Do you remember picking out your Halloween costume when you were little. I do . I know another random strange fact from the world that I live in. I can remember going to the 5 n dime in Downtown Elizabeth Pa and looking at all the costumes that would come in the little cardboard boxes. The costumes ranged from GI Joe , to Transformers for boys to Barbie and some other dumb girls costume.
Second Thing I remember was trying to figure out how you could coax your parents into going into town and Trick or treating.I can remember that we Trick or treated in the same neighborhood as the one and only( night of the living dead) George Ramero. The other thing that i remember was that he never gave out candy. He was a bum.
What a time we had.
Halloween is now quite different. Instead of raiding your closet and having your mom or grandma make you a costume - you can go to any run of the mill Halloween stores and get whatever you want. In fact those huge Halloween stores kind of take the fun out of Halloween by pigeon Holing you into the "best Costume of the year".
Kinda dumb.
Still I fight the same old , same old dress up as Austin Powers etc run of the mill costume. It is a fact that I will never grow up. I love Halloween, and all the good that it does for kids. I think kids are being pushed to grow up to fast anymore. Let the kids Enjoy Halloween.
Even as an adult I look forward to our Annual Halloween Party and dressing up, giving out candy and watching the Steelers.
That's right Watching the Steelers,for the second time in my adult life I am throwing a Halloween party on a steelers game. Steelers and Saints write it down - Sunday 8:20. Big easy.
The thing that I don't get about Halloween is how Slutty the Girls dress and get away with it. When was the last time you saw a real sexy Bo peep, oh that's right Halloween. Hey sluts give me a break. The only true Halloween that is left, is that solid 30 minutes of The great Pumpkin Charlie Brown. ( oh that and baby Butterfingers)
Steelers win.
Ok National Media we get it, we got a boarder line win. We get it. We were given the game as usual. Not so fast. Hey if you really watch the replays - the refs gave us the game. Oh yeah and Jeff reed kicking it through- really didn't matter. Blah get over it- were 5-1.
Finally,
I am not a big tech guy, but this past week I upgraded my phone to a Tmobile, android G2 phone. It has so many applications it is ridiculous. I call it the Monolith. That's what it is.
Sorry that my Blogs have been sporadic lately, I look forward to talking more about the steelers as the weeks go into the second part of the season. I also can't wait to start talking about the Pens and their ongoing season.
Well the Miami game this past sunday was pretty crazy. Again, I am pretty sure B will inform you of all the details. I only saw the last quarter because I didn't realize it was on cable until then, but the 15 mins of game time that I did see definitely made me sweat. I still can't believe we were able to pull off a W.
Well Aaron Smith is done for the season (or forever?) so we will see what Ziggy Hood can do this Sunday against the Saints. We (the Igloo Club) are having our big Halloween party/Steelers viewing party on Sunday and we are expecting a pretty big crowd. I am still undecided as to whether I want to dress up or not. Look for to pictures posted next week of the big extravganza.
We'll start off with some team news today and then get right into the game recaps. As of this afternoon, forward Eric Tangradi and defenseman Andrew Hutchinson have been assigned to AHL affiliate Wilkes Barre-Scranton. This is in preparation for the returns of forward Arron Asham and defenseman Zbynek Michalek. Both are recovering from undisclosed, upper body injuries. Asham will most likely play in the next game (Wednesday in Tampa Bay) and Michalek participated in a full practice for the first time since suffering the injury back in early October. With Brooks Orpik back in action and these two on the way back, the only remaining piece of the puzzle will be Jordan Staal. It will be interesting to see who Dany Bylsma assigns to the baby pens when that time comes. Anyway, here's what you missed.
Monday October 18: Senators v. Penguins The Pens rout the Sens 5-2 on the return trip for Sergei Gonchar. The Penguins straight up dominated this game from start to finish, starting with three goals in the first period by Mark Letestu, Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. Deryk Engelland went toe-to-toe with Chris Neil in Neil's attempt to win back some momentum for the Senators, but it would not help on this night. Daniel Alfredsson got a power play goal early in the second to bring the score to 3-1, but Pascal Dupuis and Kris Letang each added a goal later in the game to bring the score to 5-1 after two complete. The Senators tried to rally in the third, but he Penguins buckled down on defense, letting up just one goal to Chris Campoli. Brent Johnson continued to shine, stopping 32 of 34 shots to remain undefeated on the year.
Thursday October 21: Penguins v. Predators The Predators used to be an "easy win" on the schedule. Not so anymore. Nashville has really developed and is showing a lot of promise in the Western Conference. This shows because they took the red-hot Pittsburgh Penguins to overtime, but the Penguins still came out on top 4-3. David Legwand had the only goal in the first period, giving the Predators a 1-0 lead at home after one period. The two teams then alternated goals for the second and third period by way of Evgeni Malkin (1-1), Cody Franson (2-1 NSH), Sidney Crosby (2-2), Patric Hornqvist (3-2 NSH) and Sidney Crosby again (3-3). Also in the second period, fisticuffs flew again between Kevin Klein and Deryk Engelland. Engelland is proving why he should stay with the big club when Zbynek Michalek comes back. The kid backs down from nobody. With the score tied at three, we go to overtime and at 3:49 in OT, Kris Letang wins it for the Penguins on a slap shot. Pens take it 4-3 with Marc-Andre Fleury stopping 21 of 24 and getting his first win of the year.
Saturday October 23: Penguins v. Blues The St. Louis Blues are another one of those teams that has been so bad for so long. Not so anymore. They finished up last season with 90 points, just missing the playoffs. This year, they are primed for a deep run in the Stanley Cup playoffs and showed their toughness against the Penguins. It only took one goal to win this game and it took overtime to get it. This game featured relentless forechecking, finishing of body checks and a gritty atmosphere that every hockey fan loves. There was even a brawl between BJ Crombeen and Craig Adams in the second period. Adams was by far the smaller player, but put up a good fight against the much bigger Crombeen. The game winning goal came off the stick of Erik Johnson just 50 seconds into overtime. Brent Johnson was disgusted at himself for letting it in, but what can you do? The Pens come away with one point in the 1-0 overtime loss. Brent Johnson turned away 23 of 24 and was bested by, who else, Jaroslav Halak who turned away all 31 Penguin shots.
The Pens still sit atop the Atlantic Division with a record of 5-3-1 and 11 points.
The Penguins' next game is Wednesday night at 7:30 on FSN-Pittsburgh when they take on Steven Stamkos and the Tampa Bay Lightning.
First off, sorry about not posting for yesterday's Steelers Lab but I had two labs of my own to work on. More specifically E. coli plasmid cloning and staining samples for microscopy (see below).
Mouse Kidneys
Now on to your Penn State preview This weekend, the Nittany Lions travel to Minneapolis, Minnesota to take on the Golden Gophers. The Gophers have been essentially in rebuilding since the departure of Lawrence Maroney and Matt Spaeth a number of years ago. So this game has two outcomes: neither team can score any points or both teams will put up big numbers. Minnesota comes into this weekend at 1-6 with their only win coming against an FCS (NCAA division I-AA) team. That's not to say that the Golden Gophers are a bad team. They have scored at least 20 points in all but one of their games this season. The problem is, the Gophers are far from stout on defense, giving up at least 28 in all 7 games this season. If the Gophers want to add their second win of the season this week, they will have to do it by actually playing defense and throwing screens.
As for Penn State, this is a "must-win" game for JoePa's Nittany Lions. Overall, Penn State has played relatively solid considering the number of key losses to the NFL and the number of big-time player injuries so far this year. The defense is playing well, considering they lost all three linebackers to the NFL and their two best play-makers to injury in the first half of this season. They will need to continue to hold teams to low scores to win the games they should for the rest of the year. On offense, just continue to get Robert Bolden experience. Let him take some shots down the field as long as there is more than one route for him to throw to. Control the clock with the run game and stop throwing those stupid screen passes. College football is won on the big breaks. Penn State needs to take advantage of their size mismatches on the outside and start going deep.
So this week has been manic, so much that I thought today was Tuesday and then realized it was Wednesday and then Wade asked me to blog for him, so I am blogging. I have been getting to work at 5 and 6am the past couple days to drive around the state for pipeline meetings. The speaker from these meetings is an original Pittsburgher and he lives in Ellwood City, which is near B Brog's house, I think? Anywho, just wanted you to know that I am continuing to be followed by all things Pittsburgh.
This past week the Steelers played the Browns and won, surprise. I watched the game and thought that Big Ben played well, but apparently the media did not. Oh well, I am excited for what is to come. Also, I am sure you have heard by now, but James Harrison was fined $75k for his dirty/illegal hits. It was rumored that Harrison was considering retiring, but Tomlin said he expected Harrison to be at training tomorrow. I guess we will find out soon.
Bigger News: Wade and I booked plane tickets to come up to the Steelers-Jets game Dec 19. I am excited to be attending my first ever NFL game and seeing the burgh all decorated for Christmas! Fingers crossed for snow!!
We do not have game tickets yet, so if you know of any, let us know!
There have been 4 Penguins' games since we last spoke, so we'll dive right into it starting one week ago today.
Monday October 11: Penguins v. Devils Last Monday, the Penguins went on the road for the first time in the 2010 season, after dropping their first two games at home. Maybe the change of scenery would help some. Well it did. The Penguins topped their Atlantic Division rivals 3-1, with Brent Johnson getting the win and the legendary Matrin Brodeur being issued the loss. The Penguins got contributions from Alex Goligoski and Mark Letestu with former Devil Paul Martin adding an empty net goal late in the game. Brent Johnson shined making 30 saves on 31 shots, the lone Devils goal coming from Patrik Elias. Martin Brodeur turned away 30 of 32, which is pretty good in its own right, but the new-look, defensive Pittsburgh Penguins shut down Ilya Kovalchuk and the New Jersey offensive rush. The Penguins went 1/6 on the power play, seemingly opting for the pretty plays, rather than putting rubber to the nylon. The power play is continuing to find its identity without the services of Sergei Gonchar. The Penguins moved to 1-2 on the season.
Wednesday October 13: Maple Leafs v. Penguins Back in Consol Energy Center last Wednesday, the Penguins were looking for their first win at home in 2010. It would not come on this night as the up-and-coming Toronto Maple Leafs steal a victory 4-3 in Pittsburgh. This game would have two lead changes and two ties through its completion. The Leafs started out ahead off the stick of Colton Orr early in the first period. The Penguins stormed back with two goals of their own from Chris Kunitz (PP) and Maxime Talbot, taking a 2-1 lead at home. The second period belonged to the Leafs, scoring three unanswered goals from Clarke MacArthur (2) and Francois Beauchemin. These goals were broken up by a Colton Orr/Deryk Engelland fight that ended in Engelland landing an absolute hay maker right on the upper lip of Orr, resulting in a TKO. Late in the period, Sidney Crosby got his first of the season, getting the Penguins within one at 4-3. That would be the final score. Marc-Andre Fleury goes to 0-3, losing all 3 home games, turning away just 14/18 on this night. He is in a funk, and will be just fine. It's better to have it now than down the stretch when it matters. The power play looked much better, scoring on 1/3 chances. The penguins move to 1-3 on the season.
Friday October 15: Islanders v. Penguins It was about time to get the home-ice-win monkey off the Penguins' back. On Friday, the Islanders came to town, this time with Rick DiPietro who has not played since early in last season, before facing a season-ending injury. It would take overtime, but the Penguins finally got their first win at home, taking it 3-2 in overtime. The only highlight in the first period was a heavyweight bout between the Penguins' Eric Goddard and the Islanders' Trevor Gilles. Scoring didn't open until the second period when Mike Rupp beat Rick DiPietro on the backhand, picking up a fat rebound. Three minutes later, Eric Tangradi got his first NHL goal for the Penguins when he stepped out of the corner and threw a prayer at the net. It ended up going off of an Islander defenseman and behind DiPietro. A questionable, false call on a Kris Letang check would change the pace of the game. Letang annihilated Blake Comeau on the Islanders rush into the zone, receiving a 2 minute minor and a 10 minute misconduct penalty, which is standard for a blind-sided, head shot. Upon looking at the replay, Letang clearly made shoulder-to-shoulder contact, a perfectly clean hit. At any rate, the Penguins would be down a defenseman for the rest of the game. The Islanders would not go away, getting goals from Josh Bailey and Radek Martinek to close out the second period in a 2-2 tie. No scoring in the second period led to overtime. The Islanders Milan Jurcina took a hooking call on Sidney Crosby and Alex Goligoski made the Islanders pay, scoring the game-winning goal on the power play. Brent Johnson turned away 22 of 24 and moved to 2-0 on the season and the Penguins moved to 2-3 overall.
Saturday October 16: Penguins v. Flyers After finally getting their first home win, the Penguins traveled to the Wachovia Center in Philthadelphia to take on the team that denied them a home win on opening night: the Flyers. The action started with another heavyweight bout between the Penguins' Mike Rupp and the Flyers' Jody Shelley. This is probably the toughest rivalry in the NHL. These two teams genuinely hate each other. The scoring opened on the Flyers power play from Daniel Briere. Chris Kunitz answered later in the period with his second of the season, taking the game to 1-1 at the end of 1. There would be just one goal in the second period and that belonged to Mark Letestu, who is building a resume as to why he should stay with the big club when Jordan Staal returns to the lineup. The third period belonged to the Penguins, dominating the Flyers in standard, classic fashion. Sidney Crosby got two, quick power play goals and Matt Cooke added a short-handed, empty net goal at the end of the game to seal the deal. A fitting rebuttal to the loss on opening night. Brent Johnson improved his record to 3-0, turning away 29 of 30 and the Penguins cracked the confidence of rookie Sergei Bobrovsky. More importantly, Pittsburgh is better than Philadelphia, now at 3-3.
The Penguins' next game is tonight at 7:00 when they host Sergei Gonchar and the Ottawa Senators. These two teams have met in 3 of the last 4 post seasons and don't particularly like each other. Daniel Alfredsson and Jason Spezza's line will be the one to stop as usual. The other question is whether 0-3 Marc-Andre Fleury or 3-0 Brent Johnson will start over the blue ice for the Penguins. "It's a hockey night in Pittsburgh!" ~Mike Lange
Make sure you get your Clark Bars :)
Monday October 18: Senators v. Penguins
Thursday October 21: Penguins v. Predators
Saturday October 23: Penguins v. Blues
Yinzers,
Mouse Kidneys
This weekend, the Nittany Lions travel to Minneapolis, Minnesota to take on the Golden Gophers. The Gophers have been essentially in rebuilding since the departure of Lawrence Maroney and Matt Spaeth a number of years ago. So this game has two outcomes: neither team can score any points or both teams will put up big numbers. Minnesota comes into this weekend at 1-6 with their only win coming against an FCS (NCAA division I-AA) team. That's not to say that the Golden Gophers are a bad team. They have scored at least 20 points in all but one of their games this season. The problem is, the Gophers are far from stout on defense, giving up at least 28 in all 7 games this season. If the Gophers want to add their second win of the season this week, they will have to do it by actually playing defense and throwing screens.
As for Penn State, this is a "must-win" game for JoePa's Nittany Lions. Overall, Penn State has played relatively solid considering the number of key losses to the NFL and the number of big-time player injuries so far this year. The defense is playing well, considering they lost all three linebackers to the NFL and their two best play-makers to injury in the first half of this season. They will need to continue to hold teams to low scores to win the games they should for the rest of the year. On offense, just continue to get Robert Bolden experience. Let him take some shots down the field as long as there is more than one route for him to throw to. Control the clock with the run game and stop throwing those stupid screen passes. College football is won on the big breaks. Penn State needs to take advantage of their size mismatches on the outside and start going deep.
Yinzers,
Monday October 11: Penguins v. Devils
Saturday October 16: Penguins v. Flyers
The Penguins' next game is tonight at 7:00 when they host Sergei Gonchar and the Ottawa Senators. These two teams have met in 3 of the last 4 post seasons and don't particularly like each other. Daniel Alfredsson and Jason Spezza's line will be the one to stop as usual. The other question is whether 0-3 Marc-Andre Fleury or 3-0 Brent Johnson will start over the blue ice for the Penguins. "It's a hockey night in Pittsburgh!" ~Mike Lange
