It took a really, really long time to get our “one for the thumb,” and it may take us just as long to climb that stairway to seven. But it was great we got this far in a year when no one expected us to. (And, frankly, any SB New England isn’t in is pretty OK in my book!)

So, we’ll get ′em next time, guys! Thanks for a great season and for making Steeler Nation possible. And congrats to the Packers and their fans. Enjoy your championship year!

Defeat is not bitter unless you swallow it.
~ Joe Clark

Remember that Cold War era song by Sting that wonders “if the Russians love their children too”?

That came to mind Saturday as I was wondering if Green Bay fans have a place to gather that’s anything remotely as glorious as the Strip District 8 days before a Steelers Super Bowl appearance.

If they don their colors and brave the cold and snow to line up 10 or 15 deep, waiting to get in a half-dozen stores selling all things green and gold, singing along with any number of fight songs that blare from loudspeakers.

If on every corner they hear the Packers equivalent of things like, “Oh my God, it’s a Joe Greene!” accompanied by a squeal of delight over simply seeing a #75 jersey for sale.

If they stand in still more lines for their version of Pamela’s pancakes or dippy eggs at DeLuca’s or a Kolbassy & Cheese at Primanti’s and compliment one another on their NFC Championship attire.

If they can revel in the unique situation of being surrounded by hundreds of perfect strangers on a city street but feeling like they’re in the bosom of a big happy family that doesn’t bat an eye when they say Wiscahnsin in that nasally way.

Frankly, I never questioned if the Russians love their children. And I have to believe that Packers fan have their own “sacred” places to gather and revel beyond their Field on game day. They’re great fans. They have a great team. They’ll give us a run for our money on Sunday. They’re even close to wearing the right colors. With a little mud on those jerseys (which I’m sure our defense would be happy to supply, if the turf weren’t fake), they might even pass for black and gold.

I’m expecting a 50-50 mix of Packers fans and Steelers fans in the stands on Sunday. Of course, we’re the only ones that have the right to be waving towels, even though they’re copy-catting like all those other teams. (That’s flattering. Thanks!) Theirs don’t have Myron’s mojo though, so good luck with that.

Funny, I’d be rooting for the Packers in any other situation. Instead, I’ll just offer my congrats to the team and their fans for making it all the way to second place.

Photo by Jenny Kane

They say that when you’re the champs, everybody will try to beat you.
Well, I′m glad we′re champs, so bring ′em on, bring ′em all on.
If we die, we ain′t gonna die running. It′s gonna be a fight.”
~ Joe Greene

Seems that the famed arbiter of TV show popularity, Nielsen, recently turned its attention to the NFL. And I quote:

In a first-of-its-kind study performed this summer, Nielsen Co., the media-research firm, developed a system for ranking the popularity of NFL teams based on each team’s local and national TV rankings, how often they’re mentioned on the Internet and how many visitors they attract to their official websites. The report, dubbed the Nielsen Sports Media Exposure Index, is the company’s first attempt to classify pro-football teams in this manner.

So, who won?

Well, not the team responsible for this:

But rather, the team responsible for this:

Yes, the Dallas Cowboys “out-populared” the Steelers by a whopping 19 points: 100 to 81.

I have yet to see any mention of this by the local media — maybe tonight on the news. But it sure gave me cause for pause.

Especially when I saw that a related WSJ story, How The Cowboys Got to be the Star, includes this nugget:

The team is as popular as ever. BloggingTheBoys.com, a popular Cowboys fan website, gets about 1,500 visits every day from international fans in places as far flung as Hungary and the Cayman Islands, says David Halprin, who started the site in 2005 after being a fan for almost 40 years. He says when the team went through playoff embarrassments and heavy turnover during the past few seasons, website traffic actually increased. “They get rabid and try telling the team how to fix things,” Mr. Halprin says. “They start caring even more.”

I chuckled at this. My goodness! Hungary even! And then I went and found this: A list of Steeler fan bars around the world (preceded by a list of hundreds of such bars across the U.S. — 61 in Texas alone).

International
Beast Bar T-2 Camp Ramadi, Iraq
Belvedere Club 54 John Street Thorold, Ontario Canada
Big Bamboo Behind the Ritz-Portman Shanghai, China
Boix Noix Steelers Place Calle 3 #6 Valentin Gomez Farias Mexico DF
Buffalo Bronco Rua Joao da Cruz Vitoria, Espirito Santo, Brazil
Champs 3956 Saint-Laurent Street Montreal, Canada
Coco’s Outback Pub Thorbeckeplein 8/10, Rembrandtplein Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Desert Eagle Lounge Al Udeid Al Udeid AB, Qatar
Dickens Inn Rathbone Street Whangarei, New Zealand
Dos Locos Main Street Quepos, Costa Rica
El Torrito Old Town Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico
Fort Christian Brew Pub 55 A&B Kings Alley Walk Christiansted, St Croix U.S.V.I.
Garden Bar Nana Plaza Sukhumvit Soi 4 Bangkok, Thailand
Gringo Dave’s   Puerto Aventuras, Mexico
House of Hussh 101 Alderwood Trail Mississauga, Ontario Canada
Iroquois Seefeldstrasse 120 8008 Zurich Switzerland
J.R. Rockers Ramstein Enlisted Club Ramstein, Germany
Jay’s Sports Bar   Johnsonville, New Zealand
Joe Champ’s American Sports Bar Hohenzollenring 1-3 on Rudolfplatz Cologne, Germany
KBR MWR South Central Al Hillah, Iraq
Legends Sports Bar 3-16-33 Roppongi Mintao-ku, Tokyo, Japan
Logan’s Pub Rd #1 Urbanizacion Caribe Rio Piedras
Lupis Avenida Isla Verde San Juan, Puerto Rico
Mayor Cell Building 104 Camp Taji, Iraq
Mezquite Stop Ave. Garza Sada 2338A Monterrey, Neuvo Leon, Mexico
Mona’s 510 Ponce de Leon Ave San Juan, Puerto Rico
Mulligan’s Dundas Street Mississauga, Onatario Canada
Prime Time Sports Bar Lakeshore Rd Toronto, Canada
Public House In the center of Florence Forence, Italy
Shannon’s Pub Road No. 1 Guaynabo San Juan, Puerto Rico
Shark Club Bar & Grill 180 West Georgia Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Sid’s 114-A Jupiter St. Bel-Air II Makati City, Philippines
Skinny Legs 12 Emmaus Coral Bay, St. John, Virgin Island
Stormy Weather 46-50 D’Aguilar Street (Lan Kwai Fong) Hong Kong, China
Tequila Barrel Avenida 5 @ Calle 12 Playa del Carmen, Mexico
The Black Bull Queen Street Toronto, Canada
The Corner Bar & Grill Av. Jose Larco – Miraflores Lima, Peru
The Famous Three Kings Pub 171 North End Road London W149NL, England
The Goose and Duck Chaoyang Gongyuan Ximen – Chayong Park West Gate Beijing, China
The Great Canadian Near Notre Dame Paris, France
The Office Sports Bar & Grill 3313 Bloor St W Toronto, ON Canada
The Palomino 109-7 Ave SW Calgary, Alberta
The Pittsburgh Bar & Diner 333 Crumlin Rd Belfast County Antrim, Northern Ireland
The Pomegranate ShunYi Beijin, PR China
The Squealing Pig The Diamond Monaghan Town, Co. Monaghan, Ireland
Thermae Soi 15 Sukhumvit Bangko, Thailand
Top of the Rock Lajes AFB Azores, Portugal
Walkabout St Mary’s St Cardiff Wales (UK)

And this. (another list of HUNDREDS of Steelers bars nationwide)

I tried to Google “Dallas Cowboy Fan Bars”…I got nuttin’. I did find this: meetup groups in 12 (count ‘em 12) cities and 1 country (well, that would be 2 countries actually: the U.S. and Germany). A whopping 1151 members. (By the way, we have this in Germany.)

Again, I laughed.

And then I silently (and now publicly) thanked the Rooneys, on behalf of all the millions of females in Steeler Nation, for giving us the likes of this:

And this…

And this:

2010 Ladies Night Out

Posted Aug 29, 2010

The Pittsburgh Steelers are excited to host an evening of Steelers football and fun at Heinz Field for ladies only.

Registration is now open for the “2010 Ladies Night Out Event” at Heinz Field on Wednesday October 13 from 4-10 p.m.

The evening will include a Prime Rib dinner in the spectacular West Club Lounge with two current Steelers players on hand as special guests, providing insight into what life is like for them during the football season.

All attending will receive a tour of Heinz Field and be part of the audience in a live taping of the new PNC Steelers Huddle TV Show in the Coca-Cola Great Hall.  The show will be hosted by Steelers wide receiver Antwaan Randle El.

Participants will also receive a gift bag featuring a ladies cut long sleeve Steelers t-shirt,  2010 Steelers Yearbook and a 2010 Team Photo signed by the two current players appearing at the West Club Lounge.

Registration will be on a first received, first served basis and expects to sell out fast.  The cost of the event is $110.

Please click on the link and print out the 2010 Ladies Night Out Registration Form and return with a check or money order for $110 payable to the Pittsburgh Steelers and mail to the following address:

2010 Steelers Ladies Night Out

Pittsburgh Steelers

Heinz Field

100 Art Rooney Avenue

Pittsburgh, PA 15212

For more information, please call 412-697-7713.

The Steelers are grateful to have the number one female fan base in the NFL and we hope to see you on October 13.

2010 Ladies Night Out Registration Form

Without ever, ever, not once subjecting us to this:

(Although, just so you know dear Rooneys, I’m sure I speak for many of your fans [not just women] when I say I really, really, really wish you’d done this: )

Nice try Nielsen. But we know exactly who “America’s Team” is (and it ain’t wearin’ no stinkin’ blue and silver…or hot pants).

On second thought, make that “The Universe’s Team.”

Are you ready for some football?
~ Hank Williams Jr.

]]> http://writingbyear.com/2010/09/09/nielsen-schmielsen/feed/ 1 Writing by Ear dallas-cowboy-cheerleaders james-harrison-sack SteelersPrayer dallas-cowboy-cheerleaders Roethlisberger Pittsburgh Football http://writingbyear.com/2010/02/05/what-a-difference-a-year-makes/ http://writingbyear.com/2010/02/05/what-a-difference-a-year-makes/#comments Fri, 05 Feb 2010 23:02:18 +0000 WritingbyEar http://writingbyear.com/?p=3550 ]]> Is there a big football game or something this weekend?

I might have heard a brief mention of some such event on Channel 2, in between Armageddon snow reports. Maybe something on WYEP — no, it wouldn’t have been on YEP…must have been on one of the other radio stations, you know, the ones that aren’t cool enough to ignore sports?

Seriously. Last year at this time, we in the ‘Burgh had lived, breathed, ate, slept, washed off, and immediately rerolled-around-in all things Steelers and all things Super Bowl. By now we were all so hyped up we couldn’t really speak — just look at each other, high-five, and yell WHOOOOOO! THE weekend was finally here.

Last year at this time, Mike and I were strategizing about what time we should arrive at our local hangout on Sunday to be sure to get a good seat. I had downloaded and blasted Here We Go at least 3 times a day for the last week, mixed in with a few Muppety Pa-LA-ma-lu (that’s Polamalu)‘s and “We’re from the town with that great football team….” (bum-bum-bum-BUM)s. I had tried to buy black and gold Smiley cookies at Eat’n Park, only to find that all they had left to offer was some lame Valentine hearts. My friends and I had exchanged 7,429  e-mails offering everything from “notes” to give to your boss to excuse you from work on Monday to pictures of how fans had decorated their houses/cars/bodies in black and gold to poetic tributes to Myron Cope. And we’d shared 2,728 links to 2,728 videos along the lines of this one.

(And, I should say, I got goosebumps trolling through YouTube just now…)

What a difference a year makes.

This Sunday night, I don’t expect I’ll be jumping up and down screaming at the bar. I don’t expect I’ll be hoarse for 3 days after. I don’t expect much of anything. I’m just hoping for an exciting game (I don’t really care who wins), a good half-time show (I just had to Google to find out it will be The Who performing), and some funny commercials featuring talking babies and Clydesdales.

I hope the folks in Indianapolis and New Orleans will have a lot more fun than that.

But I guarantee, it won’t be NEARLY as much fun as Stiller fans have when it’s OUR team in the spotlight. Was that only a year ago? Seems like forever.

It may be that all games are silly. But then, so are humans.
~ Robert Lynd

Mike and I ended up at our local bar hangout for the game. First time we’ve done that and it was pretty fun, although I really missed hearing Tunch and Bill call the game. It’s so much more personal (and biased!).

Am I the only one that noticed that not once did the cameras pan the stands to show the fans, and not once did we see a sea of Terrible Towels waving (except briefly and out-of-focus in the background), nor did the network announcers talk about the ratio of Steelers fans to Cardinals fans? I had to listen to the post-game accounts to confirm that yes, there really were more Steelers fans there! I know the rest of the world gets sick of Steeler Nation and the tremendous support we give our team, and the NFL wants to downplay it to make it seem more “fair,” but to ignore it is just plain wrong. After all, nothing is stopping any other team’s fans from doing what we do.

But, back to the bar. Every table had some of these on it — after all, it was Sunday and Pittsburghers are God-loving/fearing people:

I was worried people would be standing in front of us — we were sitting at a table just across from the bar (and the taps), with a great view of one of the TVs. I should have known that ‘Burgh fans are way more considerate than that. There weren’t many standers at all, and everyone was careful not to block anyone’s view.

I was surprised fans weren’t more rowdy. We didn’t hear “Here We Go” once, although they did play Renegade at the end of halftime. Someone had a horn that sounded like a moose, and someone else had a New Year’s Eve noisemaker. Other than that, it was just your typical yelling and towel-waving. I’m sure I embarrassed myself during Harrison’s impossible-yet-there-it-was interception return — a middle-aged woman screaming and jumping up and down. (That was the beginning of the throat pain that persists today.) In fact, that was one of the reasons I was a little worried about going in the first place — I’m a vocal fan, and I didn’t know how that would play out in public. I’m still not sure, but oh well.

What can you say about the game that hasn’t already be said, or felt, by everyone who was there or who watched it? Mike gets all caught up in reading the blogs and media accounts afterward — he so wants it to be a “clean and clear” victory with no controversy. Unless it’s a blowout, that never happens. He hates reading that people think the NFL (via the officials) gave us the game, or that Harrison or Santonio didn’t really deserve those touchdowns, or that Harrison should have been thrown out of the game for his behavior, etc. Or people who call us the “Stealers.”

I’m much more pragmatic: How many bad calls went against the Steelers this season? How many plays has James Harrison NOT been held this whole season? Do you think he might get a little frustrated about it from time to time? And didn’t we have as many crucial penalties called against us that reversed touchdowns and cost us points? Am I biased? Of course! But yesterday, things worked out our way, even though at one point all I could think of was, “This is how New England felt last year.”

We’re all still in shock, I think. And how can we top that victory parade and celebration from last time? (That one has to go down in the annals of football fan history.) Not counting the ceremonial Pro Bowl next Sunday (with very few Steelers in it), we now have a loooonnnggg, football-less winter to get through. At least I can do it wearing a new Sixburgh shirt from time to time and with a new sticker adorning my car to admire. I may even have to buy some Steelers Smiley cookies before they disappear (assuming they’ll be around for a little while yet), because when I stopped at E&P yesterday, there were none to be had. (The kid at the counter actually said, “We have Valentine hearts [Smiley cookies].”…..Uh, thanks but no thanks. Where are the Keebler elves when you need them?)

So, a little black-and-gold shopping is in order to wrap up this heart-stopping, surprising, highly improbable season. And some throat lozenges would be nice about now.

Those last couple of yards were probably tougher than
anything I’ve done in my life, but probably more
gratifying than anything I’ve done in football.
                         ~ James Harrison, talking
                               about you-know-what play

It all started back in the ’70s. I was a diehard Bucco’s fan, complete with pictures of my favorite players on my bedroom wall. (José Pagan was up there — I think because his picture was really cute.) I remember the ’71 World Series, although, ahem, I was a mere child. Also the shock and sadness when Roberto Clemente died. And being outside on a summer night, hearing the voice of Bob Prince on the radio, wafting through the air from all the open windows — Chicken on the Hill with Will.

But suddenly, all that changed. The Steelers started winning. And winning. And winning. Down came the Pirates pinups and up went the Steelers — Lynn Swann was (and forever will be) ”my” Steeler. Conveniently, my close friend Colleen loved Terry Bradshaw. Our walls were covered with photos cut from the newspaper and magazines. Somewhere, I have the “official” team photos from those years, along with the commemorative Iron City beer cans.

A highlight was at age 16, when Colleen, Sharon, and I went downtown to Kaufmann’s (Sharon drove, at night!) to get Lynn Swann’s autograph at a book signing. Colleen snapped this picture, among others, and that’s the autograph — and memory – I’ll always treasure. (And, he would have made a great governor, too!) You’ll notice Franco’s signature under Lynn’s…we stood in line at the Hill’s store (remember them? Like K-Mart.) in the North Hills to get that. He was handing out those pictures, and I asked him to sign my book, too. When he saw that Swann had signed with his number, he added #32 to his signature as well…

I used to while away the hours in class listing all the players by number in the margins of my notebook. So forgive me if I still think of Mike Wagner as #23 instead of Tyrone Carter, or 89 as Benny Cunningham instead of Matt Spaeth, or 78 Dwight White instead of Max Starks, or 68 L.C. Greenwood instead of Chris Kemoeatu. (Looking up roster numbers just now [for the new folks, ha ha] made me realize they aren’t even using a lot of the Steel Curtain numbers, like 58, 59, 75, or my beloved 88 and 82 and of course, 12. I hope that’s intentional!)

Over the years, I also collected my share of Steelers kitsch. My favorite — the classic tossle cap I crocheted in high school, complete with glued-on, hand-drawn paper emblem — who said I wasn’t crafty? I can’t take credit (thank god) for the frilly, pom-pom creation — it’s a pin! And the little “Think Superbowl” fuzzy guy still has the faintest writing on the back: “Chris, Happy 16th Birthday! Luv ya, Colleen.” (“luv ya” — isn’t that so 16? I love it!)

So, by virtue of all these things, I became a naturalized citizen of Steelers Nation. I can’t say I was born to it — my parents couldn’t have cared less about sports. But I, with the help of 3 brothers, became a Steelerite just the same.

People wonder why we’re so obnoxious devoted. That’s easy. My story is not unique. All over Western Pennsylvania, and now the world, grown-ups who were once little girls and boys have their own memories of their own inductions into the Steeler Nation. Many of them were lucky to be born citizens, a legacy from mum, dad, grandma, and grandpap. Many, many more are like me, naturalized…some never having set foot on the “hallowed ground” of Western PA.

I said once I think Steelermania is in the water. I’ll stand by that. But even more, it’s in our blood. (Which is mostly water…so it all fits.)

But now, I better go. I need to turn up the national anthem for a minute before getting back to work. Here’s to a six-pack kind of weekend. This one’s for you, Myron!

‘Twas the Night Before the Super Bowl

     ‘Twas the night before the Super Bowl, when along the gulf shore,
              Steelers fans were praying for “just one more;”

               The players were nestled all snug in the sack,
                  With visions of the first NFL Six-Pack;

              Coach Tomlin was young, but wise for his years,
                So I drifted off to sleep without any fears;

           When at the stadium there arose some strange chatter,
                 The Cardinals feared, what was the matter;

               We heard “Okel Dokel”, we heard “Double Yoi,”
            We jumped from our beds, our hearts jumped for joy;

               He stood at the fifty with a grin ear to ear,
                 Steelers fans everywhere started to cheer;

                    Then in an instant to our surprise,
                 This little old man had tears in his eyes;

               He went to the booth and there took his chair,
                  While Terrible Towels waved in the air;

               Then over the airwaves came his shrill voice,
                   The Steelers Nation began to rejoice;

              He said, “I am back, but you know I can’t stay,
                    I just had to see my Steelers play;

                From my home up above, I have a great view,
                  But I wanted to celebrate here with you;

              So bring on the Birds, we’ll send them a flyin’,
             On the way back to Phoenix , they will be cryin’;

                Ben, Hines, Troy, Jeff and all of the rest,
               No matter the outcome, to me you’re the best;”

                The airwaves went silent, the stadium still,
                 Was this just a dream, it seemed so real;

            In our team we have faith, in our team we have hope,
              But the game’s not the same without Myron Cope.

                                              ~ Written by A.K. Young, 01-23-09

In between stressing about work, I’m savoring being a citizen of Steeler Nation this week and getting psyched watching things like these amazing kids (age 11 to 13!) or this bit of inspiration from the AFC Championship game. I wonder what the stadium will look like on Sunday — a repeat of Detroit with its sea of black and gold would be fantastic. (Am I the only one bummed the Steelers will be wearing their white jerseys?) I’m torn between watching (and listening to Bill and Tunch) from the comfort of my living room and trying to go to our local hangout bar down the street, as Mike suggested. Hmmm, if we stay home, I have to make the food (although Emeril’s jalapeño poppers I made for last week’s game were awesome!); if we go out…great bar food and endless beer. But, can I last for the 4 hours or so we’d have to hang out before the game starts to get a seat? Such decisions…

I hope you’re pondering equally weighty matters as the “wintry mix” continues to fall. Time to drag myself (kicking and screaming) to the dungeon cellar for my date with the devil NordicTrack, which just turned 15 this month. Imagine if I had actually been using it steady all these years…

Oh, and you know you’re in Steelers heaven when everybody’s favorite local eatery does this for the Super Bowl and has to post disclaimers like this!

What an enormous magnifier is tradition!
How a thing grows in the human memory and in
the human imagination, when love, worship, and all
that lies in the human heart is there to encourage it.
                                         ~ Thomas Carlyle

Here’s wishing a speedy recovery for Willis McGahee. And kudos to the Ravens for playing a hell of a game — we were worried. Thank you, Troy!

———————————–

Lounging in bed this morning watching the news on Channel 4, I saw a piece by Bill Hillgrove about the Terrible Towel. The gist, as you might expect, “He who desecrates the towel, beware.”

What struck me most was Bill’s comment that the NFL was looking into introducing towels (or facsimiles) of their own. Then I found this P-G article that describes the effort.

What the hell? Ripping off Myron Cope’s brainchild and making money on a team icon whose sale funds a charity in honor of Myron’s disabled son? What an insult.

They couldn’t do a pennant, or a flag, or a foam whatever? Had to be a towel?

Or wait, maybe it’s appropriate that all those other NFL teams wave the white towel (in surrender) when the Steelers come to town.

Or maybe that’s what Steeler fans should wave in disgust when the refs make lousy calls against us or fail to notice when James Harrison gets held on nearly every play.

Or maybe it’s that imitation really is the sincerest form of flattery.

Nah. It’s just the NFL trying to make a buck off a Pittsburgh original. Good luck with that.

Right now, though, it matters not. Pittsburgh’s goin’ to the Super Bowl!
HERE WE GO, STEELERS, HERE WE GO!

Arriving at one goal is the starting point to another. 
                                                                  ~ John Dewey

Yesterday, during those precious 3 hours, all Comcast services went out in the Greensburg area (for us, no TV and Internet), along with TV-only outages in some other Westmoreland County areas, from a few minutes left in the 3rd quarter to a few minutes left in the 4th quarter. So, we basically lost a WHOLE QUARTER. 30+ minutes. Of a playoff game. While the Steelers were kicking butt.

I couldn’t even get through to Comcast to scream at them — busy for 10-15 minutes. (Good thing we don’t have Comcast phone, or I couldn’t have even done that.) When I did get through, I heard a hastily recorded message about network problems and an apology for “any inconvenience.”

Yeah, inconvenient. That does it justice.

In the 3+ years we’ve lived here, we’ve never had an outage of this sort. Nope. It had to happen during A PLAYOFF GAME.

Of course, we already had the radio on listening to Tunch and Bill. Thank God for that (I love you guys).

For a brief few seconds, I thought, “I wonder if it’s worth it to pay for cable and satellite, so if one goes out during a playoff game, you won’t miss anything?”

Yep, the thought crossed my mind. (“I bet that’s what rich people do.”)

It’s scary to love a team that much.

Radio football is football reduced to its lowest common
denominator. Shorn of the game’s aesthetic pleasures,
or the comfort of a crowd that feels the same way as you,
or the sense of security that you get when you
see that your defenders and goalkeeper are more or less
where they should be, all that is left is naked fear. 
                            ~ Nick Hornby, Fever Pitch, 1992

THE FIX
I’m very thankful you can still buy pseudoephedrine products behind the counter — even though it’s like lining up at the meth clinic to get your fix. Endless lines while everyone has to give name, address, phone number, consent, signature — just use the retinal scan already. We’ve learned to try to stock up on everything cold-relief-related when we’re well…the drugs, the special box of lotion tissue (I love this), chicken soup of all kinds — this time, though, no ginger ale. Damn. I’ll have to buy a six-pack and hide it from the pop-monster. (Because, it’s only November and you know there will be a next time.)

THE GAME
When did Cris Collinsworth become such a Steelers fan? Usually I can’t bear to listen to the national announcers, but I was too tired from my cold-and-drug-induced stupor to delap the cat, get off the couch, and walk 10 feet to turn on the radio. He was so complimentary it was kind of embarrassing — I’m sure the 20,000 or so Americans watching who aren’t Steelers fans were pretty tired of it. I surmised he is so disgusted with his old team he had to let them have it extra hard — a theory later confirmed by his comments at the end of the game of what HE’D do if he owned the team (first, rebuild it from the ground up with big guys). Well, now that they have 8 wins, Mike’s prediction of an 8-8 season can now come true…ha ha. Really, it was awfully nice to see the Steelers listed behind only the Titans on the leader board (but I’m not looking forward to that game in a few weeks. At least it’s not New England who’s undefeated again.)

THE BIZ
Knock on wood, I’ve been busy with work again. After a very slow late summer and early fall, things are booming. Feast or famine, like always. I have noticed with my primary client. though, a stronger emphasis on budgets and hours allotted. How the heck do I know if I can write a 1500-word “point of view” on a topic I’ve never seen before (I scribbled down something about actuarial processes and IFRS) in 4-6 hours? How ’bout I let you know when I’m done? Yeah, it’s a tough economy, but I don’t want to be the “cheap fast one” (in love or in business).

THE DUTY
Even so, I better make that callback for the call I dodged at 5:06 yesterday to find out more. Duty, like death, taxes, and bills, waits for no bug or no lazy writer. But if it could just wait ’til Monday when I feel better, that would be great.

A professional is someone who can do
his best work when he doesn’t feel like it.
                               ~ Alistair Cooke