Last night I took my wife and my mother-in-law to see The Chief. The Chief is a one man show performed by Tom Atkins, and it takes place in Art Rooney's office at Three Rivers Stadium following the 1976 season. Fear not theater buffs, the show consists of only about 10% football stories and 90% Pittsburgh stories and life lessons. In fact, he doesn't even mention the Steelers until well into the first half of the 90 minute show. Instead, he details his life running card games, boxing at carnivals, horse racing and just about any vice you could imagine as a kid growing up in the 1920's and 1930's. His anecdotes about being involved in Pittsburgh's incestuous political scene are hysterical.
Mr. Rooney guides the audience on a whirlwind tour of his childhood, growing up as poor Irish Catholic on the rough and tumble streets on the North Side of Pittsburgh, and progresses through his adult years and the struggles to maintain the Steelers franchise that he loved so much through 40 straight losing seasons.
Atkins has been playing the Chief for about 5 years, and his love of the role is plain to see. I've seen the show twice now, and Atkins clearly is afforded some artistic license to switch it up a bit. Within the first 6 minutes, after the cigar smoke fills the little theater, you're convinced you're actually in the office with the man himself.
The show regularly pops up at the O'Reilly Theatre for a week or 2 each year. This week it's part of the Steeler's 75th Anniversary. However, there are rumors that they plan to soon pack it in once and for all. Therefore, if you can get out and see through Saturday - do so. It may never be back. It's absolutely mesmerizing and a must-see for any Pittsburgher or Steelers fan. Hell, it's a must-see for anyone with a pulse.
As Fall approaches, I thought it was only natural to turn over a new leaf of my own and return to trying to regularly post on this blog. Frankly, I was surprised to hear that a few folks actually read my posts, and still others often enjoyed them. So, I felt partially pressured to come back, but I realized that I missed it too. I found myself commenting more regularly on other's blogs and concluded that I should just go back to penning my own.
As the new title of the blog would indicate, I tend to prefer offering a collection of random thoughts - whether they be about life, sports, raising kids, current events, and whatever else gets my blood boiling. So, without further adieu . . .
Nobody asked me, but . . .
1. Daredevil Steve Fossett probably isn't missing at all but instead pulling a masterful stuntman like prank. We'll all hear from him again in the next 2 weeks.
2. I saw a headline today about how nuclear weapons were mistakenly flown over the U.S, and it grabbed my attention. However, upon further review, I'm not quite sure what all of the ruckus is about. Specifically, "a military official told CNN there was no nuclear risk to public safety because the weapons were not armed. Officials believe that if the plane had crashed or the missiles somehow had fallen off the wings, the warheads would have remained inert and there would have been no nuclear detonation, though conventional explosive material in the warhead could have detonated." So what's the big deal? I assume we have big bad nuclear weapons located around the U.S. everyday. They are also on ships and subs surrounding the globe. And while I agree that it is probably a good policy to know where these things are at any given time, this thing seems to be being blown way out of line. Not to mention the millions of dollars that will likely be spent on the sure-to-follow Pentagon investigation into exactly how, why and when it all happened . . . three things that we probably know today.
3. Charlie Weis is an idiot. Period.
4. I realize I'm stating the obvious here, but college football in HD is a gift from God. You can yap all you want about Planet Earth on the Discovery Channel, or some great show on PBS HD about the inch worm, but for my money there was nothing more visually appealing than the Cal-Tennessee game at sunset. The colors, the landscapes, the vistas were spectacular, and the game wasn't half bad either.
5. Speaking of the Cal game, DeSean Jackson's punt return was poetry; however, watch it again and take note of the 5 or 6 great blocks that sprung him . . .
6. Fred Thompson will make some serious noise as a candidate for President. He may just walk off with the nomination. However, I wonder if his anti-abortion position will hurt him when he's head-to-head against Giuliani. I'm not so much worried about his positions on same-sex marriage etc., because those folks typically don't vote R anyway.
Well, that was fun and I look forward to doing it again real soon . . .
