the unlikely orange

well, that was underwhelming.   three.  stinking.  hits.   yikes.  oh well. tonight the wild wild card journey continues, with the pirates hosting the chicago cubs.  now, if i didn't have very high expectations of the yankees this year, i did have very high expectations of the pirates.  and they didn't disappoint.  the buccos are a really good team, and had the second best record in all of major league baseball.  unfortunately for them, they play in the same division as the st. louis cardinals, who were 2 games better than them over a 162-game schedule.  pretty close. still, the pirates had a great season, and ought to be among the best teams in baseball playing for a pennant and a world series championship.  but it will all swing on this one game.  arrieta vs. cole.  since it's in pittsburgh, i'm going to give the pirates the edge, but this thing could easily go either way, and one of the top 3 teams in baseball ...

in  my hiatus from doing much of anything resembling blogging the last couple of months, i have totally missed being able to gush about baseball, particularly the success of both of my favorite teams, the pirates and the yankees.  the yankees, in my opinion, have exceeded expectations, and are on pace to win a wild card spot, if they can finish strong.  the pirates, on the other hand, have been very, very good.  they have the second best record in the big leagues, and have for some time.  the only problem is that the team with the best record, the st. louis cardinals (cue excessive booing here) are in the same division.  so the pirates have been chasing for months.  in any other division they'd be division winners.  and they still have a chance to do that, but, if nothing else, they have already clinched a playoff berth.  even if they lose all of the rest of their games, they will be in buctober with a chance to play for the world series. ...

this: and this: welcome back to the postseason, buccos!  and welcome back to the burgh, deebo.

i believe in magic.  or, as the late great nick drake sang so hauntingly , "i was made to love magic." but not that sleight-of-hand variety, practiced by charlatans and shysters.  i mean, i enjoy a good trick as much as the next person, but i don't love magic tricks.  that's not magic.  those are illusions.  tricks and illusions are just that:  things that, by definition  are the opposite of real.  they distort and obstruct reality in order to make it seem like something else is real.  but nothing has really changed.  it is merely a trick. but i was made to love magic.  real magic.  where reality really does shift and change in ways that are sacramental in the purest sense of the word: mysterious. let me explain. yesterday it snowed.  again.  on the second-to-last day of march it snowed like the proverbial lion of march decided to eat the lamb and tear it to bits, with pieces of white wool flying around eve...

a couple of weeks ago i was lucky enough to find some great tickets at a good price to go to pittsburgh and see the steelers play the chicago bears.  going to pittsburgh at any time is like a pilgrimage of sorts for me, so getting to drive dawntawn and ride the "t" over to the northshore was an absolute holy experience.  before the game, there are all sorts of pregame "festivities," including a neat setup over at stage AE, a concert venue next to heinz field.  at stage AE they have tv's everywhere, showing other nfl games, the wdve crew is there doing their live pregame stuff, there are plenty of beverages flowing, and games and concessions, and so forth.  i wandered around to check out the whole scene, and one of the things i did was fill out a survey about what radio stations i listen to.  after a while i wandered over to the stadium, and had a blast, even though the steelers folded.  i felt lucky just to be there and take it all in.  still, the ...

back in april i started watching this incredible documentary by ken burns about baseball.  i can't imagine it being any more awesome.  but like the game of baseball itself, it was steady and slow, some might say long and boring.  but not me.  it was the opposite of boring.  it was like heaven.  i would HIGHLY (that's right, all caps...i'm yelling about this!) recommend this to any baseball fan.  some (like my wife) might wonder if it would ever end; i hoped it would never end.  sadly, it did.  last night.  that's right, i watched it over the course of 6 months.  carving out little half hour segments over the course of the baseball season to take in all 1,380 minutes of it (23 hours).  and it was a very bittersweet ending for me.  i want mr. burns to make another chapter (he calls them innings) about the 2013 buccos, ending the streak.  i want the buccos to keep writing this story, so he will be co...

in the fall of 1992 i was a high school junior, with a bad case of acne and a curly mullet.  you could find me living in central kentucky, having moved there from western pennsylvania.  i held true to my black and yellow roots, resisting the cincinatti affiliation of most of the natives.  at any given moment you could find me at my church, as i was very involved in my active youth group, or listening to rod stewart sing "have i told you lately" while i dreamed of whoever i was infatuated with at the moment, or, during the baseball playoffs, you could find me either watching or listening to the games, because the pirates were involved.  that fall they were facing the braves.  who were good, but annoying, what with their "tomahawk chop" and the constant shots of ted turner in the first row.  enough already.  i remember watching that game, admiring the way doug drabek, who also rocked a sweet mullet, was mastering the braves lineup, including former...

-the pirates just keep on winning.  even the yankees are making it interesting for that second wild card spot in the AL.  now if only the steelers could right the ship.... -came across this great little video today which illustrates a wonderful little quote by c.s. lewis who knew a thing or two about the vulnerability of love.  worth spending the 90 seconds to watch as a reminder to each of us about how we ought to be loving.... -looking forward to watching this movie this weekend:        -have a great weekend everyone!

do you know what that is?  it's an egg.  a black and gold egg.  like the one the steelers laid at home yesterday.  sure they scored a touchdown.  at the end when the titans were just protecting their big lead.  sure they had some key injuries and had to shuffle things around.  but that is not an excuse.  they looked awful.  they looked rusty and out of sync and frustrated and over matched and out coached and beaten soundly in every sense of the word.  i love the steelers, and i would gladly watch them play chess against other teams, but even i have to admit that it was hard to watch.  it was embarrassing and humiliating and more than a little sad.  i am confident that they will fix some of the mistakes, fill some of the gaps, and at least play more respectably than that, but i do not expect them to have a great year, or even a very good year, if yesterday is any indication.  the only silver lining, if y...

when we were out in pittsburgh for our family vacation, my dad bought us all tickets (12 of us!) to go to PNC park to see a pirates game.  i was so excited to see the bucs this year, and so were a bunch of other people, since the crowd of 33,646 was the second largest for a 12:30 game in the park's 13-year history.  the pirates were looking for their 70th win, and a series sweep against the miami marlins.  i was excited to see the bucs young pitcher gerrit cole (that's him in the collage below), but was worried about facing the best arm the marlins have in jose fernandez.    and i had good reason to be worried.  the marlins had put up a 4-spot by the fifth inning, and the pirates had been able to do almost nothing with fernandez.  in the bottom of the fifth, though, walker and alvarez hit rbi singles, to get a couple of the runs back and cut it to 4-2.    how about this guy's moustache? that knocked fernandez out of the g...

it's been a great few days, and i thought i would share it with you.  after church on sunday, we drove out to pittsburgh (quin's first long car ride - he did great) and met my mom and dad and sisters and their families at kennywood park.  i got to ride the racers, the thunderbolt, phantom's revenge, the bumper cars, raging rapids, the kangaroo, the brand new roller coaster (forgot the name) and my all time favorite: the jackrabbit.  the boys got to ride a bunch of things, too, which was fun, and we had great weather and very short lines, so a good time was had by all.  it brought back a ton of memories since i spent two summers working there, and not that much has changed in 14 years.  monday night we had a little family and friends get-together so some folks could meet quinton for the first time.  we had a great time, but earlier that day i had slipped out for a little jaunt up to latrobe to catch the steelers second-to-last public practice of...

yes, another baseball post.  but this one is really fun.  i'm not here to defend my favorite player or celebrate the accomplishments of the richest team in baseball.  no, today i simply want to put down my cracker jacks so that i can stand up and applaud the pittsburgh pirates, those most unlovable losers of recent memory.  i want to let my words shout out, "LET'S GO BUCS!" i grew up in western pa, listening to pirates broadcasts and praying for hits from rafael belliard, andy van slyke, r.j. reynolds, sid bream and tony pena, just to name a few.  i went to three rivers stadium and cheered for barry bonds before it was cool (and then uncool).  and the pirates were competitive then.  i have fond memories of their playoff runs in the early 90's, even though by then i had moved to kentucky and had to deal with nominal reds fans.  by 1992, i had already begun to foster a deep appreciation for the history of the new york yankees, as well as a great a...