Social Media & The Super Bowl

Every year, there is a media circus surrounding the Super Bowl along with inane bets by mayors and Governors of the involved teams. There is also always a viable economic benefit for restaurants, hotels, and stores in the host town as well as the home teams cities.

This year, however, social media has extended the reach of Super Bowl fever.

Ways for the lay-person to get involved!

1) Help out local Boys & Girls Clubs and get a sneak peek of the Coke ad airing during the Super Bowl. If 10,000 people cheer on Pittsburgh through Coke's site, then the soda magnate will donate $25,000 in addition to $1 per each "cheer".

2) If you donate to Penn Future, you are joining the EnviroBowl 2011 helping to improve Pittsburgh's air quality. That's a little more important than the Bud Bowl of past years.

3) If the Pittsburgh Steelers win the Super Bowl, head on over to the Carnegie Museum of Art to see Boating on the Yerres by Gustave Caillebotte which will be temporarily loaned by the Milwaukee Museum of Art.

4) And before the Super Bowl on Sunday night, why not stop by WYEP's annual Alternative Souper Bowl to enjoy some local music and help out a local homeless shelter by donating non-perishable goods?

If we as a city are going to spend so much time and effort cheering on a football team, we might as well do some good while we're at it and show off our philanthropic side.

The Steelers Are Coming

A new CMU Miller Gallery exhibit, "Whatever it takes", hopes to gain new insight on the Steelers phenomenon highlighting outlandish fans near and far. The exhibit opens this weekend. If you've always been looking for a good excuse to check out this gallery, now is the time. Also, if you have a Steelers tattoo or a special game-day ritual, they want you to become part of the exhibit.

Like most fans, I wear my jersey on game day, and I strive to watch every game, from walking through a snow storm to watch the game at a Steelers bar in Massachusetts to catching snippits of a game in a bar in Argentina with "buffalo wings" that resembled chicken cacciatore. This Sunday, I'll be heading down to the South Side stopping in wherever there's a good crowd, but I can still get a seat. And this Friday, I'm hoping to check out the Immaculate Reception, the CMU gallery's cleverly titled opening reception.

If you've managed to miss it, check out "Yinz Luv da Stillers" below whose work will be featured at the Miller Gallery.

Falling in Love

When I first moved to Pittsburgh, I loved all its shiny amenities. I loved the view of its skyline from Mt Washington. I loved the old steel mills re-purposed as shopping malls and night club destinations. I loved the churches re-purposed as restaurants and music venues. Within weeks, I was a rabid Steelers fan.

18 Months later, I knew more about Pittsburgh. It was winter and even though Pittsburgh gets very little snow, the snow it gets completely debilitates the the poorly maintained, ridiculously planned roads. I was beginning to see the chinks in Pittsburgh's armor. But I had also discovered Penn Avenue's Unblurred, dozens of quaint neighborhoods, shopping in the Strip District, and I was in better shape than ever from the built-in stair-masters surrounding my street. I started watching hockey and was crushed when the Penguins were trampled by the Redwings.

Fast-forward another 18 months to today. This year, I've cheered on the Steelers to the Super Bowl and the Penguins to the Stanley Cup. I've also watched rain pour into my 100-year-old fixer-upper, entered dozens of battles of the will with the city's 311 line (often winning), saw the true awful state of the city's pension, and have made some good friends. I'm only finally starting to live in the city. And I'm finally starting to cheer for the Pirates. I've learned their history as a mega-team, and I've accepted that they're bad now. My 13-year-old brother-in-law who lives in Alaska (and is visiting for 3 weeks) has taught me the wonder of buying cheap tickets and sitting in the stands, enjoying a summer day. Every time they win, it's a small victory, just like when I call 311 to fix a street light, and it actually gets fixed. Do I wish that Pittsburgh was more like the Red Sox with loads of money and talent? Of course, I do. But have I grown to love poor old Pittsburgh with its incredible history and transient population? Yup, I have.

Last night, only 11,741 people showed up to cheer the Pirates on to their latest small victory. Tickets start at less than $9. Buy a ticket. And remind yourself why you love this city. Anyone can be a bandwagon fan and root for the Steelers, it takes someone who loves the city to root for the Pirates - or a 13 year-old kid.

To the Underdog

As if anyone didn't know, tonight, the Penguins face Detroit for the Stanley Cup. As was shown in the Super Bowl, being a more successful city (in terms of population, jobs, etc.) doesn't translate to higher odds of winning sports championships. (Of course, baseball is its own beast.) When Pittsburgh was facing Phoenix for the Super Bowl, there were a lot of city comparisons and inevitably Pittsburgh came out on the bottom. Now, the tables are turned, and Pittsburgh is the top dog with Detroit's economy making Pittsburgh look like the best city in the world. It's all relative. And you have to wonder how much officials are worried about the cost of victory parades.

I will be rooting for the Pens tonight. As a transplant, I took longer to come around to rooting for the Pens than the Steelers, but here I am with a plastic penguin sitting on my front porch. However, I'm not rooting against Detroit. They've had too much shit hit the fan, and they have a great hockey team. (Plus, my brother is a die-hard Red Wings fan.) And if there are any Red Wings fans around tonight, try not to give them too hard a time.

All that said: GO PENS!

Hello World

I'd be remiss in not shouting from the rooftops that:

Pittsburgh is hosting the G-20 Summit!

The city appears to have been picked because Obama likes the Steelers of our great economic recovery since the Steel collapse. One of the highlights is that the meeting is taking place in the largest green convention center in the country. Let's have some true green initiatives in place by the time the summiteers reach here. How about a green triangle? Or strict LEED-certified building codes? Or LED streetlights rolling out throughout the city? The world will be looking at Pittsburgh. Let's get serious.

Breaking News

What a quiet post-Super Bowl week it's been. The big news item was the hard-hitting
exposé that the Steelers celebratory parade being paid for by the taxpayers - just like every other parade in the city.

Also, Pitt may expel some couch-burning bus-shelter destroying Steelers fanatics. Good for them.

And the NFL has cracked down on local awesome t-shirt makers Commonwealth Press. Hopefully you picked up your Tomlin "Yes We Can" shirt before it went contraband. The black-market value of that shirt has now sky-rocketed.

Mr Chief Executive woke up from his Super Bowl hangover today to intervene on behalf of an airport sculpture. Phew. That's why we pay him the big bucks. Now, there's no fear of the airport ever operating in the black. I expect Mr Mayor will recover some time mid-March.

Black & Gold Profits

If you're in business in Pittsburgh and you did not make a boat-load of extra money over the weekend, you need to re-work your strategy.

Every bar on the South Side was packed starting at 12pm on Sunday. By the end of the night, I'm sure there were some 5-figure tabs.

I stopped at 3 stores on Monday before finding a copy of the Post-Gazette, after enduring almost unbearable loading times on the newspaper's website. One day they'll find a way to effectively cash in on website hits and double all their writer's salaries.

Dick's Sporting Goods re-opened its 13 area stores immediately following the Super Bowl and sold out of most gear. People stopped to buy clothing on the way home from their partying - or maybe as a stop in the partying process?

If you're a coffee shop downtown, stop reading. You should be peddling your hot cocoa and steaming cups of joe on the street today to those 250,000 freezing fans waiting for the parade.

Or you can be sentimental like Eat'n'Park and let your employees go watch the parade. But I'd recommend having already cashed in by selling Black & Gold cappuccinos for the past 3 weeks alongside your Steelers emblem cupcakes. Not everybody can have Smiley Cookies.

On Why I'm Hoarse

I headed down to the South Side to watch the game yesterday, camping out at a bar for 12 hours or so. This was my first Super Bowl in Pittsburgh, and I've never seen anything like it from gorilla suits to gold go-go boots to posing with the superstition-laden Steelers teddy bear. People at our tables came from as far-away as Youngstown, Rhode Island, New York, and "here."

In good news, I survived the drinking binge (with lots of pacing) and the after-party in the streets. I saw lots of cops in riot gear, but didn't have the opportunity to see them exercising their crowd dispersal skills. As far as I could tell, there was just intense good cheer and drunkenness.

In extra good news, contrary to previous reports, there will be a parade tomorrow.

In not-so-good news, the revelers set some fires and broke some windows. More than 100 were arrested last night. But I'm sure you all knew that.

See you at the parade! Let's try to leave the city standing.

Feeling Kinda Friday

Everybody's gearing up for the big game around here, and the news front is pretty quiet here if you don't care that Ben got caught stretching and more snow is falling.

A chink in Cranberry's armor has appeared though. I'm not too sad. I find that there already enough malls in the area that I avoid like the plague. But I've also never actually gotten off the highway in Cranberry. It's not too surprising that PennDOT is taking the blame in this failure.

Does PennDOT actually want Western Pennsylvania to fail? Between closing the major artery to Oakland for a year to planning mass devastation to Route 28 to now preventing a new shiny mall in Cranberry, it sure seems like it. There has got to be a way to reconstruct Route 28 without literally shutting down parts of this major artery for 6 months. Crawling through rush-hour traffic on Route 28 last night, I day-dreamed about a commuter rail on this artery. Instead, we'll be spending our stimulus money on wreaking havoc on commuters while we build more lanes. Thankfully, I work from home, so it's hard to get too angry. My ire is mostly reserved for the nearby evils like the Department of Public Works.

This whole post is feeling like a day-dream. I guess it's the lull before the Super Bowl storm.

Go Steelers!

Bullsh*t

"City sources" say there will not be a parade if the Steelers win the Super Bowl - or as Mind Bling says - WHEN the Steelers win the Super Bowl.

Why? You ask.

"Concerns are that the cost would be a budget buster and the parade would cause safety issues."

Bull Shit.

Onorato, Ravenstahl, and Rendell are willing to take time off to fly down to Tampa?

They're willing to hold pep rallies and have a Terrible Tree? They're willing to make terrible bets and change their name?

But no parade?

Indianapolis had a parade in 2007.

The Giants had a parade in 2008.

And no Steelers parade?

Bull shit.

If it's a money issue - ask for a $1 donation from everyone that shows up. The quarter million should cover it.

Safety issue? Give me a break. Too many people downtown? If only that was a regular problem. Oh, no. They had to arrest 34 people last time or 0.0136% of the attendees. Sounds like a manage-able crisis to me.

Or maybe RavenSteelerstahl thinks that only elected officials should celebrate a victory?

Bull shit.

The Price Of Tea In China

Why should we be excited to be in the Super Bowl?

After the Olympics were in Greece, tourism sky-rocketed for that beautiful country. The recent Olympics held in China did more for opening up the world to the wonders of China than any marketing campaign ever could with athletes walking on the Great Wall and reporters sampling food in the markets.

These national and international events are not just about the sport. I remember in the 90s when the Super Bowl was held at the New Orleans Superdome and all-of-a-sudden Massachusetts was flooded with recipes for Jambalaya and Gumbo. What did that have to do with football?

The spotlight is on Pittsburgh, Arizona, and Tampa right now. Bask in the glow. Promote yourselves.

Why would the New York Times be writing articles about Pittsburgh?
Why would a St Louis beer program come on yelp to ask about Pittsburgh beers?
Why would the Miami Herald write an article about Pittsburgh?

The Steelers are in the Super Bowl.

We, as a city, have a symbiotic relationship with the Steelers. From the guys who freeze their asses off selling black-and-gold everything at the Strip to the head honchos that own the gazillion parking spaces adjacent to Heinz Field. The Steelers make money. We make money. We get publicity.

Why not embrace it?

Proud to be in Pittsburgh

Steelers going to the Super Bowl and Obama inaugurated. What a week.

Looking forward to seeing democracy in action unfold over the next year in Pittsburgh, too.

To those who doubt, realize that if a truly good candidate comes along, Pittsburgh will see it. Remember that the "ignorant" and "racist" city of Pittsburgh helped bring Obama to this moment. Not the suburbs. Not Butler county. Not Beaver County.

Today, I'm proud to be in Pittsburgh.

UPDATE: I won't be there tonight, but I wish I could be. I hope everyone celebrates responsibly.

Woooooo!

Tonight, I'm just happy we're going to the Super Bowl.

Screw you, Wall Street Journal.

I paid my drink tax tonight.

UPDATE:
It's hard to take sportsmania as a negative sign. There was so much goodwill and happiness (and drunkenness) last night. Who said sportsmania was a substitute for economic success? Can't we just like our sports?

And we do have a sweet football stadium.

Less Than $20 Million

According to the Steelers and VisitPittsburgh, the home AFC championship game should bring in $20 million to the city on Sunday. That's on top of the $18 million for last week's game.

And how much extra are these games adding to the drink tax coffers alone? I'm going to make an educated guess and say that if you take the drink tax profits from Steelers Sundays, that alone will easily land you $1 Million per year.

The North Shore Connector is costing the county 3.33% of its total cost - or about $15 million. Even if it balloons to a $600 million project, that's still less than $20 million in local funds.

Don't you think a new subway line is worth 1 home Steelers championship game?

I can go over the Port Authority spiel that this paves the way for future T lines. Or that this will add yet another fringe parking area alleviating traffic and parking woes downtown. Or that this will encourage more development on the North Side which needs some help right about now.

But instead I'll tell you why I think it's not a horrible idea.

When out-of-towners or former Pittsburghers come back to visit in droves, it's for one of two things. The holidays and Steelers games.

Theoretically, we want to give these people a good impression. We want them to think their city is improving. We want them to go back to where they live and say good things about Pittsburgh. We want them to tell their friends, so that when they get a job offer and they're deciding between Houston, Texas and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, they remember that they heard Pittsburgh was sweet. They choose Pittsburgh.

How do we impress these people? We give them slick public transportation where they're going to use it. To the Steelers game and to the airport. Assuming this risky bet works, then those people will get up and move here. Then we'll have some money in our pockets and we can do more practical less flashy things like actually get people between Oakland and Downtown.

And all for less than $20 million.

But the most important thing to realize is that this is just a piece of the puzzle. If we actually want a world-class transportation system (which we do, right?), then this is a necessary piece of that puzzle. Might as well build it first if we have the money and it can attract and impress some people. We just can't stop here. I don't care if it takes another 50-100 years. (I have faith that Pittsburgh and this country will still be around then.) But we need to keep building and planning and thinking big and we will get there.

Fools For Black & Gold

Ravenstahl and the mayor of San Diego have entered a bet where one of them will end up looking like a moron. Either Ravenstahl will be in Chargers gear with a surfboard ready to jump in the Allegheny River or Sanders, the San Diego mayor, will don Steelers gear and get ready to ski at Sea World.

This is just the latest publicity stunt that I've heard of on top of the Terrible Tree and the bet by Onorato for the Stanley Cup.

I highly enjoy rooting for local sports, but these antics are along the lines of me voting for McCain because he ate at Primanti's. While local politicians should be more accessible than our country's president, I prefer photo ops with babies at charity events. Instead, politicians wave black & gold in our faces instead of facing a bad economy and questionable leadership. Unfortunately, making a fool out of the mayor of San Diego will not make me feel better about Pittsburgh. And Rendell's getup in a Detroit jersey didn't make me feel better about Pennsylvania.

Seriously, is it someone's job to run around finding donations for stupid bets between cities? Do you call in a special consultant for that serious responsibility?

Here We Go, Obama

According to the New York Times and Congressman John Murtha, Western Pennsylvanians are racists. There seems to be a lot of debate and head-scratching as to how Obama can win the election in this state (and so many others) while people judge him by the color of his skin. I have one word for the pundits: Steelers. The entirety of Western Pennsylvania in addition to being racist and rusty and old is also Steeler Country. It's not full of white-Russian-rooting Penguins fans. It's not even full of good-old-American-pasttime rooting Pirates fans. It's full of fans of Hines Ward, Troy Polamalu and Mike Tomlin. Of course, western Pennsylvanians can look past race and vote for Obama. He's the best candidate and they know it. Just like the Steelers.

Unfortunately, there are lots of smart racists, idiotic ACORNs, and even some Pirates fans out there. You make a fool out of yourself when you stereotype anyone - as McCain recently found out with Joe the Plumber. Hopefully, when Pennsylvania contributes to the election of Obama, we can all go back to rooting for the Steelers like one happy family.