Penguins 4, Avalanche 1.

Tonight, from the mind of Bob Errey.

"You gotta have that fire in your pit!"

"The Avs, over by the bench, you can throw a blanket over them! (I still don't know what that means.)

"The Pens just want to keep their sticks down and keep their hands off of bodies!"

"Billy Guerin, you could see it in his voice!"

You can't make this stuff up

Hopefully, I'll be able to do this more often since Errey Blog is on indefinite hiatus. (and missed!)


Errey-Otica from tonight's Pens game:

"When you see a guy the size and thickness of a Donald Brashear coming at you, you just learn to avoid it!"

"Get it out of my crease! How many times has Sean Avery been on top of Marc-Andre Fleury?"

About Sergei Gonchar: "It looked like he was holding the stick there. I don't know what he was holding!"

Steigy: "Avery is like a Zamboni!"
Errey : "I feel sorry for him! Poor guy."

Obesiance has been made.

Last time Bob posted, it was to remind folks what happens when they besmirch the Terrible Towel.

At the time, Bob suggested "It would be a great gesture for the Titans to make a donation to Allegheny Valley School, perhaps accompanied by a visit to Myron Cope’s grave at Chartiers Cemetery in Carnegie."

Well, guess what happened?

Story here.


"LenDale and Keith wish you all the best. P.S., Please release the curse," a note included with the autographed towel said.

The Titans have won every game since. The autographed Towel sold on Ebay for $1475, benefitting Allegheny Valley School.

Do not mess with the Terrible Towel! Myron Cope's power reaches from beyond the grave to ensure your doom should you besmirch the noble symbol of his love for the Steelers and the school that helped his son and countless other children live a fulfilling life.

And I do notice that the Bengals lost today, to the lowly Raiders, after some fans of theirs unwisely posted video on YouTube of the immolation of the Terrible Towel. We shall see what the Cincy Bungles must do to release THAT curse!

Remember, The Titans?

To the Tennessee Titans publicity department:

I certainly do not envy your current task. To some degree, I can relate to it. I once worked in sports information for my college football team which went 0-10 my junior year. I know how frustrating a winless season can be.

All the pundits are having their say as to why the Titans are 0-6 and coming off a humiliating 59-0 loss to Tom Brady. Too many injuries, bad defense, Jeff Fisher is through, I’m sure you’ve heard them all.

Everybody up here in da ‘Burgh knows the real reason.

It’s because the Titans stomped on the Terrible Towel.

I’m serious. When several Titans trampled the Terrible Towel after their 31-14 win over the Steelers last year, they had no idea how much bad karma they unleashed. The Titans haven’t won a game since. Do you think that’s just a coincidence?

But your team and their fans are in luck. There is a chance to redeem yourselves, and probably save Jeff Fisher’s job, too.

The Terrible Towel is more than just a stadium accessory. Sales of the Towel benefit the Allegheny Valley School for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The Terrible Towel was created by the late Myron Cope, the longtime Steelers radio announcer whose son, David, is a resident at the school.

It would be a great gesture for the Titans to make a donation to Allegheny Valley School, perhaps accompanied by a visit to Myron Cope’s grave at Chartiers Cemetery in Carnegie.

Hey, desperate times call for desperate measures. The Titans can still go 10-6….

Regards,
Bob Fritz
Penn Hills, PA

Here we go, Steelers, sreleetS, og ew ereH

After two games, not only are the Steelers 1-1, but their stats are remarkably symmetrical.
The Black and Gold has scored 27 points--and given up 27 points. Their home record is 1-0--their road record, 0-1. Their conference record is 1-0--their non-conference record, 0-1.
Things will have to improve, though. Not many 8-8 teams make the playoffs.

A homer's NFL preview

Predicting an NFL season is not one of the easiest tasks in sports. With a salary structure that almost guarantees parity, there are always a few surprises. If you had the Arizona Cardinals going to the Super Bowl at this time last year, please e-mail me your predictions for this year, because I’ve got a hole in the bathroom wall that I’d really like to fix.

Nevertheless, I will make a few predictions;

*A receiver will make headlines by being a jerk.
*At least one NFL player will be arrested at some point in the season.
*Tom Brady’s name will be mentioned by the media more often than all Jacksonville Jaguars put together.
*My wife and I will go crazy once a week between now and, we hope, February.

* - Wild Card
AFC East
Miami 11-5
Pioneers of the Wildcat offense and a team headed in the right direction.
New England 8-8
Misses the playoffs again with no controversy this time.
NY Jets 7-9
Mark Sanchez could be one of the greats, but it will take a while.
Buffalo 4-12
Lots of drama from T.O. and not much else.

AFC North
Pittsburgh 14-2
New players fill in the remaining gaps—have they gotten even better?
Baltimore 8-8
Flacco figures to improve, but age catching up on defense?
Cincinnati 7-9
The most interesting floor show in the league. Enjoy.
Cleveland 5-11
QB controversy continues, Stallworth suspended, not much progress.

AFC West
San Diego 13-3
Truly dominant in a weak division. LT will have another awesome year.
Kansas City 8-8
Someone has to be second here.
Oakland 6-10
Fistfights between coaches are not a good omen.
Denver 4-12
These are the Broncos that Hank Scorpio gave to Homer Simpson.

AFC South
Houston 11-5
This is the year that they put it together.
*Tennessee 8-8
Winning one for the Gipper takes them to a wild card.
*Indianapolis 8-8
Age starting to catch up with this group, too.
Jacksonville 5-11
Home game blackouts? Bet they’ll be in L.A. by 2013.

NFC East
Philadelphia 10-6
The battle royal: Eagles fans vs. PETA in the parking lot before the game.
NY Giants 9-7
WR is the big question. Who doesn’t love to hear Chris Berman say, “GEEE-men!”?
Dallas 9-7
The billion dollar stadium! The scoreboard! The egos! Only in Dallas.
Washington 5-11
Has any other sports franchise spent so much to get so little?

NFC North
Minnesota 11-5
Favre gets the headlines, but the real star is Adrian Peterson.
*Green Bay 10-6
Meanwhile, Aaron Rodgers comes into his own and Pack fans forget Brent.
Chicago 8-8
Not sure getting Cutler was a great bargain.
Detroit 5-11
Matthew Stafford is Bill Clinton’s love child.

NFC West
Arizona 11-5
No fluke. Solid at nearly every position.
*San Francisco 10-6
Singletary has this team ready to surprise. Anything to keep him from dropping trou.
Seattle 7-9
Which Seahawks will we see this year? One of the league’s question marks.
St. Louis 4-10
This is the year they start going up.

NFC South
Atlanta 10-6
Now that Matt Ryan knows not to give away his counts, look out.
New Orleans 9-7
Highest-octane offense around. Who says Arena Football is dead?
Carolina 7-9
Trouble in the front office, looked bad in preseason. This division’s Seahawks.
Tampa Bay 5-11
Rebuilding in first year with coach Raheem Morris. This division’s Rams.

AFC Wild Card:
Miami over Indianapolis
Houston over Tennessee

NFC Wild Card:
Atlanta over San Francisco
Green Bay over Philadelphia

AFC Second Round:
Pittsburgh over Houston
San Diego over Miami

NFC Second Round:
Green Bay over Minnesota
Atlanta over Arizona

AFC Championship
Pittsburgh over San Diego
Atlanta over Green Bay

Super Bowl XLIV:
Pittsburgh 27, Atlanta 13

Well, what did you expect me to say? GO STEELERS!

Not almost heaven

I had not seen the West Virginia Derby since 2003, when Soto held off Dynever in a thrilling stretch duel in pouring-down rain.

That was also the last time I’d seen horses go around a racetrack with my own eyes.

That’s right. I once made my living by watching nine or more races each day, but grown-up responsibilities have limited my racing enjoyment to simulcasting at OTBs—and even then, only twice a year (the Kentucky Derby and the Breeders’ Cup).

But when I found out that Mine That Bird was running in the West Virginia Derby, I had to go. I pulled all the racetrack memories out of the recesses of my brain and couldn’t recall ever seeing a Kentucky Derby winner who wasn’t on TV.

So Jamie and I made the trip to Chester, W.Va., to Mountaineer Park to see the West Virginia Derby. Mountaineer is allegedly a 30-minute drive from Pittsburgh, but construction and (I think) a major accident made the trip almost two hours. By the time we got there, the fourth race had just been run. Bear in mind that there was a time when I would have gone into a Rain Man-style fit of rage if I missed the first race of a given program. Nowadays, it’s more like, “Wow, that New Cumberland sure is a pretty town.”

We’d been to Mountaineer before (one of our first dates was there), but we were not prepared for what we saw. There were cars parked along the far turn, along the backstretch, and into the casino area. People were walking frantically from the casino lot to get to the track. A guard told me the parking lot was full, but he let me drop Jamie off at the front gate and turn around. I wound up parking by the three-eighths pole.

Inside, we found places to sit on a bench in the grandstand, which was a throwback to the days when the track was called Waterford Park, the home of the $1,500 claimers. The area where we sat was next to a section that was (albeit lamely) roped off due to construction. That area had the first few rows of benches missing, with several ladders lying on the floor. Mountaineer Park is apparently going into the home repair business as a sideline. People cut through the area all afternoon, and one man almost fell.

I headed for the concession stands, only to find a line stretching all the way across the grandstand (50 feet, maybe?). I found the vending machines, only to find they were out of Coke and Sprite, so I headed back to the Home Depot Annex with two Vaults and a bag of pretzels.

The heat started to be too much for Jamie, so she went inside to play the nickel slots (only to be chased out by cigarette smoke later). I waited in line for 10 to 15 minutes before each race to make my bets, but I hit a couple of exactas and began to feel as if I were a kid hanging out in the Beulah Park grandstand again.

Then it was time for the West Virginia Derby. Jamie and I went down to the rail—I should say near the rail, as we couldn’t get down to it. Jamie took some pictures of Mine That Bird with her cell phone (I had been told, apparently wrongly, that cameras were not allowed) and the crowd cheered as he walked by. With horse racing being eclipsed by other sports and forms of gambling, it’s reassuring to hear people applauding a champion.



He did not win. My guess is that Mike Smith got scared when Big Drama stole off a big early lead and made his move too soon. Mine That Bird is a deep closer and just can’t be rushed. Soul Warrior became another one of many longshot winners of this race.

I didn’t have Soul Warrior, but I still had some tickets and vouchers to cash in. The lines back at the grandstand windows were too long, so I looked for any other window—past hundreds of slot machines, up and down three flights of stairs (the elevator was broken), and finally wound up in the clubhouse dining room, where I found a window with no line.

Maybe Mountaineer wasn’t expecting Mine That Bird to enter the race and didn’t have time to prepare for a crowd of over 20,000. Maybe they just don’t care about the racing end of the facility anymore.

In any case, the track needs to get its act together the next time a Kentucky Derby winner pays a visit. With the West Virginia Derby purse now at $750,000, it will happen again.