DOG: Where's The Running Game?

Many Stiller fans are scratching their heads and asking each other: Where's our vaunted running attack? Why is Willie Parker having so much trouble? Is Rashard Mendenhall really a bust? Can Mewelde Moore really be our best RB? Why is Frank Summers having so much trouble?

Then they discuss the answers: Willie Parker is washed up. FWP has never been the same since he broke his leg. Mendenhall hasn't seen enough game action yet. Mendenhall is fumble prone. Moore is a good back but he won't hold up as an every down player. The offensive line can't run block. Jim Brown couldn't gain yardage behind this line. We miss Dan Kreider. Frank The Tank has never been a blocking back and we're asking him to learn a new position on the fly. Isaac Redman did the best in pre-season why isn't he running the ball. Let DJ Johnson line up as the blocking back. And on and on it goes.

Now in truth, each of these theories has some basis in fact. The line isn't great. Parker hasn't been resigned for a reason. Nobody has confidence in Mendenhall. Summers does appear over his head. Moore may be too valuable as a 3rd down back to see action in other situations. And I'm certain Tomlin will be exploring the answer by game time Sunday.

But it seems everybody has missed one very important factor. The retirement of Dick Hoak. Hoak was RB coach for as long as I could remember when he wasn't an active Steeler. This guy coached Franco Harris, Barry Foster, Merril Hoge, Jerome Bettis, Frank Pollard, and Rocky Bleier. And finds himself 5th on the Steelers all-time rushing leaders!

Perhaps Willie Parker hasn't been the same since he broke his leg in December of 2007. But let's not forget that Dick Hoak retired just 3 weeks later! And the development of our running backs has stagnated.

This is not a criticism of current RB coach Kirby Wilson. I don't know enough about the situation to be critical. But I know one thing. We miss Dick Hoak.

FAN: Who Said These Words?

I read these words online tonight. Who said them? I'm going to cut out the fluff and just leave the meat.

On Thursday night the Steelers went from being a great defense to merely a good defense in just one play against the Titans.


People will say, "Well, they still have James Harrison and Casey Hampton and so on..." Irrelevant. Troy's really the only guy on this defense that I see as a full playmaker.


I expect to see him out on the longer side of the projected three to six weeks. If it goes longer, could they win another Super Bowl without him? I don't think so.


One more reason Pittsburgh's in trouble: these Steelers are a mediocre running team on their best day.


The running back I like least on that team is Frank Summers, the rookie fullback. He doesn't seem to understand what's going on. He's missing plenty of blocks, and that's affecting everything. That definitely has to be addressed off the field this week.


The bigger problem, though, is the offensive line. They have no continuity.


This problem isn't anything new, and I blame the coaching staff for not addressing the line in the offseason. How did they rationalize not doing anything about it? Well, they won a Super Bowl. They won't be so lucky twice in a row.

Who said all of those things?


Why your own Jerome Bettis. I only clicked on the link because of the one teaser about John Fox should be fired. I think Coach Cowher called him up and asked him to write that. I remember when Jimmy Johnson set the table for himself by boldly picking the Dolphins to win the Super Bowl the year before he took over coaching them. He wanted to make it seem like a slam dunk so people would be disappointed when they didn't and blame Don Shula.

DOG: Caption This Picture

Fan has done a "Caption This Picture" feature from time to time. And I think we should make it a regular feature.

So I'm inviting everyone who looks at this to offer their version of a caption. Even if you just comment anonymously. If we get enough responses I have some more photos to stimulate your creative spirit and sense of humor.

DOG: Who Do You Trust?

In Fan's post-Titans game review I commented that I wasn't really nervous about our opening game against a very good Titans team. And I listed Mike Tomlin as the reason.

Over Labor Day weekend I met up with some of my old buddies for a cookout/reunion of sorts. And I mentioned to those guys (Stiller fans all) that I was cautious, if not a wee bit skeptical, when we first hired Tomlin. But about 4 games into last season I began to trust him unconditionally. I also mentioned how I never completely trusted Cowher. How I thought he did just a few too many things I disagreed with to keep me from"falling in love" with his coaching.

One fellow said, "Cowher was a good coach."

To which I replied, "Well yeah, he was. You have to be a good coach to get a team to the AFC Championship game that many times with Kordell F-ing Stewart as your QB. But he's nowhere near Tomlin."

The other guys all agreed that they had a better comfort level with Tomlin than Cowher. But this one guy kept raising the issue that he liked Cowher better. At first I thought he was just giving me some shit as old buddies are known to do among each other. You know, just to "get me going" so to speak. But nope, this guy actually thought Cowher was better. Once I realized that, I let it go so the topic of conversation could move on to "Was Michael Nesmith of The Monkees a great songwriter or not." Believe it or not we had another guy disagree on that topic as well, geez.

But really, I trust Tomlin more than any coach I've ever seen in the NFL. Somehow, he just sees things the way I do. Of course that doesn't make either of us right, but I have a great comfort level in his decisions. I am even beginning to buy in to him keeping Bruce Arians as OC despite my rants on here about how Arians is the weak link and must go, blah blah blah.

I thought back to the Noll days. And I must admit that I trust Tomlin even more than I did Chuck Noll. To be fair, the first thing Noll did was cut Roy Jefferson who was only the best player on the Steeler roster. I was young and did not understand that it was absolutely the right thing to do. So I was always a bit skeptical about Noll's decisions but I rarely questioned them. Whatever he did was working. Speaking of Noll cutting Jefferson, if anybody in Denver had the good sense God gave a mule they would follow Noll's lead and cut Brandon Marshall. But they got a coach following his idol, Belimort, who is not worthy of wiping Noll's ass.

So I am here to tell you that you can relax and enjoy football on Sunday afternoons this season. We may not win them all but we will be prepared to play and you will get a 100% effort from your team. Cowher was good. But put your faith in Mike Tomlin.

And as The Monkees sing in their song (written by Neil Diamond by the way) ...

I'm A Believer!

FAN: Steelers Titans Game Thoughts

My chronological thoughts from the game:

Pop acts completely blow live. Completely. When your music is mostly over produced, why even try? I mean Fergie is fun to look at and maybe she can sing a little....but how could you tell? I would rather hear the song on the radio than watch that snooze fest. Tim McGraw wasn't any better. Blech.

What is with Al Michaels hair? His top front reminds me of me below the waist in 9th grade.

Two huge Special Teams plays in the first five plays of the game. Logan's return and Danny's punt and the cover. Long overdue.....both.

Neither Ed Reed or Bob Sanders can make the play in the backfield that Polamalu made coming from where he started from.

We wuz robbed on the Polamalu PI call. Not even close.

Holmes TD looked too easy, didn't it? Then again, so was the subsequent Titans score.

After Ryan Clark got beat he really messed up. Instead of getting under control and getting his man down on the ground, he went in all crazy and let him go and he went for another 15 easy yards.

Jesus Christ, Jay Leno overload. How on Earth can you take a 30 year old girl seriously on a commercial who says she's been waiting all summer for him to return? Really?

Willie Parker up the middle on their first 3rd and 1? WTF? Are you kidding me? You don't prove you can run up the middle on 3rd and short against the Titans with your small back. There's more.....especially on a night when you're averaging about .3 yards per rush! No way Ben called that play. The retard did.

Through three quarters, Collins is impressing me. He's the Marty Schottenheimer of quaterbacks.

I'm not sure I'm buying what the Steelers are selling about continuity on the O line. They aren't showing me much. If I was O Line, I wouldn't want to watch this game tape tomorrow.

I didn't miss John Madden. Shrug.

Mewelde Moore may want the ball more than Willie Parker and Mendenhall. Still, why do we have to prove we can run for it? How about play action or something...anything else? Please!

Hines should have had two hands on that ball.

Did you see Hines Ward kill Fuller in an OT block?

The fact that we can win that game with that pitiful excuse for a running game is amazing. They need to send the O-Line out to a bar to get into a fight. They need attitude to run the ball.

You Can't Ice A Psychopath!!!!!

FAN: Based On What?

In their annual idiotic articles, both Peter King and Don Banks of SI picked the Patriots over the Steelers as their top teams. King has the Pats beating Pittsburgh in the playoffs and Banks has a ranking list with the Pats at #1 and the Steelers at #2. Stupid and worthless as these lists are, how does one pick a team to be the best when their QB hasn't taken a meaningful snap in so long? How many defensive players did they lose? Seymour, Bruschi, Vrabel, Harrison and Seau.....gone. It makes me laugh. Could they win the Super Bowl....YES. Anybody can win the Super Bowl. Does it make sense to pick them with Brady coming off his knee and all the losses? No. King is a homer who sucks from the teet of Belimort and Banks probably sucks from the teet of King (who has a nice set of man teets I must say). Do they honestly believe they are better, right now on paper or not, than the defending Super Bowl Champions who have lost very little meaningful talent? Puhlease. Here We Go.

FAN: Ben To Crazy Woman, Suck It

I couldn't be happier that Big Ben told the crazy lady to piss off. After reading the emails, how could anyone think he was guilty of anything? I don't even know if anything else is worth commenting on.

FAN: More Big Company Nonsense

So about eight months ago I left my small company manager title and my real office with a door behind to chase bigger cash at a much bigger company with much deeper pockets. I am making much more money here to sit in a cube farm and not be "the guy" even though being "the guy"'s right hand man is as much work as being "the guy" at a smaller company. It took the new team at this place a while to put together a new SDLC and the managers and leads are now being trained on it. We learned that in order to get a project approved it has to be a money generator or a money saver. A few days later in a Change Management meeting, two projects appeared on the list - one to change everyone's Outlook signature to something standard and one to replace server names on communications about phone and service outages. Seems somebody was mad that an service interruption message was too explicit for the field. So, while major pieces of the production environment still have many issues to wade through - we're going to have resources working on those two mind blowing initiatives. It never ends.

FAN: I Ask The Jury...

I've never read anything like this before. I guarantee you, if I was anywhere near this man in Walmart when it happened, I would have knocked that mother hubbard out with one punch even though I didn't know either party. I guarantee it. What jury would convict me of anything? Seriously. Obviously this clown only did it because it was a mother alone with a child, not a father. What a giant coward! I cannot believe the audacity of some people. While it can be annoying to hear a child cry, anyone who has one or has had one knows that there are times when a 2 year old cannot control their emotions. The kid wasn't 5, she was 2! Now, let's play another game. Say it was my child and I wasn't there. I am at his house waiting for him when he comes home from the courthouse. I hope he doesn't live in a secluded area because if he does, he doesn't have long to live. I'm going to get him on the ground and continue to beat him until he's dead or until somebody pulls me off of him. And if his wife comes out and begs for his life, I'll stop for a second, explain the situation, and if she doesn't want to help me finish him off, I'll go back to beating him by myself. A stranger? A complete stranger? If her best friend's Dad ever hit her once....slapped her once.....that's a curb stompin' right there. I'm a law abiding citizen up to a point. The point is defined by precious few individuals. My world has no place for this shithead in a free society.

DOG: The Final 53

Look at last year's (badly photoshopped) team photo. Lots of guys with Super Bowl rings are going to be gone from that team just one year later.

The thing I like about Mike Tomlin that I hated about Bill Cowher is that he seems to see what I see in many many Steeler players. Tomlin will choose his roster on the side of youth thinking he can have some time to coach a player up. Whereas Cowher would keep a retread 34 year old veteran over a borderline rookie or young vet because he knew what he was getting. And that's really important as we weigh the composition of the 2009 Picksburgh Stillers. It's also part of the reason for why the 2008 Defensive Player of the Year was cut 3 times by Cowher!

So I'm going to list for you the players I would choose for our team this year. It's not a prediction of what the team will look like. It's what I would do based on what I've seen of the players.

QB (3) Roethlisberger, Batch, Dixon

RB (3) Parker, Mendenhall, Moore

FB (1) Davis

WR (5) Ward, Holmes, Sweed, Wallace, McDonald

TE (3) Miller, Spaeth, Johnson

LT (2) Starks, Hills

LG (2) Kemoeatu, Foster

C (2) Hartwig, Legursky

RG (2) Essex, Urbik

RT (2) Colon, Capizzi

Offense has 25 players

LDE (3) Smith, Hood, Kierschke

NT (2) Hampton, Hoke

RDE (2) Kiesel, Eason

LOLB (2) Woodley, Bailey

ILB (4) Farrior, Timmons, Fox, Woods

ROLB (2) J. Harrison, Frazier

CB (6) Taylor, Gay, Townsend, K. Lewis, Burnett, Raitliff

FS (1) Clark

SS (2) Polamalu, Carter

Defense has 24 players

LS(1) Warren

K (1) Reed

P (1) Sepulveda

KR (1) Logan

Special Teams has 4 players

Practice Squad:

Grisham (WR)

Harris (DL)

Redman (RB)

Shipley (OL)

Mundy (S)

Summers (FB)

B. Davis (LB) maybe

plus one other guy.

It's possible Kirschke could get cut in favor of Scott Paxson. And I'm not sure Tomlin can hide Sonny Harris on the practice squad without some other team snagging him. But otherwise I'm thinking Tomlin is going to go to war with a lineup that looks very similar to the above.

These guys have got one last game to either play their final downs in the NFL or make that list. Tomorrow night we shall see.

DOG: Keisel "the Diesel" Signs 5 Year Deal

It's a beautiful thing. That rumbling in the ground coming from our right defensive end position will be here for a while longer.

One of my favorite Steelers, Brett Keisel, has signed a 5 year contract extension that will make him a "Steeler For Life." Monetary terms of the deal have not been announced yet although it seems apparent that it was more important to Brett to stay a Steeler than it was to break the bank.

Contrast this situation to another guy named Brett up in Minnesota (for this year). I know which one I'm betting on to come out alive when they meet on October 25 with me & Fan in attendance! That'd be big ole "99."

FAN: Rise Out Of Ravens

There is nothing like driving through Baltimore and picking out cars with Ravens stickers and giving them a little faux towel wave. It's how I'm keeping myself amused while Mrs. Fan drives a while. Too bad we're not in my car with the front Steeler plate and the custom tag that reads PITT 6SB. Losers. Shit birds. Caw.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

DOG: Buffaloed In Buffalo

The Stillers take on the Buffalo Bills tonight at Heinz and lots of jobs are on the line. On top of that, this game is viewed by many as the dress rehearsal for the season for the starters.

But honestly next week's game is the killer. This week we will indeed have to make some roster cuts. I think we have to cut 8 guys by Monday or Tuesday. But these will be the easy cuts. Next week is where the shit hits the proverbial fan. So pray for no injuries and keep your eyes focused on the second half... if you haven't downed too many "redeyes" (Stoney's + tomato juice) by then.

Another thing you're going to notice tonight is the 50th Anniversary uniforms and logos, patches and what not, on the Buffalo Bills. It's the 50th Anniversary of the AFL and all the old original AFL teams will be wearing some sort of commemorative regalia.

So I checked it out and the Buffalo Bills have a 50th Anniversary team. Voted on by Bills fans. But their anniversary team is so screwed up it indicts the Bills fans and their whole organization. In fact, it makes them look idiotic.

First off they don't even have a punter on the team. I fully expected Paul Maguire to be their punter. But nope, they don't have one. No surprise that Jim Kelly was the QB but I beg to disagree here. I would have put the late Senator Jack Kemp at QB for the all-time Bills. He led the Bills to their only league title while Kelly failed four straight years. At running back? Only one running back. Thurman Thomas. A worthy selection. But what about O.J. Simpson? No fullback. What about Bubby Braxton who rushed for over 800 yards the same year he was the lead blocker for Simpson who gained 2,003! Speaking of which, you think of Braxton and Simpson and it automatically brings up that devastating offensive line, "The Electric Company." You remember, "The Electric Company Turns On The Juice!" Well, Joe DeLameilleure made it but Reggie MacKenzie was nowhere to be found. Very few of the old-time greats were honored. Defensive linemen Fred Smerlas from the 80s and Tom Sestak (60s) made it as did center Billy Shaw (60s). Yet Eric Moulds got in ahead of the great Elbert Dubinion. All in all it was an uneducated fan base voting for the most recent players. With the organization doing little to see the that all the positions were represented adequately in the makeup of a real team.

The selection of this team means the fans have been "Buffaloed in Buffalo." Is it any wonder the NFL wants to play Bills games in Toronto?

I doubt Tomlin will make these kinds of mistakes when selecting our team.

FAN: Funny House Name

On Wednesday, I woke up and checked out the running/biking trail near the house we're renting. It was nice. Not sure how far up the island it goes as I stopped at 5 miles due to the 98% humidity. After about a mile of woods and brush, the trail emerged from the trees and went down a side street which lead to the front row of houses. I didn't need any tricks to keep my mind off of how hot I was as I could see the ocean in between houses and hear the surf pounding. It was only a little after 7 AM and I barely saw signs of human life. It was rather peaceful. Something I saw really deserves to be pointed out for the creative types out there. If you never rented a beach house or a mountain cabin - you may not know that the owners give the places cutesy little names. Most are lame. L-A-M-E. "Sea Oats", "Fanta Sea"...."OK Coral".

Boooooooo. On the run, I saw one that made me laugh out loud and I had to stop and walk for 5 steps to catch my breath. Also, they paid good money to have a professional sign made that used the appropriate logo. The name? "The Schlitz Carlton". Superb! Best beach house name ever?

DOG: Stefan Logan #41

Here's what I know about Stefan Logan:

He only played one year of HS football at Jackson High in Miami, FL. It was his junior year. So he was not recruited coming out of HS.

At age 22 he decided he'd like to give football a try again. He ended up at South Dakota University as a walk-on. It's Division II football and few people who play at that level ever even get a chance to try out for an NFL team. Logan set all kinds of school records at South Dakota and averaged an amazing 7.4 yards per carry and had 34 100-yard rushing games during his college career. He's in the top 10 of a bunch of statistical categories for NCAA Div. II football.

In 2007 he tried out for the Miami Dolphins and initially made their practice squad but was eventually cut and ended up out of football.

In 2008 he signed and played for the British Columbia Lions of the CFL where he averaged 7.3 yards per carry rushing, caught 50 passes, and had over 1,400 yards from scrimmage.

Within one week of winning Super Bowl XLIII, the Stillers signed Logan to a contract in an attempt to shore up their pitiful kick return game.

In the name of famous kick returners of days gone by, Walt 'The Flea' Roberts, and Noland 'The Gnat' Smith, I give you Stefan 'Half-Pint' Logan.

FAN: Stefan Logan Blows Up

Welcome to the NFL, Stefan Logan. Peter King, whom I usually don't agree with but read anyway, just gave Logan a huge boost in street cred. King was asked by a reader to name the 10 biggest impact rookies he's seen so far this year in camps across he country. Ziggy Hood was impressive at #4 on the list. H ewas drafted 32nd so good for him. However, from a purely statistical standpoint, Stefan Logan wasn't even drafted and he made the list at #10. Think about that for a second. Ok, seconds up. For all the hoopla that goes on for these morons making picks and arguing about them months leading up to the draft, a guy coming from where Logan comes from flies under the radar and lights it up. Good for him. Good for him? Good for us! After making that list and raising his awareness, even if Pittsburgh has to cut him he should land on another team. Wikipedia is showing that the Dolphins also invited him to camp in 2007 but he didn't make the team. He's been playing in Canada. Maybe Dog saw him play there?

DOG: Pigmeat On The Line

Wet Ribs - Mrs. Dog Style

Up here in the Mid-Atlantic we don't have no fish to grill. We got pigmeat. Three racks of pork ribs to be exact.

I smoked 3 racks of pork ribs on Saturday for some friends and me & Mrs. Dog prior to the Stillers-Skins game. Started the smoker at 11:00 am, put the ribs on at 11:30. Took the photo at 5:15 just after the Texas Pecan BBQ sauce was added to the two racks that were done wet. I kept my rack dry with just my AAuthentic Rib Rub for flavoring. Took 'em off at 5:30 and served them up with some potato salad and Picnic Beans. Best ribs I ever made.

DOG: It's Too Late Sista

Yep, it's too late to vote for the white guy.

FAN: What's Grilling

What's grilling is one and a half pounds of fresh NC Trigger. The girls at the seafood hut said to grill it up with butter, sea salt, paprika and lemon. Who am I to disagree?
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

FAN: Universal Wealthcare

We sometimes dive into politics and I think I want to cannonball into this one. This one isn't about blowing shit up or torturing terrorists or pulling the fingernails off of child molesters before burning them at the stake. This one is about universal health care. Or is it? Maybe it's just about spending money wisely. Don't jump all over me for this if you're in the President's corner. If you read closely you'll see that I want those that really need it to be covered. Those that really need it. That's the problem. How do you define them?

This issue has been hot for a while and I'm just now writing about it. Why? Well, I finally have time and I saw something on TV this morning that disturbed me. I'm not even sure what city it was in, but people were in line waiting for a free health care clinic to open so they could get processed. It was still dark outside. The line was long.....think Wii lines 2 weeks before Christmas at Walmart long. Why did this particular clip annoy me? They spoke to some people in line and showed many more. The stories they told all sounded good on the surface, but I'd like a little harder edge to my interviewing of these people. I have some really hard questions I want to ask. Really hard. Ready?

Where do you work? If you are unemployed what system are you currently in to make a living? I want to know these things why? Well, I'm guessing that some of the folks in this line have an option to buy cafeteria insurance at their jobs and they don't. I'm guessing some think they can't pay all of their bills if they take out money for health care. Sure, call me an asshole for pointing this out and I'm also sure it's only a fraction of the people there, but how many of them in a family of four have four cellphones? How many of the family of fours have four televisions, all hooked up to premium cable? Roll with me people....I have to be right about some of them.

I have a job. I have a very good job. I have very good health coverage, but it's not cheap by a long shot. See, my company offers four different plans. Guess which one I have? The most expensive. Why? Because it's important to me. We're a relatively healthy family but I can't stand systems. I'm not going to a doctor when my shoulder hurts only to have him give me a form and tell me to so see a shoulder guy. I'm going to the shoulder guy on day one. I pay more just so I have that luxury. What do I pay? I don't know but it's between $3-$4k per year. I don't expect somebody who is making $30k per year with a family of 4 to pay $3k for health care, but I do want them to pay something. Again, I'm not trying to be a creep - I know there are millions of Americans who really truly need this and I'm not saying don't give it to them. What I'm saying is to be very, very..........very careful when handing out the golden tickets. Somebody who is historically poor - YES. Somebody who is historically stupid - NOT SO MUCH.

There was a lady in line who had a young lad with her. She was waiting in line to get him free glasses at the clinic. Ladies and gentlemen, this did not look like a woman distraught and down on her luck. Her coat would cover the cost of the glasses! I do not take the eye care option on my insurance. Why? Well, because I know what our eye care costs are for the year and since the eye insurance sucks and only pays for certain things, the entire nut paid out of pocket yearly is the same cost as paying the premiums all year and getting their measly deductions. We go to Walmart for our vision needs. The eye doctor is not a Walmart employee. He just has his office there and they get bulk prices for the wares which makes it very attractive to him. We talk about it. I've been going there to the same guy for over 10 years. I love him. My wife loves him. My daughter loves him. My exam costs like $40. I buy the most expensive breathable, disposal contacts that they offer. Total yearly cost? $160. Still A Stroke has purple Miley Cyrus frames that her friends rave over. She has the no scratch no glare lenses and I think the whole deal was $140. How much would it be without the name attached and without the space-age polymer applied? If that mom smokes or plays the lottery or goes to lunch everyday - she should be shot. She's taking the time and resources away from a kid who really does need the glasses because she is irresponsible and careless with her financial decisions.

One more rant and then I'm gone for the day. I've been paying $3-$4k per year for health insurance for my family since we became a family. I'm 40. My daughter is 9. I think Mrs. Fan is ....29....I think she says? Guess what? Yes if something bad happened we'd be screwed, but I would guess that since we were married, in any one year if we would pay for medical out of pocket we would not have incurred half that much in costs. You can go to the doctor without insurance. They have very lenient payment plans. I want to go through that line of people waiting for the free clinic to see what kind of cars they all drive. You know deep in your heart you want to know too. How many moderate family cars are there? How many leases are there? Those leases aren't for Saturns. Trust me. You weigh 350 pounds? You sure could afford the buffet and snack cakes, fatty. Back of the line. You have an 80 gb iPod? The cost of that alone would pay for 3 doctors visits easily. Priorities. Make sure your family is taken care of and then spend your money however you want to.

I am not against every American citizen who needs free health care to have it. I just want to sit on the board and help determine who needs it. Is that too much to ask? Let the left say what they can have. Let the right say who can have it. I grew up in the second poorest county in Pennsylvania. I had a paper route when I was about 12. I had people who couldn't pay me $1.10 on Thursday until their checks came in. I would also see those same people at Nick's Cut Rate buying smokes, lottery tickets, magazines and cheesie poofs. That's the economics lesson I had as a youngster. Still A Dad gave my sister and I the best lesson a parent can give. Is that a "want" or a "need"? You can't buy one of the two until you can afford it. You need to figure out which is which. When grown ass men can't make the right choices for their families, please don't take it out of my tax dollars. Pass it on.

DOG: What Are You Listening To Now? #10

Dog checking out more tunes.

Hard to believe I'm on the 10th edition of What Are You Listening To Now. But I'm generally curious what people listen to. And I'm willing to share what I'm listening to in hopes that somebody will check it out and get out of the ruts they're in. Explore beyond what the music industry machine tells you is "cool" and find some great stuff that you also really like.

I'm on a mission to discover as much great music as I can and every time I find stuff that I think is really great I write one of these WAYLT pieces. So yeah, I have a few more that are real finds queued up in my playlists right now.

#10 - Jan Akkerman - 10,000 Clowns On A Rainy Day

#9 - New Riders of The Purple Sage - Where I Come From. Great new release from NRPS.

#8 & #7 - Jack DeJohnette - Parallel Realities & Music For the Fifth World. Wonderful jazz.

#6 - 11th Hour - Deanna Bogart - This is one of her best releases. Got to hype our local Boogie Queen!

#5 - Jeff Healey - Songs From The Road. Released posthumously, this is Healey at his best.

#4 - Brian Bromberg (Fan's buddy) - It Is What It Is. This is a brand new release and it's terrific.

#3 - Paco DeLucia, John McLaughlin & Al DiMeola - Passion, Grace, & Fire. Just WOW!

#2 - Catherine Russell - Sentimental Streak. The woman is unbelievable. Superbly talented vocalist and musician.

#1 - Memphis Minnie - The Complete Recorded Works Volumes 1 thru 5. After listening to these 5 volumes I have come to the conclusion that Memphis Minnie had more impact on blues music in general than even Robert Johnson! Almost every song is the basis for some other well know blues standard. A history lesson set to music. Great stuff. The recording quality on some tracks is not great. But if you close your eyes you can transport back to 1939 and hear these songs for the first time as they were when they were first played on an old scratchy 78rpm record player.

Memphis Minnie

DOG: Otis Elevator in Laurel, MD

That was Otis Elevator singing, "Baby, I Had My Ups And Downs" in the rain at FedEx Stadium last night.

Ups:

• Stefan Logan- Great night returning kicks. Might have to make space for him.


• Keyaron Fox- Played special teams like a demon (as usual) and played linebacker very well too.


• Mike Wallace- Can go deep and catch over the middle in traffic. Moving up the chart.


• Donavan Woods- Made two hits I had to say, "Who was that truck?"


• Doug Legursky- Handled Albert Haynesworth much better than could be expected.


• Matt Spaeth- The light came on for him. He blocked very well. And we know he can catch.


• DJ Johnson- Has the team made. Blocks like a beast and made a nice ST tackle.

Stayed on the same floor:

• Limas Sweed- Drops easy ones makes the tough catch. Looks like Frank Lewis to me.


• Dennis Dixon- Played well enough. Hurt his shoulder. If it's bad he's done.... maybe forever.

Downs:

• Lawrence Timmons- Got blown off the ball on runs. Couldn't cover Cooley on passes. Got blown up by Portis on the pass rush. Tomlin has to be beside himself. Where is Larry Foote?


• Tony Hills- Between penalties and just getting his ass kicked he's got to be among the first cuts. Brian Orakpo actually picked Hills fat ass up off the ground on one rush. I imagine Orakpo abused him in practice for a couple years at Texas too.


• Joe Burnett- Fumbled another kick return. Didn't cover near as well this week. Practice Squad maybe?

Yeah, those are my tickets to the game which magically appeared at my house one hour before kickoff. I was too busy smoking 3 racks of ribs, and too much rain, too much of a pain in the ass to get there, and far too little time. It was pretty much a suck ass game anyway. Whether in person or on the big screen downstairs where we were exposed to that idiot Joe "Mr. Vanity" Theisman.

DOG: Who To Watch in Washington

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that the 2009 Stiller draft will be the best one since 1974. You remember. The one where we picked 4 hall of famers and Donnie Shell. So obviously I'm going to tell you to watch the young 'uns. And of course they're slotted to get most of the playing time anyway.

I cannot believe that so many young players have a legitimate shot at making the Stiller roster the year after they won a Super Bowl and return 20 out of 22 starters (21 if you count William Gay) and the placekicker! But it's true folks. This draft class is full of real football players and practically no pretenders.


The three guys I'd look for to have the biggest immediate impact are -in order of my projected impact- WR/KR Mike Wallace, CB/KR Joe Burnett, and DE/DT Ziggy Hood. Notice they all have positional slashes? You're going to see a lot of that in the coming years as Tomlin emphasizes position flexibility. And the guys who have position flexibility -all other things being equal- will be the ones who make the team.


The sleeper is definitely undrafted free agent Isaac Redman as the short yardage back. He will make the team, no question. His choices of lead blockers include 7th round pick, FB/RB Frank "The Tank" Summers, and 7th round pick TE/FB DJ Johnson. Johnson has blown up every player he's gone up against in blocking drills including the Silverback (once). And Tank has been the lead blocker on almost all the TDs Redman has scored in team short yardage practice and in both the TDs he scored against the Cardinals . They keep this up and it's goodbye to both Shaun McHugh and Carey Russell. I know the FO likes Russell as a special teams player but it was Summers who made 2 ST tackles last week vs. Arizona. I know, this paragraph sounds ludicrous talking about two 7th rounders and a UDFA making this team but those guys have earned the consideration.


Kraig Urbik the 3rd round G out of Wisconsin has been reported to look like a turd in blocking drills at Latrobe. But in a game situation last week he graded out very well. I know it was against the Cards 2nd and 3rd units -many of whom will be working at Jiffy Lube or Radio Shack by Labor Day- but it does look like he can be coached to play at a high level.


5th round CB/KR Joe Burnett appears to be a lock by picking off passes left and right both in Latrobe and in real games. And CB Keenan Lewis is playing very well also. So well that I'm not sure who makes it in the final defensive backfield cut. But one thing for sure, Anthony Madison is history. Can't cover, can't tackle. No amount of special teams wizardry can help him now.


Ramon Foster, another undrafted FA from Tennessee is reputed to be the 3rd best tackle on the team and is most definitely assured at least a practice squad slot. AQ Shipley a 6th round center from Penn State may find himself on the practice squad as well.

Stefan Logan signed out of the CFL is slated to see kick return duties tonight in what is likely his one shot to make the team. And I'm looking forward to seeing if Sonny Harris can beat first teamers like he whipped the grocery clerks and pizza delivery men he faced last week.

So keep your eye on all these players as well as the continuing development of Limas Sweed and Dennis Dixon and the perpetual mediocrity of Rashard Mendenhall. Mendenhall reminds me of Tim Worley so much... I hate to say. Even Walter Abercrombie was better than what we've seen of Mendenhall so far. Hope the light goes on for him soon.


And there's just one more thing to look for this evening. And that is Terrible Towels in Washington. Dan "Spoiled Rich Boy-Puss Face" Snyder is handing out 50,000 "Redskin Rally Towels" at FedEx stadium tonight. Too bad 30,000 of them will be given to Stiller fans who will invariably wipe their collective asses with them and clog up Snyder's stadium plumbing as they are flushed away! Here We Go!!!

FAN: Bumping My Poster

With the return of "Ginny" (who's bringing sexy back) to the blogosphere, I wanted to bump this back up to the top of our little corner of the world since we've been seeing visitors to our site like never before.

Come back often, we'll try hard to either inform you, make you laugh or piss you off.

FAN: Steelers Punked by Tomlin

This is just fantastic stuff. Fantastic.

Tomlin means business. Jeff "You Can't Ice A Psychopath" Reed was also in the mix. I love it. What a brilliant idea. He may supplant the arrogant Phil Jackson as the king of head games for coaches.

Maybe if they had gone to the movies Ben wouldn't have ended up on a cart, but he'll be fine. If it was serious do you really think the trainers would have allowed him to limp around later instead of using crutches. Ben has a little Emmitt Smith in him when it comes to bumps and bruises, I think we all know that.

On a completely different note, I now get to see Brett Favre play as I have Vikings tickets in October. I can't wait to see how our offense stacks up against their "D".

DOG: Big Ben Off The Hook

You will probably read other news stories today which will say a motion to drop charges against Big Ben and the Harrah's employees has been filed. But only here at the Steel City Slant will you find the legal documents and the contents of the actual emails written by McNutty herself.

If this is true (and it certainly appears to be), McNutty needs to drop the case and high tail it for the Canadian border pronto. Check it out here.

DOG: Hot August Blues - Not So Hot

Joe Bonamassa @ Hot August Blues

Well, yesterday it was hot and it was August but there was something missing from the Hot August Blues festival in Hunt Valley Maryland... the Blues!

The temperature was 89 and the sun was scorching when we picked up the party at the second act with a band called Chopteeth. It was an Afro-Funk band and I thought it would be very entertaining. And actually they were very good musicians, especially the horn section (baritone sax, tenor sax, trombone, trumpet). And when they were simply jamming out I really liked them. But when they added the vocals it was just horrible. The African "Whooooop Whoops" weren't so bad it was the rest I couldn't handle.

Jason Isbell and the 400 was pretty good. Definitely not blues, but at least well done and entertaining. Of particular note was their cover of the Talking Heads tune Psycho Killer. But I don't think too many people knew of the Drive-By Truckers (from whence Isbell came) let alone Jason Isbell. They were an 11th hour replacement for Davey Knowles and Back Door Slam, so all things considered it was fine.

Then Joe Bonamassa came to save the day. He came on early and played an extended set and really saved the festival from a music stand point. But even he played little of his core blues repertoire. Mostly jazz-rock influenced stuff. But he was excellent as always.

The headliner Derek Trucks was just awesome and Bonamassa came out to jam with him on one number which was great to see. But the festival was unbelievably bad.

Despite claims that there would be sufficient food and beer vendors this was not the case. They didn't even have enough shaved ice vendors. And worst of all, at about 4:30 in the afternoon there was not a vendor in the place who had any inventory of bottled water! The restaurant chain Damon's actually ran out of food!!! That is inexcusable with a nationwide chain with the kind of resources they have to run out of food at a catering event. Rest rooms, which are usually the major complaint at events like this, were not much of a problem and were kept clean all day... at least that's what my friends tell me. I saw a small line at the urinals and decided the nearby woods would be more conducive for my needs.

In that heat with no water, the First Aid personnel were kept jumping from one overheated and dehydrated body to the next. Funny how they ran out of $2 water but had an endless supply of $5 beer. No mind to me. I drank beer anyway. But people were pissed about no water.

So anyway it was a nice day in the sun. Didn't hear hardly any blues. And not a well organized festival at all. Doubt I'll be going back any time soon unless they book an artist that I just absolutely am compelled to see. And the list of those is dwindling.

FAN: Idiot Announcers Already

I turned on ESPN at 7:50 to hear somebody say the type of QB that Ben has become will wear him down over time. Interesting. Didn't Fran Tarkenton and Kenny Stabler play until they were using canes? Running around means nothing if you don't get hit hard. Idiots. Enjoy the game.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

FAN: Like Father, Like Son

Did you ever do something and as you're doing it, a memory from your past leaps into your skull? I had an experience like that last night. Weird feeling. I share a lot of similarities with Still A Dad. We both salt and peppered way too early in life. We both hate debt and avoid it at all costs. We have similar builds. We both torture pets. I'm not talking Michael Vick here so relax. If only every pet could be tortured as we define "torture". Growing up, our beloved mutt Muffins couldn't relax for a second because the minute she stretched out on the floor, Still A Dad would bang his foot down on the floor shaking the room and startling the dog so badly it seemed like she jumped halfway to the ceiling. He'd then laugh at her and scratch her and tell her it was OK....until he did it again 3 minutes later. Pavlov would have loved that she learned to sleep with one eye open. He was also famous for making a circle with his fingers and thumb and commanding her to "put your nose in there" so he could give it a squeeze and she did it because she loved it. He would also point to a spot on
the floor and tell her to "put your nose right there". She would act like she wasn't going to do it but then get down and literally crawl to the spot. It was hilarious.

I now find myself amusing my daughter by picking up Hershey and just holding him on my lap on his back looking back at me with my thumbs under his armpits. He is fine for 2 minutes. Sometime between 2 and 3 minutes, his tiny walnut sized brain tells him to start biting me but he can't reach anything. We continue to talk to him like a baby, but I refuse to let go until his annoyance builds to a sudden burst escape maneuver. Anyway, that's not what I'm talking about here, but you get the idea. I also treat kids the same way....asking them stupid questions and telling them things that aren't true. It's a finely honed skill and funny to watch when kids don't know that it's your MO.

If I failed to mention it here, I am now the Head Coach of Still A Stroke's JV Volleyball team for 5th and 6th graders. Last night we were sharing the gym with another team practicing right beside us. I could sense that our practice was running more smoothly and more fun than our neighbor's was. I told the girls we could end practice with a game of Nukem to sharpen their "move to the ball" skills as soon as they could successfully return one of my serves with a three-hit bump, set and hit.

They had a few two-hit returns which is great for this age but I wanted to end practice on a high note and time was running out. I called for a huddle. I told the girls to look at the other team not having as much fun. I told them we were capable of making them wonder what the heck was going on and why our practice was so much fun. I definitely had their attention. I told them to try really hard and concentrate to get a three-hit return and when we do.....flip out and celebrate like we just won the Super Bowl. It only took three tries after the speech. Deep serve to Still A Stroke, perfect bump to setter, setter sets hitter, hitter clears the net. My girls threw their arms up and screamed and we all clapped for a few seconds. The other team, their coaches and parents all turned to look - no balls were heard bouncing and their wasn't a sound coming from the other half of the gym as they all watched us celebrate. I blew my whistle and called them in and said "So do you guys want to play Nukem, or do you want to try that again?" Not a single vote for Nukem. My team was jazzed. I went back to the service line and again on the third try, we went bump, set, hit and erupted again. Did the girls on Court 2 wish they were on Court 1? Yes. As we both closed up practice, their girls flocked to ours to see what was going on and someone from the other team asked Stroke today at camp what happened. Perception becomes a fact. There will not be a more relaxed girls JV team in our league. Bank on it.

So what reminded me of Still A Dad as the words were leaving my mouth to celebrate? I was either 9 or 10 and I know that because I didn't play in the majors until I was 12 and the story involves someone who went to the majors a full year before me and this occurred while we were on the same team, Luigi's Restaurant. A kid's dad up the street was our head coach. Still A Dad was assistant coach. The head coach always had something going on and I swear I'm not making this up but one night his Doberman bit his little girl who was trying to feed him something and he chased the dog down the street with a pistol and shot at it several times. Still A Dad will comment here (without mentioning any names) as I can't remember if he hit the dog or not with the shots. I think that may have lead to the Police at his house which lead to him quitting the head coach position mid season which lead to Still A Dad taking over. Luigi's was good that year as we had several players who ended up playing for an All-Star team a few years later that went deep into states. One of them was actually in Sports Illustrated as one of the top 50 freshman football players who weren't allowed to play as a freshman due to grades as a result of Prop 48. He would have graduated in 1986 so I'm guessing that's the year Prop 48 was introduced. The story isn't about him either. It's about another kid who was from a neighborhood one over from mine. He was bigger than most kids our age and always looked a little sloppy but in a good way....think Arte Lang. He could throw fastballs right past 90% of the kids in the minors. Still A Dad noticed the looks on the opposing player's faces I guess as they watched our guy warm up down in the bullpen. He was throwing missiles. When Dad gave us a final talk in the dugout before taking the field, he told the big fella to throw wild in warm ups. "Huh?" was the reply. "Throw them wild. Over the catcher. Hit the backstop. Throw inside so you miss the catcher. If you throw 8 pitches, the catcher better only catch 2 or 3." Now that's not verbatim, but it's pretty close as he got the hint and everyone was like "oooooooooh" while nodding their heads. Boys that age do not like missiles being thrown at them. I can't remember exactly what happened, but I remember the eyes of the kid in the on-deck circle watching this transpire. He was stepping out of the batter's box almost before the ball left the pitcher's hand. I think he struck out the first two batters. Before taking the field for inning two, same instructions. I don't remember how long it went on, but it was clear we gained a psychological advantage that day. I even remember who we were playing, The SC Firemen.

Isn't it funny what you remember 30 years later? I most likely found it so cool that everyone was so downright giddy over my Dad's idea that I put that memory on external drive backup storage. I'm not sure what I ate for lunch yesterday, but I know that day 30 years ago, that poor son of a bitch who had to bat first was psychologically terrorized by my Dad........and I liked it. Wheeeeeeeee!!!

DOG: Training Camp Week 1

Well the first week of Stiller Training Camp is in the books. This is just going to be a list of random notes about what I've seen and heard. I'll focus on a good many individual players who are trying to win a spot on the roster since our starting 22 is just about set (barring injuries).

We've got our first game Thursday night on ESPN. Hopefully this will give you Stiller fans something to look for in a game in which the first stringers will likely play no more than a few series or one quarter.

With a pair of Super Bowl MVPs at WR, only the 3-5 spots are open. Limas Sweed is assumed to be the leader in the race for the #3 slot. But what I have been hearing is that the WRs we have in camp are all giving a strong showing. So the performances during preseason games will likely dictate who makes the roster and who doesn't. Shaun McDonald, a free agent signee from the Detroit Lions has run precise patterns and dropped only one ball so far. Mike Wallace, the #3 pick from Mississippi has blazed past everyone and also caught the ball nicely. Stephan Logan, originally signed as a RB from British Columbia in the CFL has been working out with the WRs. Martin Nance, Ben's college go to guy has been impressive as has Dallas Baker from last year's practice squad. Another fellow named Tyler Grisham has just caught everything. Not sure how much of a fair shot he gets but I think with Tomlin he stands a better chance at a fair shot than he ever would have with Cowher.

There's an undrafted free agent named Ramon Foster, a Tackle from Tennessee who they say is playing better than Tony Hills, and Kriag Urbik and as good as Jason Capizzi. He could make the team. In fact, I'm hearing that Tony Hills might be the odd man out on the OL if Darnell Stapelton comes back from his knee surgery on time.

Rashard Mendenhall is doing well but I have concerns about him. Too easy for people to get inside his head. Willie Parker is still the man at RB. Frank "The Tank" Summers got off to a slow start but has responded well to coaching and there's a lot to like about #44.

David Johnson, the rookie TE out of Arkansas State has been blasting people and could well be the blocking TE we need. He has also done well as a lead blocker in the running game. How well he can catch and pick up a blitz in game situations will determine if he replaces Sean McHugh on the roster.

Charlie Batch remains the #2 QB but Dennis Dixon is doing well in drills. Again, it will come down to performance in game situations to determine the roster position. These two are sure to get plenty of snaps to compete.

Ziggy Hood has more pass rush moves than anybody on the roster. Can't wait to see him in action.

Lawrence Timmons has added weight, strength, and hasn't lost a step. In fact people are saying he's as fast to the ball as Troy! If so, Tomlin's first draft choice may pay off after all. Keyaron Fox has done very well from scrimmage as well as his usual exemplary special teams work.

The most impressive rookie at any position so far has been Keenan Lewis a CB from Oregon State. Although Joe Burnett has also looked good. It's going to be a hard cut to make with those two and Anthony Madison back there. Special Teams performance will likely be the tie breaker on who stays and who goes. William Gay is ready to start. Prospects are bright at CB when you add Old Man DeShea and Ike Taylor to the mix.

Same for Safety. Tyrone Carter doesn't appear to be slowing down any and of course Clark and Polamalu are the top safety combination in the game today. Ryan Mundy from West Virginia adds depth if he can find a roster spot.

The Sepulverizer is back and booming punts over 50 yards with great regularity. Jeff Reed is also blasting 50+ yard field goals as is Pietr Czech who has the unfortunate task of competing with Reed and has about zero chance to make the team.

So pretty much it's good news so far all around. There's a very good chance that many of this year's draftees will make the squad which is rare for a Super Bowl champion who lost only two starters. And my prediction is that you will see a ton of guys who get cut from the Steelers quickly scooped up by other NFL teams going into the season.

Don't construe my comments to be completely factual. I've base a lot of this on non-professional opinion (including my own). None of these youngsters has got the team made based on what we've seen so far. But with what we've seen, it will be very interesting to watch to see who does.

So we got the Cardinals on Thursday. I can't wait to see all this young talent in action. Here We Go!!!

FAN: Dude, Check This Out

Remember the old list that used to be passed around in emails...kids books that never got published? The one that always made me laugh was "It hurts when I pee, Charlie Brown". Indeed. As you know because I make fun of them, we have two cats....both young, both supposedly stupid. I used to think Hershey was only slightly brighter than Fat Casey, but now I think he may actually be a few full IQ points ahead. Why? Listen. A few times over the last several months while I would be scooping their litter - I would notice a very small, dark, reddish spot on the floor near the box. It seemed thick like mucus. I'm talking the size of a raisin or smaller. I never thought much about it. Having cats since 1995, I've never been surprised with what you can find in a litter box. I once watched dearly departed Lloyd, an extremely intelligent cat, inhale a nylon stocking footy like you would use to try on shoes in a store. It was....interesting.......how that came out. I've seen glitter, thread...you get the idea. I thought this was nothing more than one of them eating out of the sink and it felt different coming out so they stepped outside the box. It was so small it seemed insignificant and I put it out of my mind until just recently. Mrs. Fan was using a sink in the house and noticed something in it that didn't seem normal, but couldn't place it. A stain? Pink Lemonade? Again, with a kid with friends roaming about....you just don't think about it. One day on return from the pool, a laundry basket had a little liquid in it. Not weird at all. We just came back from the pool with coolers and stuff. Of course things might be wet. Although a paper towel showed that it had a pinkish hue. Another trip to the same sink a few days later showed another liquid dried up. The math was starting to click. Tired of waiting for us "smart humans" to figure out the mystery, Hershey decided to jump up on our double sink in our bathroom one morning while I was brushing my teeth. Weird, he usually doesn't do that. He promptly walked over to my sink, stepped into it.....and pee'd a slightly pinkish stream down the side of it. He then got out and started at me as if to say "Dude, check that out...bet you can't do that...that's right it's pink....and even though I hate that lab coat wearing older Irish dude who prods and pokes me.....if you don't get me there soon I might start peeing RED...I'd pick up the phone and give it to you but see I don't have a posable thumb.....I don't even have fingers cause the old Irish bastard cut those off almost three years ago....go....GO MAKE THE CALL!". So we did. He had Cystitis. We had to switch their food to special UI food (which costs more of course) and take away all seafood food and snacks. Also need to get them to drink more water. He suggested a fountain but after reading reviews of them, the motors wear out and they are a pain to clean. Our guys seem to drink enough so we'll see. However, we thought it was brilliant that Hershey took matters into his own hand and did it right in front of me so I could see it after trying to tell us for a while. Reading up on, they associate pain with the littler box when it starts so when they have to pee, they go looking for something else that looks like a litter box and sinks win out a lot of times. Fascinating. Glad our "idiot" is better, even if it cost us $120 plus increased food costs. We have noticed another silver lining in the cost.....their breath is noticeably better.

FAN: Hall Of Famer Rod Woodson

Congratulations go out to Rod Woodson. I wasn't thrilled when he left the Steelers, but football is a business. It doesn't change the fact that he was one of the best. He showed crazy heart coming back to play in the Super Bowl in 1995. One of the most memorable plays in the game for me was him covering Irvin successfully on one play and pointing to his knee which the crack head said he couldn't cover him with. I always thought maybe Rod should have showed the organization more loyalty after they didn't put him on IR, allowing him to be ready for the bowl should they make it. He was a gambler and owns the career record for "pick-sixes", but the other side of the coin is that he got torched on some gambles as well. He was in on another great play for the Steelers when he was asking for the wine list after getting absolutely owned by Hines Ward while chasing someone down the sideline. Those things aside, Rod was the bright spot on the teams that ended Chuck Noll's career. It was a joy to watch him play and he is a class act. I like him as an analyst and he came back to the Steeler roost after being retired for a while and reflecting on his place in football. Mr. Woodson, our hats go off to you. Thanks for adding to our wing in Canton.

FAN: Roethlisberger Defense Just Got Easier

The truth is starting to come out. How long before she drops the civil suit? The thing is, when things like this start to take hold, the news isn't as exciting and it gets lost. People remember the accusations - not the truth.

FAN: RIP John Hughes

Wow. I was sad to hear this news today. Depressed really. The movies this man made while I was in my teen years will never be forgotten. I am hopping over to Kevin Smith's website to see what he had to say since Hughes is one of his idols. Please check out this video clip, it put a smile on my face....especially starting at around 4:20. Too bad the individual who created this didn't know the correct title of the song. Someday when my daughter is around 14 or 15 I think I'll buy her the Hughes collection and start watching them with her. I saw The Breakfast Club about 15 times before I was 20. Everyone I knew could recite line after line..... Call them what you will, make fun of them if you like, but to someone between 10th and 11th grade at the time, those movies were gold. Some Kind Of Wonderful was grossly underrated in my opinion of all his work. To this day, Planes, Traines and Automobiles is still one of my all-time favorites. Sigh. It sucks getting old (older).

FAN: Steelers Camp Link

There are some really good tidbits of information in this article. Typically, these articles are full of fluff but I can chew on some of this stuff.

FAN: Foreign Concept

I've worked in software since 1991 when I got out of school. While my high school graduating class was about as diverse as a loaf of Wonder white bread, I was introduced to many more ethnic groups in college. Still, small universities are nothing compared to working for a company right on Philadelphia's doorstep. I met more Russians on my first day of work than in my previous 22 years of life. To my knowledge my graduating class had one Asian kid (who was one of my best friends from K thru college as we lived in the same GDI), one Jewish kid that I was aware of and a handful of African American kids who I played baseball with. The rest of the 600 or so were....um.....as lily white as Still A While's tush. Why am I ranting? Who cares you say? I just had time to get to this but a few weeks ago a girl in my group called out. She is from India. She is pregnant. Her email stated that there was an eclipse scheduled and that it's bad luck for pregnant women in her culture to go outside on those days. It's worth noting that she didn't offer to work from home. That's easily explained away though. You probably can't open your laptop if you're hiding under the bed. Bad luck? BAD LUCK? We now miss days because we're supersticious? Stevie Fucking Wonder does not work in human resources here. Get your ass in here and work. SIGH. Just call out and say you're puking your guts out. Save yourself the snarkiness of people like me. I so need to hit the Powerball one of these days.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

DOG: Mind Control

Terrell Suggs arrives in Westminster

Look at this knucklehead. He arrives at training camp acknowledging to the world that the Steelers are in his head. The psyche-out has already begun and this guy hasn't even arrived at his room. Is it any wonder despite being damn near our equal in talent the Shitbirds lost 3 straight to us last year. And thankfully with this type of posturing it appears more beatdowns are on the menu for this season.

Casey Hampton arrives in Latrobe

Now compare what Fat Casey, a notorious out-of-shape camp arrival, looks like. First of all, he looks in shape. And secondly he's got a no-nonsense Steelers Football shirt on. He's concentrating on the Steelers. Thirdly it appears he is pointing to what the Shitbirds -and every other team- could suck as far as he is concerned. I guess Suggs don't have nothing else to worry about BUT the Steelers... or else there's nothing else in his head.

FAN: Tomlin Dead Serious

Slantedamus strikes again. This is exactly what I had in mind when I wrote about this coming season. No, I didn't get the job. The bastard never even got back to me. Tool.

DOG: What's Cooking?

There for a while we talked about cooking out, BBQing, grilling, smoking, and just about every other way of cooking on your patio or deck. But I must confess, I have been remiss in keeping anyone who cares up to date on what I've been preparing for my friends and family.

My first apology goes out because I didn't write a post on the Seafood Extravaganza I hosted back in May for my family visiting from Texas and my friends who also had some family visiting from Texas. We prepared food for 7 adults and two kids aged 9 and 2. The main course(s) consisted of:

Two smoked beer-can chickens -A better use for Budweiser than drinking it for sure!

4 pounds of grilled Scallops

2 pounds of shrimp, 1 pound grilled, 1 pound steamed with Old Bay (and more Budweiser).

2 pounds of steamed mussels.

I was so damn busy preparing that much seafood I clean forgot to take pictures to post.


So a couple weekends ago my friends Shawn & Elena came over. And the same thing happened. Mrs. Dog got the hell out of the way and I prepared everything. No time for pictures.

We had tomatoes with mozzarella, basil, olive oil & pepper as one appetizer.
We had Azitao cheese from Portugal and Fromager d'Affinois from France with bread and blackberries as a starter too.
The salad was a wild concoction I've served before which is watermelon with vidalia onion in red wine vinegar and fresh mint.
The main course was a surf & turf of sorts with a 1.25 pound porterhouse for everyone and another 2 pounds of grilled scallops.
For dessert we had chocolate cake and a 10 year Tawney Port from Calem in Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal.

So I screwed up and didn't tell anybody about that one.

Last night (again no pics) I decided to have a "Corngasm" by grilling some tasty local ears I bought on the way home from work. To compliment this I decided to try a variation on a recipe for gourmet hamburgers I saw on Barefoot Contessa. The main thing here is that she says to use a "good" Dijon mustard. You mix the mustard in with the ground beef, salt and pepper and add whatever other ingredients. My additional ingredients were finely chopped white onion and jalapeno peppers. So anyway, I reached into my pantry and discovered the key ingredient that made last night's burgers the best I have ever made. Billy Bee Honey Mustard!!

Man, I'm telling you that stuff is GREAT! My burgers were juicy and tasty and perfect. I suggest you run out and get some Billy Bee mustard pronto. Because I have the feeling (and I'm going to find out tonight) it's going to be just as good on the Hot Italian Sausages I'm grilling tonight.

And the Billy Bee blueberry honey is great also. Try some on your English Muffins for breakfast. Presumably it's the honey in the honey mustard that makes it so good. Either way, Billy Bee has the Stilladog seal of approval for use in your kitchen or on your grill.