With a largely irrelevant Lions-Saints game on the slate for Monday Night Football, let's take a look at an updated Super Bowl Power Rankings:
1. Steelers - hottest offense in the league; 30+ points in 6 straight games just scaring the AFC. Love 'em or hate 'em, I think it's my duty to tell you to prepare for a possible Pittsburgh super bowl run this autumn.
Just how improbable was yesterday's victory? Win probability graph:
2. Pats - cheaters sometimes prosper
3. NY Giants - fresh off a huge quality loss verse Cam Newton's Panthers; they remain the only team uniquely built to defeat the Deflatriots
4. Carolina Panthers - All they do is win win win no matter what! Cam Newton is a lock to win this year's MVP award; the league hates Tom Brady & the Pats and Big Ben's MVP vote will be split by Antonio Browns continued historic run. Shout out to Ted Ginn Jr. out here having a career year for an otherwise forgettable WR corps. Auburn War Eagles paid Cam $180,000 for his work as QB of the 2010 edition. Please keep your laptops safe
5. Denver Bronco's - lost a heartbreaker in the toughest place to play in the league; these guys played the AFC's hottest team down to the wire and at the same time never really had a chance of winning(see above graph). 0% chance of a super bowl if they can't avoid PIT.
Inexplicably, with wins by both PIT and NYJ yesterday, the Steelers leapfrogged the Jets in the AFC playoff picture and now seem like virtual locks to play CIN or DEN in round one (this doubles as a list of the last two teams the steelers have beaten FYI)
It was the moment that could have broken Donald Trump’s presidential ambitions: In June, he likened immigrants to rapists, prompting Univision to ditch his beauty pageants and NBC to cut ties with him.
..
Trump, of course, survived what at first seemed like a campaign-ending gaffe — and has gone on to survive many more. “Mexican gov doesn’t want me talking about terrible border situation & horrible trade deals,” he said in a defiant tweet. “Forcing Univision to get me to stop — no way!”
But rhetoric is one thing. Could Trump successful(sic) spin the loss of a business deal valued at up to $25 million into political and financial victory in a campaign that, at the time, seemed merely whimsical?
It appears so. With the disastrous Miss Universe 2015 that just unfolded in Las Vegas, Trump won without even being onstage. Even a beauty pageant, it seemed, just couldn’t run smoothly without him around.
...
“My friend, @AriEmanuel of @IMG, bought the Miss Universe pageants from me and they are on tonight on #Fox!” he wrote. “Tune in!”
Then came the perfect gaffe for Trump supporters to tweet and retweet ad infinitum. Co-host Steve Harvey — a usually unflappable comedian, talk-show host and author — anointed the wrong woman Miss Universe, crowning Miss Colombia instead of the judges’ intended, Miss Philippines.
“Still a great night,” Harvey said — though Miss Colombia might not have agreed as she was almost instantly dethroned. “Please don’t hold it against the ladies. Please don’t. We feel so badly. But it’s still a great night.”
“Where’s @realDonaldTrump when you need em?” one supporter noted. Another: “@realDonaldTrump must be overjoyed that as soon as he sells the pageant it goes off the rails. We need you Mr Trump!”
When it came to Harvey’s uncharacteristically amateurish goof, there was even room for a conspiracy theory.
“I think it was an orchestrated move,” one Twitter user wrote. “Major publicity for an event no one even knew was happening.”
Is @longfordbenny smarter than this relative unknown Washington Post writer?
The trainwreck Trump presidential campaign is great for business if you're a modern journalist; of course the Washington Post is going to bury the lede with loaded words like "Twitter conspiracy theory" when even this humble yinzer 6 beers deep from a riveting Steelers victory could see the tell-tale signs of a rigged reality show the minute stumbling Miss Australia inexplicably made the final 5 because of that sweet accent.
The smoking gun here is veteran game show host Steve Harvey's incredibly unnatural 'gaffe':
What the hell does 'don't blame the ladies' even mean? Exactly - Steve Harvey has been instructed to transparently get you, the viewer, to independently 'come to the conclusion' that Steve Harvey doesn't know how to read the winner of a beauty pageant from a card.
Timeline of Events
Faux Republican Presidential Candidate Donald Trump declares that the nation of Mexico is systematically choosing native rapists and drug dealers to export to the USA & is sneaking them across our border
NBC & Univision pull support for Trump's popular reality shows and his beauty pageant, Miss Universe
Trump 'sells' Miss Universe to his 'friend'
Trump nominally has no hand in choosing Steve Harvey (??) to host Miss Universe after years of relative unknowns running the show: (link)
Harvey announces Colombia as Miss Universe, stands around awkwardly, and then shortly after this poor woman is crowned, sashed and given a bouquet of flowers; Harvey begins an incredibly unnatural retraction and instead names Philippines the champion
Before last night's highly shareable gaffe, who was the most shareable Miss Universe host in the last 10 years? Mario Lopez?
When's the last time you heard everyone talking about Miss Universe? What is the first name you think of when you think of the Miss Universe pageant?
Local disc jockey favorites over at radio station 102.5 WDVE, Pittsburgh's radio Home of the Steelers, posit an interesting theory in the above video. Is it possible that local meteorologists have invested heavily in the milk & bread industries only to turn around and forecast nasty weather despite meteorological evidence to the contrary?
What do they have to gain?
Everybody knows there's no more fascinating topic than a shift in the weather; heck come Monday it's probably all anyone's gonna be talkin' about anymore around the water cooler. Local Conventional Wisdom says it is imperative that you stock up on bread and milk before a big storm. Therefore it follows that you would stand to gain a lot of money if you were somehow able to both A. report on the weather and B. profit from increased sales of milk and bread.
But could weather people really do that to the fine citizens of Pittsburgh?
I don't know if we specifically have Local Legend and surefire First Ballot 'Burgh HOFer Joe DeNardo to thank for this, but weathermen have an inherent trustworthiness to natives of Pittsburgh. Joe's tireless effort to guess the weather day in, day out for 45 years is a testament to the working class ethic of the blue collar town he served for so long. Surely the fine people of Joe's ilk who have taken up the mantle of reporting weather happenings in Pittsburgh wouldn't do that, would they?
Quick aside- lightning round book report on Joe DeNardo
Joe DeNardo is a classic Ohio-boy who made good; born November 27, 1930 in Martin's Ferry, Ohio, like any successful person from the heart shaped state he got out of there as quickly as possible. DeNardo went on to attend Wheeling Central Catholic HS in Wheeling, West Virginia (getting closer) before earning his undergraduate degree at Pittsburgh's revered Duquesne University. DeNardo was popular among his fellow Dukes, in addition to averaging a 4.0 GPA Joe was elected as president of the university's Alpha Phi Delta fraternity and starred on the Dukes basketball team. Earning the nickname "The Flash" for his incredible style of play, Joe's career on the hardwood is probably best remembered by a win verse his native Martin's Ferry. DeNardo hit a buzzer beating shot to defeat the Riders while being hard fouled and knocked unconscious while still in the air.
Joe graduated Duquesne in 1952 with degrees in mathematics and physics. He went on to earn his Master's Degree in meteorology from the esteemed University of Chicago. He is an avid model railroadist.
DeNardo started his career with the United States Air Force, reporting weather to military authorities. Joe served four years in the Air Force, achieving a rank of Commander of the Weather Detachment at the Greater Pittsburgh Air Force Base. He was honorably discharged in 1956.
Always a go-getter, DeNardo opened a weather service with his good friend David G. McFarland before being hired to advise on-air personalities at KDKA channel 2 Pittsburgh. It was not long before DeNardo rose through the ranks and became a Veronica Corningstone level star at the network.
Per wikipedia, in the late '50's KDKA became one of the first stations in the country with a "real meteorologist" as part of their programming, in large part due to DeNardo's fame & burgeoning status as a local celebrity. We should all aspire to his level of success. But after a new manager took over, DeNardo left the station, citing an unpleaasant work atmosphere. Don't count pricks as colleagues and you'll never work a day in your life..
In 1969, WTAE landed a bona fide elite free agent in DeNardo, who went on to work 36 more years at the station before retiring in 2005. That '60's KDKA station manager must have been a real piece of work. He brought friend and colleague Paul Long with him to anchor at the new station; and their oft sardonic banter continued when Long would introduce DeNardo for weather segments. At his peak, Joe was known for the slogan "Joe Said It Would," no doubt a take on the accuracy of his prognostications. In his retirement Joe has continued to support the local community through Project Bundle Up and other charities. During a 2014 cold wave, the dolts at the Pittsburgh Tribune Review disturbed the retired DeNardo, who promptly told them to cool it
Like any quality senior citizen, Joe confirms in the article that he can always tell when the weather is about to turn bad (it's because his phone starts ringing off the hook). Joe currently lives on the Moon township with his wife of 60 years. He is 85 years young.
Verdict - what should you expect at your kid's bus stop tomorrow morning?
Look, I think it's becoming clearer that capital-J Journalism isn't the model of respectability that it used to be. Heck, I see dozens of blatant fabrications on any given day at the front page of Deadspin. Yeah maybe if you were a weather person who went down to the stock exchange and bought shares of "bread" and "milk" you could get a short term windfall when the bread and milk prices go up, but ultimately aren't you just moving forward future sales? It's not like the good people of the City of Pittsburgh are going to start drinking more milk and eating more bread just because some winter weather made them bored. Besides, basically all of the weather personalities in Pittsburgh probably grew up idolizing Joe DeNardo, they're not going to intentionally fabricate false weather panic over some petty milk money. Despite assurances from my landlord to the contrary, my furnace is still broken
Not all heroes wear replica Mike Vick jerseys. The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust is now one step closer to reaching their goal of 10,000 members. My joke budget is getting out of hand in 2015..
"SAW II (2005) Crime/Horror/Thriller, Rated R for grisly violence and gore, terror, language and drug content, 93 minutes, Directed by Darren Lynn Bousman, Written by Bousman and Leigh Whannell (Starring Donnie Wahlberg, Shawnee Smith, Tobin Bell)
I gotta bash this one. I was so bored! I like a good horror movie -- not too gory, but it can have a hand cut off, something like that is OK. I wouldn't recommend buying it on DVD. It's the same plot as the first movie -- it's just a bad sequel. It was just too much like the first one. A guy kidnaps people and puts them in situations where they have to make life-or-death decisions. He puts them in traps and makes them try to figure out a way to save their lives. He might put a tattoo of a code on the back of a guy's neck and forces the guy to make a choice of cutting the tattoo off the back of his own neck within an hour, or die. Every turn the movie took, I didn't like it at all. I wouldn't recommend it. I feel sorry for people who actually spent money to go to this movie. I hate bashing people's movies. I liked the first movie, but this one did nothing for me."
Sequels are basically never good, pour one out for the 93 minutes of watching Saw II that Emil Brown will never get back. That said you got to love a guy, forced by an inept 2006 KC Royals FO to write movie reviews, looking out for the common man. Not only does Emil advise you to save your hard earned entertainment dollar; he goes out of his way to feel sorry for the people who already chose to see Saw II. "It was just too much like the first one" is the kind of to-the-point utilitarian critique of a movie that you just don't get from professional film critics. What a remarkable human being.
"As a florist for 66 years — starting as a part-timer at age 14 — Herman Heyl knows more people die on and around Christmas and New Year’s Day than at any other time of the year.
“Back then, I’d even have to work on Christmas because people would be laid out [for a funeral] even on Christmas Day,” said Mr. Heyl, owner of his own floral shops in the Pittsburgh area for 59 years. “Undertakers won’t do that now, but there are still more [funerals] after Christmas most years.”
The weeks before Christmas are among the busiest of the year for florists like Mr. Heyl.
But he has long known he would sell more funeral arrangements to friends or family of those who died on or after Christmas — a business reality as well as for many funeral homes, churches and synagogues and hospital emergency rooms that often are busier this time of year.
The fact that more people die on Christmas, as well as the day after Christmas, and New Year’s Day is a long-studied phenomenon. Exactly why it occurs is still not precisely known, though researchers continue to try to pinpoint the cause, examining everything from personal stress, to the levels of staffing in hospitals, to people’s delay in seeking medical treatment."
This is a pretty aggressive topic for a utility that basically only old people use (the newspaper) to be tackling; that said I don't think there's any mystery here. Joe Paterno's legacy is shrouded in controversy but his death is proof of concept for at least one thing: you can will yourself to stay alive for one last milestone, one last Christmas, one last vacated college football season. It's pretty depressing to think about but I think that's what the local journalist Sean D Hammill is trying to tell me here.
Bottom line is, ironically it turns out that the secret to immortality is to tell your body to keep going until the Cleveland Browns win the Super Bowl...
(DJ Khaled voice) Another one, from Pro Football Talk:
"In one of the oddest moments of an odd season, 3-10 Browns coach Mike Pettine decided to use last week’s win over the 4-9 49ers as a sign of valor, and evidence his team hadn’t given up.
So yeah, the 49ers noticed, and veteran offensive coordinator Geep Chryst pointed out that perhaps Pettine should temper his pride.
Pettine said that for two teams in “very similar situations” entering last week, he liked what he saw from his team.
“I thought you saw one team that wanted to be out there and wanted to compete and wanted to win a football game, and I don’t know if I sensed that same attitude from the other side,” Pettine said.
Chryst mentioned those comments before reporters could even ask him about them.
“Well, he’s shining his star, saying that, ‘Even though we lost seven in a row, look how we showed up. We’re a team that fights and does not quit,’ ” Chryst said, via Matt Maiocco of CSNBayArea.com. “I do know if they had 10’s across the board on all the things he cited, and we were at 1 across the board, then I don’t think they would’ve had a field goal blocked. I don’t think they would’ve had [an interception], which is critical to the game. I don’t think they would’ve had a fumble. I don’t think they would’ve allowed a punt to come back [36 yards].”
So sure, the 49ers have the league’s worst offense, but Chryst also pointed out that they’ve had 19 different players catch a pass, which is more of a sign of attrition than anything Blaine Gabbert may or may not be doing."
Is veteran offensive coordinator Geep Chryst being petty in this situation? USA Truck Driver exploiting crook owner of the Browns, Jimmy Haslam, is almost certainly going to clean house following another 4-12 finish from that team up north. Fair enough; I also feel the urge to clean my house once every ~2 years; that said can't Mike Pettine give himself a little pat on the back on his way out? I mean the man just lead the hapless BROWNS to a bigtime victory over Blaine Gabbert's hilariously 4-9 49ers, LOL, stop the blog, irony is too strong
Take me out PFT:
"What it most closely resembled was two hogs fighting over a turnip, the kind of game neither side (or fans) should spend this much time considering."
Ladies and Gentlemen, your San Francisco 4 and 9ers
"Tis the season to tweak Mike Pettine, apparently.
A day after the Browns coach said he wouldn’t put Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilsonin the top tierof NFL quarterbacks and then both played it off and suggested he knows he shouldn’t have answered that question, Broncos defensive coordinator Wade Phillips cracked a little joke about the situation.
“Ben Roethlisberger is a top-tier quarterback, before anyone asks me that,” is how Phillips opened his weekly press conference."
Mike Pettine may be the smartest man in Cleveland; some problems are too big for one man to solve and it's a pretty small pond up there. That said you got to love a pro's pro of the coaching scene knowing when his 10-3 team is walking into a buzzsaw & decide to kneel at the altar of Large Benjamin in lieu of acting childish. Mike Petty could learn a thing or two from this failed former head coach who accepted his lot in life coordinating NFL defenses..
My friend / protege is a promising young man & at the same time a total maroon. He's also a bit of a casanova, so you'd better believe he wasn't going to pass up the chance to spit fire game at a girls' night out the second they acknowledged our presence. How did it go? There's only one way for you to find out!
spare me your tired Lebowski jokes
Arsenal lanes was built well before 2015, and while it seems to be impossible to nail down exactly how old it is online; a 2007 New York Time's article once boasted it's "old-school bowling vibe meets night club atmostphere" and also thought Roberto Clemente wore no. 20 for a blue and pink Pirates team:
Lawrenceville is simply remarkable - who knew?
The article is really only worth a read in the sense that it is an article that was really written on the New York Times website (link: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/14/travel/14dayout.html?_r=0 ) but if we're rating virtual unknown Jeff Schlegel's account of the best neighborhood in town; I give this one a lukewarm 2/5 ZAGATs
The jury's still out on the liberal media behind NY Times, but let me tell you about a jury that's returned a unanimous decision: my friends and I had a wonderful time at the 'lanes last night. Your boy Davey D won the first game in typical blowout fashion.
When hit on, the girl told my friend no thanks, I'm married. Assuming that's a lie, is the girl in this story being nice or just lazy?
Yoi and double yoi! There are few things True Pittsburgers love more than when the Pittsburgh Steelers and other things they love intersect. Submitted for your enjoyment is a 30 year old advertisement chronicling what happens at the confluence of the stillers and America's finest amusement park. I won't spoil the ending for you but suffice it to say, it would be a good thing if you remembered to bring your terrible towel
Raging rapids is one of the highest risk/reward propositions in all of Kennywood park - typically a long line & your enjoyment is essentially a coin toss between the joy of being soaking wet verse the mild annoyance of having wet socks
AFC north power rankings: 1 PIT 2 CIN 3 BAL (always) 4 CLE
