Things I've Been Meaning to Write About

Sometimes while I'm out and about something I do causes me to say "I think I'm going to blog about this tomorrow." However, most of the time I end up forgetting I said that and blog about something else instead. Last week this happened to me a few times, so I decided today I would blog about some of the stuff I've done that I meant to post, but never did.
Last week I attended my first Pittsburgh Penguins game at the Consol Energy Center. Now I have been there before as I wrote about in my Winter Classic post. I attended the Robert Morris University and Wilkes-Barre Scranton double header that took place during the week of the Winter Classic. That was fun, but this was a totally different experience. This is what the arena was truly built for. We sat higher up than we did for the other event, but these seats were still great (our view pictured left). We were behind the goal the pens shot against twice, and also at the end where 2 fights happened.

The game was against the L.A. Kings, and the Pens were not expected to win. Four players were called up from the Baby Pens team for this game to replace some injured Penguins players. Many jokes were made about the Baby Pens playing against the Kings that night, but the call-ups played fantastic. In fact, the first goal of the game was scored and assisted by all call-up players.
At the end of regulation the score was tied 1-1, so this game was headed to overtime. With less than 20 seconds left Jordan Staal scored, winning the game for the Penguins! It was an amazing game, and even though many star players were missing I still thoroughly enjoyed my first Penguins' game at the Consol.

This past Saturday I attended OUTrageous Bingo. "This ain't your grandmother's bingo" is the perfect tag line for this event, because it sums it up perfectly. The game raises money for the Gay & Lesbian Community Center and takes place at Rodef Shalom Temple in the Oakland/Shadyside area. Your ticket price ($15 at the door, or $12 if purchased in advance) gets you 12 games of bingo. There are also "Specials" that can be purchased for an extra price. The "Specials" are all given names which lead the imagination into some dirty thoughts like "Foreplay" (which is the 3 quick games before the main games begin), "Cover Your Ass" (in which you have to cover your entire bingo card to win), "Top or Bottom" (in which you have to have a horizontal line across the top of your card or the bottom) and other bingo related double entendres. Halfway through the night intermission takes place. This isn't a boring get up and go pee kind of intermission. This intermission is a Drag Queen Show. The Queens come out into the hall and lip sync and dance to some fun music. Dressed in some amazing outfits (which we recently learned they all create themselves), these queens get the room PUMPED! They dance around the entire room collecting money for the GLCC, and sure do entertain the crowd as they do it. Many times you will see them stop for a photo or maybe give a guest a surprise little shimmy. After the show ends they get back to bingo and the fun and excitement carries on through the games. After all the games are played Door Prizes are handed out by calling out ticket numbers. I have never won a game of bingo, or a door prize, but I still really do enjoy going to OUTrageous Bingo! The next event is March 5 and I plan on attending, and maybe this will be the day I finally win!

Goalie Fight!

During last night's Pens game something very rare in hockey happened. It was the very rare Goalie Fight! Normally the only time you see a goalie fight is during a bench clearing brawl, and even then a lot of times the goalies sit it out. Goalies don't typically fight, if they get into trouble there is typically someone else on the team who steps up and defends him. This isn't because the goalie is a wuss or can't handle himself, it is more because the team doesn't want to risk an injury to their goalie. The following is a video from last night's game.

There are multiple things I love about this clip:
1. I love the fact that it is a goalie fight
2. The ref sees Johnson coming and thinks "I have to stop this mad man coming down the ice"
3. Johnson sidesteps the ref like he is nothing at all
4. One punch and Dipietro is down
5. Fleury is so happy for his fellow goaltender
6. Fleury can't decide if he wants to keep congratulating Johnson or watch the replay
7. Johnson can back up wearing a Christmas dickie and suspenders (pictured below)
Last time these two teams met Cooke got mixed up with Dipietro on a few occasions. He got called for three penalties after three different plays ending with Dipietro down on the ice (video below). This seemed to be Dipietro trying to send a message to Cooke. Well all I can say is it backfired. Johnson pretty much showed Dipietro and his entire team that you don't send a message to the Pens because they will always get the last word!

Restaurants I Like and Dislike

For the past two Wednesdays and a few random ones scattered before that, I have gone down (or should I say dahn) to Tad's on East Carson. I first went to Tad's because Tad, the namesake of the bar and owner/operator, is a good friend of my brother Boo. The main reason I keep going back is because on Wednesdays the wings are only 25 cents. These wings are not only cheap, but extremely delicious as well. I can honestly say these are my favorite wings in Pittsburgh. Recently, Steve, the best man at my brother Boo's wedding, took over the kitchen. He did a major expansion and overhaul on the menu. Formerly the menu had about 3 items, wings, fried cheese balls, and french fries (I honestly think that was all they had, maybe 1 or 2 other things). The menu now has a myriad of choices including burgers, chicken wraps, and a slew of appetizers. Also, the wing flavors now have normal names, before the new menu, wings had names like "Hot Lass" which did not describe what it tasted like at all. People were constantly asking "What does this mean? What about that one?" Now there is no confusion, Hot, Mild, and Medium are pretty self explanatory, as are the other flavors they serve.
As for the bar itself it is a very nice place to sit, eat, and enjoy a drink or two. Granted, I'm always there from like 7pm-10pm on a Wednesday night, so it isn't really a crowded time for a bar. I love going to watch the Pens' games. There are plenty of televisions around the bar so you can see one from any seat (this is a big plus for me, because so many places have seats where you have to twist and turn and strain to see a television with the game on). Jordie, the bartender, is super nice too. He keeps my drink full and is very nice and personable.

I highly recommend checking out Tad's on East Carson, especially on a Wednesday. Last night dinner for two (a dozen wings for me, eight for Erica, and splitting an order of fried cheese balls) and a few beers cost me $13, and we were full. You can't beat that! This easily falls into the "Restaurants I Like" category. If you stop down tell Tad Dave Kraemer sent you (maybe he'll give me a free beer or something). Even if Tad wasn't a friend I would still love this bar and their food, everyone who I have been there with has loved it too!

It's A Hockey Week In Pittsburgh

This past weekend the city of Pittsburgh was celebrating, not just for New Year's Eve, but also for The Winter Classic. The annual outdoor hockey game came to Pittsburgh this year, and from the minute it was announced I knew I HAD to be there. Well as the event drew closer more and more was being added to surround the Winter Classic and I had to attend as many of those as I could as well. They constructed a rink outside of Heinz Field using the boards from the Mellon Arena. I learned that some of my hockey-playing cousins would have games on this ice and I had wanted to see them all play. However, being the busy holiday season, and blasts of Winter weather I was only able to see my cousin Roman play on this rink (pictured right). The Wilkes-Barre Scranton Baby Pens came to town. They would be played against the Hershey Bears. The WBS Pens are the Pittsburgh Penguins' AHL team and the Hershey Bears are the Washington Capitals' AHL team. That game was held at the Consol Energy Center as a part of a double header; the first game being Robert Morris University vs. RIT (pictured above left).

The next game I attended was the Pens-Caps Alumni Game (pictured above). This star-studded affair quickly became the most wanted ticket in the city. Due to logistical restrictions, only 10,000 tickets were on sale for this event. I was lucky enough to be able to purchase tickets (one of the perks of being unemployed is being able to be on your computer ready for tickets to be on sale at 10am on a Friday).We bought my dad a ticket as part of his Christmas gift, and also my brother Brian and I bought ourselves tickets to go with him. This game was awesome, getting to see Mario Lemieux on the ice was just amazing. The game was just a friendly exhibition, no pads, most guys weren't wearing helmets, and it was very slow paced and full of fun. Hearing Dan Potash interview the guys during the game was fun, these guys are all class acts and really know how to entertain the crowd. Sadly the game ended in a tie, and even though the crowd chanted "SHOOT OUT! SHOOT OUT!" The game had to stay 5-5. This was a truly awesome event to witness, and I'm so glad I was lucky enough to be there.

Then it was finally time for the big game, the reason for all this hoopla, The Winter Classic. When the game was first announced Pittsburghers and other fans expected blizzard like conditions for the game. However leading up to the game the weather called for warmer temperatures and rain. Because of this forecast the game was moved from 1p.m. to 8p.m. making it the first Winter Classic to be played under the lights. In many ways I like this idea more. It would be cool to have a night game outside, the rain would be mostly gone from the forecast, and we could sleep in later before going down to tailgate. We went down to the North Shore area around 2:30 to get a spot in one of the few non-presold lots. After waiting in a bit of traffic for the lots to be opened we got a nice spot near the Clark building. We set up a nice little tailgate area (pictured above left) and spent the afternoon chatting, joking, and eating. Sadly, most of us were feeling under the weather so there wasn't much drinking going on, but a good time was still had. Game time rolled around and we joined the crowds heading into Heinz Field all the way up to our seats located in the bleachers at the closed end of the stadium.

These seats were high up, but offered a very nice view of the ice and jumbo-tron (pictured above). The tickets were purchased in Washington D.C. so we were in a section that was almost full of Capitals' fans. Most seated around us were nice, and there were a few Pens' fans around us too so the section was peaceful and fun. I did not know that Caps' fans rudely interrupted the National Anthem by shouting "RED" during the "rockets red glare" line of the Anthem. I jumped up because I was so startled and I was bothered by they're use of the song to cheer for their team. They shouted along at another part of the song too, but i don't remember, nor care to remember which line it was. I really was bothered by this act, and I know a few other people were too. The game was awesome, it rained off and on during, but it wasn't too bad. We were dressed in enough layers that even if our clothes were soaked on the outside our bodies stayed dry for the most part.

I completely loved my hockey week based around The Winter Classic. I wish it hadn't hurt my already ailing wallet as much as it did, but nonetheless I am very happy with attending the events I did. My empty wallet doesn't compare the memories gained from these games. It was so much fun and I would do it again in a heartbeat.