnson and grandson of NHL Hall of Famer Sid Abel who played for Detroit and the Pittsburgh Hornets in the 30s. So hes got the genes all right - and ties to the burgh, you can't lose with that. Unfortunately he did play for the Caps with the "criminal" for several years. He has also played for the Vancouver Canucks, Phoenix Coyotes, St. Louis Blue & Colorado Avalanche. So this Johnson has been around the block.

One final shout out to my boyfriend, Billy G! According to Steph - who knows more penguins info that you do, I promise - Billy lost at some hockey thing at the beginning of the month so he had to grow a mustache out for the month of January. Only one more week of that deliciousness....

Till Next Tuesday

Truck

Monday Igloo Update

Yinzers,

I hope all of your Mondays are going well and here we go with your Monday Igloo Update. Since ynz last read, the Pens have played two games against two tough, hated opponents. Thursday night was a hockey night in Pittsburgh when the Washington Capitals came to town. The Caps were boasting the Eastern Conference's best record. Sidney Crosby opened up the scoring at 4:22 in the first period and the Pens seemed to have the energy and momentum to begin. The Caps answered at 14:24 when Mike Knuble knocked home an Alexander Ovechkin rebound. Let's face it folks, if it weren't for rebounds, Ovechkin would have approximately 1/4 the assists he gets. The second period came up with a split score as well. The Pens got tallies from Nick Johnson and Kris Letang in coincidence with Eric Fehr and Alexander Ovechkin scoring for the Caps. The Pens broke down in the 3rd period, giving up a break-away to Tomas Fleischmann and a soft powerplay goal to Niklas Backstrom. Ovechkin then played the selfish card and added an empty netter. Bottom line, Pens drop this one 6-3.


On Sunday afternoon, the Pens traveled across state to take on the Broad Street Dirtbags. The game was offered on NBC since now that the NFL regular season is over, they need to fill airtime. Thanks for the side seat Liberal Media. At any rate, the scoring opened up at 5:18 in the first on the Philadelphia powerplay by the hand of Jeff Carter. Sergei Gonchar answered with a powerplay goal of his own late in the period. The game winning goal was slammed home by Matt "Cookie Monster" Cooke at 18:13 in the third period. Evgeni Malkin added two assists to his point total and the Pens got a much-needed win against an Atlantic Division opponent. It was a usual Pens/Flyers matchup with over 20 penalties called. All that matters is Sideshow Bob and his goons went back to their studio apartments with a loss.


The Pens next game is tonight at 7:00 against King Henrik and the New York Rangers. Keep Marion Gaborik quiet and Sean Avery in the sin bin and the game should be in hand.

Lets Go Pens,
B Brog

A Saturday in SoCal

Hola Yinz,

It's tough being a fan of the Steel City in Southern California. The Pens are almost never televised, nor is any other hockey team. (ps. We don't have Verses either.) So last Saturday I made the journey to Los Angeles to see the Kings and the Bruins. Yes, I was desperate for some hockey. I was stumped as to who to root for, so I donned my Pens gear and yelled "LETS GO PENS!"


This Sunday is monumental; the Pens and the Flyers go at it 12:30et (9:30 here), and I get to see it! Thank you NBC!

So, in tribute to actually getting to watch a game, here is your trivia for the week. Pittsburgh is home to the first major indoor sports arena with a retractable roof. I bet you can't guess what it is!


The Civic Arena, or more affectionately known as the Igloo. It opened in 1961 and was originally home to the Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera. It became home to the Penguins in 1967 and is the the oldest arena in the NHL. The Igloo has a seating capacity of 17,800; the smallest in the NHL. It also contains 2,950 tons of Pittsburgh Steel! Don't forget it had a starring role along side Jean Claude Van Damme in 1995 in the movie Sudden Death.


Happy Saturday Yinz!

Eat Pierogies and Watch the PENS!

Labuda on the Left Coast

Penn State Phriday

Yinzers and Staters,

Back in live action, your Penn State athletics update is here.
Sorry for the late post, but I had an SHL game last night. Your White team lost a heart-breaker to the speedy Red team. Too many turnovers in the offensive zone led to too many odd man rushes for the Red team. In the end, the final score was 4-2 Red team.

In other, not so surprising news, the Penn State Nittwits lost two more Big-10 matches since we last spoke. The Nittany Lions took on the Iowa Hawkeyes on Saturday in Iowa City. The only thing that comes to mind is a lyric from "On Saturday" by the Clarks:

I'm gonna quit, cuz it's getting old
[...]

We're breaking up, you're moving out on Saturday
I'm losing friends, I'm losing face, I'm losing weight
So get your things out of my place on Saturday
On Saturday, on Saturday, on Saturday

The Nittany Lions were up by 11, that's right 11, at the half and ended up dropping the game 67-64. Taylor Battle had 31 points and 7 rebounds which is pretty impressive, but what matters in the long run is that Penn State is still winless (0-5) in the Big-10 after the game. Iowa went on a 36-16 run over the middle 16 minutes of the game...I have nothing more to say on that game.

After dropping what should have been a win in Iowa City, the Nittany Lion men came back home to "the Beej" (Bryce Jordan Center/BJ Center/BJC) against Indiana. "Hoosier daddy?" they exclaimed with great relish after beating the Nittany Lions 67-61. Taylor Battle added another 22 points and 4 assists, but to no avail. The Nittany Lions are now 0-6 in the Big-10 and 8-9 overall. The Nittwits next game is Sunday January 24 at Wisconsin.


In other news on campus, the Penn State womens basketball team picked up their fifth straight win since falling 69-60 to Illinois on December 31. The Lady Lions are now 14-4 overall and a 2nd place 6-2 in the Big-10. The next game for the Ladies is Sunday January 24, as they take on the Fighting Illini at the Beej.


The Nittany Lion wrestling season is also in full swing. The 13th ranked Nittany Lions take on Illinois tonight at Rec Hall. So far this year, the Nittany Lions are 8-3-1 and open up Big-10 duals tonight. Here is a direct quote from www.gopsusports.com about this year's team. I did not feel like doing all the research on this one:
"Head coach Cael Sanderson's crew has six ranked wrestlers, including three former All-Americans all ranked in the top eight. Senior Cyler Sanderson is No. 5 at 157 and sports a 19-2 mark while sophomore Frank Molinaro is No. 5 at 149 with a 21-1 mark. Senior Dan Vallimont is 18-3 overall and ranked No. 8 at 165. Sophomore Cameron Wade is No. 11 at heavyweight with a 12-5 mark while sophomore Brad Pataky is No. 12 at 125 and is 17-5. Senior David Erwin is No. 12 at 184 with a 19-5 overall record."

Overall, the Nittany Lions athletics programs are doing big things. Keep up the good work.

For the glory,

B Brog

Igloo Update Thursday

Yinzers,

I don't know what it is, but I absolutely love it when the Pens beat up on the New York teams. The two-headed monster was at it again on Tuesday night, "a hockey night in Pittsburgh." The Pens took on the Islanders in what would be a bounce-back game for Geno Malkin. Geno racked up a hat trick, all of which were on the power play and slap shots. Sidney Crosby added 6 points of his own scoring 2 goals and dishing 4 helpers. The Pens also got a tally from Billy Guerin. The Islanders showed their rock-solid discipline by taking 10 penalties. The big news from the game was the hit from behind that Andy Sutton put on Pascal Dupuis, spilling large amounts of blood onto the ice surface and resulting in a 5 minute major penalty and a 10 minute game misconduct. The last time I saw blood like that was when Kevin Stevens put a huge hit on Petr Bondra in NHLPA '93 for Sega Genesis.


Tonight, the Pens take on one of the most fun teams to root against, the Washington Capitals. The Pens and Caps have a long history of hatred, stemming back in the old Patrick Division of the Whales Conference. It takes on even more meaning now that the Pens have the Wizard of Croz and the Caps have Alexander "wouldn't have as many points if rebounds didn't count as assists" Ovechkin. Personaly, ladies and gentlemen, if I took 550 shots in a season, I sincerely hope 40-50 of them end up in the net.


In other news, the SHL started up Tuesday night with your White team opening the flood gates on the Teal team 10-5. The next game for the White team is tonight at 10:30 as they take on the Red team.

Bis Naechste Mal,

B Brog

MSM Breaking News.....

This just in from the MSM news desk a huge Douche bag has been spotted in Pittsburgh this morning....please be advised.

lets go Pens!

They call me MVP....

Last night Number 71 (Geno Malkin)from the Pittsburgh Penguins got his 5th career hat trick against the New York Islanders. 6-4 win.

That is not the only Trick that Geno has been keeping up with , this is a picture of his current girlfriend Oksana Kondakova( translation for hook job). I have to agree with Geno's mom about I really hope that he doesn't pull a J. Jagr and end up with the wrong people and ruin his career. Meaning leave this hook job on the street.

Geno Geno that is his name.....

wade

I not going to lie – I didn’t make it through a single pens game last week. Needless to say, I’m very glad they will be playing back on the East Coast so I can get back on track with my bed time! Looking forward to the Islanders tonight, but even more so for the Caps game on Thursday – I am excited to see the infamous Ovechkin in action. Is he really as awful as everyone makes him out to be? Guess I will see on Thursday!

In other hockey related news - I watched Miracle for the first time last night to get ready for the Olympics – 24 days and counting!

Sorry for the late post. It won’t happen again. Till next time,

Truck

Monday Igloo Update

Yinzers,

The Pens continue to hover right around the .500 mark since late December and early January. Thursday night, the Pens traveled to Edmonton to take on the young, fast Oilers. The Pens picked up a 3-2 win in Edmonton to try and get back on track. Scoring did not pick up until the second period with two Oiler goals coming from Andrew Cogliano on the power play and a second power play goal from Lubomir Visnovsky. The Pens answered in the third period with three of their own from Tyler Kennedy, Matt Cooke on the power play and Pascal Dupuis. Marc-Andre Fleury turned away 33 of 35 Edmonton shots, but suffered a broken finger late in the game, which would play a factor in the next game.


The last game of the Penguins' great northern tour took place in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canadia. The Pens came into General Motors Place with two on the injured list...they just so happened to be Marc-Andre Fleury and Brent Johnson. The Pens had to call up two young'ns to fill in the gaps. John Curry of Wilkes Barre-Scranton started the game, the first of his career. Curry faced quite the assault from the Canuck offense, letting in 5 goals on 14 shots. He was replaced later by Alexander Pechurski, a 19 year old rookie from Magnitogorsk, Russia. Pechurski turned away 12 of 13 shots, but the Pens could not muster up enough offense to beat Roberto Luongo, losing to the Canucks 6-2.


The Pens next game is Tuesday night at 7:30 when they take on John Tavares and the New York Islanders. The Isles have their "star" back in Rick Dipietro, so we'll see how that ends up.

In other news, the Penn State Student Hockey League starts up this week with yours truly playing for the white team.

B Brog

Hey Yinz,

How lucky, two posts, one day! I have been a fan of The Morning Steel Mill for over a year now; I am thrilled to have a chance to be a part of it.

My name is Labuda, and I am a misplaced Pittsburgher, coming to you from the always sunny San Diego, home to the Charger "dead bolts." The city is in a craze for the playoffs, and did I mention our mayor declared today "Super Charger Day." I am in protest, wearing my Steeler gear loud and proud. Also, I haven't been able to find a suitable Steeler Bar here, and you'd think it it would be easy in the land of plenty...think twice. I have tried out many in the area, but sadly fans of less superior teams move into my territory. I have had to step up my Pittsburghness, if you will.

Yes, that is me!

Alas, the great game of football is over for another season for us and our beloved team. This brings me to your Pittsburgh fact for the week, everyone's favorite green sticker, and a compliment to how I feel about San Diego at the moment.

Mr. Yuk is the icon of the Pittsburgh Poison Control Center, and used nationwide. It was created by the Children's Hospital in Pittsburgh for the labeling of chemicals which are poisonous. This was the replacement for the Skull and Crossbones aka the Jolly Roger aka the Pittsburgh Pirates. Who wouldn't want to drink something marked with the Pirates Logo? So a tribute to San Diego Super Charger Day, "Things marked YUK make you sick, sick, sick. Mr. Yuk is MEAN, Mr. Yuk is GREEN."

To the Chargers: We still beat you 38-28 Remember?

LET'S GO PENS!

You can take the girl out of the BURGH, but you can't take the BURGH out of the girl,

Labuda on the Left Coast

Penn State Phriday

Yinzers,

Well, a lot has happened in Happy Valley since we last had the pleasure of speaking with each other. With the end of the Nittany Lion football season, there were proverbial "hanging chad's"-and not the Brognano type-out there about the fate of the Penn State Phridays on the MSM. I am personally here to tell you that it is here to stay, it will just be less football-driven. On that note, here's your phirst Phriday of the MSM in 2010!


After finishing up with yet another 10-win season, JoePa's squad headed South to look for another bowl win, greener pastures and find an answer to the lifelong question of "What's in YOUR wallet?" They found themselves in the Capital One Bowl at the Florida Citruis Bowl in Orlando, FL. While greener pastures were nowhere to be found due to heavy downpours and a previous use of the field by the Champs Sports Bowl, the Nittany Lions found out that a win over LSU was in their wallet. The Nittany Lions defeated LSU 19-17 in the mud bog. Overall, the field and weather conditions made it tougher on everybody with both teams dropping passes and slipping in the sod. In the end, Daryll Clark capped off his career winning a big game and going 18/35 for 216 yds and 1 TD. Evan Royster and Stephon Green, a.k.a. "Thunder and Lightning" added 65 and 35 on the ground respectively. The biggest contribution came from TE Andrew Quarless, who grabbed 8 passes for 88 yards. He will go down as one of the best tight ends that has ever set foot in Beaver Stadium. In the end, it was a great crescendo to end on for the careers of all the seniors, and for the senior fans such as myself.


uuuhhhh....do you know the meaning of 3-PEAT?
When most people think of collegiate volleyball, their thoughts tend to wander to the Napa Valley, Southern California or some place along California Interstate-1. However, I will tell you this, your thoughts deceive you. The Mecca of collegiate volleyball just so happens to be in the middle of Pennsylvania, in a rural town called State College. What gives me the credibility to make such statements? BECAUSE PENN STATE WINS EVERYTHING VOLLEYBALL. The women's volleyball team won their THIRD STRAIGHT national championship this year AND broke the record for most consecutive wins by any collegiate program. They defeated Texas in the national championship game after dropping the first 2 games of a best of 5 match. Penn State came roaring back to take it 3-2 and set their spot in the record books.
The men's team starts up in February, looking to defend their national title.


You can't spell Nittany without NIT. Coming off of a huge NIT tournament championship, there were and are still high expectations on campus for the Penn State basketball team. I know a lot of students in the "Nittwitts"-true on more levels than one-who believe we will make an NCAA tournament appearance this year. Don't get me wrong, I love my Nittany Lions and if you slit my wrists, I bleed blue and white, but an NCAA tournament bid is out of the question. The main reason is the loss of forward Jamelle Cornley, who is now playing professionally in the Ukraine. When a team loses its best big man, who also is one of the top rebounders in the Big-10, and second on your squad in points...there is going to be a big hole. Said statement has proven true this year. The Nittany Lions are 10th in the Big-10 with a record of 8-8 (0-4). The baseline presence just is not there this year. Penn State's "big men" should just be called what they are..."lanky men." We have the height down low, but there is zero strength involved. Perhaps they will develop over time, but do not expect big things like last year to happen. I would predict a middle of the pack finish in the Big-10 and perhaps another NIT invitation at best.


Until next time, keep your stick on the ice.

For the Glory,
B Brog

Update from the North Country

Yinzers,

As said on Monday, our Pittsburgh Penguins are on a tour of the great white north, aka Canadia, aka wants to be the United States so badly it causes them to cry themselves to sleep at night, whatever you want to call it up there.


Monday night, the Pens stopped on the boarder of Molson Land in Minnesota. The North St-sorry, Wild-answered the Pens goal for goal and one, sneaking by with a 4-3 win. Sidney Crosby did his best to pull us back into the game late, but the puck luck just was not there. When all was said and done, the Penguins got contributions from Pascal Dupuis and two from the kid. The Wild got goals from Eric Belanger, Martin Havlat, Cal Clutterbuck (insert joke here) and Guillaume Latendresse.


Last night, it was hockey night in Canadia with Don Cherry, who continues to be on the forefront of P.C. statements. Just search for some of his quotes online and you'll be enlightened, impressed and most likely raise an eyebrow. The Calgary Flames hosted our Pittsburgh Penguins in what proved to be one of the more physical games of the season. Sidney Crosby took over second place in the scoring race when he scored the first goal of the game in the first period (29th of the season). Calgary answered off the stick of Mark Giordano, but that was all they could muster up. Marc-Andre Fleury posted 37 saves to keep the Flames extinguished. Billy Guerin and Tyler Kennedy added goals later in the game. However, the highlight of the game, to me, was the heavyweight bout of Eric Godard and Brian McGrattan. It was just hay-maker after hay-maker. You would swear you were in Baghdad with all the bombs that were falling.

Next game is tonight at 9:30 in Edmonton.

B Brog

If it's Sexy , It's Wedensday

Yinzers,

After the long hard winter here in SC we are back and better than ever. As you have read on Mon , Tues we have new stuff at the MSM. But as for old stuff we will always have you horde DE voure of the Middle of the week-Sexy Wed.

The MSM staff has gone through allot since last year, we lost one of the greatest Steeler fans and Pittsburgher in mid December, my grandfather John Kolesar.The Steelers finished out the season waiting to see what other teams did, to see if we could have made the playoffs- big whoop. Epic Fail on all accounts.

But what is not a disappointment is us keeping the MSM going. I had to make the decision with Brian B if we were going to can the thing after December- he said no.

But the MSM is back and ready for 2010.

We have brought in people that have never done anything with sports or blogging or whatever but love some point of Pittsburgh or the people of Pittsburgh...... the point is - We are very proud of our little blog. We are all proud to be Pittsburghers one way or another- That's all it is, our little blog.

Sexy Time

Pens are on there way to the cowtown of Calgary, Brandy a local historian and huge ( jugs) Flames fan loves SID the Kid. She is ready for tonights 9:30 Face off with the Stanley Cup Champs.

Have a great Hump day, Lets go PENS!

Wade

Truck Tuesdays Begin

I know it was a week ago – but I gotta say it.

rammer jammer yellow hammer, give ‘em hell alabama!

Anywho – I’m Truck and clearly I’m a bama fan. But for the purpose of this blog I’ll try to stick with my new love – Pittsburgh (insert team name here).

I am disappointed that the Steelers didn’t even make it to the Super Bowl – however, since I did join the cult, err- fan base on a not so fantastic season, I can’t be accused of being a bandwagon fan – right?

As the season progressed, I did develop an appreciation for the steelers – or maybe I was just brainwashed by the colors of the apartment, I guess we will find out when next season rolls around.

And now that the Steelers season is over we have the Pens. I must say that almost instantly I fell in love with the Pens – Penguins for those of you non-hockey, non-pittsburgh people (i.e. me 6 months ago J) Anywho – I do love them.

Growing up in the cotton fields of Alabama, I have not experienced a whole lot of ice/snow/ice skating/ice skiing/sledding/etcetera etcetera – so hockey is a novelty to me. And who couldn’t love my boyfri- I mean, Billy Gerrin’s hot porn stache – mmm tasty.

So I hope you enjoy Truck Tuesdays - sports posts from someone who doesn't know a whole lot about sports, much less Pittsburgh sports. enjoy.

till next tuesday (when I can properly figure out how to put pics up)

TRUCK

Igloo Update Monday

Yinzers,

Today marks the epic beginning of the new schedule for the MSM. Today's and every Monday and Thursday feature will be the Igloo Update with the past few days in brief of your Pittsburgh Penguins. The feature will be a summary from a brother blog of the MSM named Let Us Go Pens written and produced by Captain Kleck. His blog can be read at http://www.letusgopens.blogspot.com. Support him, for he is a friend of the show, and a friend of mine. Now, down to business:

As all of the Pittsburgh Nation knows, our boys have hit a rough patch of ice as of late, dropping 6 of their last 8. "Keep your heads up!" I say, for the Penguins had this same situation last year. In the first week of January last season, the Pens had a 5 game losing steak and guess what, we still went dancing with Lord Stanley. Don't throw in your towel like a Philthadelphia fan just yet, its a long season and the ride is only half complete.


Last week, the Pens took on the Atlanta Thrashers. The Thrashers filled the confidence glass of the Pens after the Pens "Beat them like a rented mule" 5-2. The Pens pulled in goals from across the board with Kris Letang, Ruslan Fedotenko, Luca Caputi with his second NHL goal and first this season and Jordan Staal adding 2 tallies.


After the rout of the Thrashers, the Pens took on the pre-season "best in the east" vote Philthadelphia Flyers. Though I do not agree with the "best in the east" tag, I do think that they are a better team than the fluke that got to the playoffs last year. With the addition of Pronger on defense, all they need is solid goaltender play and they could be the 3rd best team in the Atlantic division. What irked me about this game was the fact that Simon Gagne was back in action. He is to the Flyers offense what Troy Polamalu is to the Steelers defense...and it showed. The Pens simply laid an egg in this one, losing 7-4. We generated a ton of shots, but few quality scoring chances and let the Flyers skate right into the zone. Best just to put this one behind us.


The Pens got back onto the winning track when they started their northern tour. The moose march began Saturday night in Toronto. The Pens skated away with a 4-1 victory in dominating fashion, showing that the skid is only temporary. Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 42 of 43 shots and maintained perfect positioning all game. Sergei "Sarge" Gonchar showed why he is one of the best goal-scoring defensemen in league history by blistering 2 slap shots past Gustavsson. Sidney Crosby and Billy "Gray Beard" Guerin tickled the twine as well.


The Pens next game is tonight at 8:00 on Versus as they take on the Minnesota Nor-sorry Wild-in Minnesota.

Don't forget to check out Captain Kleck's blog at http://www.letusgopens.blogspot.com

I'm Score,
B Brog